Martin Cid's Blog: Martin Cid Magazine, page 1105

Birthdays Today, Jan 23: Chachi Gonzales, Arjen Robben, Mariska Hargitay

She is great, she won the show America’s Best Dance Crew, she is our Top#1 Famous Birthdays Today, January 23,  and she is… Chachi Gonzales! She was born in Houston in 1996 and, from Yareah, we wish her and her family all the best in this special day. Congrats and happy birthday, Chachi Gonzales!

Famous Birthdays Today, January 23: Olivia Chachi Gonzales. Source: Wikipedia. Author: RandyJ011

Donuts are a very important meal to me because, they give me all the nutrition I need for life, like, if I keep eating all of these, I’m gonna be so hype about life that I’ll jut be… Happy. Healthy happy. That’s the best kind of healthy there is. Happiness.

Chachi Gonzales

If you want to succeed more than you want to breathe, then you will be successful.

Chachi Gonzales

More famous birthdays today, January 23: Arjen Robben, a great soccer player born in Bedum, Netherlands in 1984, who played for Real Madrid; and Mariska Hargitay, actress born in Santa Monica, California in 1964.

Happy birthday! Have a very nice day, dear friends.

Famous Birthdays Today, January 23 Video: CHACHI GONZALES | Dance With Me EP.1

Sam Heughan and Robert Burns. Scotland rocks this month!

Actor Sam Heughan, best known for his role as Jamie Fraser in Outlander TV show (Starz), has lent his voice for two special Burns Night poetry recitals. He has recorded two of the Bard’s most well-known poems ‘Ae Fond Kiss’ and ‘Red, Red Rose’.

Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser in Outlander

The first recording was released this week and the second will be revealed on Burns Night – Monday 25 January. Both are part of a Scottish Government campaign to honor Robert Burns around the world.

The Bard of Ayrshire is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland. In fact, he is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although he also wrote in standard English. He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and a great source of inspiration to the founders of liberalism and socialism around the world.

Furthermore, Scottish government is encouraging people to take a selfie with a Burns statue or a Burns-related item. The selfie, or ‘Burnsie,’ can also include a Burns bust, a painting, book of poems, or even a traditional Burns Night supper of haggis, or anything that symbolizes the great poet.

Sam Heughan and Robert Burns. Scotland rocks this month! Listen to this!

These ‘Burnsies’ will be collated into a massive mosaic image of Robert Burns and will be shared on the About Scotland social media channels and www.scotland.org website on Burns Night.

Robert Burns fans can submit their ‘Burnsie’ until midnight on January 24, 2016.

“When I feel my Muse beginning to jade, I retire to the solitary fireside of my study, and there commit my effusions to paper, swinging, at intervals, on the hind-legs of my elbow chair, by way of calling forth my own critical strictures, as my, pen goes.” Robert Burns.

Enjoy your day, Yareah friends. Art is everywhere and up to you!

Young Chicago Authors presents the world’s largest youth poetry festival

Young Chicago Authors (YCA) presents the world’s largest youth poetry festival, the 16th annual Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB), a stage for talented teenage poets to compete for individual and team honors. This year’s festival will include hundreds of Chicago-area poets facing off at more than 90 events starting on February 13 and culminating with two special celebrations: a Sweet 16 anniversary Benefit Party honoring hip-hop legend Chuck D of Public Enemy at the Metro Chicago (3730 N Clark St) on Friday, March 18; and the LTAB Team Finals showcasing the top four high school teams competing in an Olympic-style poetry slam with a special half-time show by Jay Z’s Roc Nation label’s new signee, Vic Mensa, at Chicago’s Auditorium Theater (50 E Congress Pkwy) on Saturday, March 19.

Young Chicago Authors presents Louder Than A Bomb

LTAB 2016 will take place at 10 venues, featuring the talents of 1,200 students from more than 125 schools across 120 different Chicagoland zip codes. Participants work year-round to craft lyrically acrobatic performances that cover many pivotal topics including policing, social justice and equity, which often have spectators on the edge of their seats.

“For 16 years this festival has been a platform for young people to use words to transform their lives and impact the world at large for the better,” said poet, LTAB founder and YCA artistic director Kevin Coval. “There has never been a more important time to listen to what young people have to tell us about society, and poetic expression offers a window to a world that often is overlooked.”

“Louder Than A Bomb is a powerful and important cultural event,” said Michelle T. Boone, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. “Not only does it showcase the tremendous talent of Chicago’s young people, it also brings together people from every corner of the city in an environment that fosters education, encourages self-expression and gives audiences insight into the real issues that teens are grappling with every day. We are proud that Chicago is the birthplace of Louder Than A Bomb, and can’t wait to see the work of this year’s participants.”

This year’s festival will be presented with the help of some of the city’s most accomplished lyricists including educator and vocalist Jamila Woods, award-winning poet Nate Marshall as well as Chicago hip hop stars Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper.

Chuck D of Public Enemy, aka Carlton Douglas Ridenhour, is an award-winning emcee, author, and producer that inspired the festival’s name with Public Enemy’s 1988 hit “Louder Than a Bomb.” On Friday March 18, at Metro Chicago, Chuck D will co-host, with Public Enemy’s DJ Lord, the Sweet 16 Benefit Party; he will be interviewed on stage during the “Hip Hop History Lesson” portion of the event and will perform some of Public Enemy’s greatest hits. The following evening, Saturday, March 19, at the LTAB Team Finals, Chuck D, DJ Lord and LTAB founder Kevin Coval will present the “LTAB Chuck D Lyrical Terrorist Award” to the youth participant that most showed an approach to activism in their work throughout the five-week 2016 LTAB festival.

Young Chicago Authors presents the world’s largest youth poetry festival.

LTAB 2016 Schedule: Feb. 13 – March 19, 2016:

Preliminary Bouts: February 17 – 20 and February 24 – 27 at Columbia College Chicago.

Semi-Finals: March 15 at the Metro Chicago from 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.

Indy Finals: March 17 at the DuSable Museum of African American History starting at 6 p.m.

Sweet 16 Benefit Party: March 18 at the Metro Chicago.

Team Finals: March 19 at the Auditorium Theater starting at 6 p.m.

For ticket information about the 2016 LTAB festival and the 2016 Benefit Party visit: youngchicagoauthors.org.

Grow your own Dinosaur at London Toy Fair

Grow your Own Megasaur

H. GROSSMAN LTD

Stand E40 Olympia. London Toy Fair

Grow your own Megasaur at London Toy Fair

From the company that brought you the amazing Alien Eggs and the Looming craze, Glasgow based H. Grossman are now introducing the Megasaur Growing Egg at the the toy industry’s flagship event at Olympia, London which starts this Sunday (24th January)

To complement their award winning range of lifelike dinosaurs – the Megasaurs, the company are introducing the pocket money egg which allows youngsters to literally grow their own Megasaur.

Immersed in water over five days a baby Megasaur will break free of the shell. At GBP 2.99 it’s a small price to pay for your very own prehistoric pet!

The Ozbozz brand is renowned for great outdoor products and this year sees a whole selection of new offerings including the Speedy folding scooters (with speedometer) in new colours The speedy is designed for those who want to know how fast they can go. In a variety of colourways the stand out feature is the easy to read speedometer. You can choose to log your speed in km or mph and the speedo will time you and handily logs your fastest speed to date and how many miles you’ve travelled. It’s detachable too! Also new is the Galaxy Burst Scooter which has three fantastic light up functions to light up the deck and the sides or both. The new Defender scooter has a real solid feel with an amazing array of lights on the deck which stay on as long as you scoot.

There are new satchel scooters, complete with a handy bag which clips onto the front of the scooter. We have light up scooters of all types, a new pro scissor scooter and lots of great new styles across pogo sticks, quad boots, satchel skateboards and hog trikes. The best-selling Cosmic Light and Lightning Strike scooters have all been updated with brand new decks.

Cosmic Light now lights up when the deck is stepped on and Lightning Strike is motion activated for even more sparkling scooting. Torq is THE range for expert scooter fans! For older children check out the brand new Mannix Stunt Scooter in a variety of colourways, designed to test those who have a little more expertise.

The Pro range of pogo sticks is also around for those with a few tricks under their belt. For the colour conscious there is Elektra, a co-ordinated range across all outdoor items in bright neon colours.

Talking of colours, take a look at the dazzling range of new skateboards in lightweight and durable plastics.

The multi award winning My First Scooter has been completely re-vamped with a new folding system and colourways. This clever design transforms from a four wheeler to a three wheeled to a two wheeler and grows with your child. Also for younger children the robust Trail n Twist has a great new base design making this trendy scooter a must have item for the kid that’s going places.

Need to get somewhere faster than under your own steam? Check out our new range of electric scooters and battery operated vehicles across all different prices. If you’d rather sit back and be carried in style check out the fabulous e-star electric scooter. This zippy battery powered beauty is suitable for anyone under 70kg and takes between 6-8 hours to charge up. Once fully charged the scooter will run for 8-10 kms at a time – this will, of course, depend on the terrain and your weight! With a top speed of 12km this scooter will be zipping all round the UK by next Christmas.

LICENSED PRODUCTS

Grossmans are introducing a whole host of merchandise from the much heralded Ghostbusters movie. 2016 sees a comprehensive line up of scooters, skateboards, pogos, helmet, bike and a spectacular range of pocket money items from whoopee cushions to wobblers. Not forgetting slime! 2016 is going to be the year of Ghostbusters slime, it will be everywhere! So remember – If you need Ghostbusters you know who to call!

Continuing the movie theme for 2016 is the Secret Life of Pets, the hilarious new offering from the guys that brought you Despicable Me and the Minions. The cast of pet characters has something for everyone and as a nation of pet lovers the UK is going to fall in love with these quirky movie stars. HGL has the license for wheeled goods and pocket money toys with a full selection from scooters to sand sets on show.

Thunderbirds are Pogo! Check out our new Thunderbirds range including folding chair, moon chair, pogo and ever popular dartboard.

PREHISTORIC PLAYTHINGS

The award winning Megasaurs range is complemented this year by the addition of even more totally lifelike dinosaurs in a variety of sizes, these authentic predators of the past are re-created with educational information to help any budding Indiana Jones tell his Pterodactyl from his T-Rex. There are gift sets galore starting from small sets to massive 24pc sets of Megasaurs. New for 2016 are a range of flock Megasaurs for younger children. Want to see some real Megasaur Magic, check out the Megasaur Growing Egg, just put this in water and over the next few days watch as your own mini Megasaur appears. You literally grow your own Megasaur. Sure to captivate the imagination of dinosaur lovers everywhere.

CAR TRAX/TRAIN TRAX

For those who want to jostle for pole position CAR TRAX has everything they need. This chunky flexible track connects and interconnects so that young children can collect the various sets and connect them all together if they like. Designed in bright colours for children of 3 and up, each set includes its own vehicle. Train Trax works on the same principle but with either a steam, loco or bullet train and all sets interconnect. There are new gift sets available and with retail pricing starting at £4.99 this is cost effective treat

SAND SETS

Bring the outdoors in – with none of the mess. Our Sand Sets stimulate creativity with their fun, easy mould sand sculptures. This set is perfect for creative kids or kids who just want to have fun! Create amazing sand sculpts and castles with this incredible sand that never dries out. Each sand set comes complete with its owns set of tools and moulds to help create your own unique sand art masterpieces. Each set can be played with over and over again and comes in a re-useable tray which helps keep mess to a minimum. Great mess free fun to enjoy indoors or out!

POCKET MONEY TOYS

HGL are introducing over 100 NEW hot pocket money items this year, meaning that kids can easily choose something different each week from the vast line up of quirky, packed with play value playthings from now until January 2018.

Zurich Insurance Contract Rewards Aura Alliance Expansion Programme

Tony Parish, CEO Aura Alliance

London, 22.01.16. The Aura Alliance, an independent provider of global deployment and support services for Avaya communications, today confirmed contractual agreement with Zurich Insurance Group, one of the world’s largest insurance companies turning over £35 billion. The five-year contract involves technical support for the insurer’s Avaya telecommunications estate covering 170 countries.

The contract, won in partnership with BT Global Services, part of the BT Group, is the culmination of 12 months’ intensive planning and delivers the Aura Alliance’s single biggest project in its seven year history. The win is one of several important successes for the Alliance over recent months and coincides with a programme of investment in resources, skills and multinational coverage that now positions the Aura Alliance as the world’s biggest Avaya-endorsed support service.

Part of that expansion has been the appointment of communications professional Tony Alveranga to the position of General Manger in September 2014, bringing with him 9 years management experience at Avaya plus positions at Verizon, Vodafone, Cable and Wireless and Siemens.

Having led the Aura Alliance’s contract winning team to success, Alveranga explains how the Alliance has gained momentum and now offers unmatched competitive advantage:

“To win this contract we had to compete with the likes of Verizon and Avaya Direct, both highly proficient operations but lacking key deliverables that we’ve been building over the past year.”

“Our global presence, giving access to more than 3200 certified Avaya specialists across the world, ensures that we can maintain the client’s 83,000 endpoints globally and can expand services to meet requirements anywhere in the world. This is important because it will help the client to capitalise fully on the latest unified communications capabilities.”

Founder and CEO of the Aura Alliance, Tony Parish, added:

“By the very nature of their services, insurance companies are amongst the most risk-aware organisations, so this win offers particularly strong evidence that with the Aura Alliance your critical communications are in safe hands.”

“This confidence in our services has been built over seven years when we have designed, deployed and maintained Avaya systems for some of the world’s largest multinational corporations who value the single, consistent service we provide across countries where both technical and commercial practices can vary greatly. A typical example is our ‘price-per-port’ for global support making it easy for customers to manage and budget for the service levels they need. A unified service for unified communications – that’s what the Aura Alliance delivers.”

About Aura Alliance

With 50+ certified members and a network of over 3,200+ Avaya-accredited individuals in more than 112+ countries, the Aura Alliance is the largest Avaya-endorsed global alliance in the world. No other organisation is better equipped to plan, deploy and maintain sophisticated converged communication solutions for multi-national corporations.

auraalliance.com

Top TV Shows Today, Jan 22: Reign, Unforgettable, Hawaii Five-0

It’s Friday and we love it! Our Top#1 TV Shows Today, January 22 is for… the series Reign! Today’s episode is titled Bruises That Lie. Season 3. Episode 10. 8:00 pm. CW. This is the winter finale. Don’t miss it! From Wikipedia: Reign is an American historical fantasy romance television series following the early years of Mary, Queen of Scots living in France. The series, created by Stephanie SenGupta and Laurie McCarthy, airs on The CW and premiered as part of the 2013–14 American television season.

Our second choice is for Hawaii Five-0. Today’s episode: Umia Ka Hanu (Hold the Breath). Season 6. Episode 13. 9:00. CBS.

And our last recommendation is for Unforgettable. Today: Game On. Season 4. Episode 10. 9:00 pm. A&E.

We hope you enjoy the shows. Have a very nice day, dear friends.

Top TV Shows Today, January 22 Video: Reign 3×10 Promo “Bruises That Lie” (HD) Winter Finale

Birthdays Today, Jan 22: John Hurt, Ricky Garcia, Silento, Guy Fieri

He’s a British actor he was born in Chesterfield and he is our Top#1 Famous Birthdays Today, January 22. He is John Hurt and he is one of the best actors I’ve ever seen. Congratulations and happy birthday, John Hurt.

Birthdays Today, Jan 22: John Hurt. Portrait by Walterlan Papetti. Source: Wikipedia

The most difficult thing about painting is the self-discipline. When I finish a job, I give myself a few days, but then I have to discipline myself quite fiercely if I want to do some painting that’s worthwhile. Otherwise, you’re just doodling. It’s much easier when you’re just told what you have to do.

John Hurt

I think love can be really tough. Because it involves ultimately an honesty to the nth degree that you are capable of. Once said, you’ve lost your deposit. It’s best if you don’t say it.

John Hurt

More birthdays today, January 22: Ricky Garcia, pop singer who became known for his appearance on The X Factor, born in Puerto Rico in 1999; the rapper known as Silento, born in Atlanta; and Guy Fieri, chef.

Happy birthday to all of them. Have a very nice day, dear friends.

Famous Birthdays Today, January 22 Video: Top 10 John Hurt Performances

The X-Files is coming! Mulder and Scully are knocking on the door!

The X-Files was the longest-running science fiction series in U.S. television history. The show spanned nine seasons and 202 episodes from September 10, 1993, to May 19, 2002, on Fox. Great! In March 2015, it was announced that the show would return as a miniseries, with David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Annabeth Gish, William B. Davis and Mitch Pileggi reprising their roles. Fans and followers are excited! It will premiere on January 24, 2016! Be happy! Fox Mulder and Dana Scully are coming!

The X-Files 2016

The first episode is titled ‘My Struggle’ (the English translation of Hitler’s manifesto, ‘Mein Kampf’). We’ll see that Scully’s still in medicine, and that she and Mulder have broken off their romantic relation. In fact, Mulder is living in a cabin in the woods, and the old X-Files office in the FBI building’s basement has Mulder’s ‘I Want to Believe’ poster on the dusty floor. What will happen next? What do you expect from The X-Files?

According to Chris Carter, only the first and sixth episodes are heavy on conspiracy mythology. The second episode, directed and written by James Wong, is a welcome step up from the first. And the third (only three were made available for screening), is a comic horror episode by Darin Morgan.

The six episodes were filmed in Vancouver, B.C.

The X-Files official trailer.

The X-Files six-episode miniseries debuts Sunday, Jan. 24 on Fox (12.) It’s scheduled to start at 7 p.m., following the NFC championship game. The show moves to its regular 8 p.m. time slot Monday, Jan. 25.

** The X-Files follows the careers and personal lives of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). Mulder is a strong believer in the supernatural while Scully is skeptic.

Enjoy your day, Yareah friends. Art is everywhere and up to you!

ForeScout Technologies Closes $76 Million in Late-Stage Funding at 1B Valuation

Michael DeCesare, CEO of ForeScout

IoT Security Leader Seeing Rapid Growth and Expansion Opportunity

CAMPBELL, Calif. – 21 January 2016 – ForeScout Technologies Inc., the pioneer in agentless cybersecurity, today announced it has secured $76 million in additional financing led by Wellington Management Company LLP. Now valued at $1 billion, ForeScout has tripled its valuation over the past 18 months while also surpassing $125 million in revenue in fiscal year 2015. The company has achieved in excess of 50 percent compounded annual growth rate since 2012, having grown at that scale while operating near free cash flow neutral.

The additional capital will be used to expand global field operations, build a world-class support organisation and increase R&D efforts to accelerate leadership in the underserved Internet of Things (IoT) security space. This investment underscores the growing demand for IoT security as organisations grapple with this critical new threat vector. Gartner predicts there will be 30 billion connected devices by 2020.

ForeScout’s award-winning technology provides the unique ability to see and control the rapidly growing population of unsecured and dark devices. Acting as the glue that links together previously disparate solutions, ForeScout CounterACT™ enriches over 70 security tools with its warehouse of device context enabling deliberate security orchestration across enterprise networks.

“It took 25 years for the world to get to 5 billion connected devices, but with the explosion of the IoT we’ll see around 30 billion by 2020—an entirely new approach to security is required,” said Michael DeCesare, ForeScout CEO & President. “Device proliferation and IoT deployments are easy entrances for cyber criminals if not detected and protected. With agentless visibility, intuitive automated controls and a commitment to integrating with leading security and IT management solutions, ForeScout is well-positioned to own the burgeoning IoT security market.”

About ForeScout Technologies

For Global 2000 enterprises and government organisations, ForeScout offers the unique ability to see devices the instant they connect to the network, control them and orchestrate information sharing and operation among disparate security tools. Unlike traditional security solutions, ForeScout achieves this without requiring software agents or previous device knowledge. ForeScout integrates with leading network, security, mobility and IT management products to overcome security silos, automate workflows and enable significant cost savings. As of October 2015, more than 2,000 customers in over 60 countries are improving their network security and compliance posture with ForeScout solutions. For more details, visithttp://www.forescout.com.

Top TV Shows Today, Jan 21: The Blacklist, Elementary, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow

We have said it several times but we love this show. Action, crimes… and we love James Spader. The Blacklist. Today’s episode: Mr. Gregory Devry. Season 3. Episode 11. 9:00 pm. NBC. From Wikipedia: The Blacklist is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader), a former United States Navy officer turned high-profile criminal, voluntarily surrenders to the FBI after eluding capture for decades. He tells the FBI that he has a list of the most dangerous criminals in the world that he has compiled over the years and is willing to guide their operations in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

Our second choice is for the series Elementary. Today: Murder Ex Machina. Season 4. Episode 9. 10:00 pm. CBS.

And our last recommendation is for a new series,

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. Today’s episode: Pilot, Part 1. Season 1. Episode 1. 8:00 pm. CW.

We hope you enjoy the shows. Have a very nice day, dear friends.

Top TV Shows Today, January 21 Video: The Blacklist 3×11 Promo “Mr. Gregory Devry” (HD)