Non-cheesy things for couples to do on Valentine’s Day

Lauren Johnson
-
0
Non-cheesy things for couples to do on Valentine’s Day

This Valentine’s let’s do something which is out of the world. Exchanging gifts and roses is simple but sometimes it is a good idea to take it up another notch. The more valuable thing to give to your Valentine is time. Time becomes more expensive than stuff. It cannot beat the worldly stuff.

If you are pre-planning for Valentine’s Day, add a special romance into it by giving time to your partner. We have some useful ideas for how to spend Valentine’s with your lovely partner. For sure it is going to gear up the love spirit and to set the mood for romance.

Spend some quality time under the stars

quality time under the stars
Photo: Supplied

Couple always prefers the place where there is no noise and no one to disturb then. Sitting out on a terrace is the best suitable place for adding romance in the most magical night. How adorable!

You are spending the most romantic time with your spouse under the stars. It will recall the special memories of the life you have so far shared together. Celebrate the night under the stars with a sip of wine for the most magical night of year.

Cook together

cooking together
Photo: Supplied

It is an interesting activity to involve your partner into cooking. Whether you know how to properly cook or not, cooking lessons are a fun activity to do together. You even may learn a thing or two!

Learn salsa dance together

learn salsa dance
Photo: Supplied

Salsa dance is the romantic dance form and performed with partner. You can enjoy dancing with the your spouse here. Book the date to learn the salsa dance together and get the world beyond happiness of dancing together.

Paint the wall in romantic way

paint wall in romantic way
Photo: Supplied

This is a great task to tackle together! You can spend quality time with each other by painting a wall in a romantic way. Colour the walls and let your imagination run wild.

There are heart shaped ready-made stickers available to remark your love into walls. A romantic wall will certainly tell how deeply you both fall in love with each other.

Arrange the second first date at same place

first date same place
Photo: Supplied

It is always a good idea to look back are reflect on your special moments as a couple and see just how for you have come together. Meet the place where you meet each other for the first time or even arrange the second date at the same place you went for your first date.

Have a night at the museum

go to museum
Photo: Supplied

There are so many museums open on the 14th of February for celebrating this love day. You can take a peek at the planetarium or other historical romantic places. But be sure to book your tickets in advance as there will probably be long lines and limited places available.

Go some adventure place

go on adventure
Photo: Supplied

You can add excitement into this celebration by adding adventurous trip for the day. If possible try to go for ice-skating, ice-hockey, sky diving and enjoy all you can in the Australian summer. If you are in Sydney, try climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge, or jet boating through the harbor.

Plan indoor picnic

plan indoor picnic
Photo: Supplied

If you want to celebrate this day in a simple manner plan an indoor picnic with your spouse. Gather picnic snacks, bottle of wine and some fresh flowers. Hangout and watch some movies together. A simple but unique idea for spending the meaningful time with lovely partner and can be do no matter the weather!

Martin Hamilton-Smith quits ministry position to help SA Xenophon party

Christian Woods
-
0
Martin Hamilton-Smith quits ministry position to help SA Xenophon party

The former South Australian leader of the Liberal party Martin Hamilton-Smith has announced he is quitting his Labor Government ministry. He added that he would not enter the upcoming state election in March.

Mr Hamilton-Smith said that following a “long consideration” during the holiday break he would end his 21 years of service to the public. He said his political career “has been fulfilling” but that it was time to leave.

Mr Hamilton-Smith originally quit the Liberal party in order to assist Labor and reinforce its slim majority government in the SA State Parliament. He was rewarded with governance over ministries that covered defence, small business, trade and veteran’s affairs.

The ex-Liberal leader revealed he is going to be focusing his efforts to do all he can to assist Graham Davies, from Nick Xenophon’s SA Best party, win his empty seat of Waite this March.

Mr Hamilton-Smith had been elected to the SA Parliament in 1997 and revealed that as MP for Waite he was mirroring the choices made by a former member of the seat in Southern Adelaide, Robin Millhouse.

Mr Millhouse also changed sides in politics during his time in the seat until 1982. Mr Hamilton-Smith said of his own career that he had put his “service to the people ahead of party politics”.

Mr Hamilton-Smith praised Mr Millhouse’s “bold decision” to continue as member under a different party allegiance. He said that he was “proud” to have delivered meaningful outcomes for the seat as an independent Liberal.

SA Premier Jay Weatherill stated that Mr Hamilton-Smith would officially stand down from Cabinet after the year’s first meeting on January 18. Mr Weatherill praised the former Liberal for his “outstanding contribution to South Australia” over his four years of service.

He went on to say that Mr Hamilton-Smith had been a champion for war veterans and small businesses across South Australia.

At the March elections the seat of Waite will be contested by Liberal Sam Duluk, SA Best’s Graham Davies and a yet to be announced Labor candidate.

Steven Marshall, South Australia’s Liberal Opposition leader said that Mr Hamilton-Smith was clever to quit a seat he was unlikely to retain. He went on to say that he was not worried about Mr Hamilton-Smith backing the SA Best candidate as he did not think he had “much influence in that electorate”.

Mr Hamilton-Smith is one of many South Australians who have put their support behind Nick Xenophon’s SA Best party, which has beaten Liberal and Labor in recent polls.

Nick Kyrgios wins his first ATP tournament at Brisbane International

Christian Woods
-
0
Nick Kyrgios wins his first ATP tournament at Brisbane International

Australian tennis star Nick Kyrgios has taken his first ATP win while on home soil, beating American Ryan Harrison 6-4 6-2 at the Brisbane International.

22-year-old Kyrgios held off against five break points during the first set which included three in his third service game as Harrison made a good effort of tackling the aggressive delivery by Kyrgios.

Kyrgios held his ground and struck back at the first chance he got with a pair of forehand shots delivering a critical break before an ace settled the first set within 37 minutes.

Kyrgios enticed the crowd with two touches of the net, using baseline angles and some flat forehands to throw 25-year-old Harrison off his game.

Kyrgios turned up the heat in the second set and got more balls into play on Harrison’s serves as he anticipated an early victory.

His seventeenth ace completed the victory within just over an hour, Kyrgios looking mostly free in his movement despite wearing a heavy strap over his left knee.

With seventeen aces and a 71% first serve accuracy rating Kyrgios secured the tournament a day after defeating world No.3 Girgor Dimitrov, knocking him out of the semi-final.

Early in the match Kyrgios was denied permission for a medical time-out by the tour supervisor Gerry Armstrong. Kyrgios needed treatment for his left knee which had been taped during all four of his matches.

Kyrgios disagreed with the decision by Armstrong stating that “the rule should be changed” and that it was an injury that “could keep me out of the Australian Open”. This follows recent news that former world No.1 Andy Murray’s hip injury would prevent him from competing in the Australian Open this year.

Following the first set Kyrgios was seen debating with umpire Fergus Murphy complaining that Harrison should not have been given such a long break off the court.

Kyrgios was frustrated that Harrison could “just leave the court for almost 10 minutes”. Murphy responded by claiming that Harrison’s time away from the game remained “reasonable”.

Kyrgios played and behaved well during the tournament, not receiving any code violations from officials despite being visibly frustrated with decisions during the final match.

He said that he loved playing for Brisbane crowds, adding “even though sometimes it might not seem like I do.” Kyrgios said he was happy to be added to the list of Brisbane champions alongside Lleyton Hewitt, who is set to make his doubles comeback at this year’s Australian Open.

Cornelii Sandberg discusses his work at a construction law firm in Sweden

Christian Woods
-
0
Cornelii Sandberg discusses his work at a construction law firm in Sweden

Cornelii Sandberg works at Vasa Advokatbyrå, a law firm based in Sweden. His company mainly deals with contract breaches, and it has an office in France along with contacts in Thailand. Construction is one of the major branches for the firm.

Cornelii, how did you get involved with a construction law firm?

I have known the owner for a long time, so when a position opened I took it. I am looking forward to making a difference for this law firm. Construction law is a big branch for us, although we do other things as well.

What kinds of construction contracts and disputes does your firm deal with?

It can be a construction that is overdue and there needs to be an agreement about what to do next. Or it can be a small home owner who gets a really bad carpenter. And of course, the carpenter can get a bad client and need our help. We work with people as well as companies.

Do you generally advise and represent construction companies or the people they are building for?

We usually come in later. We mostly work when a contract is unfulfilled, by any party. If it goes into court we will represent our client with as many lawyers as we deem fit.

Your firm has offices in France and links to Thailand – do you deal with a lot of international contracts?

It happens. Europe is rather harmonized and uses Latin law as a base, although variations exist. In Thailand we help foreign home owners with legal advice.

What are some of the challenges your team faces when dealing with French and Thai law?

The language barriers. We have French speaking personal, but it would be great if knowledge of English was more common, like it is in Sweden. Same thing with Thailand and at times we have to have translators for some dialects.

Does your firm have plans to expand any further overseas?

We have contacts in USA, but we are not sure as of yet if we should expand to that area as well. It would be best to team up with a law firm in the USA and help them with European matters.

Voice assistants and smart homes to battle at CES 2018

Katherine Mouradian
-
0
Voice assistants and smart homes to battle at CES 2018

In the battle for supremacy as voice assistant of choice, this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas is set to be a key battlefield for Amazon Alexia and Google Assistant. While dominating last year’s trade show, Alexia can expect to meet fierce competition from its primary competitor this week.

Google has made its presence at this year’s CES known with an eye-catching “Hey Google” advertisement wrapped around the Las Vegas monorail. Google also set up a large outdoor booth including a twisty blue slide that’s sure to grab its fair share of attention.

Google stated in a preview of its CES presence that Google Assistant will come with new devices and integrations amongst other developments.

Google’s enhanced presence at CES and focus on Google Assistant highlights that products in the smart home market will be the next big battle in the tech industry. Google has historically not had static booth at CES and has not made a contribution to the event since co-founder Larry Page delivered a keynote more than 10 years ago.

Amazon’s Alexia will have its own booth at this year’s CES and promises “exciting new announcements” with “magical” Alexia voice experiences being further developed.

Another competitor, Microsoft’s Cortana, is also going to have a presence at CES this year. Google recently got into trouble with Microsoft for uploading a disguied Chrome installer to the Windows 10 store.

Apple, which operates its own voice assistant Siri and HomeKit platform, continues its trend of not showing up to CES, preferring instead to announce product developments at its own functions.

Thanks to Android, Google has a distinct advantage over Amazon with its integration into smartphones. Despite this, Google has fallen behind Amazon’s Echo and Alexa in the smart home speaker market.

The smart home market is set to grow quickly in 2018 with research firms predicting over 56 million smart speaker deliveries this year with the majority being within the United States.

The most important battle in the smart home war is the securing of industry partnerships for both Google and Amazon, where they will be able to reach the most customers. Google recently boasted that its Google Assistant was compatible with more than 1,500 smart home systems from over 225 different brands.

Amazon showcased an increased momentum for its Alexa technology with announcements that the voice assistant was being integrated into Garmin’s automotive infotainment platform, Hisense TV’s and a Kohler bathroom mirror.

While the Kohler bathroom mirror will be Alexa-enabled, Kohler said that it is also going supply smart home bathroom products for Apple HomeKit and Google Assistant as well. This shows that the competition in the smart home market is set to intensify as new integrations are discovered.

By the end of CES the technology sector will have a better picture from which to predict this year’s leader in voice assistant devices.

Sandra Dioguardi talks about designing wedding invitations

Christian Woods
-
0
Sandra Dioguardi talks about designing wedding invitations

Sandra Dioguardi runs Sandra’s Creative Designs (SCD Invites), a business that designs and prints invitations for events and occasions – especially weddings. Sandra is based in New Jersey in the USA, and generally creates invitations for people in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

Sandra, can you provide us with an overview of the type of business that SCD Invites is involved in?

SCD Invites is a wedding invitation design company in New Jersey that specializes in creating custom wedding invitations that are completely made to order. We also do invitations for Baby Showers, Bar & Bat Mitzvah parties, Sweet 16 parties, and anniversary parties.

At Sandra’s Creative Designs (SCD Invites) we love creating invitations for all occasions, especially wedding invitations. Every event is unique and that event whether it be a wedding, sweet 16, birthday, or anniversary deserves an invitation that is so beautiful your guests will keep for years to come.

I create most of my invitations from scratch by first choosing the highest quality paper such as paper from Italy then folding the paper, printing on with waterproof ink then using different techniques to make everything come together and last forever. I have lookbooks of my own that showcase all the invitations I am capable of making. You are will definitely find something you love.

If for any reason you want something different than one of my designs or you already have a specific invitation in mind from a designer you like, you can look at the lookbooks from the likes of Carlson Craft, Stevie Streck, Checker BoardLTD, Birchcraft Studios, Birchcraft Studio, and Arlene Segal.

Why did you start the business?

I have over 20 years of corporate experience in NYC, working at a major insurance company and bank. In the 1980’s with the inception of computerized technology, I knew what my love was. Yes, Graphic Design! In 1992, I was a rare owner of high-end technology, a computer, color printers and a scanner, and that’s when the imagination and creativeness became endless! Aside from my own corporate responsibilities, I began designing Corporate invitations, and the creativity just continued.

What does excellent customer service mean to you?

Customer service means everything to me and my company’s name, I am sure to always listen and to be open to different ideas no matter how plain or ornate they can be. This is what I do, I design using a mix of my experience and the ideas of the client. If a client is not 110% happy with what I show, then I haven’t done my job. My company is by appointment only, so that I can take the time and design with them. I take pride in my work and am happy to hear that another client has recommended my company, so I know I have done my job well. We have 5 stars on Google, Yelp, and Facebook.

Can you tell us the most challenging project you’ve been involved in with a client and the result that was obtained?

My most challenging project was when a bride came in for wedding invitations with just a color palette of gold, cream, and burgundy and had no idea what design she wanted, also with a timeline of 1 week to complete this project during the week of Christmas and New Year’s. She had no idea of what her timeline was to have the invitations done and shipped… Needless to say it was a challenge!!

So right away, with a few simple questions, I was able to design a complete invitation sample and email the PDF files. She was absolutely thrilled with everything!

I completed 100 handmade pocket invitations with 3 Swarovski crystals along with accommodation details, directions, response cards, response envelopes and then addressed the outer envelope for her wedding, all within 4 days.

Thank you Sandra for sharing your thoughts with us.
You can follow up with Sandra Dioguardi at https://scdinvites.com

African leaders condemn proposed deportation of VIC youth offenders

Christian Woods
-
0
African leaders condemn proposed deportation of VIC youth offenders

Sudanese community leaders in Victoria have labelled recent suggestions to deport youth offenders as “death sentences”. This follows proposals to crack down on a recent wave of teen gang violence in Melbourne.

Recent remarks by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton referred to ‘African gangs’ as having scared Melbourne residents into staying home for fear of being victimised. These comments have created a divide in the Victorian community about how to tackle the problem of youth gang activity with many of the offenders being of African descent.

Dutton said he was considering strengthening laws in the face of the rise of youth crime by automatically cancelling the visas of offenders and deporting migrants who cause serious injury.

The changes to the law were initially brought forward by a parliamentary committee led by Victorian Liberal member Jason Wood and are backed by the current Opposition Leader Matthew Guy. Guy’s election campaign to unseat the current Labor government is heavily centred around improvements to law and order.

In response to these proposals African community leaders have cautioned that this type of crackdown is both out of touch and ultimately dangerous. They pointed out that many of the youth offenders were born in Australia and those who weren’t would be deported to war-torn countries where their chances of survival were slim.

South Sudanese Community Association spokesperson Kot Monoah told the parliamentary committee that cancelling the young offenders visas would “send them to misery”. Monoah pointed out that he believed that these youths had “potential to be rehabilitated” and that deporting them was effectively a death sentence.

Richard Deng, a fellow African community leader, echoed Monoah’s opinion and called on the federal government to cease its political agenda, instead working with Victoria and the police to solve the issue.

Richard Deng is well-known in the Victorian African community and last year helped to establish a volunteer team to prevent crime via engagement with troubled Sudanese youth in Melbourne’s western suburbs.

This volunteer team has slowly expanded with plans for to recruit even more so that more areas of Melbourne can be attended to.

Mr Deng openly acknowledged that there is a youth crisis in the Victorian African community but added that “simply deporting people is out of touch”.

The maintenance of law and order has remained a long-time issue for the Andrews Labor government. Whilst most offenders have been Australian adults a number of high profile cases of youth crime have put the spotlight on the African community.

With a Victorian state election coming this November the Liberal party has cited the issue of law and order as a reason that the current premier Daniel Andrews is a soft touch. Labor members have retaliated against the Coalition federal government by accusing them of cutting funding to migrant services and not doing enough to tackle the underlying cause of crime.

Damning book on Trump released despite threats from his lawyers

Christian Woods
-
0
Damning book on Trump released despite threats from his lawyers

The new book by Michael Wolff provides insight into the inner-workings of the Trump presidency and portrays an incompetent President in a confused White House. Donald Trump’s lawyer has declared he will attempt to prevent the publication of the book, threating legal action against one of Trump’s former aides Steve Bannon over what he believes are “defamatory” remarks.

The book titled Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House has sparked controversy in American politics as it portrays incumbent President Trump as not wanting to win his 2016 election, being totally unprepared for the role as leader of the free world.

Trump’s personal lawyer, Charles Harder, sent out a legal decree that warns of a libel lawsuit against author Michael Wolff and his publishers. Despite this legal posturing Wolff and his publishers have decided to push the book’s release forward.

Some of the most damning excerpts from the book have allegedly come from Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist. Mr Bannon is quoted detailing a meeting in Trump Tower between Trump, his advisors and a Russian lawyer named Natalia Veselnitskaya.

Bannon described this meeting as “unpatriotic” and “treasonous”. Trump responded by stating that he had thought Mr Bannon had “lost his mind” when he fired him.

Trump’s lawyer also threatened legal action against Mr Bannon on grounds of defamation. Bannon has returned to his role as head of the conservative new website Breitbart since leaving the White House.

Washington lawyer Bradley Moss said that a lawsuit against Bannon could be very damaging for Trump. This is because Bannon’s lawyers would be entitled to collect damaging documents from the White House that could make Trump look even worse.

Bannon himself has had a somewhat muted reaction to this controversy, having pleaded his continued support for Trump in a recent interview.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House spokeswoman, said that Bannon’s accusations of trump as treasonous were “ridiculous”.

The book is based on over 200 interviews with Trump, White House staff members and confidantes. Wolff detailed a 2016 campaign team that honestly expected Trump to lose. The book alleges that Trump and his family members were hoping the election would gain them popularity and higher profile jobs but not to actually win it.

The book describes the campaign room as Trump realised he had won the election. It says that Trump “looked like a ghost” and that his wife Melania was crying, but not with tears of joy.

Apparently Trump and his family also found the White House an uncomfortable place for them to live as they were not prepared for the presidential lifestyle.

Great Barrier Reef still at risk from crown-of-thorns starfish

Christian Woods
-
0
Great Barrier Reef still at risk from crown-of-thorns starfish

It is understood that many thousands of crown-of-thorns starfish are devouring coral in the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. Authorities are still struggling on how best to combat the problem and preserve one of Australia’s natural wonders.

The crown-of-thorns outbreak was initially discovered last year but because the area was so hostile and remote efforts to control the spread were hampered.

The GBRMPA (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority) revealed that they had been working hard to find a solution to containing the outbreak since its discovery last year.

The GBRMPA director of education, partnerships and stewardship, Fred Nucifora, said that crews were sent to the area to monitor and assess the outbreak last month.

Mr Nucifora said that the teams had carried out some “pre-emptive culling” on the affected reefs but that there was another mission scheduled later in January.

Videos and images from the GBRMPA show the frightening sight of dozens of crown-of-thorns starfish taking over large areas of the reef and eating away at the coral.

The Australian Institute of Marine Science’s Hugh Sweatman said that the numbers of starfish present on the reef were very high. He went on to say the levels of starfish were “as high as we’ve seen” and that “a lot of coral” would be lost from the outbreak.

Sweatman pointed out that the starfish have poisonous barbs that can harm humans as well as the fact they can devour large areas of coral. He said that as the starfish have “an extrudable stomach” it can lie on the top of coral and wrap its stomach around it.

The crown-of-thorns starfish is native to the Great Barrier Reef but can be particularly devastating when their population increases as rapidly as it has. While each starfish only eats a small amount each when their numbers are high enough the damage can be extensive.

Dr Sweatman revealed that the reef could be saved but only after a major culling job was done. The Federal Government and Marine Park Tourism Operators run culling operations but are seeking applications for a third boat to be dedicated to culling starfish on the reef.

Mr Nucifora pointed out that the culling efforts have been focused around areas of high tourism and ecological significance in the northern parts of the reef. Because some affected areas are so far off-shore it is unknown what size culling program would be needed to combat starfish mounting in those areas.

Scientists at the Marine Park Authority have said they are struggling to answer why the outbreak was occurring in areas so far off-shore as it did not match starfish behaviour in previous outbreaks.

Tech companies respond to processors with major cybersecurity flaws

Katherine Mouradian
-
0
Tech companies respond to processors with major cybersecurity flaws

Major technology companies are desperate to fix some serious flaws in the security of computer processors built by chipmakers such as Intel. These processors are found in mobile phones and computers around the world and could jeopardise the cybersecurity of millions of users.

Two hardware bugs were discovered on the chipsets that essentially enable the memory of a computer to be leaked. This type of leak could reveal people’s stored passwords as well as sensitive data such as photos, instant messages and emails.

Google’s Project Zero and several academic institutions discovered the problem last year and have publicly disclosed it this week.

There is not yet any evidence that hackers have taken advantage of these bugs but tech companies are still rushing to patch vulnerabilities in their software to prevent these bugs affecting their customers. Although one of these bugs can be patched to protect against hacking, researches have stated the other bug will be harder to avoid.

Intel finds itself in the middle of this problem as they are the world’s largest supplier of processors used in today’s personal computers. Researches have said that one of the two bugs has been affecting almost every Intel processor since the mid 90’s.

The security flaw is not directly the fault of Intel, but the fault of processor design in general. These two flaws are inherent to modern computing platforms and have simply been overlooked for decades.

Both Google and Intel had discovered the vulnerabilities last June but were not going to disclose them until solutions were created. This is typically common practise so as to avoid publicising the flaw for hackers to exploit.

However, Intel was forced to reveal the issues this weekend when a British technology website reported it which consequently caused Intel’s stock price to take a hit.

Intel reported that most of the fixes coming will address the Meltdown bug, which is considered easier to fix. The Spectre bug is however much harder to fix but allegedly harder for hackers to exploit making it less of a threat for the average consumer.

These problems are not just limited to Intel products, with AMD and ARM processors also being at risk. AMD chips are similar to Intel ones and are found in most personal computers, ARM chips however are move common in mobile phones and small products attached to cars or appliances.

Researches revealed that the easier to fix Meltdown bug was mainly limited to Intel produced processors while the more serious Spectre bug was exploitable in all processors.

AMD has said that there is almost a “zero risk” to its processors because of the fact its chips are designed differently. The ARM design is commonly used in iPhones but Apple did not respond to questions about its devices being potentially affected by the bugs.

1...887888889Page 888 of 889