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March 2020 Wallpaper: In Like a Lion

Shaenon: I started this wallpaper illustration at the beginning of the month, and now it’s a nostalgic image of the days when people could gather in groups. Ha ha, the world’s gone mad and we’re all going to die. But[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry...




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Raw Food Recipe Menu: March 20, 2016



Hello! I hope you're enjoying these first days of spring! The weather has been pretty wonderful around here and I've been enjoying the outdoors and seed starting and all the bright, shiny, hopeful things that happen this time of year.

Here are some raw recipes that take advantage of some of the things coming into season.

Breakfast
Pineapple Green Smoothie
serves 2 ~ $1.75 per serving
 




ingredients
  • 3 cups chopped romaine (or favorite green) ($1.00)
  • 1 cup cubed pineapple, frozen ($2.00)
  • 1 banana, sliced and frozen ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional) ($.20)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla ($.10)
  • 1 cup water
  • 10 ice cubes
  • stevia to taste (optional)
directions
  • In a high powered blender, puree the greens until liquefied and very smooth. 
  • Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth.

nutritional information:      calories: 156      fat: 0 gr      carbs: 42 gr      protein: 3 gr






Lunch
Deviled Avocados
serves 1 ~ $1.50 per serving
 
 

ingredients
  • 1 avocado, chopped ($1.25)
  • 1tablespoon finely chopped celery ($.05)
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion ($.05)
  • 2 teaspoons mustard ($.05)
  • 2 teaspoons mayo  (use something like Veganaise or make your own) ($.10)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
  • Lettuce and optional tomato for serving
directions
  • Coarsely chop the avocado, add the remaining ingredients, then stir gently until evenly incorporated. 
  • Store leftovers for up to a day or two in an air tight container.


nutritional information:       calories: 280       fat: 37 gr      carbs: 15 gr      protein: 3 gr



Dinner
Red Pepper Pasta
serves 2 ~ $2.80 per serving





  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
  • 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.50)
  • 1 cup black or kalamata olives ($1.50)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion ($.20)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave (optional, for those who like a touch of sweet) ($.20)
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
  • 1-2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized
 
directions
  • Prepare the red and yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and onion and place in a medium sized bowl. 
  • In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, syrup, onion powder, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour over the prepared vegetables. Allow to marinate for at least a half hour, but it can marinate as long as a day.
  • When ready to eat, simply pour the marinated veggies and marinade over a portion of spiralized zucchini noodles and toss.


 

 
 
nutritional information:      calories: 389      fat: 23 gr      carbs: 35 gr      protein: 11 gr





 Dessert
Chocolate Orange Truffle
makes 24 ~ $.54 per truffle (a serving is three truffles)




 
ingredients

  • 2 cups almonds ($8.00)
  • 1 1/2 cups dates, pitted and chopped ($4.00)
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder ($1.00)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon orange extract
  • Cocoa powder for rolling
directions
  • In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the almonds until finely ground. This takes about a minute. 
  • Add in the pitted and chopped dates, cocoa powder, vanilla and orange extract. 
  • Process again until the mixture begins to clump together. 
  • Using a tablespoon, scoop out even sized balls, and roll between hands to shape. 
  • For the final finish, roll each truffle lightly in cocoa powder.
 
Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Makes about 24 truffles.
 
nutritional information:       calories: 105      fat: 6 gr       carb: 12 gr       protein: 3 gr
 
 
 
 
 
Total cost for the day: $7.67
total calories: 1,140
total fat: 78 gr
total carb: 128 gr
total protein: 26 gr
 
 




Aftertought ...

What does a mostly raw, some cooked vegan grocery cart look like? Well, mine looks like this ...




How about you?






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Marco Antoniotti: New version of HEΛP

After ELS 2020 I got some time to get back and do some hacking on Common Lisp. The first result is a new version of HEΛP that fixes some bugs and is in general much more robust on both Un*x and Windows platforms.

One outstanding issue is the reliance of the library on READ, which does cause some problems when reading pure source code.  On a next iteration I may use Eclector, which is a drop-in replacement for READ with finer control on error handling.

In any case, if you need HEΛP to document your program, just follow the link.

(cheers)




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Marco Antoniotti: Digging CLAST

Again, after ELS 2020, I went back to double check the actual status of some of my libraries (after an embarrassing nag by Marco Heisig :) who caught me sleeping).

I updated the documentation of CLAST, and checked that its current status is ok; the only change I had to make was to conform to the latest ASDF expectations for test systems. Of course, you may find many more bugs.

CLAST is a library that produces abstract syntax trees munging Common Lisp sources. To do so, it relies on CLtL2 environments, which, as we all know, are in a sorry state in many implementations. Yet, CLAST is usable, at least for people who are ... CLAZY enough to use it.

(cheers)





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Introducing: Another Glass Box, a new weekly architecture feature

Keesmaat’s Next Venture, Shitty Architecture Men, Mod Squad, Presto Problemo, Bench Press, and more in this debut edition.

Another Glass Box is a weekly roundup of urban design news in Toronto (and occasionally beyond), in bite-size pieces. It’s curated by Dan Seljak, who’s done marketing and communications work for architecture and construction companies for the last seven years—and who still loves this city enough to line up for brunch.  Content warning: some of the […]

The post Introducing: Another Glass Box, a new weekly architecture feature appeared first on Torontoist.




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Researching Bonnie Blue Flag rules

A while back I bought a copy of ‘Bonnie Blue Flag’ from Cavalier books and I have to say I really liked what I saw. The rules seem to give me everything I was looking for in a ACW rule set, I decided then even though I must have 15 plus ACW rule sets, this was going to be the one for me. I became a Kevin Calder fanboy over night and quickly snapped up his other Sudan rule set too. I constantly patrol Cavalier books looking out for any other variants of the rule set that may of been released. Although, the rules are so adaptable that you could use them for a multitude of other eras.

The only down side though is that because they are a small rule set by Cavalier Books there doesn’t seem to be much support for them. This lead me to do my own research to clean details, however small, from the internet to help outline some of the rules in the book. A big break through came when I found Kevins blog ‘The Iron Brigade’. This was full of nice pictures of his games which gave loads of extra details into the system. I have created this post on here so I can dump any relevant information to save me trolling around in the future. Other like minded souls had made the same connection and had gone to the Facebook site to ask questions, these were not answered though. So here I have gathered images from various games Kevin has done and each one is a wealth of extra information and details for the rule set.



A Crazed stalker raids the internet for more information.
 It’s interesting to see here the use of skirmishers. They are kept on the table and placed around the parent unit at all times, unless destroyed. This wasn’t made very clear in the rule book, I thought you just took them off once they rejoined their regiment.

 It’s also good to see the mini dice in play. I think pictures like this would of been a better choice rather than the stock Cavalier book ACW illustrations in the rule book. It would of really helped define things. Also, Cavalier Books released another set of ACW rules and included the same illustrations... a bit poor I thought.
 This is interesting, dismounted cavalry on 40mm round bases. This shows their looser structure on the field. This is a nice touch and gave me some good ideas about basing units of sharpshooters. Everybody knows the green clad Berdan’s sharpshooters, but by basing up a Confederate unit of marksman in this way would really help define them from the other units.

 A photo taken from a Napoleonic battle hosted by Kevin, it again shows that with a few minor weapon range tweaks, these rules can be used for most horse and musket periods. I also noticed in one of these games that skirmishers could be based two to a base rather than singly. This is quite helpful to me as single figures are quite hard to store and keep safe. Two figures on a 40mm base are a lot more stable and also give the chance of a diorama.
Also interesting that this small unit of sharpshooters only has one skirmisher rather than three to reflect its small size. I will tag this post and keep adding to it, if and when I find out anything new. These rules are great and well worth a look.

Below is a great picture showing the game in process. Note that some skirmishers have been based as units of ‘comrades in arms’, multiple figures in groups of skirmishers, loading and firing to maintain a constant fire. This is an idea I will play with for sure.



  • Bonnie Blue Flag

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Crazy-seeming research, now and then, turns up something true and beautiful

Crazy-seeming research, every now and then, leads to something really, really wonder-filled. In this case, the discovery of something long-predicted (by Einstein) but seemingly impossible to perceive: gravity waves. (HT Maggie Lettvin)




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Recent Progress in Automatic Sarcasm Detection

‘Sentiment mining’ – i.e. trying to gauge the Public’s attitude towards an institution, product, firm (etc. etc.) though automatic analysis of Social Media posts (etc. etc.) is now considered an essential tool for market researchers and ‘reputation managers’. But there are problems. One of which is sarcasm. Given its prevalence, serious errors can be introduced […]




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Top 10 Searched Topics Online (blog post)

One of the biggest challenges when starting a new blog or website is deciding what the topic of your site is going to be about. You also want to take into consideration what people are looking for online. If you’re stuck on an idea for your site here are the 10 most popular topics that are searched for online besides porn of course and the rough percentage of traffic each one gets.




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6 Free Keyword Research Tools

One of the cornerstones of an effective SEO campaign is keyword research. Picking the right keyword phrase can mean the difference between your site being found, or having your site or having it drowned out because the keyword phrase you chose has too much competition, costs too much. Or worse is too obscure and no one will ever find it. To do effective keyword research you need a keyword research tool, it’s as simple as that................





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Researchers build the world's fastest 'soft' robot, THREE TIMES faster than the last record holder - Daily Mail

  1. Researchers build the world's fastest 'soft' robot, THREE TIMES faster than the last record holder  Daily Mail
  2. Soft robots can now run like cheetahs and swim like marlins  Engadget
  3. Inspired by cheetahs, researchers build fastest soft robots yet  Tech Xplore
  4. Meet the world's fastest soft Robot!  NEWS9 live
  5. Fastest Soft Robots To-Date Developed by Researchers  Unite.AI
  6. View Full coverage on Google News




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Waiter, there's a fly in my waffle: Belgian researchers try out insect butter

Belgian waffles may be about to become more environmentally friendly.





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Your Job Search Questions, Answered by Career Professionals

by Christina Schmidt Keep reading if this sounds familiar: You’ve been applying to tons of jobs, and you’re getting no callbacks. No email responses. No invites for an interview. Your LinkedIn profile is showing no activity. You did your research. You prepared. What happened? First off, I understand your pain! As a dual specialist career […]

The post Your Job Search Questions, Answered by Career Professionals appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.





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Did you know there are millions of searches every month for ‘jobs’ on Google?

 Naturally, people use search terms that match their interests and experience, with phrases like ‘engineering jobs’ or ‘jobs in finance.’ And it’s no surprise that people often add geographical factors to narrow the results, such as ‘in Dallas,’ ‘near me,’ or ‘remote.’ What’s intriguing is that job seekers also use terms that identify their […]

The post Did you know there are millions of searches every month for ‘jobs’ on Google? appeared first on DiversityJobs.com.




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Geetha Marcus

On 7 March, 2018, around 50 delegates joined Iriss for a day of discussion and talks. The theme of the day was to explore how co-production can equip social services with the cultural competency they need when working with Gypsy Traveller and Roma communities. It was a chance to identify the unique challenges facing these two distinct communities in Scotland and think about creative ways to overcome them.

At this event we heard from Geetha Marcus. Geetha is a sociologist, feminist and teacher activist whose research and teaching interests focus on social inequalities within public education systems. In 2012, she was awarded a jointly funded Scottish Government/ESRC doctoral research into the educational experiences of Gypsy/Traveller girls in Scotland.

tIn the course of this research, she conducted an extensive range of in-depth interviews with young Traveller women about their racialised and gendered experiences within public spaces of school and private spaces of home. This research attempts to address a gap in the literature where Gypsy/Traveller girls' experiences are mis-recognised and erased through non-recognition. The girls' stories are highlighted and juxtaposed alongside the general problems encountered by Gypsy/Travellers in Scotland to reveal a complex narrative. Geetha shared her experiences of working as a researcher on this project and insights from the girls she worked with. It was followed by a lively and interesting discussion.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Something Elated by Broke For Free




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Research governance in social care

Irina McLean, Project Leader with NHS Research Scotland Management Team, is currently leading the development of a Research Governance Framework (RGF) which will meet the needs of Scotland’s Social Care Services employers, staff, and service users and their families.

The Public Bodies (Joint Working) (Scotland) Act 2014 sets the context for the integration of adult health and social care within Scotland. Underpinning the introduction of the Act was a commitment to ensure the consistent provision of quality, sustainable care services for the increasing numbers of people in Scotland who need joined-up support and care.

The Scottish Government recognises that for successful reform and effective integration of health and social care sectors collective ethical and accountable research practices are required.

The new RGF is currently being defined through a process of engagement.

In this episode, Irina tells us more about the work she is doing. If you would like to follow up with Irina about the RGF or speak to her about research you're involved in, you can contact her direct at: irina.mclean@nrs.org.uk.

Transcript of episode

Music Credit: Make your dream a reality by Scott Holmes




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Better Breaks - A summary of projects funded between Apiril 2014 and March 2015

The Better Breaks funding programme is focused on improving the range and availability of short break opportunities for disabled children and young people, particularly those with multiple support needs, including short break opportunities that families can enjoy together, or which allow parents and siblings to have time away from their caring responsibilities. This is the summary report.




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Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR)

The core purpose of the Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research (SCCJR) is to carry out high quality, internationally recognised research in relation to crime and criminal justice.




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A research agenda for respite care. Deliberations of an expert panel of researchers, advocates and funders

ARCH, the National Respite Network and Resource Center in the United States of America identified that evidence-based research on respite care has, to large extent, been lacking. Across ages, needs and settings, respite is based upon the premise that providing caregivers periodic relief from daily, ongoing caregiving responsibilities will directly benefit them in terms of their physical health, immediate and long-term psychological health, and social-emotional relationships with family members. These benefits are assumed to result in secondary benefits for care receivers and even larger societal benefits in the form of cost benefits or improved employee productivity. Some research studies point to the merits of these assumptions. However, evidence-based research supporting this premise - or going beyond it to demonstrate how to best provide respite care that results in maximum benefits - has not been available. This report presents the findings of an expert panel composed of academics, researchers, service providers, advocates, policymakers and administrators representing a range of age groups, disabilities and professional disciplines. Over a period of 18 months the panel explored the current status of respite research, proposed strategies to overcome barriers to research, and developed a plan to encourage rigorous research in key areas.




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#297: Avian Larceny

Welcome to PotterCast 297! In this episode:

- What happened in Times Square with Cursed Child, again?

- In How About That: Hagrid in the first few chapters! How he got to Harry, what he knew, what magic he used, and what was really up with the pink umbrella.

- HAGRID CAN SPELL HAPPY BIRTHDAY THANK YOU

- Can you convict an owl of theft?

- In the drums, Frankie has an announcement! 

Don't forget that we have a Patreon where you can get extra (sorting-related!) content!

Produced by Adam Molina // Assoc. Produced by Kylie Madden





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Policy Briefings and Fact Sheets | LGBT Foundation | Policy & Research | LGBT Foundation | Home | LGBT Foundation


Lesbian and Gay Foundation:- Policy Briefings




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Social research in the 21st Century: what makes for evidence we can trust?

When: Mon Dec 14, 2015

Where: British Library, British Library Conference Centre, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB
Event Status: confirmed
Event Description: SRA annual conference bringing together social researchers from all sectors and disciplines to share knowledge and ideas. For further information, please visit the event website



  • http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#event

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Target Circle Deals March 29th - April 4th: 40% Off Turtle Beach Battle Buds

Lots of gaming headphone deals for those brave enough to go into stores.
These are the deals:

30% Off Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Aero Wireless headset for PC (Expires April 4th)

30% Off Turtle Beach Elite Atlas Pro Wired PC Gaming headset (Expires April 4th)

40% Off Turtle Beach Battle Buds In-ear Gaming headset (Expires April 4th)

15% Off Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Headset All Varieties (Expires April 4th)

30% Off ROCCAT Kone Aimo Owl-Eye Mouse Black & White (Expires April 4th)

30% Off ROCCAT Sense Aimo Mousepad for PC Gaming (Expires April 4th)




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Hopeful Research on Romance

It’s Valentine’s Day, and my social media feed is more snarky than smarmy. The Hallmark holiday gets us thinking about love, but it also highlights our unquestioned assumptions about romantic relationships. The culture of love is tied up in all kinds of expectations: what we buy, how we date, even who does the dishes. A lot of […]




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High Vibe Honey: Week Of 29th March 2020 + I Am My Own Hero!

In this wild time, you might be looking around and noticing that people are losing their collective shit! In this climate, it is more important than ever to truly use your tools, cut off negativity, and feed your mind with material that makes you feel STRONG, rather than fearful. This is your moment to become […]

The post High Vibe Honey: Week Of 29th March 2020 + I Am My Own Hero! appeared first on Gala Darling.



  • High Vibe Honey

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The Very Early Perimenopause: What We Can Learn from Dr. Jerilynn Prior’s Research

by Nina Coslov

In my early 40s, I started noticing changes in my body. A once great sleeper, I was now waking at 2 a.m. – often with lots of energy and sometimes with anxiety. I’d be awake for about 3 hours before I could get back to sleep. Around the same time, premenstrual breast tenderness returned — something I hadn’t experienced since my 20s, before I had children. Not long after, I’d notice from time to time a pervasive edginess, a revving — an energetic ... More

The post The Very Early Perimenopause: What We Can Learn from Dr. Jerilynn Prior’s Research appeared first on Our Bodies Ourselves.




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RFP now open for Fire Protection Research Foundation project on “Combustible Gas Distribution in Buildings and Detector Location Analysis”

Recent experiences with combustible gas releases in residential buildings have led to a proposal for NFPA Standards Development for locating combustible gas detectors and consensus on installation location requirements. NFPA is considering a proposed




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Research Foundation Set to Study the Economic and Emotional Impact of Active Shooter/Hostile Events

The Fire Protection Research Foundation, the research affiliate of NFPA is overseeing a two-year project on the Economic and Emotional Impact of an Active Shooter/Hostile Event – thanks to Fire Prevention and Safety Grant money from FEMA.




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Changing of the guard at the Fire Protection Research Foundation

Amanda Kimball has been named executive director of the Fire Protection Research Foundation (Research Foundation). The eight-year veteran of the independent, non-profit research affiliate of the National Fire Protection Association replaces Casey Grant



  • fire protection research foundation
  • research

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Research Foundation to Host FREE Webinar: “Review of Audible Alarm Signal Waking Effectiveness” - Wednesday, February 5, 12:30-2pm EST

  At-risk populations such as the elderly, school-age children, those who are hard of hearing or alcohol-impaired do not fully benefit from conventional smoke alarm alerts, particularly during sleeping hours. Research has been conducted to develop




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Request for Proposals are now open for three FPRF research projects

Request for Proposals are now open for three Fire Protection Research Foundation (FPRF) research projects.   First Responder Small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) Operations Training: Baseline Materials & Usage Assessment: The overall goal of




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Archivist releases shirts made from recycled hotel sheets

Sometimes, being disruptive is fashionable. As for Archivist, a sustainable clothing company, its business plan counts on being disruptive in the name of fashion and corporate responsibility. With this mission, Archivist has found a unique yet luxurious inspiration for a new line of tailored shirts — hotel sheets.[...]




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Research center sits lightly near turtle nesting grounds in Australia

When architect Richard Kirk was tapped to lead the design for the Mon Repos Turtle Centre, he knew that his team at the international architecture firm KIRK would need to tread lightly. The project’s coastal site, located in Bargara, Queensland, is home to one of the most significant seasonal nesting grounds for the loggerhead turtle. To minimize landscape impact, the architects designed the center with a prefabricated glulam timber frame that is wrapped in low-maintenance copper and wood to visually blend the building into the surroundings.[...]




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Superblock of Sant Antoni reclaims Barcelona streets for pedestrians

As part of Barcelona’s efforts to reclaim its car-congested streets for pedestrians, the city has tapped architects to create "superblocks” — groups of streets transformed into car-free public plazas. One such project was completed in 2019 by Leku Studio in the trendy neighborhood of Sant Antoni. Redesigned with attractive way-finding elements and street furniture, the Superblock of Sant Antoni is the second of six superblocks completed to date.[...]




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Researcher Discloses 4 Zero-Day Bugs in IBM's Enterprise Security Software

A cybersecurity researcher today publicly disclosed technical details and PoC for 4 unpatched zero-day vulnerabilities affecting an enterprise security software offered by IBM after the company refused to acknowledge the responsibly submitted disclosure. The affected premium product in question is IBM Data Risk Manager (IDRM) that has been designed to analyze sensitive business information




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Researchers Uncover Novel Way to De-anonymize Device IDs to Users' Biometrics

Researchers have uncovered a potential means to profile and track online users using a novel approach that combines device identifiers with their biometric information. The details come from a newly published research titled "Nowhere to Hide: Cross-modal Identity Leakage between Biometrics and Devices" by a group of academics from the University of Liverpool, New York University, The Chinese




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Backlinks - Search Engine Optimization Guide That Will Make Your Traffic Go Crazy!

Do you understand the power of backlinks? No, do you truly understand? Well I have a search engine optimization guide here for you that will show you how to get crazy traffic to your website. Make sure that read this entire article to learn all the dirty tricks!




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I’m a photographer and aspiring photo archivist. I was asked to digitize photos that were on display...

I’m a photographer and aspiring photo archivist. I was asked to digitize photos that were on display at a funeral/viewing. There were 65 photos.

Me: Sure, I could have this done pretty soon, no problem!

Client: Great! I didn’t have tape and didn’t want to use glue, so (with pride in their voice) guess what I used?

Me: (with pronounced fear in my voice) Uh… what?

Client: Toothpaste!

What was going to be an hour and a half project turned into two days of scraping and cleaning photos.




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Writing Productivity Tips & Advice For Young Writers From Marcie Colleen (THE BEAR'S GARDEN)

Happy launch day to Marcie Colleen, whose THE BEAR'S GARDEN with Alison Oliver launches from Imprint/Macmillan today!

Marcie Colleen is the award-winning picture book author of Penguinaut! (illustrated by Emma Yarlett) and Love, Triangle (illustrated by Bob Shea), as well as the Super Happy Party Bears chapter book series. She teaches Writing Children’s Picture Books for the University of California at San Diego both online and on campus, and runs her own Study Hall conducting a month-long online critique group dedicated to the crafting picture books. Find out more about how you can study with Marcie at thisismarciecolleen.com and on Twitter at @MarcieColleen1.

*UPDATE: Marcie has also launched her SUPER HAPPY Book Club on her YouTube channel, especially for families at home during school closures!

Launching March 24, 2020, THE BEAR'S GARDEN is written by Marcie Colleen and illustrated by Alison Oliver. You can read reviews of the book on Kirkus (starred review!) and Bookroo.

Author: Marcie Colleen
Illustrator: Alison Oliver
Publisher: Imprint/Macmillan Children’s

SYNOPSIS: Inspired by the true story of a community garden in Brooklyn, New York, picture book The Bear’s Garden is a testament to how imagination and dedication can transform communities and create beauty for everyone in unexpected places.

A little girl sees an empty lot in a city and imagines what it can be:

a place to grow,
a place to play,
and a place to love.

With the help of her stuffed bear, the girl brings her community together to create a beautiful garden.

Q. What inspired you to write this book?

The Bear’s Garden was inspired by the real-life Pacific Street Brooklyn Bear’s Community Garden in my former neighborhood in New York City. The name always puzzled me—I mean, we didn’t have bears wandering around Brooklyn last I checked!

Come to find out, the garden was named for a teddy bear that was found in the weeds when the workers began to create a garden in the abandoned lot. Of course, immediately I started thinking of that little bear. How did he get there? Did he belong to anyone? Was he placed there on purpose?

The Bear’s Garden is my imaginative story about how the teddy bear came to be in those weeds. It’s also a love letter to my former neighborhood and the power of community that I felt while living there. I am the girl who finds love and beauty in every inch of that urban paradise

Q. As an experienced author, how do you manage your time in terms of balancing your creative work time with the business side (promotion, admin, school visits etc), yet still have a life outside work?

While everything I do, such as teaching and creating Teacher’s Guides, falls under the umbrella of being a full-time children’s author, I have struggled in the past to find time for my own creative writing. It seems my days get quickly overrun.

However, about a year ago I paired up with a fellow author friend, Kirsten Larson, to prioritize our writing projects. We get up at 5:20 every morning to write for an hour. The alarm goes off, we text each other a quick “Good Morning” and share our project goals for that session, grab our coffee, and set to write until 6:30 without distraction. At 6:30 we check in again with our progress. It’s been a game-changer. I think I have written more in the last year because of it. And it’s a fantastic way to feel accomplished no matter what the rest of the day brings.

Q. What advice do you have for young writers?

I have always loved reading and writing stories.

A few years back I found a book I had written in elementary school. It’s called Rainbow Hunt. And in the back of the book I found an Author’s Note I had written. It said,

“Marcie Goldstein lives in Liverpool, NY and loves to write books. Someday she hopes to be a successful author.”

So, my advice to young writers everywhere would be, know that your dreams can come true. Even if people say it’s a long-shot. I’m living proof. So keep reading, keep writing, and never stop dreaming.

Q. Anything else you'd like to mention? What are you excited about these days?

Despite the recent global health crisis that has left us all indoors, I am excited to see how we will learn to build more community within our lives—even virtually. The creativity and innovation that has developed in the last few weeks has been extraordinarily inspiring. Like flowers between the pavement cracks, we will find ways. And a lot of beauty is going to grow from this.

 --

For more interviews, see my Inkygirl Interview Archive. Also see Advice For Young Writers and Illustrators, a compilation of tips generously offered by children's book creators I've interviewed over the years.




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Polyamory and Patriarchy Zine Questionnaire

This is a zine an amazing aquaintance of mine is putting together.
Please send your stories to: polypatriarchyzine@gmail.com, or mail them to 4951 Catharine St., Philadelphia, PA 19143.


Polyamory and Patriarchy Zine Questionnaire

These questions are for a zine I’m writing about polyamory and patriarchy. So often, people feel either that polyamory is the only revolutionary way to be intimate, or the worst way. I’d like to hear what you’ve learned from polyamory – ways it felt liberatory, and ways it may have felt like familiar oppressive gender roles dressed up in revolutionary language. My agenda isn’t to discredit polyamory, but to identify how much we have to learn about truly liberatory relationships.
These questions are fairly personal and ask you to revisit some painful memories, so please take your time, answer only what you feel comfortable answering, and let me know how you want your anonymity protected. Please use pseudonyms! Do give me contact info, though, if you want to review how I use your material before the zine is published.

1. Let’s start with gender. What gender roles did you learn from your family of origin? From the media? From your chosen community? How do you express gender now – is it different than how you were socialized to express gender?

2. What were your reasons for first trying polyamory? Was it your idea or a partner’s? Did you have any models in your community for successful polyamorous relationships?

3. What was the most empowering experience you’ve had in polyamory?

4. What was the hardest situation to handle in a polyamorous relationship? Looking back, what would you have done differently, if anything?

5. What kinds of insecurities did polyamory raise? Did they concern your gender or body image? How did you handle these insecurities?

6. How have you felt most empowered in polyamory? How has it felt expansive, liberatory, or healing?

7. Do you have a different kind of intimacy with lovers than with friends? Who are you more likely to turn to for emotional support?

8. How do your expectations change based on what kind of relationship you’re in? Do you have different standards of behavior for partners and lovers?

9. Has polyamory ever made you feel silenced, or unable to ask for what you needed?
What have your relationships with your lover’s other lovers been like? How have you handled feelings of jealousy and competition? How have you handled your partner’s jealousy?

10. Tell me a little about your best relationship, polyamorous or otherwise, and what made it work so well.

11. Today, what is your ideal relationship?

12. Do you want to see the zine before it’s published? Do you want a copy mailed to you? If so, let me know how to reach you.

Please send your stories to: polypatriarchyzine@gmail.com, or mail them to 4951 Catharine St., Philadelphia, PA 19143.

I also welcome your analysis and thoughts about sexual politics, polyamory, and this project – thanks!




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I'll be reading in Chicago March 25

I'll be in Chicago for the Chicago zine fest - reading on Fri 25, doing a writing workshop Sat at 11 am, and tabeling. Come visit!




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Switched theme to fix Google Search Console errors

I switched my theme to fix Google Search Console errors. It complained that I had pages and posts with breadcrumb issues, and switching the theme was the easiest way to fix it. You can understand the importance of Breadcrumbs in this article.  If you don’t fix these errors, then your site is less likely to […]




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This week's New York Times Bestsellers (March 23rd)

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider maintains its position at number 5 (trade paperback).




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This week's New York Times Bestsellers (March 30th)

In hardcover:

Rae Carson's The Rise of Skywalker: Expanded Edition debuts at number 5.

Patricia Briggs' Smoke Bitten debuts at number 6.

In paperback:

Stephen King's The Outsider maintains its position at number 5 (trade paperback).




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University evaluating teaching and research plans, campus operations for next academic year

In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Princeton is evaluating scenarios for campus operations next academic year. While no decisions have been made yet, the Academic Year 2021 Coordinating Committee is preparing for a number of options based on federal and state health guidelines.