Daily Archives: February 25, 2017

Transitioning from a credit analyst to a commercial banker with Wells Fargo allowed Hanstad to view the monthly events in a new light.

"I'd moved to Fargo and started this new position and suddenly Women Connect became an opportunity to network with a large group of businesswomen," Hanstad says.

But she wanted an even deeper connection with the women she would meet each month in the large group setting.

That connection came in the form of a program called PUSH, which stands for "Pursue Dreams, Unite Women, Shatter Barriers, Have Heart."

The program is the brainchild of Carrie Carney and Chelsea Monda, two young professionals in the community who met through a mutual friend to discuss women's empowerment programs.

More than a year ago, Carney, marketing director at Eventide, and Monda, a senior client consultant at Sundog, began meeting monthly at a local coffee shop to share expertise and ideas for creating a network of women gathering in a smaller setting.

In January 2016, PUSH officially launched at the Women Connect event and soon after, Carney and Monda began receiving requests from women who wanted to be placed in a group.

Hanstad was one of those requesters. She reached out to Carney for the email addresses of individuals who'd expressed interest in a group, and eventually her group grew to include nine women.

"It was like we were long-lost friends," she says. "We all just got along so well and have connected to one another ... some of my very best friends in Fargo are people I met through this PUSH group."

Hanstad's experience is common, Carney and Monda say. The placement of women in the groups is entirely random, and the ideal size for a group is eight people. The idea of being placed randomly eliminates any preconceived notions so new relationships can be established, Monda says.

Since the program launched last year, 35 groups have been created with more than 200 women participating in them. Additionally, the PUSH Facebook group has nearly 400 members.

Once a group is formed, members are provided with rules of engagement. Monda says the rules are a guideline for helping the group begin developing relationships among the members and not actually rules.

Beyond the initial phrase of providing contact information and guidelines, Monda says PUSH groups are mostly self-managed and become a great outlet for women who want to achieve personal or professional goals.

Carney and Monda have each set and achieved a number of goals since they formed their PUSH group. "I've reached some goals I wouldn't have without this group," Carney says. For example, Monda set a goal to train for and run a 5K, and her PUSH group held her accountable to that goal. Carney changed jobs and used her PUSH group as a sounding board for issues associated with her new role.

Even though PUSH is a sub-committee of Women Connect, you don't have to be a Chamber member to be in a group, Carney says.

Women interested in joining can request to start a new group or be placed in an existing one.

"So many women are going out of their comfort zones and being placed randomly, but they have nothing to lose and everything to gain," Carney says.

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Pushing past barriers: Program aims to foster empowering female relationships - Grand Forks Herald

Appleholic, (noun), pl-hlk: An imaginative person who thinks about what Apple is doing, why and where it is going. Delivering popular Apple-related news, advice and entertainment since 1999.

Apple continues to create tools that let creative people be creative, with a new album release recorded on an iPhone, edited on GarageBand and made available through Apple Music proving the value of the end-to-end creative ecosystem the company has built.

Grammy-nominated artist, Steve Lacy (also in a band called The Internet), just released a new album project (Steve Lacy's Demo) through Apple Music. The entire project was recorded on an iPhone, edited using Apples consumer-friendly GarageBand, and made its debut on Apple Music this week.

You can hear it here.

I think the release underlines Apples historical commitment to providing creative tools for the rest of us. The complexity of the music helps demonstrate the potential of these tools for unique self-expression.

Lacy spoke with Beats 1 anchor, Matt Wilkinson, about the project and why he chose to work with an iPhone. While he built some drum riffs in Ableton, Lacy pulled all the recordings together in GarageBand. The artist likes that he can record ideas and build new hooks in his hotel room when hes on tour.

The hook on the first track was recorded in a hotel room in Australia, he said, I will record anywhere I get an idea, he said. So shout out to GarageBand for being so mobile and such a good way to get my ideas out.

While its a neat story in technology terms, Lacy is also passionate about the potential for self-expression locked inside devices hundreds of millions of iPhone users already possess. In the right hands these devices are tools for personal empowerment.

To give the message to kids that like, you dont have to be limited to use this equipment to get these ideas out. Cos you know you have like, I feel like theres a lot of kids, or just people in general who are like, I cant do this because I dont have this. You know what Im saying? Yeah, when you have an iPhone, work with what you have. Cos if you have the ideas, its going to comprehend you know what Im saying?

Lacy is one of a new breed of completely digitally savvy artists. He was eight-years old when the iPhone first appeared and five when Apple shipped the first version of GarageBand.

I started making beats on my iPhone because I wasnt about the excuse of oh I dont have this, so Im just not gonna do it, he says.

So I went to this Guitar Center convention and bought this piece called the iRigwhich was $20. Initially I got it just to plug my guitar in my phone and see what apps have cool guitar effects. Then I got this app called Akai MPCand thats where I started chopping all my drums up and doing all my samples, strictly off the iPhone, he said.

Then I made a little more money, got a laptop, and made beats and songs off my laptop, but I still went back to this method. It was just raw and its home, you know?"

Lacy isnt the first artist to record an album completely on an iPhone other artists to have done so include One Like Son and Dan Tedesco. Damon Albarn famously recorded Gorrilaz fourth studio album, The FaIl, on an iPad.

It is all the same worth noting that Lacys album makes its debut during the same month veteran music industry title, Billboard, used a picture taken using an iPhone as the image on its front cover.

Events like these testify to the raw creative power available to every iPhone user.

Ten years since the introduction of the iPhone, these 'computers for the rest of us' reflect Steve Jobs' life's work, from his summer job at HP to the potential for powerful creative expression you hold in your pocket, today.

I cant help but reflect that the fact millions worldwide now have access to these creative tools can be seen as a fitting tribute to Apples Steve Jobs, who would have been 62-years old today.

Google+?If you use social media and happen to be a Google+ user, why not joinAppleHolic's Kool Aid Corner communityand join the conversation as we pursue the spirit of the New Model Apple?

Got a story?Drop me a line via Twitter. I'd like it if you chose to follow me there so I can let you know when fresh items are published here first on Computerworld.

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Apple Music just released an album made on an iPhone ... - Computerworld

Jonathan Butcher, AZ I See It 5:46 p.m. MT Feb. 24, 2017

The Arizona Legislature is training its sights on the plan to broaden eligibility for Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, a school-choice program created six years ago for disabled children. Wochit

Lanae Enriquez and her daughter, Addison.(Photo: Courtesy of Lanae Enriquez)

Two children, born a decade apart, can teach their parents the same lesson. For Lanae Enriquez, her stepsons young life and her daughters bright potential emphasize the value of a quality education starting from day one.

Arizona lawmakers are considering legislation that would give every Arizona child the chance to have this opportunity, regardless of their ZIP code or parents paychecks.

Lanae traces her stepsons current struggles in high school back to his being passed along from year to year in elementary school. He is doing all he can to keep up with his classes now, she says.

We have kept on top of him more (in recent months), so its brought his grades up, Lanae says. Its really concerning because now, I have to think, Do I want that for my daughter? Lanae says, whose daughter, Addison, turns 5 in March.

Lawmakers are considering giving all families access to a flexible learning option that has only been available to certain students since 2011: Education Savings Accounts. With these accounts, the state deposits a portion of a childs funding from the state formula into a private bank account that parents use to buy educational products and services for their children.

The accounts are distinct from other educational options because parents can choose multiple learning services simultaneously for their child. Some parents may choose to hire a personal tutor for their student to help them in math, while others may combine online classes, private schoolingand public school extracurricular activities.

GABRIEL: ESAs are Arizona's best innovation

Arizona pioneered the accounts in 2011 for children with special needs, expanding access to the accounts over time to help children with challenges like those assigned to failing schools, children adopted from the state foster care system, and students on Native American reservations.

Research from EdChoice finds that one-third of participants are making multiple educational choices with the accounts sometimes, but not always, including a new school. A survey of participating families in 2013 found that 71 percent of participants reported being very satisfied with their childs account. No parent reported any level of dissatisfaction.

Parents and students can't wait for the state to straighten out its complex school funding formula. They need options now.(Photo: Michael Schennum/The Republic)

Lanae is one of thousands of Arizonans who are well-acquainted with choosing how and where their child learns when an assigned school is not the right fit. She moved her stepson to a new district school as he wrestled with his studies. Some 200,000 Arizona parents choose charter schools. Scholarship organizations awarded 60,000 scholarships to eligible students this year to attend K-12 private schools. Thousands more move across district lines to choose a different traditional public school.

Lanae considered a charter school for Addison, but the charter schools in their area fill seats using a lottery. These lotteries conjure images of gymnasiums full of nervous parents holding a ticket that may determine their childs academic success or failure. Lanae wants more than just to hope that my child gets in, she says.

DIAZ: Why school choice is an illusion

All parents want their child to succeed from her first day of kindergarten to when she is handed a high-school diploma. If their child is struggling in a local school, some Arizonans can find public schools across town or charter schools with seats available.

But others may not have these options. And for all of us, life happens: Lanae is expecting a baby and had to leave work now that she is well into her pregnancy. Addison was attending a private Montessori school, but times are tight for her family.

Its heartbreaking for us as parents that she is not eligible for an education savings account now, Lanae says, because the account would allow Addison to remain at the Montessori school.

The accounts can help families cross the income divide. Average accounts for mainstream students are worth $5,600, according to legislative analysts. A survey of Arizona private schools finds that about half of private schools have tuition at or below this level, making this option a possibility for more families. Approximately 85 percent of private schools in the state provide tuition assistance to help cover the rest.

Families that want more than just a new school can use the account to buy an online class or even pay for a college class before the child graduates high school. A child with a visual impairment could use their account to buy braille materials to help with schoolwork.

ROBB:Universal vouchers make school choice pretty cheap

All Arizonans care about education. Last year, voters chose to add $3.5 billion to public schools over the next decade. Fiscal analysts report that the education savings accounts awarded to children with special needs save the state $1,400 per student. Arizonas dizzying funding formula also creates a cost savings for students transferring from certain other public schools and creates a cost savings for districts in expenses like transportation and food service.

Lawmakers have worked for more than 15 years at simplifying the states funding formula to make sure resources are used to improve student learning. But a $10 billion education budget has proved hard to steer.

Parents and children like Lanae and Addison cannot wait for a better funding system when Addison can have a chance to succeed now with an education savings account. The same is true for traditional and charter public schools. Ideas to give these schools more flexibility and to help teachers challenge students should not be in a holding pattern while we adjust how tax dollars flow to schools.

For Lanae, and for thousands of parents who want their children to dream big, its not about the money. I would love to have her in the best school that I possibly could. Someplace that could nurture her talents and talents that we dont even know that she has, Lanae says.

Jonathan Butcher is education director at the Goldwater Institute and senior fellow at the Beacon Center of Tennessee.

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Viewpoints: The case for expanding Empowerment Scholarship Accounts - AZCentral.com

Excelsior Correspondent

JAMMU, Feb 22: Founder of The Art of Living Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conducted Dynamism in Self and Nation (DSN) Programme earlier known as Divya Samaj Nirman online, which was attended by 8000 plus people across 100 locations pan India and Russia. From AOL centres in Punjab to remotest corners in Tripura and Assam, from Latur in Maharashtra to Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh and from Jammu to Kanyakumari, the people connected virtually to learn powerful combination of Yoga, group processes and deep spiritual knowledge to break through personal barriers and create personal empowerment spanned over 4 days with Sri Sri with the message Be all that you can be! Be the Movers and Shakers of the World. Change the world with your smile. Dont let the world change your smile, do commitment to contribute to the society to build a better country. Approximately 100 centres across India and Russia had organized The Art of Livings signature DSN Programme with Sr Sri Ravi Shanker. This is the first time Sri Sri Ravi Shanker is conducting this type of programme online since the inception of The Art of Living connecting India virtually online through webcast. In Jammu Region, people from all walks of life and background and religion including AOL faculty members connecting humanity through the power of breath, yoga and spirituality joined at Gian Mandir, Trikuta Nagar. The said programme was locally assisted by Swami Gunatit ji from Art of Living International Centre, Bangalore and organised by other senior faculty members of AOL Chapter along with dedicated team of volunteers, said Ajay Kapoor, State Media Coordinator of Art of Living. The Art of Living DSN course is a rigorous and transformational course, designed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Through a powerful combination of Padma Sadhana, special meditations, breathing techniques, group processes, and deep spiritual knowledge, the DSN course empowers participants to break through personal inhibitions and barriers of all kinds, Kapoor added. Ajay Kapoor also briefed about various benefits of DSN course.

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Sri Sri Ravi Shankar conducts DSN Prog online - Daily Excelsior

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Bloomfield Company Uses Disney Princesses To Promote Female Empowerment Patch.com Martha Peralta, the owner of Bloomfield entertainment company Bella Princess, said that she recently revamped her company's programs to use princess-related imagery to advocate for female empowerment and channel girls' potential for personal growth..

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Bloomfield Company Uses Disney Princesses To Promote Female Empowerment - Patch.com