[Nile Post] In Uganda, youth entrepreneurship is seen as a powerful tool for economic growth.

[Premium Times] This year, the COP29 agenda is expected to be anchored on climate finance, mitigation, and adaptation, with the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) designed to provide support for vulnerable communities in global climate solutions.

January 6, 2006 – A new credit card scam has appeared in New York and appears to be moving west. Victims of the scam receive a call that they think is from their credit card company. Unfortunately, a lot of people are falling for this new telephone pitch, and having their credit ruined in the process.

January 31, 2006 – In the new year, a variety of state legislatures continue to debate credit freeze law. Among these are states, on opposite sides of the country are working on unique credit freeze solutions. One of them is probably the best credit freeze law proposed in any state. The other is dumbest credit freeze proposal that we have ever seen.

August 10, 2005 – There are a lot of people carrying large credit card balances which they will be lucky to pay off in their lifetime. Some consumers are being hit with interest rates in excess of 30% even though they have never been late on their credit card payments. The reason for this is that many credit card companies now use a system called "universal default", which allows them to raise your interest rate for reasons other than being late in the payment of your credit card bill.

If you have overdue books at the local library, you may want to return them now. That’s because a number of cash strapped libraries have started using collection agencies to collect fines and fees that are owed to them for overdue books. And once your name is turned over, there is a pretty good chance that you will find your library fines showing up as unpaid bills on your credit report.

MyPerfectCredit.com (MFC) is a website that supposedly provides consumers with copies of their credit report for free. But what the company is actually doing to consumers is anything but ethical, and it certainly isn’t free.

September 1, 2005 – As of today, residents of every state are eligible to receive their credit reports free of charge from the credit repositories (Experian, Equifax and Trans Union). These free credit reports were mandated by Congress with the passage of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA) in late 2003. Under the law, eligibility to receive free reports was phased in nationally, from west to east.

September 15, 2005 - If you are one of the 35 million Americans who only make minimum payments on your credit cards, you are going to be in for a rude surprise over the next year. The amount that you are going to be required to pay is going to double due to a little publicized federal lending rule that is about to go into effect. Unfortunately, most lenders don’t want you to know about the payment increases until after October 15th. That’s the date that new federal bankruptcy laws go into effect.

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This new colourway for the R15 dresses the bike up almost entirely in black, sprinkled with gold highlights for the Yamaha and R15 logos and golden alloy wheels.

Emil George from Kochi drove through 28 States and six union territories on the Indian mainland in ninety seven days

The heavily updated Hyundai Alcazar is a heady combination of space, luxury and practicality

Exclusive: US scrutinizes Russia accounts UBS took over from Credit Suisse, sources say  ReutersView Full Coverage on Google News

Fully updated to reflect modern developments in the field, the Fifth Edition of An Introduction to Optimization fills the need for an accessible, yet rigorous, introduction to optimization theory and methods, featuring innovative coverage and a straightforward approach. The book begins with a review of basic definitions and notations while also providing the related fundamental background of linear algebra, geometry, and calculus. With this foundation, the authors explore the essential topics of unconstrained optimization problems, linear programming problems, and nonlinear constrained optimization. In addition, the book includes an introduction to artificial neural networks, convex optimization, multi-objective optimization, and applications of optimization in… [Continue Reading]

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse better, news comes that WordPress.com has just embedded an AI feature into it’s blog editing code. The Jetpack AI Assistant is a one click solution for those who want to produce vapid, generic, boring blog posts at the touch of a button. Did we get that right? The assistant provides the full range of GPT type functionality you would expect, including creating nice looking blog structures, and can even suggest fabulous...

The post WordPress.com Embeds AI Function Into Its Post Writing Editor. oh dear appeared first on The Red Ferret Journal.

I've always liked the iPad Mini form factor more than other tablets, but that preference goes beyond hand-feel and comfort.

Bill is joined by special guest Eric Namee. Eric is a successful lawyer who also serves as the Chairman of the Virginia H. Farah Foundation. The Farah Foundation has helped hundreds of Orthodox ministries with grants for programs meeting their criteria. Eric is also working with the Assembly of Orthodox Bishops in an advisory capacity.

What are some of the misunderstandings and misgivings about miracles, and how does that relate to natural science and Christian theology?

Rita Madden shares some readings from "Meditations for Great Lent" by Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou, and reminds us that the purpose of Lent is to grow in humility and love. Sign up today to be apart of My Beautiful Lent!

A reader wrote to Fr. Michael Gillis that he had begun to discover himself through Buddhist meditation despite 25 years of Orthodox Christian practice. The reader asked for Fr. Michael's perspective.

Steve and Christian were asked to keynote the Mid-Atlantic Parish Life Conference, and rather than giving a lecture, they decided to do an episode of Pop Culture Coffee Hour! They discuss the big question of identity and its individual, communitarian, and cosmic sources, doing so through their favorite fictional universes of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the MCU!

The Saint Vladimir's Seminary community entered into its annual two-day Lenten Retreat March 2 and 3, 2020. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada (Orthodox Church in America), delivered four reflections over the two days loosely built around his own experience of life in community.

The Saint Vladimir's Seminary community entered into its annual two-day Lenten Retreat March 2 and 3, 2020. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada (Orthodox Church in America), delivered four reflections over the two days loosely built around his own experience of life in community.

The Saint Vladimir's Seminary community entered into its annual two-day Lenten Retreat March 2 and 3, 2020. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada (Orthodox Church in America), delivered four reflections over the two days loosely built around his own experience of life in community.

The Saint Vladimir's Seminary community entered into its annual two-day Lenten Retreat March 2 and 3, 2020. His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, Archbishop of Washington and Metropolitan of All America and Canada (Orthodox Church in America), delivered four reflections over the two days loosely built around his own experience of life in community.

Saint Vladimir's Seminary entered into its annual, two-day Lenten Retreat on Clean Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, 2021. Four talks delivered over the two days followed the theme of "Ora et Labora: The Foundations of Spirituality According to the Rule of St Benedict of Nursia." Seminary President Fr Chad Hatfield, in this first reflection, offers thoughts on "Praying Alone."

Saint Vladimir's Seminary entered into its annual, two-day Lenten Retreat on Clean Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, 2021. Four talks delivered over the two days followed the theme of "Ora et Labora: The Foundations of Spirituality According to the Rule of St Benedict of Nursia." In this reflection, Dr Vitaly Permiakov, the Seminary's assistant professor of liturgical theology, leads a meditation on "Praying Together."

Saint Vladimir's Seminary entered into its annual, two-day Lenten Retreat on Clean Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, 2021. Four talks delivered over the two days followed the theme of "Ora et Labora: The Foundations of Spirituality According to the Rule of St Benedict of Nursia." Saint Vladimir’s Director of Music Harrison Russin reflects on “Working Alone” in this third of the retreat meditations.

Saint Vladimir's Seminary entered into its annual, two-day Lenten Retreat on Clean Monday and Tuesday, March 15 and 16, 2021. Four talks delivered over the two days followed the theme of "Ora et Labora: The Foundations of Spirituality According to the Rule of St Benedict of Nursia." In this final meditation, Fr Nicholas Roth, the Seminary’s Spiritual Formation Director and Ecclesiarch, speaks of “Working Together.”

On this special OCF edition of Orthodoxy Live, Fr. Evan takes calls from college students ranging from why we cross ourselves the way we do to why so much money is spent on altar decor that could be spent on the poor.

The Northeast region of OCF was featured in this episode which aired live on Sunday evening April 21, 2013. Students gathered at the University of Connecticut to ask questions on behalf of students from all around the region.

John Maddex joins Fr. Evan in this pre-recorded Pascha edition of Orthodoxy Live. Fr. Evan give some reflections on the resurrection and then addresses some of the backlog of questions that have come in.

On this special edition of Orthodoxy Live, Fr. Evan chats with OCF students from College Conference East and West.

Bobby interviews Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou, the author of the new Conciliar Press book Meditations for Great Lent: Reflections on the Triodion.

Bobby interviews Fr. Vassilios Papavassiliou, author of the new AFP book Meditations for Advent: Preparing for Christ’s Birth.

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Dr. Gayle Woloschak on the topic of bioethics. Dr. Woloschak is a professor of Radiation Oncology at Northwestern University in Chicago and an adjunct professor of Religion and Science at Lutheran School of Theology Chicago, and at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, as well as Professor of Bioethics at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.

Dr. Albert Rossi discusses the importance of daily meditation.

Bobby Maddex intervies Dr. Frank Papatheofanis, the founder and president of St. Katherine Orthodox College in San Diego, California, about the school's recent regional accreditation by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

We all have schedules and agendas, and we’re mindful of our own and of those with whom we interact. Using stories from the Gospels and Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, Fr. Pat considers with us God's schedules and hidden agenda.

A vesperal homily based upon Joshua 1:1-9

We are seeing eastern meditation and mind-body practices like hatha yoga, tai chi, qi gong; and mindfulness-based therapy gaining wide credibility and attracting more and more adherents. Whether we as Orthodox should adopt eastern spiritual mind-body practices is a matter of great debate in the Orthodox Church. In this edition of Ancient Faith Today, Kevin discusses with his guest Christopher Kies what “Mindfulness” meditation is in its secular and Buddhist spiritual contexts; the Orthodox Christian correlative approach of Nipsis or Watchfulness; how they differ in goals and approaches; and whether formal Mindfulness meditation practices are appropriate for Orthodox Christians.

Pensioners Eddie and Maggie, from Wallsend, will get £10,000 a year after they were helped to apply.

Aim/Purpose: This study examines differences in credit and noncredit users’ learning and usage of the Plant Sciences E-Library (PASSEL, http://passel.unl.edu), a large international, open-source multidisciplinary learning object repository. Background: Advances in online education are helping educators to meet the needs of formal academic credit students, as well as informal noncredit learners. Since online learning attracts learners with a wide variety of backgrounds and intentions, it is important understand learner behavior so that instructional resources can be designed to meet the diversity of learner motivations and needs. Methodology: This research uses both descriptive statistics and cluster analysis. The descriptive statistics address the research question of how credit learners differ from noncredit learners in using an international e-library of learning objects. Cluster analysis identifies high and low credit/noncredit students based on their quiz scores and follow-up descriptive statistics to (a) differentiate their usage patterns and (b) help describe possible learning approaches (deep, surface, and strategic). Contribution: This research is unique in its use of objective, web-tracking data and its novel use of clustering and descriptive analytic approaches to compare credit and noncredit learners’ online behavior of the same educational materials. It is also one of the first to begin to identify learning approaches of the noncredit learner. Findings: Results showed that credit users scored higher on quizzes and spent more time on the online quizzes and lessons than did noncredit learners, suggesting their academic orientation. Similarly, high credit scorers spent more time on individual lessons and quizzes than did the low scorers. The most striking difference among noncredit learners was in session times, with the low scorers spending more time in a session, suggesting more browsing behavior. Results were used to develop learner profiles for the four groups (high/low quiz scorers x credit/noncredit). Recommendations for Practitioners: These results provide preliminary insight for instructors or instructional designers. For example, low scoring credit students are spending a reasonable amount of time on a lesson but still score low on the quiz. Results suggest that they may need more online scaffolding or auto-generated guidance, such as the availability of relevant animations or the need to review certain parts of a lesson based on questions missed. Recommendation for Researchers: The study showed the value of objective, web-tracking data and novel use of clustering and descriptive analytic approaches to compare different types of learners. One conclusion of the study was that this web-tracking data be combined with student self-report data to provide more validation of results. Another conclusion was that demographic data from noncredit learners could be instrumental in further refining learning approaches for noncredit learners. Impact on Society: Learning object repositories, online courses, blended courses, and MOOCs often provide learners the option of moving freely among educational content, choosing not only topics of interest but also formats of material they feel will advance their learning. Since online learning is becoming more prolific and attracts learners with a wide variety of backgrounds and intentions, these results show the importance of understanding learner behavior so that e-learning instructional resources can be designed to meet the diversity of learner motivations and needs. Future Research: Future research should combine web-tracking data with student self-report to provide more validation of results. In addition, collection of demographic data and disaggregation of noncredit student usage motivations would help further refining learning approaches for this growing population of online users.