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I heard about your aching concerns, I felt the beats of your heart, I saw you blinking back tears behind those shades and I perceived your fears behind your fragrance..
Friends, I’m excited. particularly because, I’m ready to help someone through the journey of thriving, against all odds.
I wrote this letter to you!
Life is episodic, full of surprises, love, hate, pain, highs, lows, intrigues and drama.
Sometimes, we are caught up pursuing things we don’t really need, dreaming about projects we don’t connect with, hoping for realities we have no passion, and having wishes that don’t make us happy.
So, after expending so much energy on the race track, and exerting pressure on ourselves and everything /everyone around us, we suddenly find out we actually wanted something else and perhaps better.
Isn’t it amazing that sometimes we find boredom when we had set out in search of happiness? Or found loneliness when we reared out just to find some company? Or when we eventually realized we rejected and denied ourselves just because we at all cost wanted to get ‘acceptance’ and ‘relevance’?
We have fallen into the dragnet of pleasing everyone else but our very selves.
Our thoughts center more on the opinions and interpretations of others than on our happiness and true convictions.
We measure our purse by our neighbour’s; evaluate the intelligence and purpose of our kids by those of our friends; rate our success by societal standards, and label our achievements with the tag of commentators.
We have unconsciously made our lives, careers, homes, choices and ultimately our destiny the canvass upon which family, friends and colleagues paint their verdicts, opinions and expectations over and over again.
Consequently, we are continuously and consistently trying to pay up and serve the sentence meted out to us in the Court of Public Opinion.
It then becomes that our lives are simply second chance to allow others re-live their lives through us, many times over!
We are happy as long as we measure up. We are fulfilled when we get a nod, and we feel great at their acceptance.
Can I remind you that’s there’s a U (Uniqueness)in you? Can I also remind you that you are enough? The only challenge you have is the fact that you don’t love yourself enough to get off the grid and go for your greatness with every grit you’ve got, regardless of who is or who is not giving you a go-girl/guy kinda vibe.
One profound word for you is that you quit looking everywhere else but within you and begin to birth out your true convictions.
The only lofty gift you’d probably receive if you continue to live other people’s opinions/lives or allow people to live their lives through you, are bundles of fragrant flowers on your home beyond and cute obituary pictures everywhere.
Life is too transient, so live everyday your truest self and be all you want to be.

domain: psychology


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T&T Supermarkets plans to open a new store in Toronto’s Chinatown area by fall 2021, and they’re already accepting new applications.
The location will take over 301 College Street and plans to bring almost 100 jobs to the city.
This would be the second time the company opened a downtown location. Last year, the grocer closed its Cherry Street store.
“When we heard that the redevelopment project would mean closing the Cherry Street store, we knew our customers would be devastated. While we’ve been able to continue to support our downtown customers through our online shopping, we’ve been looking for a new store location,” Tina Lee, CEO of T&T Supermarkets, said in a press release.
Lee said the new location is marked to open sometime in September.
- See also:
The store will provide more than 10,000 products, including a wide variety of fresh produce, meat, seafood, grocery items, daily baked bread, and ready-to-eat meals.
Customers will also be able to order their groceries online for home delivery or click and collect. T&T is now hiring for the new location.
T&T Supermarkets is the largest Asian supermarket chain in Canada, with stores in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

domain: economics


text:
« AnteriorContinuar »
restrained by any worldly authority whatsoever)
to take a further review of the Public Service, and to establish such other alterations and amendments therein as might be deemed expedient.
It seems unnecessary to enumerate all the different alterations and amendments. They will appear, and it is to be hoped, the reasons of them also, upon a comparison of this with the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England. In which it will also appear that this Church is far from intending to depart from the Church of England in any essential point of doctrine, discipline, or worship; or further than local circumstances require.
And now, this important work being brought to a conclusion, it is hoped the whole will be received and examined by every true member of our Church, and every sincere Christian, with a meek, candid, and charitable frame of mind; without prejudice or prepossessions; seriously considering what Christianity is, and what the truths of the Gospel are; and earnestly beseeching Almighty God to accompany with his blessing every endeavour for promulgating them to mankind, in the clearest, plainest, most affecting and majestic manner, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord and Saviour.
HOW THE PSALTER IS APPOINTED TO BE READ.
THE Psalter shall be rear! through once every month, as It is there appointed, both coo l and Evening Prayer. But in February, it shall be read only to the twenty* eighth or twenty-ninth day of the month.
And whereas, January, March, May, July, August, October, and December, have one-and-thirty days apiece; it is ordered, that the same Psalms shall be read the last day of the said months which were read the day beforej so that the Psalter may begin ■gain the first day of the next month ensuing.
And whereas the 119th Psalm is divided into twenty-two Portions, md is over long to be read at one time; it is so ordered, that at one time shall not be read above four or five of the said Portions.
The Minister, instead of reading from the Psalter as divided for Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, may read one of the Selections set out by this Church.
And, on Days of Fasting and Thanksgiving, appointed either by the Civil or by the Eecleslastical Authority, the Minister may appoint such Psalms as >>e shall think fit in his discretion, unless any shall have been appointed by the Ecclesiastical Antnority, in a Service set out f tr the Occasion; which, in that case, shall be used, and no other.
The Minister may use one of the Selections, instead of any one of the above Portions.
HOW THE REST OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURE IS APPOINTED
rE OH Testament is appointed for the First Lessons at Morning and Evening Prayer; so that the most part thereof will be read every year once, as in the Calendar ■
The New Testament is appointed F tbe Second Lessons Prayer
Ant to know what Lessons shall be read every day, look for the day of the month IK tbe Calendar following, and there ye shall find the Chapters that shall be read fur tbe Lessons, both at Morning and Evening Prayer; except only the Moveable Feasts, which are not in the Calendar; and the Immoveable, where there is a blank left in tbe eolemn of Lessons; the Proper Lessons fur all which days are to be found to the Tabla V I Lesson*.
And, on days of Fasting and Thanksgiving, the same rule is to obtain as in reading OM I
And SoU. Thai whensoever Proper Psalms or Lessons are appointed, then the P uad I^esaons of ordinary course appointed in the Psalter and Calendar, if they be different, •ball be omitted for that time.
Sou alto. That the Collect, Epistle, and Gospel, appointed for the Sunday, shall serve l the Week after, where II a not in this Book Otherwise ordered.

domain: literature


text:
Major Aspects Causes of F.R- Economic, Social, Religious, Struggle for Survival, Rising of Middle class people and Role of Philosophers. Outbreak of F.R- Tennis court oath, Internal revolt. France constitutional monarchy- Structure of constitution and Declaration of Human Rights. Abolishment of Monarchy Reign of Terror Role of Women Abolishment of Slavery Laws related with everyday life- freedom of speech, expression and press Napoleon Bonaparte Influence of F.R in the world (Impacts)
Economic causes of F.R Marriage of Louie 16 with Austrian prince He found that govt treasury were empty. Causes- Long years of war drained wealth. Cost of maintaining court in Versile He helped 13 American colonies to fought against Brattain. Added a Livre (unit of currency) already 2 Livre. Charged 10% interest from loans. For their regular expense, cost of maintain army, court, offices and universities. They need much more money to cater this needs. King imposed lot of tax to the people. Society was divided in to three part- last section of the people forced to pay all the tax.
Social Causes of F.R Social system was part of Feudal system. Society was divided in to three estates- seen your text books. 90% population- peasants but very few of them occupied the land. 60% of land occupied nobles, rich members in third estate and church. The first two estate engaged lot of privileges. They were exempted from the tax. Peasants- forced to serve landlords house, fields, army and particular labour.
Role of Religion (Christian churches) The churches acquired the land property. They imposed tax from the peasants- Tithes ( one tenth of the agricultural product). Taille another important direct tax imposed by state. Lot of indirect taxes. Imposed tax- utensils like salt and tobacco. These tax imposed only for the third estate.
Shortage of Food (or) struggle for survival 1715-1789 population increased. Need much more food grains. The landlords paid very low fixed wages. But the price of the bread was too high. So the poor people failed to meet their needs. So gap between poor and rich increased. This led subsistence crisis (extreme situation). The bad harvest adds much more problems.
Emergence of Middle class people The peasants and workers participated revolts against imposing of tax and food scarcity. But a group within the third estate they became prosperous and earned education. 18- emerged a new social group- middleclass. They earned wealth- overseas trade, engaged in the woolen and silk textile. Exporting. Merchants, manufactures, lawyers and administers, they got education and believed that no group in the society by birth noble or clergy.
Role of Philosophers in F.R They put forward the idea of- Freedom, equal laws and opportunities. (Equality, Liberty and fraternity) John Locke, Jean Jacque Rousseau, Montesquieu and Voltaire. Locke- Two Treatise of Govt- refute the doctrine of divine and absolute monarchy. Rousseau- The Social Contract- form of govt based on social contract between the people and their representatives. Montesquieu- Spirit of Law- The division of power within the govt between Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.(mode of govt in USA) These ideas discussed- salons, coffeshop, newspapers and books. Read in loudly- helped the illiterate people. Louie 16- tried to impose the tax state protest this system
Outbreak of the war Louie 16- decided to held Estate general. Estate General- Rep from three estate. But the king he can decide- last (1614) 1789- 300 from first two estate (sited) Third estate- 600 (stand) (educated people only with 40000 grievance and demand) Norms- one vote each estate. Third estate opposed- vote based on individual participation. Failed this they boycott the meeting and assembled indoor tennis court- Tennis court Oath.
Winter- Bad harvest. Price of bread was too high. Bakers tried to exploit this situation. Long queues. So woman burnt that shop and started internal revolt. Villages were captured by the peasants, looted grains, burned the documents, attacked the chateause (residence nobles). Nobles fled from home and migrated neighboring countries.
Result of this attempts Louie 16 agreed the recommends of the third estate. Accepted their principles. Constitution- check the power of the king. 1789 Aug 4- national Assembly passed the constitution and abolished the feudal system and tax. Tithes abolished and church properties were confiscated.
Constitution Structure of the constitution (plz seen the page number 10). Declaration of Rights of man (page number 11).
Political Symbols Broken chain- Free Bundle of rods or fasces- Strength like unity. The eye within a triangle radiating light- Knowledge Sceptre- Symbol of royal power. Snake biting its tail to form a ring- no beginning and end. Red Phrygian cap- free from slave. Blue- White- red- national colours of France. The winged woman- personification of law. The law tablet- law is same for all and equal.
France abolished monarchyand became republic Louie 16 Prussia and Austria (worried the dvpt) N.A declared war against. War between people and aristocrats in Europe. Men fought in front and woman at home. Political clubs; Jacobin club- find out the members of this party). Finally imprisoned the royal family and abolished monarchy. Louie 16 sentenced to death- and his wife After that a period of terror reign (seen the texts)
Role of Woman Actively participated in the events. They brought changes in the French societies They believed that their involvement improve their lives. Third estate woman worked for living. Especially they were worked in- Plz seen the text book. No Edn and Job training. They were maintained their families also. Their wages was lower to compare with man. They were started own political club and Newspapers. 60 woman clubs. (The Society of revolution and Republican woman)
They demanded same political right of man. They were disappointed – constitution passes by national assembly in 1791- treated passive citizens. They demanded the right for vote and participation in the National assembly. Early years – national assembly introduced good things favour to the woman. Started schools and schooling became compulsory. Marriage- with their permission Divorce- legal for both man and woman. During the time of terror reign their political clubs were banned and prominent leaders were executed. 1946- they won the right for vote. Life of revolutionary woman- Olympe de Gouges
Napoleon Bonaparte 1804- crowned. Conquered the European countries and destroyed monarchy and created his kingdom. Modernised Europe. Many laws. Uniform weights and measures. Decimal system. Initially he was a Liberal leader- bring freedom for the people. He finally defeated- Waterloo in 1815. His ideas of liberty and modernity spread in all parts of Europe.
Impacts of French Revolution The idea of liberty and democratic rights important legacy of F.R It spread in all parts of Europe. Feudal system abolished. Colonised people reworked the idea of freedom from bondages. It strengthened their movts to create a sovereign state. Tippu Sultan and Raja Ram Mohan Roy

domain: history


Pardon Our Dust
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Senate: Extender-ganza. The Senate Finance Committee marked up a bipartisan package Thursday, April 3, 2014, that, if enacted, would extend a potpourri of expired and soon-to-expire tax breaks through the end of 2015. Expansions of the research tax credit for startup businesses and an expansion of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit for employers who hire the long-term unemployed were among the surprise additions to the package. Another surprise came from Republican Senator Pat Toomey (R-PA), who pushed for a vote to consider his amendment to repeal the medical device tax despite Chairman Ron Wyden’s ruling that the amendment was not germane to the extenders bill and should be considered at a more appropriate time. Toomey lost his vote to override Wyden’s decision, and may have damaged his relationship with Wyden and Wyden’s staff in the process. It is unclear when the full Senate will begin consideration of the bill, but it does not appear to be happening before the upcoming two-week recess.
Meanwhile, the House Ways & Means Committee is illustrating its more restrained approach to extenders, kicking off the first in a series of hearings today with a hearing focused on business tax extenders. Retiring Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) indicated in his tax reform discussion draft that a select few should be made permanent, while the majority should be allowed to expire for good.
Levin Goes Gloves-Off With Caterpillar. Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), put executives from Caterpillar Inc. and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in the hot seat on April 1, 2014, during a five-hour hearing delving into Caterpillar’s international tax strategies. Executives from the multinational manufacturing company testified that the company pays a combined effective tax rate of 29 percent on both its domestic and international income, in compliance with all tax laws. Caterpillar is the most recent multinational firm to face PSI scrutiny over international tax practices. Apple, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have all faced similar investigations, with Levin pressing for stricter transfer pricing rules.
Murray Introduces Tax Bill. Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), the Senate Budget Committee chairwoman, introduced legislation on March 26 that would increase and expand eligibility for the Earned Income Tax Credit, paid for by limiting corporate tax deductions for stock options paid to executives as compensation and clamping down on multinationals with foreign subsidiaries whose income is taxed below 15 percent. The measures echo proposals in the president’s FY 2015 budget and are likely to be discussed at a Senate Budget Committee hearing this morning on tax reform (more information in “Looking Ahead”).
House: Ryan’s Budget. Speaking of budgets, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) introduced the GOP’s FY 2015 budget last week, with no real surprises and scant detail in terms of taxes. The contender for the Ways & Means gavel proposed a top individual and corporate tax rate of 25 percent, and embraced “pro-growth tax reform” without outlining a specific plan. The House is expected to vote on the budget resolution this week.
CAMP COUNSELOR: MANUFACTURING
Wish Granted. On the domestic tax front, U.S. manufacturers got their big “ask” answered in Camp’s proposed overhaul of the tax code: a flat 25 percent corporate tax rate, down from the current top rate of 35 percent. Under Camp’s plan, the rate would decrease by two percentage points per year over a five-year period. But the concomitant elimination of several key tax breaks would impact the manufacturing sector sooner, with some provisions taking effect immediately upon enactment and others — including major cost recovery changes — beginning in 2016. The net effect would likely increase the overall tax burden for many firms in those first five years, if not indefinitely.
Domestic manufacturing firms organized as pass-through entities, and subject to individual tax rates, would also pay a maximum 25 percent tax rate and would be exempt from the 10 percent surtax applicable to individual taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $400,000, indexed for inflation. The exemption for qualified domestic manufacturing income (QDMI) would be phased in over three years, with one-third of QDMI excluded from the top 35-percent bracket in the 2015 tax year and two-thirds excluded in the 2016 tax year. The highly unpopular Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) would be repealed for both corporations and passthroughs.
Be Careful What You Wish For. As many in the manufacturing sector had feared, Camp’s plan — in its attempt to remain “revenue neutral” — would jettison the accelerated cost-recovery regime and other provisions in order to help offset the $680 billion in lost revenue (over 10 years) from rate reductions. The current “modified accelerated cost recovery system” (MACRS) would be replaced with something more akin to the current “alternative depreciation system” (ADS), which requires longer recovery periods, and depreciation deductions would be determined under the straight-line method instead of the declining balance method.
The draft would also repeal the currently expired bonus depreciation provision for property with a recovery period less than 20 years — a provision that many in the manufacturing sector are hoping will see new life in a still-under-construction extenders package in the Senate Finance Committee this week.
These cost-recovery changes, along with the repeal of some more specialized provisions such as the special allowance for second generation biofuel property, are estimated to increase revenues by $269.5 billion over 10 years — replacing almost 40 percent of the revenue lost from reducing the corporate rate.
Camp’s second-largest offset for the overall rate reduction is the amortization of research and experimental expenses over a five-year period. The provision would be phased in gradually, recouping $192.6 billion in revenue over 10 years, or 28 percent of the lost revenue from the corporate rate reduction.
Phaseout and Repeal of Domestic Manufacturing Deduction. Just when manufacturers thought they could live with the changes to cost recovery and R&E, the draft smacks them on the head with the phaseout and repeal of the deduction for domestic production. The 9 percent deduction (6 percent for certain oil and gas activities) is currently available to a wide range of industries beyond the manufacturing sector, including domestic construction and certain engineering and architectural services. Camp’s provision, Sec. 3122 of the discussion draft, would reduce the deduction to 6 percent in 2015, 3 percent in 2016 and repeal it after that, bringing in $115.8 billion in new revenue in the process.
Capital Contributions Included in Gross Income. Manufacturers and state and local governments are also not pleased with Camp’s proposal to largely eliminate one of the ways localities entice companies to locate in their district. Camp’s draft explains that requiring corporations to report capital contributions as income — including the types of incentives and concessions that states and localities offer to attract businesses to relocate — would help remove a “federal tax subsidy” for such enticements.
Is It Worth It? The reality is that many corporations will find the tradeoff worth it for the 25 percent rate. Passthroughs defined as manufacturers also might support the package because it gives them the 25 rate. But those that do not meet the domestic manufacturing definition, or are in a high-growth industry, such that increased capital costs provide enough depreciation deductions to offset most or all of their income, may prefer the status quo.
IRS Releases Guidance for Same-Sex Couples’ Retirement Plans. The Internal Revenue Service issued the long-awaited guidance on retirement plans for same-sex married couples in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, which struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. The link to the guidance concerning prospective and retrospective considerations and timing for plan amendments can be found here. The guidance makes clear that retirement plans are not required to apply the Windsor ruling retroactively.
COURTS & LEISURE
“Stupid” Tax System. Jason Furman, the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, told attendees at the International Tax Policy Forum conference “I like to describe the system that the U.S. has right now as a ‘stupid territorial tax system.’ ” Furman went on to say that the international aspects of the U.S. tax code are the most broken, “in that right now it does a combination of raising relatively little revenue and doing that while imposing a substantial distortion.”
In Other “Stupid” Tax News… Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Orrin Hatch (R-UT) made it pretty clear he’s not worried about running again when he let slip the phrase “stupid-ass tax,” in reference to the medical device tax, during last week’s markup. The Mormon lawmaker immediately followed the phrase with “I probably shouldn’t have said that,” eliciting laughter from the packed hearing room.
There is a flurry of activity on the Hill this week before the House and Senate recess for two weeks.
- Committee on Ways & Means: Extenders. Committee Chairman Dave Camp will take on business tax extenders during a hearing Tuesday, April 8, 2014. According to a committee advisory, “The hearing will explore the value in having stable, permanent tax policy for employers, as well as the problems caused by tax policies that frequently expire and are extended for short periods of time (and often retroactively). To that end, the hearing specifically will consider those expired business tax provisions that are either made permanent or are provided long-term extensions under the discussion draft of the Tax Reform Act of 2014.” Witnesses include:
- Ms. Judith Zelisko
Vice President of Tax, Brunswick Corporation
- Mr. Bob Stallman
President, American Farm Bureau Federation
- Mr. James Redpath
Managing and Tax Partner, HLB Tautges Redpath, Ltd.
- Mr. Joshua Odintz
Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP
- Mr. Thomas Hungerford
Senior Economist and Director of Tax and Budget Policy, Economic Policy Institute
- Ms. Judith Zelisko
- Committee on Ways & Means: Final Employer Mandate Regulations. The Subcommittee on Health will hold a hearing Tuesday, April 8, 2014, on the implications of the Treasury Department’s recently released final regulations implementing the employer mandate and employer information reporting requirement provisions of the Affordable Care Act. J. Mark Iwry, Senior Advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy for the Treasury Department, will be the sole witness.
- Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Lerner Facing Contempt Vote. Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA) has teed up a resolution that the committee will vote on this Thursday, April 10, 2014, to hold former Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner in contempt for refusing to answer questions from the committee concerning alleged targeting of certain applicants during her tenure as the head of the IRS division that reviews tax-exemption applications.
- Committee on Finance: Tax Preparers. The committee will hold a hearing Tuesday, April 8, 2014, entitled “Protecting Taxpayers from Incompetent and Unethical Tax Preparers.” Witnesses include:
- The Honorable John A. Koskinen, Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service
- Ms. Nina E. Olson, National Taxpayer Advocate, Internal Revenue Service
- Mr. James R. McTigue Jr., Director, Tax Issues, Government Accountability Office
- Mr. William Cobb, President & CEO, H&R Block
- Ms. Janis Salisbury, Chair, Oregon Board of Tax Practitioners
- Dr. John Barrick, Associate Professor, Brigham Young University
- Ms. Chi Chi Wu, Staff Attorney, National Consumer Law Center
- Mr. Dan Alban, Attorney, Institute for Justice
- Budget Committee: Tax Reform. Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-WA) will focus on how changes to the tax code can help spur economic growth and promote fairness. Witnesses include:
- John L. Buckley, J.D., Former Chief Counsel, House Committee on Ways and Means and former Chief of Staff, Joint Committee on Taxation
- Jane Gravelle, Ph.D., Senior Specialist in Economic Policy, Congressional Research Service
- Diana Furchtgott-Roth, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research


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Gwyneth A(nn) Jones Biography
Also writes as Ann Halam. Nationality: English. Born: Manchester, England, 1952. Education: University of Sussex, B.A. 1973. Career: Executive officer, Manpower Services Commission, Hove, England, 1975-77; author of books for young people and adults, 1977—. Awards: First prize, children's story competition (Manchester Evening News), 1967; James Tiptree, Jr., award, 1991; Children of the Night Award (Dracula Society), 1996; World Fantasy Award, 1996. Agent: Anthony Goff, David Higham Associates, Ltd., 5-8 Lower John Street, Golden Square, London W1R 4HA, England.
Ally Ally Aster (as Ann Halam). London, Allen and Unwin, 1981.
The Alder Tree (as Ann Halam). London, Allen and Unwin, 1982.
Divine Endurance. Boston, Allen and Unwin, 1984.
Escape Plans. London, Allen and Unwin, 1986.
King Death's Garden (as Ann Halam). London, Orchard, 1986.
The Daymaker ("Inland" trilogy; as Ann Halam). London, Orchard, 1987.
Transformations ("Inland" trilogy; as Ann Halam). London, Orchard, 1988.
Kairos. London, Unwin Hyman, 1988.
The Hidden Ones. London, Women's Press, 1988.
The Skybreaker ("Inland" trilogy; as Ann Halam). London, Orchard, 1990.
White Queen. London, Gollancz, 1991; New York, Tor, 1993.
Dinosaur Junction (as Ann Halam). London, Orchard, 1992.
Flowerdust. London, Headline, 1993; New York, Tor, 1995.
North Wind. London, Gollancz, 1994; New York, Tor, 1996.
The Haunting of Jessica Raven (as Ann Halam). London, Orion, 1994.
The Fear Man (as Ann Halam). London, Orion, 1995.
Phoenix Café. London, Gollancz, 1996; New York, Tor, 1998.
The Powerhouse (as Ann Halam). London, Orion, 1997.
Crying in the Dark. (as Ann Halam). N.p., n.d.
The Shadow on the Stairs. (as Ann Halam). N.p., n.d.
The NIMROD Conspiracy. (as Ann Halam). N.p. 1999.
Fiction for Children
Water in the Air. New York, Macmillan, 1977.
The Influence of Ironwood. London, Macmillan, 1978.
The Exchange. London, Macmillan, 1979.
Dear Hill. London, Macmillan, 1980.
Identifying the Object. Austin, Texas, Swan Press, 1993.
Seven Tales and a Fable. Cambridge, Massachusetts, EdgewoodPress, 1995.
Editor, Deconstructing the Starships: Science, Fiction and Reality. Liverpool, England, Liverpool University Press, 1998.
* * *
Gwyneth Jones is a British author of science fiction and fantasy and a feminist critic who has earned many literary awards and nominations. Her fiction is famous for its feminist approach and its recurring themes of the importance of community and of respect for the Earth. Her fantasy novels are unconventional, primarily for showing that happy endings are difficult to achieve.
Jones began with juvenile fiction. Her first novels were Water in the Air, The Influence of Ironwood, The Exchange, and Dear Hill. These follow the not unusual pattern of an adolescent girl who must come to grips with her changing attitudes and world.
To escape this formula, Jones began writing as Ann Halam with the Nordic myth-based Ally Ally Aster, which tells of an ice spirit who conjures up a terrible winter. The Alder Tree is a Gothic fantasy featuring a dragon. King Death's Garden and The Haunting of Jessica Raven are ghost stories. The Hidden Ones, published as Gwyneth Jones, concerns a rebellious teenager struggling against a Sussex farmer who plans to industrialize a magic piece of wilderness. The Fear Man earned the Children of the Night Award given by The Dracula Society. Further Halam thrillers include Dinosaur Junction, The Powerhouse, Crying in the Dark, The Shadow on the Stairs, and The NIMROD Conspiracy.
Jones's "Inland" series, composed of The Daymaker, Transformations, and The Skybreaker, are her best juvenile novels. Jones designed this far-future England ("Inland") as a humorous take on the quantum mechanics hypothesis that reality holds together simply because people observe it. In Inland, magic has replaced technology, and observable reality is held together by people's consensus. If the characters disagree, their world literally begins falling apart. Zanne's community, a matriarchal utopia, has renounced technology for the "Covenant," which lets people use the magic of nature to build and heal. However, Zanne is attracted to the "Daymakers," ancient power plants. She wishes to restore the wonders of the machine era, but learns that the powers of technology and magic cannot be balanced.
If sorrow for lost things weaves a thread of tragedy through Daymaker, the tone of Transformations is much darker. Zanne finds a Daymaker in a remote region whose inhabitants lead harsh, puritanical lives. Zanne tries to restore happiness to these mining folk, but gradually realizes something is very wrong in the community. Here and in Skybreaker, she discovers that her healing powers are suited to shutting down the evil machines, dramatizing a philosophy of balance between people and their land and between people's desires and fears.
Jones gained attention in the United States with the publication of Divine Endurance. This remarkable novel is flavored by the years she lived in Singapore and Southeast Asia (1977-80). In the far future, an undescribed apocalypse has wasted the Earth and destroyed the wisdom of past civilizations. Her richly imagined Malay Peninsula, though, is a matriarchal society, bound by traditions of "hearth magic" and strict gender roles. The Peninsulans are governed by the mysterious Rulers, who reserve what little technology remains to themselves and rule by martial law. The arrival of Cho—an innocent girl who is not what she seems and who can grant the heart's desire—and a cat called Divine Endurance catalyzes a civil war between rebels and matriarchs. Jones paints a melancholy landscape of a dying Earth in this meditation on utopia and the results of getting what you wish for.
Escape Plans uses a dystopian setting and the computer jargon typical of cyberpunk, a fast-paced computer-savvy subgenre of science fiction. A spacewoman from an orbital station is unaware of the dismal lives of a dehumanized worker class until she journeys through their underground world and uncovers a secret history. The novel was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, given annually to the best science fiction novel published in the British Commonwealth.
With Kairos, Jones began dealing seriously with gender issues. In post-apocalyptic London, two pairs of homosexual lovers endure a repressive government, brutal poverty, social anarchy, and the experiments of BREAKTHRU Ltd., which intends to end the world for its own gain. This company has developed a drug, "kairos," so powerful it can change the nature of physical reality. Jane, called "Otto," a political and sexual radical, sets up shop with Sandy, the first victim of kairos. Their friends James and Gordon ("Luci") discover the evil of the BREAKTHRU representatives called "angels," and when the surviving protagonists flee London, they find different worlds outside. A lesbian druidic cult challenges BREAKTHRU, but reality metamorphoses so drastically that time and causality unravel. Apocalypse is eventually prevented, but the "happy" ending cannot overcome the mood of futility and despair.
White Queen was another Clarke Award nominee and a co-winner of the James Tiptree, Jr., Memorial Award, given to science fiction that explores sex and gender roles. It is the first of the "Aleutian" series, the others being North Wind and The Phoenix Café. Mysterious humanoids arrive on Earth in 2038; apparently telepathic hermaphrodites, they are called Aleutians, a name suggesting "aliens." The relationship between aliens and humans becomes a metaphor for the relationship between men and women. Johnny Guglioli, exiled as a "petrovirus" victim from the United States, befriends journalist Braemar Wilson and the "woman" Clavel. From Clavel's behaviors, they deduce the insidious invasion, but cannot unriddle what the aliens want. Are they superbeings, candidly offering assistance to a world shaken up by geological and political catastrophes? Similar to humans, they differ in important details—such as their attitudes towards sex, death, and personal identity.
White Queen, a "preemptive resistance movement" that works to undermine trust in the aliens's promises, sees the Aleutians as technologically superior conquerors. Played out among conflicts arising from miscommunication, gender, and identity, the plot accelerates when a White Queen agent attempts to take an alien tissue sample. The Aleutians kill her and disrupt technologies across the world, nearly causing global war. Braemar and Johnny attempt to infiltrate the aliens' starship, precipitating a showdown. The novel has been praised for its well-rounded characterization, exotic settings, convincing technology, and eroticism.
In Flowerdust, Jones returned to the Southeast Asia of Divine Endurance. The first book had introduced Derveet Garuda, a rebel against the matriarchal government, who now prepares to undertake a full-scale revolution. Derveet journeys to the refugee camps on the island of Ranganar to learn the source of their unrest, which might explode prematurely into an easily suppressed rebellion. Uncovering a Ruler conspiracy to distribute flowerdust, a bliss-generating drug, Derveet must stop its spread and venture into enemy territory. The book is a satisfying adventure novel, full of political intrigue and intercultural conflict in a colorful setting.
North Wind, the Clarke Award-nominated sequel to White Queen, takes place a century later. Bella, a crippled Aleutian, and "her" human caretaker, Sydney Carton, share an unusual relationship in a world riven by gender war. Men want to violently eradicate the Aleutians and human collaborators, while the women desire a return to power through a more nurturing society. "Halfcastes," such as Carton, admire the Aleutians. The Aleutians' proposal to level the Himalayas generates violent anti-alien sentiment. While sheltering Bella, Sydney seeks an instantaneous travel device that the legendary Johnny Guglioli used to reach the Aleutians' starship. Unknown to him, Bella's importance to the Aleutians signals her critical role in finding the device. Evoking the courage of Charles Dickens's Sydney Carton in A Tale of Two Cities, Carton helps Bella on a journey across the war-ravaged remains of Europe, gradually falling in love with her.
Where White Queen presented first contact, and North Wind showed the conquerors at the height of their empire, Phoenix Café is about their disengagement from Earth. Jones considers the trilogy a version of the European invasion of Africa and India in the nineteenth century, dramatizing different aspects of a dominating culture with attractively powerful technology. Jones blames the Europeans for having looted those continents, establishing "democracies," and finally leaving town because everything was still a mess. What do natives do when the invaders depart? How can they discard the practices that have been imposed and assimilated?
After 300 years, the Aleutians have decided to go home. The problem is getting there; they must perfect their instantaneous-transfer drive. At this point, bodily transformation is so evolved that humans have dropped the old distinctions and now come in all varieties. Catherine, the protagonist, is an experiment, an Aleutian in human form. Engaging in increasingly deeper involvement with humans, Catherine enters a sexually perverse relationship that brings him/her among the planet's elite, who plot a conspiracy that might mean the end of the Aleutian Expedition or all life on Earth.
Jones pushes ever harder against our notions of identity, sex, and gender assumptions. Not only are the Aleutians impossible to classify in male/female terms, but almost no one's appearance in Phoenix Café can be trusted because of virtual reality and designer sex drugs. Jones upsets reader expectations in depicting alien/human sex, same-gender sex, clone sex, and even computer sex. The reader is left to ponder the possibility of lasting peace between humans and aliens, men and women, Self and Other.
Deconstructing the Starships: Science, Fiction and Reality gathers critical essays and reviews on various subjects, from genre limitations to creating aliens, from the need for more incisive feminist commentary to a biology textbook on sexual differentiation. The collection earned applause from science fiction scholars and belongs in major academic libraries.
Jones is one of the most important feminist science fiction authors, a growing group that includes award winners Joanna Russ, Suzy Charnas, and Sheri Tepper. From her young adult novels that emphasized the importance of moderation and balance, Jones has developed into a writer of disturbing, destabilizing novels concerned with the human preoccupation with arbitrary divisions by gender, race, politics, and other discriminations that lead to conflict.
- Madison (Percy Jones Jr.) Biography - Madison Jones comments:
- (Morgan) Glyn Jones Biography - Glyn Jones comments:
- Other Free Encyclopedias


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Not Your Ordinary PTA Mom: How One After-School PTA Program Turned An Old Trope On Its Head
A few weeks ago my son Jackson came running toward me at school dismissal with a huge green onion in his hands. “We can cook this tonight,” he shouted joyfully as he swung the gangly vegetable above his shock of strawberry blonde hair. And then, from his pocket, Jackson revealed three cloves of garlic. “We went to the farm today. It was harvest day for my class.”
That night as I prepared dinner, I used the garlic in the marinara sauce. I put the raw verdant circlets from the onion in our salad. Jackson, a precocious 7 year old, noted that the garlic “livened up” the meal. At one point, as Jackson picked through his salad, he popped a piece of the green onion in his mouth. His face spoke otherwise but Jackson maintained his composure and announced, “It tastes so fresh. Right out of the garden.”
If that onion had been from the grocery store, Jackson wouldn’t have touched it. He would have eaten enough of his pasta to negotiate a dessert. But because Jackson grew that food with his class, he appreciated it. They worked the soil, planted the seeds, watched sprouts rise up from black earth, and tended their garden until it was ready to consume.
The Moss Haven Farm is a treasure in our community. With 48 raised beds, a rainwater harvest system, a custom chicken coop, and a sitting area for group discussion carved out of tree stumps, it’s no wonder that this farm has become the gold standard of school farms in North Texas.
This wildly successful school farm started as an after-school program. Kim Aman, a classroom teacher, along with the Garden Committee, used PTA funds to build 20 raised beds, a water tank, and a barn storage unit. A seventh generation farmer and avid gardener, Ms. Aman volunteered her time at first. “I have always loved taking my classes out to work and learn, so I jumped at the opportunity of creating an outside learning space,” she recounted.
Student interest in the after-school farm program skyrocketed and classroom teacher Ms. Aman transitioned to Farmer Aman. After school enrichment became in-school instruction following the Texas state standards for STEM education.
And while Kim Aman is now the Farm Director and remains a key player in this endeavour, there are many women who make the farm happen. The female positioning in the history the school farm is the hallmark of the farm and showcases the strength of the community. There is, in a sense, a “village” of women who have come together to establish, maintain, and build the future.
Tiffany Walker, head of the Farm Board, notes that the farm’s longevity and impact is “directly tied to the volunteer Farm Board, dedicated Farm Director, and the many small and big ways the community makes contributions that strengthen the farm’s roots.” The Farm Board is made up entirely of women. It meets monthly and oversees budgets, writes grants, assembles service days, manages after-school and summer camp opportunities, and organizes events like Peep the Coops, a community-wide tour of urban chicken coops in East Dallas.
Funding for the school farm does not come from the school as one would expect. Moss Haven’s PTA, a separate entity from the school, provides over half the funding for the farm. The rest comes from grants, personal donations, and summer camp revenue.
The PTA holds several fundraisers throughout the year, the biggest of which is a themed auction. Last year, this auction raised over 160K for Moss Haven Elementary and provided just over half the funding for the farm. There is a strong female presence in the PTA too. Of course there are amazing dads who volunteer but the PTA Executive Board is all female and the Auction Chairs, responsible for gathering solicitations and putting on a large scale event, are women.
Students visit the farm on a weekly basis and there the teacher connects agricultural learning to science objectives. But the farm “classroom” has ubiquitous effects back inside the school building. Jackson’s teacher, Megan Grizzaffi, told me “We are constantly referring back to experiences on the farm.”
Students make connections in literature and even social studies. Ms. Grizzaffi explained that her first graders are learning about how different communities “grow crops for food, but others might not have good weather or soil to grow crops.” Her class connected this concept to the selection of crops and seasonality of planting for optimal results here in Dallas.
On Fridays, students visit the salad bar during lunch and assemble part of their meals with vegetables from the farm. When they finish lunch everyday, students as young as kindergarten know to discard uneaten organic materials in the compost bins. Sixth graders brought their herbs to the farmers’ market last year and learned about basic tenants of business. All surplus from the farm goes to the North Texas Food Bank–about 2,000 lbs at this point.
In film, television, and zeitgeist, PTA moms are caricatured as harried women in yoga pants with messy minivans and too many activities. Or they are portrayed as type-A women in Chanel flats, fueled by Diet Coke and ambitions of being the biggest fish in the tiny pond. You just don’t see this at Moss Haven’s farm. The farm has an attitude that says, “Come as you are. Help when and where you can. Your talents are needed and appreciated.” The fruits of that attitude can be seen in grants from big companies, rising property values, and first place ribbons at the Texas State Fair (a big deal for city kids!).
The current culture of parenting is characterized individuality. Each parent raises his/her child(ren) his/her own way. Each parent knows what’s best for his/her own family. And that’s a good thing. But the beauty of creating and investing in community can get lost in that mindset.
Not at Moss Haven Elementary. This community raises its kids together–in partnership with each other, with teachers, and even with nature. I see the benefits of the farm everyday. Because of Jackson’s experience gardening and caring for the chickens on the Moss Haven Farm, he’s more mindful of the world around him. It’s remarkable to see a 7-year-old became a conscious steward of his body and gain respect nature.
By Kristin Sample
Word Count: 1,200

domain: agronomy


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(1668 – 1731)
Mary Astell was a voluminous writer, who spanned both the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. She was the daughter of a merchant of Newcastle-upon-Tyne , where she was born in 1668. Mary was well educated, and among other accomplishments she was known for her linguistic abilities with the French language and she also had a good knowledge of the Latin tongue. Her uncle, who was a clergyman, observing her uncommon inclination toward learning, took her under his wing and taught her mathematics, logic, and philosophy.
She left her native home when she was about the age of twenty, and spent the remaining part of her life at London and Chelsea . Here she pursued her studies with diligence and was thus able to acquire a great proficiency in the exact sciences. She also extended her knowledge by reading many of the classic authors such as Seneca, Epictetus, Hierocles, Antoninus, Tully, Plato, and Xenophon.
Mary wrote such works as “An Essay in Defense of the Female Sex”, “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies”, and many other books and essays with the purpose of raising the standard of female education and female character. She was the first self-avowed feminist writer in English and, although she wrote anonymously, her authorship was widely known. She died at Chelsea , May 11, 1731 , and was buried there.


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New Music Video "We Are Ghosts" Posted By Six Reasons To Kill
German act Six Reasons To Kill posted a new music video for the track "We Are Ghosts." The song is the title track of band's fifth release, which is available now via Massacre Records.
Check out the video here:
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domain: news


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Reporters Recap Passage Of W.Va. Impact Fund And Latest On Legislation To Repeal Machinery Tax
We recap this week’s legislative action with statehouse reporters, and we take a special look at bills seeking to bar discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Reporter Emily Allen brings us a special focus on bills that aim to stop discrimination against people of the LGBTQ+ community in West Virginia.
Host Suzanne Higgins speaks with statehouse reporters Brad McElhinny of WV MetroNews and Dave Mistich of West Virginia Public Broadcasting for a roundtable discussion on this week’s biggest stories.
Highlights from the roundtable:
- Crossover Day
- Latest on a bill that would create the West Virginia Fairness Act
- Latest on legislation to repeal the business and inventory tax; SJR 9, SB 837
- HB 4001 – West Virginia Impact Fund
- Pending closure of Fairmont Regional Medical Center
Bluefield State College celebrated its 125th anniversary at the Capitol Friday. Randy Yohe brings us the story on this historically black college.
Monday on The Legislature Today, we'll continue our discussion on the potential impact of the proposed property tax repeals, we'll also get the county commission perspective and the business perspective.

domain: law


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Ulster Scots Music
An interview with Willie Drennan
Willie Drennan, writer, performer and member of the Ulster Scots Folk Orchestra and Nae Goat’s Toe was talking to CultureNorthernIreland about Ulster Scots.
What kind of music is it? What would be the ‘typical’ instruments in Ulster Scots music?
'There are different aspects of that, because as part of that you have the strong marching band tradition, pipe bands, accordion bands and flute bands, and the Lambeg and Fyffing tradition.
'You also have the folk music that would have been played in the local halls and peoples homes, and that is basically fiddle music, tin whistles, and flutes, and drums and various things like that. And that aspect is not any different from Irish music. It’s just the folk music of Ulster that has strongly been influenced by Scotland. It’s not Scottish music.
'People often make this mistake that Ulster Scots music is Scottish music played in Ulster, but it’s not necessarily that. Some of the music we play has its roots in Scotland, but has been played here in Ulster for many generations.
'A lot of it has been created here in Ulster, and sometimes had other influences from other parts in Ireland, from England or from America, as the music went out from here in the seventeen hundreds and came back and has strongly influenced how people play music here.
'So, to summarize, I suppose, Ulster Scots folk music is the music that has been played by people who see themselves as being Ulster Scots. Some of the tunes that we play have been played all over the British Isles or played in North America for many generations as well, but we play it because it’s the music that has been played here traditionally.'
Do you collect songs from the oral tradition?
'[From] everywhere you can think of! Some of it is from the oral tradition, some of it is from old books, songbooks, a lot of it is […] from knowing that people have sung this particular song, [and then you get] the words from somewhere like from a library.'
What would be one of the ‘popular titles’ of Ulster Scots music?
'Well, it almost depends what category you are talking about. It’s the same as with Irish music, if you’re talking about an Irish song that’s been sung in the Irish language, or more commonly, a song that’s sung in English but as part of Irish culture, […] that’s a couple of different categories there.
'So, that’s a difficult question, because there’s just literally hundreds and hundreds of songs, [but] you [can’t] use one and say ‘oh that must be [it], that represents Ulster Scots,’ [since] Ulster Scots is such a wide range.
'If you talk about a traditional, in a traditional sense now, songs that would have been sung for many generations, songs like ‘My Aunt Jane’ comes to mind, which has been sung certainly in the eastern part of Ulster and around Belfast for many generations, and that’s a song that has come from Ulster.
'Rabbie Burns’ songs have been sung here since Burns’ lifetime in the late seventeen hundreds. That was something that was very strong when I was growing up, people would be singing these songs, his most common songs, best known songs, love songs like ‘My Love is like a Red Red Rose’, ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ and the ‘Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon’, those you heard all over the place.
‘Auld Lang Syne’ which was written by Burns has been sung at all kinds of gatherings here in Ulster. People associate that with New Year’s Eve all over the world, but here it has been sung at birthdays, any sort of anniversary, or any type of gathering here, when people got together to have a good time. The song is really about celebrating old friends and good times spent with old friends, so that has been a very important part of the tradition here.
'That is probably the best known, but of course there are other songs of Scottish origin that have been very popular, such as ‘Annie Laurie’ comes to mind. When I was at school, songs I learnt of Scottish origin were ‘Western Home’, and my mother talks about learning ‘The Camel’s Coming’ when she was at school. So there has been a very strong tradition of Scottish songs sung as part of the tradition here in Ulster.
'All kinds of ballads have been sung by Ulster Scots people that come from here, but are not necessary sung using Ulster Scots words. Some of the more distinct ones that you would classify as Ulster Scots would be ‘The Muttonburn Stream’, a song that was written probably in the late eighteen hundreds.
'Most people in my generation, or beyond or before that, would have been familiar with songs like ‘the Muttonburn Stream.’ When people ask me about things like it, I’d say the best thing to do is to check out our CDs, because we pay particular attention to that, we pay attention to the traditional music of Ulster. It’s rare that we play a tune or sing a song that is commercial, a commercial Scottish song or a commercial Irish song, because we don’t see that as part of the tradition.'

domain: entertainment


Step right up
Odd title for a blog piece, eh? Patience; all will be revealed. When marketing your product, never fall into the trap of making unprovable and in some cases, outrageous claims: you may get called out. It could be true that as marketers, us lot at Big Red Moose are more attuned to any aberrations in the commercial ether than most, but in truth, we are consumers as well. It’s just that we’re perhaps more aware of how we respond to marketing than most. In other words, I at least know why I bought this crap, which almost makes it worse.
Now, I know I have cited this example in the past, but it’s worth drawing attention to it again in this particular context: a well known and advertised mass-market disinfectant. You know, the one that kills 99.9% of germs. Really. Who counted them? Did they identify all the germs? Will it kill new, super-germs? (The media is forever warning us about super-bugs, why not super-germs?). The honest approach to this particular example - and would almost certainly be less off-putting to sceptics like us – would be to state that this product is invaluable in providing a safer environment for your family.
Everyone knows we don’t live in a perfect world, and no matter how fragrant your prize rose, there will always be aphids.
So, before you embark upon your next campaign, have a think about what you are claiming, and be aware that some claims could come back and bite you. Better still, be a little more selective in which organisation you select to disseminate your marketing messages. It’s stating the obvious, but we’re not going to miss the opportunity of a bit of shameless self-promotion; our strap-line is ‘marketing without the bull’. Just thought I’d drop that in…
Oh, the title of this piece. It’s a song by Tom Waits. You might want to type ‘Tom Waits Step right up lyrics’ into the search engine of your choice.


Apple has begun selling Microsoft’s Xbox Wireless Controller after adding support for the gamepad in the latest major software updates for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and the Mac. The Xbox controller is priced at $59.95 and is available from Apple’s website.
I paired the Xbox Wireless Controller Series S with macOS and could not operate the normal Desktop with the controller. I assume the controller only works in games? I would like to use a media player or image browser with the controller. Is that not possible?


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Saturday, September 23rd, 2023 @ 1:00:pm
The Modern at Art Place
One of the all time greats comes to the Comedy Loft for the first time!
Damon Wayans is known throughout the world for his comedic genius and is most fondly remembered for the Emmy Award winning series “In Living Color” where he created sketch characters like Homey the Clown, Handiman, and fabulous Blaine from Men on Film.
He’s made us all laugh with tears aplenty so be sure to make your way over to this D.C. hotspot and watch one of the kings of 90’s comedy show off his stellar chops and mad skills.
Wayans will be performing at DC Comedy Loft March 17 to 20.
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Bifold doors, also known as folding doors, are a type of door that consists of multiple panels that are hinged together and fold in a concertina style to create an opening. They are typically made up of three or more panels, with each panel connected by hinges and running on tracks at the top and bottom of the door frame.
Bifold doors are commonly used in residential homes and commercial buildings, as they provide a wide and unobstructed opening that allows for a lot of natural light to enter a room and creates a seamless transition between indoor and outdoor living spaces. They are also very versatile, as they can be installed in a variety of configurations, such as folding to one side or splitting in the middle.
Bifold doors are available in a variety of materials, such as wood, aluminium or UPVC, and can be customized to fit different architectural styles and design preferences. They may also feature additional design elements, such as grilles or screens, to enhance their appearance and functionality.
One of the main advantages of bifold doors is that they can be opened partially or fully, depending on the desired level of ventilation or access. They are also highly secure, as they feature multi-point locking systems and toughened glass to ensure the safety and security of the property.
Looking for a Door or Window Repair service in Essex?
Bifold doors can experience faults over time, and some common issues include:
Misaligned or damaged tracks: The tracks that the doors slide on can become damaged, warped, or misaligned over time, causing the doors to become difficult to slide or even get stuck.
Dirty or damaged rollers: The rollers that allow the doors to slide smoothly can become dirty, worn out, or damaged, which can cause the doors to become difficult to open or close.
Worn out weatherstripping: The weatherstripping around the doors can become worn out or damaged, which can cause drafts or water leaks.
Broken or cracked glass: The large glass panels in bifold doors can crack or break due to accidental damage or extreme weather conditions, which can compromise the insulation and security of the door.
Faulty locking mechanisms: The locking mechanisms on bifold doors can become worn out or damaged over time, which can make it easier for intruders to gain access to the property.
Loose or damaged hinges: The hinges that connect the panels together can become loose or damaged, which can cause the doors to become misaligned or unstable.
If you experience any of these faults with your bifold doors, it is important to have them repaired by a qualified professional to ensure their safety and functionality. Contact us today for a free no obligation quote!


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Is academia serious about diversity?
. . . asks Greg Mankiw. It's hard to come to the conclusion that the answer is "Yes". Faced with overwhelming evidence that there is a massive, massive underrepresentation of conservatives at the elite level, almost none of them even considers, in passing, that there might be some sort of structural problem. No, clearly the reason that conservatives don't make it into the academy is that . . . they're inferior.
It's not as if we're talking about a severe shortage of fly-fishers either. One would think that a committment to diversity would start with a committment to diversity of thought. But then, having thoughts that disagree with the thoughts that academics have probably means there's something wrong with you, doesn't it?
Don't get me wrong: I don't think there's any sort of conspiracy against conservatives in the academy. I think, rather, that a combination of more subtle factors erects a wall that it's harder for conservatives to climb over. Unless they are really, really brilliant, academics, like everyone else, need personal connections to help them up the academic ladder, from recommendations to mentors to advisors. Those personal connections are always much easier to make with people you agree with. Nor would I discount the possibility that, just as women's work can be subtly dismissed because we know women aren't as bright as men, academics who think that conservatives are stupid would factor that into their assessment of someone's intelligence--and then factor that assessment into their assessment of someone's work. And of course, one's ideas are to some extent socially constructed; simply by virtue of the arguments and information we hear, even if there is no social pressure to conform, being surrounded by a political culture will tend to drag our ideas in their direction.
And the idea that academia exerts no pressures to conform is spectacularly hilarious to anyone who's ever spent any time at all around academics. Perhaps the funniest sight I have ever witnessed is the spectacle of a sociologist cruising straight past the analyses of power relationships and group norms that they apply to every single other facet of human existence, and insisting that the underrepresentation of conservatives in academic could only be explained by the fact that conservatives are a bunch of money-grubbing intellectual lightweights who can't stand rigorous examinations of their ideas, and moreover are too intolerant to fit into the academic community.
The sociologist, you see, is inside academia, and so able to analyze it better than outsiders. Also, the sociologist knows that neither they, nor any of their friends, is biased, so the answer must be that there's something wrong with conservatives.
It's odd, given this lack of bias, that one repeatedly hears from untenured academics who are in the closet. "Passing" is not usually a behavior one finds in a community where there is no prejudice.
Now, I think that affirmative action for conservatives would be an even worse idea than regular affirmative action; conservative intellectual life doesn't need to get any flabbier than it already is. But the Larry Summers speech should certainly give one pause. That it seems to have made so little impression on liberal academics should make the rest of us very worried indeed.

domain: sociology


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Given a collection of connected components, it is often desired to cluster together parts of strong correspondence, yielding a hierarchical structure. We address the automation of this process and apply heuristics to battle the combinatorial and computational complexity.
We define a cost function that captures the quality of a structure relative to the connections and favors shallow structures with a low degree of branching. Finding a structure with minimal cost is NP-complete. We present a greedy polynomial-time algorithm that creates an approximative good solution incrementally by local evaluation of a heuristic function. We argue for a heuristic function based on four criteria: the number of enclosed connections, the number of components, the number of touched connections and the depth of the structure.
We report on an application in the context of formal verification, where our algorithm serves as a preprocessor for a temporal scaling technique, called ``Next'' heuristic. The latter is applicable in reachability analysis and is included in a recent version of the Mocha model checking tool. We demonstrate performance and benefits of our method and use an asynchronous parity computer and an opinion-poll protocol as case studies.
11th Advanced Research Working Conference on Correct Hardware Design and Verification Methods (CHARME'01), 2001.


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DIY your photo charms, compatible with Pandora bracelets. Make your gifts special. Make your life special! DIY Elegant Christmas Wreath by Blooming Homestead - make a beautiful, personalized wreath for the holidays, using just a few simple supplies!
Christmas DIY: Giant paper plate lo Giant paper plate lollipops for Christmas - ADORABLE! Super cute as a garden Christmas decoration or line your driveway with them! They cost less than a dollar each to make!

domain: artistic


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Hard-hit community takes it on the chin again
photo by Mike McCollum, Watsonville
Creator: Heckman, Susanna
Type: NEWS; DOCUMENT
Heckman, Susanna. “Hard-hit community takes it on the chin again.” Register-Pajaronian. 1990-04-24. SCPL Local History. https://history.santacruzpl.org/omeka/items/show/87556. Accessed 28 May 2023.

domain: library


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ARC of Rockland buys art studio; Phelps Hospital debuts upgrade
VALHALLA - USI Insurance Services received two awards of excellence for corporate communications at the 58th Insurance Marketing Communications Association Showcase Awards, June 21, during a gala ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore. Ivonne Cante and Cecile Locurto of USI accepted the recognition — in the categories of corporate social responsibility and employee communications — on behalf of the company, which is a local and national insurance brokerage and consulting firm based in Valhalla.
New group for kids is formed
WHITE PLAINS - Westchester Children’s Association, the Westchester Bank and the Westchester Knicks recently announced the launch of a new group, Westchester Companies for Kids (WC4K). Its primary goal is to engage the business sector with WCA’s mission: To improve the lives of Westchester’s young people by shaping policies and programs to meet their needs, and by keeping their well-being at the top of the public agenda. WC4K is co-chaired by John Tolomer, president and CEO of the Westchester Bank, and Kevin Bovet, VP of sales and business operations for the Westchester Knicks.
ARC of Rockland buys art studio
ORANGEBURG - ARC of Rockland recently became the new owner of Glaze Pottery and Art Studio, 34 Orangetown Shopping Center, Orangeburg. In keeping with its mission to ensure that people with developmental disabilities are integral participants in the community at large, Glaze will also serve as one of the several ARC in Motion hubs throughout Rockland.
Phelps debuts its latest upgrade
SLEEPY HOLLOW - Phelps Hospital officially opened its new main entrance and lobby on June 27. State Sens. Terrence Murphy and David Carlucci presented congratulatory proclamations. Guests included donors, physicians and hospital staff, and local community leaders and residents.
Yonkers’ Gutekunst heads NY Bar
ALBANY - Claire P. Gutekunst became the 119th president of the New York State Bar Association on June 1. Gutekunst, an independent mediator and arbitrator, is the sixth woman to serve as president of the 74,000-member Association. Gutekunst and her husband, Arthur Perlman, live in Yonkers. She succeeds David P. Miranda of Albany.
Ross joins GDC
OSSINING - Jenifer Ross has joined Ginsburg Development Companies as its director of community experience for the company’s new GDC Rentals brand of luxury rental apartments, Harbor Square in Ossining. Ross has lived in the Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow area for 18 years.
Tarrytown’s Ricci praised for her work
STAMFORD, Conn. - Diane Ricci was named the 2016 Stan Miller Employee of the Year at Rosco Laboratories’ annual awards gala. The award is given to one Rosco employee out of a large group of nominees chosen by their peers. Ricci lives in Tarrytown and has worked for Rosco for 34 years. Rosco Laboratories produces lighting and color technologies for the film, television, entertainment and architecture industries.
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Send business news of note, including high-resolution photos, to Jenny Higgons at firstname.lastname@example.org.


denied the Joint Special Operations Command, announced by Washington on the tentative agreement between Iraq and Turkey to give Ankara the role and participation of the process of liberation of thecity of Mosul Daesh terrorist gangs.
He added, “These operations are led by the Planning Iraqis and implementation against terrorism Daesh and free our people in Nineveh and in defense of the sovereignty of Iraq and his land. ”
the US defense secretary, Ashton Carter, announced earlier on Friday during his visit to Turkey that Ankara and Baghdad have reached a preliminary agreement on Turkey ‘s role in the battle of Mosul.
he supported the US defense secretary Turkey ‘s role in the fight against Daesh in Syria and Iraq. this
was the announcement during a visit by US Secretary of defense Ashton Carter, to Ankara, where he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Prime Minister Ben Ali Yildirim, and defense Minister Fikri Aahak.
, said Ashton Carter, he told reporters on the plane that carried him to Turkey, said that respect for the sovereignty of Iraq “important principle” respected by all the other members of the alliance.
as a senior US official in the defense ministry said, requesting anonymity, said Washington hasasked the parties to the alleviation of their statements.
the official added: “We talked behind the scenes to push the Iraqis and Turks to reach an understanding on how to move forward on Mosul, the Turkish presence in Iraq. ” the
Iraqi government categorically rejects the participation of any foreign power ground operation, stationed Turkish troops and considered at camp district Ba’shiqah north of Mosul as” hostile “.
He visited Monday , an official delegation from Turkey to Baghdad to discuss the resolution of the crisis , but the Foreign Ministry, he said that the delegation “presented ideas have not lived up to the withdrawal of their forces from Iraq.”


Internet video ads are on the rise. They have been more influential than good old TV ads for quite some time now, having higher rates for message recall, brand recall, and ad likeability. We have been talking about that for quite some time here on the Shakr blog and we thought we should explain why Facebook’s video ads are so powerful right now, and something you as a marketer would be a fool to overlook. Traditionally, the leader of internet video ads has inherently been YouTube, who long have had a tight grip on the industry. With more than 1 billion users, billions of views generated each day, and an ad technology based on Google’s ever-so-successful advertising platform, Google’s wide range of efficient tools for marketers has been a big success and earned the Silicon Valley a lot of money. But now, there is a new industry leader in town. Facebook has been expanding its video ad capability, and the result is starting to show itself. According to a survey by Mixpo made early this year, whilst more advertisers ran ads YouTube than on Facebook, more advertisers answered that they plan to run an ad campaign on Facebook than on YouTube this year. This tells us that Facebook is taking over the mantle as the video ad industry leader. Therefore, we thought we’d give you a run down on the Facebook video ad strengths and do some comparisons with Youtube.
Facebook Video Ad Strengths
Facebook last year started to tweak its algorithm to promote video ads more effectively. In the second half of 2014, Facebook tweaked its News Feed algorithms so that videos most watched by people are likely to show up on others’ News Feeds, and it also purchased LiveRail last year to boost its ad targeting tech, something that they’re benefitting from now. Facebook know that its users are hungry for video content and that they don’t mind watching video ads. Facebook’s video ranking system now don’t only consider likes and shares, but takes into account whether people are actually watching each video — and for how long — before deciding who else will get the same video served as an ad. An enormously powerful change for marketers using the Facebook platform for their video ads.
Basically, the video ad plays automatically on the main Facebook timeline. Autoplay gives more chances of exposure to the viewers, because while on YouTube users actually have to watch a video to watch an ad, but with Facebook, scrolling through your timeline is enough to be exposed to an ad. Autoplay also solves Facebook’s longtime shortfall as an ad platform – mobile. While Facebook has gotten most of its user traffic from mobile for a while now, Facebook has not been a big name in the mobile ad space. With autoplay, Facebook can maximize ads’ exposure to its users.
Not only is Facebook’s user base bigger than YouTube, (1.44 billion vs 1 billion) it also has more demographic data on its users, which makes specifically targeting ads a lot easier. Targeting ad to the right audience is very important to marketers, as they all have fixed budget to spend, and having the right targeting capabilities can help them use their budget efficiently. You don’t want to show an ad targeted towards teenagers to a 50-year-old person. If you play around in the Facebook Power Editor you can find extremely powerful targeting settings, such as age, relationship status, job title, etc.
Whilst YouTube is more of a video platform where people go to watch videos, Facebook is a social place. People aren’t afraid to share content they like, whether it is from a friend or in a sponsored brand post. If you create good content that your audience likes, chances are that they might help you spread the word about you. Don’t just expect any half assed video to get shared.
While Facebook is rising quickly as the new contender in video ad wars (™), you should not ignore YouTube’s strengths. The data Google have on its users is really powerful as well, and might suit you better, depending on what kind of result you are looking for. Google knows very well what products its user are looking for, even if they didn’t specify it with a Facebook like. Also, you should not forget the long tail power of Google searches. According to a white paper done by Searchmetrics, 55% of search keywords in Google result in having at least one video in the results, and 82% of those results come from YouTube. This means when a user is searching for something specific, (especially a specific product) YouTube has a higher chance of being exposed. You may ask, “what about Facebook?” Well, Facebook is good for initial social reach and awareness, the fact is that it is quickly buried in the sea of other Facebook content and won’t easily turn up in search results in the long term. YouTube videos, on the other hand, can perform very well during a long time after the initial video is posted.
Facebook and YouTube has different approaches to video ads. While Facebook fares much better at targeting specific audience for the video ad, YouTube fares much better on exposures based on internet searches. You may ask which platform you should use, and the answer is “it depends, but probably both”. Experiment with both platforms and see what works best for you, as with most marketing activities there are no guarantees.


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With the NBA Finals having just wrapped up last month, the league is preparing to return to play in December and has now released a look at their preseason schedule. It includes the San Antonio Spurs schedule which will feature the team battling Western Conference opponents next month all in the state of Texas.
San Antonio Spurs Preseason Schedule Features Thunder, Rockets
As mentioned, there will be a quick turnaround from the NBA Finals wrapping up to teams heading to training camp on December 1. For the San Antonio Spurs, they’ll get their first preseason game on Saturday, December 12 as they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder in San Antonio. OKC just recently traded away their top star Chris Paul, but features a rising star in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Three days later, San Antonio gets to take on one of their Southwest Division foes in the Houston Rockets. They’ll play James Harden’s squad again for their third and final preseason game scheduled for Thursday, December 17.
Both of these games will take place in Houston, Texas, so the Spurs won’t have to travel too far. These Rockets games could be some good early matchups for the roster, depending on who plays, as Houston was amongst teams participating in the playoffs at the NBA bubble.
The San Antonio Spurs Twitter released the schedule as shown below:
Spurs Looking to Return to Playoffs After Streak was Snapped
This past season was marked by a suspended schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a hiatus for the league of several months. Eventually, after careful planning for everyone’s health and safety, the NBA chose to do a restart for the season at a bubble site in Orlando, Florida.
Only NBA teams going to the playoffs or close to qualifying were invited to play games at the bubble. There was also a first-time concept for the NBA Playoffs with a play-in game involving the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference. That team had a chance to get into the playoffs if they could defeat the No. 8 team.
The Spurs came close to getting the No. 9 seed. Ultimately it was the Memphis Grizzlies who got to play for a chance at a postseason berth. They’d fall to the Portland Trail Blazers, who claimed the No. 8 seed and went on to lose to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round.
That made for the Spurs’ first playoff absence after 22 consecutive years of making the postseason. However, Gregg Popovich was impressed with what he saw from the team’s younger stars and their development during the bubble. With LaMarcus Aldridge sidelined, DeMar DeRozan also moved to a forward spot to allow other players an opportunity to get into the starting lineup.
Spurs’ Outlook Promising Based on Roster Moves
In the upcoming season, it appears the Spurs will have DeRozan back and should get Aldridge back after his rehab from season-ending shoulder surgery. At the time of writing this article, Patty Mills is also still part of the roster, but speculation continues regarding a trade. In addition, the team made moves to re-sign key players in free agency including big man Jakob Poeltl and Drew Eubanks.
“I’m getting a chance to be that guy here for our team and putting up a lot of minutes and just trying to get better.”— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 25, 2020
From growing up in Austria to cultivating his role in the league, Jakob’s journey is still in the making. This is his Spurs Story.@FrostBank | #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/1x8Zu5I877
A few players have departed. The Spurs lost Bryn Forbes to free agency as he chose to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks. In addition, it was recently reported that shooting guard Marco Belinelli has signed a three-year deal with Virtus Bologna in Italy.
San Antonio will be looking forward to the preseason games to potentially get their new rookies some time on the court, though. In the 2020 NBA Draft this past month, they chose FSU shooting guard Devin Vassell with the No. 11 pick, and Duke point guard Tre Jones at No. 41 to add more talent to a young roster. Visit our main news page for more of the latest team and player updates.


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"I am looking forward to going to work for the people of Alabama in the new year", said Jones said in a statement. A judge Thursday dismissed Moore's effort to block the election results from being certified by claiming voter fraud.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, Attorney General Steve Marshall and Secretary of State John Merrill signed off on results from all the Yellowhammer State's 67 counties.
Moore has refused to concede and even launched a last-minute legal challenge of the results, but a judge dismissed his suit, which called for certification of the results to be delayed. An Alabama judge rejected the request Thursday, and Jones was certified the victor.
Moore's lawyers have helpfully suggested a judge consider calling a new election to fill the seat. He told Al.com there were 118 complaints of voter fraud in December 12 election.
But his campaign was rocked in the final days of the race by allegations by several women that he had assaulted, molested or pursued them when they were teenagers - and he was in his 30s, working as an assistant district attorney.
No such injunction was issued. His office said 33 of those reports are still pending, and no fraud was found in 85 of the reports.
"That is very, very frightening to think that that occurred", Merrill said, "except when you realize that there is no town or community in the state of Alabama called Bordalama". Those stories were all lies, Merrill said. "As I said on election night, our victory marks a new chapter for our state and the nation".
But Moore and his team have insisted the election results are tainted.
CNN reached out to the Alabama Secretary of State's office for comment on whether Moore's filing would affect the process.
His complaint alleges that out-of-state residents had been allowed to vote and that election fraud experts had concluded through statistical analyses that fraud had taken place.
One of the experts, Richard Charnin, has written a book detailing " mathematical proof of a conspiracy" relating to President John F. Kennedy's assassination, according to the book description.


COLLEGE STATION — Florida, three days after a loss at Texas A&M, has reported “an increase in positive COVID tests among players this week” and has paused football activities for the time being.
Florida did not provide an exact number of positive tests among its football players. A&M athletic director Ross Bjork responded Tuesday to the news out of Gainesville, Fla.
“We have been in touch with officials at the University of Florida and have also reviewed the available data from the Kinexon contact tracing system deployed by the SEC,” Bjork said. “At this point, there has been no impact within our football program, but we will continue our regular testing regiment this week and stay diligent with all of our safety protocols.”
A&M defeated Florida 41-38 on Saturday at Kyle Field, and the No. 11 Aggies are scheduled to play at Mississippi State at 3 p.m. Saturday.


The new coronavirus, COVID-19, has infected 90,000 people worldwide and killed 3,000. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the 32 million Americans who have caught the flu, also called influenza, this year, and the 18,000 who have died. But there’s a reason that health officials and government authorities are shaking in their boots about the coronavirus. It’s way more lethal than the regular flu.
The New York Times reported that influenza kills about 0.1% of those who become ill. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the coronavirus kills 3.4% of those who become infected, or 34 times the fatality rate of the flu. Put another way, if the flu were as deadly as the coronavirus, almost 700,000 Americans would be dead from the disease just this year alone, more than double the number of Americans killed in WWI.
As the new virus makes its way around the world, we can expect rising death tolls to follow.


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The UK self-exclusion service Gamstop has reported that 10 per cent of users use unlicensed gaming operators to circumvent exclusion.
UK.- The gambling self-exclusion provider Gamstop has revealed that 10 per cent of users reported using unlicensed gaming sites to circumvent their self-exclusion.
In a survey of 1,703 users, including 1,576 with an active exclusion, 1,231 respondents said they were not gambling in any way, but 471 said they still gambled in some form.
Of those who continued to gamble, 300 did so in person while 200 did so by using sites that were not licensed to operate in Great Britain.
The report said: “We note from our interviews that it is not a safe assumption that those who are continuing to gamble using UK-regulated websites are an indication that Gamstop’s blocking system has failed.
“We are aware of approaches that some consumers have taken to work around Gamstop that could not be prevented by the self-exclusion scheme.”
Gamstop said it had avoided asking respondents if they used workarounds in order not to publicise them to customers who may not know that they exist.
Most respondents who said they continued to gamble reported that they now gamble less than before they signed up to self-exclude. The majority reported feeling more secure when gambling.
Gamstop noted that respondents said the service had led to a “significant improvement” in wide-ranging areas of their wellbeing, such as their time spent with family and friends, quality of relationships and control of finances.
More than two-thirds said Gamstop had “completely” delivered the results they had hoped for. Only slightly over 10 per cent said the exclusion scheme didn’t deliver the results they had hoped for.
Gaming self-exclusion lengths
Asked about exclusion lengths, the majority of respondents said they believed Gamstop’s current exclusion lengths of six months to five years were appropriate.
Slightly fewer than 200 respondents asked for shorter exclusions, while more than 400 said they wanted to see longer exclusion periods, such as ten years. A similar number called for much longer exclusions, including a lifetime exclusion option.
Gamstop’s report made eight recommendations. It said Gamstop should offer a wider range of self-exclusion options and should adopt a “targeted engagement strategy” to reach age groups that currently have a low uptake, such as older men and younger women.
It said Gamstop’s website should be reviewed to make it more accessible since only 49 per cent of respondents rated the website’s appearance positively. It also recommended that Gamstop aim to have a more visible position on operators’ websites.
It concluded that further steps would need to be taken to deal with unlicensed gambling and also with regards to advertising since many respondents complained about seeing gambling ads while they were self-excluding.
Earlier this month, the Gambling Commission suspended the licence of fantasy sports operator PlayerFT for failing to connect to Gamstop. PlayerFT operates the virtual football transfer service Fiveyards. Connection to Gamstop has been an obligation for all British gaming licensees since March 31 2020.
Gamstop reported record sign-ups in January and February, passing the milestone of 200,000 users. In February, registrations were up by 21 per cent year-on-year at 6,500. The month also saw a record daily tally of 326 sign-ups in 24 hours on February 22.
In March, Crystal Palace became the first English Premier League club to promote the gambling self-exclusion provider.


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GIS Providing Actionable Intelligence for Effectual Decision Making
Horry County, SC has a unique perspective with regard to its IT and GIS department. That philosophy has guided not only the direction of its network infrastructure decisions but also its software and solution choices supporting their line of business applications along the way. It’s philosophy, “there are only two kinds of data, financial and spatial, in local government and even then, they are related.” From a local government perspective, everything we do is related to location. E911 calls, property values and assessment, taxation, economic development, building permits and the list goes on, but all operations are tied to a location. GIS data is the foundation on which we operate. Organizations have spent decades developing, maintaining and improving base GIS data. Many organizations have become experts at putting dots on a map, analyzing the GIS data from all aspects or how to get from one point to the next. At Horry County, SC, we have taken GIS to the next level providing Actionable Intelligence (AI) to users.
"The ability to utilize "Big Data", GIS and mobile platforms to provide Actionable Intelligence will improve the ability of government to manage incidents effectively and responsively"
Centralized IT/GIS: Maximizing resources is critical to any organization. To have GIS and IT as one department has tremendous benefits by not duplicating hardware, storage or manpower. It helps in maintaining OS patches and updates and development programmers. It brings along with it the added benefit of knowledge and access to all of the line of business data within an organization. IT/GIS staff have knowledge of all of the data, how to access and ownership of the data which is imperative to a successful analysis and development with GIS as the core technology. The power of GIS analysis is when it performed across multiple lines of business (ie; the relationship between 911 calls (domestic violence) to foreclosure filings to 911 calls for service (suspicious vehicles) to declining property values when use is changed from ownership to rental.) The Horry County IT/GIS department has seen the benefits and the ROI associated with a centralized approach to managing IT/GIS assets.
Next Generation: Beyond dots on a map, great cartographic representations and analysis to tell either side of a story, Horry County is taking GIS to the next level. Mobile and Actionable Intelligence are the primary focus of projects being developed by county staff. Providing applications and data to a mobile workforce is critical to efficiencies at the local government level. Putting line of business information in the hands of staff and citizens is much easier when driven by the GIS.
Requiring that all lines of business applications be GIS centric, has allowed Horry County to rapidly deploy applications to the mobile workforce. Using ESRI web services and AGOL (ArcGIS Online) has enabled deployment without having to develop for multiple OS. The county’s development process is device agnostic, enabling end users whether staff using iOS devices currently the supported device by the County) or the public using iOS, Android or Windows devices. It is important to support all devices without having to try and maintain programming staff in house familiar with all device languages.
GIS staff in most agencies are great at making maps, adding layers and layers of detail and working overtime to make the cartography stand out or to tell the story from a specific viewpoint. At the same time, end users of apps (specifically) for the most part are not GIS experts and don’t want to have to turn on or off a multitude of layers just to see the information that is relevant to their job, especially if a first responder in public safety. Also, with so much data available providing on the “actionable” information when needed is critical, not having to decipher what I need and how do I get to it. Along with actionable information now—what about providing future actionable information based on line of business data that could predict the likelihood that something will happen in the future.
Horry County has developed applications using “Actionable Intelligence”. AI is the power that differentiates its applications from other COP (Common Operating Picture) or SA (Situational Awareness) systems. “Big data” and GIS are powerful tools, but in emergency situations, time is of the essence, it is easy to just display ALL of the data layers that are available. The issue with that is not all users are skilled as GIS Analysts and may not know what layers to display or how to turn layers on and off. Too much information all at once can also clutter the map and it may be more information than the user needs to make decisions. Additionally, first responders may not know what data is available, or how to access the data. AI is a toolset of well thought out queries and actions based on field experience, and historical analysis of similar incidents. AI makes use of that experience and analysis to sort thru all of the “data” and available information and provide only Actionable Intelligence based on the incident. Actionable Intelligence is driven by predefined queries and instantaneous critical information based on multiple datasets/layers and is generated without requiring human intervention.
IT and GIS must work together to provide timely access to data for decision making. No matter whether the first responder in a public safety setting or planners looking to the future to adequately provide services, politicians making decisions as a result of a natural disaster, or proactive policing based on line of business applications not generally accessed or analyzed by public safety staff, pertinent information must be provided. It must also be provided to mobile users in real time delivery.
The ability to utilize "Big Data", GIS and mobile platforms to provide Actionable Intelligence will improve the ability of government to manage incidents effectively and responsively. The County’s IT/GIS department’s goal is to meet the ever-changing needs of its users. Information is information; data is data, unless it is actionable. IT/GIS focused to serve the needs of its end users.
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domain: geography


The latest arrivals at dealerships. Compiled by Paul Hudson
Entry-level version of Audi's svelte coupé, featuring a 177bhp version of Audi's turbocharged 2.0-litre engine which delivers greater performance than the outgoing 1.8 turbo together with improved economy and reduced emissions.
Torque is also increased, to 236lb ft. The 0-62mph sprint takes 7.8sec, with a top speed of 148mph, EU Combined economy of 42.8mpg and CO2 emissions of 154g/km. Standard equipment includes 17in, seven-spoke alloy wheels, three-zone electronic climate control, a 10-speaker CD audio system, full leather upholstery and rear parking sensors. Sport models sit 20mm lower on 18in, 10-spoke alloy wheels, and have upgraded sports seats.
Engines: 2.0T petrol