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Azure SQL Database Scale Operation failed

You may receive an error message when attempting to increase the scale level of your Primary Node in a
Azure SQL Database Geo-Replication setup. In this instance I was attempting to modify the Primary Node
from a Premium 2 Tier to Premium 4 Tier. This is effectively providing your database access to more
processing power, also known as DTU (Database Throughput Units).

Azure Definition:
Database Throughput Units (DTUs) describe the relative capacity of the performance level of Basic,
Standard, and Premium databases. They are based on a blended measure of CPU, memory, reads, and writes.

Error Messages: - Notifications - Error Message:

"Database scale operation from P2 Premium to P4 Premium failed for <dbname>.
ErrorCode: undefined, ErrorMessage: undefined." - Audit Logs - Error Message:

"The source database '<serverprimary>'.'<dbname>' cannot have higher performance level than
the target database 'serversecondary'.'<dbname>'. Upgrade the performance level on the target
before upgrading source."

#1. Navigate to your Secondary Node(s), modify the tier to your desired level. Wait for it to complete.
#2. Navigate to your Primary Node. modify the tier to your desired level. Wait for it to complete.

The Audit Log will now contain this new entry:

OPERATION NAME - Update SQL database
STATUS - Succeeded

Image 1: (P4)


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clean-up #22:

here are my best-of twitter tweets so far. see for the rest. with the hard limitation of 140 characters, it is really challenging to write a piece of supercollider code that fits and sounds good _and is interesting to listen to for more than a few seconds.

99 sine oscillators played one after the other with a two seconds interval. each oscillator lasts for 27 seconds. so the total duration is 99*2+27= 225 seconds. the oscillators are phase modulated with other sine oscillators with frequencies repeating in the number series: 500, 501, 502, 603, 604, 605, 706, 707, 708. the base frequencies of the 99 carrier oscillators slowly raise by one hertz from 1 to 99. the only random thing is the stereo panning position for each oscillator.

a clip noise generator runs through a moog filter and then a reverb. every third second there is a new noise added and each noise lasts for 22 seconds. each moog filter has two unique parabolic lfos that runs at a random rate between 0 and 0.3 hertz - each in one channel. at the most there are 8 number of overlapping noises playing at the same time. as there are so many reverbs playing here at once one needs to allocate more memory to sc server. something like this... Server.local.options.memSize= 32768; and then reboot the localhost server.

this one is completely deterministic although it is hard to believe when hearing it. a lot of nested feedbacking sine oscillators. nine parallel oscillators are mixed down to 1 and duplicated in left and right channels. each of the nine oscillators is frequency and feedback modulated but have a static amplitude of 1/9. the frequency modulator consist of yet more modulated feedbacking sine oscillators, while the feedback of the outer is only modulated with a single feedbacking sine oscillator running at 0.1 hertz. all in all there are 109 unit generators in total running in this tweet and it peaks at about 9.3% of my computer's cpu.

//--tweet0016 - tweet0019
these four all work the same way. they only differ in buffer size and what kind of oscillator is used for reading back samples from the buffer. there is not much progress over longer time but they do have characted and subtle though deterministic variation in the details.

this tweet is also totally deterministic and without any randomness. here a lot of nested square wave oscillators creates the complexity. basically there are 4 channels/voices mixed down to one and then duplicated in left and right channel. there are three levels deep nesting of frequency modulation with another set of square waves mixed and added.

binary numbers from 0 to 255 form the rhythmic patterns in this tweet. each number first repeats 8 times - each time all the bits are shifted one position to the left. that creates an array of 64 ones and zeros. this array is then repeated four times. this is what makes it sound like a 4 x 4/4 bar theme (i.e. 4 bars per number). the total 64*4*256 binary digits are played in sequence and each digit lasts for 1/50th of a second. the total duration becomes 64*4*256/50= 1310.72 seconds. the sound is generated by the ones and the zeros directly. there is an exponential decay for these flipflop pulses that slowly increases throughout the 256 numbers. it starts with a decay time of 0.008 seconds and ends with 2.04 seconds. in the mp3 below only the numbers 0-31 are played.

another tweet without any randomness. there are five paralles routines and all do something 500 times. what they do is to define or redefine a node proxy. there are 25 proxies in total and each one contains a sine shaped oscillator panned to one out of four positions in the stereo field. the frequencies are climbing upwards in a slightly jaggered curve. the exact length is a bit complicated to calculate but it is around 575 seconds. in the end the proxies do not stop to play but just keeps the last assigned frequency and the whole soundscape becomes static.


Monthly Archives: September 2014

A – Z Wine Terminology | The P’s

PALATE: The flavour or taste of a wine.

PASSERILLAGE: This is a French term for the process whereby grapes (not effected by noble rot) are left on the vine to dehydrate and concentrate well into autumn. The sweet wine produced from these grapes can be highly prized in certain areas.

PASSITO: This is the Italian equivalent of Passerillage. Passito grapes are semi-dried either outside on the vine or on mats or inside a warm building. This process concentrates the pulp and produces strong and often sweet wines.

PERLANT: A French term for very slightly sparkling wines.

PÉTILLANT: A French term to describe a wine with a lightly sparkle.

PETIT CHÂTEAU: A French term that literally translates as ‘small castle’ and is applied to any wine château that is neither cru classé or cru bourgeois.

PHYLLOXERA: The vine aphid phylloxera vastatrix devastated the vineyards of Europe in the late 19th century. Attacking the roots of vines it was considered at the time as the greatest disaster in the history of wine; however, in hindsight it was in fact a blessing in disguise for an industry that was in drastic need of rationalisation. To combat the problem the majority of vines around the world are now grafted on to phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks.

PIPE: A portuguese term for a large wooden barrel used in the production of Port. A Douro Pipe has a capacity of 550 – 600 litres.

PREMIER CRU: A French term that translates to ‘First Growth’ but only carries any relevance in areas where it is controlled, such as Bordeaux, Burgundy or Champagne.

A – Z Wine Terminology | The O’s

OAK: Many wines are fermented and aged in wooden casks and the most commonly used wood to make the barrels is oak. The two main oak’s used are American and French oak and both types are used all over the world. Although the French always use French oak, it is also used in America to make some of California’s greatest wines. American oak is popular in Spain (particularly Rioja) and in Australia. Oak often imparts a vanilla taste to a wine because it contains a substance called vanillin, which also gives vanilla pods their vanilla aroma.

French oak is considered to be finer and more refined, while American oak generally offers more upfront characteristics. The reason the two oaks show marked differences is because the French oak is left to weather in the open for several years allowing the volatile aromatics to leach out, whereas in America the oak is kiln-dried and then sawn (unlike the French which is split) which ruptures the grain and exposes the wine to the volatile aromatics more quickly. American oak is also charred to varying degrees when barrels are constructed and this also imparts differing aromas to the wine including, caramel and smoky-toast. The barrels are very expensive to buy and extremely labour intensive to work with in the winery, so the price of a wine exposed to oak fermentation and ageing is reflected in this.

OLOROSO: A Spanish term for a style of sherry that is naturally dry but often sweetened for export markets.

ORGANIC WINES: Are wines made using the minimum amount of SO2 (Sulphur Dioxide) from grapes grown without the use of chemical fertiliser’s, herbicides or pesticides. There are many winemakers who choose to practise the principles of organic viticulture but have not undergone certification to label their wines as being so.

OXIDISED: Often when a wine is described as oxidised it is inferred that it has taken on a sherry-like odour and is at the advanced stage of oxidisation. When a wine is totally oxidised the aromas turn to vinegar (acetic-acid).

Ferrari’s Fizz Pop’s Up in Harrods!

News BannerFerrari’s Maximum Rosé NV has been chosen by Italian chef Carlo Cracco to match with one of his Michelin-starred creations at a month-long residency starting at Harrods this September. The pop-up launches Stelle di Stelle, Harrods’ five-month celebration of all things Italian featuring five famous chefs with 13 Michelin stars to their collective names.

From September 2014 to January 2015, Harrods welcomes five of Italy’s best restaurants to take up residency in-store on the Lower Ground Floor (formerly Frescobaldi restaurant). Hosting for one month each, they will showcase a special edit of their signature dishes. With 13 Michelin stars between them, the lauded line-up is: the Cracco (two Michelin stars – Milan); Giorgio Pinchiorri and Annie Féolde’s Enoteca Pinchiorri (three Michelin stars, Florence); Gennaro Esposito’s Torre del Saracino (two Michelin stars, Amalfi coast); Enrico Crippa’s Piazza Duomo (three Michelin stars, 39th on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants, Alba); and Enrico and Roberto Cerea’s Da Vittorio (three Michelin stars Brusaporto, Bergamo).

Carlo Cracco’s Ristorante Cracco is a two Michelin-starred restaurant in Milan, known for its cutting edge gastronomy. Cracco’s recent TV exposure on Masterchef Italia and Italy’s version of Hell’s Kitchen has made him a household name back home, but in London he will be using only his culinary skills to win the hearts of the discerning clientele of the UK’s most iconic department store.

Ferrari’s Maximum Rosé NV is comprised of 70% Pinot Nero and 30% Chardonnay with the wine resting for a minimum of three years on its lees. The wine is elegant yet forthright, full of aromas of wild berries and freshly baked bread. It is an excellent food wine that can be matched throughout a meal due to its complexity of flavours.

For Stelle di Stelle, Cracco is matching the wine with a dish of fresh tomato pulp, mozzarella and basil seeds. A full menu is available to view here: CARLO CRACCO MENU.

If your weekly food budget does not afford you a spare £180 for dinner with drinks per head you might have sufficient funds to pass the food up and just indulge in the fizz here by the bottle at our online shop> Ferrari Maximum Rosé NV

A – Z Wine Terminology | The N’s

NÉGOCIANT: A French term for a trader or merchant. The name is derived from the traditional practice of negotiating with growers (to buy wine) and wholesalers or customers (to sell it).

NEVERS: A famous type of oak used for barrel-making from a forrest in the Nievre départment in the centre of France.

NOBLE ROT: A condition caused by the fungus Botrytis Cinerea under certain conditions.

NON-VINTAGE: Non-Vintage (NV) is a term used to describe a wine or champagne that has been made by blending the juice of grapes from multiple vintages.

NOSE: The smell or odour of a wine which encompasses both aroma and bouquet.

A – Z Wine Terminology | The M’s

MACERATION: A term that applies to the period during the vilification process when the fermenting juice is in contact with its skins. This process is traditionally used in red-winemaking, however, it is on the increase for white wines.

MADERISED: All Madeiras are maderised by the estufagem, in which the wines are slowly heated in specially constructed ovens and then by cooling them. This is undesirable in all wines except those which are deliberately made in the rancio style. Any ordinary light table wine which displays symptoms of maderisation (dull nose, flat palate, sherry -like character) are likely to have been stored in bright sunlight or too much warmth.

MARQUE: A brand or make

MÉTHODE CHAMPENOISE: This is the process by which an effervescence is produced by secondary fermentation in the same bottle in which the wine is sold. The procedure is famous for Champagne and other good quality sparkling wines. In Europe the term is forbidden on the label of any wine other than Champagne, which never uses it itself.

MILLÉSIME: A French term for Vintage year.

MOELLEUX: A French term that literally means soft or smooth and implies a rich medium-sweet style in most areas of France. However, in the Loire it is used to indicate a truly rich, sweet botrytis wine, thus distinguishing it from demi-sec.

MONOPOLE: A French term that denotes the single ownership of one vineyard.

MUID: A French term for a large oval barrel with a capacity of 600 litres.

MUST: Unfermented or partly fermenting grape juice.

A – Z Wine Terminology | The L’s

LAGAR: A rectangular concrete receptacle used in Portugal for treading grapes.

LANDWEIN: German classification of wine equivalent of IGP.

LATE-HARVEST-WINE: A sweet wine produced from grapes harvested after maturity on the vine.

LEES: Sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the vat during the fermentation of a wine.

LIEU-DIT: A French term for a named site commonly used for wines of specific growths that do not have grand cru status.

LIMOUSIN: A famous type of oak used for barrel-making and sourced from various forests in the Haute-Vienne, Creuse and Correze départments in the centre of France.

LONGEVITY: Potential long-lived wines owe their longevity to a significant content of tannin, acidity, alcohol and/or sugar.

A – Z Wine Terminology | The J’s

JAMMY: A term used to describe a juicy red wine rich in berry fruit aromas and flavours of jam.

JEROBOAM: A wine bottle size that in champagne holds 4 standard bottles or 3 litres. Jeroboams of still wine hold 6 standard bottles or 4.5 litres.

JOVEN: A Spanish term that refers to very young wines that usually see no oak ageing.

JUPILLE: A type of oak used in barrel making that originates from a small forest in the Sarthe départment of the Loire Valley.

A – Z Wine Terminology | The I’s

IGP: The French abbreviation for ‘Indication Géographique Protégée’ meaning ‘Protected Geographic Identification’ which replaces the old Vin de Pays classification. IGP classification now provides wine growers and producer’s greater flexibility and choice in their winemaking practices as there are no restrictions on the use of permitted grape varieties.

IMPERIAL: A wine bottle size that holds 6 litres or the equivalent of 8 bottles.

INDIGENOUS: A term applied to grape varieties found in only certain parts of the world or are unique to a specific geographic location.

ISINGLASS: A gelatinous fining agent obtained from the swim bladder of freshwater fish and used to clear hazy, low tannin wines.

A – Z Wine Terminology | The H’s

HECTARE: A measurement of area used to define vineyard coverage. 1 hectare is equal to 10,000 square metres or 2.471 acres.

HERBICIDE: A weed-killer that is usually (but not necessarily) a highly toxic chemical mix.

HOGSHEAD: A barrel commonly used in Australia and New Zealand with a capacity of 300 – 315 litres.

HORIZONTAL TASTING: A wine tasting involving wines of the same style or vintage. A vertical tasting consists of different vintages of the same wine.

HYBRID: A cross between two or more grape varieties from more than one species.


July 4, 2016Written by Jason Dunning

During their Anime Expo panel, Aksys Games announced that PlayStation Vita and PC action-RPG Tokyo Xanadu is coming to North America in early 2017. It will be available through retail and digital stores on PS Vita, and through Steam on PC.

Starring two teenagers from Morimiya High School, as well as their classmates, Tokyo Xanadu sees you exploring the Other World, using Soul Devices to attack enemies known as Greed, the Play-Asia description reveals:

Tokyo Xanadu is an upcoming action-RPG being released by Falcom that primarily follows two 17 year old students from Morimiya High School, along with their classmates. When Kou Tokisaka stumbles upon Asuka Hiiragi fighting mysterious creatures known as ‘Greed’ he is thrown into a whole new world filled with action and danger.

Greed are creatures that wander complex labyrinths in the ‘Other World,’ coming in a variety of types, shapes, and sizes. Normal weapons from the real world are ineffective against them; only Soul Devices made from spirit particles that can hurt them. Entering the Other World is made possible by Eclipses, or special gates between the two worlds that can only be seen by ‘The Qualified.’

Each character fights differently as they each use different Soul Devices which effect both attack speed and range. The most basic attacks used are Standard Attacks which are up close and personal, with well-timed button presses enabling players to pull off attack chains. Each character also has three different types of special Skills at their disposal – shooting, aerial, and power abilities. Shooting being long distance, aerial being mid-air, and power being charged up attacks.

Players can customize their Soul Devices from the settings screen, where you can modify each device using the items and raw materials picked up throughout their journey. You will be able to set your main weapon attribute, as well as learn new abilities and strengthen existing ones.

As for Tokyo Xanadu eX+, which is an enhanced PlayStation 4 port set for Japanese release later this year, Aksys Games said they have no plans right now to bring it to North America.

Aksys Games also revealed that they’re trying to localize Hakuouki: Sweet School Life, a PlayStation Vita otome game.

[Source: RPG Site, Gematsu, Play-Asia]


 Targeted helping - helping in response to need

Targeted helping

Empathy and compassion; also known as kindness or sympathy

“I see that you are in distress, therefore I want to help you.”

Helping in response to need.

Anecdotal evidence of helping, in response to need, in birds and non-human mammals

Helping in response to need, targeted helping, has been observed in many species of birds and mammals.  In the examples listed here, all species share two things in common:  they are social species (they live in groups), and they look after their young.

CeAnn Lambert, director of the Indiana Coyote Rescue Center, witnessed a small act of heroism in a sink in her garage.  Two baby mice had become trapped in the sink overnight, unable to scramble up the slick sides.  They were exhausted and frightened.  Lambert filled a small lid with water and placed it in the sink.  One of the mice hopped over and drank, but the other seemed too exhausted to move and remained crouched in the same spot.  The stronger mouse found a piece of food.  He picked it up and carried it to the other.  As the weaker mouse tried to nibble on the food, the stronger mouse moved the morsel closer and closer to the water until the weaker mouse could drink.  Lambert created a ramp with a piece of wood and the revived mice were soon able to scramble out of the sink.

... psychologist Carolyn Zahn-Waxler was studying the responses of young children to the distress of a family member.  So she went into the homes of a number of families and observed how children reacted to parental distress.  The behavior of the household pet turned out to be just as interesting as the behavior of the child.  When a family member feigned sadness or distress – when he or she pretended to cry or choke – the household dogs would often show more concern than the children, hovering nearby or nudging their owners, or gently resting their head on the distressed person’s lap.

... Yvette Watt, an artist and animal advocate in Hobart, Tasmania, told Marc the following story about two dogs.  One is a well-fed and happy canine, the other a sad dog who is always tied to a rope.  The happy dog’s daily walk takes him by his unfortunate neighbor.  One night, the happy dog eats his usual dinner, but saves his meaty bone.  The next morning, he carries the meaty bone on his walk, and delivers it to his tethered friend.

... Knuckles is the only known captive chimpanzee with cerebral palsy, which leaves him handicapped both physically and mentally and unable to function as a normal member of his chimpanzee group.  What’s surprising about Knuckles is not just that he himself manages to survive with a debilitating disease, but that the other chimpanzees in his group treat him differently.  The community apparently understands that Knuckles is different, and adjust their behavior accordingly.  Although a young male would normally be subjected to intimidating displays of aggression by older males, Knuckles is rarely subjected to such treatment.  Even the alpha male is tolerant of Knuckles and grooms him gently.  Knuckles’ friends empathize with him and as a result treat him kindly.

“Wild Justice – the moral lives of animals” – Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce

Many animals, however, certainly sympathise with each other’s distress or danger. This is the case even with birds.  Captain Stansbury found on a salt lake in Utah an old and completely blind pelican, which was very fat, and must have been well fed for a long time by his companions.  Mr. Blyth, as he informs me, saw Indian crows feeding two or three of their companions which were blind; and I have heard of an analogous case with the domestic cock.

“The Descent of Man” – Charles Darwin (via “Wild Justice”)

An old female named Peony spends her days with other chimpanzees in a large outdoor enclosure near Atlanta, Georgia.  On bad days when her arthritis is acting up she has great trouble walking and climbing.  But other females help her out.  For example, Peony is huffing and puffing to get up into the climbing frame in which several chimpanzees have gathered for a grooming session.  An unrelated younger female moves behind her, places both hands on her ample behind and pushes her up with quite a bit of effort until Peony joins the rest.

... Washoe, the world’s first language-trained chimp, heard another female scream and hit the water.  Fouts and Mills (1997) describe how Washoe raced across two electric wires, which normally contained the apes, to reach the victim and waded into the slippery mud to reach the wildly thrashing female and grab one of her flailing arms to pull her to safety.  This was a courageous act given that chimpanzees do not swim and are extremely hydrophobic.  Washoe barely knew this female, having met her only a few hours before.

Frans de Waal – “Empathy in Primates and Other Mammals” in “Empathy – from Bench to Bedside” edited by Jean Decety

Unrelated elephants sometimes help one another to their feet as in the description below of a dying matriarch, named Eleanor, on a Kenyan game reserve:

Eleanor was found with a swollen trunk which she was dragging on the ground.  She stood still for a while, then took a few slow small steps before falling heavily to the ground.  Two minutes later, Grace [matriarch of a different group], rapidly approached with tail raised and streaming with temporal gland secretion.  She lifted Eleanor with her tusks back on to her feet.  Eleanor stood for a short while, but was very shaky.  Grace tried to get Eleanor to walk by pushing her, but Eleanor fell again facing the opposite direction to her first fall.  Grace appeared very stressed, vocalizing, and continuing to nudge and push Eleanor with her tusks.

Frans de Waal – “The Age of Empathy”

In Charles Darwin’s story of the blind fat pelican, why did the other pelicans bother to feed it?  Surely it was a useless hindrance to them.

Biology distinguishes between two kinds of causes of behaviour:  ultimate and proximate.  Ultimate causes are the reasons, based on a pressure to increase evolutionary fitness within a particular environment, why a behaviour evolved in the first place.  Proximate causes are the resulting psychological motivations we experience in our present-day everyday lives.

Ultimate causes:  group members are valuable to each other just by existing.  In the case of a social prey animal like a pelican, this is because there is safety in numbers.  If a predator attacks the flock, it can only take one individual at a time.  If there are more members of the flock, that individual is less likely to be you.  Also, a flock has many eyes with which to watch for predators, thereby allowing each individual more time and resources to devote to feeding, bringing up their young etc.  In the case of group-living predators, it is an advantage to each individual to have helpers in coordinated hunting and in driving away other species from a carcase when scavenging.

Proximate causes:  using the capacity for social understanding and giving care which we believe evolved for the purposes of looking after offspring, and because one’s group-mates are generally valuable to the individual, the animal or bird is left with a psychological motivation to help those in need without counting the cost.  It is cognitively demanding to calculate the cost/benefit, to the self, of helping, so evolution just says, vaguely, “help your group-mates in need”.

In animals and birds, this targeted helping behaviour is sporadic and unpredictable.  In our own species, which by comparison to most others is highly cooperative and interdependent, this behaviour is relatively consistent and reliable.  Because it is sensitive to factors such as social approval of the one in need, however, it is easily disrupted by cultural or religious influences which may bestow disapproval on classes of people.

See also: emotional empathy and targeted helping

Evidence of consistent targeted helping behaviour in the human archaeological record

Helping behaviour in very young children

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism

These can be expressed as:

  1. Understand that someone is suffering.
  2. Understand the cause for their suffering.
  3. Believe that a way out of their suffering can exist.
  4. Find a solution, a way out of their suffering.

Sympathy and compassion

Credit – “Current Biology” volume 24 issue 18: “Empathy and compassion” – Tania Singer and Olga M Klimecki

“Empathy” here is when we read that someone else is in distress.

“Empathic distress” here is the sympathetic distress we feel when we witness that someone else is in distress:  “I feel bad that you feel bad”.

In response to witnessing somebody suffering, we can feel sympathy (we feel bad because they feel bad) and compassion (we wish to help them).

If we are unable to help, then the sympathetic distress can overwhelm us and we wish to withdraw.  If we are overwhelmed too much and too often, we can become less empathic in general.

If we are able to offer help then the distress is reduced and we experience positive feelings associated with prosocial behaviour and approaching others.

We feel more or less sympathy – we feel more or less bad that they feel bad – depending on how much we approve of them as a person.  The amount of sympathy we feel determines how much we are prepared to help them.  There may be various factors that determine this; for example:

See also: compassion training.  Compassion training increases our feelings of helping and approach rather than of distress and withdrawal.

Empathy, action, and the brain

The neurological capacity for empathy is thought to have evolved in the context of parental care, especially maternal care.  This capacity is then available for use in other social contexts where it is socially useful.

The animal data on maternal care and nurturance suggest that primitive empathic ability might be organized by basic biological systems subserving a complex of attachment-related processes.  The neural systems supporting attachment include multisensory processing and complex motor responses as well as cognitive processes that link sensory inputs to motor output, including attention, memory, social recognition, and motivation.

Jean Decety – “The neuroevolution of empathy”

In other words, it is thought that the capacity for empathy, based on the fundamental capacities for attachment and care, is linked to social recognition, paying attention, and physically doing things.

Sympathetic distress within the brain, leads to a wish to help

When we witness another person in distress or need, then a part of our brain becomes active, the anterior insula.

We experience this unconscious brain activity as our own pain.  It equates to “sympathy”.

The strength of the signal in the anterior insula is affected by how much we approve of the other person, and in turn it determines how much we help them.  This approval rating may be based on a number of factors.


Teenager's donated organs save record number of lives
Jemima Layzell died of a brain aneurysm (Picture: Family Handout/PA)

A young girl who died of a brain aneurysm was able to save eight different people by donating her organs – a new UK record.

Jemima Layzell was just 13 when she collapsed at her mother Sophy’s 38th birthday party.

How old are Prince William, Kate Middleton, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle?

She died four days later, however a chance conversation between Jemima and her mother a few weeks before the youngster’s death meant Sophy knew her daughter would have wanted to donate her organs.

Teenager's donated organs save record number of lives
Jemima (right) with her sister Amelia (Picture: Family Handout/PA Wire)

Jemima’s family, who live in Somerset, were recently told by NHS Blood and Transplant that her organs were used to save eight different people across the UK, including five children.

Her small bowels, heart, pancreas and liver (which was split into two to help two seperate people) were used, along with both lungs and both kidneys.

How to become an organ donor (and why you should do it)

Following the amazing news of Jemima managing to help so many people after her death, Sophy says it’s ‘important for families to talk about organ donation’.

According to NHS Blood and Transplant there are currently 6,414 people on the transplant waiting list in the UK, including 176 children.

Last year 457 died while waiting for an organ transplant, 14 of whom were children.

MORE: Parents spend 90 minutes each morning peeling son’s skin off


Services for clever management

Einfach und richtungsweisend wie ein Kompass
Pointing out the direction with simplicity

This is the way we apply the new paradigm for management

Our primary fields of work are:

- Motivation

- Teamwork

- Emotional maturity

Change management, stress management, conflict resolution, etc
are abstractions from these.

 We keep our work very pragmatic.

Integrative Grassroots Change

Due to its simplicity this process represents the most powerful of our interventions.

This approach is particularly interesting if you experience undefinable disturbances in your production process. By design this work tends to...

Re-Integration of Nay-Sayers

Re-Integration of Nay-Sayers is the sincere search for the tender core - behind all smoke and mirrors.

Nay-Sayers are sometimes so highly motivated, that they overdo it. They tend to say things we do not want to hear, and...

Synergetic Teamwork

TEAM was a magical word for a long time. We tried everything with it. Some of it with success. The bottom line is that teams mostly do not make progress the way we expect.
At times we might have a fair share in this, when putting...

Stress Management for Managers

Being in a constant fight mode, is not unusual for managers. Mental depletion, bad mood, irritation, impatience... Where did our ease and joy go?
If you are a rock to hold on to for others, why not also for yourself...

Holistic Mission Statement

The Mission Statement gives the answer why your company exists and whom it serves in a greater context. Figuring this out is not only a matter of the mind, but also of the heart.

Our task is to guide your team in this delicate process, but also to touch them...

Dynamic Corporate Vision

A good corporate vision even goes beyond motivation. It is an inspiring view into the future that guides and moves us from within.
It happens when we create it with mind and heart in unison, and think far ahead, although being firmly rooted in the present.

This will interest leaders whom have understood the dynamic force coming out of....

Should you have interest, but you do not yet know precisely how our work will serve you, we offer in-house workshops to make our work palpable.

Integrative Meeting Culture

You may have made it all clear, people committed to their tasks, but things do not move forward as one could expected. You feel like you have to check and remind people, in order to get things ready on time....

Executive Coaching, London

We usually ripen as human beings and our leadership style should be able to match our natural inner path.

At every milestone of our personal development we might want to review the skills and intentions we have...


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US police shot and killed 987 people in 2017: Report

WASHINGTON Police officers shot and killed nearly 1,000 people in the US in 2017, slightly more than the previous year, according to a tally published on Monday by The Washington Post.

The newspaper has been logging details of shootings by police in the US since 2015, tracking local news reports, public records and social media.

The use of deadly force by US police has attracted increased attention in recent years, highlighted by the high-profile slayings of a number of unarmed black men.

Both armed and unarmed, they accounted for 22 per cent of all people shot and killed by US police last year but make up just 6 per cent of the total US population.- AFP


How to Sculpt a Clay Animal

Art EducationBrigida SwansonComment
How to sculpt a clay animal

I teach my fifth grade class the basics of ceramic techniques by showing them how to make clay animal figurines. This is a great lesson to combine pinch methods, scratch and score and imagination. If you're a new teacher, or curious about how I teach this lesson, here is a script of my process with the kids.

Today you will sculpt a four-legged animal with clay. You can make any sort of animal that you wish, whether it’s an animal in real life, a mythological creature, or an imaginary animal that you make up. The only requirement is that it should be an animal that stands on all four legs, like a cat, a unicorn or a turtle.

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

How to Sculpt a Clay Animal 1

For this project, you will need the following: ceramic clay (I use LF-06 White), a needle tool, a knife tool, slip, water, a canvas board or other surface to work on. You will definitely want to wear an apron and cover your table since working with clay gets very messy. For glazing, I recommend using the Stroke & Coat Wonderglaze line from Mayco. You will also need a variety of bristle brushes to glaze with.

Step 2: Wedge the Clay

Start with a block of clay that can fit comfortably into your hand. Before you start to sculpt your animal, you will need to wedge the clay. Wedging clay is a method to release as many air bubbles as possible that might be within the clay block. If air bubbles remain in the clay when it goes into the kiln to be fired, they will expand with the heat of the kiln and cause your sculpture to crack, shatter or explode. We’ll take as many preventative measures to stop that from happening.

To wedge your clay, stand up at your table and drop the block of clay onto the canvas board. Do this with a small amount of force: enough that it will hit the canvas with a steady drumbeat sound, but not with so much force that it causes the clay to flatten or create a loud banging sound.

Repeat this motion, using your full arm and body to create the force. Turn your ball of clay each time you drop it onto the canvas so that it stays in a semi-round rock form. You want to avoid it turning into a flat pancake. If your clay does pancake out, fold it up again and re-wedge to get rid of the air bubbles created by the fold.

Step 3: Start With a Pinch Pot

Hold your clay in the palm of one hand and use your other palm to tap any corners into more rounded edges. Try to focus on tapping the clay with your palm instead of rolling it in your hands. This will help prevent your hands from soaking up the moisture in the clay, and will keep the clay pliable for longer.

When you have a loosely rounded ball shape, cup your clay in the rounded palm of one hand and use the thumb of your other hand to press a hole into the middle of the sphere. Press your thumb straight down and go pretty deep into the clay. Don’t press all the way through, but leave at least a thumb’s width or two at the bottom.

Still keeping your clay in the palm of your hand, place your other thumb back into the hole it created. Place the rest of your fingers onto the outside of the clay. Very gently press your thumb outwards at the bottom of the clay while rotating the ball of clay around in your palm. Don’t press very hard. You don’t want to create a full pinch pot or bowl, but just want the thumb hole to get a little bit wider.

Step 4: Sculpt the Legs

Keep your clay in your palm, hole side facing up. Use your knife or needle tool to draw a plus sign that starts from the center of the hole and goes outward. You should have four lines. Use the side of your needle tool to cut each line all the way through the wall, going about halfway down the side of the ball. You will end up with four sections coming up from the base. Gently pry these sections apart to make them easier to work with. These sections will become your animal’s legs.

Now, use your fingers to gently pinch or press each section into a rounded leg. For the sake of stability, you will want your animal’s legs to remain somewhat short and stubby, even if it’s going to be an animal like a horse or giraffe that normally has long spindly legs. Think of your sculpture as a cuter and more cartoon-y version of the animal. The shorter, thicker legs will help your animal to stay stable while standing on a table and will maintain enough thickness to prevent them from breaking as they dry. However, if your animal’s legs are excessively thick, you can gently press and pinch some of the clay from the legs to move it upwards toward the body.

Step 5: Sculpt the Head and Tail

To sculpt the head, choose one side between two of the legs and start to gently pull and press the clay from the body into a lump coming out of the side. Keep doing this until you have the beginning of a rounded head shape. You can also press your thumb or finger from underneath and inside the body to hollow out the head a bit and make it larger.

If you do not have enough clay to fully pinch out a head, add more clay with a method called “scratch to attach.” Take a small piece of wedged clay and mold it into the form that you want to add onto the head. On the side of the piece where it will be attached, use your needle tool to roughly scratch lines into the clay. Do the same on the area of the head that will connect to the new piece. This is called scoring the clay. You want to be pretty rough and messy with these lines. Essentially, you are making a clay version of Velcro. Dab a small amount of slip (liquid clay that functions as glue) onto your scored areas. Press the two pieces together until they are very secure. Use your fingers to smooth out the connection point until you can’t see the seam anymore.

Repeat the same process of pinching out the tail or attach more clay if needed. One tip for your animal’s tail is to keep it fairly close to the animal’s body to maintain sturdiness and prevent breakage. If you are sculpting a long tail, consider having it wrap around to be against the body elsewhere, or make it a bit thicker in a similar manner as the legs to create more stability.

Step 6: Sculpt Details

How to Sculpt a Clay Animal 6

Consider what details you want to include on your animal, such as facial features, a snout, ears, wings or claws. Pinch out what you can and add on more clay using the scratch to attach method. You can also use your knife tool to carve open a mouth and your needle tool to press in eyes.

Step 7: Add Textures and Patterns

How to Sculpt a Clay Animal 7

To finish off your animal, add textures and patterns with the knife tool, needle tool, and anything else you can think of to press into the clay. The sides of screws rolled onto the side of the clay create a texture of fur, and the edges of straws make a nice circle pattern. Test out different materials for pressing in textures of fur, scales, shells or wool. Experiment with what works and gently smooth out anything that doesn’t work.

Step 8: Prepare Your Sculpture for the Kiln

How to Sculpt a Clay Animal 8

Before you finish your animal, do a few things to get it ready to be fired. Use your needle tool to press deep holes from the underside of your animal in any areas that are a bit thicker. Press at least one hole into each leg. Holes pressed into the head and tail from the hollow interior outward are also a good idea. These needle holes don’t have to go through all the way to the other side. They will function as air release holes for any air bubbles you might have missed when wedging your clay.

Write your name or initials on the bottom of your sculpture with the needle tool. Let your clay dry out for about two weeks before firing it in the kiln. Depending on the sculpture’s size, it may take more or less time to dry completely. Check that it’s dry by carefully touching it with your fingers. If your sculpture feels cold, that means it’s still too wet to fire. When it’s ready, put it in the kiln.

Step 9: Glaze Your Sculpture

How to sculpt a clay animal

When your sculpture comes out of the kiln, you can glaze it in any color you want. Search for images of Oaxacan animal sculptures online to get some great ideas for painting your animal in a colorful and non-realistic way, or stick to the colors of the animal in real life. Follow the instructions on the glaze bottle, and stick to these general rules. Paint two or three layers of each color you use to ensure a glossy, vibrant finish. Don’t paint the bottom of the animal or any area that will touch the kiln shelf.

After your animal has been glazed, put it back in the kiln for its second firing. When finished remove your sculpture and enjoy! Put it proudly on display or consider giving it as a handmade gift to someone you love.


Circos maps

Clusters for different categories of genome elements are represented as a series of concentric circles by means of the program Circos (Krzywinski et al., 2009). Histograms of densities and tiles of genome clusters are shown for each genome category. Five representative categories are drawn from outside to inside: TFBSs, enhancers, Alus, CpG islands and genes:

Clusters of genome elements


San Fran Memorial1
San Francisco Memorial

General hospital

San Francisco, California

San Francisco Memorial is a general hospital in San Francisco.

Oroya FeverEdit

When Piper fell victim to Oroya Fever, she was sent to this hospital for treatment, where Dr. Curtis Williamson ran tests on her blood. A number of people in this hospital fell ill to the disease due to an Awakening Spell.[1]

Dr. WilliamsonEdit

After Piper's mysterious recovery from Oroya Fever, Dr. Williamson continued to research the blood of the Halliwells, conducting tests on The Charmed Monkeys. During this time, he was stabbed in the neck by Prue-Monkey and acquired the powers of the Charmed Ones.[2]

Piper's DeathEdit

After the sisters accidentally exposed their powers while being filmed by a news channel, Piper was shot by a crazy woman. Prue brought her to the hospital, but she died in the end. The military tried to break into the operation room to incapacitate Prue, but she held them at bay until Tempus reversed time.[3]

Ava NicolaeEdit

A gypsy named Ava Nicolae is warned by her aunt about a Gypsy Hunter coming for her tribe, but she refused to believe. When Lydia died fighting Cree, her spirit appeared to Ava in mulo to warn her again, this time with more success.[4]

Chris Halliwell is BornEdit

After an emergency C-Section, Piper delivered her son Chris Halliwell at this hospital.[5]

Known PatientsEdit

Notes and TriviaEdit


On going efforts in our laboratories have culminated in the development of novel procedures for effecting the catalysis of representative intramolecular [4+2] and [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions on Rh(I) templates (J. Am. Chem. Soc.,112, 4965, 1990). Significantly, we have discovered that highly enantioselective variations of these transforma-tions can be achieved by the use of rhodium catalysts modified by specifically designed chiral bisphosphine ligands which differentiate the metal center both spatially and electronically (Tetrahedron,50, 6155, 1994). These new chiral rhodium complexes are currently being exploited in asymmetric variations of the Rh(I) catalyzed [4+2] cycloaddition reaction (Tetrahedron,50, 6145, 1994) and the hydroboration of alkenes. Recently, we have discovered a new protocol for effecting [2 + 2 + 1] cyclopentenone annulations that are catalyzed by cobalt complexes (J. Am. Chem. Soc.,118, 2285, 1996; Tetrahedron Lett.,39, 7637 and 7641, 1998). This remarkable catalytic reaction is currently being exploited in an efficient synthetic approach to the alkaloid magellanenone as well as several other natural products and bioactive molecules.

Organic, Synthesis


The 10 Best Resources For Businesses

What Successful Business Persons in Dubai Do

Those who stay and tour in Dubai have crucial information about here. In fact, most people embrace their stay in this country because of the advantages they gain in business. With all the attractive and appealing buildings in Dubai, many business persons are interested in have their own businesses in this country. Most Dubai citizens are always happy because they get what they expect. If you have always failed in your business and wish to be a happy, successful business person, then Dubai is the place to be. However, all the fruitful business persons will have strategies when they are starting businesses.

The dressing code and the manners that people from Dubai is what makes them unique from any other countries that are neighboring. If you want others to respect you, then you need to have some self- respect. Arabs are the most respectful and religious persons you will ever come to see. That is the main reason you need to earn some respect by dressing respectfully. When you dress half naked, you should never expect to see people coming to your shop because they will be ashamed on your behalf. To avoid all that, look for some decent attires.

For you to make it here, you need to be ready to organize business meetings. During these meetings, that is when you are able to learn about the business partner more. If you need to take some coffee while discussing some business matters, then why not go for it? If you know your limitations, then the meetings will be worthwhile. You need to have a good website where you and your customers can discuss some business matters. Some meetings are unhealthy, and that is why you need to be careful. You need to hold your meetings in some public areas especially when you are meeting with a customer of the opposite sex. If you notice anything that is nearing sexual harassment, then you should call off the meeting.

If you want to be a successful business person, then you should be willing to give meetings and deals to go through. It might be a waste of time to rush some activities that have not been approved. Reformation could be advisable when you want to come to Dubai, yet you are an impatient person. That is the reason why you need to be patient and let the meeting or negotiation be taken as slow as possible. When you let impatience take over you, then you might end up losing to your competitors. To gain success, then you need to practice what the citizens here do.

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07-29-2017 | Lindsay

The dark green leaves of the vine-laden, twisted old ash tree are twinkling in the light after the sudden rainstorm.  Beyond it, down by the creek, the ancient willow stump is fat and full with graceful, slender branches rising directly out of the gnarled core.  July at Rolling Ridge has meant an outpouring of untamed green life, driven by capricious skies: nourishing downpours giving way to brilliant sun, and back again.  It’s a changeable season, unpredictable; and that seems of a piece with affairs on all levels of our world right now.  Whereas the rockiness of the wider, political world foments distress and anxiety, the topsy-turvy tumble of rain and light in our small nook of the universe gives rise to exuberant foliage and riotous green life.  The Earth holds it all, the trouble and the joy, but it is hard to find footing.

Our community gathered this week for supper and a conversation aimed at humor.  It seemed like the right time for it.  We abandoned the customary moment of silence and opened with a few minutes of forced laughter, which caught on like wildfire. Most of us had brought jokes and cartoons and links to our favorite funny videos.  What we discovered was that we differ in what makes us laugh just as much as in everything else. The landscape of humor has some treacherous crannies and bogs. But grace can and does befall us.  It is good, in the midst of uncertain times, to cultivate generosity and wholeheartedly hold onto one another in laughter as in all else.  There are many ways to weather turbulent seas.

The on-again-off-again precipitation of recent days seems not to bother the creatures or the birds around here.  If anything, they appear to revel in the sudden wet interludes and bursts of sun.  The blue birds flit unconcerned through the rain from branch to shed, while in the glistening, soaked aftermath of a cloudburst, I caught the stunning flash of a scarlet tanager alighting in the willow and the graceful lines of the wood thrush searching for grubs in the damp grasses.  Each attends to the task at hand in all kinds of weather, intent on being, and secure.

Rilke wrote, in the first lines of his poem, “Gravity’s Law”:

How surely gravity’s law,
strong as an ocean current,
takes hold of the smallest thing
and pulls it toward the heart of the world.

Each thing—
each stone, blossom, child—
is held in place.

While the radio and TV shout breaking news and our phones buzz and tweet, a whole other conversation is going on.  It is the one about belonging, about finding a tether, a foothold, in the heart of the world.

When it pours, as it did erratically all afternoon, the rain drums on the roof and rafters of our small, attic-less house, calling to mind these words from Thomas Merton in Raids on the Unspeakable:

The rain surrounded the cabin…with a whole world of meaning… Think of it: all that speech pouring down, selling nothing, judging nobody, drenching the thick mulch of dead leaves, soaking the trees, filling the gullies and crannies of the wood with water…Nobody started it, nobody is going to stop it.  It will talk as long as it wants, the rain.  As long as it talks I am going to listen.

Michael Meade, that scholar and keeper of the old stories says, “In mythic terms, the earth is a place of mystery and wonder where life always hangs by a thread and all the events of history are loosely stitched upon the endless loom of eternity.  Secretly, we are each tied to the divine.”  Yes, and tied to place, to one another, to the vast communion of beings, and as Mary Oliver notes, to our place in “the family of things.”  It seems to me that in an erratic and storm-tossed season, and an unraveling, disorienting world, the vital task is to listen, not to the infernal noise, but to one another’s laughter and to the rain: the deep tones of connection and community, all that speech pouring down.


Country Cupboard in Fenelon under new ownership

in Uncategorised by

Julia Taylor has recently taken over as the new owner of Country Cupboard in Fenelon Falls, where their famous frozen yogurt will continue to be served.

Located at 9 May Street in the village, Country Cupboard offers high quality vitamins and supplements, natural beauty products, eco-friendly cleaning products, essential oils, organic and alternative foods and pantry staples in bulk, and everything else you expect to find in a health food store.

“Our service is friendly, experienced, and exceptional,” says Taylor, pointing out her main employee is Carson Keeler, the previous owner (both pictured), who has over 25 years experience in the supplement and health food industry.

Country Cupboard is pleased to offer free jars and cloth bags for bulk food purchases so the community can easily reduce their carbon footprint and environmental impact, or customers can bring their own reusable containers and enjoy 10 per cent off for doing their part.

“Our goal is to provide more opportunities to reduce waste by adding household basics like dish washing liquid, laundry detergent, and other household staples to our bulk section,” she says.

Taylor notes they also plan on increasing locally sourced produce and goods to improve the local economy and food security.

“Health, community, and the environment are an important part of our bottom line.”

This summer Country Cupboard will be introducing a dairy-free and gluten-free option frozen yogurt.

Roderick Benns is the publisher of The Lindsay Advocate. He is the author of 'Basic Income: How a Canadian Movement Could Change the World,' and is also Vice Chair of the Ontario Basic Income Network. An award-winning author and journalist who grew up in Lindsay, Roderick has interviewed former Prime Ministers of Canada, Senators, and Mayors across Canada. He also wrote and published a series of books for youth about Canada's Prime Ministers as teens.


VIEW FROM HERE--For historians, the current president of the United States is terra incognita. Donald John Trump is the first of the 44 individuals who have held the office to never have been a government functionary. Even men like U.S. Grant and Dwight Eisenhower served in high-ranking military positions, overseeing the huge bureaucracy of war. As far as I am aware, Trump has never even been a local commissioner, let alone an elected official.

MY TURN-It’s time for the DNC to wake up and realize that the so-called “progressives” of the Bernie Sanders group are neither progressive nor interested in really supporting any platform that doesn’t pass their “Bernie Purity test.”

FIRST PERSON-In her book Democracy inChains, Professor Nancy MacLean of Duke University in North Carolinalays out how the over 40-year master plan funded by the Koch brothers and other mega-rich oligarchs has dumbed down the American electorate to the point that it is now incapable of understanding what she is talking about because they no longer have the requisite critical thinking skills needed to do so. In 2018, we see that these skills have been systematically removed from our public education system, much like in the Orwellian “newspeak world” presciently described in George Orwell's novel,1984

SHOOT FIRST, ASK LATER BEING QUESTIONED-On the heels of police officers shooting a young, unarmed black man to death in Sacramento, California, last month, state lawmakers announced a first-of-its-kind bill on Monday that raises the standard for when officers may open fire.

SPOILING THE MESSAGE-Liberty means freedom. Freedom is not about borders, passports, drivers’ licenses, tax stubs and censuses. Freedom is not about race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, or one's economic worth. What is freedom if not the feeling of being free? What is freedom if not the pursuit of life and happiness?

VIEW FROM HERE--The online Oxford dictionary defines the word siege as a “military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender.”

More Articles ...


Getting Married to an American citizen on a Tourist Visa: Know the risks

If you are applying for a US tourist visa for purposes of marriage to an American citizen in the United States during your brief stay in the country and hope fast track your legal status from tourist/ visitor to immigrant, then you must think twice before doing it.

While love does move "in mysterious ways", proving the validity of a whirlwind marriage to the probing eyes of United States Department of State can be extremely difficult and may hold unfavorable and devastating consequences to you and your fiancé/ fiancée.

Similarly, if your intention to obtain a tourist/ visitor visa is to marry an American citizen in the United States with the promise of coming back after your limited stay expires, that may still not guarantee you an approval from the US Embassy.

What are the risks?

Although you may reason that true love is the ultimate cause of your whirlwind marriage to your American citizen fiancé/fiancée, the Embassy is not easily get convinced that you are telling the truth. Due to the number of cases of visa fraud involving non-immigrants using their US tourist visas to hasten the process of applying for permanent residence by marriage to their American citizen lovers during their brief stay in the United States as tourists, your case, more than likely, will be an item for investigation.

Once the Embassy conducts a field investigation and you fail to prove that your intention to get married is not to hasten the process of obtaining immigrant status by immediately applying for permanent residence after the marriage, allowing you to have a reason to extend your stay in the United States, then you may face fraud charges and possibly be banned from entering the United States. Your US citizen fiance at the same time may be subjected to criminal prosecution if it is proven that he/ she took part in assisting with fraud.

What is the better option?

Because nothing is impossible, coming to the United States on a tourist visa and meeting someone who is an American citizen and marrying that someone during the tourist visa holder's brief stay can happen. It can even be a viable reason for the tourist to adjust their status from a visitor to permanent residency after the marriage but the potential risks of proving that the couple's intentions are pure and not fraudulent can still be a looming possibility.

There are many other ways to get married and obtain immigrant status in the United States but they have certain requirements that involve a lengthier process. Sometimes, for various reasons ranging from poor health to financial constraints, applicants trying to get to the United States on a permanent basis through marriage find ways to shorten the process by resorting to illegal and fraudulent means such as using a tourist visa instead of properly applying for a K1 or Fiancé/ Fiancée Visa.

What's the difference between a tourist/ visitor visa and a K1 visa?

There are two kinds of visitor visas, a "nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence".

A tourist/ visitor visa is obtained by people who want to stay in the United States on a temporary basis.

Technically, a tourist visa falls under three categories.

The B-1 tourist visa is obtained for business purposes. The B-2 tourist visa is obtained for pleasure such as tourism, vacations or for visiting purposes. The B-1/B-2 tourist visa is a combination of both.

According to the US Department of State, obtaining permanent residence is not allowed on visitor visas.

To find out what are permitted and not permitted on visitor visas, here.

On the other hand, K-1 visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows the applicant to get married with his or her American citizen fiancé/ fiancée for a limited time in the United States. This type of visa allows the applicant to obtain permanent residence after the marriage ceremony has taken place and the proper application for permanent residence had been filed.

To get more information about K-1 visa, you may visit the USCIS website or click here.

I want to know more about my options, who can I contact?

Consulting a licensed immigration attorney is the best option if you want to know more about getting married in the United States with your American citizen fiancé/ fiancée without fear of facing potential legal risks and consequences.

Article Disclaimer: This article is made available by the lawyer publisher for educational purposes only as well as to give you general information and a general understanding of the law, not to provide specific legal advice. Use of this article does not create an Attorney Client Relationship. This article does not offer or dispense legal advice. By using the article, the reader agrees that the information does not constitute legal or other professional advice and no attorney-client or other relationship is created. The article is not a substitute for obtaining legal advice from a qualified attorney licensed in your jurisdiction. The information on the article may be changed without notice and is not guaranteed to be complete, correct or up-to-date. The opinions expressed at or through the article are the opinions of the individual author. The article should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your jurisdiction.

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Helen Matthews

Helen Matthews is a mum of two and writer, ‘gritting’* her way through writing fiction, including two novels. She is also an editor at a business consultancy, resisting the temptation to introduce drama and suspense into industry publications.

*Grit (in psychology) is a combination of perseverance and passion for long-term goals.

Articles by Helen Matthews:


Thankfully, scientists say this collision will not happen in our lifetime, as the star’s bow shock (the area between an object’s stellar wind and the interstellar medium) is predicted to hit the wall in approximately 5,000 years – with the star colliding some 12,500 year after that. Phew. Kinda.

This wall was initially thought to have manifested from the debris of a dying star, yet a deeper look into the mass found that it is more likely a collection of dust bound together by an interstellar magnetic field, illuminated by the light of the Betelgeuse star.

Scientists say that Betelgeuse is about 1,000 times larger and 100,000 times brighter than the sun, and is destined to briefly outshine the entire galaxy when it goes out thousands of years from now, in a blaze of supernova greatness. Right now though, the dying red star is in a state of upheaval, as it is suffers from an intergalactic death rattle that is causing it to rapidly fall to pieces.


Book Launch: Werecockroach – Science Fantasy Novella

It’s launch day for my new novella! Werecockroach is a tale of aliens and werecockroaches. I’ll talk a little bit about the book, including a few story notes with background on some of the themes. But first, here are some quick links if you want to skip all that. The book is available at Amazon US, Amazon UK and Smashwords. Other retailers are listed on the official book page. The page also has links to cover merchandise and a brief content guide.

Book Description

Rin moves into a new flat on the day the aliens arrive. Their new flatmates are laid-back Sanjay and conspiracy theorist Pete. It doesn’t take long to notice some oddities about the pair, like hoarding cardboard and hissing at people when they’re angry. Something strange is going on, but it’s not all due to the aliens.

The book also includes a bonus short story, from the perspective of one of the supporting characters from the novella.

 Werecockroach  Cover

On Cockroaches

The idea for the book came from having hissing cockroaches as pets. One of the biggest misconceptions when people find out about my pets is that they’re like the cockroaches that invade people’s kitchens. There are a lot of different species of cockroaches. Hissers aren’t one of the ones that people will see in their homes (outside of being pets).

They’re from the forests of Madagascar and eat things that have fallen to the forest floor. Pet cockroaches are fed mainly on fruit and vegetables, with a little meat protein here and there. They don’t smell strongly, they don’t fly, and they tame easily. All round, they’re very hardy and easy to keep.

They hiss in various different ways. The one people typical know is the loud disturbance hiss, but they make a number of other hisses. A common one is a soft hiss that accompanies normal daily activities. They’ll sometimes hiss to themselves and sometimes they’ll hiss back and forth with another cockroach. Some are more vocal than others. I’ve had some that hardly ever hiss to some that hiss softly for most of the time they’re awake.

The biggest thing I’ve learnt from keeping them is how much personality they have. Each cockroach is different. They like different foods and they react in different ways. They learn and remember, which is why they soon get to know that I’m not a dangerous predator who wants to eat them. They’re funny little critters, and if they could turn into humans, I’d be happy to invite them round for tea.

On Identity and Time

The characters in the novella share aspects of my identity, though it doesn’t mean that they have identical life experiences. One thing I had to consider was how age would change things. When I was younger, being androgynous was the only way that I’d heard to describe being non-binary, long before I’d ever heard the term non-binary. It also wasn’t uncommon for anyone who didn’t quite fit in a gay/straight divide to end up in the bisexual community, so that was primarily how I described myself when I was younger, rather than aromantic and asexual.

Rin wouldn’t have grown up with those experiences. Information has been much more available since the internet, as well as giving people better access to communities. This isn’t a bad thing, but it is a different thing, so the book was partly an exercise in considering how things might have gone differently if I’d been born a little bit later. Would I have chosen agender instead of androgyne to describe my gender? Would I have gone directly to aroace? I won’t ever really know, but it was likely enough to say that’s how it went for Rin.

My experiences of dyslexia (Rin) and sensory processing disorder (Pete) were also influenced by age. There was some awareness of dyslexia when I was younger, though it mostly didn’t go beyond maybe giving someone a bit of extra time in tests. I didn’t know SPD existed until I was well into adulthood. Before that, I was treated as being picky, because no one really acknowledged that those sensory things caused a lot of discomfort and pain.

Hidden hearing loss is probably the most influenced by time, as the studies that identified it were only in the 21st century. Even Rin would have been born before anyone knew about that. But I liked the idea of them knowing what was going on. It would have helped me to know a lot earlier than I did (I was obviously aware that I had tinnitus once I was old enough to realise that not everyone had loud sounds in their ears, but hidden hearing loss was a later thing).

What has stayed about the same is my experience of race, because people react much the same way now as they did when I was younger. Not everything is progress.

The Foxfire Lights – Elizabeth O’Connell

Foxfire Lights CoverSeries: Hal Bishop Mysteries, #2
First Published: 26th August, 2016
Genre: Historical Fantasy / Novel
Available: | Amazon UK

Jem and his brother Hal are called to break another curse. Lord Ransom’s youngest child is sick under strange circumstances.

The setup for this book is very similar to the first in the series. A child is cursed due to events in the family’s past. Jem and Hal have to uncover those events to understand the curse. It’s based on making deals with spirits, which is resolved in a similar way. It also repeats a fair bit of character development, as Hal goes back to not wanting to share his thoughts with Jem. This means there isn’t really any progress on the overall series story of figuring out what happened to Jem and Hal’s father.

There are some areas of improvement. In the first book, only magical disabilities were shown. In this, there is some sickness due to magic, but there’s also a disabled supporting character. Matthew, one of the sons of Lord Ransom, was born with a back injury and is non-neurotypical. There’s the suggestion that he doesn’t feel empathy (rather than just not showing empathy). It’s made very clear this isn’t magical, and a positive future is suggested for him.

Isabella, Lord Ransom’s wife, is from Argentina. She’s not particularly fleshed out as a character. I’d have liked more of her story, even if it wasn’t directly related to the local events.

A character is blinded in one eye towards the end, though it’s late enough that there’s not a lot to say about it in this book.

It isn’t a bad book and will appeal to people who enjoyed the first book. A lot of the things that stood out in the first are apparent here. The world is one where industrial magic is common. The curse breaking provides opportunities for interesting investigations. There’s folklore woven into the narrative. It just feels like it repeats too much from the first book, rather than building on that foundation.

Paddington (Film)

Paddington CoverGenre: Children’s Fantasy / Film
Main Creative Team: Paul King (director, writer, story); Hamish McColl (story); David Heyman (producer)
Main Cast: Ben Whishaw; Sally Hawkins; Hugh Bonneville; Madeleine Harris; Samuel Joslin; Julie Walters; Jim Broadbent; Nicole Kidman; Peter Capaldi; Tim Downie; Michael Gambon; Imelda Staunton
First Shown: 28th November, 2014
Available: | Amazon UK

The original Paddington Bear books, by Michael Bond (who has a cameo in the film), began publication in the late 1950s. The film isn’t a retelling of any specific book, but follows the same basic idea. Paddington’s (Ben Whishaw) home in Peru is destroyed, so he stows away on a ship heading for London. Once there, he ends up at Paddington Station, where he meets the Brown family. But things take a sinister turn when a taxidermist (Nicole Kidman) finds out he’s arrived.

I wasn’t sure how funny I’d find the film, as some of the humour stems from Paddington not understanding what’s going on and making mistakes. However, the funny side tended to be that things turned out unexpectedly, rather than Paddington feeling embarrassed or upset. I find the former funny, but the latter makes me uncomfortable. So I was glad it focused on unexpected resolutions.

The interactions between the Browns were great. At the start, there are obviously tensions in the family. Mr Brown (Hugh Bonneville) is very serious and obsessed with trying to shield everyone from risks. Judy (Madeleine Harris) sides with him over Paddington, because she wants the family to appear normal and not be embarrassing. On the other side, there’s Mrs Brown (Sally Hawkins), who is an artist, and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), who dreams of being an astronaut. The dreamer side of the family want to help Paddington. I liked seeing how the family came together and sorted out their differences.

However, my favourite member of the family was Mrs Bird (Julie Walters), an elderly relative. Her asides, and her practical approach to dealing with Paddington, were very funny. She knows what’s really going on, even if it takes the Browns a little longer to figure it out.

There’s a magical realism feel to the film. Paddington causes some comment, but most people either ignore that he’s a bear or accept it after an initial comment. Things shift around the characters, such as the mural changing in the Brown’s house, the band playing the background music appearing in the scene, and the dolls house in the attic becoming a tiny version of the Brown’s house. This works particularly well due to the film being live action, as it grounds the surreal elements in the real.

One possible issue is whether people will make the connection between a bear in a children’s story and real refugees. I felt this was handled reasonably well, as there are references that reinforce this connection. Paddington has a label around his neck, reminiscent of child evacuees in World War II. This is stated directly in the film by his Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton), who hopes it will remind people of their past kindness. Putting this into the story was a nice touch, as it’s something the author of the books said was a direct inspiration for Paddington’s label.

Some of the hostility Paddington faces is based on fears about immigrants. The Brown’s neighbour, Mr Curry (Peter Capaldi), is worried that bears will end up taking over the neighbourhood and keep him awake with their jungle music. The narrative makes it very clear that Mr Curry isn’t a nice person. In contrast, Paddington also meets Mr Gruber (Jim Broadbent), who was a Jewish child refugee. Mr Gruber is warm, kind, and everything Mr Curry isn’t.

Colonialism is tackled in the tradition of snark and sarcasm. The film opens with an old colonial explorer (Tim Downie) on an expedition to Peru. He’s taken only the essentials, which means a trail of baggage including a large clock and a piano. Later, as the bears are learning English from a recording, it announces to them that British people have numerous words for rain, in a parody of the statements made about Inuit people and snow. Peru is referred to as Darkest Peru, as it is in the book, though the repetition of this is taken to an extreme that highlights its ridiculousness. Many of these moments are subtle, but clear in their critique of colonial attitudes.

The choice of villain also reinforces an anti-colonial narrative: she’s a taxidermist working at the Natural History Museum, who wants to return to a time when the best way to deal with a new species was to kill it and mount it as a trophy. She represents the old values, with all the problems that come with them. Her scenes are particularly chilling, because she is so callous about the value of life.

Though I generally liked the film, there were moments I didn’t like. There’s a scene where Mr Brown dresses as a woman as a disguise and a security guard flirts with him. These kinds of scenes rely on the idea that a man dressing as a woman is inherently funny, and that a man flirting with another man is funny. I did like some aspects of how it was handled though. Mr Brown later comments on the clothing being liberating. The disguise represents the first risk he takes to help Paddington, stepping outside of the constrictive life he’s constructed. It’s more unusual to follow up such scenes with a positive framing (it tends to be “never again, because I’m a manly man” rather than “actually, that was fine”).

I recognise that Paddington being called Paddington is unavoidable given the source, but it does still make me wince that he gets named because his name is deemed unpronounceable. That’s always been the part of the story that doesn’t sit well with me.

Paddington is a light-hearted family film with genuinely funny moments. I enjoyed seeing the Brown family come together and loved the visual style. The topic of refugees and immigration is as relevant now as ever, and the film presents this in a positive way. I would note some of the taxidermy scenes could be frightening for younger viewers. No animals are harmed, but the intentions are clear, and there are previously stuffed animals on show.

Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture

Game LogoDeveloper: The Chinese Room
First Release: 11th August, 2015
Version Played: PlayStation 4
Available: PS Store US | PS Store UK | Steam

Everyone has disappeared in a small village in Shropshire. All that remains are the things they left behind and a mysterious light.

This is an exploration game, where the story of the apocalypse is uncovered by searching around for scenes. These act out what went on before and during the event. The people are made from light, showing it’s a memory of what’s happened, not something happening in real time. Each area is named for a person, and finding all their important scenes unlocks the finale to their story.

Though it’s a story about strange events, it focuses much more on the human side. It’s about how people in the village cope with what’s going on. It’s about their relationships and history. Tying it all together is the story of Kate and Stephen, the scientists working at the local observatory. Kate is African American, a woman with a doctorate, and kept her last name after marriage. All things that don’t go down well in an insular village. Stephen, her husband, is a local lad. He doesn’t really understand the issues Kate is facing.

I enjoyed the way the story unfolded, from finding the first blood-stained tissues to the final revelations. There are some answers, but there’s also a lot left open to interpretation.

The village is a great setting for the game. The beautiful countryside is a strong contrast to the horrors. There’s a feeling of isolation from walking around the empty houses and streets. It’s also a little surreal due to the way time moves around the player. Each area is at a different time of day, so the sun swings around quickly at the transitions. Then it waits until the player moves on. I felt as though the light was trying to explain what happened, though why remains a mystery, as the character controlled by the player is never revealed.

A farm field in the game

Image Caption: An open gate leads into a field of golden wheat, ready for harvest. Trees surround the field. A barn and a windmill are in the distance.

Accessibility is a problem, due to the terrible save system. There’s no manual save. The autosave only happens at points where the player has to tilt the controller to see a scene. Nothing else makes the save happen, including story scenes that happen when close by (the majority of them), listening to radios, and finding collectibles. As there are a limited number of tilt scenes, this means it’s very easy to lose progress. My first two goes at the game, I didn’t get very far before I had to stop due to motion sickness. My next attempt, I avoided activating the tilt story scenes. Instead, I kept a list, and only backtracked to them when I needed to stop. Being able to save frequently is really important for people who need to keep playtimes short.

There is a decent density of things to find for the size of area. There are also quick routes to previous areas if required. However, the game does have collectibles and players may need to search for missed scenes. Which means the lack of a proper run to backtrack is an issue. There is sort of a run, as holding one button down will eventually increase the speed, but it doesn’t help much. Restricting players to walking speed only really works when there’s no need to go backwards. I probably felt this more because of the need to backtrack to saves all the time (often whilst feeling sick, so getting there quickly would have made it a lot more comfortable).

I realise developers do these things because they think it helps immersion and makes the experience more magical. So to be clear, this does not make me feel immersed and does not improve my gaming experience. Nothing kills the mood more than having to keep lists of where I can save and hoping I can get there before I vomit on my PlayStation.

In terms of story and setting, it’s an interesting game. It relies on creating a chilling atmosphere, rather than jump scares and the like. There’s some blood and dead animals, but it doesn’t go heavily into gore. It’s likely to appeal to anyone who likes that quiet horror feel. I only wish some of the technical aspects, such as running and the save system, had been as carefully done. It feels like the way someone who doesn’t play games might design those features, which isn’t very practical for actually playing.

The Rowanwood Curse – Elizabeth O’Connell

The Rowanwood Curse CoverSeries: Hal Bishop Mysteries, #1
First Published: 23rd January, 2016
Genre: Historical Fantasy / Novel
Available: | Amazon UK

Jem is the apprentice of his magician brother Hal, and is bored of the dull routine work they’ve been taking on. Then Hal is called to break a curse on Sir Jasper Pryce’s daughter. In order to break it, Hal must figure out who cast the curse and why.

The story is told by Jem as he aids Hal. It has a very Sherlock Holmes vibe, being set in a similar era with the companion of the genius sleuth as the one writing the story. That said, the relationship dynamics are different, as they’re brothers. As well as the case at hand, it explores some of the circumstances around their father’s death. Hal initially tries to keep those things from Jem, but does start to share before the end. It looks like that mystery will continue to be developed as the series progresses.

This is a world where magic was the major push in the industrial revolution. Spirits and elementals are bound into machines to make them function. Industrial magic is treated as a science, with formal teaching and rigid thinking about how it works. The result is local folktales and magical teachings are dismissed as superstition. Local wise women aren’t considered true magical practitioners, unlike the learned gentlemen who’ve studied it at academic institutions. I liked the handling of this aspect of the world, as it mirrors the real systematic bias against local knowledge. It’s also clear the bias is wrong. Hal realises there’s a lot the magical institutions don’t know, and the local yarbwoman has valuable information for the case.

It’s an interesting mystery, weaving in folklore with family secrets. The focus on understanding the curse is a twist on usual murder mystery formats.

I wasn’t comfortable with the handing of disability. All examples of mental illness are people who’ve been affected by magic. They’re possessed, cursed, or otherwise been driven mad by magic. It would have been nice to see a contrast to this, rather than having magically induced mental illness as the only sort that existed. There’s also a heavy layer of pity towards the idea of being disabled, and Jem is upset that people will think him an invalid for having to take medication (for his magic sensitivity). Sir Jasper is blind in one eye, but as that aspect is barely there, it’s not really a counterpoint to the idea that disability is the end, and caused by magic.

Overall, it was an entertaining story, and sets up some bigger mysteries for the future. It will appeal to people who like crossovers between mystery and historical fantasy.


21st Jun 2018

Silk Road: China's project could transform Eurasia

  • Tbilisi: Connectivity is a huge challenge in the region (Photo: Thomas Depenbusch)

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In Georgia last week, China started its push out to explain its vision to the world at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum. This represented the first event on the Silk Road Economic Belt co-sponsored by China’s government held outside China, placing Georgia on the map as an important partner in the project.

The clearest message from the Tbilisi conference is the importance of cooperation and greater connectivity. The Chinese vision is founded on developing a network of trade and economic corridors originating in China.

In a region where connectivity is a huge challenge, this approach suits not only regional development but also China – China has a surfeit of capacity and liquidity to fund such infrastructure so necessary to increasing trade and commerce.

At the same time, this is not an entirely new concept – the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has long had its Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (Carec) programme and the European Investment Bank has funded numerous projects, particularly in energy connectivity.

There is a clear demand for these various institutions and regional approaches to find ways of greater integration and cooperation. Regional conferences like the Forum are one way to try to advance it.

But regional connectivity does not necessarily equate to regional prosperity in itself. Increased connectivity means an increase in trade by sea, air, road and rail, but transiting goods does not always mean immediate benefits to local communities.

If these regional connectivity plans are going to truly benefit those along the way, then more work needs to be done to identify ways in which transit countries can benefit more than simply passing on goods and commodities to their neighbours.

This touches on one of the key under-developed, or at least under-communicated, aspects of the Chinese vision. How will this benefit locals?

One way is to establish special economic zones, which focus on attracting investors to set up businesses that maintain expertise, trade and manufacturing in-country. It is an approach China has championed to some success at home. But, these require specific infrastructure, market liberalization, incentives and assurances in business security to ensure investor trust.

Furthermore, connectivity is not solely a question of economics. For some of the countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt, there are fundamental political and geographical problems between states whereby establishing direct transport links is problematic.

For example, anyone who has travelled between the capital cities of the Central Asian states will know that finding direct and regular flights is problematic, instead having to route through Turkey or Dubai.

In other situations, regional dynamics between great powers impairs direct trade connections, for example between Pakistan and India.

At a more fundamental level, however, the biggest problem around connectivity is the lack of harmonised trade tariffs, technical standards and customs procedures.

One delegate at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum said 40 percent of transport time across Eurasia is spent at border crossings, adding costs to both transport operators and consumers.

Associations like the Eurasian Economic Union offer a slightly more streamlined economic space, but this covers a limited part of the wide piece of territory covered under the Silk Road Economic Belt.

Moreover, non-members immediately incur a separate and higher tariff compared to members, thus making any harmonization impossible.

A huge amount of work needs to go into focusing on where and how to establish common standards, streamline trade and economics barriers, address non-tariff barriers and improve customs practices across the entire region.

Greater digitalisation of customer paperwork, for example, is required, although this would mean alterations in much national legislation.

China’s re-emergence as a Eurasian land power is going to transform the entire landmass. The Silk Road Economic Belt is the first public and holistic expression of this.

However, rather than being a purely China-dictated vision, it is clear that the intention is for countries like Georgia to engage with China on cooperatively shaping the vision and tackling the issues. China is consciously reaching out for this, as demonstrated by the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum.

Now is the time for Western European countries to follow Georgia’s example to understand the benefits it can reap in further cooperation on the Silk Road.

Raffaello Pantucci is director of international security studies and Sarah Lain is a research fellow at Rusi, a London-based think tank. They also served as rapporteurs at the Tbilisi Silk Road Forum

Hungary signs up to Silk Road project

Hungary has become the first EU country to join China's flagship initiative, which aims to revitalise a historic trade route between Europe and the Far East.

China urges Britain to stay inside EU

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has urged the UK not to leave the EU in a rare intervention in a foreign country’s internal affairs.

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Friday, 11 December 2015

The Key of Leadership

Xue use to spend most of his time serving his master. As the days passed by, Xue became as disciplined as his master. Once he felt that he is as good as his disciple, but wondered why he is not respected like his master.
Xue's question kept on pestering him for long. One day he decided to ask his master about this. When all the day's proceedings were over and the master was about to go to sleep, Xue asked his master - "Master! I have a question, can I ask?" The master replied - "go ahead Xue". And Xue asked - "From the dawn to dusk I'm there with you and do all the work as you and some times more than what you do. And what differentiates me from you?".
The master laughed and replied - "Xue, the answer is very simple - When I pray, I pray. When I eat, I eat. When I listen, I listen" and Xue thanked his master and continued his work.

What made Master to be the Master?
What made Xue to remain disciple?
What is the key of Leadership?