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"amazing butterfly farm" is one of the most innovative and exciting mobile game this year!" critics says. what amazing butterfly farm brings to the mobile game is just as exciting as what j park brings to the movies or even more. you can create hundreds of millions of new butterfly species on your mobile phone. yes, the butterflies you breed and raise in this game may never exist before - it is totally out of this world. the fun does not end here, you can take a picture of your beautiful butterfly and share it with your friends and even make it as a background picture for your phone. so why are you waiting for? it is time to create the most beautiful butterfly that you have never dreamt of. download the game for free! the game includes: 1. possibilities to create hundreds of millions of new butterfly species. 2. hundreds of levels game play 3. many beautiful ponds as sanctuaries for your butterflies. "andy - the game is so amazing! too many butterflies await me to collect. " "jessica-such a fun and addicting game! tasty graphics, i soak myself in the world of butterfly farm! " "stella -wow. i was a bit skeptic about playing a farming game, but this game is absolutely amazing, too many things to explore! " butterfly farm features: -free -thousands of rare butterflies are awaiting you to collect -easy, fun touch gestures that mimic real butterfly farming activities -build ponds of different styles -use fog to catch rare butterflies in the wild -beautiful animations and sounds! your farm really feels alive! -retina optimized for the new ipad to enjoy the unparalleled visual experience!
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Film Title: Sessions
Released 2012 Written & Directed by: Dahsheen Amin
Assistant Director: Kevin Shamsid-Deen
Camera: David Brown & John Morse
Director of Photography: David Brown
Still Photography: Paul Mckenzie
Produced by: Good News Productions LLC
Edited by: Jason Jones & Jeff Wingo
“Sessions” a romantic comedy about a psychologist whose sudden divorce reveals a host of secrets about her husband. She is forced to turn the therapy tables inward as close friends attempt to guide her through this difficult yet funny transition back to the world of dating.
Order “Sessions” on DVD for $10.00 USD + $3.75 for shipping.

domain: artistic


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We're sorry, this tour or activity is not available for selected date.
Choice of several departures throughout the day
Explore the local streets on a walking tour of the city
Soak up the atmosphere on a walking tour
Explore the haunted Blair Street Underground Vaults with access no other tour company can offer, then head to the Canongate graveyard, where the spirits of the dead await. It might be something to do with the change in temperature. Or the perpetual darkness. Or the ever smaller rooms, stretching beyond the weak beam of a torch. Whatever the reason, there’s something unsettling about the Blair Street Underground Vaults – and your expert guide will reveal the troubling tales on this evening walking tour. Cannibals. Body snatchers. Deals with the Devil. And that’s before we head underground. Torture. Murder. Hangings. And that’s just what went on in the vaults. A walk along dim streets to the Canongate graveyard will bring you to the resting place of the city’s most famous figures: Adam Smith, the father of economics; David Rizzio, the lover of Mary Queen of Scots; and James Douglas, 3rd Marquess of Queensberry – the infamous cannibal of the Canongate.
Visit to Canongate Graveyard
Food and drinks
Transportation to/from attractions
Confirmation will be received within 48 hours of booking, subject to availability
Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level

domain: travel


The Valedictory ceremony of the fourth edition of National Conference NCACSP-2016, conducted by the Department of Electronics and Communication at SJEC was held on August 12, 2016 at 3.30 PM in the Spoorthi Conference Hall of Academic Block III. The function began by invoking God’s Blessings with a prayer song.
Ms Prajwal D’souza, Associate Professor in the Department of Electronics and Communication welcomed the dignitaries. Dr Bini A.A., Convener of NCACSP-2016 briefed the gathering about the two days conference. The Chief Guest for the ceremony, Dr K Giridhar, Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at IIT-Madras gave away the Best Paper award for the four sessions of the Conference. Participation Certificates were issued by the President of the function, Dr Joseph Gonsalvis, Principal of SJEC. The Chief Guest Dr K Giridhar in his address to the gathering quoted that “shradhavan labhathe jananm - A faithful man gets the knowledge” and said that being humble is very important in one’s life. Dr Joseph Gonsalvis honored the Chief Guest with a memento. In his presidential address, Dr Gonsalvis congratulated the entire Faculty and Students involved in NCACSP-2016. Ms Shama B N, Convener-NCACSP- 2016, proposed the vote of thanks.
The second SJEC Distinguished Lecture Series was held on 25th November, 2017 at Spoorthi Hall ...READ MORE
“TechnoCrats” - Computer Applications Association of SJEC under the aegis of the Department o...READ MORE
The Twelfth Graduation Ceremony at SJEC was held on 11th November 2017 in the SJEC Open Air Stage....READ MORE
The student association CIPHER of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering organize...READ MORE
The Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering celebrated Engineers Day on the 27th of Oct...READ MORE
The Inauguration of the Electrical & Electronics Student Association (EELS) was held on 25th O...READ MORE
The EELS association conducted a technical talk on the topic ‘Building Information Modeling [BIM]-F...READ MORE


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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WV News) — A decision last fall by the Monongalia County Board of Education to reject a charter school’s application will stand, the state Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday afternoon.
West Virginia Academy had applied July 24 to open what would have been the state’s first charter school in Morgantown. The Monongalia County Board of Education unanimously voted to deny the application Nov. 30.
West Virginia Academy wanted to open a K-12 public charter school with a mission “to create a primary and secondary school culture that fosters each student’s learning, leadership, strength of character, global awareness and academic development.” Students from northern Preston County also could attend the school.
It wasn’t immediately clear how 2021 House Bill 2012 would impact the issue going forward.
The bill was signed by Gov. Jim Justice in March, and allows for up to 10 charter schools over the next three years.
The bill also created the West Virginia Professional Charter School Board. That board would report to the state Board of Education but exist separately from the Department of Education. Its purpose would be to “authorize high-quality public charter schools throughout the state,” according to the bill text.
The Supreme Court had expedited West Virginia Academy’s challenge.
The justices decided the West Virginia Department of Education didn’t have a legal duty to approve the application by West Virginia Academy.
The pertinent language in West Virginia Code § 18-5G-6(d) is ‘[a]ny failure to act on a charter application within the time specified shall be deemed an approval by the authorizer.’ The Department [of Education] is not the authorizer, and West Virginia Code § 18-5G-6(d) does not compel the Department to do anything,” the justices opined in a memorandum decision.
“There is also nothing in the Act allowing the Department to ‘certify’ or ‘deem’ an application as approved. Under the statute, the Department’s role in this process is to receive an application after it has already been approved or deemed approved by the authorizer. The very next subsection in the statute, West Virginia Code § 18-5G-6(e), provides: ‘An authorizer’s charter application approval shall be submitted to the West Virginia Department of Education.’ (emphasis added),” the justices wrote.
“After receiving the approved (including ‘deemed approved’) applications from around the State, the Department determines whether there are more approved applications than the number of public charter schools permitted by the Act. If there are more approvals than is permitted, the Department is charged with assembling an impartial panel to rank the applications. See W. Va. Code R. § 126-79-5.7.a. However, this ranking process has nothing to do with certifying or deeming an application as approved,” the justices wrote.
“WV Academy could have sought legal redress against the two county boards of education in this matter, but it did not do so. In essence, WV Academy is seeking to have the Department serve as an appellate tribunal to decide whether a county board of education authorizer properly and timely conducted its application review; however, such a process is not included in the 2019 version of the Act,” the justices wrote.

domain: news


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Don’t worry, this article is definitely not about painting the walls pink or blue and putting stickers of Winnie the Pooh or Buzz Light Year up, but more about being creative in your home in such a way that it adds a special and unique touch your kids (and you) will love!
Here are the 7 ways to getting creative in your home for your kiddies without killing your décor:
- Get chalking: Purchase chalkboard paint and 2 or more packs of coloured chalk. Paint a small section or entire wall with two coats of the chalk paint (inside or outside). When dry, get chalking – this is possibly one of the top things to do in your home that your kids will thank you for!
- Create a play station: This is the area / room where your children have the space (and permission) to play, explore and be creative. Here are a few items you could include in this area either on shelves or on a table and chairs:
- Child friendly scissors
- Glue and variety of sticky tapes (clear / colourful / washitape)
- Pencils and / or crayons
- Stapler, stables and punch (depending on age)
- Recycled materials e.g. egg cartons, old cereal boxes, paper, etc
- Books – reading and colouring books
- Show off your children’s works of art: Place some of your children’s art work into frames and hang a whole bunch of them together on a wall. This adds that unique touch we mentioned earlier and is guaranteed to please the artist too. Having a wall full of your children’s artwork will bring personality to the house and will make friends and family smile when coming to visit.
- Thrown down some floor cushions: Cushions provide the perfect opportunity of adding a splash of colour to a room. Add some colourful floor cushions to your living area for little ones to sit on, lie on or give Dad a swipe with! If not so keen on floor pillows, consider poufs which work just as well!
- Be creative with storage: If you are concerned about toys lying around in your living areas, consider placing woven baskets or pretty buckets in strategic areas. Not only will these items be able to store goodies, they will add colour and texture to the room.
- Light it up: There are very few kids who don’t like glow in the dark items or fun forms of lighting. Invest in fairy lights, glow in the dark stickers or those tube lights that can be wrapped around any door or corner or shaped into a word of your choice!
- Setup Tent: What child doesn’t love hiding away? A tent, in a room’s corner, can be setup pretty quickly with a decent size sheet, pegs and chairs. Tepees are very popular and there are loads of instructions and ideas on how to make them on Pinterest. Fill it with cushions, some reading material and voila!
Bought to you by Parmalat Growth Milk 3+
Original article can be found on Parent24
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domain: hobby


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Submitting items to 4S and Technoscience Updates
The monthly deadline for inclusion in the newsletter is the 7th.
April 05 2017 to April 09 2017 | Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting, Boston, MA (USA)
Updated: September 15 2016Recent developments in the means and techniques of warfare have raised questions anew about the spatial delimitation of the battlefield, the legal and ethical norms about killing, and the migration of military technologies to other spheres of security practice. In response, scholars from a variety of disciplines have worked to make sense of these changing geographies of war and violence through scholarship on weapons systems, algorithmic surveillance, special operations, and logistics and infrastructure. Within this work, one approach has been to explore warfare as a set of interrelated processes and has emphasized the longer genealogies and historical geographies of the technologies and materialities of these practices (Kim 2016, Gordillo 2014, Chamayou 2015, Salter 2015, 2016). Less attention, however, has been devoted to historical role of science, and particularly scientific experimentation and testing, in designing, using and managing the scope and consequences of these war technologies and practices over time (c.f. De Landa 1991, Bousquet 2009, Howell 2011, Johnson 2015). Drawing on a tradition of viewing science as a political practice (Latour 1987, Schaffer and Shapin 1985, Daston and Galison 2010), this panel will recast recent attention to the ‘apparatus’ of war – the collection of actors, objects, practices and discourses through which violent action is constituted (Gregory 2011, Bolton 2015). Focusing on the role of experimental practice in the evolution of the fields – spaces and objectives – of battle, the objective is to consider the consequences not only for means and mechanisms that become possible, but also permissible. The focus is therefore to examine the settings in which techniques and technologies are tested out and in time become standardized, such that the violence of war becomes rational, legal and ethical. We are especially interested in papers, both historical and contemporary in scope, related to (but not excluded to) the changing targets and targeting of killing, the intersection of the spaces of science and war (such as laboratories, testing grounds and military industries), the historical and recent geographies of cyberspace and cyberwarfare, the intersection between medicine and military practice, and the epistemological frameworks underpinning practices of science and warfare.
Please send abstracts (250 words) and/or questions to Katharine Kindervater (firstname.lastname@example.org) and Nisha Shah (email@example.com) by October 1, 2016
Bolton M (2015) From Minefields to Minespace: An Archeology of the Changing Architecture of Autonomous Killing In US Army Field Manuals On Landmines, Booby Traps and IEDs. Political Geography 46: 41-53.
Bousquet A (2009) The Scientific Way of Warfare: Order and Chaos on the Battlefields of Modernity. London: Hurst Publishers.
Chamayou, G (2015) A Theory of the Drone. New York: The New Press.
Daston L and Galison P (2010) Objectivity. New York: Zone Books.
Gordillo G (2015) Rubble: The Afterlife of Destruction. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Gregory, D (2011) From a View to Kill: Drones and Late Modern War. Theory, Culture, and Society 29: 188-215.
Howell, A (2011) Madness in International Relations: Psychology, Security and the Global Governance of Mental Health. London and New York: Routledge.
Johnson, E (2015) Of Lobsters, Laboratories, and War: Animal Studies and the Temporality of More-Than-Human Encounters. Environment and Planning D 33 (2): 296-313.
Kim EJ (2016) Toward an Anthropology of Landmines: Rogue Infrastructure and Military Waste in the Korean DMZ. Cultural Anthropology 31(2): 162-187.
Salter M (ed.) Making Things International 1: Circuits and Motion. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2015.
Salter M (ed.) Making Things International 2: Catalysts and Reactions. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2016.

domain: library


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The new 3-star business & leisure hotel with an urban ambiance is situated in the heart of Baden. In cooperation with the Trafo Hallen, the hotel features a variety of modern, well-equipped rooms for private working, meetings and seminars. A number of rooms have direct access to the hotel lobby or to Hall 37. In addition, some can be interconnected to make a larger area covering up to 144 sq.m (1,550 sq.ft).
Number of hotel rooms: 81
Number of meeting rooms: 6 (more rooms at the Trafo Baden)
Christmas Parties at Trafo Baden
From October to January, the Hotel Trafo in Baden welcomes guests in a cozy pop-up chalet, where they enjoy the finest fondue made from local cheese – with bacon, truffles, or the classic way.
|Room name||Conference / Theater||Classroom||U-shape / Block||Banquet||Reception / Cocktail|
|Volt 2 / Volt 3||40||18||16||-||-|
|Zürich Main Station||20.9 km||25 min|
|Zürich Airport||19.8 km||37 min|


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Rajkot : Eight people, including four women, were killed and one other sustained injuries when their car collided with a speeding truck on Surendranagar-Viramgam highway in Rajkot on Wednesday.
Police said that the car was carrying nine members of two families when it collided with the truck at around 6am.
“The victims were residents of Rajkot and were going to Ghoghaji Maharaj temple for darshan,” Viramgam police sub-inspector JD Zala said.
The deceased were identified as Ashok Lalji, Kalu Gamara, Shailesh Gamara, Labuben Gamara, Pushpa Jetiya, Girish Jetiya, Kanekshwari Jetiya and Vibhaben Jetiya. One injured person was rushed to a hospital in Ahmedabad. “A complaint has been lodged against the truck driver and further investigation is on,” the SI added.

domain: law


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Combining the Power of Patient Advocacy, Cost-Effective Manufacturing to Bring Gene Therapies to Market
By Chris Anderson
August 30, 2023 | At CHI’s Bioprocessing Summit earlier this month, Rachel Salzman, founder of The Stop ALD Foundation and Global Head, Corporate Strategy at Armatus Bio, described the 20-year effort to develop and gain approval for a gene therapy to treat cerebral adrenal leukodystrophy (ALD), a monogenic neuro-metabolic disease caused by mutations in the ABCD1 gene. Salzman recounted personal experience involving her three nephews who were all afflicted with the disease in the early 2000s.
ALD, also known as Lorenzo’s Oil disease, is caused by mutations in the ABCD1 gene that prevent the body from breaking down very-long-chain fatty acids. Its symptoms include learning disabilities, cognitive deficits, loss of motor skills, seizures, and eventually leads to a vegetative state and death. While some ALD patients can be treated via hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, reach is limited—roughly 70% of patients don’t find a donor match. The need to develop a different form of therapy for children with ALD was pressing, so researchers shifted to a possible gene therapy to treat the disease.
But gene therapies, especially those treating rare genetic disorders, can be difficult to develop and bring through the regulatory process due to biopharma companies’ changing priorities and profit motive. Further, some early efforts to develop gene therapies for other conditions—including one known as “bubble boy disease”—showed initial promise but many patients later developed leukemia, which caused the FDA and other regulatory agencies around the world to quickly halt trials. As Salzman worked to shepherd a gene therapy for ALD to market, regulatory environment challenges prompted one company with a promising technology, Cell Genesis, to pivot to cancer drug development instead.
Patient advocacy groups often play pivotal roles in advancing a gene therapy and this was the case with the drug Skysona, developed by bluebird bio, which eventually gained approval for ALD. In the US, Salzman’s sister—whose sons had ALD—traveled to Washington to testify before the NIH’s Recombinant RNA Advisory Committee (RAC) to advocate for the kind of clinical research that might yield a gene therapy.
Salzman noted at the time that the RAC wasn’t a panel of regulators, but her sister made a poignant plea for them to consider pushing ahead with trials. “These are her words: ‘Gene therapy is simply another potentially promising avenue that should be explored, it should be given the same opportunities offered to experimental drugs, surgeries, and other therapeutic approaches. We do not expect a homerun, we just want every chance at that possible,’” Salzman recounted.
The journey continued but wasn’t straight. Skysona was approved in Europe and then withdrawn after a time due to commercial concerns—not issues related to safety or efficacy. Then, in 2022, the FDA approved the treatment, and March marked the first patient dosed with this potentially life-saving therapy.
Salzman noted that the urgency a patient advocacy group can bring to the process is vital. Their ability to help share information between multiple stakeholders including patients, patient families, researchers, biotechs, and regulatory agencies—and to bring them together—adds power to the process.


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I am very fond of the water - both salt and fresh - and a lot of my life revolves around it and has since I was very young. "If there is magic on the planet, it must be in the water." Not sure who authored that expression, but it rings true for me.
I like all forms of art and am quite fond of Modigliani portraits. If you’ve seen Fernando Botero's rendition of the Mona Lisa you’ll understand my sense of humor (you might enjoy it too).
My house is full of books as I love to read. You can find me: at a flea market, or the symphony, on the beach, or at a French café, lost in a bookstore, or at a garden shop. I love the elegance of the symphony or an afternoon on the beach.
Politically I'm liberal and a humanitarian at heart. My friends describe me as warm, intelligent and attractive, but I guess we’ll have to meet and you can decide for yourself. I'm high energy, laugh easily and have a dry, wicked sense of humor.
I am attracted to strong, intelligent people with warmth and an unfailing sense of humor that are quick to smile and laugh. Compassion and kindness come easily and you.
To love and be loved is to feel the sun on both sides.


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Mon 20 Sep 2021
A NINE-year-old boy on a pedal bike was seriously injured after a "hit and run" in Aston.
By David Parker on Mon 12 Jul 2021
A CUSTOMER who threatened to set his relatives onto a garage owner unless he gave him hundreds of pounds has been locked up.
By Michael Upton on Thu 01 Jul 2021
A VIOLENT sex offender with mental health issues threatened to kill police officers and brandished a knife at them, before climbing a tree and saying he would hang himself.
By David Parker on Fri 19 Feb 2021
A BUSINESS owner who assaulted a man who had punched his friend outside a nightclub has been fined.
By Admin on Fri 26 Apr 2019
A MAN was found with severe facial injuries in Wombwell woods following a suspected assault.
By Dave Doyle on Tue 13 Nov 2018
A TEENAGER was stabbed at Meadowhall Shopping Centre last night.
By Antony Clay on Fri 11 May 2018
MOSQUES in Rotherham are being urged to be on their guard following a new wave of extreme right wing hate mail.
By Dave Doyle on Wed 31 Jan 2018
THREE teenagers have been ordered to pay £50 compensation following incidents of assault and criminal damage in Swallownest and Aston.
By Adele Forrest on Fri 01 Dec 2017
TWO violent brothers have been jailed for a total of 18 years after attacking three men in separate incidents.
By Antony Clay on Wed 15 Nov 2017
TWO men attacked a dog walker — and then tried to take his pet.
By Antony Clay on Tue 25 Jul 2017
A MAN and woman are being sought by police following an unprovoked racially aggravated assault at Rotherham Central railway station.
By Antony Clay on Thu 25 May 2017
A BOOK of condolence at Rotherham Minster for the victims of the Manchester terrorist attack has been signed by 103 people so far, according to Canon David Bliss.
By Antony Clay on Tue 04 Apr 2017
A FIRE at a semi-detached home was one of two arson attacks tackled overnight by fire crews.
By Adele Forrest on Thu 02 Mar 2017
TWO men who attacked a woman with a knife and punched her in the face on a street in broad daylight are being hunted.


Airlander is the future of zero-carbon aviation. The aircraft combines unique capabilities across a diverse set of verticals with low cost of ownership compared to other competing non-hybrid aircraft and up to 90% reduction in carbon emissions. Hybrid Air Vehicles Limited (the Company or HAV) has been developing the technology at the heart of Airlander since our founding in 2007 and has established the global lead in this sector. Across all variants, the market for Airlander technology has been independently valued at over US$50 billion over the next 20 years. The Company’s Financial Model forecasts the first aircraft entering service within 5 years of first order, or of completion of the current investment round, delivering first aircraft into service between 2024 and 2025.
One of the biggest challenges facing all sectors is to reduce our impact on the environment. Aviation in particular has come under scrutiny for its contributions to carbon emissions globally, which are expected to rise as demand rises. The industry has made great strides in improving the efficiency of the aircraft we use today, but these changes have not delivered the technologies needed to rapidly decarbonise services.
The need for sustainability is reflected in many of the other challenges facing our society. Regional connectivity is increasingly important to the health of our communities and our economies, but is also a growing challenge as we seek to reduce the carbon impact of transportation. Rail and road infrastructures are expensive to develop and come at an environmental cost.
We are critically dependent on limited, expensive, and increasingly vulnerable space and airborne services for communications, connectivity, and more. These services support systems including Global Positioning Systems, Internet of Things applications, self-driving cars, and keeping deployed troops safe. Space will remain an important growth market, but alternatives that provide short-term, flexible, mobile, resilient airborne surveillance and communications services are likely to be increasingly in demand.
The global nature of trade also has had an impact on cargo operations. International air freight has grown dramatically, but a gap remains between air and sea freight in terms of both cost and speed. Specialist solutions are also needed for delivering cargo to remote locations without infrastructure as we develop new parts of our world. Delivering these capabilities without dramatically impacting our environment is an imperative.
All of the challenges we face are set against the backdrop of a world that is increasingly mobile. People are drawn to new experiences, travelling further and to more remote places or spending time in communities to experience local flair. Wellness is a growing sector and more brands are seeking alternatives that allow them to offer experiences that transcend a simple holiday.
Airlander 10 offers a solution to many of these challenges. Across each of our sectors, we are able to offer an aircraft that is transformative for our customers. In comms and surveillance roles, Airlander offers a combination of payload and endurance better than any other comms and surveillance aircraft. In the tourism sector, Airlander offers an airborne experience that allows you to open the windows on a part of the world you haven’t seen before. In logistics, Airlander offers point-to-point cargo delivery with minimal fixed infrastructure.
Airlander 10 can deliver up to 90% fewer carbon emissions than comparable aircraft in many roles. This significant reduction is possible through the use of a buoyant lifting gas (helium), which offsets most of the weight of the Airlander airframe. This results in a relatively low power demand to lift the payload and move the aircraft through the air, which can be delivered through a combustion, hybrid-electric, or all-electric engine option appropriate to the role.
In developing Airlander, HAV has secured commercial revenues and other income of £81 million which has been supplemented by £7 million of EU and UK grant funding, approximately £22 million of equity, and £6 million of debt. These sums, which exceed £116 million, have allowed the development and de-risking of our business. We have designed, built, and flown a full-scale prototype Airlander under the supervision of the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European commercial aviation regulator.
We currently hold the Design Organisation Approval (issued by EASA in 2018) and Production Organisation Approvals (administered by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in accordance with EASA, issued in 2018) necessary to commence the Airlander 10 design, manufacture, and test programme. We have applied for a Type Certificate for Airlander 10 and have worked with EASA, CAA, and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to establish the basis for Type Approval of the aircraft.
In preparing for the launch of the Entry into Service programme, we have defined a Programme Execution Plan which is the basis of project schedules, costs, and risks with this being a major input into the Company’s baseline business plan presented in this document. This plan is based on management’s view of the reasonable worst-case programme delay resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the Company is pursuing numerous opportunities with customers, strategic partners and governments which could see key critical path activities commenced up to a year earlier than forecast and thereby accelerating the Type Certification and delivery dates to the same degree.
The unaccelerated plan sees flight test beginning in January 2024 and the Type Certified production Airlander 10 to enter service with customers from 2025. We have also established the key processes, personnel, and business systems required to launch the programme.
Therefore, HAV is currently focused on securing launch and follow on orders for the production Airlander 10. We hold letters of intent for more than ten aircraft and have an anticipated mature demand from current conversations of approximately 95 aircraft. These customers include commercial organisations with a combined turnover in excess of £12 billion and we also continue to engage with major militaries.
In order to support this work, we are establishing partnerships that provide our customers with additional benefits. In 2019, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Vertex Aerospace to deliver proposals to the US Department of Defense. Vertex has a track record of delivery in aircraft maintenance, repair, overhaul, and systems integration, making them an ideal fit for that work.
Our baseline business plan reflects production of Airlander 10 commencing next year, delivering first aircraft to customers in 2025, and increase our delivery rate to 12 aircraft per year in 2027. This timeline reflects management’s reasonable worst-case view of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and management are working to outperform this timeline through achieving the conditions required to commence key critical path activities sooner. Current discussions with potential partners, customers and governments offer opportunities for this.
Our strategy is to deliver value through maximising the efficiency of production infrastructure to deliver a common core aircraft to multiple market sectors. Alongside this, tailored services and aircraft modifications will be provided to customers in each sector.
Forecast revenue generation from Airlander 10 sales (and related products and services) under the Financial Model is expected to be £489 million with an EBITDA of £123 million in the first year of production at the forecast rate of 12 aircraft per annum.
HAV teams with 2Excel Aviation to offer customers joint proposals for operating Airlander aircraftSeptember, 2020
HAV joins Telecom Infra Project to improve internet connectivity for millions of peopleAugust, 2020
Letters of Intent secured covering 15 aircraftMarch, 2020
Vertex Aerospace Signs MOU with Hybrid Air Vehicles to Deliver Missionized Airlander 10 to the U.S. Department of DefenseSeptember, 2019
Production Standard Design FreezeJuly, 2019
Hull shape optimisation completed at Mercedes Benz Grand Prix facilitiesFebruary, 2019
Secured our Production Organisation Approval (POA) from the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in December 2018December, 2018
Secured our Design Organisation Approval from the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in October 2018October, 2018
Prototype Flight Test Programme concludedNovember, 2017
First UK Flight of AirlanderAugust, 2016
US budget sequestration and fiscal cliff cancels US Army programme permitting Hybrid Air Vehicles to purchase Airlander outright.January, 2013
First Flight of US Army programme aircraft (the LEMV HAV-304, which later became the Airlander 10 prototype).August, 2012
Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd wins contract with Northrop Grumman to provide Persistent Wide Area Surveillance aircraft in $517m US Army program.July, 2010
Hybrid Air Vehicles founded. Undertakes development and flight testing of sub-scale demonstrator aircraft.July, 2007


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Olga Rapunzel came out of the daughter. She also voiced the baby name a girl called Vasilisa. Now fans are arguing about who’s more like the successor of the star couple of “House-2”.
Olga Rapunzel and Dmitry Dmitrenko always seemed very open couple, ready all over the country to discuss the problems in the relationship. However, when it came to their newborn daughter, the couple showed a completely unexpected stealth. Within three months, the celebrity couple refused not only to show photographs of his daughter and even called her name.
A few days ago it was reported that the couple named the girl Vasilisa. Now Olga and Dmitry almost simultaneously delighted fans with photos of the baby.
“Meet my beloved daughter Vasilisa. Our Suddenly the magical flower. We love you very much”, — has signed a joint photo with the girl Olga.
Dimitrenko is also quick to admit his daughter in love, noting that such a perfect girl could only dream of.
Fans were delighted from the long-awaited images of the three-month Vasilisa, because now they were able to start the eternal debate of who look like girl. Most fans of “House-2” have agreed in opinion that Vasilisa is more like a mother. The girl has the same expressive eyes.
Also, the followers began to assume, for whatever reason, Olga showed photographs of his daughter right now. This is most likely due to the fact that recently the baby baptized, and now parents can be quiet for her spiritual safety. Besides, the couple returned to “HOME-2” with my daughter, so, on to hide Vasilisa from the fans would be impossible.
Olga Rapunzel and Dmitry Dmitrenko daughter christened
Recall that six months ago the relationship Rapunzel and Dmitrenko was under great threat. The fact that Olga had accused her husband in the systematic beatings and betrayals. Shortly after the argument, the girl returned to the project, and after a couple of months came for her and Dimitri.
Joint preparation for childbirth helped the couple to solve all problems available in relations. Now Olga and Dmitry are doted in the newborn daughter, which, incidentally, is the firstborn for both of them.
One can only hope that the return of “HOUSE-2” will not affect the sentiments of the star couple. Fans are sure that she will be able less likely to offend her husband, Dmitri, in turn, will turn into a reliable breadwinner for the family.


LAS VEGAS (June 5, 2006) — It was a Hollywood — and a Planet Hollywood — reunion at a 60th birthday celebration for Sylvester Stallone.
The “Rocky” and “Rambo” star was joined by fellow Planet Hollywood founders Bruce Willis and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for the bash Sunday night at Stallone’s soon-to-open Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
Stallone’s wife, Jennifer, threw the party, which included disco dancing and a birthday serenade from Tom Jones.
Other celebrities in attendance included John Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston, David Spade and James Caan.
Stallone is writing and directing “Rocky Balboa,” the sixth “Rocky” film, slated for release Dec. 22. After that, he is scheduled to play Vietnam vet John Rambo in “Rambo IV,” expected to be released next year.


I'll build 1 in the new year.
Currently I'm making a guitar equalizer -- and in November, built power amps, multiple tone circuits, effects loops, balance line outs -- a plethora of guitar related stuff. Hope to post in December. Until then, a few photos lie below:
Into a 4 ohm load -- that's 23 Watts clean average power


Two dedicated microscope objectives optimized for deep, high-resolution imaging of life science specimens up to 8mm beneath the surface have been introduced by Olympus. The new 10x and 25x objectives are designed for multiphoton imaging using clearing techniques such as CLARITY, SCALEVIEW and SeeDB, along with live-cell imaging and light sheet microscopy.
|CLARITY-processed Thy1-eYFP-expressing mouse brain. Image courtesy of Dr. Raju Tomer, Deisseroth Lab, Stanford University. Image acquired with FV1200 confocal system using 515nm laser and CLARITY-matched 25x lens.
Both objectives, featuring super-long working distances of 8mm, are designed to boost the capability of multiphoton microscopy and allow scientists to look deeper than they ever could before. In the intact (whole) mouse brain, for instance, structures as deep as thalamus and hypothalamus 8mm beneath the surface can be imaged -- a longstanding goal within neurobiology. The microscope objectives also have many applications in cell and developmental biology.
The new objectives join a full line of high-resolution optics compatible with industry-leading Olympus multiphoton imaging systems including the Fluoview FVMPE-RS and FV1200-MPE microscopes; they also are easily adapted for use with custom-built light sheet and other single plane illumination microscopes. A high transmittance range of 400-1600nm, extending deep into the infrared spectrum, allows deeper imaging with minimal damage to tissue and can be employed to combine conventional multicolor two- and three-photon imaging with label-free methods such as third- and second-harmonic generation. The objectives also feature a correction collar with a wide range of adjustment throughout the working distance of the lens. This is important because lenses that have no correction collar, or that have correction collars with more limited capability to adjust, cannot focus as well when working deep below the surface of tissue. A field number of 27.5 provides excellent scattered-light collecting abilities and a large field of view (1.8mm at 10x) enhances data collection.
Finally, the objectives can handle immersion in water, clearing reagents, silicone oil, and more. As a result, researchers can capture the sharpest, brightest, most detailed images and movies that have ever been captured of contiguous structures up to 8mm or more beneath the surface. This is several times deeper than is possible with other types of objectives. The 10x objective offers refractive index (RI) immersion capability from 1.33-1.52, and the 25x offers RI immersion capability of 1.41-1.52.
For more information about Olympus multiphoton excitation objectives for ultra-deep imaging, contact Dennis Donley, Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas, at [email protected] or visit https://www.olympusamerica.com/.
About Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas
Olympus Corporation is an international precision technology leader operating in industrial, medical, academic and consumer markets, specializing in optics, electronics, and precision engineering. As a subsidiary of Olympus Corporation, Olympus Scientific Solutions Americas is an integral part of the global Olympus network with specific responsibility for the sales and marketing of life science and industrial instrumentation in the Americas. The company’s core product lineup comprises clinical, educational, and research microscopes, nondestructive testing equipment, and analytical instruments all designed with the unwavering commitment to enhancing people’s lives every day and contributing to the safety, security, quality, and productivity of society.
Olympus is a global technology leader, designing and delivering innovative imaging solutions in its core business areas:
- Medical and Surgical Products: Gastrointestinal endoscopy, minimally invasive surgical products, and accessories
- Life Science Imaging Systems: Advanced research, clinical/educational microscopes, and research/educational digital imaging systems
- Industrial Measurement and Imaging Instruments: Industrial research, engineering, test, inspection and measuring instruments
- Cameras and Audio Products: Digital cameras and voice recorders
Through this technology, Olympus focuses on enhancing people’s lives every day and helping people enjoy the continuum of life. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com


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Sergio Kleiner is a Mexican actor of soap operas and the cinema of Mexico.
He started his acting career at the age of 21 at a play in Buenos Aires. He then toured with the theater company to Central America and Mexico where he obtained a role in Los padres terribles of Jean Cocteau the following year (1962).
In 1968 he obtained his first roles in telenovelas in Mujeres sin amor and Juventud divino tesoro both with Irma Lozano. The same year he obtained his first starring role in Fando y Lis, a film by Alejandro Jodorowsky. Three years later ...
Continue reading the complete Sergio Kleiner's wikipedia entry
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Sergio Kleiner

domain: entertainment


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Numerous reports, awards presented, all pre-recorded
By John W. Coleman
To ensure members’ safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, the 234th Eastern PA Annual Conference conducted its business session solely online Oct. 13, with an agreed-upon, reduced agenda that it processed in under four hours via a Zoom video-conferencing webinar.
The historic, perhaps shortest session on record, presided over by Bishop Peggy Johnson, featured worship and presentations of only essential resolutions and reports—all pre-recorded. The live portion included legislative questions and answers but no amendments or debate. Non-voting persons could view the livestreamed session on the Conference’s Facebook page.
Votes were cast using the secure, online eBallot system and a Zoom vote by telephone option. The reduced, online format was approved in a pre-conference online session August 26 that voted for temporary rules changes.
Camp Innabah land sale authorized
Nine key, time-sensitive 2020 Resolutions were presented and passed. (Other 2020 resolutions not presented to this session may be presented to the 2021 Annual Conference.) Two controversial resolutions each drew about a half-dozen questions.
A resolution (#2020-09) to authorize Conference Trustees to sell up to 50 +/- acres of Innabah Camp & Retreat Center property to pay off Camp & Retreat Ministries (CRM) budget deficits passed by 522 to 74 votes, with 11 abstentions. The 2020 and anticipated 2021 deficits are partially the result of the pandemic that forced cancellation of summer camps and retreats this year and will probably also limit retreats in early 2021. A five-year accumulated payroll debt at Innabah—totalling nearly $400,000, with budget shortfalls in 2015, 2018 and 2019–also necessitated the land sale proposal.
CRM board president the Rev. Don Keller presented the proposal and answered questions. He reported that all four camps are stable despite the unavoidable deficits. He said also that CRM may sell the land for residential use but is also considering selling it to a conservancy land trust that would “guarantee non-development of the property for anything other than camp use for the foreseeable future.”
The land being considered contains no structures and its sale would not hinder camp programs. His report included a video of Bishop Peggy Johnson’s appeal for special giving to support the camps in their time of need. (For more information read “Conference members hear of proposed sale of Innabah property.”)
Grandview UMC disaffiliation request approved
The other controversial resolution (#2020-05) was to approve the disaffiliation of Grandview UMC in Lancaster, in accordance with temporary church disaffiliation rules adopted by the 2019 Special General Conference. Those rules—which are in effect until December 2023—allow for churches to disaffiliate and retain their church properties—which are held in trust and typically would revert back to the annual conference—if their decision is prompted by United Methodist Church disciplinary laws regarding the rights of “self-avowed, practicing” lesbian and gay members.
Those laws, upheld by the 2019 general church session, continue to deny such members the rights to be ordained clergy and to be married in UM churches or by UM clergy.
The Grandview congregation legally voted to seek disaffiliation for reasons of conscience in February 2020, as it awaited any hoped-for changes that might be made by the 2020 General Conference. However, General Conference was postponed, eventually until August 2021. Meanwhile, the denomination’s Judicial Council is expected to rule on the validity of the 2019 General Conference’s temporary disaffiliation rules vote because of problems with the vote. But the global council has also been unable to meet because of the pandemic and restrictions on international travel.
Grandview has agreed to March 31, 2021, a Conference Trustees deadline, as its “date of disaffiliation,” once it has fulfilled all financial and organizational obligations. The church may choose to rescind its request before then or follow through with its departure. When asked if she intends to leave the denomination with her congregation, the Rev. Andrea Brown, who is a Conference delegate to the 2021 General Conference, said she is currently “discerning my course.”
The Grandview disaffiliation resolution was passed by a 466 to 115 vote, with 25 abstentions.
3 churches discontinued
The Annual Conference also approved discontinuances of three closed churches: Avondale, Gradyville and Open Door in Kennett Square. Members also voted to shorten the name of the Conference Board of Pension and Health Benefits to simply the Board of Benefits and approved for 2021 an updated agreement for the Clergy Retirement Security Program (CRSP), Rental/Housing Allowances for Retired or Disabled Clergypersons, and recommended Equitable Compensation.
Bishop Johnson called for “great rejoicing” in response to the announcement that the Conference has paid 100 percent so far of its pre-1982 clergy retiree pension liability, thanks to the former capital campaign and ongoing support. “Folks, that is a cause for great rejoicing,” she said, “and a thank you for God’s faithfulness and the faithfulness of our people. It shows this conference can do anything it puts its mind to.”
Reports, Rewards, Retirees all celebrated
The Revs. Olivet Brown and Hun Ju Lee presented the Commission on Religion and Race’s 2019 Call to Action anti-racism initiative report. Conference Lay Leader David Koch presented his 2020 Ministry of the Laity report. And the Connectional Ministries’ report was presented in a colorful, thematic video, using the song “Bind Us Together,” that depicted staff tossing to one another a multicolored ball of yarn and conference ministry leaders bearing signs containing words from the Conference’s vision and mission statements.
Other video reports came from:
- the UMC’s Global Ministries missions agency;
- Methodist Services, which provides residential care to children and adults;
- Justice for Our Neighbors, the UM ministry that provides free legal assistance and hospitality to immigrants, including those that are undocumented; and
- UM Communications, which presented a new excellence in religious communications award, named the Epikoinonia (meaning “communication” in Greek) Award, to Conference Communications Director John Coleman.
Connectional Ministries also presented its various annual awards for excellence in ministry, all recorded on video.
Four Harry Denman Awards for Evangelism, presented by the Congregational Development Team, went to:
- Youth: Lydia Burkit, of Covenant UMC in Moore Township.
- Clergy: the Rev. Jason Perkowski, pastor of Manheim: Faith UMC, & Oregon UMC.
- Laity—two awards: Donna Wert, of Lampeter UMC; and Yvonne Morgan, of Sayers UMC in Philadelphia
The Urban Commission presented four Herbert E. Palmer Urban Ministry Awards, one in each district, to:
- Haws Avenue UMC, Norristown (East District)
- Fritz Memorial UMC, Bethlehem (North District)
- Anchorage Lancaster (West District)
- West Lawn UMC (South District)
And the One Matters Awards, presented on behalf of UM Discipleship Ministries went to the Revs. Navin Satyavrata and Manfredo Martinez Luna, pastors at the formerly merged Salem and La Familia UMCs in Allentown.
Finally, the Conference also honored new clergy retirees with recorded, inspirational testimonies from each of them offered on Zoom. The Conference’s earlier annual luncheon for clergy retirees was also an online celebration.
The Annual Conference’s Memorial Service for deceased clergy and clergy spouses and the Ordination and Commissioning Service for advancing clergy both happened on Oct. 14 at Olivet UMC in Coatesville. See the related story, coming soon.


Delanie Walker led all 49ers receivers with six catches for 69 yards in their 27-20 win over the Giants during the regular season.
After missing the last two games with a broken jaw, it’s looking like Walker will have a chance to play in the rematch. Walker was back on the practice field Wednesday for the first time since getting hurt in Week 16 against the Seahawks. According to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, Walker wore a black jersey that made him off limits to contact. Walker played a lot before his injury as part of the two tight end sets that the 49ers like to use and he would be a useful addition to the lineup should he be cleared to go on Sunday.
The 49ers were missing wide receiver Ted Ginn, who is battling leg injuries, at practice Wednesday. Defensive tackle Ray McDonald worked out on the side because of a hamstring injury that forced him to play less than his usual amount against the Saints. He was limited in practice last week as well, so he remains a good bet to play in some fashion on Sunday.


A look at Japanese R&B/Pop singer RIRI's 5th digital single release Maybe One Day.
COLOR*IZ is the debut mini-album release from IZ*ONE and it features the lead single La Vie en Rose.
Selective Hearing's resident WIZ*ONE, Allen, is curious about Kihno devices and has a chance to play with one with the release of IZ*ONE's debut mini album, COLOR*IZ. What are his thoughts after getting his hands on his first Kihno kit? Let's find out.
TROUBLE is the sixth mini-album (seventh overall) released by Ayumi Hamasaki. It features the digital single We are the QUEENS which was used as the theme song for the smart phone game CLASH OF QUEENS.
This time, TOZ goes modern to talk about the Wu-Tang coming together on the new Logic song.
World’s End is the second major label album (and fourth overall) from idol rap group Lyrical School. It is also their first album since the the graduation of original group members ayaka, mei and ami in February of 2017.
24 is the second studio album from AVEX soloist Beverly. It features the Sogaki Beauty Tea 2018 Campaign Song LOVE THERAPY and the theme song for the TV Tokyo Drama Headhunter Baby Don’t Cry.
Jukebox is the second studio album from Japanese pop idol group Fairies. Arriving four years after their self-titled debut the album contains the singles starting from 2014's Super Hero up to February 2018's HEY HEY ~Light Me Up~.


RAUTAHAT, Aug 23: Three girls have gone missing after being drowned in the Bagmati River at Dharampur of Rautahat district.
According to the District Police Office, Rautahat, Pinku Kumari Mukhiya, 10, Susita Kumari Das, 12, and Chanchal Kumari Mukhiya, 10, were drowned and went missing in the river when they were taking a bath at 12 pm on Sunday. They had dived into the river to escape the hot weather. However, they have gone missing. They all hail from Gadhimai Municipality-7, Dharampur Tole.
Rautahat Police chief, Superintendent of Police Rabiraj Khadka said that police personnel and locals have been searching for the missing girls following the incident.


Help Design the Sunset Dream Kitchen of the West: Sneak Peek at the Floor Plans
Sunset Magazine is running a rather brave sort of reader event: they’re letting their readers help design Sunset’s Dream Kitchen via an interactive online voting process. Sort of like American Idol for kitchens — which is, we confess, a really fun idea. The really cool thing is the kitchen is actually going to be built according to the readers’ specs over a ten-week period, guided by kitchen designer Cass Calder Smith.
They launch the website on March 23, but they gave us a sneak peek at the first choice: three basic floor plans. Read on to see them all, and to hear a little more about the project.
Once the site launches, visitors will vote on their favorite floor plans, fixtures, flooring, and other kitchen accessories, and then they’ll watch the kitchen come together in real time through photos, blogs and video. The Dream Kitchen building site is a home in the Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose; the home is already constructed, but the kitchen has yet to be completed.
Given that this is a home outside a downtown urban area and designed for Sunset’s audience of Westerners with a little more space to sprawl out, this kitchen will likely be much larger than the kitchens we’re used to seeing here. But we’re looking forward to watching how it all comes together and hopefully we’ll pick up a few tips on kitchen renovations and building in general.
Click on each floorplan’s image to open a larger version in a new window.
• 1 Family floorplan
• 2 Entertainer floorplan
• 3 Eco floorplan
• Visit the Sunset Dream Kitchen website
(Images: Sunset Magazine)


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Everybody knows that the 2008 Summer Olympics are taking place in Beijing, but do you know the number of volunteers or the amount spent to build the Olympic venues?
Read on and learn these and many other little-known facts about Beijing 2008...
- The Beijing Olympics will cost US$43 billion, while the cost of building venues amounted to around US$1.8 billion. After the Games, the venues will be used as public sports and entertainment complexes.
- Beijing has spent US$16 billion in the past 10 years to improve air quality, as well as build better transport infrastructure. For example, the new T3 at Beijing Capital International Airport is now the world's largest airport terminal.
- For the first time, one organising committee (BOCOG) will handle both the Olympics and the Paralympics.
- This will be the first time that the International Olympic Committee has sold separate broadcasting rights for television and new media such as internet and mobile technologies.
- The Beijing Olympics will be the first to use high-definition technology for all its TV broadcasts. All events and ceremonies will be transmitted with 5.1 surround sound.
- Beijing Olympics Broadcasting, the official broadcasting company, will produce 5,400 hours of programming, 2,000 more than during the last Olympic Games in Athens. The ceremonies and events will reach an estimated audience of four billion people.
- About 21,600 accredited media workers from the press, radio and television will be on hand to cover the Olympics. The Beijing International Media Center will also provide services and assistance to another 10,000 unaccredited members of the press.
- Before the Olympics, about 400 million young Chinese pupils in more than 500,000 schools around China have been taking lessons about the Olympics. This is in keeping with one of the primary goals of the Olympic Movement – to educate young people through sports.
- Since 2003, the organisers of the Beijing Olympics have held yearly Olympic festivals. The last one was held two weeks ago and will run for the next three months.
- Feng shui principles were taken into consideration in planning the location of the two major venues for the Games. The Bird's Nest and the Water Cube are positioned on either side of the north-south axis as the axis is believed to bring eternal stability. The 7.7-kilometre-axis runs through the emperor's seat at the Forbidden City, through the middle of Tian'anmen Square, the Drum and Bell towers and Yongdingmen, the former front gate of the outer city of Beijing's old city wall.
- Some 600 cheerleaders were selected from national Olympic cheerleading competitions and local clubs to entertain the audience with folk dances, acrobatics, martial arts and lion dancing during time-outs.
- The National Citizen Identity Information Center under the Ministry of Public Security said that 4,104 Chinese children have been named Aoyun, meaning Olympics, as of June. In 1992, when Beijing first applied to host the Olympics, nearly 700 of the names were registered. When Beijing was awarded the bid in 2001, another 553 names were registered. More than 90 percent of those named Aoyun are boys.
- An estimated 15,000 couples in Beijing alone will get married on August 8, 2008. The date is considered auspicious because of the number of eights it contains. In Chinese, eight (ba) sounds like fa, which means wealth or prosperity.
- The Beijing Olympics will have the highest number of volunteers – 100,000 in all – ever. 70,000 volunteers will be working during the Summer Games and 30,000 will help out at the Paralympics. In addition, there will be 400,000 city volunteers who will help tourists in the city.
- The most expensive Olympic tickets cost 5,000 yuan (US$730) for the opening ceremony. The cheapest for a sports competition is 30 yuan (US$5). Organisers have reserved 14 percent of all domestically sold tickets for students, who can buy the tickets at a discounted price. About seven million tickets were made available to the public.
- This will be the last time that baseball and softball will be played as Olympic sports. The two have been scrapped from the programme of the 2012 London Olympics.
- China will field its largest Olympic team made up of 639 athletes competing in 28 sports. A total of 10,708 athletes from all over the world will compete in the Beijing Olympics.
- Athletes will compete for 302 gold medals in 28 sports.
Enjoy the Games!
The 2008 Summer Olympic Games are held from August 8 to 24 in Beijing, China.

domain: sports


"Gorilla" Velveteen Minky Blanket
Create a cozy and warm atmosphere at home with this plush velveteen blanket featuring art by Joel Pilcher. It's super soft and perfect for any home. Available in three sizes: 30x40", 50x60", 60x80".
.: Material: 100% polyester
.: Available in 3 sizes
.: One-sided print
.: 2" stitched edge
All blankets ship directly from the manufacturer. Additional shipping charges may apply. Due to variations in the production process, colors may vary from other products.


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As a rule I'm not a fan of remakes (although I have to say I'm more a fan of the Bangles version of Hazy Shade of Winter than the S&G original), and I still prefer the original here, but this is a great cover. A bit of the subject for this blog, but gotta lighten it up a bit. Enjoy.
Simon & Garfunkle's classic "The Sounds of Silence" performed by heavy metal band "Disturbed"
Posted by Mark Watson on Friday, December 18, 2015


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Decolonize Your Food: Slow Food Indigenous Peoples‘ Network Campaign Against Biodiversity Loss
08 Aug 2023 | English
On the occasion of the International Day of The World’s Indigenous Peoples 2023, celebrated on August 9, the Slow Food Peoples‘ network launches a global campaign to support Indigenous communities in preserving their food heritage for our Indigenous common future.
Indigenous peoples’ communities protect an extraordinary variety of plant and animal species, as well as traditional knowledge, food, and languages that are at risk of extinction. Looking at the future of these communities, the Decolonize Your Food Campaign perfectly follows the main theme of this year’s International Day, which is Indigenous < a i=3>Youth as Agents of Change for Self-determination. “Historically, our capacities, skills and knowledge that we contribute to the world’s food systems as indigenous women and youth have been made invisible. Youths are often told that they do not really know, that they are inexperienced, that they have to wait to be older to be able to express their opinions; but those who say this forget that youth is a source of energy, of dreams, of new abilities and skills. If we as youths also listen with respect and dignity to our elders, together we can create thousands of wonderful projects with solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss, because we complement each other”, comments Dalì Nolasco Cruz, Nahua woman, and member of the Slow Food International Board.
The Colonization of Indigenous Food
Eighty percent of biodiversity is safeguarded by indigenous peoples. These communities are also the custodians of traditional knowledge and foods. However, their livelihood is under threat from land grabbing, violations of indigenous peoples‘. rights, climate change, and unsustainable agricultural practices. In addition to these visible causes, there is a less noticeable colonization happening through food. On one hand, corporations seek to extract indigenous knowledge and foods without consent, recognition, or benefit to the communities that co-create them, and on the other the increasing dominance of industrial and globalized foods is replacing local traditional ones. Mass media and public policies promote the consumption and production of these foods, leading to food insecurity, homogenization of diets, and the loss of flavors, knowledge, food celebrations, local economies, and food identities, particularly impacting indigenous youth.
Indigenous and traditional foods can play an important role in the fight against hunger and malnutrition: The biodiverse diets and production practices of which they are a part contribute to healthy living and preserve local ecosystems and environmental resources that can protect against micronutrient deficiencies. Today, this model faces considerable competition from the processed foods of the agri-food industry and the increasing use of GMOs. The flooding of the market with these products caused a considerable change in eating habits, and soon after the harmful effects of this change on the health of the population could be seen.
„Our food connects us to our communities, to Mother Earth and our ancestors,“ says Dalì Nolasco Cruz -, „it is our culture, our knowledge, our life: our identity. For these reasons, it is crucial to ensure that indigenous peoples‘ foods continue to be respected, protected and celebrated as an integral part of the global culinary landscape. Through the Decolonize Your Food Campaign, the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network seeks to raise awareness of ongoing efforts to protect indigenous peoples‘ foods from extinction, and invites everyone to discover the indigenous origins of everyday foods and to discover the lands and communities where they are still produced.“
A Journey of awareness across Continents
Slow Food presents an ideal world tour among some indigenous foods highlighted by the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’ network, which spans 86 countries and more than 370 communities.
The Slow Food Indigenous Peoples‘ Network in Mexico will participate most actively, having just launched a national campaign asking indigenous communities to highlight local foods which they would like to decolonize . The same goes for Slow Food Uganda, which presented its My Food My Identity campaign https://slowfooduganda.org/slow-food-uganda-launches-my-food-my-identity-campaign/ to raise awareness among local people about indigenous foods that can be powerful alternatives in ensuring food sovereignty and valuable supports in the fight against climate change.
The Slow Food Cook’s Alliance: Taiwan Indigenous People has recently been launched in Taiwan. In addition to defending local biodiversity and products, the first 18 indigenous cooks who founded the Alliance will turn the spotlight onto indigenous traditions and ingredients. More info: https://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/nazioni-alleanza/taiwan-en/
In Europe, the Slow Food Sapmi Reindeer Gurpi Presidium producers nominated the
Gurpi, a type of cured reindeer meat which is special to the Sámi, an indigenous nomadic herding people who live in the mountains in Northern Sweden, on the border with Norway, Finland and Russia.
Everyone can get involved in the campaign learning more about indigenous foods and communities and the importance of decolonizing our food systems and mindsets. It is essential to advocate for policy changes that protect biodiversity and recognize the rights and contributions of Indigenous peoples is another way to make a difference. More: https://www.slowfood.com/our-network/indigenous/decolonize-your-food/
On the International Day Of The World’s Indigenous Peoples 2023: On 23 December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly decided, in its resolution 49/214, that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People shall be observed on 9 August every year. The date marks the first meeting, in 1982, of the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations. https://social.desa.un.org/issues/indigenous-peoples/events/international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples-2023
More on the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples Network: https://www.slowfood.com/our-network/indigenous/
IFAD and Slow Food share a vision of small-scale agriculture as a crucial source of income and nutrition for rural communities, and a driver of rural economic growth. Since 2009, the partnership between IFAD and Slow Food has contributed to innovative grassroots projects that enhance local value chains for traditional foods, as well as the development of an Indigenous Peoples’ network involving thousands of people in 86 countries. Currently, this partnership is implementing a new project aimed at advancing food system transformation by promoting the centrality of agroecological food systems and the invaluable knowledge of Indigenous Peoples in Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Asia and Pacific Regions.
Waiting for IFAD’s approval
Mit Lebensmitteln die Welt verändern
Erfahren Sie mit unserem RegenerAction-Toolkit, wie Sie Ökosysteme, Communities und Ihre eigene Gesundheit verbessern können.

domain: food


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I’m having trouble writing a review for “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy,” because everything I write makes me sound like a quote whore. (You know the quote whores: The critics who heap exaggerated praise on even the worst of movies because they like seeing their names in print.)
“The funniest movie of the year! I laughed from beginning to end! This is one of the funniest films I’ve ever seen!” Ugh, I sound awful. But those are my honest feelings, and you should trust me: I never get quoted in ads anyway, so insincere gushing would be pointless.
“Anchorman” now enters the pantheon of my favorite comedies, the movies that make me laugh long, hard and often. It goes into the pile with “Blazing Saddles,” “Airplane!,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “Raising Arizona” and a Marx Bros. film, maybe “Duck Soup.” (By the way, I don’t find “Caddyshack,” “Billy Madison” or “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective” particularly amusing, so if those are your personal benchmarks, perhaps I’m the wrong one to listen to.)
Directed by former “Saturday Night Live” scribe Adam McKay and written by him and Will Ferrell, the film is set in the 1970s, when TV anchormen were MEN, manly, brown-suited men with porn-style mustaches and heavy drinking habits. Ferrell plays Ron Burgundy, the alpha male in the San Diego local news market. He is sexist, lively at parties, liked by everyone, only 10 percent as smart as he thinks he is, and, though a bad journalist, no worse than anyone else in local news.
He’s head of the KVWN Channel 4 news team, accompanied by cohorts just as immature as he is. There’s Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), the ladies’ man roving reporter who has a cabinet of musky colognes, including one called Sex Panther. Then there’s the sports anchor, Champ King (David Koechner), a redneck in a cowboy hat. Finally, there’s Brick Tamland (Steve Carell), the congenial weatherman who is, we learn, functionally retarded. (I will not bother to quote any of his funny non-sequitur lines here, because there are dozens of them. OK, one: He believes a bear, seen at the zoo, is “a furry tractor.” There.)
The boys’ club is thrown into chaos when a WOMAN — bringer of cooties, object of juvenile-boy affection — named Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) is added to the team as a reporter. The men object because they’re sexist, but also because, as grown men in a state of arrested development, they’re terrified of her. Their lusty advances toward her — this was before anyone talked about “sexual harassment” — are transparent and oily, but apparently they work on some women. But not Veronica. She’s smart and liberated.
Ron, however, seems to be legitimately in love with her, and Ferrell’s gift as a comedic actor is take a character as fundamentally slimy as Ron Burgundy and make him LIKABLE. The way he stumbles over his words when he’s around her, his awkwardly worded propositions, even the ill-hidden, um, arousal he experiences in her presence — these are all reminders that he’s essentially just a naughty little boy, not a lecherous, dangerous man. He’s a product of his times, and he’s sincere.
Ron and Veronica begin a relationship, which soon becomes public, and which becomes strained as Veronica rises up in the ranks. One of the film’s great strokes is in Veronica’s character, played with astonishing agility and comedic grace by Christina Applegate. I wrote of her in my review of “The Sweetest Thing” that she “apparently learned a few things about comedy while in the purgatory of ‘Married … with Children,’ for she has flair and timing.” She proves it again here, holding her own amongst the insanely funny group of male leads (which also includes Fred Willard as the news director) as well as Veronica does in her situation.
The film fully LIVES in the ’70s, wearing the decade like a polyester suit. It knows the ’70s are inherently funny, but does not underscore that fact with obvious era-specific jokes. The characters and situations could only have existed then — after the sexual revolution of the ’60s, but before the political correctness of the ’80s — and seeing them played out with such manic, brilliant glee by the cast makes this an exuberantly wacky movie.
Ferrell’s man-child persona, his knack for loopy non-sequiturs (“By the beard of Zeus!” he declares upon first seeing Veronica), his penchant for piling more comedy onto a joke until you think it can’t be any funnier, and then topping it with one more hysterical line — these are the secrets of “Anchorman’s” success. Ferrell, McKay and editor Brent White cut judiciously, never letting a joke get belabored, but letting the best ones roam free for a while, too. This is a masterpiece of comedy, ready to be watched, re-watched, quoted and imitated for years to come.
A (1 hr., 33 min.; )


starrer actioner ‘Assault’ noticed its launch on the theatres on Friday. With this started its competitors with not simply Ram Charan and Jr NTR’s ‘RRR’ but in addition Vivek Agnihotri’s ‘The Kashmir Information.’ As quickly as the discharge, the film buffs obtained enthusiastic about its field workplace collections and wished to know the way the movie carried out on its first day. Nicely, going by the most recent stories, it appears that evidently Lakshya Raj Anand directorial that includes John as a ‘tremendous soldier’ was unable to impress the lots and managed to rake in round 2.75-3 crore nett. Whereas SS Rajamouli’s movie has already been declared a superhit and inside two days crossed Rs 500 crore on the worldwide field workplace. On Friday too, the movie stood robust and earned an honest quantity.
A report in Field Workplace India speaking concerning the collections of Assault stated, “Assault has had a poor first day at round 2.75-3 crore nett which is just about the identical vary as Satyameva Jayate 2. The one plus is that movie beat the numbers of Morbius by the night and that movie had opened higher within the morning. “
Whereas for RRR, the report added, “The movie has proven no drop on its second Friday because it collects within the 12-13 crore nett vary. The weak new releases has helped the movie however that hardly issues a lot. The movie will simply cruise previous the 200 crore nett mark this week itself and will now chase down the numbers of The Kashmir Information.”
In the meantime, commerce analyst Taran Adarsh shared the Thursday collections of RRR on Twitter and wrote, “#RRR wins hearts and conquers #BO… Packs a supeRRRb whole, emerges HIGHEST SCORING #Hindi movie in *Week 1* [post pandemic]… Mass circuits teRRRific… Fri 20.07 cr, Sat 24 cr, Solar 31.50 cr, Mon 17 cr, Tue 15.02 cr, Wed 13 cr, Thu 12 cr. Whole: ₹ 132.59 cr. #India biz.”
He even wrote, “‘RRR’ IS UNSTOPPABLE, UNSHAKEABLE… *#Worldwide* Week 1 Gross BOC: ₹ 710 cr… *#India* Gross BOC: ₹ 560 cr… Subsequent to #Baahubali2. #RRR #RRRMovie.”
Whereas for The Kashmir Information, the scenario stood as follows, “#TheKashmirFiles continues its DREAM RUN… Affected by #RRR [mass circuits], but collects greater than #Sooryavanshi, #Pushpa, #GK in *Week 3*… [Week 3] Fri 4.50 cr, Sat 7.60 cr, Solar 8.75 cr, Mon 3.10 cr, Tue 2.75 cr, Wed 2.25 cr, Thu 2 cr. Whole: ₹ 238.28 cr. #India biz.”
Coming again to ‘Assault,’ the movie is mounted as a franchise, set in a world the place “future wars will probably be fought on know-how and synthetic intelligence (AI)”.The movie additionally starsand Rakul Preet Singh. It is backed by Pen Studios, Abraham’s JA Leisure and Ajay Kapoor Productions.


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Using Palettes With Offscreen Graphics WorldsYou can attach a palette to an offscreen graphics world; however, the only Palette Manager color usage categories that you can use to specify the types of colors in such a case are
pmWhite. The other three color usage categories,
pmExplicit, are interpreted in an offscreen graphics world as
pmCourteous, so they are of no use in this environment.
This section first explains why and how you might use
pmWhiteand then shows how to simulate the effects of the other usage modifiers that you cannot use with an offscreen graphics world.
After you've created a palette and assigned it to an offscreen graphics world, you can pass indexes from your palette to the
PmBackColorfunctions and then draw in the offscreen world. The advantage of using courteous colors for the offscreen graphics world is that otherwise you must hard-code colors into your code. If you or a software localizer wants to change the colors in the offscreen worlds, you can do so by changing the
'pltt' resource that defines the palette rather than making code changes and recompiling the application.
pmWhiteusage modifiers simply allow you to specify which colors map to white and which to black in a black-and-white environment. If your application is working with red and dark blue, for example, both might get mapped to black on a 1-bit device. By assigning
pmWhiteto one and
pmBlackto the other, you assure that they are always distinct.
Explicit colors in a palette attached to an offscreen graphics world are interpreted as courteous. Therefore, instead of using a palette, you should convert your pixel value to an RGB color and use this as the foreground or background color. After setting the current graphics device to the offscreen graphics world to set the color environment, convert your pixel value to the corresponding RGB color using the
IndexToColorfunction. Then you can draw by passing the RGB color to the
Both tolerant and animated colors are interpreted as courteous in an offscreen graphics world. To use these types of colors, you can change the color environment of the offscreen graphics world by assigning it a whole new color table. Listing 1-6 shows how to do this.
Listing 1-6 Changing the color environment of an offscreen graphics world
#define clutID 150 #define numcolor 256 WindowPtr myWindow; CTabHandle mycolors; PaletteHandlesrcPalette GetGWorld (&SavePort, &SaveGD); mycolors = GetCTable (clutID); /* create a new window */ myWindow = NewCWindow(nil, &BaseRect, "", TRUE, zoomDocProc, (WindowPtr) -1, TRUE, nil); SetGWorld((CGrafPtr)myWindow, SaveGD); DrawGrowIcon (myWindow); (*mycolors)->ctFlags |= 0x4000; /* create a 256-color palette */ srcPalette = NewPalette (numcolor, mycolors, pmCourteous, 0); /* call DoSetInhibited to set color usage */ DoSetInhibited(pmCourteous); SetPalette ((WindowPtr) myWindow, srcPalette, TRUE); GetGWorld (&SavePort, &SaveGD); err = NewGWorld (&offscreenGWorld, 8, &InitWindowSize, mycolors, nil, nil); if (err) Debugger(); SetGWorld (offscreenGWorld, nil); EraseRect (&InitWindowSize); DrawPicture (ThePict, &InitWindowSize); SetGWorld (SavePort, SaveGD);After defining constants and declaring variables, the code in Listing 1-6 calls the QuickDraw
GetGWorldfunction to get and save the current graphics port so that you can restore it later. The
GetCTablefunction retrieves a handle to a color table--from a
'clut'resource with ID 150--and stores it in the
mycolorsvariable. You will use this color table for the offscreen graphics world and to create a palette.
NewCWindowfunction creates a new window and the
SetGWorldfunction assigns the current graphics port to this newly created window. The
DrawGrowIconfunction draws the window's size box.
The next piece of code:
(*mycolors)->ctFlags |= 0x4000;sets bit 14 of the
ctFlagsfield in the color table. Setting this bit synchronizes the color table to a palette. It does this by reinterpreting the
ctTablefield of the color table. Normally, this field contains an array of
ColorSpecentries, each of which contains a pixel value and a color. After setting bit 14 of the
ctFlagsfield, each array in the
ctTablefield contains an index value and a color.
NewPalettefunction creates a new palette from the color table retrieved by the
GetCTablefunction. It contains 256 colors. Initially, all the colors are courteous and must match exactly (have a zero tolerance value).
DoSetInhibitedfunction (whose code is not shown here) uses the Palette Manager
SetEntryUsagefunction to change the usage categories of the palette when the usage of the palette changes. For example, it sets the colors in the palette to courteous, tolerant, explicit, or animated, depending on menu selections that a user makes. The
DoSetInhibitedfunction also inhibits certain colors in the palette depending on the bit-depth of the screen on which the window is currently displayed. In this way, the palette can contain entries for multiple screen bit-depths and will display properly on each type of screen. See "Selecting the Right Color Set" (page 1-25) for an example of how to create a palette that will display on screens with different bit-depths. The application calls
DoSetInhibitedat this point to set the palette for the appropriate screen depth. Since
pmCourteousis passed to
DoSetInhibited, the usage category is not being changed.
SetPalettefunction assigns the newly created palette to the window created by
GetGWorldfunction gets and saves the current graphics port so it can be restored later. The
NewGWorldfunction creates an offscreen graphics world and the
SetGWorldfunction sets the current graphics port to the newly created offscreen graphics world.
DrawPicturefunctions erase and draw in the offscreen graphics world.
SetGWorldfunction restores the graphics port to the window created by the
NewCWindowfunction. (To move the offscreen drawing to the screen, use the QuickDraw
CopyBitsfunction--see the chapter, "QuickDraw Drawing," in Inside Macintosh: Imaging With QuickDraw for an example of how to do this.) The colors from the offscreen world--which come from the color table--match the colors of the window--which are controlled by the palette--because the color table and the palette are identical and synchronized. The advantage of this synchronization is that your application doesn't have to use the offscreen world's color matching algorithm to synchronize the colors from the offscreen world with the colors of the palette. Having to do so would greatly slow down your application, and speed is one of the primary reasons to use an offscreen world for drawing in the first place.

domain: design


text:
This week I only got one book, which I received from the library.
This is my final week of classes for the semester! YAY, so now I can finally sit down and get some reading done. I think I've only read like one book this month so far. SUCKS!
I've been curious about this one. Anyone read it?


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ISLAMABAD, Aug 29 (APP): The 64th death anniversary of Pakistan’s first finance minister and third Governor General, Malik Ghulam Muhammad was observed across the country on Saturday.
Born on April 20, 1895 Malik Ghulam Muhammad served the country as the first finance minister from 1947 to 1951. Following the assassination of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan in 1951, he was appointed as Governor-General by Khawaja Nazimuddin who took over the government as Prime Minister, a private news channel reported.
He served the country in the same capacity till 1955.
Educated at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), he joined the Indian Civil Service as a chartered accountant at the Indian Railway’s account service before being promoted to join the Ministry of Finance under Liaquat Ali Khan in 1946.
After the independence of Pakistan as a result of Partition of India in 1947, he joined the Liaquat administration as the country’s first Finance Minister where he helped draft first five-year plans to alleviate the national economy of Pakistan.
In 1955, he was forcefully dismissed from the post of Governor-General by the then-Interior Minister Iskander Ali Mirza due to worsening of his health conditions.
Afterwards, he fought a brief battle with his illness and died on August 29, 1956 in Karachi..

domain: history