Following on from the inaugural LoyaltyGames event, won by South African Martin Naude, we’re again on the hunt to determine the world’s best practitioners in Loyalty Marketing, Behavioral Analytics, Innovation and Rewards. Registration is only $20USD – and the online competition is accessible to anyone, anywhere worldwide.
In the coming weeks, LoyaltyGames will launch an exciting new series called Loyalty Technicians. The mission of the Loyalty Technicians blog is to showcase the latest and greatest thinking in data and analytics at the heart of Loyalty, Rewards and Gamification. LEARN MORE & CONTRIBUTE >>
LoyaltyGames Meetups focus on people who love loyalty, rewards and gamification. Choose your preferred city and we’ll keep you updated.
Now I have made clever and found something on the Internet. Have the installed on my test surface from Them Plate "FlatOne" and the drop down menu on the show thread overview bugged out. See picture attached.
On the "www.sponsor-place.de" to be exact in a thread such as "Http://sponsor-place.de/showthread.php?tid=13" is to see the bug.
OrionMobile is a simple, but brandable, mobile theme for MyBB. This theme is compatible with 1.8 and looks great on smart phones and tablets. Theme comes with a dynamic color changer that remembers your color choice.
Add me to the list of people who are completely okay with the new scene. Rode Pirates of the Caribbean today and it fits right in.
I will be attending a conference in Orlando next month. Noticed that Magic Kingdom After Hours is offered the Saturday before my conference (July 21). So the park will be open to everyone that pays $119 (plus passholders) from 10:00pm - 1:00am. Has anyone attended Magic Kingdom After Hours this summer? Is it worth it? How are the crowds in comparison to a summer weekday?
For $120 (or $90 for me personally with my annual pass), I'd rather deal with the daily crowds. Maybe I'd drop the cash if I were flying into Florida, AND stuck somewhere during the day (like a conference) AND only had the opportunity to go to the park for one evening during my entire trip.
Download the MyDisneyExperience app and periodically check wait times over the next few days. You'll get a pretty good idea.
I'm kind of freaking out about that happening. Hyperspace Mountain was my favorite thing at Disneyland and I'd love to see more things like that.
Last night TPR was invited out to take part in the "After Hours" event at Magic Kingdom! What is this event you ask? It's a little bit like "Extra Magic Hours" but better, more exclusive, and includes more stuff! It is also open to EVERYONE, not just people staying on property at a Walt Disney World resort. Here's some information:
- The event is $119 ($89 for Passholders) for tickets purchased online in advance. (Check the website though in case prices may change) The event happens on select dates so once again, check the website.
- You get “exclusive park time” three hours after the park closes, but you are allowed to enter three hours before the park closes so you can see fireworks, have more time to play, etc.
- All major attractions and many minor attractions are open along some character greetings You also get unlimited drinks, treats (Mickey Mouse bars, ice cream sandwiches, etc), and popcorn all night long!)
You can also Google "Magic Kingdom After Hours" and it should come right up! Now onto some photos & video!
We arrived to the event a couple of hours before the park closed to get in a few bonus rides and take a few more photos. You can enter the park three hours BEFORE the park closes. So with the "exclusive park time" after closing you get a total of 6 hours of park time.
Getting into the park early means you also have time to catch the fireworks before the park closes, and if you haven't seen the new Happily Ever After show, you NEED to see it!
Once the event starts it's all the Coca-Cola, Mickey Mouse bars, and Space Mountain you can handle! This sounds like a dream to me!
Areas like this corridor of Fantasyland that you're used to seeing PACKED with people are totally empty!
This event is also a photographer's heaven! (Jack Crouse was with me and he got these awesome area shots!)
Not only are the attractions open, but you can also meet several characters with no wait at all as well!
If you want to be on a ride and have a boat all to yourself for some awesome family pics, this is the event where you can do that!
Even attractions like Country Bear Jamboree were open! And when CBJ is open, you know it's a GREAT event!
We highly recommend this event. You can do SO MUCH in the three hours of "Exclusive Park Time" that you really can get more done in those hours than you can in most of your day at the park, especially on a summer Saturday which yesterday was!
Wow!! That looks incredible! I've never heard of this before, so thanks for sharing, will have to look into this more...
that really looks incredible, and love the fact that you can enter 3 hours before, so in total you get 6 hours, tho not all is gonna have the exclusivity and the shorter lines.
- surprised they didn't do this as an "add on" to the daily ticket? one can just purchase this alone and get 6 hours in the park for $119? that itself seems to be a pretty solid deal.
-- totally just a curious question. . how do staff members shoo those lingerers out for the exclusive event? (I see y'all have lanyards, so they can tell who's participating). do the ride operators just not let folks in the lines without the badge?
bert425 wrote: - surprised they didn't do this as an "add on" to the daily ticket? one can just purchase this alone and get 6 hours in the park for $119? that itself seems to be a pretty solid deal.
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but they don't sell it as an "add-on" because you don't need a daily ticket to go to this. You just need to buy this ticket. It's just like Mickey's Not-So-Scary or Very Merry Christmas Party. All of those being "hard ticket" events.
bert425 wrote: -- totally just a curious question. . how do staff members shoo those lingerers out for the exclusive event? (I see y'all have lanyards, so they can tell who's participating). do the ride operators just not let folks in the lines without the badge?
You need a lanyard to get on any rides or to get any of the snacks or drinks. I didn't really see anyone who wasn't wearing a lanyard asked to leave the park, but I did witness people without lanyards be turned away from food and attractions.
“Judge training was the most helpful thing all day. They didn't talk at us and let us use the entire time to ask questions so it was specifically tailored to our needs. Perfect!”
“The middle level event breakout session greatly helped my understanding of the opportunities available to my students. The judge training session also gave me ideas about how to logistically train judges and learn as a judge/coach myself.”
We also received some great ideas to bring more training opportunities to you...stay tuned for more workshops!
“Suggestion would be a parking lot for individual questions that don't pertain to the group at large. More sessions, less lecture. A demo of a piece in place of lectures.”
Emily from Capcom Unity reports that a new App is currently available for download on the iTunes App Store. Called the Capcom News and Updates App, it'll provide you with trailers and screenshots of current and upcoming releases, one of them of note being MegaMan Star Force 3. Check it out today!
It’s not long to go until Bryan Singer brings the fan favourite X-Men villain to the big screen with X-Men: Apocalypse, and a latest trailer has come our way that should intrigue long time X-Men fans with some pretty neat reveals, from the confirmation of Quicksilver’s (Evan Peters) parentage and the tease of Nightcrawler’s (Kodi Smit McPhee) to the fact that Weapon X will play a part. Oh yeah, and a certain Canadian with rage problems makes his presence felt too. Some may say too much is given away, but personally I feel we’re teased with just enough to leave us hungry to see how it all pans out. Check it out below.
On the run up to The Force Awakens, many questions were asked of our return to a galaxy far, far away. “Who are Rey and Finn?”. “What’s Kylo Ren’s connection to Darth Vader?”. “Are they really wheeling out another Death Star?”. Some of these questions were answered, and begat more questions. But the one everyone wanted answered, concerning why everyone’s favourite golden protocol droid was sporting an ill fitting red arm, JJ Abrams pulled a Lost and kept the answer tantalisingly out of reach. But now we finally have our answer, all thanks to a comic.
A one shot in fact, entitled Star Wars: C-3PO #1 coming from the legendary creative team of writer James Robinson and artist Tony Harris, responsible for Starman, one of the best series in DC Comics' long history. This one shot is actually a deep and heart breaking examination of droids, a seemingly very overlooked part of the Star Wars mythos, and one I urge you all to read. But if you really can’t wait to find out what happened, scroll down.
So, the book begins with a space transport crash landing on a hostile alien planet. The resulting explosion kills all the human resistance fighters on board, leaving only C-3PO and a group of droids, including a captive enemy droid named Omri, to get off planet and complete their mission to get vital information regarding the whereabouts of a kidnapped Admiral Akbar to resistance high command. One by one, the droids are destroyed by deadly alien creatures, while C-3PO and Omri debate the purpose of a droids existence and the horrifying way humans treat them, spurred on by protocol droids requiring a higher degree of sentience than most other droids. In one really smartly written moment, the subject of wiping a droids mind is brought up, causing C-3PO to vaguely recall memories of the prequels, lost to him after his own mind got wiped at the end of Episode III.
Anyway, only Omri and C-3PO, his arm ripped off by tentacled lake monster, are left with their salvation, a beacon that will call a rescue ship to them, in sight. Suddenly, a deadly acid rain begins to fall. Omri, having grown close to C-3PO and thinking of him as a friend, transfers the information the resistance seeks and sacrifices himself by operating the beacon while the other droid takes shelter, falling apart in front of him.
The only thing left of him intact his left arm, it’s metallic sheen stripped away to expose the red primer underneath. Rescued by Poe Dameron and BB-8, C-3PO takes the arm to remember his fallen comrades. Probably a more traumatic story than you expected, huh?
The government is considering launching crypto tokens for financial transactions in the country, even as the existing ban on cryptocurrencies is likely to continue, sources said.
A committee studying the use of crypto assets is working on a set of regulations, and specific actions, including a roadmap for allowing cryptocurrencies in future.Once the draft regulations are ready and legally vetted, it will be tabled before Parliament, sources said.
Unlike virtual or cryptocurrency, which is treated as an equivalent of money, crypto token is a representation of money. It can't be used in place of fiat money. Crypto tokens are based on block chain application."The committee is examining if crypto tokens can be used to replace smart cards such as metro cards in the public sector to start with. Similarly, in the private sector, it can be used in loyalty programmes such as air miles where its use is limited to buying the next ticket and can't be converted into money," said a senior official in the ministry.
The committee set up by the finance ministry under the chairmanship of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) secretary is studying the possibility of using various crypto assets, including crypto currency."The committee is studying the possibility of using cryptocurrencies or the crypto technology (distributed ledger technology) for financial transactions and also what kind of regulations are needed for that,"said DEA secretary Subhash Chandra Garg who is heading the committee. The new technology has a lot of promise, he said.
While "the currency is totally banned, the committee is discussing its other usage and how it can be mainstreamed in India," he said. Garg categorically denied allowing use of cryptocurrency in any manner including in payment systems.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had in April directed all the banks to stop dealing with individuals and businesses dealing in virtual currencies from July 5.
"The banking regulator has come out with regulations. It has debarred the banks from dealing with anybody or any aspect of cryptocurrencies. We don't believe the cryptocurrencies to be currencies at all. We have issued several advisories for people to not deal with it. Because it is risky, it's a Ponzi kind of scheme. Therefore, cryptocurrencies are banned in this country," said Garg.
However, crypto tokens, if introduced, will be a kind of digital token for currency and not a substitute for fiat currency. "One will need to pay physical money to buy a token which could be stored as a code in any basic mobile feature phone. It can even be used for remittances. So, it is easy to implement from technology as well as regulatory point of view. But in case of cryptocurrency, one needs to allow it as a legal tender first," a senior official in the ministry said.
Experts feel that the Indian government is unlikely to shift its stance on cryptocurrency in the near term, but may allow crypto tokens to test waters. The committee will also give prospects and consequences of allowing crypto currency.
"Crypto token operates in a closed system and doesn't impact the country's monetary policy unlike cryptocurrency, which interferes with the money supply situation," said Digital Lenders' Association of India (DLAI) president Alok Mittal."Many governments in the world are considering using crypto token," he said.
"This is a difficult subject, involving technology which is changing every now and then. That's why it is taking some time," Garg said.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), comprising of members from RBI, Sebi and IT ministry, was scheduled to give its report in July.
Fiona Maclean is an Artist and Painter originally from NZ and living in Australia. Fiona's paintings hang in private collections and appear in
Fiona was recently chosen by Saatchiart.com as an emerging Artist and is already garnering attention for her work. Featured in
SaatchiArt.com and taking inspiration from the Saatchi Gallery's 25 year history of discovering new talent, Fiona has been included in this
strong emerging talent of Artists in the 'One to Watch' released by Saatchi 2013. In 2010 Fiona completed two Artist Residencies at the
School of Visual Arts (SVA) New York in Painting and Illustration helping develop a new direction and a new body of energised work.
Here is where she gained the confidence and recognition from critics and her peers to move forward with her Art career and as a result is
selling paintings regularly and being recognised by Art buyers and collectors. Fiona studied Fine Art at the prestigious Parsons School of Art
As an Artist I'm fascinated by the fleetingness of youth, beauty and sexuality and the elusiveness of these particular elements, trying to
capture those elements within my portraits and figurative work. Always curious to discover whom the subject is behind the façade, trying to
get to the essence of the person, breathing and bringing to life the portrait or figure. Trying to capture their sexuality, their beauty, and who
they are. Evoking an element of ‘drama’ to the subject where the viewer can ‘draw their own conclusions to what this person’s ‘story’
maybe. Working from life but mostly from photographs as reference. Often using Acrylics like a watercolour and sometimes combining
Fiona's work has been described as "hauntingly beautiful and that her portraits have traces of glamour and intrigue beneath their honesty. Her
Do NOT eat a Ketogenic Diet to lose weight! If you’re “normal” weight, or you have intractable epilepsy and will benefit from a very high dietary fat diet, then okay. Eat a high fat diet. But if you are overweight and want to burn body fat, you first need to get in a hormonal state conducive to fat burning – by eating Low Carb (LC). Or, if you have Insulin Resistance, eating Very Low Carb (VLC); then, while eating LC or VLC, and “enough” protein, you need to be careful not to over EAT fat because, you want to burn BODY fat.
A Ketogenic Diet, as defined here and elsewhere, is very high in dietary fat. Whatever else it is, the fat in the Ketogenic Diet is thus taken by mouth. But at the cellular level, the body doesn’t care where the fat comes from, and it has to do something with the fat you eat. So, while you’re hormonally in a “fat-burner” state, as your body digests the fat you eat, it’s going to burn what it needs and store what it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t need to burn your body fat, it keeps it in reserve, as it was intended to be. You have defeated your purpose.
So what does this do to the macronutrient ratios I have talked about for years? It doesn’t change the ratios. It just changes where they are sourced. Your biology hasn’t changed, just the way you (or I) pictured it. It’s a little harder to calculate, but the physiology is the same. The difference is that the macronutrient ratios are not measured where it is “taken by mouth” but where your body takes it up for energy – at the cellular level.
Most nutrients from food you eat are absorbed at the small intestine. From there they circulate in the blood or are held in the liver until needed. There are some exceptions: iodine is stored in breast tissue, lutein is stored in the macula of the eye, for example. When you eat VLC, and your hormonal state has transitioned from sugar-burner (glucose-based) to fat-burner, your body will first process all the foods you ate and then, to maintain energy balance (homeostasis), it will break down body fat (triglycerides) into fatty acids for fuel. Fatty acids will then circulate and mix with the other fuels in the blood until taken up wherever needed. It can do this, remember, only so long as you eat LC or VLC and remain in the fat-burner (vs. sugar-burner) state.
Your metabolism will NOT slow down and you will NOT excrete vitamins and minerals before they can be stored. Your metabolism will continue to run at full speed because you are not being “starved” by the absence of “food.” Your body has supplied the “food” it needed from the energy reserves it had stored.
So, in practical terms, what does this do to the macronutrient ratios, as traditionally applied to food ingested (taken by mouth)? The ratios don’t change. The carbs are exactly the same. The protein is exactly the same. Total fat is the same too, only it is divided between eaten fat and stored fat. And YOU will determine the fat ratio by how much fat you eat. To keep in energy balance, the remainder will be body fat that you burn.
Let’s do an example: A certain, mostly sedentary man (me) needs say 2,400kcal/day to maintain his “normal” weight. But, he’s overweight and wants to burn body fat, so he eats a diet with macronutrient ratios that gets his body in a hormonal state conducive to fat burning: 5% carbs. 20% protein and 75% fat. That’s 30 carb grams, 120 protein grams and 200 fat grams a day. If he eats this Ketogenic Diet (k/g ratio: 2.0), he will not be hungry. He will be fat-adapted and in ketosis, but he won’t lose weight. He’s EATING way too much fat.
Now, envision this same man eating the same 30 carb grams and the same 120 protein grams and but just 100 grams of fat. His “diet,” i.e. what he has taken in by mouth, is now 1,500kcal/day, but because he is still eating Very Low Carb, he is still in a hormonal state conducive to fat-burning, and his body will have to break down 100 grams of body fat a day to maintain the 2,400kcal his body requires for energy balance. His metabolism runs full speed, he is not hungry, and he loses weight. His macronutrient ratios (by mouth) are now 8% carb, 32% protein and 60% fat (k/g ratio just 1.4), but it doesn’t matter. At the cellular level – where the energy is used – they are unchanged. Both are Very Low Carb. He is still fat adapted but, at K:G=1.4, he is not ketogenic.
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