text:
Varsity Blues

USA 1998

Reviewed by Mark Morris

Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.

West Canaan, Texas, the mid-90s. Jonathan Moxon is the reserve quarterback on the high school football team. The bookish Moxon, however, is on the margins of the team, preferring to spend time with his girlfriend Julie. Even so, he comes into conflict with Bud Kilmer, the coach who has bullied his teams into success for 30 years.

Kilmer forces blocker Billy Bob to keep playing after a severe concussion. Kilmer then blames him for the career-threatening injury to the team's star, Lance Harbor, even though Kilmer had been keeping Harbor on the field with injections of pain killers. Moxon proves a more than adequate replacement for Harbor and the team seems headed for the championship, although Kilmer resents Moxon's attempts to make the team play more imaginatively. After being briefly intoxicated by his success - and alienating Julie - Moxon is reminded of his responsibilities by Kilmer's treatment of African-American running back Wendell and the headache-prone Billy Boy. At half-time in the championship game, Moxon leads a rebellion that drives Kilmer out. The team pull off a dramatic victory.

Recent US films aimed at the teen market have traded heavily on being knowingly self-referential ever since the Kevin Williamson-scripted Scream. As Varsity Blues' star, James Van Der Beek, made his name in the Williamson-conceived television series Dawson's Creek, more of the same might be expected. Varsity Blues, however, plays it resolutely straight. Although momentarily tempted by egotism and a sexy cheerleader, Jonathan Moxon is a character with Gary Cooper-ish moral resolve. Most of the problems raised in the story are settled by the short, inspirational chats he gives the other characters: he builds up Billy Bob's sense of self-esteem and reassures Wendell that all whites are not racist. Coach Kilmer, memorably incarnated by Jon Voight, is by contrast a grotesque monster, whose position in the town is indicated by a Stalinist statue that towers over the football field.

But Kilmer is the film's only villain: the other characters are only occasionally misguided, too caught up in the desire to win - as Moxon says "You never question the sanctity of football." The reverence to the game displayed here runs throughout Varsity Blues: nowhere in the film is there either a truly incisive examination of the pressures of the US school sports system as in Hoop Dreams or the hedonistic rejection of it that occurs in Richard Linklater's Dazed and Confused.

Instead, director Brian Robbins and writer W. Peter Iliff have fashioned a liberal-conservative fantasy which suggests that there would be nothing wrong with the American South's bull-headedly macho culture as long as this system was (somehow) handed over to the literate, non-racist young. The film's confused values are demonstrated by the way the sensitive, chaste Moxon still leads his fellow players on a night of drunken debauchery at a local strip club.

Stylistically, Robbins - whose background lies in teen TV (he was a regular cast member of the US sitcom Head of the Class before directing Good Burger) - never deviates from the mainstream . Despite the involvement of MTV in the production, Varsity Blues is an old-fashioned film: even its more modern elements - some semi-nudity, a hard-rock soundtrack - could have come from any time in the last 30 years. The climatic scenes of the championship game and the team's spirited locker-room rebellion against Kilmer, for instance, are traditionally, almost blatantly, manipulative. Robbins' cast do well enough, although the immense popularity among teenagers of Van Der Beek (who has great trouble here with the Texan accent) remains a mystery. Voight's tyrannical Kilmer is a treat, but the only way to enjoy this film is to surrender to its well-orchestrated, swelling clichés.

Tova Laiter
Mike Tollin
Brian Robbins
W. Peter Iliff
Director of Photography
Charles Cohen
Ned Bastille
Production Designer
Jaymes Hinkle
Mark Isham
©Paramount Pictures Corporation
Production Companies
Paramount Pictures presents in association with MTV Films a Marquee Tollin/Robbins production in association with Tova Laiter Productions
Executive Producers
David Gale
Van Toffler
Herbert W. Gains
Associate Producer
Elysa Koplovitz
Production Co-ordinator
Lisa Swain
Production Liaison
Momita Sengupta
Unit Production Manager
Herbert W. Gains
Location Manager
Ken Lewin
Assistant Directors
George Fortmuller
Albert Shapiro
Vincent Palmo Jr
Franklyn M. Gottbetter
John Gordon
Script Supervisor
Pam Vasquez
Bob Krakower
Sarah Halley Finn
Dayna Polehanki
Barbara Brinkley
Toni Cobb
Barbara Harris
Aerial Director of Photography
Phil Pastuhov
Camera Operators
Joe Chess
Orly 'Sonny' Stires
Steadicam Operator
Joe Chess
Art Director
Keith Donnelly
Set Decorator
Tad Smalley
Costume Designer
Wendy Chuck
Costume Supervisor
Bill Edwards
Wardrobe Technical Adviser
Roric Ruegsegger
Supervising Make-up Artist
Catherine Conrad
Supervising Hairstylist
Bryan Hebert
Main Titles Design
Dan Perri
Pacific Title/Mirage
Music Conductor/ Orchestrations
Ken Kugler
Music Supervisor
G. Marq Roswell
Co-music Supervisor
Gary Calamar
Music Co-ordinator
Thomas Golubic
Music Editor
Helena Lea
Music Recordist/Mixer
Stephen Krause
"Walkin' the Line" by Wynn Varble, Shawn Camp, Randy Hardison, performed by Shawn Camp; "My Girlfriend Is a Waitress" by Rodney Gilbert Hodges, Joe Cabral, performed by the Iguanas; "Big Country" by Jerome Moross, performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic; "Nice Guys Finish Last" by Billie Joe Armstrong, Frank Wright, Michael Pritchard, performed by Green Day; "The Aggie War Hymn" by J.V. 'Pinky' Wilson; "Dolphin Fight Song" by Jed Leiber; "Problems" by Jaime Marroquin, Lawrence Cevallos, Carlos Hernandez, performed by the Flamin' Hellcats; "Unnoticed" by Mark Kano with Anthenaeum, performed by Anthenaeum; "Love-a-rama" by Leon O. Bass, performed by Southern Culture on the Skids; "Texas Flood" by Larry Davis, Joseph Scott, performed by Stevie Ray Vaughan; "One Foot in Front of the Other" by Lee Roy Parnell, Cris Moore, performed by Lee Roy Parnell; "Disappear" by Christopher Ward, Saffron Henderson, Oliver Leiber, performed by Saffron Henderson; "Are You Ready for the Fallout" by Tony Scalzo, performed by Fastball; "Wayward Wind" by Stan Lebowsky, Herb Newman, performed by Tex Ritter; "Pride of San Jacinto" by James Wallace, performed by The Reverend Horton Heat; "Run" by Ed Roland, performed by Collective Soul; "You Blew Me Off" by/performed by Bobby Bare Jr; "Valley of the Pharaohs" by Jerry Donahue, performed by the Hellecasters; "Lonesome Ain't the Word" by Wynn Varble, Randy Hardison, performed by Shawn Camp; "Same Old Feeling Feeling" by Doodle Owens, Russ Roberts, Christie Freel Speer, performed by Tim Buppert; "If Your Girl Only Knew" by Tim Mosley, Missy Elliott, performed by Aaliyah; "Boom Boom Boom" by Robert Gilbert Hodges, performed by the Iguanas; "Horror Show" by Kevin Cadogan, Stephen Jenkins, performed by Third Eye Blind; "Hot for the Teacher" by Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, Michael Anthony, David Lee Roth, performed by Van Halen; "Voices Inside My Head" by Amber Villanueva Smith, Derrick Trotman, performed by Amber Sunshower; "Thunderstruck" by Angus Young, Malcolm Young, performed by AC/DC; "My Hero" by Dave Grohl, Nate Mendel, Pat Smear, performed by Foo Fighters; "Every Little Thing Counts" by Graham Butt, Andrew Pinching, performed by Janus Stark; "Nitro (Youth Energy)" by/performed by Offspring; "Fly" by Bob Feddersen, John Sullivan, performed by Loudmouth
Sound Mixer
Jennifer Murphy
Re-recording Mixers
Steve Pederson
Frank Montaño
Tom Perry
Supervising Sound Editor
Beth Sterner
Supervising Dialogue Editor
David Williams
Dialogue Editor
Susan Kurtz
Sound Effects Editors
Noah Blough
David Stone
Ron Eng
Bob Baron
Supervising Editor:
Mary Andrews
Zack Davis
Sarah Monat
Robin Harlan
Randy K. Singer
Supervising Editor:
Thomas Small
Tammy Fearing
Christopher Flick
Scott Curtis
Aerial Co-ordinator
Cliff Fleming
Stunt Co-ordinator
Russell Towery
Football Co-ordinator
Mark Ellis
James Van Der Beek
Jonathan 'Mox' Moxon
Jon Voight
Coach Bud Kilmer
Paul Walker
Lance Harbor
Ron Lester
Billy Bob
Scott Caan
Amy Smart
Julie Harbor
Thomas F. Duffy
Sam Moxon
Ali Larter
Joe Pichler
Kyle Moxon
Eliel Swinton
Richard Lineback
Joe Harbor
Tiffany C. Love
Collette Harbor
Jill Parker Jones
Mo Moxon
Mark Walters
Chet McNurry
Brady Coleman
Sheriff Bigelow
James Harrell
Tonie Perensky
Miss Davis
Jesse Plemmons
Tommy Harbor
Sam Pleasant
Tim Crowley
Coach Bates
Joe Stevens
young deputy 1
Don Cass
young deputy 2
James Michael O'Brien
Robert Ellis
Robert S. Lott
middle-aged fan
Barry Switzer
Bronco coach
Mona Lee
Old Miss Logan
Kevin Reid
Eric Jungmann
Laura Olsen
Ryan Allen
teen babes
Bristi Havins
cute naked girl
John Hyrns
bald guy
Rome Azzaro
young father
Marco Perella
Doctor Benton
Doyle Carter
Tony Frank
Sue Rock
Olin Buchanan
David Williams
Coyote player
John Gatins
smiling man
United International Pictures (UK) Ltd
9,428 feet
104 minutes 46 seconds
Dolby stereo/DTS sound
Colour by
Last Updated: 20 Dec 2011


Content-Type: application/http; msgtype=response

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

WARC-Type: response

text:
Welcome to Manchester Confidential
Reset Password
The Confidential websites will be undergoing routine updates. This may cause the sites to go offline. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience.

You are here: Manchester ConfidentialSleuth.

Sleuth 27/05/2011

Vimto removed, Beckham, Giggs, the fast head of an artist and we win an award

Published on May 27th 2011.

Sleuth 27/05/2011

Sleuth is a sideways glance at the city every week. We give £25 for every story/rumour and piece of absurdity you find for us to print. We ask for the money back if any legal action follows.

Double decker super douper injunction

Ryan.jpgSleuth was at Manchester Airport. At Terminal One the bus stops bear the names of famous Mancunians and adopted Mancs. Sleuth had forgotten who that famous footballer was at the centre of the Twitter scandal. “Who was it?” he said out loud to a puzzled looking Uzbekistan gentleman. “You know that football player who gets homesick and really did miss Wales,” said Sleuth to a confused and frightened seeming Malawian. Sleuth looked down onto the etched glass. Ah yes that’s who it was.

Sleuth, David Beckham and Twittergiggs

Gary Neville's testimonial on Tuesday provided an opportunity for Giggs, Scholes, the Nevilles and David Beckham to party like it was 1992. They chose Australasia (click here) as the venue even though it hadn't opened yet. It was a right good do apparently. It put Sleuth back to about 1995 or such when he was esconced in Deansgate bar Johnsons (owned by the same team as Australasia).

Sleuth was with a buddy and they'd had what's known in the vernacular as a 'skinful'. Beckham and Giggs came in and though yet to reach their pinnacles of fame, were still well-known enough to be quickly surrounded by girls. Sleuth and the buddy were talking gibberish to a couple of ladies who just upped and left.

"What's David Beckham got that I haven't?" said Sleuth's friend to one of the girls.

Fortunately she didn't say talent, good looks and a staggering earning potential but she did say, "It's Ryan Giggs we want to talk to, not Beckham."

Sleuth said, "I must tweet that," and then realised Twitter wouldn't be invented for another 11 years.

Giggs was certainly the more lady-pestered that night. Five years later there was no contest as Beckham took over and went global.

Meanwhile Giggs was doing a fine job of being, as Sleuth's mother used to say, 'a dark horse that one'.

Thanks to davidbeckham.fans-online.com for the pic

Vimto sculpture disappears

vimto.jpgSleuth is worried. This Vimto bottle sculpture by Kerry Morrison has been lifted away by a crane.

This happened yesterday, Sleuth was told about it in the afternoon, but got the proof in the evening.

We're sure it's been taken away for a polish and a scrub. We're sure it's been taken away for maintenance.

The University of Manchester or Vimto, surely wouldn't want to get rid of something as funny and joyful as this: a sculpture that celebrates the creation of Vimto as a temperance drink in 1908 on this site by John Noel Nichols.

SDC12992.JPGSleuth loves Vimto, it's short for vip and (vim to)nic and is an anagram of vomit. What's not to love?

We're making phone calls this morning. We'll tell you as soon as we know what is happening and why.

The First Street sculptures (off Albion Street at the end of Princess Parkway) are recent additions to Manchester public art and are cheap looking embarrassments. This work had literal charm, a bottle surrounded by the ingredients in Vimto. And wit: it was about twelve foot tall - reality stretched.

WE'VE NOW HAD A STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY: 'The sculpture has been sent away to a specialist firm for this work and will be returned to site as soon as the work has been carried out.'

Sleuth’s best amended sign of the week

IMAG0291.jpgThis unphoto-shopped image sent in from Mr Paul of West Didsbury shows some flair in the graffiti area.

Sleuth's daft question of the week

Woman in neat business suit with briefcase asking a City fan in a cast of thousands at one of the crash barriers on Monday night, "Hello, could you tell me what event this is?" The man with his City shirt emblazoned over his generous torso, gazed for a second at the light blue explosion taking place down Princess Street and said, "No idea, love."

photo.jpgSleuth best pavement parking pic of the week

This was sent in by our just-moved-into-Chinatown correspondent. Here is a car thumbing its nose to traffic wardens by parking on the pavement on Portland Street. Apparently if you park on pavements the traffic wardens can’t get you. Of course that might be pure rubbish but it's what Sleuth hears. Or heard. Somewhere once.

Sleuth's really fast head of the week

Dan Dubowitz had been drinking in the Marble Arch pub since three when Sleuth caught up with him at 6.30pm. He was there with some chums. and ex-moustache of the year nominee Matthew Horatio Frost. Dubowitz has been the artist in residence for Ancoats for a decade and amongst several works has produced Peeps, spyholes into the hidden spaces of Ancoats buildings. These give an intriguing and occasionally unnerving glimpse into how life is brief and how all must change. Tempus fugit and all that.

Quick head.jpgThe Peeps project is being celebrated with guided tours and a fabulous Manchester University Press book from 1 July for four days.

Sleuth left the pub at 7pm. He called Frost to take a picture for him of the artist. This is what he received the following morning.

"He seems to have a really fast head," said Sleuth. "He does doesn't he?" said Frost. "It doesn't really do him justice I suppose," he added.

Manchester Confidential wins

We won Magazine of the Year award last night at marketing and pr news website How-do's awards. Cheshire Life were joint winners as well. We do more than thirty pieces of independent editorial every week about Manchester. Every week. Independent. Saying what we want. And allowing criticism of what we do on the rants on the site. Awards are ok but it's the independence, and what we do that really makes us proud. The most important thing is to get better at it.

Follow Sleuth on twitter @Sleuth

Like what you see? Enter your email to sign up for our newsletters which are chock-a-block with more great reviews, news, deals and savings.

5 comments so far, continue the conversation, write a comment.

TinaMay 28th 2011.

I like Vimto. I like that statue, glad to see it back

Maggie MilnerMay 28th 2011.

Well done Mancon for your award.
Can you give us an update when the Vimto statue returns please - him indoors forgot the camera on your recent tour and wants to go back and take photos!

Eddy NicholsJune 2nd 2011.

Latest news is that the VIMTO sculpture has only been taken away for cleaning and repair. Thats good news but sometimes these things have a habit of never coming back even when promised.

tblzebraJune 2nd 2011.

Yeah, where's 'Vigilance' by Keith Godwin gone, since it 'disappeared' from outside John Rylands Library?

Eddy NicholsJune 2nd 2011.

Egg - zac - lee!

To post this comment, you need to login.Please complete your login information.
Or you can login using Facebook.

Latest Rants

Looks like Daisy Mill in Longsight is for the chop too. This time MCC own the building and are…

 Read more

The initial plan, by all concerned, was always to save & redevelop Ancoats Dispensary though wasn't…

 Read more

That's perfectly true, but for various reasons not relevant to the original point. I'm happy to…

 Read more

I'll try again..of course it won't, it's not listed so it will go. The fact that it is elegant,…

 Read more

Explore The Site

© Mark Garner t/a Confidential Direct 2018

Privacy | Careers | Website by: Planet Code | SEO by The eWord

warcinfo:
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-47
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for November 2018
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-147-220-51.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.15 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 0.11-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/


WARC-Identified-Payload-Type: text/html

text:
Whale Watching in Victoria

One of my favourite tourist activities in port cities and towns is whale watching. I love the ocean. I love getting out on a boat, smelling the salt in the air and scanning the horizon for a glimpse of sea creatures.

This Fall we took a day trip to Victoria and went whale watching with Springtide Whale Watching and Eco Tours. We were on one of their 60 foot motor yachts, the Marauder IV. The boot can accommodate 84 passengers plus crew. It was a pretty comfortable boat with a few options for sitting or standing on multiple decks. Susannah and I went immediately up to the bow to get a good photography spot where we’d be easily able to see over both sides of the boat.

We cruised out of Victoria Harbour and once out into open water the captain sped the boat up and away we went. Up at the bow, it got pretty bumpy so we sat down on the deck for awhile. It also got really cold and although we had brought extra layers we were very grateful for the jackets that the crew offered to everybody.

It wasn’t long before we spotted our first whale – a humpback. We tracked it for awhile and watched it arch and dive, sending water cascading over its beautiful tail.

It’s amazing how a whale can be identified by its unique colouring and markings with scratches and nicks accumulated over its lifetime.

Watching closely we realised our humpback was not alone – there were two! In the next couple of photos, you can see them together.

We were not the only ones watching – here is the Orca Spirit Adventures tour.

It seems like the whale watching companies have pretty good peer relationships so there was no competition to get closer than each other or to do anything that might harm the whales. That’s very important to us and why we select “Eco” tours. This boat looks super close but they weren’t moving and also the photo is taken with a very long lens which compresses distance.

The next photo shows you the size of a humpback whale compared to a tanker. It may also give you an idea of how busy shipping lanes could negatively impact whales.

We traveled around in search of more marine wildlife but failed to find any other cetaceans. We were taken to a little island with hopes to see seals, otters or maybe even an Orca. Our trip took place near the end of the massive BC forest fires which meant that the sky was very smoky and hazy. It was kind of eerie.

We saw harbour seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

There was some nice birdlife as well.

Our onboard naturalist gave an interesting talk about kelp and its uses and we even got to taste some freshly cut. Then we motored back to port to end our trip.

Whale watching is always unpredictable as you never know what you are going to see. Although there were no Orcas for us this time around, we did enjoy the majesty of the humpbacks.

We coupled this excursion with a morning visit to Victoria Butterfly Gardens. Together with our lovely afternoon out on the water, this made a great day trip from Vancouver.  As always, Victoria did not disappoint.

Leave a Reply

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


text:
agencies Things To Know Before You Buy

* The total amount of households within the town limitations employing the newest 5 yr estimates in the American Group Survey.

Some 3rd-bash recruiters perform by themselves, while others work by means of an agency, acting as direct contacts between consumer organizations and The work candidates they recruit. They might specialise in customer interactions only (sales or business enterprise enhancement), find candidates (recruiting or sourcing), or in the two places.

The Myki method is actually pretty complex and commuters can certainly get tripped up. As an example, quite a few train stations don't have limitations that open and shut in the event the card is scanned (as is completed in London, Singapore and most other international locations). Because of this, it may and does transpire that folks Assume they are tapping on properly but usually do not tap on accurately.

Melbourne has some Cajun/Creole dining places and one or two American style diners, but US Delicacies is normally absent: Foods like Southern-model barbecue and clam chowder have previously been hard to find, having said that considering the fact that 2012/2013 (lead by trail blazers Meat Mother in Swan Street, Richmond) There was an explosion in the volume of American BBQ type restaurants starting from food trucks, to bars, to high end eating to suite all style and budgets.

Melbourne might be reached from Devonport, Tasmania by auto/passenger ferries run by Spirit of Tasmania [19]. The journey can take ten hours and runs each night (in both directions), departing at 9PM and arriving at 7AM.

All coach and many trams and buses are obtainable for the aged and disabled. Little ones beneath 16 a long time and Australian seniors card holders are eligible for more cost-effective concession fares, which must be bought at coach stations.

The Section of Justice released the Defending Childhood initiative in 2010 to deal with a national disaster: the exposure of The us’s children to violence as victims and as witnesses.

Other foods considered to be 'Australian' contain lamingtons, Vegemite, and roast lamb. Every one of these products and solutions are greatly obtainable from nearly any supermarket, It doesn't matter how compact. Vegemite is ubiquitous and likely to become integrated Using the buffet breakfast of any resort or hostel, so make sure to try some unfold on hot buttered toast.

Brighton Beach— Among Melbourne's favoured shorelines, you'll want to look into the popular 'bathing bins', brightly coloured containers which have been dotted together the sand.

My friend there the opposite week to make an application for a occupation,he told me the encounter he had with Professions United states.he mentioned it had been the best assistance he has at any time recieved from a profession Middle,they were being very knowing and awesome,they understood exactly what career he was interested in and put him for job job interview the next day,so from hearing this i give them a four star.

High quality delicatessen style ingesting readily available in most of a cafes within the compact lanes of central Melbourne. Several premium quality deli fashion diners are available outdoors the town, in Acland Avenue, St site Kilda. Chinese[edit]

Chapel Avenue— Popular for its Road cafes and designer style boutiques. Cheaper retailers are observed at its southern conclusion.

“Most popular” listings, or People with featured Internet site buttons, suggest YP advertisers who directly give information regarding their businesses to help buyers make extra knowledgeable acquiring selections. YP advertisers obtain increased placement from the default purchasing of search engine results and should seem in sponsored listings on the top, aspect, or base with the search engine results webpage.

Whole services staffing company, specializing in the availability of nicely groomed, knowledgeable short term and lasting employees to your hospitality business.

Leave a Reply

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


text:
Friday, January 8, 2010

Au Revoir

"Paris is always a good idea" Sabrina

I have returned from our beach holiday to unpack my summer clothes and re-packed tonight for the cold European winter. I am flying to Frankfurt tomorrow!! I am then heading over to London for a few days and finally spending a week in Paris....I am so excited! I will be catching up with some of my suppliers and seeing lots of new things for Oliveaux. I shall hopefully be able to share some photo's with you along the way, so until then, au revoir.

Boxwood Terrace said...

Sounds lovely! Have a wonderful trip!

Desde mi ventana said...

To travel to Europe in these days you will need clothes of coat .... it is very very cold.

Julie@beingRUBY said...

HI Amanda
Happy New Year.... Lucky you ... Paris! Well have fun... which I'm sure you will.. x Julie

Acanthus and Acorn said...

Please post pictures of your adventures...I have not been to Paris since 2001 and would love a glimpse! said...

Have an amazing time, I have visited all three cities and they are so very different! Stay warm;)

Southern Aspirations said...

So fun! I hope that you have a fabulous voyage and discover lots of great finds.

Cyma said...

OOoh I'm jealous.
Hope you have a real fun trip :)

avant garde said...

jealousy and envy are setting in :) you have a great time, shopping those paris flea markets and antique stores. show your finds for sure! happy new year :)

Crystal said...

Lucky you! I was just reviewing my photos from my trip this past summer. I would love to see Paris and Europe in the wintertime.
I have been MIA in Blogland for a few months. So, it was great catching up on your blog today.
Blessings in 2010!

La Dolfina said...

Wonderful! Have a fabulous time!
Can't wait to see what you have in store for us.
Have a safe trip.

Beadboard UpCountry said...

Have a great trip Amanda! Hope to see you there!!!!!!!!!

Jacqueline said...

Oh wow Amanda. You must be so excited.
Well, if your coming here, to London, you will need your thermals, as it's freezing.... and we are getting more snow tonight and tomorrow, apparantly. It does look pretty though.
Have a safe and amazing trip and tell us all about it when you return. XXXX

SogniSorrisi said...

How wonderful! Can't wait to hear all about it.

alice said...

Sabrina is absolutely right. Enjoy!

A-M said...

Keep warm and have a fabulous time... and find lots of nice stuff! A-M xx

MelsRosePlace said...

Oh my gosh - am i allowed to be jealous? Well i am !! Have a wonderful, wonderful time and look forward to reading all about it when you're back, Mel xxx

VictoriaArt said...

What a lovely travel plan! Good luck and Bon Voyage!

Renee Finberg said...

i am so thrilled for you.
have a blast!!

all the christmas lights will still be up.
it will be cold , cozy , romantic and beautiful.
have a fun, and happy shopping/hunting.

Amanda said...

Oh you lucky, lucky thing!! Paris is my favourite city in the world. Can't wait to see some photos of your trip. Hope you have a lovely time x

Renae said...

Oh have a lovely time! i have never been to Germany.
I hope you find some good treasures.

Millie said...

Just popped out from under the beach umbrella to wish you safe travels Amanda. Sounds like your trip will be very busy, but the itinerary sounds glorious. It's Day 2 of 4 days of 43C.+ here-the cold weather of Europe sounds very refreshing!
Millie ^_^

Eileen @ Passions to Pastry said...

Paris sounds wonderful, even if it means enduring sub-zero temperatures.

Greet said...

Have a nice trip Amanda! I hope we will meet at the Maison et Objet "Greet and meet"!!

Kris said...

So exciting!! Take pics!

Emily said...

Wish I could join you - it sounds like a fabulous trip!

Viera said...

Have a fabulous time, Amanda.
We will wait for your inspirations.

Jade Creative said...

Looking forward to your great ideas!
Happy New Year!

Fernando said...

Ah le gay paris! its been to long.
We always look forward to assignments in Paris and make sure we have some time to do panoramics of the Eiffel Tower, its mesmerizing.

Please visit our new studio blog and stock library websites

Distil Ennui Photography Studio Blog

Stock Images & Canvas Prints

Mélanie said...

I think we are going to meet ! I can't wait !


text:
Great Essay Topics For College Applications

 Writing the college application essay is a tough gig. You’ve got to be charming, personal, memorable, and insightful – all in under two pages! But I’m going to tell you a secret: half of a great personal essay is a great topic idea. If you’re passionate about what you’re writing, and if you’re truly documenting something meaningful and serious about yourself and your life, then that passion and meaning will come alive on the page and in the mind of your reader.

So how do you come up with an essay idea? The best way is to brainstorm your way to an event from your life that reveals a core truth about you. In this article, I will help you do just that. Keep reading to find 35 jumping off points that touch on every possible memory you could harness, as well as advice on how to use your brainstorming session to fully realize your idea for an essay topic.

What Makes a Great Essay Topic Great, Anyway?

What does your application tell admissions officers about you? Mostly it's just numbers and facts: your name, your high school, your grades and SAT scores. These stats would be enough if colleges were looking to build a robot army, but they aren't.

So how do they get to see a slice of the real you? How can they get a feel for the personality, character, and feelings that make you the person that you are? It's through your college essay. The essay is a way to introduce yourself to colleges in a way that displays your maturity. This is important because admissions officers want to make sure that you will thrive in the independence of college life and work.

This is why finding a great college essay topic is so hugely important: because it will allow you to demonstrate the maturity level admissions teams are looking for. This is best expressed through the ability to have insight about what has made you into you, through the ability to share some vulnerabilities or defining experiences, and through the ability to be a creative thinker and problem solver.

In other words, a great topic is an event from your past that you can narrate, draw conclusions from, explain the effect of. Most importantly, you should be able to describe how it has changed you from the kind of person you were to the better person that you are now. If you can do all that, you are well ahead of the essay game.

How Do You Know If Your College Essay Topic is Great?

Eric Maloof, the Director of International Admission at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas has a great checklist for figuring out whether you're on the right track with your essay topic. He says, if you can answer "yes" to these 2 questions, then you've got the makings of a great essay:

  1. Is the topic of my essay important to me?
  2. Am I the only person who could have written this essay?

So how do you translate this checklist into essay topic action items?

Make it personal. Write about something personal, deeply felt, and authentic to the real you (but which is not an overshare). Take a narrow slice of your life: one event, one influential person, one meaningful experience – and then you expand out from that slice into a broader explanation of yourself.

Always think about your reader. In this case, your reader is an admission officer who is slogging through hundreds of college essays. You don’t want to bore that person, and you don’t want to offend that person. Instead, you want to come across as likable and memorable.

Put the reader in the experience with you by making your narrow slice of life feel alive. This means that your writing needs to be chock-full of specific details, sensory descriptions, words that describe emotions, and maybe even dialog. This is why it’s very important to make the essay topic personal and deeply felt. Readers can tell when a writer isn’t really connected to whatever he is writing about. And the reverse is true as well: deep emotion shows through your writing.

Writing with deep emotion: because you can't just stick smileys all over your college essay.

Coming up With Great College Essay Ideas

Some people know right off the bat that they have to write about that one specific defining moment of their lives. But if you're reading this, chances are you aren't one of these people. Don't worry - I wasn't one of them either! What this means is that you - like me - will have to put in a little work to come up with the perfect idea by first doing some brainstorming.

I've come up with about 35 different brainstorming jumping off points that ask questions about your life and your experiences. The idea here is to jog your memory about the key life events that have shaped you and affected you deeply.

I recommend you spend at least 2 minutes on each question, coming up with and writing down at least 1 answer - or as many answers as you can think of. Seriously - time yourself. 2 minutes is longer than you think! I would also recommend doing this over several sittings to get your maximum memory retrieval going - even if it takes a couple of days, it'll be worth it.

Then, we will use this list of experiences and thoughts to narrow your choices down to the one topic idea that you will use for your college essay.

Brainstorming Technique #1: Think About Defining Moments in Your Life

  • What is your happiest memory? Why? What was good about it? Who and what was around you then? What did it mean to you?
  • What is your saddest memory? Would you change the thing that happened or did you learn something crucial from the experience?
  • What is the most important decision you’ve had to make? What was hard about the choice? What was easy? Were the consequences of your decision what you had imagined before making it? Did you plan and game out your choices, or did you follow gut instinct?
  • What decision did you not have any say in, but would have wanted to? Why were you powerless to participate in this decision? How did the choice made affect you? What do you think would have happened if a different choice had been made?
  • What the most dangerous or scary thing that you’ve lived through? What was threatened? What were the stakes? How did you survive/overcome it? How did you cope emotionally with the fallout?
  • When did you first feel like you were no longer a child? Who and what was around you then? What had you just done or seen? What was the difference between your childhood self and your more adult self?
  • What are you most proud of about yourself? Is it a talent or skill? A personality trait or quality? An accomplishment? Why is this the thing that makes you proud?

Kevin was inordinately proud of his full and luxuriant head of feathers. He hated being called a bald eagle, always posting on his Facebook that the "bald" is short for "piebald," or multicolored.

Brainstorming Technique #2: Remember Influential People

  • Which of your parents (or parental figures) are you most like in personality and character? Which of their traits do you see in yourself? Which do you not? Do you wish you were more like this parent or less?
  • Which of your grandparents, great-grandparents, or other older relatives has had the most influence on your life? Is it a positive influence, where you want to follow in their footsteps in some way? A negative influence, where you want to avoid becoming like them in some way? How is the world they come from like your world? How is it different?
  • Which teacher has challenged you the most? What has that challenge been? How did you respond?
  • What is something that someone once said to you that has stuck with you? When and where did they say it? Why do you think it’s lodged in your memory?
  • Which of your friends would you trade places with for a day? Why?
  • If you could intern for a week or a month with anyone – living or dead, historical or fictional – who would it be? What would you want that person to teach you? How did you first encounter this person or character? How do you think this person would react to you?
  • Of the people you know personally, whose life is harder than yours? What makes it that way – their external circumstances? Their inner state? Have you ever tried to help this person? If yes, did it work? If no, how would you help them if you could?
  • Of the people you know personally, whose life is easier than yours? Are you jealous? Why or why not?

Svetlana was always jealous of climbers whose mountaineering careers weren't limited to flowers and small shrubbery.

Brainstorming Technique #3: Recreate Important Times or Places

  • When is the last time you felt so immersed in what you were doing that you lost all track of time or anything else from the outside world? What were you doing? Why do you think this activity got you into this near-zen state?
  • Where do you most often tend to daydream? Why do you think this place has this effect on you? Do you seek it out? Avoid it? Why?
  • What is the best time of day? The worst? Why?
  • What is your favorite corner of, or space in, the place where you live? What do you like about it? When do you go there, and what do you use it for?
  • What is your least favorite corner of, or space in, the place where you live? Why do you dislike it? What do you associate it with?
  • If you had to repeat a day over and over, like the movie Groundhog Day, what day would it be? If you'd pick a day from your life that has already happened, why would you want to be stuck it in? To relive something great? To fix mistakes? If you'd pick a day that hasn't yet occurred, what would the day you were stuck in be like?
  • If you could go back in time to give yourself advice, when would you go back to? What advice would you give? Why? What effect would you want your advice to have?

For Matilda, the main challenge of time travel was packing. Just how do you fit one of those giant Elizabethan ruffle collars into a carry-on?

Brainstorming Technique #4: Answer Thought-Provoking Questions

  • If you could take a Mulligan and do over one thing in your life, what would it be? Would you change what you did the first time around? Why?
  • Or, if you could take another crack at doing something again, what would you pick? Something positive – having another shot at repeating a good experience? Something negative – getting the chance to try another tactic to avoid a bad experience?
  • Which piece of yourself could you never change while still remaining the same person? Your race? Ethnicity? Intellect? Height? Freckles? Loyalty? Sense of humor? Why is that the thing that you’d cling to as the thing that makes you you?
  • Which of your beliefs, ideas, or tastes puts you in the minority? Why do you think/believe/like this thing when no one else seems to?
  • What are you most frightened of? What are you not frightened enough of? Why?
  • What is your most treasured possession? What would you grab before running out of the house during a fire? What is this object’s story and why is it so valuable to you?
  • What skill or talent that you don’t have now would you most like to have? Is it an extension of something you already do? Something you’ve never had the guts to try doing? Something you plan on learning in the future?
  • Which traditions that you grew up with will you pass on? Which will you ignore? Why?

Finnigan couldn't wait to introduce his future children to his family's birthday tradition - lemons.

Brainstorming Technique #5: Find a Trait or Characteristic and Trace it Back

  • What are three adjectives you’d use to describe yourself? Why these three? Which of these is the one you’re most proud of? Least proud of? When did you last exhibit this trait? What were you doing?
  • How would your best friend describe you? What about your parents? How are the adjectives they’d come up with different from the ones you’d use? When have they seen this quality or trait in you?
  • What everyday thing are you the world’s greatest at? Who taught you how to do it? What memories do you have associated with this activity? Which aspects of it have you yourself perfected?
  • Imagine that it’s the future and that you’ve become well known. What will you become famous for? Is it for something creative or a performance? For the way you will have helped others? For your business accomplishments? For your athletic prowess? When you make a speech about this fame, whom will you thank for putting you where you are?
  • What do you most like about yourself? This is different from the thing you’re most proud of – this is the thing that you know about yourself that makes you smile. Can you describe a time when this thing was useful or effective in some way?

Thinking about her punk crewcut always made Esme smile. That hair was made to rock.

How to Turn Your Brainstorming List Into an Essay Topic

Now that you have a cornucopia of daydreams, memories, thoughts, and ambitions, it's time to thin the herd, prune the dead branches, and whatever other mixed metaphors about separating the wheat from the chaff you can think of.

So how do you narrow down your many ideas into one?

Use the magic power of time. One of the best things you can do with your stack of college essay topics is to forget about them. Put them away for a couple of days so that you create a little mental space. When you come back to everything you wrote after a day or two, you will get the chance to read it with fresh eyes.

Let the cream rise to the top. When you reread your topics after having let them sit, do two things:

  • Cross out any ideas that don't speak to you in some way. If something doesn't ring true,  if it doesn't spark your interest, or if it doesn't connect with an emotion, then consider reject it.
  • Circle or highlight any topics that pop out at you. If it feels engaging, if you get excited at the prospect of talking about it, if it resonates with a feeling, then put it at the top of the idea pile.

Rinse and repeat. Go through the process of letting a few days pass and then rereading your ideas at least one more time. This time, don't bother looking at the topics you've already rejected. Instead, concentrate on those you highlighted earlier and maybe some of the ones that were neither circled nor thrown away.

Trust your gut instinct (but verify). Now that you've gone through and culled your ideas several times based on whether or not they really truly appeal to you, you should have a list of your top choices - all the ones you've circled or highlighted along the way. Now is the moment of truth. Imagine yourself telling the story of each of these experiences to someone who wants to get to know you. Rank your possible topics in order of how excited you are to share this story. Really listen to your intuition here. If you're squeamish, shy, unexcited, or otherwise not happy at the thought of having to tell someone about the experience, it will make a terrible essay topic.

Develop your top 2 - 4 choices to see which is best. Unless you feel very strongly about one of your top choices, the only way to really know which of your best ideas is the perfect one is to try actually making them into essays. For each one, go through the steps listed in the next section of the article under "Find Your Idea's Narrative." Then, use your best judgment (and maybe that of your parents, teachers, or school counselor) to figure out which one to draft into your personal statement.

Handing out trophies to your top three ideas is entirely optional.

How to Make Your Idea into a College Essay

Now, let's talk about what to do in order to flesh out your topic concept into a great college essay. First, I'll give you some pointers on expanding your idea into an essay-worthy story, and then talk a bit about how to draft and polish your personal statement.

Find Your Topic's Narrative

All great college essays have the same foundation as good short stories or enjoyable movies – an involving story. Let's go through what features make for a story that you don’t want to put down:

A compelling character with an arc. Think about the experience that you want to write about. What were you like before it happened? What did you learn, feel, or think about during it? What happened afterwards? What do you now know about yourself that you didn’t before?

Sensory details that create a “you are there!” experience for the reader. When you’re writing about your experience, focus on trying to really make the situation come alive. Where were you? Who else was there? What did it look like? What did it sound like? Were there memorable textures, smells, tastes? Does it compare to anything else? When you’re writing about the people you interacted with, give them a small snippet of dialog to say so the reader can “hear” that person’s voice. When you are writing about yourself, make sure to include words that explain the emotions you are feeling at different parts of the story.

An insightful ending. Your essay should end with an uplifting, personal, and interesting revelation about the kind of person you are today, and how the story you have just described has made and shaped you.

Draft and Revise

The key to great writing is rewriting. So work out a draft, and then put it aside and give yourself a few days to forget what you’ve written. When you come back to look at it again look for places where you slow down your reading, where something seems out of place or awkward. Can you fix this by changing around the order of your essay? By explaining further? By adding details? Experiment.

Get advice. Colleges expect your essay to be your work, but most recommend having someone else cast a fresh eye over it. A good way to get a teacher or a parent involved is to ask them whether your story is clear and specific, and whether your insight about yourself flows logically from the story you tell.

Execute flawlessly. Dot every i, cross every t, delicately place every comma where it needs to go. Grammar mistakes, misspellings, and awkward sentence structure don’t just make your writing look bad – they take the reader out of the story you’re telling. And that makes you memorable, but in a bad way.

Hint: writing that's flawless definitely did not wake up like this.

The Bottom Line

  • Your college essay topic needs to come from the fact that essays are a way for colleges to get to know the real you, a you that is separate from your grades and scores.
  • A great way to come up with topics is to wholeheartedly dive into a brainstorming exercise. The more ideas about your life that tumble out of your memory and onto the page, the better chance you have of finding the perfect college essay topic.
  • Answer my brainstorming questions without editing yourself at first. Instead, simply write down as many things that pop into your head as you can – even if you end up going off topic.
  • After you've generated a list of possible topics, leave it alone for a few days and then come back to pick out the ones that seem the most promising.
  • Flesh out your top few ideas into full-blown narratives, to understand which reveals the most interesting thing about you as a person.
  • Don’t shy away from asking for help. At each stage of the writing process get a parent or teacher to look over what you’re working on, not to do your work for you but to hopefully gently steer you in a better direction if you’re running into trouble.

What’s Next?

Ready to start working on your essay? Check out our explanation of the point of the personal essay and the role it plays on your applications.

For more detailed advice on writing a great college essay, read our guide to the Common Application essay prompts and get advice on how to pick the Common App prompt that’s right for you.

Thinking of taking the SAT again before submitting your applications? We have put together the ultimate guide to studying for the SAT to give you the ins and outs of the best ways to study.

Want to improve your SAT score by 240 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

The college essay is tough. It’s not writing it that’s the hard part – it’s deciding what to write about that can be difficult. What’s most curious about the college essay is that many of the topics on this list (those that should be avoided) also happen to be some of the most commonly used topics out there.

But, why? Why are students writing about boring, tired out subjects?

A lack of creativity? Certainly not! Students know how to be creative.

A lack of gumption? Doubtful – many students even take it upon themselves to create their own version of an anti-essay (see number seven on the list).

For many students, the issue is the narrative, which begins at the essay’s focus: the topic.

For example:

A boring essay details a summary of Joe’s mission trip to Guatemala, where he volunteered at a local school with his family.

A great essay details Joe’s experience during his mission trip to Guatemala, where he volunteered at a local school with his family. It was there he met Anita, a local elderly woman who wanted to learn how to read but came from a poor family so she never had the opportunity. Joe and Anita developed a friendship…

See, you want to read more of the story, right? But, the first essay example didn’t make you want to continue reading on to learn any more details. That’s the difference.

You may think you know what you’re going to write your college admissions essay about but, before you do, read this list to learn what topics you should avoid and why.

1. A Summary of Your Accomplishments
College essays are similar to life and, in life, nobody likes a braggart. These topics are broad, unfocused and make a boring read.

You may have accomplished a lot, but let your essay speak by allowing the reader to get to know you as a person through your experiences – not through you telling them how accomplished you are.

After reading your essay, a person should be able to come up with their own assessment of you – people don’t like to be told how to think.

2. Highly Polarized or Sensitive Topics
The key topics to avoid here are the same as those at the Thanksgiving table: politics and religion.

Avoid preaching about sensitive topics, no matter how passionate you are about a particular one. You never know who is going to be reading your admissions essay and the goal at hand is to gain admission into college.

3. Sports
The sports essay is predictable and should be avoided, if possible. Everyone knows how an athletic story will play out, regardless of the story or the sport. Find another topic that is unique and hasn’t been covered a million times over.

Admissions officers have heard enough about “the thrill of victory” and “the agony of defeat” in relation to high school athletics and they are sick and tired of pretending to care.

4. Humor
Stop trying to be so funny. You may have a story in your essay that’s funny and that’s okay – but that’s different. Make sure you’re funny for a reason and not just funny because you’re attempting to be. If it comes out naturally in your essay, great. If it doesn’t, then don’t force it. Admissions officers will see the futile attempt – and likely not find it amusing.

5. Why You’re SO Lucky
We get it. You’re privileged and you appreciate it, which is great. However, discussing it doesn’t make for a great essay. It’s actually super boring and, perhaps, may cause some eyes to roll.

Avoid this topic at all costs unless you’re starting with that followed up with some along the lines of, “…so I decided to leave my cushy private school to switch places at a public high school in Detroit with an inner-city teen and this is what happened.” Now THAT would make for an interesting essay.

6. Volunteer Experiences & Trips
This may be one of the most popular essay topics out there…and it’s also one of the most boring clichés around. Nobody needs a summary of your vacation – people know what happens on mission trips and during volunteer hours.

While you should feel free to mention a great experience or trip, but your entire essay should not talk about your one experience volunteering during a mission trip in Costa Rica.

If you do want to bring up these topics, try to think of something interesting or unexpected that happened during your trip.

Did a particular person or experience have an impact on you? Specific happenings can make great topics – try to think of something unusual and craft your essay around that experience, instead. (See example within the opening of this article.)

7. Self-Expression

So, you’re creative, smart and so over this whole essay thing. You’re not going to be put inside a box with a regular essay; you’re going to do your own thing. You’re going to whatever you feel like writing. Some of the best and brightest students do this: basically, they create the anti-essay.

Fine, but be prepared to write whatever you feel like writing from a college that may not be your first choice.

Whether it’s a poem, a random stream of thoughts, sarcasm, or some other form of writing in order to feel more creative, it’s not always the best idea. Before you do this, remember one thing: the sole purpose of your college essay is to get into college. You can show off later.

8. Illegal or Illicit Behavior
Drug and alcohol use, sex, arrests and/or jail time are topics that you should steer clear of, even if they are life issues you’ve worked through.

You would not want your judgment to be called into question for the decisions you’ve made (even if they are in the past) or for making the decision to write about the decisions you’ve made. Either way, it’s risky business to go this route and is not recommended.

9. The Most Important [Person, Place, Thing] in My Life
Read this aloud. Doesn’t this topic sound like an assignment that a second or third grader would write about? It really does and, if a child can handle it, it probably won’t gain you a lot of points with college admissions officers.

10. Tragedies
Topics like death and divorce are cautionary because they can be extremely difficult to write about.

While these topics are tough, if you feel passionately that a particular tragedy impacted your life significantly and you do want to write about it, try to keep the essay’s focus on you.

Think about your feelings regarding the situation, how it affected you and what you learned from the experience rather than just simply recalling the situation or the person you lost.

Need Money to Pay for College?

Every semester, Fastweb helps thousands of students pay for school by matching them to scholarships, grants, and internships, for which they actually qualify. You'll find high value scholarships like VIP Voice's $5,000 Scholarship, and easy to enter scholarships like Niche $2,000 No Essay Scholarship, and internships with companies like Apple, Google, Dreamworks, and even NASA!

Join today to get matched to scholarships or internships for you!

0 thoughts on “Great Essay Topics For College Applications

Leave a Reply

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


text:
Channel 9 Upfronts

On Tuesday 8th November, a star studded Network Nine talent line up hosted the media industry for their 2017 upfront at The Star. Premium local content, broadly distributed and accessed via both TV and digital, was at the heart of the (very long) presentation and the message driven home by the roll call of celebrities that hosted the afternoon.  Against a sophisticated set design backdrop (including what would become very well used couches), the show was opened by CEO Hugh Marks, who coincidently was celebrating 1 year in the job.

He committed to improving forward planning to better deliver audiences consistently throughout the year. This will be achieved with 50% more local premium hours of content – less money spent on international content has freed budget to invest in local properties, including new family programs to be introduced into the 7.30pm network battleground timeslot. Hugh was followed on stage by Hamish & Andy who announced they would be back next year with a new show – after taking a gap year from their gap years.

Creating great content with broad distribution underpinned the theme of the 5 key segments presented:

 This segment sought to deliver the message of the scale and depth of Nine News

  • A live to air News cross, hosted by newsreader Peter Overton, to their US based reporters covering the election re-enforced their authority, experience and dedication to remaining the ‘home of news’.
  • Their News update also included announcements by Georgie Gardiner of new look News studios, quality HD simulcasts and a distribution partnership with SCA to be rolled out across 15 new regional markets in February.
  • A Q&A on the couch with ACA and 60 Minutes talent regaling stories of their favourite interviews and experiences and Peter Overton delivering a special News Bulletin to the audience live from the studio closed the News segment of the show.

Capturing a greater share of the women’s market is a key focus for the network this year. The announcement of data driven research and expanded online content demonstrated their commitment to achieve this and being seen as the market leader

  • Alex Parsons, Chief Digital & Marketing Officer, announced a data partnership with Data Republic providing Nine the ability to merge online shopping habits with offline viewing habits.
  • Data Republic will provide Nine with grocery and loyalty data sourced from a network of 1,600 independent grocers allowing advertisers to improve customer targeting across its digital network. This partnership will provide advertisers access to the lucrative key women’s grocery-buying segments across its network.
  • The Data Republic partnership is linked to Nine’s key focus to explode its women’s network which Helen McCabe, Head of Lifestyle, then announced the re-launch of its mass women’s digital network 9Honey.
    • 9Honey new verticals include celebrity news site 9TheFix; cooking and recipe site 9Kitchen; interior design site 9Homes; fashion and beauty site 9Style; travel site 9Elsewhere; and fitness website 9Coach, alongside its newest offering 9Mums.
    • Pitched as the online destination for women as a source of community, inspiration, advice and content, a panel discussion followed with a host well recognised Nine female personalities with international influencer Margaret Zhang adding to the credible line up.
    • The Real star of the Women’s Network segment however was Yolanda Hadid of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fame and new 9Honey contributor who was interviewed on the couch by Leila McKinnon.9-upfronts-3

The announcement of the Future Laboratory, an insights and research company that Nine are working with, will focus on key consumer segments and trends, enabling advertisers to further refine audience targeting when planning campaigns

  • Access to the Lab provides advertisers with a deep dive into key audience content consumed and overlayed with upcoming trends to reach audiences via visual communication.
  • Nine stressed the point that the ability to tell a story via live local premium content remains at the heart of its DNA

Unsurprisingly, sport will remain a core offering, with a host of sporting luminaries promoting its 2017 line-up with new womens sport coverage adding to its live sport portfolio

  • Tom Malone, Director of Sport, announced the addition to the networks live sport offering to include winning the FTA rights to netball.
  • Sporting talent was welcomed on stage by Erin Moylan that included a one on one interview with Warney who was joined on the couch by Gus Gould and Liz Ellis regaling their sporting moments.
  • They committed to continuing to invest in technology to provide the ultimate viewer experience with particular focus on the long history of Wide World of Sports.

Whilst there were no new ground breaking program announcements, Adrian Swift, Head of Content & Programming, again highlighted Nine’s commitment to local content with new and returning programs with the announcement of 500 hours of entertainment including 50 hours of drama and the largest production budget ever in 2017.

  • Nine have struggled to find consistent audiences this year, declining -10.6% against P25-54 and will focus on harnessing their strengths in news, current affairs and sport alongside several new programs launching in the new year.
  • Local Australian drama production remained the theme of the live chat with the stars of Nine’s small screen interviewed by Lisa Wilkinson that included Rodger Corser, Julia Morris, Mandy McElhinney and Rhys Muldoon.

Nine will introduce several new programs at the start of 2017 which should provide a point of difference from the market saturation of cooking and talent shows and help drive momentum for the network from the outset of the ratings year. Network 10 have seen success with the family targeted Family Feud, which bodes well for the introduction of two new family reality genre programs, Ninja Warrior and Family Food Fight to Nine’s line–up.

  • Ninja Warrior – Nine is pinning its hopes on this show to be the no 1 family show next year (with Rebecca Maddern given her first hosting job) – based on the US version, it’s an obstacle course for elite athletes.
  • Family Food Fight – which will pit family members against one another to find “Australia’s greatest food family” and challenging MKR for the number 1 food program
  • This Time Next Year – people achieving personal goals over a year-long period hosted by Karl Stefanovic.
  • The Last Resort – Love me or Leave me – relationship show that sends unhappy couples to a tropical island to determine if they should split or not.
  • The return of Hamish and Andy
  • An Alan Bond mini-series title House of Bond
  • A new Underbelly series on the life of Mark “Chopper” Read
  • Travel Guides that sees ordinary Australians sent to uncomfortable overseas destinations
  • Murder Calls – re-opens cases of unsolved crimes
  • Sophie Monk and comedian Nick Cody will host Accidental Heroes –  “the weirdest families, wildest animals and some of the greatest fails ever to be caught on camera”
  • The A List entertainment program hosted by Richard Wilkins
  • Returning reality & drama includes Love Child, Doctor Doctor, House Husbands, The Habibis, Married at First Sight & The Voice (with Seal returning)

Michael Stevenson, Chief Sales Officer, then introduced us to Story+ and Nine Galaxy and invited advertisers to challenge the status quo with the new Nine in 2017:

Story+ is a suite of opportunities that enable brands to be deeply integrated into premium drama across every screen and platform via several options:

  • Director’s Cut: Where brand creative takes on the treatment of the show.
  • Blurred Lines: Where brands seamlessly meet plotline.
  • Storyline Extend: Back stories, spin-offs and behind-the-scenes.
  • Get the Goss: The moments that everyone is talking about.

Step-in: Immersing consumers in the experience through an online hub that outlines each of the characters, their backstories and how they’re all connected.

9Galaxy is a dynamic trading model that will automate the scheduling of TV airtime to deliver an agreed number of ratings for an agreed budget with testing commencing in market from February

  • Based on briefed campaign parameters, 9Galaxy will provide a cost to deliver guaranteed ratings & will continue to monitor and adjust performance of the campaign based on audience forecasts.

Pyrotechnics and the entire Nine cast then closed the (perhaps) longest upfront ever!

 With their expanded digital offering and commitment to local content and broad distribution delivering stable audiences via the 9 Brand – as opposed to just the TV screen – is their key focus for 2017.

Underpinning the framework of Nine’s presentation for the year ahead, is the reliance on its traditional strengths in local news, current affairs and sport alongside it’s new family reality shows to deliver consistent audiences.

The opportunity for advertisers on Nine for 2017 lies in the potential growth of their multi-platform women’s network and alongside its new research offerings, enabling buyers to target this key grocery buying audience via cross platform campaigns and testing efficiencies via dynamic trading.

Loading Facebook Comments ...

Leave a Reply

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


text:
Outrageous Nardi Furniture Tips

A vast range from cool and trendy dining establishment chair selections may be found to you, much like genuine leather-made, metal, as well as plastic. A fantastic bistro ought to be actually recognizable due to the satisfaction of its own laborers, the cleanliness of the restaurant, and the slant of the customers.

Thats why Destiny Seatings make use of Tubular Structure product MS CRCA/ Stainless steel for assembly from Coffee shop Chairs. Our company regularly obtain praises on our patio area household furniture and also umbrellas. Horestco follows the key principles from using high quality furniture at a skilled rate. This is actually great worth for cash, especially if the cost corrects.

Our experts all recognize dining tables, benches, and bar stools, so you could maintain focused on all the opposite features of working your online company. The dining establishment club furnishings need to and could tempt customers, and also in the really same opportunity they should reduce the tension shut to region problem. Making use of the proper professional to your restaurant will definitely be sure that they have deemed just about every a component from your kitchen space as well as restaurant.

Effectively, to begin with you would like to consider just what products as well as the flooring property can be finest within the spot. Perhaps an all new job, a brand new community, a wonderful location for a cultivating members from the household: Whatever the aim, moving your home furnishings must be wrapping up now you should navigate to a new location.

Create sure all the rooms in your home are well-lit prior to welcoming prospective buyers arrive. Make certain that you talk to the dealer and obtain a markdown.

Having said that, you need to hold to the form of cuisine you will certainly be providing as well as to your own personal style. It can be actually put back to back thus even more consumers will be fit. The banners may likewise signify their begin and end days. These are actually just to explain a few while there is actually a whole lot techniques which could be actually appointed to maintain the bistro expand.

Guys merely wow, this is the only way I can easily define the Costco Chaise your firm has actually delivered at our freshly refurbished bistro. If you such as to have a typical create for your home, you will suppose to choose products that additionally offer appeal from conventional design.

Finding The Best Nardi Furniture

Hence you do not must put in that much attempt to try to find the specific furnishings that you are actually trying to find. If you are a dining establishment proprietor and also your furnishings is actually collapsing, then that certainly is without top quality. An extra indoor style company as well as bespoke concept service is actually available for those that are intrigued.

Look for excellent bistro furnishings vendors in order that you will definitely manage to take pleasure in the ideal furniture for your restaurant. The greatest provider should be experienced good enough in this field. The same bar furniture might certainly not actually appear good in the restaurant as it performs in the bar and also you have to purchase bar furnishings for bench.

Having a dining establishment suggests greater than assisting meals to starving leads. Pals could possibly create your trip a lot more wonderful and also you’ll check out a variety of the many places that might be unseen through tourists.

These serving companies can easily give and deliver food items along with various other necessary solutions practically awhere you will like. Author: tonynrkzro If you as if to have a comfortable as well as enjoyable eating, then the French dining chairs are actually the best choice.

A whole lot even more significantly, the paint is actually a trait that the common individual can possibly do this your own self rather in comparison to be actually required to work with specialists to attempt and also get the job done.

This may be actually put back to back therefore more consumers are going to be actually accommodated. These are actually merely to specify a few while there is actually an entire great deal methods which could be actually appointed to maintain the bistro expand.

Whether you are seeking display screen devices such as shelving, complimentary status racks or even cans, majority dispensers or even refrigerated situations, converters or even register as well as ranges, there are a handful of rules that will certainly make your work considerably simpler.


text:
Skip to main content Accessibility Statement
Many are taking advantage of the new pension freedoms, but if you're unlocking your pension and under 55, you will be hit with a massive tax bill.

The dangers of pension release

More than £17 billion has been withdrawn legitimately from pensions in the form of cash lump-sums and annuities since the new freedoms were introduced in 2015. But the new freedoms have brought new dangers.

Some companies are now specifically targeting the under-55s, telling them they’re able to access their retirement fund.

While this is not necessarily illegal, it is an unauthorised payment from your pension (apart from two very specific exceptions) and therefore it should certainly be avoided because you will end up losing a lot of money.

Why will I lose money?

There are two ways you’ll be hit in the pocket by trying to access your pension before you turn 55.

First, the company unlocking your pension will charge fees. This can be as much as 30% of the amount you’re taking out.

Your pension provider will then tell HMRC you’ve withdrawn this money – they’re required to do this by law. You will then be hit with a tax bill of 55% on what you withdrew.

This means you could lose up to 85% of what you wanted to take out!

What if I didn’t know about the tax bill?

Doesn’t matter, you still have to pay. If you took the money out, even if you didn’t know about the tax bill, offer to pay the money back into your pension, or have already spent it, you will have to pay up.

How can I recognise these companies?

It can be quite difficult, as they can look similar to the completely legitimate companies doing this for the over-55s and, as mentioned earlier, there is technically nothing illegal about offering this service – although it can be classed as fraud if they don’t highlight the tax implications of what you are doing.  Often its hidden away in the small print.

But, if you’re under-55 (apart from the two exceptions below) there is no way of accessing your pension without being hit with fees and a massive tax bill.

Is it possible to access my pension before 55?

Yes, but only under two very specific circumstances.

1. If you’re suffering from a very serious illness and wish to retire early.

2. If you have a ‘protected retirement date’ specified in your pension plan. This must have been granted before 6 April 2006 and is usually reserved for people who could not continue in their profession until normal retirement age, such as professional sports people.

Under both of these situations you would not need to use a pension release company as your pension provider will be able to arrange everything for you.

What if I’m over 55?

If you’re 55 or over you can get at the money in your pension pot, even if you’re not retired.

You can withdraw up to 25% of your pension pot tax-free, but will pay the standard tax rates on withdrawals over this amount.

Where can I find help?

Before you take any money out of your pension pot, it’s really important you get some professional, expert advice.

You can talk to the Pensions Advisory Service (TPAS) for free, or talk to an independent retirement adviser, or to your pension provider. But do talk to someone you can trust to get the facts before you make an irreversible decision.

What do you think?

We really want you to share your views, but please remember to be nice ☺
All fields are required. Check out our full commenting guidelines

By clicking on 'Post Comment', you're agreeing to our Commenting Policy

  • Dorothy Kaganowich / 5 July

    Hi thank you very much for this most inspiring article.
    Please can you re-email it to me


text:
The best Side of programming project help

In the image below, you've the two layout pattern mentioned in. I am seeking to compare the two one on just one to establish the similarities. In case you notice the determine thoroughly, you will note an simply comprehensible color pattern (same colour is used to mark the courses which might be of similar sort).

A few-tier is actually a customer-server architecture by which the consumer interface, purposeful system logic, details storage and details obtain are made and preserved as independent modules, some time on independent platforms. The time period "

I thought, "Damn the torpedoes, at least this could make a great post," [and] asked the workforce to crank up the many knobs to ten about the issues I assumed have been crucial and leave out everything else.

Estimation of the bottom-up Value by building and using the WBS, that's developed from the data supplied.

Getting broad practical experience and highly experience in various Programming languages allow for us to offer a broad choice of Programming homework and Assignments services.

An introduction of the project including the definition, define, ownership, final final results and also the revenue system and many of the crucial characteristics from the project.

Our experience in doing Laptop science programming homework is usually a solid proof of in excess of 300 Personal computer science programming homework, Assignments, and projects every single month.

The entire process More Help of developing of have a peek at these guys an instrument employed for the objective of study. The excerpt also describes about the gathering of knowledge plus the ways to research it.

Will you are taking it?? If that's so, I'll share the authorship along with Go Here you. This post is attracting Countless viewers on day by day foundation.. So not a waste of your time and energy..

There are many other ways that an encapsulation can be employed, as an example we normally takes the use of the interface. The interface can be utilized to hide the information of an implemented course.

Occasionally creational styles are complementary: In order to sign up for a person or quite a few patterns after you structure your process. For example builder can use one of many other styles to employ which parts get created or in An additional case Abstract Manufacturing unit, Builder, and Prototype can use Singleton within their implementations.

After looking through the a fantastic read main few paragraphs, I discovered it difficult to continue on. I'm positive your short article has some vital factors, but get an individual to examine/edit it before putting up.

The transition from slicing-edge curiosity to realistic workhorse is not 1 that lots of technologies make. Yesterday’s precocious upstarts typically fall short to Dwell up to their Edition 0.1 assure. Not so for the systems which make up the fiercely acronymized Suggest stack.

Coding will also be employed to figure out the best suited Answer. Coding can also help to speak thoughts about programming challenges. A programmer handling a complex programming trouble, or obtaining it difficult to website here explain the solution to fellow programmers, could possibly code it in the simplified method and utilize the code to demonstrate what they means.

Leave a Reply

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


text:
My husband came home not wearing his wedding ring again…he just went to play "poker" .?

August 27, 2010 :: Posted by - admin :: Category - Q&A Forum

Question by Paralegal1982: My husband came home not wearing his wedding ring again…he just went to play “poker” .?
and came home not wearing it. He gave a half ass apology and then went straight to his xbox to avoid me :( He has done this shit before and I always felt silly for checking his ring out every night to make sure he had it on (on the sly). He said he didn’t know why he took it off. But that he does want to be married to me. I’m just done with the stupid avoidable shit that he does to hurt me. I just feel like he doesn’t want me anymore. Shouldnt I be really angry? he makes it seem like I have no reason to be upset. He even went as far as saying “what, would you rather me wear a ring to a bar and make out with someone”….wtf did that mean? He said he has never cheated on me. But how can I even trust him if he does this shit? What should I do…he has been pulling this shit for 3 years almost.
other than the wedding ring, there has been “hard” evidence that he has done more. Or at least tried. I’m not insecure, he just can’t be trusted! Screw off. I was asking for advice, not criticizm.

Best answer:

Answer by *born2Bmom*
oooh sureeeee…… just leave him. its obvious he is CHEATING!!!!

Give your answer to this question below!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

15 Responses to “My husband came home not wearing his wedding ring again…he just went to play "poker" .?”

  1. Tammy * Says:

    There are other things you could be checking out other than his ring to see if he is cheating… but it appears to me that he is being secretive and untruthful. Remember people don’t change…

  2. GUEST WHO again Says:

    he is trying to pick up some girls which means he really isn’t happy with you sexually

  3. JShmo Says:

    Well i forget to put mine on sometimes… but I don’t act all defensive when i do, or make comments about making out w/ people in bars.

    If you are able to stay calm and have this conversation with him, you probably should. He’s not likely to answer your or want to if you are attacking him about it. If you really want to know the truth, sit down, calmly and ask him whats been going on. Does he just want to feel young again and have attention from ladies, or is he really going out and hooking up w/ people.. He does need to tell you this stuff, for the reasons of.. well cheating on you, and risking your health by sleeping with other people.

    Just tell him that you want to know the truth no matter what it is. before hand, you might want to decide how you want to proceed if he does say he’s been cheating. do you want to stick around and figure out why, or if you want to stay in the relationship, or if that’s a “this is it, get the Fu** out of the house” kind of thing.. “

  4. opetke Says:

    Failure to wear a piece of metal is hardly what I would consider HARD EVIDENCE.

    I think the only evidence here is that

    a) You don’t communicate well with your man
    b) Your man is actively trying to avoid you
    c) Your marriage needs a lot of work.

    Marital problems…certainly.

    And by the way, men and women have been getting on each other’s last nerve for thousands of years. This is nothing that can’t be fixed.

    Good Luck!

  5. Millo Says:

    for a paralegal you dont seem to bright darlin’!
    3 years he’s been trying to hook another girl..that’s what is happening.
    silly thing is, had he left the ring on he probably have a better chance screwing around….i been married 6 years and i never take mine off, never even tried, doubt it would come off even if i wanted too.
    but i do get hit on by ladies nearly every time i go out with the guys.

    it comes down to this, can you live with this for the rest of your life?
    if not, u know what has to be done!

  6. Nicole Says:

    Wow, what a prick! Stop wearing your ring and see what his reaction is then.

  7. rickrude Says:

    Busted…ooops!!! He was probably at Hooters with friends just hanging out. The time to worry is when he comes home smelling like a women was all over him. Just remind him that you don’t aprove what he’s doing to you and make him sleep on the couch… Be strong Girl !!

  8. nickers999980 Says:

    My husbands friend used to go out often without his wife, he took his wedding ring off for the purpose of picking up woman, sounds like your husband is doing the same.

  9. Diva Says:

    Damn… You’re a harpy. Quit being so insecure and only start suspecting when he gives you a reason and not some stupid thing like taking his ring off.

    To men, the wedding ring is not as important to them as it to us.

  10. Ashley Says:

    don’t think your crazy for checking his ring finger. i occasionally check my husbands finger too. do he leave with the ring on? if so i would be suspicious. also the comment he made makes it seem like he is doing something he isn’t supposed to be doing. don’t accuse him of anything until you find out. and remember cheating will always come out sooner or later, you may not know now but eventually you will.

    good luck!

  11. Jemma Says:

    In other words, he’s been upsetting you and making you feel crappy and suspicious for 3 years now? My, aren’t you a glutton for punishment??!!! Leave him to his x-box and stupid stories about why he takes his ring off and get out there and find someone who makes you feel happy instead of crappy!! All the best,

  12. daughter_of_God Says:

    Stop listening to what he says (ie. he says he isn’t cheating, says he wants to stay married) and pay attention to what he is doing. He goes out to allegedly play poker but comes home not wearing his wedding ring. And when you want to discuss it, he hides behind his x-box or he becomes defensive and tries to make you the issue. And if he isn’t cheating on you now, he will be shortly. Get out while you can and before he gives you AIDS. I think it is time for you to talk to a divorce lawyer and see what is the best way to extricate yourself from this marriage. Take care.

  13. Painter Says:

    You are beautiful, obviously :) You don’t need to put up with his sh**. Unless you have been treating him really bad. If your effort is there and his is not, dump this a**hole and find a guy who deserves you :) Just a little advise from an old guy :/

  14. Pookie Says:

    Pick your battles wisely!
    My husband doenst wear his ring very often, primarily because he cant at work, and because after work theres not really a point in putting it on, I however do get excited when I see he does put it on (usually during the weekend when we go out- and sometimes not at all because he plays hockey).
    Maybe your husband just forgets to wear it and doesn’t see the ring as being the marriage, the more you nag at him the worst your arguments are going to get.

    Instead why dont you just be happy and make a point in telling him how happy you are when he is wearing it.

    If you think hes cheating on you, then you have a whole new set of problems besides him wearing the ring, but my bets that he said what he did to you out of anger, not because he is cheating but because your issue lies much deeper then him not wearing the ring, its about your insecurities.

    Dont ask a question if you arent prepared to hear what people have to say as answers, the issue isnt the wedding ring, the issue is your insecurities with him and the relationship, why are you highlitening what is so unimportant (wearing the ring or not for that matter) and not concentrating on getting yourselves some counselling to deal with the infedelity, do you just tell your husband to go screw off when your mad? (maybe he took that literally , appears he has)…either you need to get yourselves into some counseling to over come the fact hes been unfaithful, or you need to decide whether or not you want to continue being in a relationship with a man who treats you like garbage and cheats on you

  15. Wichita Says:

    Women are so weak and silly. Poker and poke her sound a lot alike.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.


text:
Saturday, June 30, 2007

Beyond Facebook: Encounters Of The Too Close Kind?

What's Next: Beyond Facebook

By David H. Freedman | Inc. | April 2007 pp. 71-72

Daniel Serfaty had to appreciate the irony. The founder of Aptima, a Woburn, Massachusetts, software developer, Serfaty was working hard to build a new, high-powered social-networking system designed to find connections between people attempting to solve similar problems. Think Facebook, except rather than connecting college students looking to flirt and swap pictures, it would match people who have highly complex technical questions with experts able to answer them.
But there was a rub: Serfaty was having trouble finding a development partner who shared his goal--the very sort of problem his system was intended to solve.

But then the Department of Defense [snip] suddenly came calling. Why the change in tune? Two DoD managers who had never collaborated, even though they worked one floor apart, ran into each other at a cocktail party and decided that what the department needed was a system that could help people like them find each other.

Scoring the sort of elusive connection that is normally the domain of plain dumb luck is, of course, the promise of online social networking.

[snip]The problem? Managers of sophisticated, fast-growing companies don't need the world at large to chip in when they have a question. They need input from exactly the right people, and those people are extremely hard to identify and track down.

Fortunately, a new generation of social-networking software is on its way, software that not only lets people build impressive webs of connections but also analyzes those networks to provide all manner of insights to users.

Serfaty's software, for example, monitors a network's online communications, such as e-mail and instant messaging, to learn who communicates with whom--and uses keyword analysis to determine what sort of problems and expertise are being tossed back and forth.

Aptima's software, which remains in development and is not yet available, will be able to suggest instantly who on the network is the best person to consult when a specific problem comes up.

"You leave your footprints everywhere you go in cyberspace," [snip] Businesses, mostly large corporations, have been trying for years to get at information about who within an organization talks to whom about what via a technique called organizational network analysis.

[snip] Aptima is automating the process of organizational network analysis by gleaning it from online activity. It's not the only company taking that approach, which might be termed "intelligent social networking."

... eTelemetry already offers a $35,000 self-contained box that can be attached to a corporate network to trace an organization's electronic communications and map out a network analysis chart that shows which individuals in the organization serve as the hubs or linchpins between different groups.

[snip] The American Association of Airport Executives, an 80-person industry group, has begun using eTelemetry to improve informal lines of communication between employees. "If we can see where the bottlenecks are, then we can do things to speed up decision making," says Patrick Osborne, who heads the group's IT efforts.

[snip] Visible Path, a Foster City, California-based company, has released a beta version of its e-mail-tracking tool on its website ... [which] doesn't examine the content of messages; it only notes who sends messages to whom, when they send them, and how frequently. [snip]

[snip] In addition to being knowledgeable, a good collaborator is someone who's not currently bogged down in other tasks, is willing to be helpful, and works well with people like you. That's why Aptima's tools are being designed to take into account not just the depth of knowledge and experience of the people in the network but also their workload and workstyle.

Aptima's'systems are still in the experimental stage; when they are available, they'll be aimed at government agencies and large companies.

Should they prove successful, systems for smaller companies and consumer markets will follow. Needless to say, monitoring e-mail and other communications poses privacy issues. [snip]

In the case of Aptima and eTelemetry, the goal is to get entire organizations to install the software; that will take care of privacy considerations because, in general, companies have the right to subject employees to communications monitoring. That would allow the broad mapping of relationships throughout those organizations and between any organizations that agree to pool their networks.

Visible Path, which has made its software available to the public, hopes to create a mass cross-organization network, but only if it can get enough individuals to sign up to have their e-mail tracked.

But even intelligent social-networking tools, no matter how smart they get, will sometimes fail to get a handle on who can solve whose problems. That's because despite all the emphasis we tend to place these days on online activity, many of the most effective people still get a lot of their work done the old-fashioned way, that is, via phone calls or by dragging their butts over to someone's office for a talk, and the substance and even existence of those conversations can't easily be captured. And no matter how capable and all-knowing these systems get, you'll still stumble on the occasional great contact at a cocktail party or trade show or on an airplane flight. Technology can do wonders, but there's no complete replacement for the miracles accomplished every day through plain dumb luck.

No comments:


text:
Friday, March 27, 2009

NPR: What's For Sale? Check Facebook

NPR / Weekend Edition Saturday / March 7, 2009

The social-networking juggernaut Facebook is out to change online classified ads, turning what are often flat and anonymous listings into something personal, interactive and social.

In the process, the Facebook marketplace could raise millions of dollars for charity.

Facebook first launched an online classified ad site nearly two years ago, but it didn't catch on. Today, when most people think of online classifieds, they think of craigslist or perhaps the local newspaper's Web site.

Craigslist alone brings in tens of millions of dollars, and analysts say it could bring in much more. Facebook views that market as a potentially new and sizeable revenue stream. It's especially attractive because Facebook, though wildly popular, doesn't turn a profit.

The company's new approach to classified ads is like Facebook itself — social and interactive. A company called Oodle designed the site and will manage it.

The software application allows you to easily sell something, give it away, ask for something or sell an item with the proceeds going to a nonprofit.

No comments:


text:
Breaking down your research problem

Tolerance for the unknown is par for the course in graduate research, so it was no surprise last night when I found myself daunted by the prospect of the next phase of my PhD, which involves a significant jump in the complexity of my simulations.

Talking it through with my wife, though, I realized I could trace the source of my anxiety to 4 or 5 key elements that I haven’t yet learned how to do in the FEA code I am using. Once I broke it down, I realized that I wasn’t dealing with numerous interdependent unknowns and simultaneous “equations”—I was dealing with 5 essentially unrelated components. A sparse, banded matrix! It suddenly felt so simple.

I’ll point now to a very practical bit of advice from Daniel Lemire on intellectual productivity when overwhelmed:

The secret is this: break down your task into small and easy chunks of work. And just do them! […] Sometimes you do not know how to break down the task. Do not worry so much about it. Break it down in some way and get working.

This advice applies especially well to projects that appear to possess a high level of interrelated, parallel issues. Perhaps the dependencies are real, but here is the news flash: you probably aren’t going to simultaneously solve a massively parallel, underdefined problem in your head. In that case, you discretize the problem into the maximum number of as-independent-as-possible components you can and work on each one at a time, iterating over the bunch until the system starts working.

Don’t miss the trees for the tangled forest.

Obvious. Self-evident. Difficult to actually do.

Now back to learning those 5 things.


text:
Ocean View Apartments is a beautiful holiday accommodation located right on the golden sands at Sandown with direct access to the beach.  A former Victorian guest house which welcomed visitors to the town, the house has now been divided into two self-contained apartments and no. 2 is at beach level with a glazed veranda and enclosed patio are, which in turn leads to the sandy beach.

The apartment has been modernised and greatly improved to provide three bedrooms, two of which have an en-suite and all of which are doubles.  In addition, there is a tastefully fitted kitchen and dining room, a lounge that leads out on to the beach front patio, a separate WC and a family bathroom.

During your stay at Ocean View you will have all bed linen (with the exception of the cot) provided along with towels, electricity and gas and there is use of a highchair and cot.  All rooms also have a TV and DVD.  You will also have access to a garage for parking.

To see how the apartment is laid out, please look at the floor plan below.

The apartment is either approached via gentle Public steps at the side of the building or from the road via a smaller and steeper set of steps.  For full details relating to access for the property PLEASE CLICK HERE