Buy a leather case for your wife’s smartphone on Amazon, select shipping from China with an estimated delivery time of 4-6 weeks, and then be pleasantly surprised when it turns up on your Virginia doorstep in 11 days. The marvels of the modern age – of technology, globalization, and shrinking distances.
Where does South Asia stand on export delivery? Figure 1 illustrates that compared to other economic units around the globe, it is a lot more difficult to trade with(in) SAFTA (South Asia Free Trade Agreement). It also shows that bureaucratic hurdles and the time it takes to trade go hand-in-hand. While the region does relatively well on trade with Europe or East Asia, intra-South Asian trade has remained low and costly. It costs South Asian countries more to trade with their immediate neighbors, compared to their costs to trade with distant Brazil (see below)! In fact, it is cheaper for South Asian countries to export to anywhere else in the world than to export to each other (Figure 3). In other words, South Asia has converted its proximity into a handicap.
It is well known that transit-oriented development, or ToD, is a high-value complement to mass transit development. Compact, mixed-use, high density development around key mass transit stations can have the dual benefits of creating a ridership base that enhances the economic and financial viability of the mass transit investment and compounding the accessibility benefits a mass transit system can bring to a city’s residents. This is not to mention the intrinsic value in creating vibrant social gathering places for communities at strategic locations.
- transport integration
- mutlimodal transport
- transport planning
- urban planning
- land use
- transport policy
- transit-oriented development
- Urban Development
- Public Sector and Governance
- Law and Regulation
- Latin America & Caribbean
- East Asia and Pacific
- United States
- South Africa
- Hong Kong SAR, China
For Concepción, Chile, a smart city began with people using Lego blocks.
Together with the World Bank, Chile's Unit of Smart Cities in its Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications has been working with Concepción to create a vision for techonology solutions that will help build the Gran Concepción of 2025. A variety of stakeholders – including local and municipal government officials, academic staff, the private sector, civil society actors and citizens – participated in a vision exercise during a co-creation workshop. The workshop applied design thinking and foresight analysis techniques, organized teams with different stakeholders and assigned roles to each different group.
We all know urbanization is important: Nearly 80% of gross domestic product is generated in cities around the world. Countries must get urbanization right if they want to reach middle- or high-income status.
But urbanization is challenging, especially because badly planned cities can hamper economic transformation and cities can become breeding grounds for poverty, slums and squalor and drivers of pollution, environmental degradation and greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s why it’s important for us to build cities that are livable, with people-centered approaches to urbanization and development. That will allow innovation and new ideas to emerge and enable economic growth, job creation and higher productivity, while also saving energy and managing natural resources, emissions and disaster risks. When the process is driven by people, it can lead to important results, the same way London and Los Angeles addressed their air pollution problems.
The Global population growth numbers forecast for the coming years can be extremely daunting, with 2 billion more people on our planet by 2050. When one considers that each of these global citizens will require shelter, health care, education, sanitation, transport, the numbers become even more formidable. Looking at housing needs alone, for the period 2015-2020, global population will grow by 350 million people, amounting to around 70 million new households each requiring a home. Breaking down the numbers annually means 14 million new houses. Based on a conservative estimate of $30k per unit, the total investment needed per annum over coming years is $420 billion. This is a large number but only around 0.6 per cent of global GDP . There are additional costs naturally associated with getting infrastructure and services to new houses, such as roads, water, and sanitation. A recent McKinsey study estimates that in 16 large emerging markets alone there is a $600-700 billion market for affordable housing. Nevertheless, with the right systems in place this level of new investment should be feasible.
So why do we still have market failures in the housing sector which are in plain sight of many emerging market cities in the form of slum housing? Where can the money come from for housing investment? How will it reach the population which is going to need it the most in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, which will see the most rapid population growth and urbanization?
Image: Author's Illustration
Freakonomics Radio recently aired a podcast entitled “If Mayors Ruled the World”, based on Benjamin Barber’s new book of the same title, which contends that cities are a good template for governments to rule by, largely due to their mayors who are often uniquely positioned and focused on solving actual city problems. So much so, that he argues for the formation of a “Global Parliament of Mayors” to solve the world’s problems.
Even so, being a mayor of a South Asian city is no easy task. The challenges of city management in South Asia are compounded by its burgeoning urban population. In fact, according to the UN, roughly 315 million people are expected to be added to urban areas in the region by 2030. That number weighs in close to the entire population of the US today. It is no surprise that the theme of managing the challenges of urban transformation was at the top of the agenda at the recent South Asia Regional Workshop and Mayors’ Forum, hosted in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
The Mayors’ Forum, attended by a number of mayors and city leaders from South Asian countries and around, provided insights to what some successful mayors have done for their cities. By being visionary, and at the same time pragmatic problem solvers, mayors have seized opportunities to transform their cities, and quite often out of necessity and within highly constrained environments. Mayors took the opportunity to show how, despite significant institutional and financial limitations, they were able to take proactive initiatives to transform their cities. These were what they had to say:
These are some of the views and reports relevant to our readers that caught our attention this week.
The Internet of Things Will Thrive by 2025
This current report is an analysis of opinions about the likely expansion of the Internet of Things (sometimes called the Cloud of Things), a catchall phrase for the array of devices, appliances, vehicles, wearable material, and sensor-laden parts of the environment that connect to each other and feed data back and forth. It covers the over 1,600 responses that were offered specifically about our question about where the Internet of Things would stand by the year 2025. The report is the next in a series of eight Pew Research and Elon University analyses to be issued this year in which experts will share their expectations about the future of such things as privacy, cybersecurity, and net neutrality. It includes some of the best and most provocative of the predictions survey respondents made when specifically asked to share their views about the evolution of embedded and wearable computing and the Internet of Things.
Thinking in a Foreign Language Could Sway Your Moral Judgments
Would you kill one person to save five? This cruel dilemma pits the principle of thou-shalt-not-kill against simple math: Five is greater than one. But presumably it’s a dilemma each person solves the same way each time, unaffected by superficial things like the language in which it’s presented. After all, we like to think we abide by a consistent moral code. Yet psychologists say that’s not always the case. In a series of experiments, they found that people confronted with this one-for-five dilemma were far more likely to make a utilitarian choice when contemplating it in a foreign language. “We tend to think about our ethical decisions as reflecting something fundamental about who we are,” said psychologist Boaz Keysar of the University of Chicago, co-author of the new study, published April 23 in Public Library of Science ONE. “You wouldn’t think they would depend on such a seemingly irrelevant thing as whether you’re using your native language. But it can matter.”
Urbanization deserves urgent attention from policy makers, academics, entrepreneurs, and social reformers of all stripes. Nothing else will create as many opportunities for social and economic progress. The urbanization project began roughly 1,000 years after the transition from the Pleistocene to the milder and more stable Holocene interglacial. In 2010, the urban population in developing countries stood at 2.5 billion. The most important citywide projects -- successes like New York and Shenzhen -- show even more clearly how influential human intention can be. The developing world can accommodate the urban population growth and declining urban density in many ways. One is to have a threefold increase in the average population of its existing cities and a six fold increase in their average built-out area. Another, which will leave the built-out area of existing cities unchanged, will be to develop 625 new cities of 10 million people -- 500 new cities to accommodate the net increase in the urban population and another 125 to accommodate the 1.25 billion people who will have to leave existing cities as average density falls by half.


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Robbinsdale Cooper girls soccer needed not one but two goals with under 10 minutes to play to make program history on Sept. 5, and junior midfielder/forward Bella Grandbois delivered in a 2-1 win over Chanhassen.
The Hawks (4-1 overall) had never beaten Chanhassen since joining the Metro West Conference, with the closest game ending in a 0-0 tie, and hadn’t even ever scored a goal against the Storm.
They can now cross off both milestones from the list. Grandbois first battled for a loose ball in the 72nd minute and had a soft touch that just rolled past Chanhassen senior goalie Lexi Block and hit just inside the right post to tie the game at 1-1.
The large team celebration continued when Grandbois had a beautiful strike about 20 yards in front of the net that drilled in the inside-right corner of the net to make it 2-1 with under two minutes to play.
“We are a family, so cheering together – we all give hugs,” Grandbois said. “We love each other, so celebrating together – I felt ecstatic. In the years I have played Cooper soccer, we haven’t even come close to scoring a goal against Chanhassen. So being just to get (the first goal) and celebrating with the people that I call my sisters was just amazing.”
There were several other keys for Cooper besides the late offensive plays. One, junior goalie AJ Jiron was hit in the nose on a save attempt in the first half and had to be replaced by sophomore Jace Herman for the next 35 minutes.
Jiron returned to the net in the second half and made five key saves. That also allowed Herman to go back to her original position in the back of the midfield.
The Hawks also responded to some adversity for the first time this season not only needing to come back from a deficit late but also with injuries throughout the game.
“You are trying to piece it all together and patch it all together, so that was tricky,” coach Nick Wetherall said. “We had a couple of other girls get dinged up – (Chelsea Estudillo-Garrido) who started for us got hurt and could be in and out and another player (Marin Scherber) was sick.
“So that was awesome – the way they responded to it.”
Defensively, junior defender Amalia Villalobos and senior captain Anna Hunke also made several key plays to limit potential breakways, either by taking away an angle, clearing the ball or kicking it out to allow the team to fall back into position.
“I love our defense,” Grandbois said. “They always come out to play, always. Our defense is solid. We have had the same girls in our defense for four years or five years. They rock it out there, and it is the most important thing.”
Cooper is off to its best start since 2017 and has won four of its first five games for just the second time in the past decade. The Hawks’ 13 goals in five games is also the most during that same stretch, already surpassing last year’s total of eight.
Grandbois said the squad was a little nervous coming into the season after seeing numbers decline in the program, but she said after the first five games that she thinks the team is very confident.
“Saying that we are 4-1 is insane,” Grandbois said. “We have never had such a good season, and we are looking up, like we think we can do it this year.
“We want to make it to state, so we are going to try our hardest.”

domain: sports


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Laybuy Completes A$35m Placement to Accelerate Growth in the UK Market
Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) provider Laybuy, today confirmed it has successfully undertaken a capital raise for A$35m from new and existing institutional investors, providing the company funding to drive continued growth in the United Kingdom.
Laybuy Managing Director Gary Rohloff says Laybuy has already experienced strong growth in the UK, and the new funding will be used to accelerate this by allowing further investment in technology, marketing and people.
“The opportunity in the UK market should not be underestimated. The UK has a retail market approximately 2.2 times larger than the Australian market in terms of overall spending. It is also a market where a higher proportion of retail spending is online, and where BNPL is still in early stages of adoption,” says Rohloff.
“Laybuy is already widely recognised as one of the UK’s leading BNPL providers, with consumers spending more than £151 million through Laybuy in the past year, up 504% on prior year.
“This capital raise is an important step for Laybuy, enabling the company to continue its strong momentum and to capitalise on the significant growth opportunity in the UK market. We believe this will maximise shareholder value in the longer term.”
New Strategic Partnership
Laybuy also confirmed today that it is entering into strategic partnerships with Rakuten, AWIN and Sovrn, which will see Laybuy customers having access to over 5,000 merchants in the UK, including household brands ASOS, Nike, Marks & Spencer, Amazon and eBay.
These partnerships will enable customers to use Laybuy’s innovative “Tap to Pay” digital card with these merchants, allowing them to pay with Laybuy both online and in-store without further merchant integration or direct relationship required.
Key relationships have already been established with leading retailers through the affiliate networks, bolstering the launch of the product and supporting significant increases in gross merchandise value (GMV) capabilities and customer satisfaction.
The capital raise consists of a two-tranche placement to raise A$35 million and a share purchase plan to existing eligible shareholders in Australia and New Zealand to raise up to A$5 million (SPP).
All shares issued under the Placement and SPP will rank equally with existing fully paid ordinary shares in Laybuy as of the date of this announcement.
The Placement will be undertaken in two tranches:
- the issue of 26,169,334 shares at A$0.50 per share, raising a total of A$13.1 million before costs, utilising Laybuy’s existing placement capacity under ASX Listing Rule 7.1 (First Tranche); and
- the issue of 43,830,666 shares at A$0.50 per share, raising a total of A$21.9 million before costs (Second Tranche). The Second Tranche is subject to shareholder approval at a special meeting of shareholders to be held in June 2021.
- The issue price under the Placement represents:
- a 26.5% discount to the last closing price of Laybuy’s shares on ASX on 17 May 2021 (the last day before the announcement of the Placement and SPP); and a 26.0% discount to the 5-day volume-weighted average price of Laybuy’s shares ended 17 May 2021. The Placement is not underwritten.
A$0.50 per share). The SPP will provide such shareholders the opportunity to increase their holding by up to A$30,000 without incurring any brokerage or transaction costs.
The SPP aims to raise approximately A$5 million and is not underwritten. Laybuy may (in its absolute discretion) scale-back applications on a pro-rata basis if total demand exceeds A$5 million.
Share Purchase Plan
Existing eligible shareholders, being those shareholders that are residents in Australia or New Zealand that held Laybuy shares as of 7:00 pm (Sydney time) on 18 May 2021, will be invited to participate in the SPP at the same issue price as the Placement Existing eligible shareholders wishing to participate in the SPP should carefully read the SPP Offer Booklet and accompanying form, which are expected to be dispatched on or around 26 May 2021. A copy of the SPP Offer Booklet will also be available on the ASX website.
The SPP is also subject to shareholder approval at a special meeting of shareholders to be held in June 2021. Applications under the SPP received prior to that meeting will be refunded if the approval is not given.
Use of Funds
Laybuy primarily intends to use the capital raised from the Placement and SPP to accelerate growth in the United Kingdom. Laybuy has seen significant growth in the United Kingdom (including growth in its gross merchandise value (GMV) of 504% over the last financial year). Laybuy has several competitive advantages that will help it expand in this market, including exclusive partnerships, scalable technology and product innovation.
In particular, Laybuy intends to use the proceeds of the Placement and SPP (net of costs and expenses):
- to provide further funding to support Laybuy’s growth strategies in the United Kingdom;
- to invest in marketing and sales professionals to support the growth of the business in the United Kingdom;
- to invest in technology and products to continue the development of Laybuy’s product offering for both consumers and merchants; and
for general working capital.
Following completion of the placement and the SPP Laybuy will have a pro forma cash balance of NZ$59.3 million1.
For further information, please refer to the Investor Presentation released to the ASX today.

domain: finance


NEW ORLEANS (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration says it has followed a court order to schedule an offshore oil and gas lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico after the Democratic president’s moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands was blocked by a judge.
The sale will be livestreamed from New Orleans on Nov. 17, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced in a news release Thursday. Bidding will be only by mail; walk-in bids won’t be accepted, it said.
The agency postponed lease sales scheduled in March to comply with Biden’s executive order to combat climate change. Scientists urge immediate action to slash greenhouse emissions to avoid the worst consequences of global warming, including devastating storms, floods, wildfires and droughts.
But Louisiana and 12 other states sued, and in June a federal judge found that the government had omitted steps required for such actions. The administration said in August it would comply while appealing the judge’s order.
“The Biden Harris Administration is continuing its comprehensive review of the deficiencies associated with its offshore and onshore oil and gas leasing programs,” the bureau’s statement said.
The sale will cover roughly 136,000 square miles (352,000 square kilometers) located from 3 to 231 miles (5 to 370 kilometers) offshore in the Gulf of Mexico with water depths ranging from 9 to more than 11,115 feet (3 to 3,400 meters).
Less than 2% of available water bottom was leased in August 2020.
The agency said lease stipulations will protect biologically sensitive resources, mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species, and avoid potential conflicts between oil and gas development and other activities and users in the Gulf of Mexico.
Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and West Virginia joined Louisiana in challenging the lease sale suspension.
The Associated Press


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- Musician's Friend Best Selection, Price & Service. Guaranteed.
Need Help? Call our Gear Heads at 800-449-9128Private Reserve Guitars 866-926-1923
Need Help? Call our Gear Heads at 800-449-9128
Frank Gambale's new improvisation book is a 12-chapter course, with 7 lessons per chapter, that covers the 12 most important scales and modes. Each lesson explores the chords, voicings, and licks that are derived from each scale. The 2 enclosed CDs contain 119 recorded music examples (over 50 CD tracks) and the clearly presented text is written in standard notation and tablature.

domain: library


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Attitudes towards China are souring in Europe. Coronavirus has been the catalyst for this shift in perceptions, according to experts and politicians, yet dissatisfaction has also been growing for years, with potentially far-reaching consequences.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a think tank, has studied how perceptions of China have evolved since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. It found that European publics have markedly cooled on the Asian giant during the coronavirus crisis. In France, 62 per cent say their opinion worsened this year, while just 6 per cent say it improved. In Germany, 48 per cent say their view has deteriorated – the same percentage as in Europe as a whole.
Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the ECFR, says that the defining characteristic of this shift has been its speed. “In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, China was Europe’s saviour. It was an excellent partner for our economic relationship and an important friend for Europe. In many capitals, this sentiment is still there – but now Europeans publics are waking up to the fact that China is becoming a very different actor.”
According to Oertel, the coronavirus crisis has now “catapulted” China to the top of public discourse in Europe and there is an increasing domestic will to apply sanctions. Because the EU is China’s largest trading partner, it also has more leverage over Beijing than is commonly accepted, she says.
In recent years, increasing Chinese investment in EU countries was seen as tying the two blocs together. But especially when it comes to Eastern Europe, this perception is vastly overrated.
Figures collated by the Rhodium Group, a consultancy, found that in the 19 years to 2019, Chinese foreign direct investment to the EU’s easternmost member states amounted to under €10bn – less than went to the Netherlands alone. France recieved €14bn and Germany €23bn. The clear outlier, though, is the UK, which received over €50bn of Chinese investment; a clear legacy of David Cameron and George Osborne’s “golden decade”.
There is also a disconnect between the perception of Chinese influence in eastern Europe and the reality, according to Jakub Jakobowski, a research fellow at the Centre for Eastern Studies, a Warsaw think tank. Since 1989, some of the harshest critics of China have been central and eastern European states, Jakobowski says, a legacy which is reasserting itself. Some of the elected officials who have been most willing to speak out against China have been in central and eastern Europe. The mayor of Prague, for instance, has been vocal in his criticism of China, flying Tibetan flags in the Czech capital and cancelling a sister city agreement with Beijing in favour of Taipei, the capital of Taiwan (officially known as the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China’s arch-rival).
Peter Irwin, an official at the Uyghur Human Rights Project, a group advocating for the rights of Uighurs in China, says that his organisation has been increasingly successful in lobbying EU member states to take a harder line on China because the attitudes of European publics are shifting. “I have seen this shift take place in real time.”
Irwin cites a 2018 report by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, according to which the incarceration of up to two million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in a vast network of so-called “re-education camps” is credible as a turning point in perceptions of China. “I think there is pressure for Western governments to do something.”
European companies, too, are being pressured to divest from Xinjiang. Although Xinjiang’s economy is relatively small when compared to the economy of China as a whole, some industries in China would be vulnerable to the pressure of international divestment. Around a quarter of the world’s cotton supply is sourced from Xinjiang, for instance.
The introduction of a new national security law in Hong Kong – under which actions considered to constitute secession, subversion, terrorism or “collusion with foreign forces” are now punishable by life in prison – is another issue which is putting existing relationships into question. Several pro-democracy Hong Kong figures, such as the activist Agnes Chow and media tycoon Jimmy Lai have already been arrested under the law, and the UK has said it will ease residency requirements for some three million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports.
Ashley Feng, a former researcher at the Center for a New American Security, says that Beijing views the issues of Xinjiang and Hong Kong as “non-negotiable and core to China’s national interests.” The question for Western democracies, she says, is how to shift the implementation of China’s policies in those areas in a direction that is more amenable to human rights and the rule of law.
In a speech in the White House Rose Garden on 14 July, US president Donald Trump announced a set of measures to sanction China for the new National Security Law in Hong Kong. The measures spanned economic policies, notably removing the territory’s special status under US law. In several areas, including preferential US treatment regarding passport holders, Hong Kong will now be treated the same as mainland China.
Trump’s Rose Garden measures, Feng said, were a demonstration of the arsenal available to Western countries which seek to stand up to China’s abuses. Based on growing public pressure in Europe, they could be a precursor to further sanctions still to come from China’s largest trading partner, the EU.

domain: news


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Friday, September 3, 2010
The Other Half of My Soul
I have found the other half of my soul. I'm not really sure how I lived before. The moment I met him we connected. His name is Bear. It was incredible. I never realized how incomplete I felt before. We are perfect for each other. He is a slave and he definitely brings out my Domme side. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect person. He is everything I have been missing in my life. We have not spent a day apart yet. I dread it because it is hard enough being apart for a few hours. When we are together I don't want to let him go. I always feel so content when he is near me and when we part it feels wrong. He soothes me like no one else ever has and when we are together I feel whole.

domain: psychology


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Low-top buffed leather sneakers in 'brushed' black and brown. Distressing and smudging throughout. Round toe. Tonal lace-up closure. Logo and text printed in black at padded tongue. Logo embossed at tonal heel tab. Tonal star appliqué at outer side. Perforated detailing at sides. Rubber midsole in white. Treaded rubber outsole in black. Tonal stitching.
Upper: leather. Sole: rubber.
Golden Goose Black Superstar Sneakers Upper: leather. Sole: rubber. 182264M237023 RBHSVQM

domain: design


I started at the top with the small button for "Highly Recommended" Internet destinations. The creators of Blackbird combed through the Internet and from the tens of thousands of African American oriented websites and blogs they picked out only the finest spots for African American culture.
AOL Black Voices took me to the Black Voices website. Despite the AOL prefix, it's an okay site. It has been around for a while and mostly covers African American related news stories like Dionne & Ludacris: The Political Partners and celebrity articles that are kept away from the average white person because the headlines would confuse them. Articles like, "Swizz Beats & Mashonda call it quits" or an article about Jamal Crawford having a blog.
I'm afraid Black Planet was not quite so welcoming. Loading that site produced a message that it was designed for Firefox 2. The browser I was using was too black for Black Planet. Once I clicked past the warning I was treated to a social networking and diggesque site. It's a good site. It doesn't condescend to its audience with a bunch of slang and it offers a diverse selection of social groups devoted to BBWs, the Dallas Cowboys, and Ancient Kemetic Mystical Orders.
Whatever brain disease causes people to make animated GIF websites about craziness turns out to be colorblind.
This libtard terminator keeps asking for guns that don't exist and I may have to close early out of frustration.
Editor's Note: Due to a freak power outage, this obituary of Barbara Bush was written without the benefit of research. In order to pay our respects to this great woman in a timely fashion, we have decided to post this piece as-is. We hope you forgive any errors on our part.
My game is funded. Now I know everything.
Sea of Thieves: Reduced the number of quest types from 3 to 2
Featured articles and columns that don't fit anywhere else on Something Awful.


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A lecture by Bruce L. Edelstein (NYU).
The Carmignano Visitation, a unique masterpiece by one of sixteenth-century Italy’s greatest painters, Jacopo da Pontormo, will be seen for the first time outside of Italy in the exhibition, Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters, at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York (September 7, 2018, to January 6, 2019) and The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (February 5, 2019, to April 28, 2019). Scientific analyses, undertaken in preparation for the recent conservation of the Visitation, offer new insights into the artist’s techniques, illuminating the processes that led to the creation not only of his highly original devotional works, but also of his exceptional innovations in portraiture. This lecture presents some of the research carried out for the exhibition, in an attempt to clarify the relationship between Pontormo’s drawings and paintings, the historical context in which the Visitation was created, and its connection to Florentine visual traditions.
Bruce L. Edelstein is Coordinator for Graduate Programs and Advanced Research at NYU Florence, Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Italian Studies at NYU, and co-curator (with Davide Gasparotto) of the exhibition, Pontormo: Miraculous Encounters.

domain: artistic


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Former contestant on Team Louis Tomlinson (1/5 of One Direction) on The X Factor. Professional singer/songwriter with over 13 million streams and 100 million views across all platforms as well as multiple songs being picked for sync on TV shows such as Eastenders, Holby City and by major labels such as Sony (Columbia Records) an Up-Tempo Records.
Hey! I'm a professional demo session vocalist. Available for hire to write, record lead vocals and/or harmonies, as well as cover songs to upload on to my YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/jsolworld) to expose your record to an audience of thousands! I am musically trained and have a wide range and vocal agility that is versatile and can fit nearly any style or genre.
Would love to hear from you and see what you're working on and if I can help bring it to life!
My procedure is pretty straight forward, once the track is approved, and the job is started, all I need is the key, bpm, any specific notes on how you want the song to sound, along with 2-3 song references for inspiration. My artist name is to remain anonymous and not featured unless we have discussed and negotiated this.
Click the contact button above to get in touch. Let's make a hit!
I'd love to hear about your project. Click the 'Contact' button above to get in touch.


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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The mother of the Navy contractor who opened fire on a Washington military installation, killing a dozen people, apologized to the families of the victims Wednesday morning.
“I am so, so very sorry that this has happened. My heart is broken,” Cathleen Alexis said in a statement read outside her home here by a local clergyman.
Family members have said they were shocked by the attack carried out by Aaron Alexis on Monday. The gunman was also killed. Mr. Alexis, 34 years old and recently of Fort Worth, Texas, , had been honorably discharged from the Navy and had a years-long history of mental health problems.
The statement was the first time that Ms. Alexis has spoken publicly since the incident. Mr. Alexis grew up in New York City.


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Looking to add a post player in the 2018 class, Old Dominion will host 6-foot-10 Maros Zeliznak on an official visit this weekend.
Zeliznak plays for Get Better Academy in Prague, which is playing in the National Prep Invitational in Rhode Island this week. He'll visit ODU Sunday before heading to Jacksonville State in Alabama.
Zeliznak's play in the FIBA U18 European Championships earned him offers from ODU and Hofstra and interest from Cal Poly, Princeton, UMass, UAB, UC-Santa Barbara and San Diego. A bit under the radar at the moment, he could presumably draw more interest with a strong performance this week.
Size is a priority in the 2018 class. ODU signed a pair of 3-star power forwards - 6-9 Joseph Reece and 6-8 Kalu Ezikpe in November. They also signed 6-5 guard Jason Wade in a class rated the second-best in Conference USA by 247sports.com.
Ed Miller, 757-446-2372, email@example.com
Follow @edmillervp on Twitter.


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While many GTA players are just trying to enjoy their remaining time in Los Santos by filling up their new 50-car garage with exotic cars or spending some extra time with Dr Dre, some are already looking forward to GTA 6.
After all, aren’t you curious to see what kinds of vehicles will be available in the new game, how it might incorporate mechanics from other titles, or whether you’ll be tasked with saving the world during your first playthrough?
While all of this likely won’t be known until the game finally arrives, some players are currently discussing what they’d like to see from the personal vehicles they’ll be using to get from A to B in Vice City.
What do you want your ride to be able to do in GTA 6?
Their automotive aspirations form the subject of a recent thread on the GTA Online subreddit, which began with a post from user Sufficient_Regular12, who kicked things off by asking: “What do you expect from personal vehicles in GTA VI?”.
They also shared their view on the issue, declaring: “My opinion is that even if the new characters have a car, we should be free to choose any car as the main one, maybe by choosing which car key is in the character's pocket.”
Other criminals shared this desire for the player to be able to interact with their car in fresh ways, with user dubbs911 saying: “I would like to see (there be) access to (a) vehicle’s inventory via (its) trunk/boot, similar to how (Red Dead) Online works with horse inventories.”
Meanwhile, user KingxKO described how they’d like to see Rockstar build upon GTA 5’s introduction of car modding, emphasising: “I would LOVE different engine types or swaps with different sounds and more accurate speeds, (in addition to) drift tires (and) drag tires.”
A lot of fans in the thread referenced Red Dead Redemption 2’s horses as an ideal model that the next GTA’s personal vehicles could mirror in terms of interactivity, with a few even going as far as joking that they’d be disappointed if their cars didn’t have realistic bodily functions.
Thankfully, user JayyFisher2018 brought the equine chat back down to Earth by suggesting: “Speaking of the horses from RDR2, I hope they make a return. Having horses as another form of transport in a GTA game (would) be so fun.”
Regardless of whether you’re hoping to be able to jump over cop cars on your trusty steed after robbing a bank, make sure to follow us for more GTA 6 and GTA Online updates as new vehicles and more arrive.

domain: game


An independent candidate was shot dead in Istanbul ahead of general elections on July 22, the candidate's Web site and a news agency reported Tuesday.
Tuncay Seyranlioglu, 42, was shot in his car after participating in a television show Monday evening, the Anatolia news agency reported. Seyranlioglu's Web site confirmed his death.
Three other people in the car were injured and taken to a hospital, Anatolia said. None were in critical condition.
The assailants escaped in a black car, the agency said.
Seyranlioglu's Web site said he was a businessman and that he owned a small newspaper in Istanbul. Calls to the newspaper, Tamgun, were not immediately answered.
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Both microspheres and microneedles are used as carriers for drug delivery, and their shape and size have a bearing on the delivery of the drug. CD Formulation can receive samples from companies for morphology testing, and also offers custom product services for morphology testing of microspheres or microneedles. We will provide you with morphology testing data directly after preparation to ensure that the product is delivered to your specifications and that it is homogeneous. The current morphology analysis for microspheres and microneedles is divided into electron microscopy testing and particle size analysis.
Scanning electron microscope (SEM) is an analytical instrument that uses secondary electron and backscattered electron signals to obtain information about various physical and chemical properties of the sample under test itself, such as morphology, composition, crystal structure, electronic structure and internal electric or magnetic field, through a vacuum system, electron beam system and imaging system, with a resolution of up to nanometer level, to analyze the morphology of microspheres and microneedles.
Take the suspension of the sample after sonication with a pipette gun, put a drop on the silicon wafer or tinfoil, dry it naturally/infrared lamp, and stick the silicon wafer or tinfoil on the sample bench after drying with conductive adhesive for testing.
Cut microneedle strips prepared by different prescriptions, observed under microscope, and photographed and recorded, and the surface morphology of microneedles observed more clearly by scanning electron microscopy.
Particle size analysis is based on Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS). A typical application of dynamic light scattering is the characterization of particles dispersed in liquids. The Brownian motion of the particles suspended in solution causes fluctuations in the light intensity of the scattered light. The fluctuations in light intensity are analyzed to obtain the velocity of the Brownian motion of the particles, and then the particle size is obtained by the Stokes-Einstein equation. DLS can be used to determine the size distribution of various particles, including polymers, and nanoparticles. If the system is not size-dispersive, the average effective diameter of the particles can be determined, as the measurement depends not only on the core size of the particles, but also on the size of the surface structure, the particle concentration and the type of ions in the medium.
Generally, particle size analysis is applied to the detection of microspheres. CD Formulation uses a high performance particle size analyzer to characterize the particle size and its distribution of microspheres by taking a suspension of microspheres in a four-walled quartz dish, setting the refractive index and viscosity of the dispersed mass and the dispersed phase for testing, and taking all the number-average distribution data for statistical analysis of the results. The particle size distribution polydispersity coefficient (PDI) is also calculated by the instrument, the smaller the PDI value, the narrower the particle size distribution.
If you have samples for morphology testing, or you need custom microspheres or microneedles, please feel free to contact us and we will provide you with professional testing services.


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Aerosol fluxes and particle growth above managed grassland
Nemitz, E.; Dorsey, J.R.; Flynn, M.J.; Gallagher, M.W.; Hensen, A.; Erisman, J.W.; Owen, S.M.; Dammgen, U.; Sutton, M.A.. 2009 Aerosol fluxes and particle growth above managed grassland. Biogeosciences, 6. 1627-1645.Full text not available from this repository.
Particle deposition velocities (11–3000 nm diameter) measured above grassland by eddy covariance during the EU GRAMINAE experiment in June 2000 averaged 0.24 and 0.03 mm s−1 to long (0.75 m) and short (0.07 m) grass, respectively. After fertilisation with 108 kg N ha−1 as calcium ammonium nitrate, sustained apparent upward fluxes of particles were observed. Analysis of concentrations and fluxes of potential precursor gases, including NH3, HNO3, HCl and selected VOCs, shows that condensation of HNO3 and NH3 on the surface of existing particles is responsible for this effect. A novel approach is developed to derive particle growth rates at the field scale, from a combination of measurements of vertical fluxes and particle size-distributions. For the first 9 days after fertilization, growth rates of 11 nm particles of 7.04 nm hr−1 and 1.68 nm hr−1 were derived for day and night-time conditions, respectively. This implies total NH4NO3 production rates of 1.11 and 0.44 μg m−3 h−1, respectively. The effect translates into a small error in measured ammonia fluxes (0.06% day, 0.56% night) and a large error in NH4+ and NO3− aerosol fluxes of 3.6% and 10%, respectively. By converting rapidly exchanged NH3 and HNO3 into slowly depositing NH4NO3, the reaction modifies the total N budget, though this effect is small (<1% for the 10 days following fertilization), as NH3 emission dominates the net flux. It is estimated that 3.8% of the fertilizer N was volatilised as NH3, of which 0.05% re-condensed to form NH4NO3 particles within the lowest 2 m of the surface layer. This surface induced process would at least scale up to a global NH4NO3 formation of ca. 0.21 kt N yr−1 from NH4NO3 fertilisers and potentially 45 kt N yr−1 from NH3 emissions in general. [Abstract from: http://www.biogeosciences.net/6/1627/2009/bg-6-1627-2009.html ]
|Programmes:||CEH Programmes pre-2009 publications > Biogeochemistry|
|Additional Information:||Paper published in Biogeosciences 6 (Special Issue): Processes controlling the exchange of ammonia between grassland and the atmosphere (GRAMINAE), edited by K.Pilegaard, J.K. Schjoerring and M.A. Sutton. Open access journal.|
|NORA Subject Terms:||Atmospheric Sciences|
|Date made live:||23 Sep 2009 13:24|
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The Rhinecliff hangs over the Hudson River next to a metro north train stop. It's rustic and casual and I suspect would be very romantic to stay there during a snowy night. We went to a wedding here and enjoyed the venue very much. The service was very accommodating and the food quite good.
- Also Known As:
- The Rhinecliff Hotel
- The Rhinecliff Hotel Rhinecliff
- The Hotel Rhinecliff
- Official Description (provided by the hotel):
- Re-birthed after a painstaking five-year renovation, The Rhinecliff is a boutique country hotel, nestled on the banks of the mighty Hudson River and enjoys unparalleled river and mountain views. Featuring beautiful antique floors and woodwork, and world-class cuisine, The Rhinecliff (National Register of Historic Places) is two minutes drive from Rhinebeck. ... more less

domain: travel


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Thomas Aichinger is an Audio Engineer and Sound Designer specializing in Post Production and 3D Augmented Audio Experiences. Besides being CEU’s Audio Education Specialist he is also teaching 3D Audio and Game Audio at the FH St. Pölten (Austria) and the Royal Conservatoire (The Hague, Netherlands). After his studies in Media Arts at the University of Applied Arts in Salzburg Thomas began working in different studios in Austria and Switzerland before founding his own studio. He is also a composer with experience in writing music for TV and cinema.
Matti Bunzl is Director of the Wien Museum, Vienna’s municipal museum. Before assuming the position in 2015, he was Professor of Anthropology and History at the University of Illinois (1998-2014) and Artistic Director of the Chicago Humanities Festival (2010-2014). He is a scholar of Vienna, Austria, and Central Europe’s history and culture as well as the institution of the modern museum.
Khadija Zinnenburg Carroll is an Austrian-Australian artist and historian specializing in colonial history and visual art. Khadija's art practice involves montaging words and images in films and installations that voice alternate histories through texts and performances.
Kate Coyer is Director of the Civil Society and Technology Project for the Center for Media, Data and Society in the School of Public Policy at CEU. Her research examines the complexities of media practice and policy; digital rights advocacy and the social uses of technologies; media development and communication for social change; the opportunities and challenges of emerging technologies as well as the resilience of ‘old’ mediums like radio.
Daniel Halasz is a visual artist working predominantly with photography. Pursuing doctorate research at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and at KU Leuven / LUCA School of Art, his interests include the shifting forms of documentary creation, social change in small communities and rights advocacy in a digital age. Originally from Budapest, Hungary, he lived for extended periods in Paris, Brussels, New York City, Kampala, Glasgow, and York. Daniel is the recipient of numerous international awards and has exhibited his work in Europe, Israel, Russia and the US. He has led courses in photography at the Moholy-Nagy University of Art and the Eszterhazy University in Hungary and tutored at the International Center of Photography in New York.
Ulrich Meurer has been visiting professor in Visual Theory and Practice since the academic year of 2017/18. His research focus is on media philosophy, film & visual cultures, political theory from early modernism to the present, discourses of pré-cinéma and media archeology.
Klára Trencsényi is a freelance director / cinematographer committed to creative and social documentaries. Prior to her first feature length, award winning doc Train to Adulthood, she directed several mid-length and short films. Her second feature doc The Missing Tale has been released in Fall 2022. Klara has led courses of documentary filmmaking at CEU, Budapest Metropolitan University and was tutor at the Participatory Video course at OLIve. Her research interests include intersections of personal, collective, and historical memory in documentary film, archival practices and participatory filmmaking.
Hyaesin Yoon is an assistant professor at CEU's Department of Gender Studies. Her areas of interest include transnational biopolitics, postcolonial criticisms, critical animal studies/posthumanisms, feminist science and technology studies, medical humanities, as well as performance and literary theories. Her present focus is on how technological assemblages of humans and other animals mediate the power relations of sex/gender, race, disability, and species in a transnational context. She is currently working on her book project Prosthetic Memories, examining the ethics of embodied memory in an age of transnational mobility and biotechnology by examining the diasporic tongue (as both language and organ), animal cloning, and human stem cell research across the United States and South Korea.


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Daymix combleach dating sim
When the Daily Dot reported on a dating sim that involved buying your Tyrannosaurus crush a new ukulele, I was all in.
After all, how many chances does a girl get to woo an apex predator of the late Cretaceous?
For those who aren't avid followers of the romance-game genre, dating sims are narrative games that let players determine the course of a date or relationship through branching choices – kind of like electronic choose-your-own-adventure stories.
They're incredibly popular in Japan, and just starting to catch on in the States.
Adult Friend Finder offers a free account, but payment is required for access to any of the site’s interactive features.
Plans start at .95 per month, or can be reduced if you opt for a longer-term membership.
Best feature: Adult Friend Finder’s ‘What’s Hot’ feature lets members interact over the hottest content currently trending on the site.
Biggest drawback: As a hookup site, AFF doesn’t offer any detailed questionnaire at sign-up, which means it’s harder to find a really compatible match.
There was no way I was going to let this game beat me. This time, I wasn’t going to make the mistake of insisting on paying for the ukulele, but I still felt strongly that I needed to make a contribution, so I offered to split the cost in hopes that Taira might be open to compromise. I wasn’t sure how we’d make it work, with the snout-to-arm ratio, but I figured we’d think of something. • Adult Swim Festival – T-Pain, Mastodon, Neko Case, Flying Lotus, Dekkar & So Much More!• Adult Swim Treasures Can Be Yours • Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders – Polnareff Meets The Enemy!From there, you can browse the top navigation bar for everything from What’s New (for finding the most recently added profiles) to Live Action chatrooms (speaks for itself).Members can also customise their ' Cupid preferences' in order to limit or narrow down what profiles they wish see.As it is indeed an Arab chat,but users tend to chat in English as well in the many available Arabic chat rooms.Hundreds of hot models performing the raciest action are waiting for you here.Once you’ve specified your sexual identity and what interests you’d like to pursue, you’ll need to fill in a mandatory introductory blurb (18 characters minimum).Once in, you’ll immediately notice the sexy – if not provocative – profiles and banner ads that take up most of the homepage.Sign up to and enjoy watching the lustiest females ever!يمكنك دائما محاولة لغة الإشارة لمساعدتك على فهم الشعب العربي :) في دردشة ملخص باللغة العربية هو الكامل من الفتيات ، والكثير من الرجال ، والكامل لل محادثات مثيرة للاهتمام وصالات البلاد لتكون قادرة على مناقشة هذه مع زميل Copyright 2014 - 2016 - All Rights reserved - This website has be created by Partenaires You are welcome at – the number-one adult fun provider in the world of Live Sex Cams.

domain: hobby


Last Sunday, The Advertiser editorial page presented an interesting contrast.
The paper's editorial stated that "Hawai'i has a government that's bigger and costlier than its economy can reasonably support, mostly because of generous pay and benefits for workers and inflexible work rules that hamper efforts at efficiency." It could have added that our Legislature keeps intruding government in our lives, obviating the need for common sense — witness the driving and cell-phoning prohibition.
But on the same page, a letter from Linda Umsted berates Republicans for opposing national programs that supposedly work very well. Ignored is the fact that, while the programs may be popular, they come at a cost that the nation cannot afford, as should be painfully obvious from our nation's dire financial straits.
The Democrats, ensconced in the White House and Congress, are bent on creating new entitlements, which will no doubt be popular in some quarters and garner votes, but grow the size and cost of government.
thomas j. freitas | Honolulu
CLOSING OFFICES NOW MAKES LITTLE SENSE
As a freshman legislator, I have tried to do more listening than talking in my first term, but I must speak out to disagree with Rep. Lynn Finnegan's opinion piece ("Republicans offering common-sense ideas," March 22).
In the name of common sense, she defends the governor's plan to close all public assistance offices with the exception of one in Hilo and one in Honolulu, resulting in not only the firing of more than 200 child protection and welfare workers, but placing in jeopardy children who are abused, neglected and at risk for their lives.
This makes no sense. When it becomes clear that we are allowing our most vulnerable people to drop through the safety net, this administration will be long gone. What makes sense is to do a pilot project, verify that new procedures work and implement changes over time, not ripping out the heart of a statewide program and fire so many local people.
Although counter-intuitive, when times are tough, that's when you need government services to handle the increase in unemployment, domestic violence, and other issues related to increased poverty and homelessness. The times call for true leadership, not political bickering.
Rep. Denny Coffman | (D-6th) North Kona, Keauhou, Kailua, Kona, Honokōhau
GOVERNMENT MUST NOT CONTROL SCHOOLS
Abolishing the state Board of Education will not in any way improve education. Rather, it will clear a path for politics to corrupt our public education system even more; anger parents, students and teachers and silence the voice of the students.
We cannot allow the governor to control and monopolize education through an appointed BOE or cabinet-level DOE superintendent. We cannot allow government to grow more powerful so as to control the welfare of our students in their schools. An appointed BOE will only be accountable to one person: the governor.
Abolishing the BOE will not solve our current education crisis. In fact, if Gov. Lingle had her way, students and teachers would be furloughed for 36 days for two years, instead of 17.
As a public school student at Wai'anae High School, I cannot trust my education or welfare in the hands of an appointed BOE under the eye of the governor. Someone once said, "That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves."
Mark Dannog | Wai'anae
GENDER EQUITY STILL AN ISSUE IN ATHLETICS
I am deeply saddened to learn that girls' softball players on Maui are suffering the same sort of gender discrimination that I did 42 years ago.
"Find and pay for: your own coach, your own transportation, your own uniforms; and, figure out how to schedule your own games. Then, you can have a girls' team," said my high school principal when I pressed him to explain why the girls had no basketball team at my high school in 1968.
So, my girlfriends and I determinedly accomplished all those demands, to our astonished principal's great dismay. Our team was the very first girls' interscholastic team established at my high school.
But the principal failed to mention that the team we organized would have to begin all practice sessions at 9:30 p.m., after the boys' wrestling team, the boys' junior varsity basketball team and the boys' varsity basketball team.
When the boys were done, then, and only then, were the girls were allowed to step into the high school gymnasium to practice. Boys come first; a lesson I never forgot and I never accepted.
Pam Garrison | Kailua
FURTHER QUEST CUTS WILL BE INEFFECTIVE
The state administration needs to recognize that if we keep cutting benefits for Quest patients and adding administrative burdens and cutting fees for doctors, we must reach a line below which Medicaid recipients will be unable to obtain access to effective care.
Below that line we are not getting further savings and we are turning all the money we spend on Medicaid into waste, because the goal of providing health care to beneficiaries has been lost. The rope is simply too short to reach the drowning man.
Based on front-line observations of the number of Quest patients who can't find any doctor willing to treat them, and the number of doctors who tell me they are no longer accepting Medicaid patients, we are apparently already at or a bit below that line, especially for the Medicare-Medicaid (QExA) program.
From here on, we won't accomplish anything by further cuts; we will only create a catastrophe for this most vulnerable population. We must consider other models for Medicaid financing and care delivery.
The most cost-effective Medicaid program in the Country is Community Care of North Carolina. It was developed by doctors and hospitals, without insurance companies.
Dr. stephen b. kemble | Honolulu
LAW ENFORCEMENT SPREADS PROPAGANDA
It is no coincidence that law enforcement is mounting a propaganda campaign to convince Hawai'i legislators and the public that opening medical marijuana dispensaries is a bad idea ("L.A. police say marijuana dispensaries a failed idea," March 19). This is the first year amendments to Hawai'i's 10-year old medical marijuana law have progressed in the Legislature.
Opening dispensaries to provide registered patients with safe and legal access to marijuana was the number one recommendation of the Medical Cannabis Working Group. Our law permits qualifying patients to use this medical herb without providing a legal supply — thus forcing patients to go the black market to obtain their medicine.
Hawai'i has the opportunity to design a program from scratch using the best models available to serve patients' needs and potentially provide revenue to the state and counties from tightly regulated sales.
We are disappointed that California flew in three officers from Los Angeles to Maui and O'ahu for a one-sided "update" excluding all proponents. Instead of listening to scare stories about the problems in L.A., stemming from lack of regulation, Hawai'i law enforcement officials should be working with us on drafting fair and workable rules for the proposed compassion centers.
Pamela Lichty | Co-chair, Medical Cannabis Working Group, and president, Drug Policy Forum of Hawai'i
FUNDS FOR BAND, BUT NOT FOR SYMPHONY?
Your informative article on the Royal Hawaiian Band indicates that the city has budgeted $1.9 million for it in the coming fiscal year. ("Royal Hawaiian Band plays on," March 23).
While the band is good, our fabulous Honolulu Symphony has been allowed to die, partly because of a lack of city support.
The symphony, composed of outstanding musicians, is essential to the cultural life of the city and for the continuation of quality opera productions.
The band has a royal legacy, started in 1836 during the reign of Kamehameha III. It plays concerts at 'Iolani Palace. Why isn't the band supported by the state or the Office of Hawaiian Affairs?
The symphony and opera make use of and pay rent at the city's concert hall. If the city can only afford one, band or symphony, the symphony should prevail.
jack gillmar | Honolulu


If you live in states like Florida, where the weather is humid and the days are hot as the sun, you might be already aware of how important your air conditioning unit is to you. The most challenging task while buying an air conditioner is deciding which one is the right choice.
When the marketplace is filled with so many options, it isn’t easy to get the right one for yourself. If you are looking for something long-lasting and efficient simultaneously, consumer opinions suggest Rheem and Bryant be the two most popular brands in the market.
But the question remains the same, which one is better, and which one is best to invest your money. Here we have included Trane vs Rheem to help you figure that out, which you can refer to choose the best for you.
Rheem Central Air Conditioners
Rheem brands are popular brands for water heaters. But they have expanded into HAVC systems with their affordable and efficient AC units by 1970.
The brand sells solid units at middle-range prices. But they do not require certified installers. This may not seem significant but may cause problems if the unit is not installed correctly.
Their standard offerings involve three series of multi-stage and variable speed central AC units included as premium add-ons by many companies.
Their devices boast other benefits like efficiency rating upto 23, the good rating of 55dB to 72dB. They also are known best for their warranty offerings which are upto ten years on parts and compressors when the registration is done within 90 days of purchase.
Bryant Central Air Conditioners
If you are looking for a high-quality appliance, Bryant has the best offerings. Their HAVC systems offer many perks like excellent quality, high-value energy savings, and customizable designs to suit your home or office decor.
The brand also is backed by industry-leading warranty programs to ensure protection and the best service for you. They also have something for every budget. Depending on your financial situation, you can choose from their three different product lines, provided below, the best one for you.
- Legacy TM Line
- Evolution ® Series
- Preferred TM Series
The Best One to Choose
Brand-wise, both Rheem and Bryant are excellent brands. Both produce the best quality, efficient and durable air conditioners. So, choosing one amongst them is not an easy task.
So, we have reviewed customer views and suggestions, and the reports suggest that Bryant air conditioning units require fewer repairs (8% rates) compared to Rhee at 10%. They also are more efficient.
When you go for buying, remember do not simply compare the prices, but compare the products that the warranty covers to the unit’s cost. The warranty primarily covers the cost of replacement parts but not labor and other costs.
Ask the contractor which one can work best for your HAVC unit. They can really help you determine the prices that the company charge as well.


Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Sales Side of Radio
A few weeks ago, ESPN 760's Ken LaVicka gave me a whole speech about knowing the sales side of radio. Ken told me being familiar with sales could be your ticket into the door. He said if you know sales, you have an advantage over a lot of other people that are trying to make it in sports radio.
He preached to me to always try to make connections with potential business partners. He said if you see a potential business partner, you should be personable with them and get their contact information for the sales office. Ken told me it will benefit the station and it will make you look good.
Ken is also the the play-by-play voice for FAU football and basketball and co-hosts the Sunday Sports from 10:00am - 1:05pm.
Interested to see what Ken is saying? Follow him on Twitter and read his ESPN 760 blog.


WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation, the educational arm of the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization, today condemned another Catholic school firing of LGBT employees and cited it as more evidence of the church’s efforts to shove these workers - and potentially thousands of others - back in the closet.
“There is a sad and troubling narrative of increasing discrimination by Catholic institutions against LGBT Americans, including and especially those who legally marry or come out,” said Lisbeth Melendez Rivera, director of Latino/a and Catholic Initiatives at the HRC Foundation. “These discriminatory actions extend from Oakland to Kansas City to Cincinnati, from Chicago to Atlanta, and are occurring with alarming frequency.”
The recent firings of two lesbian Catholic high school teachers in St. Louis after they legally married in New York is just the latest in a string of more than a dozen similar situations reported this year alone in which LGBT employees, as well as employees who support LGBT equality efforts, have been fired, forced out, or had offers rescinded by Catholic schools across the nation. Reported cases this year already exceed the 13 publicly documented in 2013.
“This most recent case in St. Louis is particularly egregious because the teachers were widely known to be a couple and punished only when they exercised their civil right to marry,” Melendez Rivera said.
This week, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Olivia Reichert and Christina Gambara were fired from their jobs at Cor Jesu Academy after school officials said they learned of the couples’ marital status upon receiving a copy of their mortgage application.
“No doubt, there are countless other LGBT employees at Catholic schools who have experienced similar discrimination, but whose stories remain unheard and unreported,” Melendez Rivera said. “ “The veil of the Catholic schools’ ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy has fallen away; the days of the witch hunts are not over - at least in many Catholic schools.”
Many alumnae of the all-girls school in St. Louis have rallied around the fired teachers, and pledged to stop donating to the schools.
“We at the HRC Foundation commend those who have spoken out and taken action in support of Olivia Reichert and Christina Gambara,” Melendez Rivera said. “And we urge Catholic schools engaging in discriminatory practices to heed the words of Pope Francis: ‘When God looks at a gay person, does he endorse the existence of this person with love, or reject and condemn this person? We must always consider the person.’”
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.
To make a general inquiry, please visit our contact page. Members of the media can reach our press office at: (202) 572-8968 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.


Sleep states, or “S states”, describe the power applied to the host processor. The sleep state may relate to specific hardware components, but that information is usually not needed to manage Intel AMT-based platforms. When the host is fully powered up, it is said to be “in S0”. If the host is in some higher sleep state (i.e., lower power state), it is “in Sx”.
The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification (located at the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface Forum) defines the following states:
• G0 (S0): Working
• G1, Sleeping subdivides into the four states S1 through S4:
• S1 Sleeping State: The S1 sleeping state is a low wake latency sleeping state. In this state, no system context is lost (CPU or chip set) and hardware maintains all system context.
• S2 Sleeping State: The S2 sleeping state is a low wake latency sleeping state. This state is similar to the S1 sleeping state except that the CPU and system cache context is lost (the OS is responsible for maintaining the caches and CPU context). Control starts from the processor’s reset vector after the wake event.
• S3 Sleeping State: The S3 sleeping state is a low wake latency sleeping state where all system context is lost except system memory. CPU, cache, and chip set context are lost in this state. Hardware maintains memory context and restores some CPU and L2 configuration context. Control starts from the processor’s reset vector after the wake event.
• S4 Sleeping State: The S4 sleeping state is the lowest power, longest wake latency sleeping state supported by ACPI. In order to reduce power to a minimum, it is assumed that the hardware platform has powered off all devices. Platform context is maintained.
• G2 S5 Soft Off State: The S5 state is similar to the S4 state except that the OS does not save any context. The system is in the “soft” off state and requires a complete boot when it wakes. Software uses a different state value to distinguish between the S5 state and the S4 state to allow for initial boot operations within the BIOS to distinguish whether or not the boot is going to wake from a saved memory image.
Copyright © 2006-2018, Intel Corporation. All rights reserved.


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Mr. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea and his counterpart HE Mr. Alpha Condé were on the Bluezone of Kaloum on Friday, June 29.
The two heads of state visited the entire Bluezone and have noted the beneficial role that this space plays in reducing the energy divide in Guinea and propose activities for the welfare of the populations. Together they traveled the spaces dedicated to entrepreneurs, literacy courses, e-learning, Blueciné, sport and cultural activities, made possible by the technology of LMP electric batteries, developed by blueSolutions.
They were satisfied with the visit, which showcased the innovation of these living areas in a Guinea in tunes with the times.
For Jean-Michel Maheut, Country General Manager, “this visit allows one to recognize the true value of the work of a team of young Guineans and present the technology developed by blueSolutions, which makes this space friendly and welcoming.”


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FATMAP difficulty grade
Thunder Mountain near Kirkwood, California is known as a relatively mellow peak hike—which means that it makes for an excellent mountain peak to summit on your mountain bike! Rocky singletrack that's no problem on foot makes for entertaining rock garden riding on a mountain bike.
Make no mistake: the grunt to the top is still strenuous.
But that steep climb rewards you with a superb descent! The descent begins with beautiful ridge top riding, with wide-open views in all directions.
The soil is sandy and loose, interspersed with sharp rocks that look volcanic in origin. After dropping off the ridge, the descent picks up in earnest, with some portions of the trail being bench cut into the side of the mountain.
The fall danger is quite significant through the bench cut sections—while the trail tread is wide, it would be a long tumble down the mountainside! Lower down, the steepness of the mountain slope mellows out, allowing you to really open it up and rail through the flowy, dry singletrack! In the middle portions of the trail, the singletrack swoops through wide-open alpine meadows. Eventually, this flowy track drops back into the forest.
Some of the lower sections of the trail actually hold bigger rocks and gnarlier rock gardens than the above treeline portions.
Here, the rocks are more rounded and boulder-like, with a few big up-and-over moves. There are a few different ways to climb and descend Thunder Mountain.
The route mapped here includes a little car shuttle via the highway to get you some free vert.
Alternatively, you could pedal up the highway, ride from the upper trailhead as an out-and-back, or if you’re truly masochistic, ride up from the lower trailhead.
However you choose to ride it, Thunder Mountain serves as a rewarding and surprisingly-rideable mountain summit. Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe1eUxmWLoQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e01y7cNWtY


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Grass and More Outdoor is the certified dealer and installer of Tour Greens Chattanooga backyard putting greens and short game green for the greater Chattanooga area. The Tour Greens Chattanooga team provides professional installation and tour-quality artificial putting greens that mimic the performance of natural bent grass that will last for years to come.
In additional to backyard greens, Tour Greens Chattanooga has extensive experience developing commercial and residential recreational surfacing solutions, including multi-sport game courts, synthetic turf systems and artificial lawn landscape. For more information on designing a Tour Greens golf green, contact the dealer today..
Tour Greens Chattanooga is the top putting green installation company for the greater Chattanooga and Dalton metro areas. Our team is knowledgeable, courteous and has extensive experience in the design of tour-quality putting greens and short game green systems.
The Tour Greens Chattanooga team offers additional expertise in synthetic turf installation, designing and integrating a variety of artificial lawns and landscapes for homes and businesses throughout Chattanooga and Dalton. We also offer pet-friendly artificial grass systems that will keep your pets safe, happy and clean.
As an authorized dealer and installer for VersaCourt Court Tile, Tour Greens Chattanooga offers professional design and installation services for a wide selection of customized game court systems. From the traditional backyard basketball court, to a fully-outfitted multi-sport game court, we can transform your backyard into a sports lover's dream.
“One reason I chose Tour Greens material for my synthetic green was the quality of the sand that is used to fill the green. Tour Greens specifies a particular sand that is found only in Texas and Arizona. This sand is almost perfectly round and helps create a smooth putting surface. In addition to the smoothness of the surface, what I liked was the manner in which the greens matured. I had been impressed by Tour Greens greens of various vintages.”James Achenbach, Golf Week
A proud member of The Recreational Group family of companies.


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THELMA BWALYA, Lusaka
MUSICIAN Caleb the General, who has not released new material since releasing his third album Uncommon Favour in 2015, is back with a new single tilted Kwacha, which is off his forthcoming album.
Caleb’s other two albums are Extra Mature released in 2007 and Caleb the General released three years later.
“My quietness is due to a lot of things that I’ve been doing, school and other businesses,” he says.
“If I was only doing music, there would be that consistency, but there are other things that come in. Music is my passion, so this time, I’ve decided to take it serious, to be back in the game the way it used to be some time back, song after song, video after video and album after album.”
Caleb’s new single was released last week and encourages people to work hard and realise that every day is a new dawn and an opportunity to do something about their future.
“Kwacha for me is something that I’ve taken personal,” he says. “In everyone’s life, there’s a time when you should say ‘Kwacha’ in my life, I’ve opened my eyes, I know what I’m doing, I should hustle hard and make my money. I shouldn’t be driven by someone instead I should be driven by my own passion.”
Caleb has worked with Jerry Fingers on production and featured Rich Bizzy and Crew G on vocals.
He is also working on his fourth album which he says will be released on Christmas Day as a tribute to his father.
The album will have 10 songs which include Namayo Walipalwa and Yesu Nasaina. On the production side, he is working with Jerry Fingers, Kabin Studios and Shenky and will feature Tommy D, Chester, T-Sean, Ty2 and Mark B3.
“My fans should expect something big, I have grown now so they should expect growth, good beats and skill, more live performances,” he says. “I’m in the army now and we have got a lot of bands, so I’ll be performing with different bands wherever I go, so my fans should expect more live shows with the bands from the army.”

domain: entertainment


According to the latest reports, the all-new 2022 Infiniti QX60 will have a premiere next week. We are about to see the new generation in the final form, with a completely new design, which should bring a lot of improvements compared to the outgoing model. This will be a full redesign, with changes in terms of styling, mechanics, interior design etc. Allegedly, sales will start in September.
Without any doubt, the new model will bring novelties in every aspect. Interestingly, the platform will remain the same, though with significant updates. On the other hand, the styling will be completely new, just like the interior design, which will probably bring the biggest improvements. Another big improvement will happen under the hood. No, it’s not about the engine but about the new transmission. Instead of the current, uninspiring CVT gearbox, the new model will come with a 9-speed automatic transmission, which should improve the ride quality significantly.
2022 Infiniti QX60 Redesign
The upcoming redesign is about to bring novelties in various aspects but one of the most interesting things is that the platform will remain the same. The 2022 Infiniti QX60 will also ride on a familiar D platform, just like the outgoing model. Moreover, even the wheelbase will remain the same, 114.2 inches.
Still, the platform will be significantly updated. First of all, we are about to see a completely new setup and according to our insiders, the setup will be on the even softer side than before. However, we would still like to see some improvements in terms of steering, considering that the outgoing model isn’t particularly great in this aspect.
When it comes to the exterior design, we are about to see a completely new styling. While the production version is yet to be unveiled, we presume that it won’t be significantly different compared to the last year’s QX60 Monograph concept. If that happens, we have no doubt that the 2022 Infiniti QX60 would look great. While the grille looks pretty familiar to other models from the brand’s lineup, the new headlights design, bumper and other parts at the front look bolder and more aggressive. The new shape is slightly more angular but still pretty sleek and curvy compared to most competitors. The rear end follows the aesthetical approach of the front end.
As we already mentioned, the wheelbase will remain the same. On the other hand, the new model will be slightly shorter. However, it will be higher and wider, which should provide better driving characteristics and a higher level of comfort.
The new model will be similarly sized to the outgoing generation, so we really don’t expect to see bigger changes in terms of the interior space. That’s not a bad thing at all, considering that the current model stands pretty well in this aspect. It comes with a couple of quite spacious rows of seats, while the third row also a relatively decent amount of space and can be useful in many situations.
The same thing goes for the cargo area. It should offer pretty similar offers to the current model, which is good for about 16 cubic feet of space behind the third-row seats, 40.5 cubic feet behind the second row and 76.2 cubic feet in total. That’s quite good for a mid-size luxury SUV.
On the other hand, the dashboard design will be completely new. From what we can see in spy shots, it will look far more upscale than before. The whole dahs is covered with soft materials, while a massive infotainment screen stands out. Still, a few physical controls will remain, which is good. A digital instrument cluster should be on the list of standard features as well. Another thing that can be noticed is a new gear selector, which replaces a traditional gear lever.
2022 Infiniti QX60 Engine
Interestingly, the engine will remain the same. We are about to see the same 3.5-liter V6, which will keep the same output as well. This means that you may count on a max power of 295 horsepower, which seems quite enough to move this SUV with authority.
On the other hand, big changes are coming in terms of the transmission. Instead of the current CVT, the 2022 Infiniti QX60 will feature a 9-speed automatic transmission, which should drastically improve the ride quality. Moreover, even the towing ratings will be improved by 1.000 pounds. So, a properly equipped version would be able to tow up to 6.000 pounds.
2022 Infiniti QX60 Release Date and Price
As we already mentioned, the 2022 Infiniti QX60 should have a premier next week. On the other hand, the production will probably start in September. When it comes to the price, we presume that base models will cost around 45.000 dollars. Some of the key competitors are models like Acura MDX, Cadillac XT6, Lincoln Aviator etc.


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Instant art: This quick project makes a big impact. We took our cue from the graded colours of the ombré fad in fashion, painting nine 12-in. ceiling decorations in varying shades of blush. Pick five colours off a single paint chip—we chose white to watermelon—and ask the store to mix them, plus the half shades in between.
Craft up pretty wall art with this 10-minute project
Reinvent ceiling medallions to make a stunning tone-on-tone wall installation


We offer a variety of top quality duos. This page details a few specifically,
but there are many more we can offer.
Please feel free to contact us for further information.
POP ART - Duo
POP ART offer top class live music. They're a professional male/female duo
that perform at functions, weddings, & parties.
Singing & playing live a broad
range of upbeat music to suit different age groups & tastes, from classics
to current favourites.
They also provide a DJ service with extra recorded
music, as background or for dancing, in-between/before/after sets They’re
self contained with superb quality PA & lighting equipment &
different formats; from a duo, trio to a 4/5 group. Set includes;
Oh What A Night - Franki Valli / Feel Like Dancing - Scissor Sisters /
Price Tag - Jessie J / Daydream Believer - Monkees / Pack Up - Eliza Doolittle /
Sex On Fire - Kings Of Leon / Motown Medley / Poker Face - Lady Gaga /
Dancing in the Street – Martha & The Vandellas / Rock’n’roll Medley /
Moves Like Jagger - Maroon 5 / I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas & more....
TAKE TWO - Duo
Be prepared to travel through the years with this dynamic duo. These girls
will take you back to the fantastic time of soul and Motown and spark back
to life all the favourites along with a few forgotten classics… Including:
The Supremes, The Four Tops, and The Isley Brothers along side many more!
Then grab your funky flares and get ready to dance the night away,
while ‘Take Two’ perform their exciting Disco Party with hits from the
80's, 90's and 00's! This will be a night to remember!
LEGENDS - Duo
The Legends Roadshow features Gordon Dean & Peter Owen.
They are International Cabaret Artistes that specialise in music from the
Golden Era of the 1950’s & 60’s. Including tributes to; Tom Jones,
Tony Christie, Barry White,
Elvis Presley, Gene Pitney, Roy Orbison,
Bobby Darin & The Everly
Brothers as well as many others.
THE LADY AND THE SAX - Duo & Solo
The Lady and the Sax features the combined talents of Laura Evans & Sam
Pagett. They are a superb duo with outstanding vocals & cool sax.
Their repertoire is extensive & varied to cater for a wide range of tastes.
Material includes Rock’n’roll, Today’s Chart Hits, Motown, Disco, Country,
Musical Songs & Ballads. Saxophonist Sam is a considerable talent & Singer
Laura's pure soaring
vocals, good looks & professional presentation are of
the highest standard. As well as the duo, both are available seperately as solo
artists. Set includes; Black Velvet - Alannah Myles / It's Raining Men - Weather
Girls / Celine Dion - Because you Loved Me / Dancing Queen - Abba & more...


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Nestled in the wooded north suburbs of Central City, Le Museé de Bivolo has become the premiere art gallery for comic book fan artists. The owner and curator is Roy G. Bivolo, formerly a tortured artiste whose color-blindness led him to a life of crime. Now reformed, he is your host through our monthly excursion of the finest in fan artworks. Ladies and Gentlemen...the Rainbow Raider.
Be sure to click on these pictures to examine them close-up. The real beauty's in the details. People with current standard browsers will actually see the images floating in front of them, where you can move them around to your pleasure. Those with older browsers will see them in a separate window and will have to hit their "Back" buttons to return here.
Hello to the new contributor! I'll get to the very artistic comments in a moment, but first I have to say...WOW! What a great first impression!
This is a wonderful example of digital painting, with pin-up style composition. What really makes it shine is the different colors of light.
Welcome to the Fanzing Crew, Rosaline, and we're glad to have you with us.
An actual cartoon. Great! Always a spot for pop art in my art gallery.
Don't let the clean line art and simple design fool you. This is very well done. The anatomy and design are just right. The background is attractive, yet it is offset in a panel so that Hawkman is prominent.
As for the humor...I suppose it's still more respectful than that Baby Ruth ad.
Yusuf sends us this pic of Hawkman in attack mode. A nice level of detail
there, and I'm encouraged that every once and a while we do actually get
a submission where the superhero is in an action pose.
I have to apologize to Yusuf. This was submitted for Ambush Bug month, but I forgot to show it. It was still in the back room getting the frame tacked on.
A simple cartoon which reveals to us the source of George W. Bush's mispronunciation of the word "nuclear", which our editor questioned after the State of the Union address in January.
I cannot explain why he's making the Vulcan hand greeting.
Roy G. Bivolo, also known as the Rainbow Raider, left a lucrative career at DC to beome the host of Fanzing's art gallery. Color blind since birth, he has carved a reputation as an artiste extraordinaire.
Brian Mansfield hails from Ohio, but the taxis don't stop for him. He is a mechanical engineer by training and license, a software engineer by profession, but a cartoonist at heart. He used to have a really cool NASA job designing spacecraft, and he once took a class from Fanzing's own Christian Moore.
All Characters, including the Rainbow Raider, are DC Comics
All artwork is © 2002 by the individual artists credited above.
The Musee design and Rainbow Raider figures are by Phil Meadows, © 2002
Text is © 2002 by Michael Hutchison
Fanzing is not associated with DC Comics.
All DC Comics characters, trademarks and images (where used) are DC Comics, Inc.
DC characters are used here in fan art and fiction in accordance with their generous "fair use" policies.
Fanzing site version 7.4