Meghan Markle's Onscreen Dad Has a Message For Her Real One: "Just Love Your Daughter"

Since becoming a member of the royal family, Meghan Markle has been subject to far more attention, scrutiny, and criticism than she ever was as a Hollywood actress — and unfortunately, a lot of the negativity has been coming from her own family members. Meghan's father, 74-year-old former lighting director Thomas Markle, has been unable to stop himself from speaking out about Meghan and her royal in-laws to the press, most recently likening the monarchy to "Scientologists or the Stepford family." And along with myself, Chrissy Teigen, and probably the entire royal family, Meghan's former onscreen dad Wendell Pierce is over his comments.

The actor portrayed Robert Zane, the father of Meghan's Suits character Rachel Zane, and opened up about her recent family drama in an interview with The Telegraph this week. Wendell had a rather pointed message for Thomas, saying, "If you care about Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, then that should be first and foremost in your mind before you say anything. If you love your daughter, just love your daughter. It's not for public consumption."

The former The Wire star also shared a sweet behind-the-scenes story from his time filming Meghan's climactic wedding scene on Suits, which marked her exit from the USA series in April. "We had a moment I cherish," he said. "I was sitting with Meghan in her wedding dress, as we waited for a set-up. We were alone. I said to her, 'Your life is going to change. It's going to be amazing and I'm very happy for you but I want you to know that I'm your friend, and no matter where you are or what's going on — if the fishbowl that you're in ever starts getting to you — you can call me.'" He continued to say that even though Meghan and Harry weren't engaged at the time, he "figured something might happen" due to the "increased security" he saw around her on the set.

Simple Ways To Effectively Save Money At Work

Given that most of us spend the biggest chunk of our days in office, it's also the place that witnesses some of our unhealthiest and most wasteful spending habits

Given that most of us spend the biggest chunk of our days in office, it's also the place that witnesses some of our unhealthiest and most wasteful spending habits

Most of us tend to have this terrible habit of uploading investment proofs for accounting purposes, which invariably ends in paying thousands in taxes that could have been easily avoided. If you must, take a day off a fortnight before the deadline for submitting investment proofs to your office just to get your paperwork in order with your CA and investment manager.

It's tedious to go through the monthly cycle of filing medical, travel, conveyance, telephone bills, we know. But it's important, because over months, it can amount to tens of thousands of rupees. If you don't do it before the end of the financial year, you end up paying a LOT of tax on it, and you may even have to forfeit some reimbursements altogether.

Even if you're not ordering in every day, and your office provides you lunch at a subsidised cost, it's still worth your while to spend time cooking your own meals and bringing them to work. For one, cooking can be a great destressing activity.

Buying roasted channa might be more expensive than a 100-rupee packet of chips, but it's an investment in your health and is cheaper in the long run. Also, it's definitely a whole lot cheaper than the cheese burger we all end up succumbing to when there's no food in sight while working late.

The Positive Effects Of Time Management

You see, time management works by reducing stress, and when you reduce the stress that you have in your life you get more time to think. That means you have more time to allow creative solutions to everyday problems, which is very important whether you are a mom or a business person. Allowing creative solutions to everyday problems is the number one key to having a balanced life. So, the first thing you can expect from effective time management is to get more time to think which allows you to solve everyday problems easily.

Time management helps you accomplish things faster than you think possible. This allows you to spend your discretionary time with people you love. When you have more free time you get to spend time with people you love and help them achieve what they want. And isn't life all about helping people you love and being there for them? Time management allows you to do that.

Well, who doesn't want to get the days work done faster and leave the office as soon as possible. Or maybe you're a business owner who is looking at getting a project finished so you can get started on the next one. Well, whatever your goal is time management will help you get things done faster if you apply it correctly.


Now, the important thing that I need to mention is that please do not expect all these effects to surface in the first day of learning how to manage your time It takes some time and the ability to change things if you find something is not working for you.

Self-confidence and self-confidence - immediate actionable tips

"I would love to be stronger. Trust me. I dare to be more ME. Dare to do more of my thing. Easier to approach people. And while we're at it: I would also like to be more at peace with myself. Just say, 'Hey, I'm no k, the way I am, no matter what the others think.'

Could that be the thought? If so, then you are right here. Because this is about these topics: self-confidence, self-confidence and self-acceptance. Or, more precisely, it's about how to increase those positive qualities.

To accept oneself means to accept oneself as one is. So to say: Yes, my nose is crooked and I'm still a human o. K. The big question is: how can one really live this attitude of self-acceptance? So to really accept oneself in everyday life. Also with what you do not like about yourself. This is a simple but very effective tip that needs a bit of practice.

Do you know what self-confidence is? That's the belief in oneself. The belief that you can handle the challenges that throw life into your path. The belief that by thinking, diligent work and staying in touch, you can achieve everything you have planned for.

Self-confident people behave more confidently than people with low confidence in themselves. They react calm and relaxed in difficult situations. You can listen to criticism and deal with it in a relaxed way. In addition, people with a strong self-confidence act more than they react. And they address things that are important to them.

Self-improvement for advanced skiers

Fast? But sure, since Ash Wednesday! And, yes, of course until Easter, at least until Easter. No meat. No alcohol. No sweets. Sports every day. Discuss with an AFD voter once a week. Remove the old to-do list. Be friendly and nice, even boring. To this end, digital detoxification of course tightened: only three times a day to seize the psychoprosthesis and check a maximum of fifteen minutes emails and social media.

Good! Very good! But were not the good New Year's resolutions exactly nine program points? And did not they sound, well, yes, very similar? Only 12 percent of people manage to keep their New Year or Lent intentions , so 88 percent fail.

Why is that? And if so, why do we keep trying? Why do people make intentions on New Year's Eve? Are they depriving themselves of the beginning of Lent, high and holy? And do you already know that it will not work again afterwards? How to become world champion in the tolerance of your own failure?

On the one hand, it is innate, an adjustment disorder to a certain extent. The human brain wants to spare its resources, it avoids activation energy, so it is basically lazy and likes to run on autopilot. To continue doing as before seems always to be the more economical option for the brain. Experiment series have shown that it takes an average of 66 days for a person to really reapply a good habit or train a bad one. In other words, anyone who manages it for 66 days has made it.

On the other hand, because people in multi-option societies suffer from chronic voluptuousness, smartphone fasting, for example, could be the best way to get started in those 66 days. A few days of ordered use of psychoprostheses releases amazing willpower for greater things.


If you want to try it, you should divide the 66 days into three phases, which are explained in the big essay to the habit change. And no, no one has to wait until the next Ash Wednesday, but rather stick with Confucius: "If you intend to renew yourself, do it every day."

Language learning: the digital helps, but does not dethrone the human

Many teachers still feel fears about new technologies and focus on continuing traditional courses. Others, on the other hand, rely on these tools to enrich their courses, without making an apology without limit.

And it is, indeed with caution that the professor uses today digital in its courses. She works in "reverse class," asking her students to watch video clips before classes to prepare them, "a way to touch different sensory channels." It also uses platforms to create quizzes online; or makes "clouds of words"to work on representations. Géraldine Larguier often uses collaborative tools, tests them upstream and then gives her opinion to these colleagues via social networks.

And if, purely digital applications flourish, some startups have made the choice to stand out by a human dimension through the 2.0 tools. Among these EdTech, we can mention Absolutely French, a startup that allows expatriate spouses to learn French. "Digital is a tool", but everything is based on practical experiences. "We started from the premise that we retain more of what we live," explains Armelle Perben, founder of the startup . "Thus, through workshops, learners go to the market, make treasure hunt in Paris, slip into roles in small groups or cooking. " In addition to these scenarios,"Digital is mandatory," she says. Absolutely French is developing an e-learning platform so that, with the classroom, fun exercises are available online. An application is also in preparation that will offer a word in French every day. "It allows us to make ourselves known, learn and review," adds Armelle Perben.

This is the case of Charlotte, 10, who has an appointment with her coach Abby, once a week. For this young Francilienne and her parents, although enrolled in a course of "reinforced English" in addition to its four hours of living language weekly, this was not enough. After spending 2 years in Singapore with her expatriate family, the schoolgirl and her parents were afraid that by reintegrating the French school system, her level of English would drop. "There are still big concerns for language learning in France," said Elodie, Charlotte's mother. With VivaLing, once a week, like a video Skype type, the girl talks with his coach on "Halloween, Christmas, sport or horseback riding",themes to which it is sensitive. And it is, in addition to the practical aspect related to the choice of the time slot, for the "hyperpersonalization" and "discussion" side that the Charlotte family decided for VivaLing.

Self-development tips for tech leaders

Setting goals, managing your time, being motivated and being able to focus are all self-management skills that great IT managers cultivate.
Despite this, skills classes for managers tend to focus around time management and organization. Here are some other self-management skills, and ways you, as a manager, can work on developing them

Keep your focus on projects
Maintaining a focus on projects, the mainstay of IT, seems obvious for IT managers but it isn't easy.

This is a difficult quandary to manage through, because it is critical for you to represent your organizations in company meetings, but you also have to keep your fingers on the pulse of projects.

The solution:
When you anticipate having full days of outside meetings, come in early and take an extra hour to touch base with your project leads.You don't want make a practice of having too many overcommitted days like this, but taking that extra hour in the morning has saved many IT managers the headache of having to straighten out major issues that arose in their absence, and that they could have prevented if they'd stayed in touch.

The plan of personal ability to enhance

No planned life is blind, everything must be planned, only then things can be done handy, well-organized. It is necessary to give yourself a personal development plan, so that the self can better adapt to their own lead. As a Personnel Commissioner, I am mainly responsible for the remuneration accounting, combined with the current characteristics of the work, from the following aspects to talk about my personal promotion plan:
1. own status analysis
advantage analysis
Doing things patience, perseverance, can be an orderly handling of cumbersome things, motivated, strong learning potential. Failing to calm, strong compressive potential.
Lack of analysis
Time management potential is poor, EXCEL office software proficiency in general, logical thinking potential is poor, poor expression potential, writing in general.

2. Personal potential to enhance the implementation of specific programs
Reasonable arrangements for the use of time, improve work efficiency. Book village net shucunwang.
Learn to list the list, the self to do everything to write down, this first allows you to always clear themselves on the task at hand. Do not believe that the self can use my mind to remember everything, and when you see the self-long list, it will also have a sense of urgency.

How to improve their learning ability?

In the human intelligence structure, learning ability is the most important ability, it is the foundation and premise of other ability. No ability to learn, other abilities can not be established and developed. How to improve their learning ability is particularly important

1. Clear purpose
Doing anything, the first is to have a clear purpose, learning knowledge is no exception. If the purpose of learning is not clear, even if hard, and then work, the effect will not be good. Like a person to the car to the east of a city, the results of the wrong way, to a Western city, the faster the car, the farther away from the destination. The purpose of modern managers is the six necessary, only to clear the purpose of learning in order to receive tangible results.

2. correct attitude
Attitude is able to make things dry half of the success. Some scholars put the correct attitude to form a style. The essence of the same is true, the American education professor Ken Dan said: "like everyone's character, characteristics vary widely, we learn new materials is also a variety of ways. To learn effective, the key is to know, And strive to cultivate their own style. "Visible, learning how to form the style of important. If you can correct attitude, to form their own style, will learn to receive results.

3. Develop a plan
Learning to work with any of the same, in order to be successful, in advance must develop a plan to be aware of. Learning plans include: learning purposes, learning time, learning content, learning methods, learning places, to achieve the results. For the plan to be strictly observed, and regularly check the implementation of how.

North Korean children 'forced to water drought-stricken fields at 5am' before shortened school day

As North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un steps up the rate of his hi-tech missile tests, schoolchildren in the hermit kingdom are reportedly being forced to cut class to water crops that are dying in a severe drought.

According to a report on Radio Free Asia’s Korean service, high school and college students in the north of the country have been mandated since mid-May to help water the dry fields from 5am to 10am every day.

Last week the Rodong Sinmun, the North’s biggest newspaper and regime mouthpiece, reported that the country had been struck by an “abysmal” drought.

It claimed that the authorities were involved in “prevention battles” and had dispatched 1,300 sprinkers and about 2,100 portable water pumps.

Pictures published by NK News showed at least three major reservoirs in South Hwanghae Province and next to Pyongyang airport in the capital had completely dried up.

Distance learning to reach 50 lakh by 2025, says VC of IGNOU

                                                     HYDERABAD: Students of open digital learning of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) would reach to 50 lakh by 2025 from the current 30 lakh students, university vice chancellor Prof Ravindra Kumar said on Friday.

The university would add about 100 new courses in the next couple of months to the existing 232 programmes of 60 areas currently being offered by the university.

"There is wrong perception among the people that distance learning is an alternative way of learning. But it is a parallel method of conventional learning. The open universities are not compromising on the quality of education," Ravindra Kumar said.


Ravindra Kumar told TOI that the university had already been providing services in digital mode right from filling up online application, payment of fees to providing material to Prof Ravin and would reach 100% digital in the coming years. "Every year, 10 lakh new students are being added in the open universities in the country. The only way of reaching them easily and speedily is through digital mode. The Centre had allotted five channels of IGNOU, of which four channels have already been launched for imparting edu cation to the stu dents," the vice chancellor said.


He said the downloaded study material is now av ailable not only for students but also general public (e gyan kosh). The students of other universities can al so access the material from anywhere, the vice-chancellor said. The university has already set up Electronics Media Centre for taking digital and visual to the students.

Study VS. Blog

Today I bid on not particularly fashion-related photos - but the pictures (which are also taken here and now) illustrating another great job in my everyday life. My studio. I often mention my study here on the blog and the reason is probably that the study in no way linked to the blog. I read dentistry at the University of Copenhagen ie Dentist training.

It's really two different worlds I stand up to every day. In the morning, the hair flung up into a bun, and I run mostly around in my white coat Panum - Later reports the great events, and kittelen being substituted with rivet-jackets, camel coats .. etc. Sometimes there is overlap - and then I have to prioritize - which depends a lot of subjects and of course how much the event appeals to me. I often get questions like: "How do you make it work?", "Are you dropped out?" And "WTF Lida, how do you have time to work and Zumba and blog? Do you sleep at all? "Yes I sleep and I get 7 hours of sleep every night - but I will admit that I right now do not read as much as I should.

I am the type who 'take it as it comes' without lazy it too much - Unlike high school where I was totally striving and probably stressful to deal with at times haha ​​.... It is very important for me to reach all the other good things in life next to my study, so I can remember back in the study as the Fed and not only recalled reading room and dry lectures. Some people prefer to have a few things in their lives - I'm the type who MUST deal with 100 things at once - otherwise bored I am! Anyway what I wanted with this post was enough just to give you an insight into my everyday life. Now I'll throw biochemistry book down - Time to get blogger hat - Sandra is coming, OOTD be shot and later Hunkemöller event. Adios!

Study When You are A Mom

Several people have asked me to share my thoughts about studying when you are mother - and I do so with pleasure!
It is fantastic! It is freedom and flexibility, and I enjoy it to the full.

It was assumed that I am longer in my studio, but that's how I started, when Augusta was 9 months old, and I had the first day of school shortly after she had first day of kindergarten, so I came a little later "started" when I in over four years had a beautiful position as a teaching assistant at a nursery.

I read the teacher training college and although this has been criticized academy more, then everyone who is on this training well well bite the bullet and recognize that words are not sitting at the school from 8-16 every day. However, it should prove a lot of study activity, but if you are reading recognition theories at the school, one Tuesday. 11, or Saturday. 22 Teachers are the total indifferent.

The managing his time obviously requires some self-discipline, but it also provides room for that one can organize his time to such a degree that one can often deliver her baby fairly late and pick up fairly early.
My boyfriend had maternity when Augusta was run into the nursery and it is so only now here, eight months after her start, we must have a full-time position (part-time space is a planned out space max. 30 hours).

Augusta's "table" has until now been very privileged compared to that we deliver between 8 and 9 and downloads before 14:30. The few who have the ability to manage their time like that, and I have great understanding for the parents who have no other choice than to deliver early and pick up late, but in our family we're just lucky that we can do it ancestry headed, and prioritize it enough greatly.

I realize that reading the burden on the teacher training college is not the same as more academic courses, such as law, etc., But in every place can decide its commitment to the study, which means that I choose to read all the texts (some are only after the corresponding tuition) while I, however, not as participants in the social part of being a student. It's a choice I have made that I interact and have fun with my fellow students during lessons, but my spare time is something I primarily use my family and myself.

It is debatable whether it is a rejection of something, but I'm 25 years old and I have appointed over the horns of me, and I have become very conscious about what I benefit most from using my time. So my education is something I take for academic reasons, and not social.

The downside is so that my primary obligation is not for school, but for my daughter. As of this week, I should have presented and participated in the study with a group of other people, but I have to stay home because Augusta is sick. It is obviously very regrettable because other partly depends on my work, but how does that now even together when one is mother.
You can not always run solo runs on an education, but if I could opt out of group work, so it was definitely the opportunity I had chosen, so I should not go to feel guilty when I let other than myself behind, so to say.

On weekdays and weekends I make sure to prioritize and plan, so I read the evening (but which will also be time to talk with her boyfriend, fun and relaxation), the days off (study days) which is used to get a handle on the sexy aspects, such as vacuuming, laundry, etc., while weekends are devoted to gathering and coziness.

When she is taken to be nothing, besides dinner, arranged as we prefer to buy in and make all other practical HutteliHut when she is not there.

Seeding the city’s future conservationists with The Learning Garden

Artist and environmentalist Yasir Hussain and sustainability educator Zahra Ali have started the ‘Organic City Pakistan’ initiative, which aims to educate schoolchildren about the importance of greenery and nature. PHOTOS: COURTESY ZAHRA ALI AND YASIR HUSSAIN

At a communal level, other than household or neighbourhood gardens, there is a growing focus now on developing school gardens, where their educational value can also be utilised. Such practices serve another important purpose – that of creating socially cohesive and lively spaces that promote communal bonding.

Karachi, too, is witnessing a movement for positive change. Coming to the scene is Organic City Pakistan. Co-founded by the husband-and-wife team of Yasir Hussain, an artist and environmentalist, and Zahra Ali, a writer and sustainability educator, Organic City Pakistan promotes green living through programmes such as Crops in Pots, Green Schools Programme, horticulture therapy, Art Lab and its Eco-Store.

The Green Schools Programme of Organic City is designed to be piloted in a traditional school set-up in Karachi. At the core of this programme is the Learning Garden, where activity-based gardening and environment classes following a ‘Green Curriculum’ in an organic patch and classroom leads to student certification.

The Organic City team wants to spread this initiative far and wide. As Zahra puts it, “Each school must have a learning garden where children can appreciate nature while observing and learning its divine ways to nurture life. In doing so, children get to understand the impact of the little things they do, and realise that they are global citizens.”

The first such functioning course has been hosted at a local charitable school, the Haq Foundation School. The curriculum serves the core requirements of the Green School Programme as well as hosting a seed bank for growing local heirloom seeds that can be re-harvested.

The programme kicked off last year with the active support of the school management, coordinated by the principal, Samina Asaad. In the first year, the garden had three vegetable patches — one for the students to work on, one shared by the teachers, management and working staff while in the third, the vegetables were taken by a local restaurant. The produce included kale, coloured bell peppers, broccoli, lettuce, herbs such as parsley, and five types of tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes, and the giant-sized brandy vine. For this year there are plans to add eggplant, spinach, pumpkins, carrots, mint and ginger.

The students learn to manage the whole process — from seed to harvest. They prepare the vegetable beds themselves and also learn to prepare compost. In addition to the host school, an educational outreach programme is provided to students from other schools and regular visits take place. The programme has become so popular among the city’s schools that, at a time when the law and order situation in the city was disturbed, Skype sessions took place from the learning garden to the participating schools.


Other than field engagement, every Thursday workshop sessions are held to give the students an even wider perspective, such as informing them about water conservation, chemical-free organic farming and the importance of birds and bees that are attracted to trees and vegetable patches.

The children learn to become global citizens. The practice is now spreading from the school to the homes of the students and the faculty. As Yasir puts it, “The School Farm is supplemented by what children grow at home, which helps spread the practice into the city.” There are plans to see that the programme also starts feeding into mainstream school curriculum. “Schools can easily adopt all or some part of the green curriculum. For example, a school can start composting and turn their paper waste into compost for their plants,” explains Zahra. “Children can make layers of shredded brown or white paper, pencil shavings, fruit peels from their lunch boxes, some dead leaves from the school garden and some sand. [They can then] store it in an air tight container and see how nature turns it into rich compost.”

The team of Organic City, in collaboration with the school management, has now planned to start learning classes in the school premises, open to all members of the community focused on kitchen gardening.

Children of gay parents fare well

NEW YORK — On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, new research suggests that children raised by gay parents are well adjusted and resilient, HealthDay reports.

Four new studies were scheduled to be presented this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association in Toronto that set out to assess the psychological and sociological health of children raised by same-sex couples.

One study looked at the experience of 49 pre-adolescent youngsters adopted by either two-dad or two-mom households. The children’s average age was 8.

Led by Rachel Farr, a research assistant professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, researchers interviewed both children and parents. Nearly 80 percent of the boys and girls said they felt “different” from other children because of their parents’ status, the study found. But less than 60 percent felt they had been stigmatized because of their same-sex family structure. And 70 percent appeared to respond to adversity with resilience, demonstrating an upbeat attitude about their family, the researchers found according to HealthDay.

A second study compared rates of anxiety and/or depression among 3- to 10-year-olds raised by 68 gay male couples with those of youngsters raised by 68 heterosexual parents. The team led by Robert-Jay Green, a retired professor of clinical psychology at the California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco, found that all of the children were psychologically healthy.


A third study — led by Henny Bos, an assistant professor in behavioral and social sciences at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands — found that 17-year-olds raised in households without a male role model were not psychologically maladjusted and appeared to engage in gender-appropriate behavior, HealthDay reports.

Who play nice do better in life with 20-year study?

Good social skills in kindergarten matter, and maybe more than strong early academics, according to a new longitudinal study that followed 5-year-olds into adulthood.

Researchers at Penn State University looked at teacher assessments of kindergarteners' social skills and tracked them through high school and into their early 20s. They found that kids with better "social competencies" at age 5 — as rated by their kindergarten teachers — were more likely to go to college and hold full-time jobs as young adults.

Children with lower social competencies, the study found, could be predicted to spend more time in special education and have more issues with substance abuse. They also were more likely to drop out of high school and go to prison before age 25.

The 20-year study has just been published in the American Journal of Pubic Health.

Mark Greenberg, study author and professor of human development and psychology at Penn State, said children who are better able to socialize with peers, exhibit more self-control and negotiate sandbox tussles without a tantrum might actually do better in life than kids who can read and write when they are 5 but have poor social skills.

"The kinds of things that we think only academics would be predictive for, turns out it's wrong," he said. "Turns out children's ability to get along with others and manage themselves well in positive ways affects both their academic outcomes and their labor market outcomes in adulthood."

As preschools increasingly focus on academics with the express goal of helping kids do better in kindergarten, the study shows that children's social emotional learning might matter more.

Greenberg's advice for parents when choosing a preschool is to not prioritize those with strong academic programs over schools that promote social-emotional learning.

Parents should look for preschools using "a social-emotional learning curriculum that has an evidence base that provides teachers with a kind of structure to build this kind of caring classroom environment," Greenberg said.

In short, young children will get the academics as they proceed through school. Learning social skills, like healthy social interactions, conflict resolution, and self-control, might be harder to learn as kids get older, yet all these competencies will positively affect kids' readiness to learn.

Seattle has the seventh-worst fans in the NFL

For the past three years, a team at Emory has used 15 years of NFL data in a quest to rank each of the 32 fanbases in the NFL. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Emory, a fine school in Atlanta, doesn’t even have a football team. This is like students from BYU writing studies about spring break or Harvard folks releasing their investigation into being cool. Regardless, the Emory researchers used a bunch of criteria — “hard data” they called it — andapplied some hardcore math/analysis to it, hoping to come up with “what team has the most avid, engaged, passionate and supportive fans.” Some of their findings:
1. DALLAS, NEW ENGLAND AND THE NEW YORK GIANTS TOP THE LIST.

This seems reasonable to me. While Emory admits that it’s hard to judge fanbases when a team is particularly good (obviously a good team will have more support than a bad team, no matter the general level of fan interest), the two NFC East teams on this list are always popular, even during down stretches. Because it’s been so long since we’ve seen the Patriots struggle, I can’t say I agree with their placement as much. Once Brady and Belichick leave, their number of fans will be greatly deflate, back to the pre-Brady and Belichick levels, when most people in Boston forgot the Patriots even existed.
2. BUFFALO, JACKSONVILLE, OAKLAND, CLEVELAND AND MIAMI ROUND OUT THE LIST.

The Dolphins as No. 32? Frankly, I find it hard to believe that any team has a worse fanbase than the Jaguars, but as long as the Jags are No. 29, I guess it’s legit. (The study says teams from Florida always are low in the rankings.) The rest of the bottom seems decent too. Maybe I was too harsh on our friends from Emory above.
3. THE JETS ARE NO. 5 AND THE TEXANS (NO. 12) ARE AHEAD OF THE BRONCOS (NO. 13), STEELERS (NO. 14) AND REDSKINS (NO. 15).

No one loves the Jets. They tolerate the Jets and watch them every Sunday because of self-hatred. Then, in those years when the Jets are good, they wait for the Jets to break their hearts because they know the Jets will do so. As for the Texans being ahead of three NFL blue bloods, come on. That’s just preposterous. A few quibbles aside (New Orleans at No. 8 is too high, Kansas City at No. 27 is way too low), I’m down with most of the rest of the list. But the Texans placement is ridiculous. Maybe I wasn’t too harsh on our friends from Emory.
4. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.


The 12th man, the fans of the Seattle Seahawks who have deluded themselves into thinking they’re truly a member of the franchise that won the 2013 Super Bowl and gave away the 2014 title is ranked — wait for it — No. 26 on this list. No. 26! The final verdict: Our friends from Emory did just fine on this list.

Mobile app Flinnt becoming popular as learning platform

Ahmedabad-based start-up's app allows teachers to communicate with students, parents
Ahmedabad, June 24:
In what makes the learning resource rich, easy, and interesting for school children, a WhatsApp-like mobile platform called Flinnt, allows teachers to create groups with students and share academic resources such as chapters, videos, data, and charts, among others.
Developed by a group of entrepreneurs from Ahmedabad in June 2012, Flinnt is currently being used by about 105 academic institutions across Gujarat and a few in Mumbai, Noida, Gurgaon, Hyderabad and Tirupati.
"This will act as a communication platform between students and teacher. This is a platform that allows one/ few to broadcast to many. So, content broadcast can be monitored and managed. It is a good platform to share user-generated content such as documents, videos of class-room teaching, best answer written by a student, or a graph or charts," said Tarak Yagnik, one of the four founders and a marketing expert.
The Android-based mobile app is being used for students in the K-12 segment, graduate and post-graduate. "Up to grade four, teachers send one-way communications such as reminders, announcements, homework, and activity photos directly to the parent’s phone," said Yagnik.
Once enrolled, the institute is given sign-up codes, with which teachers and students can use the app. For instance, teachers can post a document or a video on the platform, and students can comment on it and discuss it further. But unlike WhatsApp, the teachers can prevent abusive mischief by restricting students from commenting on a particular topic. The platform can also operate on a desktop PC.
Currently, the company has 40,000 users of the app. "Our charges range from Rs. 5,000 per annum to Rs. 15,000 per annum for different sizes of institutions. We are targeting private institutions first as they can take faster decisions," said Harish Iyer, co-founder and CEO.
The company, which has raised around $400,000, including an Angel round from US-based investors, expects to break even this year. Going forward, it is also planning to raise about Rs. 10-12 crore from venture funds.
In the next two-three years, the company plans to cover about 8,000-10,000 institutions across the country. By this year-end the start-up plans to have a presence in 15 cities.
Customer acquisition accounts for 70 per cent of the company’s expenses, while the remaining 30 per cent goes into development and infrastructure.

It took me 40 years to learn this, but it can change your life now

    In life we all hit certain milestones where we pause and reflect. For me, it was my 40th birthday. Just the number itself reminded me how many times around the sun I've traveled, and how many different lives I feel like I've led.

    There have been some consistent themes that always helped me make it through the tough times, and provided an extra bonus, super happy, fun-fun in the good times.

    These are my solid gold, Top 5, chart-topping favorites of my last 40-odd years. They can help you be more connected with people, avoid many interpersonal conflicts and in some cases even save your life.
    5. Be present

    The only moment you can do anything about is the one you're in.

    I used to hear people talk about "being present" and I often wondered how to do it. In fact, I still work to do this at times.

    Here are a couple of tips: Tune in to your breathing. Your lungs can only breathe today's air. They can't breathe yesterday's nor tomorrow's air. When you focus on your breathing, you are automatically locked into the moment.

    You have five senses. Tune into any one of them and feel the anxiety and body stress melt away. If you feel your mind wander back into the land of your thoughts, gently bring your awareness back to your hearing, vision, touch, smell, taste or your breathing.
    4. Be rebellious

    . Break the rules sometimes. It's OK to disobey, you learn and teach some great lessons this way.

    I'm not talking about any major laws here, but don't be afraid to live your life according to your heart's desire. People all around us have an agenda for our lives, many of which manifest as societal rules and "dealbreakers."

    One of my favorite things to do is start up a chat with guys in a public restroom, which is a big social taboo. This creates a vast variety of reactions, but it is always entertaining and at least one of us always walks away smiling (usually both of us).
    3. Follow your heart, pursue your dreams

    . No one can live your life better than you.

    Ever feel "unworthy"? Yeah, me too. I think everyone struggles with feelings of inadequacy at some point. Remember there is a reason you are here. Some people will even try to take advantage of your inadequacy and do their best to keep you feeling small. Don't let them.

    I do some film acting and a commercial or two here and there. I love acting, but for years I had a tendency to let other people talk me out of it. None of these people were pursuing a passion of their own. Now my passion for acting is a baseline for my life.
    2. Be grateful for everything "good" and "bad"

    Some of the best things in life come from things that seem bad or difficult.

    When my second wife left, I was devastated. It was genuinely one of the most painful experiences of my life. However, I committed to focus on myself. I took some time to myself, focused on grounding my soul, and looked at what activities spoke to me.

    Acting had been a passion of mine in my younger days. I had quit years before because of the feedback and agenda of others in my life, and had always regretted it.

    Splitting with my second wife opened the door for me to start acting again, to rediscover my passion. When I was acting, I felt like I could finally breathe again. Now I have been in 20 or so films and short films, produced two independent movies and am developing my third feature film.

    I am grateful for the pain of that split, because I know it led me back to my passion. Some of the best things come from events that are hard. Be grateful for these things. The quicker you can find gratitude, the quicker you'll find the benefit of the challenge.
    1. Be kind

    There is a reason that this is number one on my list. Mother Teresa said, "Three things in human life are important; the first is to be kind, the second is to be kind, and the third is to be kind."

    The importance of kindness can not be overstated. If you have ever been the recipient of any measure of kindness or if you have ever seen the relief and love on the face of a recipient of kindness, you will know that there is nothing quite as rewarding and connecting as a kind word.

    Make sure kindness an undercurrent for everything you do. It can be difficult in the face of criticism or even anger, but nothing diffuses anger and judgment better than continued kindness.

    Implementing the above list is not always easy. In fact, it can often feel like nothing is more difficult, but in my experience it is always, always worth a shot.

Learn Italian phrases: Meeting a client for lunch

Conversation
... certo, glielo manderemo subito. Le è piaciuta la bistecca?
... of course, we'll get that supplied immediately. Hope you enjoyed your steak?
Deliziosa, così come l'insalata. Posso pagare il conto?
Delicious, and the salad too. Can I pay the bill?
No, a Milano è mio ospite. Il cameriere chiede se vuole un bicchiere di limoncello.
No, you're my guest in Milan. The waiter is asking if you want a glass of limoncello.
Perchè no? Ne prende uno anche lei?
Why not? Will you join me?
Beh, secondo le regole aziendali non potrei, ma in questa occasione va bene!
Well, according to our company code, I'm not supposed to, but on this occasion, yes.
Ottimo! Salute allora, al nostro nuovo progetto! Excellent!
Cheers then, to our new project!
Business lunch terms
il/la cliente client
il pranzo di lavoro working lunch
l'ospite host/guest
dividere il conto/pagare alla romana to split the bill/to go Dutch
brindare to toast
salute! cheers!
la mancia tip
la ricevuta receipt
stringersi la mano to shake hands
il bigliettino da visita business card
l'ospitalità hospitality
i contatti contacts/connections
la riunione meeting
Meetings
la presentazione presentation
l'orario/l'agenda agenda
il verbale report/minutes
le domande questions
il proiettore overhead projector
il portatile laptop
Picking up the tab

ti prego di permettermi di pagare please do me the honour of allowing me to pay
fammelo mettere in nota spese let me put it on my expenses
abbiamo una convenzione con questo ristorante we have an agreement with this restaurant
ho già fatto io I've already taken care of it
Types of pasta
le farfalle butterfly-shaped
i fusilli spiral-shaped
le orecchiette ear-shaped
i cannelloni large, stuffable
i vermicelli thinner than spaghetti
i capellini thinner than vermicelli
le fettuccine ribbon-size
le linguine flattened spaghetti
le pappardelle thick, flat ribbon
le tagliatelle thinner than fettuccine
i ravioli/tortelloni square or rounded, stuffed
i tortellini ring-shaped, stuffed
gli gnocchi potato-flour dumplings
Other things to say ...
com'è l'abbigliamento/come bisogna vestirsi? what's the dress code?
la riunione inizia in orario? is the meeting on time?
siete aperti a qualche tipo di contrattazione? are you open to negotiation?
accettereste un piccolo dono? would you accept a small gift?
mi scusi, devo rispondere sorry, I have to take this (call)
fammi fare il primo brindisi let me make the first toast
e adesso parliamo di affari let's get down to business