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0.949477 | <urn:uuid:3f1c5f91-1235-4f53-89e2-d200a139bab0> | en | 0.929758 |
C Language Bits and Bytes Interview Questions and Answers For Freshers Part-2
Be First!
bits and bytes5. What is meant by high-order and low-order bytes?
We generally write numbers from left to right, with the most significant digit first. To understand what is meant by the “significance” of a digit, think of how much happier you would be if the first digit of your paycheck was increased by one compared to the last digit being increased by one.
The bits in a byte of computer memory can be considered digits of a number written in base 2. That means the least significant bit represents one, the next bit represents 2´1, or 2, the next bit represents 2´2´1, or 4, and so on. If you consider two bytes of memory as representing a single 16-bit number, one byte will hold the least significant 8 bits, and the other will hold the most significant 8 bits. Figure shows the bits arranged into two bytes. The byte holding the least significant 8 bits is called the least significant byte, or low-order byte. The byte containing the most significant 8 bits is the most significant byte, or high- order byte.
23-1 (1)
6. How are 16- and 32-bit numbers stored?
A 16-bit number takes two bytes of storage, a most significant byte and a least significant byte. If you write the 16-bit number on paper, you would start with the most significant byte and end with the least significant byte. There is no convention for which order to store them in memory, however.
Let’s call the most significant byte M and the least significant byte L. There are two possible ways to store these bytes in memory. You could store M first, followed by L, or L first, followed by M. Storing byte M first in memory is called “forward” or “big-endian” byte ordering. The term big endian comes from the fact that the “big end” of the number comes first, and it is also a reference to the book Gulliver’s Travels, in which the term refers to people who eat their boiled eggs with the big end on top.
Storing byte L first is called “reverse” or “little-endian” byte ordering. Most machines store data in a big- endian format. Intel CPUs store data in a little-endian format, however, which can be confusing when someone is trying to connect an Intel microprocessor-based machine to anything else.
A 32-bit number takes four bytes of storage. Let’s call them Mm, Ml, Lm, and Ll in decreasing order of significance. There are 4! (4 factorial, or 24) different ways in which these bytes can be ordered. Over the years, computer designers have used just about all 24 ways. The most popular two ways in use today, however, are (Mm, Ml, Lm, Ll), which is big-endian, and (Ll, Lm, Ml, Mm), which is little-endian. As with 16-bit numbers, most machines store 32-bit numbers in a big-endian format, but Intel machines store 32-bit numbers in a little-endian format.
Leave a Reply | http://theblogreaders.com/c-language-bits-and-bytes-interview-questions-and-answers-for-freshers-part-2/ | dclm-gs1-173481087 |
0.084427 | <urn:uuid:6f204063-3d08-42f8-8617-84131be34436> | en | 0.933169 | Articles on Media law
Displaying 1 - 20 of 30 articles
Can you sue someone for giving you a bad reference?
The 60 Minutes employees Tara Brown and Stephen Rice arriving home from a Beirut prison. Dean Lewins/AAP
The scandal of 60 Minutes: no broadcasting standards, no investigation
When Channel Nine was implicated in an illegal ‘child recovery’ operation, many would have assumed the media regulator would investigate. Yet Australian broadcasting standards are so limited there will probably be no independent inquiry at all.
Indonesian media moguls have argued that the internet means cross-media ownership laws that prevent common ownership of radio, television and newspapers are obsolete. shutterstock
Australia can learn from Indonesia’s experience before relaxing its media laws
Indonesia’s media landscape may be a model which Australia is emulating as it looks to change media ownership laws. There are positives to this, but also causes for concern.
Hockey v Fairfax should start the debate on defamation law reform
Hockey’s defamation win is dark news for democracy and free speech
The messy history of music copyright suits
Cosby’s power cannot be overestimated. US Navy
Bill Cosby’s downfall was a display of social media power
In the awful narrative around the allegations of sexual assault and rape made against iconic American entertainer Bill Cosby, a major theme has been the perceived failure of the media to challenge him…
While Victorian opposition leader Daniel Andrews faces demands for answers from The Age, the newspaper hasn’t addressed the ethics of recording off-the-record conversations. AAP/Julian Smith
Andrews’ media accusers have some explaining of their own to do
It is a sad day when senior political figures steal a journalist’s recording device and destroy its contents, as we have been told happened at this year’s Victorian Labor Party conference. But it is an…
Top contributors | http://theconversation.com/africa/topics/media-law-4421 | dclm-gs1-173501087 |
0.01924 | <urn:uuid:486769f9-935d-45a7-8ff5-be2eefe1ac74> | en | 0.922628 | January 1, 2006
Predicticable New Year's Predictions request
The end of the year always brings forth predictable year end reviews and assemblies of "Best of" and "Worst of" stories from the year just past.
It's also fairly predictable that there are some predictions of what lies ahead in the year just dawning, and that's what I'm doing here.
Only I'm not going to grace you with my precient prognostications. Instead I'm going to graciously let you, the loving public, take a whack at it.
So put on your brainy hat, stroke your chins pensively, get those brows furrowed, and make some damn predictions for what you feel will happen in the year 2006, be it local, national, global, or intergallactic.
Note: So far, you guys have done great! Excellent stuff.
At 1/01/2006 2:37 PM, Blogger Dave Barrett said...
My Predictions for 2006
1. Extreme weather. Many locations will set records for the hottest, wettest, driest, coldest years since records were kept.
2. CEO salaries will continue to rise at rates much faster than the rate of growth in wages for the average worker in their companies.
3. The President and the Republican majorities in Congress will try to enact further tax cuts, putting the federal budget even further out of balance.
4. In the 2006 Congressional elections many Republican candidates will successfully convince the voters that they are more "against" the war in Iraq than their Democratic opponent.
5. Following up on the success and growth of the "Car Title/Payday Loan" businesses innovative businessmen will find new ways to make money off the desparation and bad luck of the working poor. The news media will portray these businesses as providing a valuable service and growing the economy.
6. More will be revealed about wrong-doing by the Bush Administrator that whistle-blowers revealed to newspapers before the 2004 election but the Bush Administration successfully prevented the publication of the revelations before the election by intimidating the newspapers.
7. Demagogues will increase their wealth and/or power by capitalizing on public fears of terrorism, illegal immigrants, non-Christians, secular humanists, non-English speaking Americans, the French, new scientific discoveries which undermine traditional beliefs, etc.
Dave Barrett
At 1/01/2006 2:55 PM, Blogger diehard said...
George Bush will go on TV and look stupid. There! I have really stuck my neck out on that one!
That the Republicans will cheat on just enough of a margin to hold on to congress.
But it may not be so hard since the only Democratic strategy seems to be running Iraq veterans.
Once again the Democrats will fail to articulate a message!
They will assume that running people that have been maimed by car bombs will get the sympathy vote.
I would like the Bush in cheif to pledge to never say 9/11 in any speech again. And if I hear 'War on Terror' anymore I think I will jump out of a window!
At 1/01/2006 4:48 PM, Blogger Carl Nyberg said...
Rep. Karen Yarbrough beats Emanuel "Chris" Welch 2:1 in the Dem Primay. She unseats Eugene Moore as Proviso's Dem Committeeman 54:46.
Eisendrath gets over 34% of the Dem Primary vote.
Cheney won't be VP in 365 days.
The White Sox will win the division.
Green governor candidate gets over 3% of the vote.
At 1/01/2006 6:08 PM, Blogger billyclinton said...
1. Evan Bayh or Mark Warner starts to catch fire in the corn stalks of Iowa, but Clinton and Kerry maintain their 2008 leads in the polls (in that order). Look for Joe Biden to try to break out of the pack.
2. Democrats disgusted with Governor Blagojevich's endless stream of subpoenas will deliver a stunning vote of support to Eisendrath in the March primary.
Eisendrath generates support & 40.5% of the primary vote. Dems kick themselves for not drafting Hynes or Madigan to save the party from the Blagojevich disaster.
3. Sen. Mike Jacobs wins in a landslide in the March primary --
4. Bill Clinton considers running for Mayor of New York.
5. Tom Vilsack generates party support for a VP race in 2008.
6. The reckless GOP fiscal policies nationally continue.
At 1/02/2006 12:40 AM, Blogger Amy Allen said...
1. If Topinka loses her bid for the Governor's mansion, she will be a possible 2008 senatorial candidate.
2. Tony Munoz will coast to primary victory against Ray Frias.
3. Calvin Giles will once again get ballot access despite his unpaid campaign fines(totaling over ninety thousand).
4. "The Inside Dope" will continue to dispense thoughtful-and thought-provoking-commentary.
At 1/02/2006 9:17 AM, Anonymous Jean Dixon said...
1. Despite despicable low attacks against him, Paul Rumler gains a good deal of attention after Jacobs is revealed to have written hundreds of flipped-out nasty comments on several blogs. People wonder what the hell he's doing if he has time for this, and are appalled at the lack of seriousness they reveal.
2. Sen. Jacobs will have a minor stroke from rushing around freaking out and screaming bloody murder every time someone doesn't give him the high respect and glowing press coverage he somehow feels is his devine right. The above revelations push him over the brink and he has an on-air melt-down.
3. Eisendrath will run a strong campaign and gain traction, but too late.
4. The Bush administration will continue to peddle fear constantly, including the myth that terrorists are behind every tree and want to key scratch your SUV because they "hate our freedom". And of course, Bush will continue to clamp down on our freedoms while saying it.
5. Democrats in DC flounder with new-found public sympathy, but do manage to hold on to their gain. Public begins to realize that the've been inundated with pure BS for years, including the suggestion that the Iraq misadventure is a "war" that can be somehow "won" and that Bush is keeping them safe.
6. Massive scandals embroil the capitol with the trials of Jack Abromov and others revealing a nest of corruption not seen since Teapot Dome.
At 1/02/2006 10:58 AM, Blogger Carl Nyberg said...
I don't want to scoop myself, but I will comment on Giles fines.
If the teachers unions find out how strongly LaShawn Ford ran as a pro-vouchers candidate in '98, the unions will pay Giles fines to keep him on the ballot.
At 1/02/2006 2:31 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Carl, is that Lawshawnduh as featured in the movie "Napoleon Dynamite"??
At 1/02/2006 2:33 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Houdini says -- "Lots of higher taxes in Moline courtesy of our new Mayor...". And he wants to spend more time at ' City government' this year. Scarey isn't it?
At 1/02/2006 5:01 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
A Moline Christmas Carol
A good 2005 to close for the Chair of Moline Better City Gov
How he and his cronies justify new high taxes to their beloved?
Christmas holiday bah humbug says he
April surprise I gave to thee
That is gift enough to those yeah worship yea old Deere
Ah citizens of Moline where art thou be absent my wisdom say doth
With more boring pols yeah hold seats made of similar cloth
Have no tomorrow to worry just build build build
Nay a concern of money just invoice the guild
New shiny Library, Parking Ramp, High Police Command erect
Silent Mayor stands by as new taxes enact
Like a lost sheep with no shepherd signs what’s contract
Slumbers Hon Chairman - then awakened in dismay
Who dare enter my chambers to disturb me today?
Ghost of past Holiday have no fear
Ghost of present Holiday come ever near
Ghost of future Holiday stay nigh
And so Past Holiday sigh thy youth all away
Ne’er enjoyed yet broken hearted those days
Squandered youth lost on love come bitter
Harden this old man’s heart thee no longer a twitter
And now Present Holiday bah humbug err no spirit cares
Sugarplum sweetness gone yeah thy soul bares
Bitter spite onto thee all feel my power and treachery
Tax the poor; make them work those in power not share wretchery
And yeah Future Holiday no concern, I to go – yet live for today
The families of the YPN Generation to tax their payday
Young leaders under 40 soon to fear
Older wiser bill payers now learning in new years
Moline Holidays dead like my heart no more thrill; no flutter
But where is Pat O’Brien they often mutter?
Ahh replaced by another yet a Moline taxpayer still
O’Brien stays watching and waiting and will……
Oh future conclude need we a great leader to fill
And to bring back our Moline to common sense up and down each hill
At 1/02/2006 6:55 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Morono tries the train stunt again at next year's marathon. This time the train doesn't stop and he goes SPLAT!
At 1/03/2006 2:28 AM, Blogger Rawk Eyelund said...
I'll agree with everything Dave Barrett and add these:
*The Republicans will try again to eliminate time-and-a-half for work ing over 40 hours a week
*The federal minimum wage won't budge (unless the dems take over the House & Senate)
At 1/03/2006 10:58 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Mike Whalen wins the Republican Primary for the 1st district and (coincidentally) Johnny's Italian Steakhouse, Thunder Bay Grille, Gramma's Kitchen, and the Comfort Inn in Davenport all start massive ad campaigns with Whalen as their spokesperson..
Jim Nussle starts 2007 back in the private sector.
At 1/04/2006 6:17 PM, Blogger maybesomeday said...
Did Nussle take any tainted funds from that Rub lobby scandal on the front pages??
Whalen should Wale on him big time if he did....
At 1/04/2006 9:40 PM, Blogger tiz said...
Nussle is vacating his seat here in the 1st district to run for governor. He didn't accept money from Abramoff but he has taken money from DeLay's ARMPAC. Either way I don't think it will factor in his running for governor as much as other things.. I do think he will get his party's nomination but I also think any one of three democrats can beat him. I'm starting to get on the Ed Fallon bandwagon myself.
Whalen is running for the Republican nomination for Nussle's soon-to-be-vacant seat. I think he will get that nomination as well. I can't remember the last time there was a democrat in this district but this is probably their best shot in a long while. No matter who wins though they can't possibly be worse than Nussle in my humble and partisan opinion.
At 1/05/2006 12:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...
Well Tiz if you are right then Nussle can join the Jim Lightfoot club of loosers...soon we hope.
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0.021423 | <urn:uuid:2e5d1d1b-e07b-4f8e-9778-f6bf20d6711d> | en | 0.886108 | The Voice 2012 premieres this Sunday following the Super Bowl and you can catch up with the coaches in the current issue of Rolling Stone Magazine.
Coaches Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine grace the cover of the music magazine under the headline “Inisde The Voice: The Diva, The Drama, The Dirt.”
Excerpt from the article: “At its heart, The Voice is a game show, and the most essential rules that guide its coaches are unspoken: Try not to wince when blind auditions trick you into picking an unsightly singer; always declare it “heartbreaking” to choose the winner of a vocal battle, no matter how easy the decision actually is; and most importantly, never, ever interrupt Christina Aguilera when she is speaking…”
You can read more at, but for the full article, you’ll have to pick up the actual magazine.
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0.067318 | <urn:uuid:9af91f48-c56a-4709-97c3-127f473d3777> | en | 0.930182 | There's no shortage of love in this long-awaited album from Kris Lawrence.
On "Spread the Love", his third album and first since signing with GMA Records, the R&B Prince finds himself exploring the emotive trappings linked with all things love and gives his own interpretation of it-with, more often than not, insistently impressive results.
Fans of R&B and pop will find much to appreciate on Kris' 12-track effort. Leading the soul-fueled record is the imploring mid-tempo single "Sabihin Mo Naman". Layering keys, synths, and beats, it's a slow burn
ballad that builds to memorable infatuation pleads.
Hardly desperate yet effectively sincere at getting his message across.
As much as Kris knows his strengths, he isn't afraid to let loose and shape his sound. Throughout the record, Kris works alongside the who's who of the local music scene to craft songs that cater to both avid fans and new listeners.
Opening track "Nightmare", despite its foreboding title, is the stuff of friendly R&B dreams, carried by shimmering synths and smooth vocals that recall quintessential Usher. Throw in a rap verse from Elmo Magalona in the mix and this fizzy sonic jam about choosing to sleep and dream about the woman she adores than be without her shows promise.
"Rider" follows in the footsteps of its predecessor but instead favors a
heavier, war-drums hiphop base where Kris' smooth vocals and Q-York's
slick verse slide on the punchy beats.
There is plenty of polished R&B jams and power ballads infused in this
record too that incorporate Kris' signature vocal stylings: the
spoken-word opening of "Tell Me" sets the sensual "I Wanna Know" ala Joe
attitude prodded by its gently strummed guitar and Kris' beautiful
range, hitting those high notes and falsettos easily. While the classic
sounding carrier single "Ikaw Pala" may appeal to lovesick fans, it's
the melancholic piano-led "Di Na Matatanggap" that proves to be one of
the highlights. "Dito na magwawakas. Ngayo'y alam ko na ang tunay kong
nadarama. Pag-ibig ko sa'yo ay wala na," he laments, singing a classic
case of moving on after the fire between them have burned out.
Incidentally, "Ikaw Pala" is the theme song of GMA's primetime
Koreanovela "The Innocent Man" which began airing last July 22.
As the album progresses, more attention-grabbing songs reveal
themselves. The Rachelle Ann Go collaboration track "Unbreakable" is a
thumping piece of spacey, dance-pop goodness that features K-pop
flourishes, a dubstep sample, and club music credibility that Kris
definitely possesses. Next is the retro soul, blues styling of "Addict"
that adds dimension to the record's overall theme.
The album works best when it's focused on Kris' versatile, warm vocals
as shown on his duet with Bryan Woodart of IV Example on the piano
ballad "I'd Rather Be Alone" where his vibrato stands out in the sea of
vocal layerings. "Try Again" is one of those self-motivational songs
that speak straight to his listeners' hearts, dropping optimistic advice
after advice. "What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger... get up
and try again," he sings reassuringly, drawing perhaps from personal
experience prior to fully realizing this album.
"Make Me Whole" with its symphonic production and restrained vocals
shifting from clean notes to heartfelt vibratos that sound like it
belongs in a movie soundtrack, and the twinkling jam of "Yesterday" end
the album on a positive note.
Kris explores themes about love that lurches into the romantic kind then
dives into its pitfalls, lacing up tracks with melodies and musicality
that project more ambition. He sings with grit and a sense of purpose to
connect with people, and on this solid record, he does it more
successfully than ever, proving his place right up there with the
country's best.
Kris Lawrence's "Spread the Love" is now on CDs in Astroplus, Astro
Vision, Odyssey, The Landmark and SM Music and Video outlets nationwide.
It is also available worldwide on digital format thru iTunes, Amazon,
Spotify and OPM2GO. | http://thewebmagazine.blogspot.com/2013/08/r-prince-kris-lawrence-shirtless-on-his.html | dclm-gs1-173611087 |
0.02609 | <urn:uuid:83525350-77d8-4a47-a9ca-5b313de9bce1> | en | 0.949776 | Does doing sit ups everyday help you lose weight
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0.047612 | <urn:uuid:8a788636-ebfc-4606-b4ae-6c89a0650567> | en | 0.885966 | Alaska Statutes.
Title 10. Corporations and Associations
Chapter 6. Alaska Corporations Code
Section 225. Power of Incorporators Before Directors' Election.
previous: Section 223. Organizational Meeting.
next: Section 228. Bylaws: Adoption, Amendment or Repeal.
AS 10.06.225. Power of Incorporators Before Directors' Election.
If initial directors have not been named in the articles of incorporation, the incorporator or incorporators may do whatever is necessary and proper to perfect the organization of the corporation until the directors are elected, including the adoption and amendment of bylaws of the corporation and the election of directors.
Note to HTML Version:
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0.039003 | <urn:uuid:3dc60b15-e82a-456e-ac2e-b047cefb47a4> | en | 0.984256 | Vietnam was temporarily partitioned at the 17th parallel, and under the terms of the Geneva Convention, civilians were to be given the opportunity to freely move between the two provisional states for a 300-day period. Elections throughout the country were to be held in 1956 to establish a unified government. Around one million northerners, mainly minority Catholics, fled south, fearing persecution by the communists, following an American propaganda campaign using slogans such as "The Virgin Mary is heading south", and aided by a U.S. funded $93 million relocation program, which included ferrying refugees with the Seventh Fleet. It is estimated that as many as two million more would have left had they not been stopped by the Viet Minh. The northern, mainly Catholic refugees were meant to give Diem a strong anti-communist constituency. Diem later went on to staff his administration's key posts mostly with northern and central Catholics.
In addition to the Catholics flowing south, up to 130,000 ‘Revolutionary Regroupees’, went north for "regroupment" expecting to return to the South within 2 years. The Viet Minh left roughly 5,000 to 10,000 cadres in South Vietnam as a "politico-military substructure within the object of its irredentism." The last French soldiers were to leave Vietnam in April 1956. The PRC completed their withdrawal from North Vietnam at around the same time. Around 52,000 Vietnamese civilians moved from south to north.
In the north, the Viet Minh ruled as the DRV and engaged in a drastic land reform program in which an estimated eight thousand perceived "class enemies" were executed. In 1956 the Communist Party leaders of Hanoi admitted to "excesses" in implementing this program and restored a large amount of the land to the original owners.
In the south, former Emperor Bảo Đại's State of Vietnam operated, with Ngô Đình Diệm (appointed in July 1954) as his prime minister. In June 1955, Diem announced that elections would not be held. South Vietnam had rejected the agreement from the beginning and was therefore not bound by it, he said. "How can we expect 'free elections' to be held in the Communist North?" Diem asked. President Dwight D. Eisenhower echoed senior U.S. experts when he wrote that, in 1954, "80 per cent of the population would have voted for the Communist Ho Chi Minh" over Emperor Bảo Đại.
In April–June 1955, Diem (against U.S. advice) cleared the decks of any political opposition in the south by launching military operations against the Cao Dai religious sect, the Hoa Hao sect of Ba Cut, and the Binh Xuyen organized crime group (which was allied with members of the secret police and some military elements). As broad-based opposition to his harsh tactics mounted, Diem increasingly sought to blame the communists.
In a referendum on the future of the State of Vietnam on October 23, Diem rigged the poll supervised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu and was credited with 98.2 percent of the vote, including 133% in Saigon. His American advisers had recommended a more modest winning margin of "60 to 70 percent." Diem, however, viewed the election as a test of authority. On October 26, 1955, Diem declared the new Republic of Vietnam (ROV), with himself as president. The ROV was created largely because of the Eisenhower administration's desire for an anti-communist state in the region. | http://vietnamwar-database.blogspot.com/2010/08/transition-period-of-vietnam-war.html | dclm-gs1-173721087 |
0.268957 | <urn:uuid:b23d227f-8030-4b3b-8479-9d858845b0b9> | en | 0.964126 | 31 December, 2015
He Never Died
Just finished the movie "He Never Died" starring Henry Rollins.
If you haven't watched it, it's classified as "horror" but is really more of a violent psychological drama, with a bit of investigation thrown in, and definite supernatural themes. The figure in the movie who might best be described as the iconic horror role, is actually the figure you get to know best in the film. If that's triggered your interest, go find it. If that's set off alarm bells and trigger warnings, just leave it alone.
I just want to run a story with an immortal at the centre, but not have the immortal in the story. Like the eye of the storm, this immortal wanders through time, chaos surrounds them and constantly threatens to engulf them but generally they try to avoid conflict, avoid rippling the fabric of society and history. This story would be about the children of the immortal, each abandoned as an orphan while the immortal moves off to wander other parts of the world or avoid the conflicts that inevitably arose when they are bound to society by a mortal child. Maybe the immortal has lived with children in the long past, maybe they are unable to watch their children grow old and die any more.
Such a story could be continued generationally. One generation of the immortal's children deal with situations echoing the immortals actions in the world (with some successes and failures), then in the next game a new generation of the immortal's children deal with new situations echoing new actions of the immortal, and dealing with the fallout of the actions from the previous generation. At first the stories might be quite simple, but with continuing games the dynamic builds. After three or four iterations, you end up with a really complex world where stories have been built up over generations, where some actions are reactions to others, and where characters end up related to each other through complex bonds and a tension of positive and negative effects.
This is where my recent thoughts on time travel games might make a more interesting dynamic.
Maybe we could have the characters immediately thrown into a chaotic environment. They only begin to understand the complexity of the situation by researching the past, the motivations of allies and adversaries might link back to a previous generation. As they discover that they are all orphans, and actually share a common parent in the immortal, they might also come to understand that the events of the past link back to the immortal also, or might link back further to another generation. The origins of the struggle might nev be made clear, the further the characters go back the harder it is to research things and continue the search. The only constant is the immortal.
Maybe the story starts in one time...lets say Victorian England. The characters are chasing down their origins, trying to find the immortal, and dealing with the ramifications of their walking across the Earth. They might read diaries of the past, which might open up a new session where the players portray a previous generation. Then once the diary "reading" has resolved, the current events might make more sense and might be completed (for the good or bad). Their story might be over and the next generations story unfolds during World War 1, new diaries might be read (or played through) showing parallel events that occured while their previous characters were active, some diaries might fill in the gaps between the Victorian era and the WW1 era, other diaries might go back further in time revealing events in the early colonial era.
Instead of starting at a point and moving linearly forward, the story begins at a point in the timeline, then spreads backwards and forwards, and the scope of the game becomes grander as more of the world gets engulfed by the narrative. It always focuses on the immortal, and the characters could easily get caught up in the maelstrom if they try to get to this character... On the other hand then game could get more and more epic, and it might be hard to stop the snowball once it starts building momentum.
That's where you'd need a critical end point.
I'd suggest that is when the immortal enters the game.
30 December, 2015
Updated Werewolf
Werewolf was always one of my favourite games. It made efforts to be global when nothing else seemed to be, it may have been problematic in retrospect but at least it was taking those first steps.
When +Levi Kornelsen wrote up his take on a new paradigm for the system, it really got me thinking. I wanted to write a whole heap about this interpretation of the setting, I wanted to run a game with this set up (just like I wanted to run the infamous Kult/World-of-Darkness crossover back in the 90s... I must find that again). .
So I don't lose this interpretation of the setting again, I'm just going to post his words directly here on the blog. I might write something more specific in regard to this shortly. For the moment though, I'm seeing some interesting riffs on these ideas for Mage or Vampire to make them more truly global rather than just stereotypical collections of cliches.
Werewolf: The Apocalypse, and making it less ugh for a new edition.
(Because enough people seemed interested in hearing)
So, Werewolf: The Apocalypse is... Kinda messed up, even before you hit the rules. One of the breed names is identical to a real-world racial group in a not-at-all-good way. The tribes are composed largely of racial stereotypes (one, the Black Furies, is also an overdone gender-politics stereotype), even where the side books occasionally put some serious effort into redeeming or justifying them. The fetish setup can easily lead to "white folks in native headresses". There are cheap cultural knockoff gimmick spirits peppered throughout.
In addition to this, being pretty keen on eco-terrorism is baked right in; it's a central feature of the game. That one, though, I'm not gonna touch. Fundamentally, I'm okay with Werewolves as psychotic furry eco-terrorists.
Let's hit the others.
For "Metis", just straight substitute "Malsang"; bad-blooded. Or some other word that's otherwise well-suited. There's no amount of clever justifying that will fix that particular issue.
For fetishes, a note on spirits being real damn touchy about who can "properly" use what is not only an easy fix, it drops into the setting without a single ripple. A spirit of honour sees you wearing a heraldic or otherwise familial crest (or tartan) that you're not entitled to? That spirit is not bloody okay with that. Nevermind the fetish itself, which might very well know where it belongs and with whom. And, yeah, this means that that attempts at dungeon-crawl-style grabs at magic gear stops functioning in the game, but that potential is replaced with restoring the lost treasures and inheritances of others when you find some lost thing, and being recognized and sung of for the deed... And that, man, that's some solid werewolf action.
Gimmicky spirits are tricky. I've written a lot of spirits in my day, and some of the most ridiculous to others sounded just plain great to me at the time I wrote them. Sooooo.... This basically means passing spirits by a lot of eyes, and ones that are sensitized to weird shit like this, and getting their input.
Okay. The tribes. Hoo boy, the tribes.
My suggestion here is pretty severe; it keeps most of the actual stuff intact, but wildly shifts the perspective: Reverse the presentation of each tribe, and dump the idea of Ronin completely. Right now, tribes are presented primarily as being about origins and ethnicity, secondarily about spiritual content and gifts, and stuff on playing a member of a tribe is all based on that.
Imagine if you saw a write-up that went, paragraph by paragraph:
1. What the chosen children of stag tend to be like, even if they're totally lost cubs that never know their family or come into contact with their patron totem. No mention of where they "come from", none of that.
2. What stag is like, what this totem likes and doesn't like, how it appears to and guides its children. Again, no dependency on any specific culture.
3. Spirits that serve stag, what they do, what they're like, how they react to a child of stag. A touch of cultural stuff here, maybe.
4. The nature of gifts, fetishes, and other magical power you might get from Stag.
5. The human kin of the lineage, where to find them in groups and not in groups, and how they live.
6. The wolf-kin of the lineage, where to find them in groups and not in groups, and how they live.
7. The Tribe - the largest coherent body of werewolves in the lineage (the Fianna), and where their core caerns are found.
8. Camps - smaller bodies of werewolves in the lineage, and where they're based.
In that sort of setup, a bunch of things can change radically. It becomes easy to imagine someone born under the patronage of stag that develops a relationship with the spirits of the totem long before they even meet their first Fianna, and never really meshes entirely with the tribe. It doesn't make them part of a special Ronin group, just a little disconnected.
The tribes remain, however, as political powers, as extended family you may well have reason to connect with, and on and on. That's all there, but it doesn't have to be you.
Equally, because the identity is broken up a little, it's possible to make historical relationships with the "homeland" more complex. The children of Wendigo might be utter monsters to the bands that their kinfolk have traditionally lived among, and those kinfolk historically the low-status keepers of a terrible secret. Meanwhile, the kinfolk of the Uktena might be typically shamans among their bands, and Werewolves historically might have been seen as half-spirit children; not really band members, but sacred people even so. (Those may be bad examples; real research into what would fit where would be needed, but the point is that more complex relationships between Werewolves, their kin, and the nations that have hosted them in numbers could be made sensical.) This, in turn, helps forward the idea that your character is not a clear representative of whatever culture; making them a stereotype of that culture becomes one step more bizarre.
This also creates a potential rift among the "Lineage of Pegasus", which could be leveraged on the weirdness of the Black Furies, and even applied to Red Talons. Does Pegasus not want male children, or is that specifically the tribe? Are there camps born to Pegasus outside the tribe that think differently, and how are the politics there? Ditto Red Talons, Gryffon, and Homids. Having a weird political body out there in the setting that players can have complex relationships with is a fair bit different than fronting it as an absolute character option.
Anyway, that's my thinking.
Indigenous Gaming
It's nice to be considered the "go to guy" for gaming support with regard to the Australian Indigenous community. If I had strung together my discussions with community members, my study at university, and my general work with local elders it would be a few solid weeks of immersion over the course of the last year. I don't think I'm an expert on the subject matter, I barely think I'm scratching the surface, I'd love to see an actual member of the Indigenous community writing games, but it seems that I'm the "go to guy" for the moment.
That means I've basically got an obligation to make sure Walkabout is finalised in the next couple of months... and to make sure the product released is as good as I can make it in order to start a dialogue with potential Indigenous game designers who are looking to tell their own stories.
One of the big problems I'm seeing with the Indigenous groups across Australia is the nature of "secret business", and the need to have some respect for the culture before you can be accepted into it. This acceptance is important because only those who are accepted are granted deeper knowledge about the ways of the people, and many members of the current adult generation have lost the knowledge of their ancestors and are trying to piece together the past from the fragments they have left. Many members of the upcoming adult generation don't understand the need for the respect and are risking a complete break in the continuity of 40,000+ years of oral history and lore. Even the fragments aren't being passed down.
The spirituality has basically been lost, due to the "success" of the Christian missions. I'll be participating in a ritual that hasn't been fully enacted in over a century in the next couple of weeks, most of the ritual is being pieced together from anthropological texts and word of mouth from half a dozen different elders in different parts of the state, each of whom have a different form of the ritual according to the ways of their various people.
That's what Walkabout was all about. The loss of the spirituality and the return of the spirits to a world that no longer respects them. The earliest thoughts of the game had the characters learn their knowledge about spirits from third hand word-of-mouth, passed down from one of the last shamans to remember the secrets. But I think it's actually more poignant to have no-one with the full answers,especially since the answers will change from location to location because every spirit was revered by a different group of people and every group of people will have shown that respect in different ways. Walkabout was always intended to be a game about loss, and trying to gather the pieces of the past to make sense of a world in chaos, but now there needs to be something deeper in it.
This game won't be a parody, nor a cultural appropriation. It will be more of an opening point to a culturally sensitive dialogue. It will not be "politically correct" in the way I see that term. Political correctness is about stopping short and censorship to prevent offence, instead through cultural sensitivity it will be about stirring those emotions of offense, understanding why they offend, and how things can be better handled in the future. This could be a game covered in trigger warnings, confronting the spirit is confronting the self, understanding what is necessary to proceed may lead to uncomfortable decisions. The spirit of a situation will rarely be an easy confrontation, and more often than not, the first confrontation in any situation will fail because the complete facts are yet to be revealed.
I've been on the right track to make this a game about relationships more than anything else. Relationships to people, relationships to place, relationships to objects. The community spirit of the various Australian Indigenous people links everyone to each other, and everyone is known by their relationship to someone else, the more links you can verify the more easily understood you are as a person. I was going to write that the more connected you are, the more accepted you are; but that's not really right, instead the more connected you are, the more known you are (you are less of an untrusted variable).
Currently Walkabout sits in a dozen unfinished files on my computer, it has informed so many of my other works at the moment that it feels like it should be ready to go. Once I've knocked over the FUBAR rewrite, I need to get onto it. It's starting to feel like I'm holding something back by letting it sit idle.
28 December, 2015
A Reflection on the Year
I set out this year with the intention of completing a number of unfinished game projects... I think that I've successfully completed none of them. On the other hand, I've completed a university degree, created a quite a few entries for various game design competitions, seen a huge increase of traffic to this blog, I've helped drive a LARP group in a new and interesting direction, and completed a few commissions with my cartography services. I can't say that this year has been a failure, it's just not seen the successes that I had initially aimed toward.
I deliberately put Walkabout on hold this year while I engaged in some studies into Australian Indigenous Culture at university, I had no idea that I'd end up in regular contact with a group of local Aboriginal elders who have been teaching me far more than any textbook. I've also visited the largest Australian Indigenous library in Canberra (with them) and have been given all the research materials I could ever need to ensure that Walkabout is completed in a culturally sensitive way, with the blessing of the very elders I had feared possibly offending.
I did get quite a bit further with finalizing a new edition of FUBAR, and that should be ready in the next couple of weeks (as long I don't get too many more distractions).
We'll see what next year holds.
27 December, 2015
Mapping Procedure (Part 2)
This mapping commission consists of three maps. One for the base camp, one for the overland trek, and one for a mountain to climb and explore at the end.
I've already shown the map for the overland trek.
The details of the base camp were based as a loose interpretation of this map.
The tricky bit has been the mountain. The general idea is that the characters will explore an ancient legendary mountain that has settled around the remains of a petrified dragon. I thought it might be interesting to depict the mountain as a cross section, depicting the dragon writhing in the centre of the mountain. Other ideas just didn't look suitably mountainous, or suitably draconic.
Pencil sketches were sumbitted to the client.
On being given the go ahead, inking was started...
...followed by shading of the rock inside the mountain. Here I deliberately used multiple thicknesses of pen to emphasise the shapes of the petrified dragon, as compred to the other stone comprising the terrain.
A bit more shading, and with approval from the client I'll add this mountain into the map for the overland trek. Then scanning and maybe colouring.
Everyone's a Mystic...
...some are just a bit more obvious about it than others.
I've been watching the development of some new (and not so new) roleplaying ideas by several people.
There seems to be a common thread in many people's designs where the heroes develop by gaining new abilities and improving those abilities, actually this has been a common thing in pretty much evey roleplaying game except for those designed as one-shots or those that are going out of their way to push the envelope in some way.
What's been more interesting recently is the idea of abilities as a way to manipulate the story's narrative, rather than abilities as a way to manipulate the game world. As a character improves, they gain new ways to manipulate the narrative, or ways to manipulate the narrative in a more significant manner. Maybe this has been a part of the rpg scene since the beginning, maybe there's been a drift away from it, maybe not... Curiously, the "storyteller" system drifts away from the idea and toward a set of mechanisms where the characters manipulate the world through their abilities rather than the players manipulating the narrative through their characters. Mage came the closest to the purity of my thoughts, because the game world is utterly fluid... belief controls everything, and belief requires conscious thought on the part of the characters, and through them the players are capable of derailing any story and therefore must be the centre of the narrative.
The spheres in Mage are simply flavours of how the narrative can be manipulated and to what extent this occurs in the world. If everything else were stripped away about the game... attributes, skills, merits, flaws... everything... it would still work. Most of the other games in the series wouldn't, they need the grounding in the world and their character abilities are all about navigating that world.
That kind of brings me back to some other ideas, ideas that needed a bit of context before they made a lot of sense. It's a bit of a paradigm shift, and it might be a bit radical for some readers, while some people might have been thinking this way for a while.
Let's look at the traditional D&D classes as all being different types of mystic. Mage the Ascension basically does this with different types of characters using magic to achieve superhuman feats of different types, but at the basic level that's what D&D does too. It tracks the ascension of characters from the every day levels of their origins to the potential levels of demigods and immortals. A warrior gains the ability to deal damage far beyond the mortals around them, they basically become avatars of war and death. A rogue gains an affinity with the shadows, the ability to move anywhere and everywhere, and becomes ever closer to the primordial trickster. A mage is the most blatant mystic, exploiting loopholes in reality to create effects that mundane mortals simply cannot understand. A cleric follows those who have walked the path of ascension previously, or those primorial entities who need disciples in the mundane world to become anchored against oblivion. Every class focuses on it's own way to manipulate the world and manipulate the narrative, the warrior excels when the narrative shifts to combat, the rogue excels when the narrative requires deception, the mage excels when the narrative shifts to the arcane, and the cleric excels when the narrative deals with outside forces from beyond reality.
The same idea can basically be applied to any set of game mechanisms. What do you want the stories told through this game to be about? What sorts of things do you want experienced veterans to find easier? What sorts of things should remain a challenge? Do you want the characters/avatars in the game world to expand their options for interacting with the story (in old school games we might call is multi-classing, in more moden games we might call it a skill-based rather than class-based system)?
Even the "Powered by the Apocalypse" games, this idea seems to hold true, different types of character have different narrative-manipulations that they are attuned to. As you improve a character you can buy new methods of narrative manipulation, or you can boost your attributes which give you a better chance of manipulating certain types of narrative conditions.
I'm sure that there is more to discuss in this field, but that's where I'll stop for the moment.
26 December, 2015
How to (and not to) run a time travel game?
After watching this year's Doctor Who Christmas Special, I'm reminded of one of the things that Doctor Who can do really well... Especially compared to a lot of other TV shows and narrative forms where time travel is an element.
Don't get me wrong, Doctor Who has just as many failures when it comes to temporal narrative, but it's been going for so long that there have been some great examples of how storylines and timelines can combine, compliment and even contradict.
It basically reflects the way I run long term narrative in a campaign.
Each episode has a few hooks, some of which get resolved, usually enough to get a feel of closure when the episode concludes, but sometimes not enough and people complain about plot holes. Usually there are one or two plot points that just don't get resolved, but in a show like Doctor Who they can be resolved in a later episode or even a later season.
The "River Song" story thread that stretches across numerous Doctors has been a brilliant example of how two time traveller's might interact with one another. At various points, one character has had information in their past which still belongs in the other character's future, and this has made sorting out their stories a fascinating exercise in temporal topology. This episode saw some of the loose story elements tied back into the narrative, it wasn't a perfect episode but it linked years of meandering story back together with new elements of it's own.
I'd actually like to see more of this. We saw it when Clara stepped into the Doctor's timeline a couple of season's ago, but only as a one off. The episode "Blink" is considered one of the best episodes of the modern era, and it does similar manipulation of temporal narrative. There is so much potential for other episodes to go back, fill in plot holes, or create situations that might have been previously solved by the doctor in some way that we didn't understand at the time.
There's basically 50 years of story that could be linked in this way, but the modern era of Doctor Who seems to ignore a lot of the old stuff except to dredge up some monster from the past when current ideas have been exhausted.
That's enough of my rant for the moment, I might come back to it in the future.
25 December, 2015
Mapping Procedure
As a Christmas present to everyone, here's a general step by step procedural on my mapping technique when working with a client.
Here's where the pencil sketch begins
After confirming with the client that this is what he is after, I start detailing in ink. The first details to be inked are the parts of the map that mesh with another part of the series. In this case it's the exploration base camp at the bottom of the map.
Then I outline the significant structures... which in this case means the central glacier. There are paths to the left and right of this glacier leading toward a mysterious mountain at the far end. Underneath you can see some embellishments that might get added into the map when I've scanned it and am digitally mucking around with it.
Here's a closer look at those embellishments. They were inspired by details in Tibetan patterns, which often appear in Tibetan buddhist maps and scrolls.
Next I add in the rocky mountainous terrain around the glacier.
This is followed by another post to the client to ensure the map is heading in the right direction.
More to come shortly.
23 December, 2015
Magic thoughts
This rejuvenation of the World of Darkness in recent weeks has seen a lot of people taking a new interest in the setting. That means once again that my earlier work this year was ahead of the zeitgeist, and once again was allowed to slide before the interest became widespread.
I've also been seeing quite a few great magic systems in development over the past few months. There was even a great discussion regarding the spirit sphere in Mage, and how the new game rules basically rendered it irrelevant except as a type of paradigm or focus to drive other effects in play (sorry, I can't remember who wrote this).
So, I'm thinking of returning to my "Storifying Mage" concepts, but now I'm considering a different angle.
My new thoughts are an assortment of keywords that get combined to produce mystical effects. 9 spheres, 9 lists of keywords in 5 levels. That's a minimum of 45 keywords, but we're probably looking at more like 90 (2 per level). Each keyword will have specific mechanical benefits and effects, magical power will determine the maximum number of words that may be combined for memorised effects (half this number, rounding up, to determine the words that might be combined on the fly for spontaneous magic effects).
I need to remember this stuff for once the FUBAR rewrite is complete, that'll be the next project.
22 December, 2015
Mapping in Progress
I think it's probably to show this small part of the new map commission. When it gets closer, I'll start telling people where they need to look for the finished product.
21 December, 2015
A good start
Thankyou to everyone who read, shared and responded to yesterday's post.
Throngh direct comments on the post, G+ responses, and private messages/emails, I've managed to accumulate over 100 articles on the topics of gaming and roleplaying. Now it's a case of distilling my vague direction of inquiry into a series of specific questions to investigate, each of which might contribute toward a larger pattern of understanding. That's generally how research in academia works... If you pick a topic too vast, the scholars say that you are speaking in generalities and vagueness. If you pick a single topic to small, a different group of scholars claim that you are cherry picking your dataset and narrowing everything down to a focus that happens to match your preconceived agenda. So you work piece by piece, feeding off the work of others, and allowing them to feed off yours (the more referenced your work is by others, the more respected it becomes).
Once I've knocked over a couple of maps for the current commission I'm working on, and then taken a few other personal projects to the next stage, I should have time to get those thoughts in order. Then the research begins.
20 December, 2015
Academic Research into Roleplaying
I recently finished my university degree, a Bachelor of Arts focusing on Social Analysis and Sociolinguistics. The final stage of that included research into play, particularly focusing on the cosplay community, but touching on elements of LARP. One of the things I found was that there really isn't a lot of research work being done into the field of adult play. There is a bit coming from the Nordic scene, but most play research is focused on the elements of children's play and the realm of computer gaming.
But there is a lot of adult play going on.
I'm writing this post as a call out to anyone who reads the blog, and who might know of some academic papers, journal articles, or other sources, that discuss adult play. I've been thinking of doing some serious research work in this field for a few weeks, and there seems to be a drive in the local community (at least partially driven by +Keiran Sparksman) to get some more formal work done in this sphere.
I know a few people have posted links to the Nordic stuff, but I'm hoping the comments to this post will consolidate a lot of those sources as a point from which my research can start.
19 December, 2015
New Map Commission
I have been commissioned to illustrate a series of maps for a new Torchbearer product. Given that Torchbearer is one of those indie games that seems to be getting a bit of traction lately, it's great to be considered for this opportunity.
I'm guessing +Dyson Logos was busy.
17 December, 2015
Episode 7: A Review with Minimal Spoilers
If you've watched any of the trailers, nothing I say here will spoil things.
I took +Leah Wenman to see "The Force Awakens" and we both really enjoyed it.
It felt like a familiar return to something. A comfortable fit in a number of ways, with enough interest to show that the story might beheading in a new direction.
My biggest issue is not with the movie, but with the events around the movie. Even just by watching the trailers you'll know that one of the major characters in the movie is a young woman. I hadn't seen many toys of this character, and this bugged me because my wife is a huge Star Wars fan and this might be another character for young girls to look up to. After seeing the movie, a lack of toys for that character seems even more ridiculous. I'm also expecting some of the existing prominent toys to disappear now that the gender of those characters has been confirmed.
But those are concerns that have little to do with the actual constructed narrative of the film, which is familiar in a number of regards, and very true to the oeuvre.
Not a perfect film, but a very good one. If you're a fan, you'll have certain expectations, and they will generally be met.
Rewards in Game
I'm working on rebuilding the Elgardt LARP system, incrementally. The problem is that there are other parties who are also integrating changes into the game.
One of my aims when designing a freeform LARP is to give everybody too many things to do during the course of play. I like to set up webs of intrigue between players, and give them jobs to do that force them into interaction with other players, while the other parties interested in developing the game further have pushed toward micromanaged quests with small groups led by GMs through railroaded scenarios. The problem I see with that second option is that when you only have one or two GMs for twenty or more players, you can micro-manage four or five (maybe even six or seven) each but everyone else is stuck waiting for their turn to go on a quest later, or maybe they get relegated into the role of NPCs.
This is great if everyone is on the same page regarding the game structure, but if everyone is hoping to play their own characters in an immersive world (the way Elgardt was originally intended), then this just isn't going to work. We've also seen a few spin off games that seek to emulate the LARPs seen in Melbourne, where they have big events with 300+ players. These large games have a critical mass of players, have been running for years, and probably have a background logistics team who make the whole thing seem effortless. They also seem to only run events every now and then if their website is anything to go by...but I'm assured by players who've been down to Melbourne that they have regularly weekly training events with 100+ players.
So, I'm trying to develop a self regulating system, or at least a system that requires a little facilitation to help it run smoothly rather than direct control by a specific GM team. To achieve that, I'm looking at applying in game rewards based on character archetypes. A bit like the XP system in "The Solar System". Every character will choose two paths of experience, and each path will say something about the character while pushing them into contact with other characters for specific reasons.
The Path of the Merchant prompts players to trade goods with other characters, the Path of the Thug prompts player to take down other players without using any of their special combat abilities, the Path of the Healer prompts them (naturally enough) to heal injured characters, the Path of the Deceiver prompts them to send other players on red herring missions. In each case, the character gains 25XP for engaging in the path's action once, 50XP if they do it twice, and 100XP if they manage it three times.
I'm aiming for a dozen or more of these paths, so that every player has a decent choice of tasks that fit their character concept, and in each case a player will have to get another player to sign off their checklist to confirm that they've interacted with someone else and that they have actually done the thing that their path requires. This becomes tricky in the case of the Path of the Deciever, because we don't want other players knowing that they've been lied to, so instead the GMs will carry a notpad and every time someone asks them about a plotline that hasn't been predetermined, they will note who is following the plot, and at the end of game determine who started the rumour. Other paths that vary from the norm might include the Path of the Pacifist, where a character earns experience for avoiding conflict with others, and could theoretically score points for hiding throughout the entire game (not really something we want).
Each of these paths needs to contribute something to the game's ecosystem. That might be heightening conflict, promoting trade, increasing magic, or anything else, and I'm sure that getting the balance right between these paths will be a delicate art. The paths will remain a constant part of the game, but in addition there will always be one or two significant events happening in the game. One driven by the GMs and/or one driven driven by the actions of the players in previous events. Then there will be a range of lesser events happening in the game, generally working on the assumption of one minor event per ten players (round up). This means that every player will have their two paths, at least one major event, and at least two minor events to connect with during the course of the story. A path might take 10 minutes per experience generating action (but such action opportunities might only manifest once every hour or so). A major event might unfold over three or four scenes (each taking half an hour or more) and a minor event might unfold over two or three scenes (each taking fifteen to twenty minutes). That gives us a minimum of a hour scattered across the day for path activities, roughly two hours for one of the major events, and half and hour to and hour for minor plots... three-and-a-half to four hours of activity for players to latch into, before they even start connecting into the plot lines developed by other players as they manipulate the world around them, or before they start to manipulate the world for themselves.
Most of our games run for around 5 hours, so that gives an hour or time for self entertainment and engagement with the world. But in most cases, that hour could easily be used up in walking around the parkland.
Paths so far...
(In most cases 1 action = 25xp, 2 actions = 50xp, 3 actions = 100xp, unless otherwise mentioned)
Academic - Use a skill or knowledge to further a quest
Assassin - Backstab a character with a bounty on them
Crafter - Create items to trade with others or use in game
Deceiver - Send other characters on erroneous missions
Guildmember - Further the aims of the guild or complete guild missions
Guildmaster - Recruit new guild members or assign missions to guild members
Healer - Heal other characters
Herbalist - Trade a found herb into the market
Hunter - Trade a found animal into the market
Merchant - Trade with other characters
Messenger - Travel with a message between two characters
Pacifist - Avoid Conflict (1 life lost = 25xp, no lives lost = 50xp, never engaged in conflict = 100xp)
Ritualist - Conduct magic ritual with other characters
Sentinel - Remain in one area (1hr = 25xp, 2hrs = 50xp, 3hrs = 100xp)
Standard Bearer - Provide a morale bonus in battle
Thug - Take down other characters without using special abilities
Wanderer - Visit locations around the game (3 places = 25xp, 4 places = 50xp, 5 places = 100xp)
I know there are still a few more paths I'd like to add, but I need to consider what other sorts of things I want to reward in the game.
14 December, 2015
Fast Combat
The final battle in yesterday's LARP was a bit anti climactic. I was in it (to the right), and had been told that we'd be filmed. Yes, I should have tried to make it a bit more dramatic... but even so, it was over quickly, and would have been over quickly even with a few flourishes.
That's how quickly I think combat should go in a tabletop game.
11 December, 2015
Getting closer with the blueprints
I went looking for folded paper textures to apply to the blueprint maps, to give them an aged look. None have been particularly good so far, and I might just have to fold some of my own cardboard, scan it in then apply it to the image.
...but it's still getting closer as one of the final image to appear in the new FUBAR rulebook that's gradually coming together.
A few more days without distraction and I should have a version of the rules ready for people to have a look at before I launch a crowdfunding project to get hard copies of the book printed.
Balance in Can of Beans
Game balance is one of those bugbears that some designers obsess over, while other designers blatantly disregard it. Then there are those who claim that there is no such thing as true balance and for a game to "simulate realism" it should actually be unbalanced.
Clans of Elgardt (and many other games I've encountered) uses a variable cost on different abilities, where those abilities that are more powerful are more costly, but the actual usefulness of various abilities and the associated costs are always debated (this is too expensive for what it does...while this is too powerful for it's price). Things get shuffled, characters get rewritten when a new set if rules is released, sometimes characters are retired purely because they are no longer competitive, or no longer fit the player's conception of what the character should have been when reflected in the new rule set.
Some rule sets make different abilities exclusive to certain occupational paths, if you're a warrior you get access to martial abilities, but not mystic abilities (with the reverse if you're a wizard). Among these, you get the games which predetermine a character along a single path, and those games that might allow multiclassing. CoE sort of does this, but only with the paths of light and darkness (where if you possess one, it automatically precludes you from taking any abilities in the other), it's a half-arsed attempt to add flavour into the mechanisms of play, and kind of works but falls short [the whole concept has recently been removed from the game].
A common thing among many of the more "advanced" rule sets for Boffer LARP is the idea of variable cost skills, where a skillmight have a base cost which is then multiplied by some factor determined by the character's race, then another factor determined by their current occupation, and possibly a synergy with existing abilities they might possess. This really does nothing for balance when one character might be gaining the ability to disarm an opponent for 500xp while another might be forced to spend 1500xp on exactly the same thing. It's the same ability, it should have the same cost in my mind.
The development system I'm proposing in Can of Beans offers rapid growth for new characters, that steadily decreases as the character matures... this is offset by the way that characters have more risk of permanent death as they get more established in the game (especially if their path to power has been through numerous fight scenes). I'm thinking a bit like Mordheim here...eventually it becomes more of a risk to keep going with a character, when the returns are diminishing, so it's better to either retire the character and start with something fresh, or go down dramatically (and take out as many opponents as possible in the process).
The paths I'm proposing in Can of Beans are like jobs, not full-on careers that define a life, but more a series of skills and abilities that contribute to an overall character. A starting character has a path based on who their people are, a path based on how they were raised, and a path indicating the job they are doing when they enter play. Over the course of play they'll gain new paths, and advance their existing paths.
Basic occupational paths might include:
Advanced paths would require certain expertise traits and edges before they could be taken, they might include:
Mutant Warrior
Bounty Hunter
Standard Bearer
Law Keeper
...and maybe a few more that will become available during the course of play depending on how the story goes.
I'm currently trying to allocate 6 edges to each of these occupational paths (2 basic, 2 intermediate and 2 advanced), and six areas of expertise. The benchmark for each edge is intending to balance against the following ideas:
Fighting: You may use simple weapons from a specific class, Simple weapons have no special bonuses.
Crafting: You may fix basic things if you have appropriate parts.
Healing: You may restore a limited number of hit points (you have tokens for this), or mend damaged limbs (separate skills).
Defence: You gain an extra Morale Token or Hit Point, or may gain benefit from using light armour (separate skills, and the armour has other costs associated with it)
Mystic: You gain a power point that might be used to empower devices, or invoke mystical effects from other sources.
Trade: You begin each session with a few basic trade commodities and parts.
Intermediate (typically require a specific expertise trait):
Fighting: You may use all weapons from a specific class, including complex weapons (which have special abilities such as extra damage, disarm, shield-break, armour piercing, etc.). You must use the one weapon all conflict.
Crafting: You may create simple things or fix complex things (separate skills) if you have appropriate parts (making this requires a set instructions [book or memorised]).
Healing: You may fully restore hit points, or you may "carry" a character back to civilisation safely (separate skills).
Defence: You may ignore a weapon's special ability, or may gain benefit from using heavy armour (separate skills, and the armour has other costs associated with it)
Mystic: You have your own mystical effects that may be charged by your power points to enhance your mundane abilities (these require a set instructions [book or memorised]).
Trade: You begin each session with a few advanced trade commodities, parts and/or useful items.
Advanced (typically require two specific expertise traits):
Fighting: You may use all weapons from a specific class, including complex weapons (which have special abilities such as extra damage, disarm, shield-break, armour piercing, etc.). If you have multiple weapons, you may change to a weapon from this class during a conflict.
Crafting: You may create complex things (making this requires a set instructions [book or memorised]).
Healing: You may help characters who are Knocked-Out return to consciousness, or you may remedy the ill effects on a character's battle scar (separate skills).
Defence: Weapons that deal multiple damage with each strike deal 1 less damage (to a minimum of 1), or increased chance of returning to play without issues after a K/O (separate skills).
Mystic: You can create mystical effects that are blatantly supernatural (these require a set instructions [book or memorised]).
Trade: You have the contacts to acquire trade commodities, parts and/or useful items during the course of play.
Note that few different paths might offer bonus hit points, morale tokens or mystic energy to characters, and different paths might allow access to the same types of edges.
These are generally the benchmarks that I'm trying to gauge new abilities against. I know that it's going to be virtually impossible to get a completely accurate balance of these things because every player will handle each ability differently, in specific scenarios there will be more value in specific skills, and these will change from session to session.
Character Abilities in Can of Beans
Here's my work-in-progress text...
Starting Characters
Authority Path
Focus Path – Culture of Origin
Focus Path – Childhood
Focus Path – Starting Occupation
Developing Characters
10 December, 2015
Can of Beans - Reflection on the Past
The last time I developed a Boffer LARP system, I began with a set of Positives and Negatives... or, more accurately a continuum of Positive non-negotiables, positive negotiables, negate negotiables, and negative non-negotiables... basically the continuum goes from the ramge pf thins to definitely be a part of the game, through those I'm less opinionated about, and on to those I definitely don't want in the game.
You can find that list here.
I think the main difference in this new system is that magic moves from a non-negotiable positive to a negotiable. Post apocalypse isn't really known for magic, but occasionally psychic powers or mutations appear in the fiction.
I'll probably be looking at the last series of LARP design posts pretty closely as I develop "Can of Beans", reflecting on those ideas in light of the play experiences I've had in the last 15 months since I wrote those posts.
The second post from that series still holds fairly true to my design considerations for this game.
We want ample opportunity for fighting, because that's why we're doing a boffer LARP rather than a parlour LARP. We want influence and status games as the falling society of the past conflicts with the developing societies of the wasteland. We want new players to feel that they aren't completely overshadowed by the veterans, but we do want the veterans to feel like their investment into the game has been worthwhile. Non-human races aren't really a part of most post apocalyptic stories, but if this game is going to be based on the Walkabout setting, then there will definitely be mutants and "spirits who walk in bodies of flesh"... these exotic types will be unusual and it will take some hoops jumped through before a player can access them (they will a be reward and privilege rather than a right), but they will be there. I still don't want "single-strike kills", and I still do want players to gain an advantage from portraying NPC(s) for a session.
The third post still generally holds true with my current thoughts as well. A few hit points per character, where a struck torso counts as 2 hits, and a struck limb counts as either 1 hit or incapacitates the limb for the remainder of the conflict. Armour adds ablative hit points to each location where it is worn. Helmets add an extra hit point to the torso, and may improve the chances of recovery when a character is K/O'd (Thanks to +Klaus Teufel for pointing out that we really want to encourage protective headwear on that original post).
Getting to the fourth post is where a few more subtle changes drift my thoughts for this game away from my thoughts for the game I was developing then. I have some ideas that remain similar, where more advanced weaponry might have some kind of offset in the way of fragility, required skill-set to use or sheer cost. | http://vulpinoid.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/ | dclm-gs1-173751087 |
0.458269 | <urn:uuid:b6d47ab5-e33b-4e9d-9675-12655adfd3cb> | en | 0.966285 | jueves, 23 de diciembre de 2010
Is a Gift Card a Good Gift?
Is a Gift Card a Good Gift?
When you give someone a gift card, you're essentially putting down the cash to let them buy whatever present they want. It's definitely one of the easiest gifts you can give, but is it a good one?
Point: The Case For Gift Cards
What do I want for Christmas? I dunno! Peace on earth, etc. So instead of reading tea leaves or forcing a list out of me under duress, do the really thoughtful thing: get me a gift card.
You could argue that a gift card is impersonal, that it's lazy, that it's a cop-out. Ridiculous! A gift card is the most personal present there is. It's the gift of freedom to buy whatever you want, whenever you want it. It's the gift that says "we're good enough friends/relatives/acquaintances that we don't have to force it." And there's a certain beauty in that.
Is a Gift Card a Good Gift?What, you got your girlfriend an iPod Touch? That's something totally unique to her interests? You plumbed the depths of her soul to figure out she wanted it more than anything else in the world? Nah, it's just a popular doodad! It's safe, but it's empty. Gift cards are also safe, sure, but they're brimming with possibility, and the guarantee that she'll end up with something she loves.
And it's not like you're handing over cold hard cash (which, hey, nothing wrong there, either, but admittedly could seem crass in certain situations). Do you know their favorite restaurant? A gift card beats putting take-out under the tree. Favorite haberdasher? You could get 'em a scarf that they'll end up exchanging eventually anyway, sure. Or you could let them get what they really want, even if that something's not even out yet. I like movies! And I'd rather see them in the theater, for free, throughout the year, thanks to that gift card you got me. I'll pass on that Batman Blu-ray box set (because this one time I mentioned I like Batman but honestly I was just making conversation and really only meant the Michael Keaton ones and besides, honestly, Joel Schumacher should be strung up by the gizzard for what he did to that franchise RIGHT?). And so on.
When we were first talking about this, Kyle described gift cards as "pragmatic." Please. If anything, they're sincere. They say: If it's the thought that counts, I'm counting on you to think for yourself. To make Christmas come when you want it to, not when the calendar says. I respect you that much.
Also they're, like, a super easy last-minute gift, amIright? —Brian Barrett
Counterpoint: The Case Against Gift Cards
"Every single thing you see is future trash," explained Robin Nagle, an anthropologist, in arecent interview. "Everything." And while it's certainly fine to enjoy whatever future trash you happen to accumulate in the present, giving someone a gift card is basically your way of saying, "here, buy yourself some future trash."
Is a Gift Card a Good Gift?That's not to say that stuffcan't be a good gift. An Xbox can be just as thoughtful as a framed photograph, in the right situation. But it's understanding that situation—the act of recognizing what would make someone happy and then giving them that happiness—that makes gift giving special. It's what that makes a gift not just a physical thing but something more: a token of your relationship.
I don't think anyone is unclear about what gift giving should be. It's not just about the gift but the thought behind it, the idea that someone took time out of their routine to consider you and what you like. And with our time and our attention as scarce as ever, good gifts are all the more memorable. We all have a million things to do, but a good gift recognizes that someone took time out of their busy life to consider what would make your busy life better.
The gift card reduces the act of gift giving to a mere transaction. It's saying, "I recognize this as an occasion on which I'm supposed to spend time and money on you, but I couldn't really spare that time, sorry. Here's the money anyway."
"But wait," the chorus of lame gift receivers cries out, "with gift cards we always get exactly what we want!" Sure. But you also get exactly what you want when you go to the mall by yourself on some odd 360 days of the year. And just like if you had picked it up on your own, whatever you decide to buy with that gift card will be exactly what it is and nothing more. A thing. A thing with no relationship invested in it and no memory clinging to it. When it becomes future trash in some landfill, that will be the end of it. It'll never be remembered.
When you give a good gift, you're giving something extra along with it. Some feeling, some emotion, some recognition. It's what makes gift giving special, and it's something that can never end up in a landfill. —Kyle VanHemert
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0.854213 | <urn:uuid:177665e6-eacc-4ad0-a928-0a6a68184d43> | en | 0.913272 | Wiki Edit -> Indonesia
Village : Lombasang
Country : Indonesia
Dear Lombasang people we have started this to publish all village details around the world. Lombasang is a village located in the district of state. You are welcome to provide more information about Lombasang. It can be under the following category.
Lombasang map
The following Lombasang map is from google. Lombasang map consist of nearest villages and more information based on the zooming. You can enlarge or minimize the map zooming level based on your requirement. | http://wikiedit.org/Indonesia/Lombasang/1859880/ | dclm-gs1-173801087 |
0.03775 | <urn:uuid:d8ad7dcb-f107-4877-8f2d-ee6af1733a54> | en | 0.905491 | Air Products Home
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0.02661 | <urn:uuid:6503653c-0f75-4f32-9f70-556416296e8d> | en | 0.934646 | Stuttering in Children
Baby Problems Add comments
60 millions of stuttering people, or 1% of population of the world, consider themselves wounded because destiny “endowed” them with a speech defect - stuttering
consider themselves wounded because destiny “endowed” them with a
speech defect - stuttering. Let`s talk about signs of stuttering and
ways of parental help for children with stuttering.
There`s no united approach to a stuttering problem. Most popular pint
of view says that stuttering - is a defect of tempo, rhythm and fluency
of speech, which appears due to vocal apparatus spasms.
There`re reasons, predisposing to stuttering and causing stuttering. Predisposing
reasons are:
Organic lesion of central nervous system, which can appear due to burth trauma,
mother`s infections during pregnancy.
Hereditary factor. In this case a child inherits a special condition, weakness
of CNS.
Baby`s sex. Cases of stuttering are spread among boys 4 times more often, than
among girls.
Left-handed factor.
Too hasty, careless speech of people, surrounding child. In this case stuttering
develops, as an imitation.
“Halved” type of higher nervous activity (children-cholerics and melancholiacs).
And etc.
Causing reasons are: various psychic traumas - acting single-step
(fright) or acting protractedly (complicated atmosphere in family,
wanton punishments, problems in kindergarten, negative atmosphere in a
kindergarten group etc.).
Stuttering appears in the age from 2 to 4-5 years. During this period a
child`s phrasal speech is developing, and it becomes vulnerable for
various negative factors. Symptoms (signs) are displayed irregularly
during whole life. For example, in sutuations, especially important for
a child (answering a lesson, reading a poem etc.), manifestations of
stuttering will be stronger, and while communication with close people
stuttering is manifected weakly or dissapears at all.
Researchers note, that if a child preschool age stuttered, later while
entering school stuttering can either come back or intensify. You know,
beginning of studying is a stressful factor. Circle of acquaintance
changes, a child is made certain demands.
Stuttering can intensify in children while entering school, during teen-age period.
First signs
Spasms in a child`s facial muscles, lips, tongue, respiratory system -
are main signs-symptoms of stuttering. They can be clonic, when a child
repeats the same sound or one syllable. And there`re more serious
spasms - tonic - when a child just cannot start speaking, as if he gets
stuck on a word. There can be spasms of mixed type.
Besides spasms, parents can notice other signs of stuttering - these
are motional tricks. Before starting speaking, a child performs some
action: pulls at his lobe, knocks with his hand.
Speech tricks - a person utters some sound or repeats same word many times, to
start speaking.
Personal changes in a child. Children with stuttering worry because of
their speech, can refuse from communication even with close people. And
in further, such speech pathology can even complicate profession choice
for teenagers. Not to mention the fact that stuttering lowers a child`s
self-appraisal. Although often feelings are not adequate to stuttering
weight. Speech therapists consider that while stuttering a human
personality as a whole suffers, not speech.
Another important sign of stuttering are so-called logophobias. Fear,
dread of speech and situation, in which stuttering can appear, for
example, answering a lesson in front of whole class, turning to a
stranger with some request.
Be careful!
The earlier parents note stumblings in a child`s speech and apply for
specialists, the higher is chance that correction will pass
successfully, and stuttering will be subdued completely.
Which specialists should you apply for? These are neurologist or
psychoneurologist and speech therapist. Stuttering can be subdued
completely only in case, if work is carried out in complex, i.e.
1. Medical treatment.
2. Physiotherapy (medicinal sleep, baths etc.).
3. Psychotherapeutic influence.
4. Speech therapy.
Overcoming of early or fresh and chronic stuttering differs in matter
of medicinal and correctional work. Early stuttering is stuttering,
which symptoms manifest during 2 weeks. After this period pathologic
reflexes fix and then it`s much more difficult to cope with them.
How parents can help?
According to terms of manifestation of symptoms, there`re early or
“fresh” stuttering (which symptoms manifest during 2 weeks) and chronic
stuttering (more than 2-3 weeks).
While fresh stuttering it`s very important to organize a special
regimen of “speech restriction”. During several days (up to week), you
need to protect your child from some strong impressions and emotions,
both negative and positive. It`s better to recommend home regimen,
minimum communication with highlystrung, active children. You should
refuse from guests.
It`s very good to bring your child to the country during this time.
During this period parents should take care of their speech. They need
to speak quietly, lowly, easy, with a slight singing accent.
During this period doctors recommend to prolong night and afternoon
child`s sleep. And you need to exclude TV, computer and similar
amusements necessarily.
Take care of your child`s wholesome nutrition - porridges, soups, fruits, vegetables,
buttered bread.
It`s recommended to play games, not requiring speech activity from a
child: colouring, applique’ work, dominoes and others. A child should
play with old, known toys, read known books. New impressions are
undesirable during this period.
Speech therapists often recommend playing so-called silent games. For
example, this can be “Fishing”, “underwater trip” (divers), imaginary
excursion along picture-gallery etc.
If you observe such schedule and carry out medical treatment, you can overcome
symptoms of fresh stuttering successfully.
While chronic stuttering such measures will be ineffective. In this
case you need to apply for mentioned specialists, and they will carry
out complex correctional work with a child.
Where stuttering children can receive help?
Children preschool age with stuttering receive logopaedic help in
specialized children speech kindergartens, rehabilitation medical
centers and children psychoneurological hospitals.
Schoolchildren with serious stage of stuttering are taught in special
(correctional) educational institutions. Schoolchildren with light
stage of stuttering can be taught in general schools under the
condition of obligatory visiting speech therapist.
Great stutterers
We can console you reminding that there were many great stutterers in
the world. Starting from Vergil, Demosthenes and Aesop: quite
respectable company! Remember Lewis Carroll, author of unfading “Alice
in Wonderland” and William Somerset Maugham, who ascribe limping to
himself, instead of stuttering in his “Of Human Bondage”: this defect
seemed less humiliating for him for some reason.
It seems actors cannot stutter at all. Not at all! Marilyn Monroe coped
with her defect successfully, vibrating with her voice skilfully,
sometimes imitating aspiration, sometimes tongue-twister, sometimes
spoke at shouting pitch or lowering voice to a ingratiating whisper.
Who knows, may be Monroe would not become divine Marilyn, if her
“defect” would not induce her to such inventiveness. And Gerard
Depardieu makes no secret of his stuttering. That`s why he`s
List of most popular stutterers, who chose politics as their
profession, is very long. The whole world knows famous Winston
Churchill, and only meticulous biographers knew that he stuttered.
Remember Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton, who asked to shut windows
during his speech in parliament, as even the slightest whiff of wind
made his stuttering more noticeable.
And still biblical Moses was the most famous stutterer, who said that
he spoke with difficulty and was tongue-tied. It was Moses, regardless
of his tongue-tie, whom God trusted his tables and ruled to emancipate
Jewry from slavery.
Demosthenes`s recipe
stuttered since childhood and pronounced sounds wrongly, however, he
had a great wish to become a famous orator. To achieve this goal,
Demosthenes did following things:
- uttered a poem, filling his mouth with stones or nuts (this way he trained muscles
of vocal apparatus).
to overcome fear of performing in public, he went to a loud sea coast
and imagined, that it was wild unkindly audience, and uttered texts
industriously and clearly, without paying attention to noise.
he was going and running along fields and mountains, uttering long
poems and this way training his respiratory system.
all know the result of these efforts. Demosthenes made it into history
as a skilled orator, whose speeches were applauded by hundreds of
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0.129911 | <urn:uuid:2f6cfc0a-4ec2-4a28-bce4-e7daddfec96e> | en | 0.97368 | Scream Recap: Not-So-Fun Houses | Betches
Scream Recap: Not-So-Fun Houses
This week’s episode of Scream opens with, what else, a brooding and horror themed monologue from Noah. It’s all about how everyone is coping with Jake’s death and littered with thinly veiled allusions to not trusting the people closest to you. If Audrey actually listened to his podcast, she would definitely be nervous right now.
Emma wakes up to a call from the killer, which is so commonplace at this point that it was probably just an alarm reminding her to wake up for school. No one likes stalking a delinquent. She goes downstairs and finds Kieran, ready to apologize for turning her into the police. I’m not sure why he’s apologizing actually. Kieran seems like the only person being rational about any of this right now.
Emma: I don’t know who I can trust anymore.
Kieran: Definitely not me, but you’re going to anyways.
Next, Emma heads to Noah’s to reaffirm what their friendship was founded on: ineffectively trying to identify a murderer. Against his wishes, Emma uncovers Noah’s CSI caliber suspect board which very awkwardly points right to Audrey at the moment. Emma is vastly offended, as if any of them have the best judgement when it comes to friends. She asks why he would accuse one of their own, and he throws out a bunch of stupid reasons that aren’t the real one: her phone. She accuses him of letting the killer get in his head aka the ultimate case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Their argument is interrupted by a call from Brooke, who should probably be under 24/7 surveillance by this point. Emma goes over to her place and finds a shredded duvet and a very broken Brooke, who is dead set on her theory that Branson is the killer. Emma is wary about this, which seems a little hasty considering that the man had sex with MULTIPLE underage students. Sounds like a solid place to start an investigation.
Determined to find evidence to convince Emma, Noah tries to trail Audrey around town. This lasts for about fifteen seconds before she catches on and then beats him, the way a completely innocent person reacts to her friends following her. There’s a lot of terribly concealed terror on Noah’s part before he slips Audrey’s phone back into her bag and runs away.
He immediately heads back to Emma’s with a plan: have the desk clerk identify Audrey. If he can’t, she’s in the clear. Too bad the desk clerk is super dead and the killer is in possession of his phone. He tells Noah to meet him tonight in the funhouse at the fair. You’d think that Noah, horror buff of the group, would catch on to this obvious murder locale, but he goes along with the plan. You all deserve to die. Natural selection probably would have taken you out anyways.
Mr. Maddox goes to a bar and gets caught up with some trashy looking cougar. I think it’s Kieran’s aunt, but I’m not sure. He ends up luring her back to his mansion and conning her into finishing a job for him, presumably the one Jake started.
Brooke leaves her mourning bed to meet up with Stavo at the coffee shop in hopes that he’ll help her break into his dad’s office so she can peak into Branson’s file. All it’s going to say is GIANT PEDOPHILE, but still worth a shot I guess. Stavo instantly agrees because he clearly has the biggest boner for Brooke. While he’s busy sneaking around the precinct, we see Kieran wander into the Sheriff’s office. It would appear he’s the new unofficial informant on all things Lakewood Five. Again, probably not the worst idea given the circumstances. The Sheriff could be a little more appreciative that someone is finally working with him, but instead decides to taunt this orphaned teenager.
Acosta: Maybe if you’d actually cooperated with law enforcement, your Dad would still be alive
Kieran: First of all, uncalled for. Second of all, wholly untrue.
Stavo returns with some legit info. Turns out Branson’s alibi for the night of Jake’s murder is Ms. Lang, their psych teacher. Brooke is disgusted, as if this is the only inappropriate relationship Branson has had the entire show. Stavo turns out to be the first truly supportive man in Brooke’s life, possibly because he’s a psychopath, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
Brooke: I’m getting to the fucking bottom of this.
Stavo: You do you, boo.
After Brooke leaves, Stavo confronts Audrey at the coffee shop and makes her go through his shattered iPad so that she can see what his drawings truly are: the makings of a graphic novel. They have a showdown in which they both declare the other as suspects, and honestly Audrey is pretty high and mighty for someone who was actually the accomplice at one point.
Maggie shows up while Noah and Emma are planning their foray to the fairground and shuts it the fuck down, seeing as how a kid just got murdered three days ago. Finally, some responsible parenting in this town. Will it stop them? No. But at least she actually tried this time.
Brooke arranges a meeting with Ms. Lang and deserves an Oscar for her performance. She tearfully tells Ms. Lang that she’s full of guilt because she was actually having sex with Branson the night that Jake was killed. Lang immediately gets into her car and leaves a scathing voicemail for Branson. The reason she had to leave a voicemail is because Brooke was on the other line with Branson, full porn voice, telling him how badly she needs him. They agree to meet up at the usual spot and honestly that scumbag deserves whatever harm this tiny porcelain doll actually manages to inflict on him. Hell hath no fury like a teenage girl scorned.
Brooke goes full fucking Gone Girl on Branson and ties him up in a hotel room before she starts swinging a pair of scissors around his face and asking about Jake.
When he swears he had nothing to do with Jake’s disappearance, she kicks things up by threatening to cut his dick off. It speaks volumes to how seriously deranged she appears that Branson starts to cry, so instead Brooke leaves him tied up and blindfolded and tells him to get the fuck out of town. Man, I wonder who’s going to find him in that vulnerable position. Definitely not the murderer.
Despite her mother’s very rational advice and the fact that a serial killer is actively stalking her, Emma decides to meet up with Noah at the campgrounds anyway. She only makes it about three feet down the street when she gets a flat tire. Not suspicious at all. She attempts to call Noah, who is waiting at the campgrounds alone. Naturally there’s no service in this particular corner of this miniscule town, so Noah heads in alone.
Kieran shows up and fixes Emma’s flat tire before making her promise to not go to the fairgrounds. She agrees and then waits approximately two seconds after he drives away to head directly there. The trust issues with these two, I swear. It’s almost like one of them accused the other one of being a murderer at one point.
Noah spends about thirty seconds in the funhouse before he becomes incredibly self-aware and sprints back to the car. Too bad the killer is in the backseat and chloroforms him before he can get away. If this seems out of character that’s because it totally is.
Brooke goes to see Stavo and almost walks in on his Brandon James mask selfie fest, which was very reminiscent of that scene in Silence of the Lambs, just without all the dick tucking. She cries about Jake while he hugs her and stares creepily at the box holding his mask. I still don’t think this kid is a killer, just a teenager with a weird murder fetish.
Only Noah would turn a kidnapping into discourse about horror movie genres. He wakes up tied into a fair ride with Audrey in the car behind him and immediately begins dissecting the many themes tied to their capture. Once he’s accepted that this is indeed the time for death, he starts making embarrassing admissions about topics including, but not limited to, his cat and his unrequited feelings for Audrey.
Audrey: I love you.
Audrey: Just not like that.
Audrey: Also stop admitting things because I fabricated this entire situation.
That’s right, Audrey faked the kidnapping to throw Noah off her trail. She tells him as much, and they discuss the contents of her phone when Emma arrives, brazenly walking around an abandoned amusement park at night, nary a self-preservation instinct in sight.
Noah reveals that they’d been lead there by the desk clerk, and Audrey reveals the unfortunate fact that the desk clerk is dead, which takes this little outing from an ill-timed prank to a very deadly situation. Emma sees the killer on her way in, and everyone starts losing their shit. Naturally Kieran, who followed Emma because he knows she’s a lying whore, joins the crew and now all four of them are running around a terrifying amusement park while the killer slowly stalks them. Could they feasibly overpower one high school kid with a knife? Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?
Somehow they all make it out alive, but Emma is probably wishing otherwise because now she has to suffer through a lecture from Kieran.
Kieran: You lied to me.
Emma: I know.
Kieran: When I specifically asked you not to.
He’s jilted enough to go straight to the sheriff, who had just received some very interesting news. It turns out that the emails from “Riley” that Mr. Duvall had been receiving were all sent from Emma’s IP address. DUN DUN DUNNNN.
Deputy: Are you surpised?
Acosta: Nah that bitch is crazy
Kieran: Let me tell you.
Audrey shows up to Noah’s for a big confession, just not the one Noah was hoping for. She tells him that she brought Piper to Lakewood to research Brandon James because she identified with him. They were both misunderstood loners and both of their actions resulted in the deaths of a bunch of people. Weird. She didn’t, however, help with the murders. Audrey claims she had no idea it was Piper until the very end. Noah takes her side, telling her that she was a victim in all of this. Not sure how sincere he was about that, seeing as how his Podcast recorded (and published?) the entire conversation.
Still tied up in a hotel room across town, Branson is finally happened upon by none other than the killer. We all knew it would happen, and yet the entire scene was possibly the most cringeworthy yet. The killer enters the room and removes Branson’s blindfold before very ominously turning on the iron. He then proceeds to cut his fucking hand off before cauterizing it with said iron. Tbh, there would probably be a lot less statutory rape out there if this became regular protocol.
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0.229443 | <urn:uuid:9c6e8511-8afa-46ad-87a4-c500dc15e37e> | en | 0.968773 | UnREAL Episode 9 Recap: The Best Show You've Never Heard Of Because It's On Lifetime | Betches
By Jane Duh
So, for those of you who don't know---UnReal is the best new show you've never heard of because it's on Lifetime. Keeping in line with Lifetime's theme of "bad shit that can happen to women," UnReal follows the behind the scenes happenings on a reality dating show called "Everlasting," which is just The Bachelor, except the bachelor is called "the suitor" and he's British.
Our protagonist, Rachel, is the best producer in town ('producing' in this world roughly translates to 'manipulating otherwise sane people into ruining their lives on national television') but she also gets the sads from time to time because her job requires her to be evil and maybe she's not evil? Idk yet but all you need to know is 3 episodes ago Crazy Old Mary (the craziest and oldest contestant on the show) jumped off a roof and killed herself but now everybody has kind of forgotten about it and the show is still going because reality TV is a soulless death machine.
If you haven't watched yet, stop right now and binge watch it. Then come back to this article and read my analysis of Episode 9: The Princess (lol).
1) Quinn (the showrunner/HBIC) wants Chet (executive producer/fat) off the show and behind bars.
- So after finally proposing to Quinn and continuing to have the most disgusting sex ever aired on television, Chet decides what he really wants is for Quinn to get pregnant and also he'd like a blowjob from Madison, the 19 year old intern who wears her hair in braids and spends all day acting stupid as hell. Quinn witnessed this disgusting backstage BJ and immediately burned out her eyes and now Quinn is blind.
JK. That didn't happen. What did happen was Quinn took a secret meeting in LA while telling Chet she was going to the doctor to have her womb evaluated (use this excuse all the time tbh) but really is trying to get him off the show. Then she went and talked to lame ass Madison and says she'll help her get a lawyer to press charges against Chet for assaulting her. Only problem --- Madison liked the bj and actually found it to be a very valuable part of her internship. So what does dumb-as-fuck-pigtailed-Madison do? She runs her gross cummy mouth to the show therapist who, until now, I'd forgotten was a character. Unmemorable Therapist Lady bringsthis info to Chet and demands a reality show of her own. I guess this is how non-hot people get what they want. IDK.
2) Rachel is fucking everyone.
So Rachel is finally back with Jeremy and doesn't have to masturbate to old sex tapes they made together anymore. Only problem is Jeremy doesn't know that Rachel has been getting the shit suited out of her by the suitor and now he doesn't want to suit anybody but her even though he's supposed to be suiting the final three girls. Other problem is that there are cameras everywhere and Quinn gets ahold of a video of Rachel and Adam suiting (which makes a total of 2 sex tapes from Rachel in one season.) Now instead of quitting and moving to LA with Jeremy, Rachel has to stay on the show and help Quinn make a spin-off where the suitor and his bride renovate Adam's shitty vineyard (which, btw, sounds like a terrible show.)
So now Rachel is caught between Adam and Jeremy and can't decide who to love! Wow! Maybe the real suitor here is....RACHEL?!?
dun dun dun!!!
Okay I'll see myself out.
3) The Final Three!
The show is down to the final three and you can tell because in true reality show fashion all the black people have mysteriously disappeared. Now the choice is down to Slutty Grace, Dead Dad Bulimic Anna, and Faith the Lesbian Giantess.
Slutty Grace is tired of being so slutty and almost stops but luckily Rachel is there to re-sluttify her. Also she goes on camera and makes fun of Anna for having a dead dad and being bulimic which is...pretty harsh...In the end Slutty Grace doesn't get the one on one and had to slut off back to bed.
Anna, on the other hand, goes on a great date with Adam and admits during a romantic hot air balloon ride that she's into nerdy stuff like "books." She and Adam promptly fuck while Rachel the Psycho watches on the monitor.
Which leaves us with Faith, the giant southern circus freak who asks Adam to pick her to help him renovate his stupid vineyard so that she can move there with her girlfriend and show her the gay utopia known as San Francisco. In the end, Adam sends Faith home. Presumably because she came out to him as gay, is in love with a woman, and is so so so so annoying and weird looking.
Bye Faith!
And finally:
4) Rachel ignores a call.
Rachel finally proves that she loves Jeremy by going with him to an extremely lame looking party and ignoring a call from her boss. Jeremy announces to the entire room that she ignored the call and everyone cheers.
I ignore calls all damn day and never even get a "congrats." Stupid fucking Rachel always gets everything.
• Adam chooses Rachel on camera, ruins finale.
• Jeremy finds out they fucked and gets very sad. They break up before season 2.
• Dumbass Faith comes back even though no one wants her to.
• Madison stands up for herself, starts becoming the new Quinn and blows whoever she wants for the rest of her days on Earth.
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0.467442 | <urn:uuid:e67035f1-5190-4058-979f-f75bbd7164bd> | en | 0.966319 | Wednesday, January 28, 2009
New Health Craze Sweeps India
Scientific research has shown that antioxidants are extremely beneficial to health, possibly even helping prevent some forms of cancer. Wine has been found to be a significant source of antioxidants, as is unleavened bread. So many secondary schools and private Hindu colleges in India now offer a service to ensure that their students are able to take advantage of these health benefits in what is called "communion time". Some Hindu fundamentalists have objected saying that this is no more than western religion encroaching on their schools. But cooler heads have prevailed, with more moderate Hindus suggesting that students recite "do this in remembrance of Krishna" to ensure that this regimen is not at all related to Christianity.
We asked the Director of Nutrition at a leading private Hindu college whether he had concerns about this practice. From the email response: "I see no danger of our Hindu students becoming Christians. Besides I have been taking grape juice for years for the antioxidant benefits and I have no desire to become a Christian". It was unclear from the response why grape juice and bread was not just added to the lunch menu rather than being dispensed in communion time.
Reaction from a leading Christian college has been mixed. Some professors have seen this as an opportunity that will facilitate the evangelization of India. Others insist that "communion time" is a powerful spiritual discipline that, even though historically it has been associated with Christianity, can also be used by Hindu devotees to help in their spiritual formation. Still others insist there is no spiritual connection to the ritual itself, so it can be secularized and used by Hindus solely for the health benefits.
Respected Christian leader Dr. Tony Campolo was asked whether this might be common ground for the evangelization of Hindus. He said No it is not. "[But] ...if we are looking for common ground, can we find it in mystical spirituality, even if we cannot theologically agree?". We also asked evangelist Rev. Billy Graham what impact this could have on the future of the evangelism in India. Rev. Graham said "[Some good Hindus] ...may not even know the name of Jesus but they know in their heart that they need something that they don't have and they turn to the only light that they have and I think that they are saved and they are going to be with us in Heaven".
We asked a spokesman from a leading Christian graduate school whether the Bible would commend the use of communion by other religions. The spokesman said "from my contemplative meditation and Lectio Divina, I feel that God is saying to me, even though this may look like a western religious practice, when Hindus do communion time it is purely a Hindu practice having nothing at all to do with Christianity. Besides, many conservative Christian leaders have been blessed by using eastern spiritual techniques for years. It is about time that we return the favor".
Friday, January 2, 2009
Your Family Tree is Actually a Family Diamond
Your Ancestors
Your Descendants
Could Speed of Light in Intergalactic Space be different?
Here is a thought. Is the speed of light the same in intergalactic space? The measurements of the speed of light seem to always be near stars, either on our end or near the star on the far end. The speed of light is a function of the permittivity and permeability of free space, both of which are derived experimentally and are not calculated from first principles. Could their values turn out to make the speed of light higher in parts of the universe that are not near any matter?
Could the constant speed of light have to do with how it is constant in matter? So the constant speed of light near earth would work for just the same reason speed of light is constant, but at a different speed, in glass and water. Gravity or some other force of nearby matter would be working on a large scale just like it works near atoms on a small scale.
Has anyone actually suggested that as a possibility? If not, why wouldn't that work?
Even in classical physics it was realized [13][14] that the vacuum must have a field-dependent permittivity in the strong fields found near point charges.
8.8541878176… × 10−12 F/m (or C2N-1m-2),
c (or c0) is the speed of light in free space.[1]
Permeability varies with magnetic field. Values shown above are approximate and valid only at the magnetic fields shown. Moreover, they are given for a zero frequency; in practice, the permeability is generally a function of the frequency. When frequency is considered the permeability can be complex, corresponding to the in phase and out of phase response.
The density of the Universe, however, is clearly not uniform; it ranges from relatively high density in galaxies (including very high density in structures within galaxies, such as planets, stars, and black holes) to conditions in vast voids that have much lower density than the Universe's average. The temperature is only 2.73 Kelvin[14]. NASA's COBE mission(Cosmic Background Explorer) measured the temperature as 2.725 +/- 0.002 K.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Logical Positivism and Cosmology
When I went through a course on Relativity, the professor said that relativity was at its foundation based on the philosophy of logical positivism (i.e., the only meaningful discussion is of observations, no discussion of a larger reality is meaningful), which seems to preclude larger discussions of cosmology. I also understand that Logical Positivism was the leading philosophy of science until the 1980s, but after that Realism became the more accepted philosophy of science.It seems like some of the contradictions of relativity and quantum mechanics could be explained if we took a realist interpretation of the formula (that they correctly predict measurements, but are from only a limited perspective of a external reality). Of course we would be reopening the questions of why the measured constant speed of light is always measured the same and Bell's experiments. But would that be less acceptable than to accept the contradictions implicit in the logical positivist interpretations of Relativity (like the twin paradox) and Quantum Mechanics (like Schroedinger's Cat)?So, in discussions of cosmology, shouldn't we be working to remove any logical positivist assumptions from our discussions? Specifically, isn't the changing of time and space a logical positivist concept (those concepts would be valid when predicting measurements, but not when discussing overall cosmology). And isn't the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics (that the world is probabilistic in reality) a logical positivist concept as well?Time and space seem like abstract human concepts which use clocks (uniformly repeating phenomena) and rulers (uniformly spaced phenomenon) to compare with other phenomena. I can see how rulers and clocks can be affected by the world, but it seems like the concepts of time and space should not be entangled with specific clocks and rulers in discussions of cosmology.And even if our measurements of small phenomena give us a probabilistic answer, isn't that a limitation of our measures rather than an actual view of the world itself? Or alternatively, are we measuring the probability of a particular event occurring rather than proving that reality is, in and of itself, probabilistic?Maybe I am missing something here, but I can't think of what it is. Maybe the constant speed of light and Bell's experiments are so compelling that we just have to accept the contradictions, but I am not convinced. Am I off track and missing something here? Is there other evidence that I am not considering? | http://www.chooseyourbeliefs.com/2009/01/ | dclm-gs1-173941087 |
0.019395 | <urn:uuid:af4113b9-5b89-485d-a7a9-8f7167ab4fd9> | en | 0.944225 |
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What does New Year's Day celebrate?
New Year's Day is the first day of the year. It celebrates both the successes of the past year and the hopes for the coming year.
When is New Year's Day celebrated?
The start of the year is celebrated on January 1st. This is per the Gregorian calendar used by much of the world. The end of the previous year, New Year's Eve, is celebrated on December 31st.
Who celebrates this day?
This day is celebrated around the world. It is a national holiday in the United States.
What do people do to celebrate?
The celebration starts out the night before on New Year's Eve. This night is a night of parties and fireworks. There are large gatherings such as the dropping of the ball at Times Square in New York City. Many people have parties with their friends where they will count down to the New Year.
New Year's Day is a holiday which most people have off of work and school. A big part of the day is college football Bowl games as well as parades. One of the most famous parades in the United States is the Rose Parade in California which leads up to the Rose Bowl Football game in Pasadena.
Another tradition for this day is to make New Year's Resolutions. These are promises to yourself on how you will do something different or better in the coming year. This often includes dieting, exercise, quitting a bad habit, or getting better grades in school.
History of New Year's Day
The first day of the start of a new year has been celebrated by countries and cultures around the world for thousands of years. Different countries and cultures use different calendars and have different starts to the year.
In the United States we use the Gregorian calendar. This calendar was introduced by Pope Gregory VIII in 1582. Since then much of the western world has celebrated January 1 as the start of the new year.
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0.018927 | <urn:uuid:7c4f0d79-9c9b-4d0d-9aa0-734dfe1298a0> | en | 0.918234 | El Septimo Crio Blog
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Probably the most polular a few-dimensional twisty challenge may be the Rubik’s Cube. Identify the quickest cube remedy in this article.
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0.165213 | <urn:uuid:c295c289-9510-4b22-b1c4-6c79b9673059> | en | 0.978116 | Jim Evry
Exodus to Earth
Excerpt One:
78388095new_1Starion along with the elders monitored their hypercoolers and turned to Deon, who stood in front of the room. Just above and slightly behind him was an elliptical, glowing ultrathin screen hanging from the ceiling. Deon pointed his sixth finger, or focus finger, next to his thumb at it and produced an I-spacer of a spiraling galaxy. The panoramic image revealed where each of the four planets was in relation to Evion. First it was in 2-D, but then Deon pulled the image out into 4-D with his right hand and six fingers. The planets were spread out all over the galaxy and at different distances from Evion. Each was highlighted by a different-colored small twinkling light.
The protruding 4-D holographic I-spacer was convex and so lenticular that Deon had a hard time differentiating between the image and the actual space in the room. Suddenly the image started faltering and Deon tried to fix it.
It was very quiet as they waited for Deon to resolve the issue, and Starion wished there’d been sound from this I-spacer. If there had been, it would have been generated from the sound e-molecule, a technology that allowed sound waves to originate from all inanimate objects in a room.
Starion anticipated some reaction from the others, who sat by the long, rectangular cobalt glass table with rounded corners. When there was no response from his counterparts, he glanced outside. There he could see the ever-changing sun’s pale light shining through the two warped corner windows. There were occasional light prisms. He thought about Evion’s ancient history books he was now reading instead of scanning, and he decided, if not for the dire circumstances, the light prisms might have been considered an art form—a new term for him that somehow inspired and excited him.
Attempting a deep breath, Starion glanced at his mentor, Ardia, next to him. She had recently been inspiring him with stories from books she had found in an ancient library. The room in their historic Audiseum had been exposed after a quake.
“There is an ancient Evion story of the quest that is still valid,” she had been telling him. “To discover one’s inward self, and then return with a life force message or clue that has been missing or forgotten from society.”
She had been the one who recommended he read these old books and stories word for word, instead of memory-scanning them. But now a new feeling kept running through him. The stories were reawakening something he couldn’t quite get a handle on. The problem was that along with the inspiration he was experiencing, he’d also been instilled with other emotions that weren’t as pleasant. He couldn’t understand why he couldn’t get rid of them—or why he’d begun to experience strange images that appeared in his mind while he slept.
Excerpt Two:
Starion was nervous. Ardia caught it and telepathically connected with him. Starion, 2013-03-28t142942z209328900tm4e93s0ssj01rtrmadp3nasa_1do you feel like you are living the life that was intended for you?
I thought I was.
If you are, the path will open for you where they wouldn’t for anyone else.
Starion wasn’t so sure.
Ardia continued. Learn from this, Starion . . . not just their customs, but learn . . . find out if the people are living our ancient stories of the quest. And we must learn about their psychology and philosophies. I think it will be extremely important.
Excerpt Three:
shutterstock97412783_1 (1)Still lying in a prone position, he saw a star ahead becoming larger and larger. Traveling closer, he could see the array of colored and different-sized planets in their elliptical paths. He had to put up his arm to partly block the sun’s bright shining light. But he didn’t care about anything.
First he passed by a small light brown planet. Then he flew by a large, dark blue planet, and then by another that was greenish-blue. Next was a pale yellow one that reminded him of one of his own solar system’s planets, Galion. Next, he traveled by an enormous orange planet with white bands. Finally, he passed by a red, barren planet, while feeling the ship slow even further.
As the craft approached the blue and white swirling planet Earth, Starion saw its white orbiting moon along with it. Then he saw two more planets between Earth and the sun: a gaseous yellow planet and a small grey planet that reminded him of his own destroyed Mercion.
As the v-breaker approached Earth and its moon, he couldn’t help but think to himself how closely this blue planet resembled ancient Evion. He remembered the book he had shown everyone at the elder room meeting about a mystical blue planet. The planet had a magical mythosphere, a place whose people had fantastic and mystical stories about gods, goddesses, demons, dragons, and heroes. There were outlandish and exciting adventures.
“Ahhh . . .” he said to himself. “Everyone . . . we were right . . . she is beautiful . . . but it’s too late.”
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0.024555 | <urn:uuid:acf5e205-68fe-4df0-b6cf-a991b007be2d> | en | 0.940244 | ICBioethics Blog
Health Technology Update: The Bionic Eye
Written by: Aimee Zellers
On Thursday, February 14th, the Food and Drug Administration approved what is now being called the first bionic eye. The Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System was developed by Second Sight Medical Products and treats a specific type of blindness called retinitis pigmentosa. This is a degenerative genetic disease where cells in the retina deteriorate, thereby making it impossible to visually translate images from light or simply put “see”. Approximately 1 in 4,000 individuals in the US suffers from retinitis pigmentosa. The device consists of a panel of electrodes that are implanted into the eye. Then along with some external equipment such as specialized glasses, a video processing unit, and cable, the implant is able to produce electrical stimulation in the retina to bring about visual perception. In short, this device provides a bypass of the damaged retina cells and connects directly to the optic nerve which allows the brain to “see.”
The bionic eye does not fully restore sight, but it does give users the ability to distinguish between light and dark. Early testing has revealed some positive results. Some participants stated that they could see the boundaries of objects including walls and sidewalk curbs. This ability is particularly important, because it allows individuals to retain some forms of independence, which is very important for quality of life reasons. A number of participants even reported the ability to read large letters and match sock colors. This device is already available in Europe. HealthDay has reported that the cost of the device is approximately 100,000 USD with an additional 16,000 USD needed for the implant surgery. However, in the US, Second Sight as well as healthcare providers believe that health insurance companies will cover a lot of the implant and device costs for patients who have no other treatment options.
In the future, Second Sight is hopeful that this device can and will be approved for the treatment of other forms of blindness such as macular degeneration. Furthermore, Second Sight hopes to create a visual aid device where the electrodes are directly implanted into the brain in order to remedy the vast majority of all types and causes of blindness.
Check out the Argus® II Retinal Prosthesis System:
For more information:
For more information on retinitis pigmentosa:
Mitch GennusoComment | http://www.icbioethics.com/blog/2013/2/19/health-technology-update-the-bionic-eye | dclm-gs1-174271087 |
0.02003 | <urn:uuid:64d9e905-6e08-4236-affb-e0703c4efe2d> | en | 0.926866 | <![CDATA[INGRID KINCAID Wise and Irreverent - Blog]]>Fri, 08 Dec 2017 07:19:30 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Blue Tooth, Bind Runes And Hate Symbols]]>Fri, 25 Aug 2017 18:22:43 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/blue-tooth-bind-runes-and-hate-symbols
Are you afraid of modern technology that uses Bluetooth?
Are you afraid of the runes?
It’s pretty likely that any of us who use modern technology such as mobile phones, laptops, printers and digital cameras take advantage of Bluetooth technology and would be able to easily recognize the Bluetooth logo.
However, not many people know that the Bluetooth logo is made up of runes.
Most people’s knowledge of runes is limited to movies, TV series and video games about the Vikings.
Or worse yet, they only know of them as symbols of modern hate groups, such as white supremacists, skinheads, and neo-Nazis and of course the Nazis of Hitler’s Germany.
Sadly we know very little about these simple yet powerful symbols from heathen Norse/ Scandinavian and ancient Germanic history because Western civilization has been obsessed, for far too long, with classical antiquity with its focus on the cultural history centered around the Mediterranean Sea, ancient Greece and ancient Rome.
There is a gaping hole in our education about the rich heritage of our Northern European ancestors.
The Bluetooth logo is in fact a bind rune and was created with that intention by the men who developed the technology. What they bound together in this runic symbol are the initials of a 10th century Viking king, Harald Bluetooth. It is made up of one form of the rune Hagalaz and the Berkana rune.
Should we fear the symbol because it contains runes?
Should we refuse to use the technology?
Symbols are powerful, visually and energetically. They can be used to promote good as well as harm. How many people use the symbol of the cross? It carries a varied history, one that is tied up together with violence, hated and oppression, as well as love, kindness and fertility.
Are we afraid of it?
Should we be?
A bind rune can be any shape that is created when two or more runes are linked together to form a pattern or a symbol.
If you look closely at the Bluetooth logo you can see that it contains more than just two runes: Hagalaz, Ior, Bekana, Gebo, Isa, Laguz, Raido as well as numerous Kenaz runes.
What else might be bound together in this bind rune that is said to represent a Viking king?
Instead of being afraid of the runes, why not take the time to learn more about their origins and their historical, and cultural significance for the indigenous tribes of Northern Europe, before the Vikings and before the Romans.
If you’re interested in the runes please contact me for information about classes, workshops, online courses and private readings.
<![CDATA[The Yeasty Venom That Might Be Magic Instead Of Poison]]>Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:50:00 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/the-yeasty-venom-that-might-be-magic-instead-of-poison
In reading Gylfaginning I’m intrigued by the combining of the words yeasty and venom. So I scry the internet and learn that the word yeast is Germanic in origin and of course it is the word for the thing that is used in brewing beer and making bread dough rise and it also means spume, foam, ferment, agitation, to be covered with froth. Gylfaginning tells us that there are eleven streams that collectively make up Elivagar (Ice Waves) that finds it source in the wellspring Hvergelmir which is one of the three wells hidden in the roots of the world tree.
It also says that yeasty venom hardened upon these streams and became ice that played a part in the origin of the giant Ymir and the filling of the great Void, Ginnungagap.
Continuing to follow the trail, I discovered that the word venom has its roots in the word venerate, which finds it way back to Venus, which is more than a planet and a goddess. Venus originally meant physical desire and sexual appetite.
Venom is also a word with connection to the Latin venenum and it doesn’t just mean a poison. It can also be a magical herb or potion.
In another place Gylfaginning says, “So many serpents are in Hvergelmir with Nidhogg that no tongue can tell them.” Is it possible that these serpents are the source of the venom spoken of as being yeasty? They all dwell in the roots of Yggdrasil, down there where the wells are.
So why do we automatically think that the yeasty venom is poison? Could it be instead a foaming, frothing, agitated, fermenting magical potion that played a part in what emerged from the coming together of the fires of Muspelheim and the ice of Niflheim?
Fire and ice are joining hands again at this rhythmic time of global warming. What magical event will occur this time when the yeasty venom is activated?
<![CDATA[Melusine-A Two Tailed European Goddess Making Love To The Laguz Rune]]>Mon, 24 Jul 2017 03:52:49 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/melusine-a-two-tailed-european-goddess-making-love-to-the-laguz-rune
Melusine statue at the shop Invoke in SE Portland, Oregon. Several feet high. She might be for sale for the right price.
In ancient European myth, Melusine is a female, water spirit who dwells in sacred springs and rivers. Depicted as a woman, the lower half of her body is often shown as having two fish tails, not unlike a mermaid, only more suggestive of her actual sexual nature. It would seem to be rather difficult to have sex with a mermaid, but not so Melusine. Legends of Melusine are especially connected to the folklore and mythology of France and the three countries of the Lowlands, Nederland, Luxembourg and Belgium. Some even believe her to be the ancestor of the royal lines.
As is so often the case, such erotic female beings have been reviled and demonized in patriarchal accounts or are depicted as being helpless victims of circumstance. An image of Melusine was part of the original Starbucks Coffee Logo but sadly over time she has been sanitized and neutered so as not to offend those who follow desert religions that worship gods who have no genitals.
The goddesses and giantesses of our native European ancestors were powerful, inspiring, creative and sexual.
I often feel a connection between the Muses of Greek mythology, daughters of Mnemosyne, goddess of memory and the Melusine of northern Europe. They also dwelt among the springs and rivers and inspired creativity.
The spirit being of the Laguz rune loves to play in the presence of Melusine and make love to her.
What has caused those of us with Northern European ancestry to forget our own stories, our own goddesses and our own spiritual heritage?
<![CDATA[Wasting Time Killing Time Borrowing Time…]]>Mon, 10 Jul 2017 01:20:41 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/wasting-time-killing-time-borrowing-time
Wasting Time Killing Time Borrowing Time…
Making Time. Timely. Timeless.
How do you view time?
How do you use it? Or does it use you?
If you steal time do you have to give it back?
And who would you give it back to?
Or more correctly, to whom would you give it back?
Can you make time? Create time? Stretch time?
If you kill it does that make you guilty and if so, guilty of what?
How do you use your time?
What is your attitude?
What is your viewpoint or perspective?
Do you live by ordinary time, aligned only with the god Chronos, the god of chronology, and chronological or do you live differently, creatively, imaginatively, aligned with Kairos, the god of sacred time?
Does all time belong to the gods? Then is it all sacred?
If I close my eyes and feel the runes, Jera comes forward as a representative of time. Jera, the rune of Harvest. There is chronology in the turning of the wheel of the seasons. There is rhythm. There are cycles.
The Harvest requires paying attention to timing as well as seizing the right moment .
You cannot rush. You cannot delay.
How do you view time?
How do you use it?
Phil Cousineau’s book Stoking The Creative Fires contains a great chapter on time and its connection with creativity: Seizing the Moment. Chapter 3. Click Image For Details And To Order.
<![CDATA[The Touchstones of PenHouseInk - A Guild Of Wise Women In Relentless Pursuit Of Creativity]]>Mon, 12 Jun 2017 15:00:00 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/the-touchstones-of-penhouseink-a-guild-of-wise-women-in-relentless-pursuit-of-creativitybring yourself, come as you are
bring your curiosity and your willingness to indulge it
bring your heart and your willingness to listen to it
bring your wisdom and your willingness to act in accordance with it
bring your honesty
bring your work and your willingness to play with it
to laugh at it, to cry about it, to take pleasure in it
bring your willingness to give and receive
bring your willingness to make larger the circle of kindness
bring your commitment to participate in your life
Wise words indeed and just as valuable today as when we first wrote them.
There were five of us, the fearless women of PenHouseInk, Dixie Lewis, Dee Doyle, judi goldberg, Ingrid Kincaid and Leslie Hoffman.
We came together as writers.
We came together as friends.
We formed a Guild and over the course of about 5 years we published 4 volumes of writings.
Naked Writings dedicated to 'all writers who haven't yet'
June Bugs Out Of Season dedicated to 'those in relentless pursuit'
Remembering Our Future dedicated to 'the few becoming the many remembering our future'
Refractions dedicated to 'the relentless human spirit'
It feels good to me at this time to be reminded of these words.
How do these Touchstones touch your heart?
<![CDATA[Blood Sacrifice and An Eye]]>Tue, 23 Aug 2016 15:54:51 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/blood-sacrifice-and-an-eye
Odin went to the Tree and supposedly he hung there, without food or drink, and then he stabbed himself with some sharp instrument. A blood sacrifice? For what purpose? To gain the runes? To save the world? Not unlike the story of another male god who hung on a tree and got stabbed.
We women can go to the Tree and have access to the Wisdom that is guarded by the Nornir, in the Wells, in the Roots. We don't have to stab ourselves to bleed. We do it naturally; it is our nature. Our bleeding is the Source from which new life emerges.
And why would Odin offer up one of his eyes to gain Thought and Memory? Did he not know that we see with our mind's eye and remember with our hearts?
<![CDATA[What's Being Created?]]>Fri, 19 Aug 2016 02:47:38 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/whats-being-created
Life is the ebb and flow, the in and out of the tide. It’s the Os rune. It's the Isa rune. It’s freeze and melt, destroy and create. Instead of placing our fear-based focus on the changes taking place, perhaps ask instead, what’s being created? What will emerge this time as the fire melts the ice? It’s happened before. It is happening now. It will happen again. Life emerged from the chaos of Muspelheim and Niflheim coming together. Land is created when the volcano erupts, destroying everything. Ice melted in the past. It filled the great aquifers. That’s why we call it glacial water.
As the ice is melting, more and more runes are being revealed.
Isa Rune
Os Rune
<![CDATA[Have You Committed The Sin Of Adoption?]]>Thu, 14 Jul 2016 22:04:51 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/have-you-committed-the-sin-of-adoption
I'm reading again, for the umpteenth time, When Women Were Birds-Fifty-Four Variations On Voice by Terry Tempest Williams.
There's a brilliant paragraph on page 196: "The sin I have committed is the sin of adoption. I have adopted a different set of beliefs from the beliefs I was raised to obey...I do have other gods before me, many, and none are a white elderly man sitting on a gilded throne in heaven."
I too have committed the sin of adoption. I too have adopted a different set of beliefs from the beliefs I was raised to obey. The 'raised to obey' was without choice.
I committed the sin of adoption.
I committed the sin of choice.
What is your sin of adoption?
Who has tried to kill you with their judgments?
<![CDATA[She Rode In On A Wolf Using Poisonous Snakes As Reins]]>Mon, 29 Feb 2016 23:14:06 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/she-rode-in-on-a-wolf-using-poisonous-snakes-as-reins
When the Gods need help, who do they call?
Are you dealing with something in your life that is large, heavy, cumbersome and stuck?
Did you love it once and did it serve a purpose?
Is it finished? Has it died? Does it need to be moved?
As a spiritual counselor, and an irreverent wise woman, I often work with people who find themselves dealing with similar situations and I remind them that even the Gods ask for help.
Who do the Gods call upon?
Who would you call?
Individuals in spiritual communities flavored by Eastern religions, such as Hinduism, might seek the help of Lord Ganesh, the Remover of Obstacles.
I encourage those of us with European ancestry to look north, to the spiritual heritage of our own ancestors and to the Gods and Goddesses they called upon.
There’s a great story found in the Norse Sagas about a Giantess named Hyrrokkin who lived in the Mountains of Jotunheim. When she came to the aid of the Gods, she rode in on a wolf using poisonous snakes for reins.
The Gods had tried many times, with no success, to launch a ship out to sea, but it was stuck in the sand. After numerous failures, they summoned one of the most powerful beings in all the realms, Hyrrokkin. When she arrived, she dismounted, walked over to the prow of the ship, and gave it such a mighty push the land shook as the boat was freed.
Now I don’t know about you, but this is my kind of woman, someone who can say, even to the Gods, ‘step aside and let me do this for you.’
Have you tried calling upon Hyrrokkin?
She’s a great one when you need to get something moved.
I’m available by appointment for private sessions. Information can be found on my website.
Spiritual Counseling Sessions
<![CDATA[What Happened To The Cow, Audhumla? Did a Catholic Monk Write Her Out Of The Creation Story?]]>Fri, 05 Feb 2016 02:42:49 GMThttp://www.ingridkincaid.com/blog/what-happened-to-the-cow-audhumla-did-a-catholic-monk-write-her-out-of-the-creation-story
My popular class The Runes Revealed is being offered for the first time as an online option. One of the unique aspects of the work I do with the runes is my questioning of the commonly held beliefs about the runes and the misplaced focus on Odin. This male-centric view of the runes and Norse mythology is blatantly evident in the Norse creation story.
Are you willing to explore this story, read against the grain so to speak, and view it through a different lens?
Here is the introduction to the course, The Runes Revealed - an (un) familiar journey.
Register for the class now.
You are about to embark on a journey with the runes.
This online course is divided into 11 sessions. Each session focuses on 3 runes.
Traditionally, the runes appear in a sequence. However, if you imagine them to be part of a circle, there is no beginning and no ending and what that means for you is that you can work with the sessions in whatever way you choose.
You may face challenges and obstacles along the way. You may get discouraged, overwhelmed or frightened and consider giving it up before you finish.
You will be asked to question things you believe about the runes as well as things that are customarily taught about them.
You will be asked to question things you believe in general and then question whether these beliefs are truly yours or just an accident of your birth.
Some of the information here may feel controversial or confrontational.
We need that. We need to step away from the blinding light of higher consciousness in order to see the wisdom that is held in the darkness of the roots and well.
There is no right way or wrong way to do the course.
Do it at your own pace, fast or slow.
Do it when you feel like it.
Do it when you don’t feel like it.
Take time to answer the questions.
Take time to find new questions.
If you begin to see rune shapes that you don’t recognize, draw them as best you can and write them down. Don’t ignore or discount them. There are countless numbers of runes, not unlike the stars in the sky. So far, we are familiar with only a few of them. Trust that it is possible that new runes are being revealed to you. When you see them or feel them, make note of when you see them, in what context, and observe what was happening around you.
Create altars for the runes as you work with them and come to know them.
Look for them.
They will begin to show up in your life, in strange as well as familiar places.
Cracks in sidewalks.
Tree branches.
Shapes in clouds.
Scratches on the furniture.
Ice crystals that form on you windows.
Look at them through different eyes. Take off the distorted lenses of patriarchal interpretation, in history, in academia, in archaeology. Read between the lines and go against the grain. Remove them from the grasping clutches of Odin and see what is missing. What were they, where were they, before he came on the scene. The runes were there, long before Odin came forth.
Imagine them as multi-faceted crystal shapes that hang suspended in the great void. Draw them. Make madalas with them.
Create designs. Try using graph paper.
See how they form and inform each other.
Don’t limit them by imagining they are a mere alphabet to be used to write your name. See them instead as the signatures of primal, powerful, complex beings that have much to teach about life and creation and death and destruction.
Soften your gaze and see them as they were, woven into the Web of Wyrd by the great Nornir.
When you have a question or want to learn more, don’t go first to a book. Take the time instead to sit in silence, and perhaps in darkness, with the runes and see what they have to show you, what they have to tell you.
You can learn about someone by reading a book but to truly know someone, you must communicate with them yourself.
Create altars for the runes as well as for the multitude of beings who exist in relationship with them.
Do rituals.
If a certain rune is calling to you, consider marking it on your body and living with it for awhile. Or make a piece of jewelry with the rune shape and wear it.
Create a set of rune flags, perhaps by painting their shapes on fabric and then hang them over your porch or doorway, or in your window instead of Tibetan prayer flags.
Drum with them and the ancestors. Create your own rune song.
Look for artists who make art that honors the Northern Traditions and buy from these artists.
Become conscious and aware of rune wisdom and look for ways to live in harmony with it in your daily life.
Live with them. Live in relationship with them.
Invite them in. Let them know they are welcome in you home.
Reclaim your heritage.
Heal the ancestral grief we all suffer from because we have forgotten the great spiritual traditions of Northern Europe.
I am available to work with individuals privately, either by phone or in person. If you’d like to schedule time with me, send an email.
I will respond to your request, usually within 48 hours.
Ingrid, the Rune Woman
Changing Lives With Ancient Wisdom
For more information about the class and to Register, click here. | http://www.ingridkincaid.com/1/feed | dclm-gs1-174291087 |
0.025508 | <urn:uuid:634d5a88-9eb6-4fb7-9aa9-939ddfb2ae5e> | en | 0.943026 | We're Open
The Basics of Business Mastery
By: Ms. Finley
Want to be a master of business? Of course you do! We have studied the phenomenon of business success for many years, and have learned a few tips that will help you on your journey. Thankfully, business mastery is not rocket science, it consists of three (seemingly simple) little rules. The question is, do you have what it takes to follow them consistently?
The Rules of Business Mastery
1. Raise Your Standards
1. If you want more, then you must do more and be more than you have even been in your entire life. Start making positive changes today to collect dividends tomorrow!
2. Reverse Your Negative Thinking
1. Repeat after me: “The glass is not half empty, it is almost full!” Change your daily mental mantras, and watch your life change before your eyes!
3. Model Successful People
1. If you don’t have a personal mentor, then take the time to find someone in your community that can serve as a mentor for you. If you can’t find anyone to help, then “adopt” a mentor online! Just take a moment to think about some of the successful people that you admire. How do they live their lives? What do they do consistently well and how do they do it? Study the greats, and then simply model their behavior in your own life! Why reinvent the wheel when it comes to business success when there are so many excellent examples to follow all around you?
If you follow these steps consistently, you will be on your way to business mastery in no time! Still need help? We are available 24/7 to provide insight, information and inspiration to help you become the best person that you can possibly be! Just remember to stay focused and dedicated, no matter what. Your hard work will pay off in the end, we promise! | http://www.karlsrule.com/basics-business-mastery/ | dclm-gs1-174341087 |
0.03585 | <urn:uuid:a6f5b90b-4ac0-4fe5-9aad-ea20ffc4a07a> | en | 0.959904 | Nigerian professional Golfer, Sunday Olapade, wins Kwara Open Golf tourney
Top Nigerian professional golfer, Sunday Olapade has won the Kwara Open Golf Championship, which attracted players from the West Africa sub-region to the Ilorin Golf Club. For his efforts, Olapade, who described his victory as a dream come true, won the lion share of the 5 million naira purse with his brilliant 277, 11 under par over 72 holes.
He defeated Ghana’s Emos Korblah by five shots to the second place, while Lagos-based Chidi Tobias tied Abuja-based Oche Odoh for the third place. Speaking at the end of the competition, Nigeria Golf Federation (NGF) President, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola commended the Kwara State government for their efforts in developing the game of golf. | http://www.lagelufm.com/news/91-sports-news/1047-nigerian-professional-golfer-sunday-olapade-wins-kwara-open-golf-tourney | dclm-gs1-174371087 |
0.021741 | <urn:uuid:896df9dc-9db4-47f1-9911-e9a9686d793e> | en | 0.967096 | Quick Links
Bradley Beal speaks out with poignant thoughts on Donald Trump's critical comments
Bradley Beal speaks out with poignant thoughts on Donald Trump's critical comments
Bradley Beal probably didn't anticipate answering questions about president Donald Trump.
But on Monday at Wizards media day, the star guard didn't have to wait long to answer a question about the president's Saturday comments about athletes using the national anthem as a time to protest.
"That's not a leader," Beal said to media members at Capital One Arena on Monday.
"To me, you're a clown. That's unacceptable. Your job is to bring people together and everybody in the world feels like since you [Trump] has gotten into office, that hasn't been the case."
"There are a lot of issues going around the world. Like Puerto Rico doesn't have power or water. They're still part of the U.S. but you're worried about guys kneeling during the national anthem. Well, if you actually look at the reason that they are kneeling vs. your own personal pleaure, you might be able to understand. But until you do that, you aren't going to understand."
Beal, like Redskins CB Josh Norman did on Sunday night, used his platform to voice his opinion and spread the word about what we as a country can do to help bring people together.
"I disagree with what he's doing. I disagree with his thoughts. You know, hopefully as a nation we can come together better and really see things through the perspective of the people really going through it. If we can't exercise our freedom of speech, then what are the amendments for?"
"We're looking for help right now, and we're not getting it."
Beal continued his thoughts on CSN's Facebook Live with Chris Miller. "Number one, it's not professional. Number two, it's not leadership. And number three, that's not the type of president we need."
In a time when fans are calling upon players to "stick to sports," the words and thoughts of Bradley Beal are more valuable than ever before.
Quick Links
Wizards fall to Cavs as LeBron James nets triple-double
USA Today Sports Images
Wizards fall to Cavs as LeBron James nets triple-double
The Washington Wizards lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-99 on Sunday night. Here's analysis of what went down...
Even depleted, Cavs are a problem: Both teams entered this game without at least one of their best players due to injury, as Otto Porter sat out for the Wizards with a hip contusion. The Cavs, though, were missing Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, and despite LeBron James shooting a low percentage, they still had enough to top the Wizards for the second time this season.
It was a testament to Cleveland's depth and it came in the second of a back-to-back set, as the Cavs beat the Jazz in Cleveland on Saturday night.
It's still early in the season, but the Wizards were reminded on Sunday how they still have work to do to catch the Cavs. They are close enough to give Cleveland a worthy challenge, but the Cavs can win in so many ways.
A different LeBron: The Wizards had no answer for LeBron in the first matchup between these teams this season. Back on Nov. 3, he pummeled them for 57 points, the second-most in his illustrious career. LeBron shot an insane 23-for-34 from the field.
This time the Wizards had much better luck despte employing a similar defensive strategy. In the first matchup, they guarded him one-on-one and LeBron feasted off of fadeaway midrange jumpers. In this game those just weren't falling for him.
Before the game head coach Scott Brooks suggested the Wizards would guard him similarly, noting they will usually live with long twos, knowing the percentages. It worked this time.
To be fair, it seemed like a relatively off-night in general for LeBron scoring-wise, as he finished with 20 and had just 13 points after three quarters. He shot just 8-for-23 from the field.
Perhaps it was the product of the Cavs playing the second game of a back-to-back after beating the Jazz in Cleveland on Saturday. All that said, he still had a triple-doube with 15 assists and 12 rebounds.
But just look at this highlight for example. He traveled twice on the same play.
That's very unusual, even for a guy like LeBron who is known for getting away with travels.
With LeBron having to beat the Wizards with his passing, Kevin Love was a benefactor. He stepped up to drop 25 points and shoot 5-for-8 from three.
Wall moves up the list: John Wall (15 points, 10 rebounds) moved up the Wizards/Bullets' franchise all-time scoring list by passing not one but two former Bullets legends in the first half. He pushed past Phil Chenier and Gus Johnson to now own sole possession of fifth place in franchise history. The four ahead of him are Elvin Hayes, Jeff Malone, Wes Unseld and Kevin Loughery. Loughery is only 46 points ahead of Wall, so he should be in fourth very soon.
Porter didn't play: Porter was considered a gametime decision after getting elbowed in his right hip on Friday night against the L.A. Clippers. He wasn't able to go, however, and missed his second game of the season. Kelly Oubre, Jr. (11 points, eight rebounds) started in his place and did exactly what the Wizards didn't want him to do, he got in early foul trouble.
After picking up two fouls in about 4:30 of gametime, Oubre had to take a seat and Coach Brooks had to get creative. He played Tomas Satoransky and Mike Scott some at the three for much of the rest of the first half. Oubre finished with four fouls, but only gave the Wizards 29 minutes and probably would have played more if he stayed out of foul trouble.
Scott remains hot: Another day, another big game for Scott off the Wizards' bench. With 19 points against the Cavs, he now has 99 over has last seven games while shooting 42-for-57. That's quite good.
Up next: The Wizards stay home to host Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins and the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. on NBC Sports Washington.
Quick Links
Wizards vs. Cavaliers: TV, live stream and radio info, things to watch
USA Today Sports Images
John Wall, Bradley Beal, Otto Porter and the Washington Wizards battle LeBron James, Kevin Love, Dwyane Wade and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night.
Where: Capital One Arena
Tip-off: 6 p.m.
TV: NBC Sports Washington (coverage begins at 5 p.m.)
Live stream: NBCSportsWashington.com
Online with no cable TV: fuboTV (try for free)
Radio: 1500 AM
Will Porter Play?
The Wizards got John Wall back on Wednesday and on Friday both Markieff Morris and Ian Mahinmi returned from injuries. But just three minutes into their win over the Clippers and Otto Porter went down with a right hip contusion.
Porter's status for Sunday is now in question. As of Saturday, he was considered doubtful but he will be re-evaluated before the game. If he can't play, expect Kelly Oubre, Jr. to get the start.
Measuring Stick:
The Wizards feel like their record should be much better than 16-13 as they have lost a host of games to teams with losing records.
Though they haven't completely turned the corner, they are coming off two straight wins with the second one much better than the first. All of a sudden, the Wizards have some momentum heading into their second meeting with the Cavs this season.
The Cavs, though, aren't playing too bad themselves. After beating the Jazz on Saturday night, they have won 17 of their last 18 games.
After starting the season a disappointing 5-7, they have caught fire and are now 22-8 through 30 games. With the Celtics stumbling, the Cavs are looking more and more like the best team in the East. This gives the Wizards a chance to see how they stack up.
Stopping LeBron:
LeBron James pretty much always plays well, but he was on a different level the first time these two teams squared off.
LeBron eruped for 57 points, the second-most in his career and completely dominated the WIzards. He shot 23-for-34 (67.6%) and added 11 rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. It was a masterpiece by one of the greatest players in NBA history.
The Wizards know it's pretty much impossible to stop LeBron, but they can certainly hope for better results than last time. In that game they opted to guard him one-on-one and he took advantage, particularly in the post.
Perhaps this time they will decided to deploy double teams. | http://www.nbcsports.com/washington/washington-wizards/bradley-beal-speaks-out-poignant-thoughts-donald-trumps-critical-comments | dclm-gs1-174481087 |
0.048592 | <urn:uuid:1406fc2f-8b7f-4000-82f3-0174319127ab> | en | 0.974308 | Blogs and Vlogs
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1. Everyone is starting to wind down now, and thoughts are turning towards 2018. Maybe end of year reviews are taking place and people are considering their career development.
If you are promoting people to a management position for the first time - make sure you don't leave them to 'sink or swim'...
2. black friday
I don't know about you, but my inbox has been saturated with Black Friday emails for weeks. I delete the vast majority of them without reading them, because they are promoting products that I'm just not going to buy. Either I have no need (e.g. for a man's grooming set) or the time isn't right (I bought a new dining suite last year - you could be selling them for £20 and I still wouldn't need one).
Black Friday deals work for impulse buys, treats and (of course) if you were going to buy anyway.
Training isn't purchased on a whim. It shouldn't be considered a treat, and price should be one of the last things that influences the buying decision. To be honest, our prices are low anyway, (and subscribers to my mailing list get 10% off everything all year anyway - you can join the list here) and lowering the price makes no difference to sales. What drives the purchase of training material is:
1. Relevance to training needs identified at that time
2. Quality
3. Ease of use
And that's why I'm not doing a Black Friday Sale. I prefer to offer great value all year round and allow you to purchase the right material and the right time after making a considered choice.
3. And my explanation about why Power Hour hasn't joined the digital revoution yet!
4. This article is doing the rounds on LinkedIn. It's very sad if it's true! I can only hope that the organisations surveyed forgot about all the informal development that occurs on a daily basis - the one-the-job training, the in-the-moment coaching conversations, and the self-directed learning that people to find a solution to a problem. This is all learning - just not formal!
This highlights the main reasons Power Hour was created though: For those organisations that don't have a lot to spend and can't release people for full days. Can any organisation REALLY not find £40 to buy a session and run it internally?
The great thing with bite-size training like this is that its a bit more formal and structured than the just-in-time informal methods, but not as disruptive and costly as external workshops.
Anyway, here's the article... What do YOU think?
Workers not offered Training
5. If you are certain age, you may well remember Cathy Dennis. She had short but credible pop career in the 1980s, and then she disappeared.
But she only disappeared from public view. She still has a thriving career in the music industry as a song writer. She has written songs for a host of highly successful pop artists over the years including Britney Spears, Kylie Minogue, The Spice Girls, Little Mix, Katy Perry, S Club 7, Will Young, and Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and makes her living that way.
She was a good performer, but maybe it didn’t satisfy her as much as writing. Maybe the touring just wasn’t for her. So she’s decided to support other performers by giving them decent songs to showcase their talents. Maybe these other performers write songs – but perhaps they aren’t GREAT songs. By taking a song written by Cathy, they can still have an involvement in the writing process by adapting it and making it their own, and making sure it plays to their personal strengths.
little mix
And that’s what I do. I am a credible ‘performer’ (trainer) but I would rather support other trainers who have the potential to be great if they have the right material to work with. Our Power Hour materials act as the raw song – the person who will perform it can edit it and adapt it to make it their own – add those little flourishes that they know will work well with their audience.
So why not cut down your writing time? Take something good that’s already been written and make it your own. If it’s good enough for Kylie Minogue, The Spice Girls and Little Mix, surely you can do the same?
And at the moment, theres an opportunity to get ANY of our standard sessions completely free - simply enter the draw here
6. So, you want to lose weight, get fitter?
7. I'm pretty good at managing my time, but like many things, I've only truly gotten the hang of it when I hit my 30s and had kids. My husband and I parent without a safety net (AKA extended family) so we are superb at planning and scheduling: Some days it can quite literally be one in one out, but our ability to organise things has always served us well. Of course, it's one thing planning, organising and scheduling, but the REAL trick to making it all work is to be reliable. We have to totally trust each other to do what we say we will, when we say we will.
This is kind of background to the point I want to make.
When I run Time Management workshops, the recurring problem is how to fit more in to an already overstuffed diary. People feel stressed and never seem to finish their to-do lists. I am not stressed and I always complete what I need to complete (barring illness or natural disaster). That's because I'm realistic.
• I'm realistic about how long things take
• I'm realistic about my abilities
• I'm realistic when setting goals and agreeing outcomes with clients.
I'm lucky I know. I work for myself so it's easier for me to take control of my workload than those who get work allocated from someone else and that undoubtedly helps.
But my work is largely creative, and creativity doesn't tend to stick to schedules (Which can very difficult to explain to the highly qualified PRINCE2 project manager you are liasing with). Just yesterday my brain didn't properly switch on until 4pm, and then it was pretty much time to fetch the kids and go into 'mum' mode. I'd faffed around for 6 hours yet had little to show for it.
Today I've been a lot more focussed. I've cracked on, and if tomorrow is the same I'll have totally caught up with where I expected to be at the end of Wednesday.
So you are probably thinking that if I can do 3 day's work in 2, I'm under-utilised. Surely I could do more work? Aren't I taking the mickey and slacking off?
My feeling is 'NO'.
I've been in this game long enough to know that I have brain dead days, and computer-problem days, and days when clients don't get back to me and days when I need to tend to some domestic emergency. So I factor it in. No point in pretending that it isn't going to happen, it is, so I plan for it.
That's why I always build in the 'buggeration factor' and never allocate more than 80% of my time. If I've got 4 days work planned in a week, my diary is full. Because something will cause a set back during the week. We don't live in an ideal world, we live in a real world, and real world planning takes imperfect things into account.
So, my top 3 tips for stree-free time management are:
1. Be realistic about how long you have and how long things actually take (not ought to take)
2. Set realistic goals - ones that you are 99% sure you can achieve
3. Build in the buggeration factor
And if you want to run an interactive bite-size training session to help people plan their time better, we have everything you need!
8. I’ve been struggling to write a bite-size training module on Resilience for over a year because resilience is natural to me. It’s like asking Adele how to sing, or David Beckham how to play football. They just do it.
In trying to pin point why I’m so resilient, a number of factors come to mind:
1. I have to be. I left home for university at 18, and (initially at least) being surrounded by strangers, I had to look after myself. There was no-one to come to my rescue if things went badly. This has continued. Though married to a massively supportive husband, it’s just us two. We don’t live close to family and we’ve moved around a bit meaning we don’t have long-standing close friends. It’s just us. We have to just deal with whatever life throws at us in the best way we can. There really is no point crying when things go wrong and waiting for someone to come to my rescue. No-one (other than my husband) will, and he can’t always do that. I must be able to get myself out of my own holes.
2. I’m quite unemotional. Not to Mr Spock levels; I do experience happiness, sadness, frustration etc, but I’m not one of these people who experiences massive highs and lows (sometimes many times in a day – how do people cope with constant emotional rollercoaster?). I struggle to understand why people go into mourning all over again every anniversary of a loved one’s death. I mourn when the people I love die, but then it’s in the past. Likewise, I find it odd when people seem ecstatic over minor good news. Recently my car was broken into, and although I knew I should be angry or upset, but I wasn’t. I was annoyed though… my first thought was “Darn – now I can’t go to the cheese shop as planned” followed by “who do I need to tell about this to sort it out?”, which leads me to the third point…
3. I’m practical. As is my husband. When I discovered Stephen Covey’s Circle of Concern I identified with it immediately: When faced with the unexpected, my reaction is always “what can I do about this?”. Eighteen months ago I had two large projects lined up for two different clients: One of the clients called me to apologise that it was going to have to be cancelled due to a budget review. The very next day the other client called cancelled due to major re-organisation and the fact that she was being made redundant. My reaction was to make a cup of tea, take a moment and then contact a consultancy I have a relationship with to ask if there was any associate work going. There was a little, and I was grateful for it. I can only do what I can do. These contracts were gone and I needed to find alternative work, so I did.
4. I accept change quickly. This is related to the first 3 points. I was a bit concerned about my lack of emotion, but then realised very recently that I simply move through the ‘change curve’ very quickly – sometimes in a matter of minutes. So yes, I DO experience anger, depression etc. but they are fleeting: My (logical and practical) brain is able to quickly get to the ‘testing/bargaining’ phase and work with the new reality.
I’m still not sure how to put this into a bite-size training module, but later in the year when I have less commissioned work, I will try.
9. Firstly, I'm not going to use this blog as a way to express my own political views or feelings about the decision of the UK to leave Europe, so you can all relax.
Instead, I'm going to focus on the reactions to that decision: Within households, workplaces, social media sites, more traditional media and thoughout government, the Reaction to Change (Grief) curve could not be clearly illustrated. Those who wanted to remin feel angry. Those who voted to leave feel shock. These are strong emotions and whilst these emotions are so raw, we can't act rationally. We need time to process what's happened, and to work out what that means for us (not what politicians or biased press will have us believe it will mean for us). When we've processed that, we can start to THINK about what the change means as opposed to FEELING it.
Once we've thought about it, properly, we can start to think about behaviours, and what we can do now to make things better for ourselves, and make this decision work.
This is one of the biggest and most fundamental changes I've ever experienced. Other big changes in my life - having children, setting up a business, moving across the country have all had a lot of preparation time and that makes things easier. Big changes without proper preparation are always going to be harder.
Within organisations, there are rarely changes on this scale, and when there are, they are usually planned, controlled and managed with one message being clear, as opposed to multiple conflicting ones flying around. But people still feel shock, anger, depression and confusion, as well as maybe a little excitement, curiosity and hope. During this emotive phase, there will be conflict: It's normal and can be healthy as long as it's managed and doesn't become personal or damaging. With time and support, people adapt. Without either, the change will be destructive. Therefore, managers need to understand what happens to people as they experience change, and be able to provide the right sort of support at the right time.
As this topic is so 'hot' right now, if you buy both Change training modules; Manage The Impact of Change and Handle Resistance to Change in the next 4 weeks, we will send you our Module on Managing Conflict free of charge. (Offer ends 22nd July 2016, Manage conflict sent via email once payment for Change Modules is made). | http://www.power-hour.co.uk/trainingblog/ | dclm-gs1-174581087 |
0.990873 | <urn:uuid:70e14bc9-9a4b-40fc-a09b-06c629f130aa> | en | 0.937244 | Can freeze dried food go bad?
Top Q&A For: Can freeze dried food go bad
What is freeze-dried food?
How is freeze-dried food made?
When was freeze dried food invented?
Nescafe created freeze-dried coffee in 1938 as a way to help Brazil with an excess in coffee production. NASA and the U.S. military later used the drying method as a way to feed astronauts and mili... Read More »
How is freeze dried food prepared?
| http://www.qacollections.com/Can-freeze-dried-food-go-bad | dclm-gs1-174611087 |
0.995164 | <urn:uuid:5667df28-028e-4324-ae13-9f496b4bcdee> | en | 0.933632 | What if google stops for a day...?
Answer Teh interweb would implode, taking modern society with it. Basically, it would be like the worst-case-senerio for Y2K, only much, much worse.
Top Q&A For: What if google stops for a day...
If a train station is where the train stops and a bus station is where the bus stops, what is a work station?
But the station is also where the train departs and the bus departs. Unless it's a terminal, where no one departs. But a station and a depot are two different things. So is a depot and a despot.... Read More » | http://www.qacollections.com/What-if-google-stops-for-a-day | dclm-gs1-174621087 |
0.046636 | <urn:uuid:9d167ec3-6488-4edd-8d25-ef9fd24c8819> | en | 0.974552 | Is Einstein the smartest person who has ever lived?
As intelligent as Einstein was, there are a few people that could make him look like a dummy.
31st October 2012
Is Einstein the smartest person who has ever lived? (Getty)
Asked by: Dylan Ritchie, by email
Einstein has become synonymous with brilliance, and he’s certainly one of the greatest scientists of all time. But it’s hard to claim he’s the smartest person who ever lived. It’s often said (with scant evidence) that his IQ was 160; even if true, that would make him less intelligent than thousands of people alive today. In terms of mathematical ability, Einstein would not come close to matching today’s leading physicists like Stephen Hawking.
The depth and range of his achievements are not without precedent, either. Far less well-known scientists such as Carl Gauss and Leonhard Euler made fundamental contributions in many more fields. The person with perhaps the strongest claim to being the smartest person of all time is the Victorian polymath Sir Francis Galton, whose work on everything from statistics and evolution to the ‘wisdom of crowds’ is still used every day by researchers a century after his death.
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Mike Changs Insane Home Fat Loss System
socialbm12socialbm12 | dodany 1406 dni 22 godziny 38 minut temu | () | Dodaj do obserwowanych obserwuj
Losing fat is very hard for most people. It can be even tougher when you are not properly educated about it. You are all about losing fat. It is an often said that drinking a lot of water will help fat is your goal. Were you aware that drinking cold water can boost your metabolism work harder? When drinking really cold water, your body is forced to raise your body's temperature, which will also increase metabolism. więcej...
Mike Changs Insane Home Fat Loss System | http://www.spis.pl/tags/tag,how-to-lose-fat | dclm-gs1-174701087 |
0.033959 | <urn:uuid:5fc38616-0115-46ec-9006-74bf530f0efb> | en | 0.948401 | Archive for Uncategorized
Cell Volume and Muscle Growth
Cell Volume and Muscle Growth
What exactly is muscle growth? Hypertrophy vs Hyperplasia
Two types of hypertrophy?
What’s the big deal with increased cell volume or cell swelling?
By John M Berardi
Grapefruit Juice make your oral steroids more potent
Grapefruit Juice make your oral steroids more potent
A glass of grapefruit juice not only helps the oral steroids go down, it also makes it more potent. Now, a study in the current Journal of Clinical Investigation has revealed why: A substance in the juice fights a drug-degrading enzyme in the intestine. The insight could be a first step toward increasing the effectiveness of some oral drugs.
About 3 years ago, researchers noted that grapefruit juice helps the body absorb many types of drugs, including sedatives, hormones, and protease inhibitors. A group of doctors from the University of Michigan and the London Health Sciences Centre, in London, Ontario, set out to investigate. They focused on an enzyme in the liver and intestine, called CYP3A4, that usually breaks down toxins from spoiled food. “It’s [also] the most prolific of the drug-degrading enzymes,” says Paul Watkins, a member of the Michigan team. In fact, it contributes to the breakdown of about half of all known human drugs.
Watkins and his colleagues gave felodipine, a calcium channel blocker used to control high blood pressure, to 10 healthy men, both with and without grapefruit juice. The grapefruit juice increased blood concentrations of felodipine more than fourfold. The team also measured the concentrations of CYP3A4 levels in the intestine and found that they fell by 62%. Something in grapefruit juice appears to be blocking the action of CYP3A4. But the concentration of CYP3A4 in the liver was unchanged–suggesting that the juice does not affect the rate at which the drug is metabolized once it enters the bloodstream.
If the active ingredient of grapefruit juice can be identified and isolated, drugs might be made more effective–and less expensive per useful dose. Adding grapefruit’s CYP3A4 blocker to a pill could also assure a set dosage, an advantage, because people naturally vary 10-fold in how much of a drug they absorb. “It will make a lot of difference in the way people take drugs,” predicts Raymond Woosley, a pharmacologist at Georgetown University Medical Center
Bodybuilding Peptides: How they work and why would an athlete use them
So what are bodybuilding peptides?
Bodybuilding Peptides are a small chain of amino acids that isn’t quite long enough to be considered a full protein (less than 50 units).
They are, in essence, the building blocks that create protein.
In a supplement form peptides come in different chemical compounds. A few of these used within the sporting community are known as GHRP-2, GHRP-6 and CJC-1295.
IGF, MGF and SARMs are identified as commonly used peptides used in the bodybuilding community.
Why do athletes consider using peptides?
Peptides are used for their anabolic effect on an athlete’s muscle mass. (GHRP means growth hormone releasing hexapeptide, a type of growth hormone releasing hormone).
Bodybuilding peptides can be useful in a couple of ways.
Obviously an athlete will need to heal quickly and be productive soon after an injury. Peptides will help the muscle or soft tissue in this rebuilding healing process.
Supplements that provide an anabolic effect could also be used during pre-season and other periods where building muscle mass is important.
Muscle mass can be built quickly because the athlete can make small tears in a muscle and have it heal on a rapid schedule to continuously repeat the process – the end effect being increased muscle mass and reduced body fat in a shorter timeframe.
The bodybuilding community use peptides that are most effective in this second way as newer peptides don’t come with the side-effects of anabolic steroids.
Some peptides can induce fat loss when used correctly. Weight loss, more importantly, body fat in another key reason for using peptides. Greater weight loss at a faster pace than normally would be seen by exercise alone has been shown by many studies.
It is the links to bodybuilding and gym communities that help pro-athletes find new substances such as peptides to improve performance.
For some time now, the bodybuilding community has been aware of these supplements and the inability for testing to detect them in most cases.
This is especially the case if urine testing is the main form of detection.
Many peptides aren’t yet cleared for human use.
In fact, quickly perusing the peptide Wikipedia page , reveals they are mostly discussed in a scientific manner, not with reference to sports.
However, peptides are readily available on the sporting supplement market and aren’t very expensive.
Now we know what peptides are and what they can be used for.
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0.038215 | <urn:uuid:8c685017-e3e1-4ce5-8852-72357f06eb88> | en | 0.921774 | I have a printer on my vista sysem and want to print from my laptop how do i set
I have a printer set up on my desktop with Vista, and I want to access the printer through my laptop which has Win7 , I think i have set it up wrong because when i send a document to print from my lap top it just sits there and does nothing, what am I not doing.
Regards, Mike
1 answer Last reply
More about printer vista sysem print laptop
1. did you share the printer in vista?
If so can you see it from your laptop?
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Laptops Windows Vista Printers Wireless Networking | http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/29804-43-printer-vista-sysem-print-laptop | dclm-gs1-174751087 |
0.056357 | <urn:uuid:72e47b51-f5ed-4fb7-8224-946e11491801> | en | 0.924481 | Sandy bridge cant handle pci-e x16
I need to know if sandy bridge can handle pci-e x16 because when u look at intel chipsets like h67,p67 or z68 in the diagram it says okay we can support x1,x2 and x4 so what does it mean . You can have a look at them in the Intel official site , I'm some kind of dazed here and need your help . Thank you
1 answer Last reply
More about sandy bridge handle
1. I don't know where you're getting this, but PCI-express has been around for a long time. I'm running on one of the first PCI-express cards, the GeForce 7600 GT (7 generations behind) on an i7-2600K processor and Z68 motherboard just fine. I'm sure everyone else is. As to the x4 and the such, I don't know what components use those. Video cards use the x16.
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CPUs Sandy Bridge Intel PCI Express | http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/318823-28-sandy-bridge-handle | dclm-gs1-174761087 |
0.100004 | <urn:uuid:2a7307fe-423f-4b52-b516-328b1188c47b> | en | 0.951406 | SyncMaster 244T
Today (as in, about 3 hours ago) I got a monitor from my uncle: the SyncMaster 244T so I plugged in the power and DVI cables, and the power light started flashing (which means its in power saving mode). I turned on the computer and nothing happened on the screen it just stayed blank and the power light kept flashing. The obvious thing do when taking a monitor out of this mode is move the mouse or press keys on the keyboard; neither worked. So I consulted the manual and thats what it told me to do - move the mouse or press keys on the keyboard, so I did extensive searching on the internet and samsung's website; found NOTHING. I tried unplugging everything then plugging everything back in again, to no avail. This SyncMaster 244T monitor just won't exit power saving mode, no matter what I do, so the question I ask is: What the hell is wrong????
By the way, PC specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 3GHz
Graphics Card: ATi Radeon HD 4850
Multiple harddrives
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
Latest Windows Updates and Drivers for Hardware
2 answers Last reply
More about syncmaster 244t
1. most probably your monitor is dead
2. Sorry for not replying. I thought that might be the case. I went and got a new monitor, a brand new one this time and everyhting is fine apart from on little snag.
The monitor is the AOC 2436Vwh so its only got HDMI and VGA inputs. Using the HDMI cable that came with, the image does not go to the edge of the screen AND I can't adjust it??? Using VGA the monitor works fine, displaying a crystal clear image in full HD to the edge of the screen but with HDMI it doesn't. I tried using a different HDMI cable, didn't work. I tried replacing my current graphics card with my old one same thing. This morning some friends came over and we used my monitor as a TV and played some XBOX 360 on it, using both my HDMI cable and the cable they brought with them, worked fine right the way through. I tried using the monitor on a different computer - completely different components - worked fine. I did think that my graphics card had a faulty HDMI port but on TWO graphics cards, a bit unlikely isn't it?
I can't really see what the monitor wouldn't like about my computer (if anything) apart from my graphics card so, as always, the question I ask is: what the hell is going on???
(this isn't terribly urgent, I'm fine with VGA for now but I would like to have HDMI running properly)
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Radeon Syncmaster Monitors Power Graphics | http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/326361-33-syncmaster-244t | dclm-gs1-174771087 |
0.037604 | <urn:uuid:3f2dd42f-3870-43bd-9016-8580fb2453c7> | en | 0.957529 | New build done, need some expertise
hello all ive lurked on this site a bit and decided after days of searching and finding little help on my build thought id just ask, so heres what i recently built
case- coolermaster haf 922 blue "love this case, only mod ill be doing is adding one switch to the exterior for the top and back fans, light control"
mobo- gigabyte super 4 Ga-A75-D3H
processor- amd A8-3870 Llano 3.0ghz
cooler- coolermaster hyper 212 evo (temp hovering at 2 celcius right now)
ram- gskill ripjaws x series 1600 4 x 4gb (16gb total)
psu- CORSAIR Gaming Series 600W
hdd- seagate barracuda 500gb
os- win7 and later ill add another hdd for my linux addiction, hate dual boot (wei is 5.9)
and some cheapo multi drive, overall basic system but wow is it a quick one and soooo easy to add more , might add a couple gpus later on if i get bored with the integrated graphics but for now its more then enough, rocks world of tanks at around 35fps plenty good enough for me... i read the ram is supposed to run at 9-9-9-24 so i set that in bios but is there something else i need to set specific for this ram? for now i just want to get everything to optimal "factory" settings so i know things are stable, im new to building and a lot of the talk is foreign to me like latency and such
so yeah, what else should i check/adjust for the ram and apu? i do plan to overclock but gotta read a lot more before i attack that, seems like a lot to mess up so im taking my time, thanks in advance guys and gals, pics below
the guts
temporary spot while i installed all the sophware and such
and the window veiw
6 answers Last reply
More about build done expertise
1. Are there any holes in the case under where the PSU sits?
It is ideal for most PSUs to be mounted with the air intake hole facing down rather than up.
In my Lian Li case, there are air intake holes directly in the case under the bottom mount PSU rack and there are feet that keep the computer high enough off the ground that air can flow under the case, in it from the bottom, and right back out the back.
I realize that you probably don't want to do without seeing the glow inside the PSU, however, it does fight the natural motion of air. The air above the PSU will be warmer from the internal components and warm air generally wants to rise, but the PSU intake fan would pull it downward.
It probably won't make a difference with the system as you have it setup right now, but if you added a graphics card or something it could make quite a large difference.
Also, I don't think you need to worry too much about manually setting RAM timings and things like that. The difference between super fast RAM and super slow RAM when translated to practically all software performance is pretty much 0%.
The computer does a surprisingly good job of managing that stuff without help, too.
Also, I feel the need to point out that the settings that something says on the package isn't necessarily "optimal". If a stick of RAM says 1600 on the package, that doesn't mean that it will work more optimally at 1600 as compared to, say, 1333.
Indeed, the higher you go over 1333, regardless of what the package says, the more likely you are to experience RAM problems.
Also, in case it matters, 1 drive with Windows and windows data on it + 1 drive with Linux + linux data on it is not a good idea if that is what you were thinking to do.
It is a much better idea to have both OSs on the same drive and all the data on the same other drive.
If you format the 2nd drive with NTFS or Fat32 then most versions of Linux will still be able to read it, so all the data would be available to both OSs. If you set it up so that Linux data is stored on the Linux drive, then the Windows install won't be able to read it.
Additionally, the drive most likely to fail is the one with an OS on it. If you put both OSs on one drive, then you don't risk losing data if either OS causes the whole drive the OS is on to lose all its data. You just reinstall the OSs and all the data is still there.
As long as you install Linux last, the Grub Boot loader will be the one used by the computer and it is superior to pretty much all Windows boot loaders anyway (and it comes with useful stuff like MemTest86+ installed automatically).
Not sure why you hate dual booting and want to have two different OSs anyway, but I just wanted to throw it out there that maybe you hate dual booting because of the way you setup the boot and data drives.
I dual boot Windows 7 (first installed) and Ubuntu (2nd installed) and it is 100% painless.
If you install Linux and the Grub boot loader before you start OCing (suggested), it is really nice not to have to keep taking a MemTest86+ CD in and out of the drive all the time when you are trying to fine tune the OC. You will want to do a RAM test with MemTest86+ after each OC change and having it built into the boot process is golden. That is something you won't ever get with the NT boot loader.
Hope that stuff helps in some way.
2. i knew all that about the psu and airflow when i chose to place it like that for a couple reasons i ignored the upside down route... first its sitting on carpet, second this case is extremely open, has 2 8 inch fans and 1 standard on the case alone then theres one right in front of the rear standard the same size pulling air through the cpu cooler and blowing it directly into the rear fan less then 3 inches apart... not worried about temps with this setup at all , wasnt worried about seeing the blue light on the psu either just placed it so it wouldnt be sucking through the carpet, rather be blowing through it...
as for dual boot... this build is used by me mostly but by my ol lady as well for school, i tinker around in linux mostly she stays in windows, i just mainly want to keep things seperate, i hate messing with partitions when one os is flawless but the other is iffy, havent messed anything up yet but i worry and all that jazz, its not a huge deal ive ran two hdds each with their own os and no issues, was more of a pain to swap back and forth but was more for the peice of mind ya know?
still i understand what ur saying and even with the old system with two hdds i still ended up having dual boots on both hds, playing with different distros, not a fan of virtual boxs so i installed the real deal to get full experience no vm lag or errors,, anyways im rambling...
so the whole 9-9-9-24 isnt a big deal? i think the mobo set it at 11-11-11-27 originally,, worked fine for the few hours it was set at that runs fine now at the 99924 as well..
i tried live cd's of a couple distros they loaded fine and all that fun... the new laptop not so easy, wouldnt take any of the newer releases of ubuntu, kubuntu, mint, or opensuse, i like kde what can i say haha
anyways thanks raiddinn
3. Ubuntu always seemed to do well with whatever hardware I put it on, but that is all I have used.
As for a drive with multiple OSs and a data only drive, I have had to assist with data recovery in here for multiple people who had data + OS on the same drive and never any with data + OS on separate drives. Just sayin.
The data is almost always more important than the OSs, so I generally try to suggest people always keep them apart if possible. It is the worst thing to have your OS crash and kill data you accumulated over decades, like pictures of your kids and things.
IMHO, the partitions are pretty seamless and they have never been a big deal for me when using the Grub boot loader and the partition tools that install Ubuntu.
I like to limit risk to the maximum extent, that's all.
I think the RAM is not a big deal, yes. You can try playing a game with 9-9-9-24 and playing the same game with 11-11-11-27 and seeing if there is any loss of FPS, I am going to guess that there won't be.
I guess I could understand upside down mounting the PSU on carpet. I have mine in an open side of a desk on wood and my bottom filter has nothing on it, unlike my front filters that get horrible pretty quick.
Anyway, hope I helped at least somewhat with the comments.
4. yeah i feel ya but ive saved many of my lesser tech interested buddys data with good ol live linux usb's or cd's never had loss of data just total os meltdowns on their systems,, good ol windows.. i plan to get a ssd to tinker with later when prices balance back out, plan was to install os on it and data the hdd, not worried in any case of losing pics and such i have multiple backups of all including the good ol 320gb ps3,
currently worn out got a new desk today "that 90$ walmart L shaped desk" not a bad desk at all for 90,,, built it moved old desk cleaned up everything unplugged every wire to everything so i could better track whats plugged in and route things better,,, vacuumed, dusted, full clean up now my tech center is good to go... well as soon as my new chair gets here,,, any minute now i hope. kitchen chair hurts my bum...
lovin it,, the old desk and comp are next to it still, thats my tester machine and downloader.. kubuntu machine...
nice having the space for my laptop as well so i can really super multitask...
thanks again raiddinn
and you got me to not worry so im leaving the ram alone for now...
5. I have a La-z-boy in front of my computer desk. Pro style.
6. my ol lady wouldnt be cool with that "you spend too much time there as it is" haha
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0.051707 | <urn:uuid:cb412011-17a2-422c-af15-b36cca072ae3> | en | 0.952765 | Looking to upgrade a system
Hello all,
I stumbled upon this particular forum by looking for ATX gaming builds, and looking through the answers here there are some very nice builds and suggestions.
I would like to solicit ideas/suggestions for an upgrade. Currently I have a Dell XPS 720 that I am playing WoW on, and would like to upgrade the performance of it to run higher frame rates and detail. I also do some slight Photoshoping and MP3 editing with the same machine, although gaming is the biggest use.
The machine currently has:
Intel Core2 Duo E6750 @ 2.66GHz
4.00 GB RAm installed (only 3 available due to 32 bit XP)
NVidia GE-Force 8800GT video card with 512 MB
Seagate ST3320620AS 320 GB drive as primary, dual Seagate ST31500341AS 1.5 TB drives mirrored for storage (digital photos there, backed up to an external drive then cloud storage - lost a bunch once and never again. :) )
I have onhand a Crucial m4 256GB SSD that is 6.0 GB/s I can put in, if it will give adequate performance.
Wanting to use the current case and as much guts as I can, but still get the performance I am seeking. Don't need a KB/mouse/monitor.
Can you throw out your suggestions for the biggest bang for the buck upgrades? I would like to stay around 5-600 bucks if possible, even less is better.
6 answers Last reply Best Answer
More about looking upgrade system
1. Upgrading branded system is waste of time and money.
also core2duo is power saving processor so it is slower than dualcore .your mobo don't accept above processors and psu is not enough for upgrading .
2. Best answer
So my advice sell the system with only 320gb hdd after backup .got sum money from that then
assemble a new system with 3-5 years warenty.
3. Points taken, hytecgowthaman. What I was trying to say, but didn't get across, was that I like the case design. Anything else I can save (drives, DVD-Burners, etc) I will. Mobo/PSU/RAM etc. can all be chunked.
I just like to recycle as much as I can.
4. After selling ,then said how much money spend to new system .specifi dollar euro or rs etc...
6. Best answer selected by Dynamic88.
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0.833528 | <urn:uuid:2b9dacb3-521d-4456-a3de-e63ecb743b99> | en | 0.961536 | Ad Blocker Detected
Thank you.
As I Scrolled Through These 86 Photos, One Thing Became Very Clear. And Everyone Should See It.
MAY 13, 2014
The world isn't always fair. In fact, there are many, many times when it's unfair and it feels like other people are out to get you. That's why it's important to remember the positive parts of life when you can. Take, for example, these random acts of kindness. Complete strangers helped each other out for no reason other than to be good people. This is the sort of kindness that really renews your faith in the world and other people. As you scroll through these, it'll become very clear that the world isn't the bad place some people try to make it out to be...
1. A parking official let a couple in need slide when their car was parked illegally.
Epic Dash
2. A young Egyptian girl helps a street vendor's child learn how to read.
Epic Dash
3. A rainstorm popped up, but this kind neighbor made sure this car didn't get soaked.
Epic Dash
Load another article | http://www.viralnova.com/acts-of-kindness-random/ | dclm-gs1-174861087 |
0.030143 | <urn:uuid:8155efae-d545-4e54-8ac8-ff19a77bc45d> | en | 0.902031 | is right for you
AFib and Stroke Risk
Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Risk
The risk is real. But fear of stroke doesn’t have to rule your life. Understand the link between atrial fibrillation and stroke, learn about preventing a stroke, and find out what you can do to reduce your stroke risk, below.
Risk of Stroke With Atrial Fibrillation
The average person with atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is 5 times more likely to suffer a stroke than someone with a regular heartbeat.1 Here’s why AFib stroke risk is so high:
In AFib, the upper heart chambers quiver and shake and do not contract, or squeeze, as they should.2 Because blood isn’t pumped out of the heart normally, it’s easier for blood cells to stick together and form clots in an area of the heart called the left atrial appendage.2,3
In people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem (also called non-valvular AFib), more than 90% of stroke-causing clots that come from the heart are formed in the left atrial appendage.3 When a blood clot escapes from the left atrial appendage and travels to another part of the body, it can cut off the blood supply to the brain, causing a stroke.1,4
What is atrial fibrillation?
If you’re looking to learn the basics about AFib, including valvular AFib vs non-valvular AFib, AFib symptoms, and how AFib is diagnosed, start here
WATCHMAN and Stroke Risk
The WATCHMAN Implant is for people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem who need an alternative to warfarin for stroke risk reduction.
How Does Atrial Fibrillation Cause Stroke?
To better understand the connection between AFib and stroke risk, it helps to know a little about how your heart works. Your heart has an electrical system that controls the rate and rhythm of your heartbeat. In a healthy heart, the electrical signals produce a steady heartbeat. The heart contracts and pumps blood normally.4
With AFib, the electrical signals are disorganized. Atrial fibrillation happens when the top two chambers of the heart, the atria, beat rapidly and irregularly (fibrillate). AFib affects how well blood pumps through parts of your heart, which in turn affects your stroke risk. But proper treatment can help reduce your risk of stroke.4
Types of Stroke
There are 2 types of stroke: ischemic stroke and hemorrhagic stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot that lodges in a blood vessel and cuts off the blood supply to the brain. An ischemic stroke is the type of stroke most associated with the irregular heartbeat of atrial fibrillation.5,6
A hemorrhagic stroke is caused by bleeding in or around the brain. This can happen when a blood vessel in the area of the brain weakens and breaks. Blood builds and creates pressure on the brain, blocking blood flow.5,6
What Causes a Stroke?
Anyone can have a stroke regardless of age, race, or gender. But the chances of having a stroke are higher if you have certain stroke risk factors. Here are some of them5,6:
• Atrial fibrillation
• High blood pressure
• Diabetes
• Carotid artery disease
• High cholesterol
Stroke Warning Signs
Signs of a stroke may include the sudden onset of any of these symptoms5:
• Numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg
• Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech
• Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
• Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
• Severe headache with no known cause
A stroke is an emergency situation. If you experience any of these symptoms, call 911 immediately.
The WATCHMAN Implant
WATCHMAN is about the size of a quarter and fits into your left atrial appendage, forming a barrier against blood clots. Find out how this one-time procedure compares to warfarin for reducing stroke risk.
Management of Stroke
When a stroke happens, time is critical. Getting treatment right away can help reduce the effects of a stroke and may even prevent death. The gold standard for treating ischemic stroke (the kind caused by a blood clot) is a solution called tissue plasminogen activator. It’s administered through an IV in the arm, but it must be given within 3 hours of having the stroke.5
The effects of a stroke depend on where the blockage occurs in the brain and how much of the brain is damaged. These effects can include5:
• Paralysis
• Vision or speech problems
• Behavioral changes
• Memory loss
People who suffer a stroke often enter a rehabilitation program. Rehab can help those affected by stroke regain certain functions or learn how to live within their abilities.
Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Facts
1) Stroke is the most common complication of AFib7
2) About one-third of people with AFib will have a stroke8
3) People with AFib have 5 times the risk for stroke than people with normal heart rhythms1
4) Strokes are more often fatal and disabling in people with AFib9
5) In non-valvular AFib, the left atrial appendage is the main source of stroke-causing clots that come from the heart3
Reducing Your Risk of Stroke With AFib
The good news is that the risk of stroke can be managed. There are different treatments available to reduce stroke risk if you have atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem (or non-valvular AFib). The most common way is with medications that prevent blood clots from forming and leading to a stroke. These medications, called anticoagulants or blood thinners, work well for many people. Warfarin is an example of a common blood thinner.1
But AFib is a lifelong condition and not everyone may take blood thinner medications long term.1 For these people, a procedure like WATCHMAN may be an option. WATCHMAN reduces the risk of stroke by closing off the left atrial appendage, where more than 90% of stroke-causing clots that come from the heart are formed.3
Your doctor will help you choose a treatment to reduce your stroke risk based on your heart’s rhythm, your symptoms, and any other conditions you may have.
Preventing a Stroke
Management of stroke risk is a main goal of AFib treatment. But there are a number of other things you can do to help reduce your overall stroke risk.5
• If you smoke, try to quit
• Get regular physical activity (ask your doctor what is safe for you)
• Eat a diet that is low in fat and salt
• Maintain a healthy weight
You may not be able to change the fact that you have atrial fibrillation, and the risk of stroke that comes with it. But these healthy choices can have a positive effect on other health conditions, like high blood pressure, that further increase your stroke risk.5
Questions to Ask Your Doctor
If you have atrial fibrillation and you’re concerned about your stroke risk, here are some questions to ask your cardiologist:
• What is my risk of having a stroke?
• What do I need to know in the event of a stroke?
• What treatment options can help reduce my stroke risk?
• Do I need a blood thinner and, if so, what kind?
• What are the alternatives to blood thinners?
• What are the risks and benefits of these treatment options?
• Are there lifestyle changes I can make to help reduce my stroke risk?
If you need an alternative to blood thinner medications to reduce your stroke risk due to AFib, find out if the WATCHMAN Implant could be right for you. Answer a few questions and get a customized guide ►
Warfarin is a common blood thinner prescribed to reduce the risk of stroke in people with AFib—but it may not be right for everyone.1 Learn about other treatment options, like the WATCHMAN Implant.
WATCHMAN is for people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem who need an alternative to warfarin. This website is intended to provide patients and caregivers with some information about the WATCHMAN Implant. It may help prepare you for talking to your doctor about your options for reducing stroke risk.
Important Safety Information
1. National Stroke Association. Making the Afib-Stroke Connection. Published 2012. Accessed September 1, 2016.
2. Harvard Health Publications. Atrial fibrillation. Harvard University Medical School. Published November 2011. Accessed August 25, 2016.
3. Blackshear JL, Odell JA. Appendage obliteration to reduce stroke in cardiac surgical patients with atrial fibrillation. Ann Thorac Surg. 1996;61:755-759.
4. Cleveland Clinic. Atrial fibrillation (Afib). Published May 2015. Accessed August 25, 2016.
5. American Stroke Association website. American Heart Association. Published 2017. Accessed May 31, 2017.
6. National Stroke Association website. Published 2017. Accessed May 31, 2017.
7. American Heart Association. FAQs of Atrial Fibrillation. Accessed June 9, 2017.
8. Brass LM. Chapter 18: Stroke. In: Zaret BL, Moser M, Cohen LS, eds. Yale University School of Medicine Heart Book. New York: NY. William Morrow and Company, Inc; 1992. Accessed May 18, 2017.
9. Medi C, Hankey GJ, Freedman SB. Stroke Risk and Antithrombotic Strategies in Atrial Fibrillation. Stroke. 2010;41:2705-2713. | http://www.watchman.com/atrial-fibrillation-stroke.html | dclm-gs1-174881087 |
0.044991 | <urn:uuid:2aae62ed-68e7-46f0-85c3-ef5ce62774da> | en | 0.93661 | Market Reaction To FOMC Minutes
Tyler Durden's picture
UPDATE: Minutes after the post - Stocks getting ugly now, catching down to VIX and USD's move
Bonds were sold instantly as the more hawkish comments from the FOMC hit - as was Gold. The USD rallied and stocks dipped modestly. Once that initial knee-jerk settled, stocks have gone largely sideways to modestly lower, Treasury yields have pushed back towards the day's highs as the USD strength and Gold weakness are tracking each other perfectly for now. Unfortunately, this is not helping the price of Oil - which is higher post-FOMC. Notably, while this is clearly being viewed as hawkish for bonds, commodities, and the USD, stocks appear unphased - but it seems VIX is soaking up the equity uncertainty for now (VIX +1.1 vols at 13.40%) indicating considerably more concern than the market itself (for now). The 'bond-like' Utilities sector is the most pressured (as rates rise) for now.
USD Up (inverted), Gold Down, Treasury yields Up, Oil Up, Stocks Flat...
But VIX not happy...
and Utes are hurting more as rates rise..
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kliguy38's picture
sell that barbarous me
TruthInSunshine's picture
Let me provide the real FOMC transcript as a public service:
Esther George: Gee Ben, aren't you seeing what I'm seeing out there? This will end badly.
William Dudley: What do you want him to do, stop printing?
Elizabeth Duke: Maybe we can try to thread the needle & buy some more time?
Sarah Bloom Raskin: Whatever do you mean?
Jeremy Stein: You know, increase both the frequency of more hawkish statements and influence public perception that a greater number of us are becoming more hawkish, or at least less dovish.
James Bullard: You mean try and talk the suicide markets down? [At this point, Bullard is spontaneously laughing out loud] Hey, Dudley, why don't you buy some CRM?
Eric Rosengren: Sounds good to me, let's do it.
Ben Bernanke: Should we take a vote?
James Bullard: Fuck you Bernanke. I'm hungry. Let's eat.
spastic_colon's picture
why do I keep hearing the theme song to Kelly's Hero's in my head?
Banksters's picture
File this under: The fed is trying to have its cake, eat it, shit it out, and eat it again.
Oil down Check
Gold down Check
Bernake still a shit eating fuckstick Check x4
The Proletariat's picture
Just remember, Zionists, according to their religion, are forbidden to charge eachother interest. Nothing will change until the bernanke is removed....
Kirk2NCC1701's picture
Assuming for a moment that your statement is correct, by implication... What does that say about the followers of Jesus? Rhetorical question: Are they looking out for each other like Zionists are, or are they too busy being their "bitches"? Are they really "Christians" (genuine followers of Jesus), or more like indoctrinated and zombified followers, who act like a sheep or peasants?
Don't you wish that these "Christians" would look out for each other also, the way these 'Zionists' do? Are you mad at the 'Zionists' for looking after their own, or mad at these "damned Christians" who are not looking after their own? Just sayin'. Hope you can handle the cognitive dissonance w/o needing to go into attack mode. Like Truman said: It's not my enemies, but my (so-called) 'friends' that keep me up at night. Cheers.
akarc's picture
Yeah but he got four upticks for mentioning "zionist". You didn't get any for telling the truth? Now there is some cognitive dissonance. I got a beard, I'm prob guilty too.
The Proletariat's picture
I never said "Christians" were not "Zionists" so I do not understand what your talking about.
Stock Tips Investment's picture
The Fed knows that a bad move can ruin all the work done in recent years. Surely we will see the guy Ben and his friends juggling again.
MFLTucson's picture
A perfectly timed fraud so people will sell to the gangsters before the crash!
docj's picture
Of course - nothing is allowed to "phase" stocks. At least not negatively.
spastic_colon's picture
just setting up for another jawboned, VIX crushing ES bounce to new highs over the next few days
PS - ........."Stocks getting ugly now".......really? stocks won't be "ugly" until they cross ES 1200
NotApplicable's picture
Meanwhile, they've got the positive direction covered with their QE4EVA Warp Drive.
HelluvaEngineer's picture
Er, McMarket. Everything soon to be on the Dollar Menu.
McMolotov's picture
Once the hyperinflation begins, it'll be the Fiddy Dollah (Hollah Hollah) Menu.
Xibalba's picture
fuckers and their computers
Karlus's picture
We are so close to 1500....While I dont love falling knives, I also feel like if you waited this long to pull the ripcord and buy, it might be time to make a big splash bet...
NotApplicable's picture
My bet is that they'll use your account holdings leveraged 200 times against you, rehypothetically speaking.
And if you happen to win anyway? Bank holiday.
All exits will be sealed. The only winning move is not to play.
The DTCC cartel thanks you for your participation, as they couldn't game anything without those of you who insist there's risk-free value to be had by picking up that penny near the steamroller.
knukles's picture
"rehypothetically speaking"
Now that's serious funny.
electricgorilla's picture
No QE from the Fed and Gold Plummets. I was never bullish on Gold and still am not. If anything Silver over Gold. Difference between tangible Dollars and Digital Dollar's. The fed can easily destory digital dollars but not tangible ones. The Fed can't physically print tangible money and put it into the real economy the way it can print digital money. The value of the physical tangible dollar doesn't begin to truly lose value to me until real ppl are not willing to accept it. I'm not seeing that.
maskone909's picture
BREAKING NEWS: FED hoarding 3D printers for printing tangible assetts
jimmyjames's picture
I was never bullish on Gold and still am not
Then obviously you were wrong for 12 years and now you think because gold is back testing the Aug 2012 breakout (normal bull market action)--that you have credibility now-
Clint Liquor's picture
Have you ever heard of SNAP cards? The idea that there is a difference between digital money and 'tangible' money when describing FRNs is absurd.
NotApplicable's picture
Not to mention paper checks, or other forms of monetized paper one can trade.
JustObserving's picture
It seems that the Fed leaks its minutes to its favorite customers earlier. They seems to know what is coming and start shorting precious metals a week earlier.
Confundido's picture
really? I didn't know....thanks for sharing.
tecno242's picture
Apparently Bill Gross isn't one of his favorite as Gross recommended everyone load up on TIPS and other inflation protected assets just a week ago.
NotApplicable's picture
But did he?
I'd say Bill is talking his book.
Cognitive Dissonance's picture
Of course they did. Desperate measures by desperate men are called for. Give me ramming speed Scotty.
<Politicians and banksters to the lifeboats.>
helping_friendly_book's picture
BTFD? Or is it different this time?
Cognitive Dissonance's picture
I'm smelling a cognitive dissonance brewing.
<Sorry.......that was just my feet.>
akarc's picture
IT only looks like cognitive dissonance. It looks as though even the fed can no longer suspend reality
NotApplicable's picture
We're well beyond the point of no return, so there's little left to lose. Slowly letting the bad news out now is what they call "managing expectations."
Next thing you know, the "fiscal hawks" will be demanding even more QE, while the "doves" will be lining up at the altar of the IMF.
All they lack is an appropriate sacrifice. Gee, I wonder where they'll find one...
Whatta's picture
How is the fed gonna EVER raise rates/cease QE
If they do the market will tank, whatever wealth effect will cease and the economy will be in the shitter again.
ALSO...all of these pension funds (Public and Private) that are counting on unrealistically high returns will be even worse off if the FED pulls the plug...the government via the FED will be the only backstop again for We The Freaking People.
They can't cease printing...ever...till it go BOOOOM!
tecno242's picture
you are correct..
and the longer they wait.. the bigger the boom when they do.
that's why Japan is a zombie economy with debt that's 250% of GDP
Sandy15's picture
It should be at the point of ........BOOOOM now!!!!!!
NotApplicable's picture
Too soon. TINA is yet to arrive at the theater, let alone take the stage. When you see the puppets start arguing over HOW the IMF will save us (rather than IF), you'll know the regime's end is near.
WhiteNight123129's picture
Today the most knee-jerk sell-off in Gold in the history of the world.
The Fed prints it will affect the long term price structure. The Fed stops printing because inflation starts to come in.
So indeed Soros has been buying the cause the Printing, but the Fed will not keep printing once the newly monetary units start to show off in teh economy.
So the masses will buy the Gold when they see the inflation. Sell your Gold at that point.
The Problem with Gold is that if you take out the 1998-2002 episode, the Gold probably was 400 USD per ounce. The Monetary base has been multiplied by 5 times since 1998, so we have a new target base for Gold at 2,000 - 2,100 this is assuming no expansion of the monetary base.
When the Fed is forced to raise rates aggressively it is because inflation is getting unnoyingly high, sheeple buy the consequence, you sell.
maskone909's picture
thats right dawg long TMV JGBD just hope my paper will have some fkn value
NotApplicable's picture
Well, you can always wipe your ass with it. Some find value in that.
WhiteNight123129's picture
* This assuming no expansion of the COVERAGE of the monetary base. | http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-20/market-reaction-fomc-minutes | dclm-gs1-174921087 |
0.058801 | <urn:uuid:87c09e3c-436d-4b41-85d9-586648c0318b> | en | 0.989176 |
Two If By Sea
by melodier
Two If By Sea is a sequel to my earlier story, Xena and the Viking.
Disclaimers and such: Of course, the characters of Xena WP and Gabrielle belong to Universal. The character of Lena the Viking is mine.
©Copyright M.E. Romeo Feb. 15, 1997
In days gone by, at a time when Hera was angry with Zeus, she walked the earth and met a handsome nobleman named Achropello. She was so taken by his gentle strength and his incomparable beauty, that she married him. But Achropello did not know who she was. She had a son with him, but as soon as Zeus found out, he became jealous because the child favored the fair Achropello. He struck the infant with a curse that turned him into a hideous man-beast. As the boy grew to be a man, he was driven mad by his tortured state of being and ran away into the forests. Meanwhile, Hera returned to Mt. Olympus and thought nothing more about the child until one night . . .
Xena and Gabrielle sat beside the glowing embers of their campfire that night, enjoying the young pheasant they had cooked. "I can't wait 'till we get to Athens!" Gabrielle's green eyes sparkled. "The theater of Dionysus - it will be so great. Xena, can you imagine, just being there where Socretes, Europides, and Plato lived!"
Xena smiled at her companion's excitement. This trip was strictly for Gabrielle's benefit for Xena had little interest in Athens. But it was worth the journey to see her dear friend so happy. "I'm sure it will be fascinating," she replied, trying to sound enthused.
"I know, Xena," her blond haired friend understood. "But thank you for bringing me. I have dreamed of seeing Athens since I was a child."
Xena smiled mystically, feeling the joy in Gabrielle's heart. "Well, if you don't get some sleep, you won't be able to travel tomorrow, so let's hit the sack." The warrior knew that they had traveled far and had many more miles to cover to reach their destination.
"I'll try to get some sleep," she consented.
Suddenly, Xena's keen senses were awakened by a sound in the bushes and the awareness of another presence near them. "What is it?" Gabrielle asked, seeing the response in her companion.
"Someone, or something's, out there," she said softly as she picked up her sword and rose to her feet. Gabrielle followed Xena's lead and with staff in hand, she crept around the fire.
"Who's there?" Xena called. "Speak up or you're a dead man." No one replied, but Xena heard footsteps on dry leaves dash around them just beyond the light of the fire. She only saw what appeared to be a shadow.
"I don't like this," said Gabrielle nervously as she peered into the dark. "Is it gone?"
"I don't think so." Then an unearthly growling roar was heard from the darkness. It almost sounded like it said, "Free me." A tortured shriek followed and a dark creature rushed past behind them in the forest. Without warning, from a tree branch above them, the creature sprang down onto Xena's back, scratching her shoulders with it's claws. She grabbed the beast by its forearm and flung it over her shoulder to the ground. Engaged in battle, she had no time to study the beast or determine what it was, though it somewhat resembled a black lion. The eyes, though; there was something about it's eyes.
It sprang towards her with a growl. Xena thrust forward her sword, striking the creature in its chest. It now appeared to be standing on its hind legs as it let out the most mortified shriek they had ever heard. It clasped what looked like clawed hands over the gaping hole as Xena withdrew her sword. It looked her in the eyes, tilting it's black head to one side. "Thank you," it sighed and crumbled to the ground. Before their very eyes, the monster was transformed back into the figure of a handsome man as he lay dead at the warrior's feet.
They both looked on astonished and did not know what to think or do next. "Who is he? Where did he come from?" Gabrielle began with questions for which Xena had no answers.
There was a rumble on Mt. Olympus as Hera discovered that her son had been killed. In a fit of rage, she declared, "Xena, the Warrior Princess, must die for this outrage!"
"Why should she die?" thundered Zeus. "For putting a poor creature out of his misery?"
"He was my son," the hot tempered goddess glared. "You turned him into that detestable beast. No, she will pay for taking his life."
"You may not kill her," ordered Zeus. "I will not allow your petty revenge to interfere with the life of this mortal. She has not yet walked out the road that destiny has put before her."
Hera steamed. "Then I shall merely torture and torment her and when I have broken her spirit and her will, you may have her back. Then we'll see if she can complete her destiny."
Xena and Gabrielle were still standing by the fallen man. Xena kneeled down to get a better look at him. At that moment, a violent wind blew through the camp. Gabrielle raised her hands to block its force from her face. "Xena," spoke a cold voice. "That was my son." A misty image of Hera's face appeared before them. "As I shall never again gaze on the face of one I loved, then shall you never again gaze on the faces of those you love." In a flash, Xena was gone, along with the fierce wind and Hera's image.
"Xena!" cried Gabrielle. "Where are you?" The young bard was struck with terror as she realized her best friend was gone and she was left alone in the darkness, miles from anyone. Her heart pounded in her chest as she panicked, not knowing if Xena was alive or dead. "No!" she screamed. "Bring her back!" she shouted, defying even the goddess Hera if she must to keep from loosing the one person that meant the most to her in all the world. "Bring her back," she repeated quietly as she fell to her knees sobbing.
In that instant, the Warrior Princess was transported to a strange and desolate island of stones. Bewildered and disoriented, Xena looked around her and had no idea where she was or how she got there. She still held her sword in her hand and that gave her some comfort, but Hera seemed to know her thoughts. "Here your sword will not be able to save you. You will meet the three greatest enemies of the mortal realm. If you survive, I will be back."
"I didn't know," she called at the sky. "It is not fair to punish me!" Xena looked around her. There was the merciless sea pounding the jagged shore and reddish brown rocks, stones, and boulders. Xena was not sure what to expect or who these three titans may be, so she began to climb to find the highest point on the island so she could see and know what she was facing.
Gabrielle had spent a sleepless night alone by the fire, but morning meant going somewhere to do something to find her friend, only she was totally clueless. Despondent yet determined to never give up, she climbed onto Argo's back. "Come on," she said. "We'll try this; I don't have any choice." She held on tightly and nervously, but was determined to make the fastest time to Athens. "We're still going to Athens. That's where we were headed. If she gets away, she may go there. If not, then perhaps I can find an oracle to help me." She turned the horse onto the road and clicked for him to run. She wanted to waste no time in reaching her destination.
The midday sun beat down relentlessly on the Warrior Princess as she stood at the top of the rock heap with no shade in sight. She could see the general outline of the barren island, but the many hills and caves left numerous hiding places for monsters. Recalling Hera's words, she wondered what three enemies would await her. "Thirst must surely be one," she thought wiping sweat from her brow. Then she caught sight of a small patch of green over in a valley. "Maybe there's water," she thought and scampered down the rocks with sure feet.
Thinking this to be a good place for a trap, Xena was especially cautious. She withdrew her sword as she circled the small pool with its meager border of foliage. No sign of a monster here. Kneeling down by the pool, she cupped her hand and dipped up some of the cool water. She smelled it first, then tasted just a drop. It seemed to be sweet and clean, so driven by thirst, the warrior poured the refreshment into her mouth. As she reach down to the pool for another scoop of water, she saw the sparkling reflection of Gabrielle, cheerful and smiling. She spun around, but no one was there. Looking back at the water, she saw that the reflection was gone. "My mind must be playing tricks on me," she said to herself and scooped up another handful of water.
As she drank from the pool, a strange talking crow flew over her head. "You'll never escape; you'll never escape," it screeched. The bird made Xena angry and she jumped to her feet. "You'll never escape," it called, circling her again. Determined to silence the bird, Xena reached for her chakram and hurled it at the crow, knocking it from the sky. She caught her weapon as it returned to her hand and watched the black bird hit the ground.
"That'll shut you up," she said, but the words lodged in her mind and she could not shake them.
After a few days of vigorous riding, Gabrielle finally reached Athens. The city was as magnificent as she had imagined, yet the thrill and joy of this long anticipated day were gone. Her only purpose in being there now was to get help to find the friend she loved and was lost without. In the large and crowded city of Athens, Gabrielle felt very alone. It was hard to remember having ever been alone, but after three days and nights with only Argo for company, she was at least glad to see other people.
"What now?" she thought. She stabled the Palomino at a barn near the edge of town and began to walk the streets. At the focal point of the city was the temple of Athena, guardian of Athens. Gabrielle looked on the place with contempt. "Why are the gods so cruel? Here is someone who has changed for the better and does nothing but help the weak and punish the wicked and because of one honest mistake she is taken away? It isn't fair!" She sat down on the temple steps and buried her face in her hands, crying.
An old man in a white tunic and robes saw her there and stopped. Placing a shaky hand on her shoulder, he asked, "What is wrong, my child?" She looked up at him through moist, teary eyes. He had a kind, rosy face and white hair circling the bald spot on his head. "Has Athena wronged you?"
"No," she sniffed, wiping her eyes. "It was Hera. My friend is gone and I don't even know where to look for her."
"Take courage, my dear. Hera's anger seldom triumphs. Look within your heart, what you know to be true."
"I know she is still alive," she answered confidently.
"Then hold on to that; make it your weapon to fight despair. Our greatest enemies, you know, are not those that attack our fleshly bodies, but those that attack our souls." He patted her on the shoulder and smiled. "I hope you find your friend."
"Thank you," she said, grateful for a bit of encouragement.
The old man walked on and soon Gabrielle heard another voice, but saw no one. It was a woman's voice that called to her. "You are right, friend of the Warrior Princess. Hera was not playing fairly." The young woman looked about but saw no one. She began to climb the steps to the temple because the voice seemed to come from within it.
"Who's there?" she asked.
"Athena, and I will show you where Xena is. The rest is up to you." Suddenly, Gabrielle began to see a vision of sea charts and islands. One arose like a giant rock from under the sea that was not on the chart; it took its place with the others. "There," Athena spoke. "Remember." Instantly, the map in her vision began to sparkle, then fade away. But Gabrielle had committed it to memory.
"I need a chart; I need a ship!" She began excitedly skipping down the steps. Then she stopped and looked up with new hope. "Thank you, Athena." She resumed skipping down the steps, talking to herself. "I need . . . I need - Lena! She has a ship. I've got to find her." The excited girl rushed off toward the port to find out where the Viking traders were last seen.
Back on the rock, Xena had yet to meet a monster, but each day she fell deeper and deeper into despair. There was no way off the island, no way to send a message, and not even an enemy to fight. Life simply revolved around the pool. "You'll never escape, you'll never escape," raced through her mind constantly. The warrior looked into the pool. This time she saw herself as old. She disturbed the water with her hand, taking a sip. As the ripples cleared, she saw Gabrielle happily surrounded by all their friends. It seemed they had forgotten all about her. Her spirit began to sink deeper into despair. "You know, I'm never going to get off this rock," she heard herself say.
All at once, something inside of her rose up. Her overcoming spirit began to fight. "What did I just say?" she uttered in disbelief. That is when she realized what was happening. It was a pool of despair and it was trying to drown her. "No," she voiced resolutely, standing to her feet. "I'll not give up this easily. There is a way out of here, but I'll have to leave this pool to find it." With that, she marched off towards a new part of the island, sporting a fresh and strong spirit of determination.
At the port of Athens, Gabrielle spent the day interviewing merchants and sailors and at last found someone who remembered the Vikings.
"Yes," the old sea captain replied. "They were here only a week ago, headed for Delos, as I recall."
"It is vital that I catch up with them," she explained hastily. "It is a matter of life and death."
"Well, we are headed that way ourselves. I'm sailing for Ephesus tomorrow and Delos would only be a small detour. Of course, I can't promise they'll still be there," he cautioned.
"Yes, yes, but please take me with you. I can pay," she offered, reaching for her small money pouch.
"No need," the seaman said, raising his hand. "Just stay out of sight of my crew. I cannot vouch for all of their characters." Gabrielle promised and made ready for the voyage.
As Xena trekked across the rugged, barren island, she came to a low place where steam seeped up through cracks. It was as hot as Hades. Parched skeletons lay scattered among the rocks. The warrior cautiously passed this place of death and continued on. Although the air and ground were hot, she felt a certain coldness lingering with her even after the area was out of sight. Where ever she looked, Xena could find no living thing. Many days had passed and the woman could feel the heavy shadow of loneliness covering her very being. However, she fought this with her memories of Gabrielle and their commitment to one another. "I am not alone," she said to herself. "I'll never be alone again."
As darkness began to close in, Xena had become wearied and bored from walking the rock. There was nothing to do and no one to do it with. "What kind of living nightmare is this?" she cried aloud, assuming that no one would hear her.
She was startled with a weak, scratchy voice which uttered the words, "Who's there? Are you real?"
"I'm real, all right," she answered searching for the one who had spoken. "Come out and show yourself."
A little, old, hunched back man crept out from a small crevice between two large rocks. His arms and fingers looked like bones with skin stretched over them but his eyes shone brightly as they came to rest on Xena.
"Are you real, or just another demon sent to torture me?" he asked again as he crept closer.
"I'm Xena, and I'm real enough. I was marooned on this rock by Hera and will not rest until I have defeated three enemies of the mortal realm and can get out of here. Now, who are you?"
"Falstaff," he answered, trying to straighten up. "I was left here as well, many years ago when I was still young. But you are the first living soul I have seen in all that time," he gleamed joyfully. "Come, enjoy my food," he invited, leading the way. "Clams, oysters, crabs. Come, come."
Xena was hungry and very glad to have human company, so she followed him, yet with a watchful eye open for she was suspicious of everything in this place.
"I once thought as you do," he sighed as they sat down to eat. "But now I know escape is impossible."
"Surely a ship will pass by eventually," she wagered.
The old man shook his head. "The island appears on no charts and even if a ship did pass near here, there is a giant sea monster that guards the island. I saw it destroy a ship once and eat all on board."
Xena was disturbed by his story, but would not let herself give up hope. "My friends will come for me and I'm not afraid of any sea monster," she declared.
"How will they know where you are?"
Xena thought for a moment. "Gabrielle is smart. She will find a way. Besides, Hera said if I defeat these three enemies she may let me go back. The problem is, I can't find anyone - or anything - to fight. I am a great warrior and I know I could defeat these challengers if I could just find them." Xena poured out her frustrations on the only set of ears she had found to listen, even though she doubted he could help her plight.
"I have been here for your lifetime and have not until this day seen another living soul. Perhaps Hera lied to you. As for your friends," he sighed shaking his head. "How long will they search? No heart is true; no love is real. It is only for a time and a season. Each passing day takes you farther away from their lives. In time, even the most dedicated will give up. It is inevitable."
Xena sat in silence and ate her shellfish. Doubt began to worm its way into her mind and cause her to question everything that she believed in. Would all things come to an end? Was this the time? Would Gabrielle continue to search for her? What if it took years? Would time change everything that was in their hearts? Did the world really want or need her? She looked at her host and began to wish she had never met him. He continued to talk, telling stories of his youth, but Xena lay down in silence and tried to sleep.
After several days of sailing, the sea captain came below to inform Gabrielle that Delos had been sighted. She accompanied him to the helm where they watched intently for any sign of the Viking ship. As they entered the bay, Gabrielle spotted the distinctive design and red and white striped mainsail of Lena's ship. "There!" she cried. "That's it!"
"Make for the ship," called the captain. "Slow our speed."
Gabrielle ran to the highest place on the bow of the merchant ship and waved wildly. "Hey! Over here! Stop!"
A tall, fair haired young man wearing, a blue wool tunic and boots and cape of fur, saw this strange girl jumping about. "Captain," he called to the tall woman standing by the rudder man. "Take a look at this," he said pointing.
The lady Viking walked to the rail and raised her hand to her brow to block the western sun from her eyes. She was tall and strong with the air of a leader. Thick, wavy brown hair hung to her shoulders and shone with red highlights in the sun. Her tan chamois garment was skirted with heavy brown leather flaps around her hips and thighs. A red wool cape hung from her shoulders almost to the deck. In a moment she recognized Gabrielle. "Crew!" she shouted. "Lower that sail, slow our speed, ready the hooks and gang plank. Bring her about and we'll join with that ship."
Once the ships were joined, Gabrielle hurried across the plank to meet Lena who waited to greet her. Gabrielle gave her a quick hug in greeting then wasted no time in making her request. "Xena's in trouble and she needs your help - I need your help."
"No matter the cost, I am with you," she said clasping the young woman's hands. "Now, tell me," she said as they began to walk toward Lena's cabin.
"Xena killed a mortal son of Hera's by mistake and has been marooned on an uncharted island. I know where it is - Athena showed me. But I need a ship_"
"You've got it," she heartily agreed. "Now, show me this island." Lena spread the charts out on her table and pointed to Delos. "Here we are now. There's Crete."
"Yes, yes," Gabrielle said as her bright green eyes surveyed the map. She traced a triangle between three of the Adrianic islands with her finger, then pointed to a spot in the center of the triangle. "There," she said with certainty. "It's there."
"Then we shall go and get her back." Gabrielle's and Lena's eyes met. Lena admired the Warrior Princess and was honored to have the privilege to call her friend. She also knew how close this young friend was to the mighty Xena and that nothing would turn her back from her quest.
Gabrielle gave her a satisfied smile and replied, "Thanks."
The two went back on deck so that Lena could issue orders to her crew. The two ships had just finished disengaging and Gabrielle waved fondly to the old sea captain who had brought her there. "All hands, make ready to sail," Lena shouted to the men. "Make the heading west by southwest, full sail. Make all haste and," she added, "be ready for anything."
Gabrielle stood leaning on the rail overlooking the sea while Lena went about her task of supervising her crew. The tall, broad shouldered blond Viking, who had first spotted Gabrielle, walked up to her with an inviting smile. "Hi," he greeted warmly. "I'm Olan, and as first mate on this ship, it is my duty to see that you are comfortable and lack for nothing. I want you to rest assured that while I am around, no harm will come to you," he boasted playfully.
Gabrielle looked him over. He was fair and handsome with a powerful physique and yet a boyish face and manner. If she had not had so much on her mind, she might have been attracted to him. "I'm pretty good at taking care of myself, but feel free to defend me from danger if it makes you happy," she joshed with a playful smile.
"Olan," Lena said as she walked up beside Gabrielle. "Take the helm. The current is getting strong here."
"Yes, ma'am," he replied. He smiled and winked at Gabrielle then went straight to his task.
"I see you've met Olan," Lena smiled at her little friend.
"He must be quite one with the ladies," she replied.
"Don't let his playful flirting fool you. That young man is an awesome fighter, even if I am a little bit prejudiced," she smiled. Gabrielle looked at her questioningly and Lena explained. "He is my nephew, my older sister's son. I'd trust him with my life; that's why he's first mate on this ship," she grinned with pride in the lad.
Gabrielle lifted her gaze to the man gripping the huge rudder of the ship who turned and steadied the massive vessel as if it was no task at all. His muscles bulged from the strain, yet his expression remained relaxed. "We are fortunate to have him in case we run into trouble on the way. And, knowing Xena, and everything we've been through, and how nothing is ever as simple as it seems," she expounded.
The two adventurous women looked at each other and voiced as one, "There'll be trouble."
One day into the voyage, the wind ceased completely, not even a whisper. So the men had to take to the oars to pull the ship through the great sea. It was tiring labor and Lena held the rudder straight as they rowed. Gabrielle assisted by bringing drinks of water to the men. When she came to Olan, he smiled at her charmingly. "Pour it in my mouth for me so I don't have to stop rowing."
Gabrielle tried to oblige, but his rocking motion made it impossible for her to do anything but spill water on him. "Hold still. This is not working."
"All right." He took one hand off the oar to hold the cup and continued stroking with the other, staying in tempo with the drummer. "Thank you, my dear," he said after gulping down the refreshment. "Although a smile from your sweet face is worth more than a hundred cups of water," he said poetically.
"Now stop that," Gabrielle blushed, trying not to smile. "We're on serious business here."
"Oh, most serious," Olan agreed, then added, "but that doesn't mean we can't have fun." He winked at the lovely Gabrielle who looked at him in unbelief and shook her head.
"I've got to get water for the others," and she left him.
By the second day of no wind, Lena and Gabrielle were taking turns at the oars as well to spell the men from their toils. Gabrielle strained at her oar, putting all she had into the task. But her hands were not accustomed to the constant friction of the rough wood against them. Soon she had blisters. Then they popped. After a few hours, her hands began to bleed, but she pressed on ignoring the pain, thinking only of the moment they would reach their destination.
As Lena paced the center of the vessel checking on each sailor, she noticed the red stains on the handle of Gabrielle's oar. "O.K., let me see your hands."
"I'm fine, really," the determined young woman replied. "I can go on."
"Gabrielle," the lady Viking directed with firm authority. "Get off that oar." Gabrielle looked up at her in frustration, but decided that there was no point in arguing. As she pulled in the oar, Lena said to her, "Now get to my cabin and take care of your hands."
"I guess," she mumbled downheartedly.
As she stood, Lena put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a word of encouragement. "We'll get there; don't worry."
Xena spent her days scouting for some way off of the barren island but returned to the old man's camp each night. After so much solitude, she found she needed what ever human company she could find. Still, the old man depressed her, a living symbol that resistance was futile.
That night around the campfire, the old man pried Xena to talk. "Now, young woman, you have told me nothing about yourself. Come now, speak up."
"There isn't much to tell," she rather lied to him. "My life has been one war, or tragedy, or adventure, or amazing discovery after another - until everything has reached a stand still here." She became agitated once more. "One more boring, eventless day and I'm going to scream!"
"Well, at least it is peaceful, quiet, restful. No need to war or labor here," he explained.
"Yeah, and no reason to live, either."
"Why do you protest so?" he inquired. "It is a waste of your energy. Just accept your fate." Xena turned her face from him and covered her eyes. "Hera has left you here forever and no mortal or god will come to your aid. Your friends will get on with their lives and forget about you. All you have is this island and me. Come, let us play a game of dice," he suggested.
Xena rose to her feet resolutely. "I'm out of here."
"Wait," he cried, following after her. "You'll be alone with out me."
"I refuse to give up hope. I will not sit here and die on the inside. And I cannot listen to another word of this defeatism!" She turned and ran away.
"But you'll be alone!" he called after her.
"Alone," she thought, "alone." As she ran across the stony ground through the blackness of the night, the battle raged within her. She began to understand that the enemies of which Hera spoke were indeed the most dangerous of foes. They could not be conquered with a sword and they never seemed to leave her. Then, like the refreshing of a soft spring rain, the words of Lena the Viking returned to her heart. "You are not alone; you are never alone in this world when you have a friend like that." Gabrielle's face was as clear in her mind as if she were beholding her countenance. Xena slowed down and stopped running. Moments of joy and images of loved ones, living and dead, joined her in the solitude of that forsaken place; the incomparable assurance of being loved by another, which she had only recently truly come to understand and appreciate, filled the warrior with more strength than a legion of fighters. Lena was right - she was not alone.
The next day, the wind had picked up and the Viking vessel was clipping along at a good pace. Spirits on board rose when a sailor called out, "Land! I see land."
Lena and Gabrielle made their way to the bow of the ship, which rocked up and down as it cut through the salty waves. "We shouldn't be there yet," said Lena. "But this island wasn't on my chart."
Gabrielle studied the form barely visible in the distance. "No," she hesitated. "My intuition is telling me that's not it."
"Could we be off course? Olan," she called and swiftly the young man was at her side.
"What's wrong?" he asked, seriously for once.
"What's our current position?"
"Latitude 36 degrees 52 minutes north by longitude 25 degrees 15 minutes east. I'm certain; I checked it just an hour ago."
"I've never sailed this way before, but that island shouldn't be there."
"Wait!" Gabrielle exclaimed as she had a sudden thought. "It must be the land of the sirens. I've heard of them being in this part of the sea - women who lure in sailors with their songs, crashing their ships on the rocks. It is said that no man can resist their voices."
"Then we must stuff up the men's ears with wax so they can't hear. Men," she called. "Hold steady. There is something we must do." She and Gabrielle walked to the stern and brought candles out of Lena's Cabin. Then they went around to the men dropping melted wax in their ears to block out the siren's song.
"Is this really necessary?" Olan asked when Gabrielle told him to sit down.
"Yes," she said impatiently. "Now, turn your head."
"Ow!" he cried as hot wax landed in his ear.
"Don't be such a baby."
"Hey, but I like good music, and I'm sure I could resist their spell," he boasted.
"Yeah, right!" Gabrielle answered sarcastically. "Even Odysseus could not; what makes you think you can? Now, give me your other ear."
"Well, maybe you could sing a lullaby for me tonight then, as a consolation," he suggested with a grin.
She gave him a look as if to say, forget it, then dropped hot, melted wax into his ear.
"You love to torture me, don't you?" he replied.
Gabrielle stood beside Lena at the helm as she steered the mighty vessel past the island, well away from its rocky shore. They heard the eiry, haunting voices of the enchantresses as they stood on the cliffs above sending out their intoxicating song. As celestial as their voices sounded, the luring spell did not work on the two women, and with the men's ears closed, they passed the danger safely.
The Warrior Princess had now reached the far side of the island. Everything was quiet and still; there was no living thing in sight. "All right, Hera, here I am; give it your best shot!" she cried in defiance of the goddess, ready to get this ordeal over with. Without warning, the sky became black and the ground began to rock and shake violently. A loud noise like the roar of thunder filled Xena's ears. She balanced her feet on the two shifting rocks beneath them, watching and waiting. Her stand remained as determined as granite, and she did not run nor try to hide from this powerful force of nature. A mighty wind arose as if to blow her from the surface of the rock into the sea, but leaning into the wind, she stood firm.
After a time, the earthquake subsided with one, last, fiery crack opening in the ground near where the Warrior Princess stood. From out of the depths of the earth, there arose a massive figure of power, and scales, and wings, and fire - a dragon. It towered above Xena as it climbed from the pit and looked down at her with fiery eyes. Billows of smoke puffed from its nostrils, as it twisted and turned its reptilian body toward her. Xena drew her sword and faced the dragon with resignation. This is what she had been waiting for.
The vicious creature cracked its spiked tail at its prey like a huge whip of cedar, but the agile warrior sprang into the air and flipped safely out of its reach. She faced the dragon once more as it looked at her with malicious fury. It opened its jaws and spit flames from between its razor like teeth. The fire formed a circle completely surrounding her. She could hear the crackle and feel the heat radiating from the flames as they began to close in on her from all sides. She looked about quickly and spotted a high boulder just beyond the circle of flame. Using her special skill, she leapt up and flipped through the highest points of the flames to land safely atop the boulder.
The ground shook as the mammoth dragon stepped towards her, snapping its fierce jaws and wriggling its formidable tail. Xena knew that the time had come for her to go on the offensive, but how would she get close enough to strike the beast, and would her sword penetrate its scaly armor? Then she had a thought. She clutched the chakram, and with mighty force hurled the spinning weapon at the monster. The disk hit upon the dragon's chest, cutting a gash that began to bleed. It shrieked in anger as the weapon returned to its mistress's hand.
Xena's blue eyes were sparked with encouragement as she threw out the chakram once more. This time, the dragon reacted quickly and caught the flying disk in its steely teeth. Xena was caught off guard by this and her first thoughts were on how she would get it back. At that moment, the massive dragon inhaled, and instinctively the warrior knelt down and covered her face with her arms. Fire spewed out of its mouth, along with the chakram which landed at Xena's feet. She discovered at once that most of the flames had hit the rock and she had been spared. Her gauntlets and boots had been scorched and part of her arms burnt, but nothing serious. She lifted her throwing disk and secured it back on her belt. There was only one thing left to do.
The Warrior Princess rose to her feet among the puffs of smoke and faced the terrible monster eye to eye. She grasped her sword by the handle and the tip and sprang through the air, flipping onto the dragon's scaly back. She gripped its body firmly with her powerful thighs, and with both hands on the hilt, jabbed her sword into the creature's back.
It screamed and wriggled and began thrashing about. Xena pulled out the sword and slammed it in again and again. It was hard to stay on the flailing beast, and at one point her legs gave way and she began to slip. But holding tight to the sword embedded in the dragon's body, she pulled herself back on top.
At long last, the defeated agent of destruction could stand no longer, and it crumbled to the ground. Xena climbed off, her bloody sword in her hand. She stepped back from the creature, breathing heavily from the struggle, and watched it exhale its final breath.
The cloud over head began to lift and the last of the fires died out. "There!" Xena called up at the sky. "I killed your dragon. I have won. You cannot make me afraid. I will get off this island." Receiving no response from the gods, the Warrior Princess slowly walked away from the battle ground.
She had not been walking long, when she heard a familiar voice calling her name. "Xena, there you are!"
She spun around to see Gabrielle walking toward her. "Gabrielle!" Her eyes lit up with joy and excitement as she rushed to hold her friend.
"Now before you go getting all sentimental on me," the smaller blond haired girl said as she pulled away. "I'm glad you're all right, and all, but we have to talk."
Xena was taken back by this lack of warmth and waited uneasily to hear what she had to say.
"While you were gone, I've been thinking. All this trekking around the country, battling warlords, this just isn't for me. I loved Athens, and I've been offered a job in a thespian troop. I am happier than I ever was with you. In fact, I know this sounds awful, but I didn't really miss you that much." A sick feeling flooded Xena's soul as she listened to the words of the bard. "It isn't that I don't like you or anything, it's just that for the past year I've been living your dream, not mine. Besides, you don't need me slowing you down. The bottom line is, I don't want to be with you anymore, so I've come to say good-bye."
The warrior's spirit was crushed and she felt like she was dying on the inside. All this time, while her thought of Gabrielle kept her going, her "trusted" friend was forgetting about her. "She doesn't love me," she thought. "Maybe she never did - it was just all in my mind. How could she do this to me? Here, now, like this?" Xena found herself face to face with her greatest fear. This wasn't just rejection; it was more like betrayal. Not only was it breaking her heart, but it was stealing her will to live. "Why?" she thought s she stood there speechless before Gabrielle. "What has it all been for? I would have been better off to have never learned to love than to be made to suffer this way. It would have been better had I died." Thoughts of suicide raced into her mind. "Maybe I should just end it all right here, right now." She slowly withdrew her blade and studied its simple beauty. It still was stained with the dragon's blood - the simple dragon who had never been betrayed by "love." "The old man was right," she thought. "Love, trust, commitment, friendship - they were all just an illusion."
As Xena stroked the smooth, flat blade of her sword deciding how she would do it, a still, small voice struggled to be heard inside her soul. "But you know Gabrielle," the voice said. "She wouldn't do this - not here, not now, not like this." Xena paused to consider that new thought. "Do I really know her?" she pondered. Then a peaceful, calming presence swept over her like a gentle summer breeze. It warmed her heart, steadied her mind, assured her spirit. The blackness began to be pushed away as the warrior realized her enemy. From a tiny well within her, love sprang forth and flooded her entire being.
"No," she spoke aloud with confidence. "This is not real - you are not real. You are not Gabrielle and I do not believe your words. I do not accept you; I do not believe in you. You cannot defeat me; do you hear?" she shouted. "I know the truth and the truth has freed me from this deception!"
Instantly, the figure assumed to be Gabrielle vanished, and Xena sighed a sigh of relief.
A few nights later, the Viking vessel spotted an island in the distance under the glowing light of the full moon. "That must be it," Lena declared when she and Gabrielle came on deck.
All at once, something hit the boat and the crew struggled to stay on their feet. "Was that a rock?" Gabrielle asked.
"Can't be," Olan answered. "We're too far out."
"Then what was it?" another sailor asked.
As all eyes searched the black surface of the deep for an object, a long, dark tentacle, covered with blood sucking cups, reached it's way over the railing and grabbed a sailor in its coil. He let out a horrified scream and cried, "Help! Somebody help me!"
Lena drew her sword and Olan reached for his ax. Many of the crewmen shrank back in terror, but others rushed to their comrade's aide. Before anyone could reach the man, the sea monster had raised him high above the deck. He struggled in vain, kicking and straining against the creature's tight grasp.
Just then, a second tentacle reached over the side of the ship, and the sailor nearest stabbed it with his sword. The tentacle drew back and flailed wildly in the air, then popped out like a whip, knocking the man into the water below.
"We've got to do something!" Lena stated the obvious.
A third tentacle arose and coiled itself around Olan's leg. In a flash, he was lying on the deck being drug by the slimy appendage. With fierce determination, he raised his massive battle ax and slammed it down onto the creature's arm, severing it completely in two. The part around his ankle fell limp and the other half waved wildly, dripping from its stump.
Lena had disappeared from deck and returned with a bow and quiver of arrows just in time to see the huge sea creature surface beside the ship. They had never seen anything like it. One of its mighty arms hit the main mast, snapping it in half like a twig. Gabrielle and Lena had to move to avoid being hit as it crashed to the deck. The monster had two large eyes that rolled about oddly and a treacherous beak that popped open and closed as the tentacle pulled the trapped sailor closer. It's body appeared to be oval in shape and protected by a thick covering. Floating in the dark water, it was nearly the size of the ship.
Lena aimed her bow at the body, but the arrow was deflected. She shot again, this time hitting the base of a tentacle where it lodged but seemed to cause no effect on the monster. She continued to fire the shafts while Olan rushed to the women's side. The sailors swung at the tentacles with axes and swords, but they could not stop the monster from tearing their fellow limb from limb and devouring him right before their eyes.
"This isn't working!" Gabrielle said frantically. She couldn't bear the thought that they were so close and now success may be lost in the jaws of defeat. She felt guilty over the life of the sailor who she had brought there to meet so horrible an end.
In an inspired moment, Olan exclaimed, "Gabrielle, give me your quarter staff - Lena, your sword!"
"Here," she said handing him her staff. "But I don't see_"
"You will." He looked at Lena for her sword. She handed it to him with reservation mixed with trust. She had come to rely on that sword and derive safety from the skill with which she mastered it. But now she must put her trust in the strength of her young nephew. He slashed the sword to the staff with his belt while the crew battled the beast. As he almost had the make shift spear ready, a waving tentacle knocked him down.
"Look out!" cried Gabrielle. The women jumped back in time to not be hit as well, and waited anxiously as he rose to his feet. The fearless warrior took his stance and raised the lance in his powerful right hand.
"The soft spot between the eyes," Lena called to him.
Olan knew he only had one chance at this. He focused all his strength into that one motion as he hurled the deadly projectile through the night and into the beast. The sword sunk deep into the creature's brain, only the staff remaining visible. A horrible shriek sounded loudly about them, and the monster rolled back its eyes. Then it slowly began to sink out of view, waving its last tentacles before it was claimed by the deep from whence it came.
"You did it, Olan, you did it!" Gabrielle burst forth with excitement. She hugged the victor and kissed him on the cheek.
"Way to go, my man," Lena smiled with satisfaction and relief as she took her turn to embrace him.
Olan was still a little bit in shock as it hit him that he really had killed the sea monster. A smile crossed his face and his eyes lit up as the whole crew gathered around to cheer their hero. He blushed a bit, not used to so much attention. Then he put his strong arm around Gabrielle and smiled at her admiring and grateful eyes. Their hero was speechless for once.
The next morning, the battered vessel floated slowly up to the island, pushed by only the small sail and a few rowers. Gabrielle stood at the bow scanning the shoreline. "Look," she pointed. "Those light colored stones make a pointing arrow. It's Xena - she's giving us a sign!" she exclaimed.
Xena sat on a rock at the top of a hill where she could see both the north and south shores of the island. As if in a dream, she beheld the figure of her dearest friend rising from the side of the hill. "Xena!" she cried and began to run toward her.
The Warrior Princess slid down from the rock and took a few cautious steps toward the young lady. "Is it you? Is it really you?"
Gabrielle rushed into her arms, embracing her tightly. "You know it's me." She closed her eyes and waited. Xena now could see the Viking vessel and Lena walking up the hill as well and knew that it was real.
She sighed with genuine joy and release and held her beloved tightly. "It's really you."
They loosened their embrace and looked into each other's faces. Gabrielle wiped a tear of joy from her own eye. Of course the Warrior Princess doesn't cry (at least not when anyone else is around), but she did get misty eyed in the emotion of the moment.
Xena hugged her Viking friend as well when she had scaled the height. "I am sure glad to see you."
"I'll bet you're ready to get off this rock."
"You better believe it!"
The three women started down the hill toward the ship with Xena in the middle, her arms resting over the shoulders of her friends. "So, how'd you find me, anyway?" They exchanged adventure stories s the craft started off toward the nearest port for repairs.
Later that evening, the two soul mates sat alone on a bench at the table in Lena's cabin. It was dimly lit with candles that flickered with the gentle rocking motion of the waves. "You know, Xena," Gabrielle confided. "When you disappeared that night, I went crazy. I mean, look - I rode Argo all the way to Athens." Xena laughed quietly. "I just couldn't imagine a life with out you in it and I was driven to do what ever I had to do to get you back."
"Your love is what saved me, you know," she replied. "On that chunk of hell, despair, doubt, loneliness stalked me and attacked me where ever I went. Thinking of you kept me going. Death was all around, but I wasn't afraid of dying - I've done that before. And I wasn't even afraid of being left there forever. The only moment I felt fear," she confessed, "was when I thought I had lost you. And just as I was about to end it all, your love burst through and brought me back. Before I met you, I would never have believed that by allowing my heart to become soft I would gain the greatest strength I could ever know."
There was nothing else to say. It was not a time for words. Gabrielle reached over and took her friend by the hand as they gazed lovingly into each other's eyes.
About that time, Lena and Olan entered the cabin bearing refreshments. Reluctantly, Gabrielle released Xena's hand and turned to their hosts. "I've been saving this bottle of wine for a special occasion, and this is it," Lena said.
Olan set four goblets on the table and took a seat by Gabrielle. Lena poured the wine and sat beside Xena. "I'd like to propose a toast," Gabrielle said with a smile. "To Lena, who at great cost and peril, brought me here to get Xena back."
"Here, here," agreed the Warrior Princess and they all sipped from their glasses.
"Well, I'd like to give a toast to Olan, for saving us all from the sea monster," Lena said cheerfully.
"Here, here," seconded Gabrielle s her sparkling green eyes smiled at the fair you man who sat blushing once again.
"It's my turn," he voiced heartily. "I shall propose a toast to Xena. Had she not gotten herself into trouble, we would have missed out on this entire adventure, and I may never have gotten to know this fair beauty who sits beside me now." It was Gabrielle's turn to blush.
"Thanks a lot," Xena replied sarcastically.
Then all eyes fell upon the Warrior Princess as it was her turn to make a toast. She paused for a moment thoughtfully. "Here's to the mightiest of weapons and the most ardent defense: to love and friendship."
"To love and friendship," they all echoed. Their raised glasses tingled as they touched in the center of the circle under the candlelight's glow.
Fan Fiction
Return to my Fan Fiction Page | http://xenafan.com/fiction/content/twobysea.html | dclm-gs1-174971087 |
0.189824 | <urn:uuid:0ef02fe2-7219-4858-855c-2eeaa2b798d7> | en | 0.895481 | Count Down
Minus One
You constantly ask yourself: How much worse could it get? Well I hate to tell you, but you haven’t seen a thing yet.
You constantly ask yourself: Am I somebody else? but the birthmarks that you have say that nothing’s changed.
Everything decays over time. You just happened to decay faster than the norm, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, if more people were like you, the world might be a better place. So go to sleep child. There’s no reason to stay up all night, fearful of the time you don’t have ticking away. You can’t see clearly in the dark anyway.
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0.14665 | <urn:uuid:2d060953-19c2-4596-b42e-96d19dfccfd5> | en | 0.889991 | Ask Your Question
Temporarily removing one package to install another
asked 2015-03-20 11:50:14 -0600
rmc47 gravatar image
A slightly odd requirement, and I'm wondering how to best tackle it in Puppet...
The Windows 7 SDK installer has an irritating bug (as do some others), which means it will fail to install if a more recent version of the Visual C++ Redistributable is installed than the one it ships with - but it's fine if the later version of the redist is installed again after the SDK.
So logically, a deployment looks like this:
1. If C++ redist more recent than 10.0.30319 is installed, remove it
2. Install SDK
3. If we removed the newer C++ redist in step #1, put it back
Steps 1 and 3 should only, of course, happen if we need to do step 2, and step 3 should only happen if we needed to do step 1.
Is it sensible to try and do this as three package resources with what feels like somewhat awkward requires and notifies between them, or should I be looking to pull this out into something a bit more imperative?
Thanks, Rob
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answered 2015-03-24 10:53:40 -0600
csharpsteen gravatar image
updated 2015-03-24 18:04:00 -0600
In general, Puppet models and enforces the end state of a resource. This means that moving a resource through a series of intermediate states is not something that fits well into the Puppet model.
That being said, there is a module called puppetlabs/transition that may work in this case. The module provides a new resource type, Transition, that establishes a single intermediate state between two resources.
Assuming both the SDK and the C++ libraries are manageable via Package resources, a Transition could be applied to your scenario:
transition {'temporarily remove CXX redist':
resource => Package['CXX Redist'],
attributes => { ensure => absent },
prior_to => Package['Windows 7 SDK'],
package {'Windows 7 SDK':
ensure => installed,
before => Package['CXX Redist'],
package {'CXX Redist':
ensure => installed,
If the SDK package has any pending changes, then the CXX package will be removed before the SDK is installed or upgraded and then re-installed afterwards. Note that the Transition will also fire if the SDK is being removed --- in that case you may want to use conditional logic to exclude the transition from a catalog that enforces the removal of the SDK.
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Last updated: Mar 24 '15 | https://ask.puppet.com/question/16261/temporarily-removing-one-package-to-install-another/ | dclm-gs1-175031087 |
0.034195 | <urn:uuid:35317a67-8e54-422b-8ad7-362fb137cc63> | en | 0.930125 | Tag Archives: Odometer
19 Things You Might Not Know Were Invented in Canada
Source: http://mentalfloss.com/ – by Amanda Green
Image credit:
Getty Images
The good people of Canada are responsible for many inventions you use every day. Especially if you’re someone who plays Trivial Pursuit in a Wonderbra while eating peanut butter smeared on McIntosh apples.
1. Peanut Butter
Montreal pharmacist Marcellus Gilmore Edson envisioned his nutty ointment-like product, patented in 1884, as a food option for people who couldn’t chew. Or for, you know, everyone.
2. The Wonderbra
Leave it to our great neighbors to the north to invent one of the most popular push-up bras ever. Montreal’s Canadian Lady Corset Company first licensed the trademark “Wonder-bra” in 1939, and then renamed the company Wonderbra in 1961.
3. Trivial Pursuit
Here’s one for the orange category: What board game was invented in 1979 by Scott Abbott, a Montreal sports editor, and Chris Haney, a photo editor, when they couldn’t find all their Scrabble tiles? [And yes, that’s Rudy Giuliani and the Pets.com sock puppet in the photo.]
4. The Odometer
Road trips were never the same after 1854, when Nova Scotia inventor Samuel McKeen created a device that measured distance with every revolution of a carriage wheel. Though to be fair, everyone from Vitruvius to Ben Franklin was also working on this one.
5. The Rotary Snowplow
A Toronto dentist named Dr. J.W. Elliot first conceived the idea of a snowplow to clean up train tracks. The snowmobile and snowblower were also born in Canada. But the Zamboni ice resurfacer? California, man.
6. The Egg Carton
Newspaper editor Joseph Coyle of Smithers, British Columbia, found an egg-cellent new use for paper in 1911.
Filmmakers Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroiter, and Robert Kerr and engineer Robert C. Shaw founded IMAX in 1967. Kroiter produced the first IMAX film in 1970. Star Wars creator George Lucas later credited him with originating the idea of “The Force.”
8. McIntosh Apples
McIntosh apples didn’t just grow on trees back in the day. In 1811, farmer John McIntosh began grafting a wild apple tree at his South Dundas farm. People began enjoying the fruits of his labor in 1835.
9. The Walkie-Talkie
Don Hings invented what he called the “packset” in 1937. When Canada declared war on Germany two years later, he went to Ottawa to redevelop the device for military use. Over and out.
10. Insulin
Toronto scientists Frederick Banting, Charles Best (pictured), and James Collip didn’t actually invent insulin in 1922 — it’s a hormone naturally produced by the pancreas. Instead, they discovered it and learned how it could treat diabetes.
11. Instant Replay
CBC Television producer George Retzlaff used a kinescope when he created the first-ever Instant Replay in 1955. Not surprisingly, it was during a broadcast of Hockey Night in Canada.
12. The Foghorn
Robert Foulis invented a steam-powered foghorn in 1854, but died penniless because he didn’t patent it. Argh!
13. Green Currency Ink
Got a dollar? In 1862, Thomas Sterry Hunt invented the ink that makes U.S. bills green.
14. The Baggage Tag
John Michael Lyons of New Brunswick changed travel when he invented the first baggage tag in 1882. The revolutionary document contained information about the bag’s point of departure, destination, and owner.
15. The Paint Roller
The paint roller has a messy history. Canadian Norman Breakey invented it in 1940, but an American inventor named Richards C. Adams tweaked the design and filed the first patent.
16. Standard Time
Engineer Sandford Fleming brought standard time to U.S. and Canadian railways in 1883. Time zones became U.S. law in 1918 and were accepted worldwide by 1929. It was about time.
17. The Wheelchair-Accessible Bus
Walter Harris Callow, a blind, quadriplegic veteran, invented the first wheelchair-accessible bus in 1947. He took his first and only ride after death, when his body was transported for his funeral.
18. The Electric Wheelchair
In 1952, engineer George Klein made the world more accessible with a motorized wheelchair
19. Garbage Bags
With stretchy, waterproof polyethylene at their disposal, Harry Wasylyk of Manitoba and Larry Hansen of Ontario invented the first plastic garbage bag for commercial use in 1950. Union Carbide Company bought the idea and brought Glad trash bags into homes.
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0.019499 | <urn:uuid:9f948735-725a-4bae-a1e7-7bec2b693c71> | en | 0.793404 | Rob W (Rob W)
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Rob W
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0.027814 | <urn:uuid:9b3576a4-aa78-4883-90cc-08afb74764b5> | en | 0.960949 | FNMI Reading Log - Kendra Leier.xlsx
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ReflectionTitle Quick DetailsAuthorIllustratorPublisherYearSummary, Features and ThoughtsLower Age SuggestionUper Age SuggestionCanadian Author
✔️A Coyote Columbus StorySomewhat abstract concepts by combining modern elements with 18th century European concepts, and whimsy in the cartoonish animals. Thomas KingWilliam Kent MonkmanGroundwood Books2007This story takes the story of Christopher Columbus “discovering” America and shows it in a new light. The story is centered around Coyote, the trickster, who is supposed to make the world better, but all she wants to do is play baseball. She tries convincing the animals and the humans to play, but they’re busy. So, when some strange new humans come along looking for India, she tries to distract them and convince them to play with her. They, however, are too intent on finding things to sell back in Spain, and decide that the humans would be worth selling. Some of the humans are able to hide, but they are angry with Coyote for not helping make the world better. She promises to make things balanced, until some other new people come along and she asks them to play ball. While this story is quite historic, there are many contemporary elements that have been added, especially in the artwork, that help to make it more relatable and add some humour, trying to dispel the ideas of the original story. Throughout the story, the author’s purpose is to show the reader that the long-standing story of Christopher Columbus is just one side. The artwork enhances the action of the story, and its bright colours draw the reader into look a little more. The characters are playful and the abstract textures and colours enhance the contemporary feel of this retelling of the Columbus story. 912
Angelique: Buffalo Hunt - Book 1 in the "Our Canadian Girl" SeriesDescriptive language and a fast-moving plot keep readers engaged in the story of a young girl learning her way through the buffalo hunt. Cora Taylor-Penguin Canada2002This lovely story is about a girl name Angelique, and is set in the late 1800's on the prairies, near Batoche, Saskatchewan. Angelique's family is Métis, and is preparing for the buffalo hunt. She is especially excited for this hunt as she gets to take on a new role in the hunt, a sign that she is growing up. Everything seems to be going well until Angelique, and her brother and a friend wander too far from camp and wind up amongst a herd of bison, running for their lives. Throughout the story, not only does the reader learn some of the traditional Métis ways of the hunt, but also about the roles of the family members, the values of the Métis culture, and the ways in which a young girl finds her own self amongst it all. The text is rich with descriptive language, but at a level suitable for young readers. The plotline flows seemlesly, creating page-turning action and a desire to keep on reading. There are a few illustrations in the book, which help the reader to create the images in their mind. This is an excellent book which brings the Métis traditions into new light. 812🇨🇦
Beyond the Northern LightsLarge text, engaging illustrations, rhyming poem style. Lynn BlaikieLynn BlaikieFitzhenry & Whiteside2008This lovely poem is a journey through a young girl’s dream as she speaks to a raven spirit asking him to take her on adventures through skies and seas to see the beauty of the north. It has a lilted rhyming scheme that makes it very nice to read aloud. The vocabulary is also simple, making it easy for young children to understand, follow, and enjoy. The illustrations, by the author herself, are in batik, a beautiful form of artwork that involves the dying of fabric, and then adding pen details. The images are stunning, almost resemble an old marble tile mosaic due to their crackled texture, and have a very folk-art feel to them. They create a great narrative that supports the story itself.510🇨🇦
Caribou SongSimple text, interesting illustrations. Great for working with predictions. Thomson HighwayJohn RomboughFifth House Ltd.2001Taking place in the far north, the story tells of two young boys and their family who follow the caribou. The boys play music and dance to call the caribou, but when the caribou hear their song, the boys are caught in a thunderous river of caribou. The ending of the story leaves some questions, and could provoke interesting conversations about predictions and point of view. The style of the text reminds me of a traditional story or fairytale in that it is told from the point of view of a narrator, and there are some excellent similes, metaphors and onomatopoeia to depict the action of the story. What drew me to this book though, were the illustrations. They are ink drawings, very heavy on lines, with vibrant colours in the spaces. It is a unique style, and often also includes ravens or the faces of spirits or elders, perhaps, in the bordered edges of the pictures. This legend-style story is certainly thought-provoking!610🇨🇦
CloudwalkerA simply told legend of the young man, Cloudwalker, whose actions created the lakes and rivers of BC. The interactive style of storytelling engages the reader in the story. Roy Henry VickersRobert BuddHarbour Publishing2014A re-telling of a legend of the people of the Northwest Coast in BC, the story of Cloudwalker explains how the rivers and lakes of the area came to be. The majority of the story has a very straight forward plot line that follows how Cloudwalker became to be known as such, and how he created the lakes and rivers, and then the story goes into telling more about the rivers themselves and those who live in and near them, and how they work together. The text is written as a storyteller would speak it, in many instances seeming to speak to the reader and answer questions he or she may have. The illustrations are a combination of beautifully coloured landscapes mixed with characters drawn in a traditional west-coast style of line art. Often this traditional art is further highlighted and contrasted by being printed in a gloss finish. 713🇨🇦
Dreaming in Indian Contemporary Native American VoicesShort 2 to 4 page pieces make for short reading time, keeping attention of the reader. Excellent resource book for many subject areas. Relavent and intriguing. Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale (Editors)-Annick Press2014Many books with FNMI content are often set in the past, or have great reference to historic culture and legends, but this book offers a very contemporary glimpse into many ways that Aboiriginal people are sharing their artistic voices. The artisist represent many nations from across Canada and the USA. Media includes photography, poetry, short stories, songs, fashion, graphic art, and other visual art forms. The book is in sections, each focusing on a different theme of identity or resistance. Every artist's pages present a unique style, and showcase vibrant coloured pages, bold text, and images to create a mood unique to their theme and cause. Some artists' voices are also combined or paired, creating great opportunities to examine different perspectives. It is quite powerful and inspiring to read and view the work of such talented artists, each of whom has a short biography provided in the back of the book for further inquiry. 1099🇨🇦
Fatty LegsA first-person narrative of a young girl's desire to attend the "outsider school" gives insight to the emotions felt by the children who attended. Colourful illustrations, photographs and interesting facts are scattered throughout giving real connections.Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-FentonLiz Amini-HolmesAnnick Press2010Stories of residential schools are becoming somewhat easier to find, but this story gives a new perspective on the more common narrative. Margaret, or Olemaun in her native language, really WANTS to attend the "outsider school," just like her sister did, because she wants to learn how to read. She pesters her parents until they let her attend, and she then discovers that the school is not just about learning to read. Margaret's thoughts and emotions are expressed through the first-person narrative that the story is written, and provide glimpses into the mistreatment of many students who attended residential schools. While there are some pleasent times shared too, it is rather captivating to hear of this young girl's struggles to make her dream of reading come true, while struggling to manage the harsh conditions she is forced to endure. The pastel-like illustrations that are scattered frequently throughout the book add to the emotional component of the text through the use of over-exagerated expressions and colour schemes. There are also many references to photographs, which are in the back of the book, highlighting real images of Margaret's family and the town and surrounding area of the school. In addition, many short facts or Inuktituk language words are noted on some pages. This is an excellent book to engage readers with a residential school narrative. 913🇨🇦
Goose GirlLovely style of writing suitable for reading aloud (Font is not good for younger readers to read themselves.) Wonderful illustrations that support and enhance the text. Joe McLellan and Martine McLellanRhian BrynjolsonPemican Publications Inc.2007Marie is a young girl who has a special connection to the Canadian Geese that live on the lake near her home. In her eyes they were beautiful, and they were family. She learns that her geese are very special and take the spirits of the dead south to the promised land. Then one night one of the geese follows her home, increasing her connection with her beloved friends. Marie’s grandfather tells her that she can be called Niskaw, the Cree word for goose, and that they can have a special naming ceremony for her. From that day on, Niskaw would comfort the dying, including her grandfather, and called upon the geese to take their spirits home. The illustrations in this book are beautiful, and have such a softness that compliments the story well. They are paintings that create a realistic depiction of the storyline, and the brush strokes and varied use of bright and dark colours enhance the movement and mood of each scene. The white borders around the images highlight them beside the text. This story is simple to read, and very enjoyable. It does include some Cree and some French words and phrases, but they are also repeated in English so that the reader might learn and understand them. 512🇨🇦
✔️Granny’s Giant BannockFunny and engaging plot and illustrations. Engages readers with questions. Brenda Isabel WatasecootKimberly McKay-FlemmingPemican Publications Inc.2008This story is a very fun, over-exaggeration of what happens when two people do not speak the same language. Larf’s Granny comes to visit him, as he wants to learn more about Cree and Granny wanted to visit a city. Things start out ok, and the two are able to communicate with some Cree and some English as neither really knows the other language, but then Larf asks Granny to make bannock, but she’s missing one ingredient…but Larf’s not quite sure baking powder he needs to get! He brings home what he thinks is the closest match, and since Granny can’t read the instructions she uses it just like she would her usual powder. What she doesn’t realize is that it’s SUPER powered baking powder and as she lets the bannock rise it takes over the house, and the street, and more! This is a fun book to read, with language that young students would be able to connect with, and also engages the reader by asking them questions directly to predict what might happen next, or what they might do in the situation. The illustrations match the theme and have bright colours and showcase lines with a lot of action to coincide with the plot. There could be some great discussions had with this book about predictions, communication between people with different languages, and learning family traditions that relate to students of any cultural background. 510🇨🇦
I Am Not a NumberHonest and factual account of a young girl’s experience at a residential school and her fight to remember who she is. Emotive illustrations and straight to the point text highlight the cruelties that were endured by so many. Jenny Kay Dupuis and Kathy KacerGillian NewlandSecond Story Press2016This book is a very realistic account of a young girl’s experience of being sent to a residential school. While some other picture books present this topic in a bit of a softer light, this story is very blunt, and it is through the harsh words of the nuns and treatment of the children that the reader is given a glimpse of the terrors that occurred in many of these schools. Irene’s inner dialogue throughout the book explains why she finds the events so scarring, and shows how through it all she fights to maintain her cultural identity. This book is based on a true story, and with that information, it can generate many discussion opportunities to talk about the history or residential schools in Canada. The illustrations are done in muted water colours, which highlight the dark undertone of the storyline. The images mainly focus on the facial expressions and emotion of the characters in the story, contributing to the overall tone of the book. Although the text is not complicated, the theme lends itself to being read to slightly older readers, as some scenes, such as those of the punishments Irene receives, may be uncomfortable for younger students. The ending of this story though, gives hope and shows the strength of the Indigenous people who fought back against the cruelties and mistreatment by the settlers. 814🇨🇦
I am Raven: A Story of DiscoveryStraight forward text, but a theme that may require some guidance and discussion. David Bouchard Andy EversonMTW Publishers2007This story is one of self-discovery. It teaches about totems, or animals who guide you in life. It tells a story of how a chief, nearing the end of his life, wants to have a totem pole carved, and the wisdom and gifts he receives from the animals who have helped him and his village. It is told in a traditional sort of way where the animals have some human characteristics and can speak to the chief, but has many sections of narration where the narrator speaks to the reader, offering advice as to how to learn their totems also. The illustrations in this book are very powerful. The contrast in colour of the bright moons, suns, and animals to the landscapes draws the attention to what the author has highlighted in the text. The images are quite realistic, but elements have cultural style drawings overlaid. By doing this, it gives the idea of what those animals may look like when they are represented as totem images. While the author explains a little of the difference between totems and animal spirit guides in the back of the book, I think that some additional learning from an elder would be helpful in understanding this book better. 814🇨🇦
I is for InuksukGreat illustrations and introduction to new words and cultural meaningsMary WallaceMary WallaceMaple Tree Press2008An alphabet book with a twist; this book takes English letters and provides new examples of those letters with concepts from Canada’s northern people. These concepts are Inuit words, and each has a few examples or some complimentary words with illustrations and explanations. The illustrations themselves are lovely acrylic or oil paintings, and the multi-coloured brush strokes create wonderful texture and depth to the images. The descriptions of each Inuit word include some great descriptive vocabulary, which would help children to further understand their meanings. For each word there is also the Inuit character spelling of the word, and a pronunciation guide is provided at the back of the book. While I think this book is an excellent way to introduce new words and culture to children, I did not like that this book did not provide any sort of conclusion, and also had two letters represented twice, which makes things a little confusing in an alphabet concept. 48🇨🇦
Jennili's DanceSimple story line, easy to connect to characters and humourous illustrations. Elizabeth DennyChris AuchterTheytus Books Ltd. 2008This cute story is about Jenneli, a little girl who feels like she doesn’t fit in at school because she looks different than the other kids. Jenneli is Métis, and really loves visiting her Grandmother, who teachers her things about her culture, including the Red River Jig dance. On one visit her grandmother tells her of an upcoming fair and that she’s entered Jenneli in the jigging dance contest! Jenneli is terrified and not sure how she will overcome her shyness to take part in the contest! This story is very fun to read, and the illustrations certainly add to the light-hearted nature of this book. The images are somewhat distorted cartoons that really play up the emotions and action of the story, and their bright colours and exaggerated depictions are delightful. The overall theme of this story is about finding out what makes you special, and knowing that it’s ok to be different than other people. This is a great message for all children, and the book could encourage conversations and activities about self-discovery and talents that the children have and can share with others. 610🇨🇦
Little Voice - Part of the "In the Same Boat" SeriesFirst-person narative of a young girl's journey to discover herself through learning about medicine from her grandmother, learning the power of friendship, and how to adapt to changes in her world. Straight forward text provides room for the imagination to create vivid imagery. Ruby Slipperjack-Coteau Books2001Not your "typical" First Nations story. This book is about a young girl, Ray, and the story follows her as she grows from a young girl of just 10 to a teenager, learning to understand herself, and speak her opinions. Her name means "little voice," and as a child, her father passed away in a tragic accident and she remaind silent for many years, living up to her meek name. One summer though, Ray is able to spend time with her grandmother in the remote woods of Ontario, and learn more about her cultural heritage. She learns many lessons from her grandmother, who is a medicine woman, which are then put to use in many aspects of Ray's life. It is clear throughout the book that Ray's connection with her grandmother is strong, and that she trusts the wisdom that her grandmother imparts. Along the way, new characters are introduced, that help show Ray the power of friendship, the connection to the land and animals, and the need to change and adapt to the events life brings. This story is set in the late 70s and early 80s, and provides an interesting perspective and application with respect to applying tradition to modern times, and showing the strength that relationships have. The text is written in the first-person and as such, shares a lot of the inner dialogue in Ray's mind, and how she feels about connecting her knowledge from her world at school and at home to what she learns from her grandmother's thoughtful and connected ways as she grows. 913🇨🇦
✔️Missing NimâmâDramatic story line that is both simple and rich with meaning. Beautiful illustrations connect to the dual perspective text. Melanie FlorenceFrançois ThisdaleClockwise Press2015This story is hauntingly beautiful. It follows Kateri as she through life’s events without her mother beside her. She lives with her grandmother and the story provides insight into Kateri’s thoughts as she goes to her first day of school, her first date, her wedding, and several others. Throughout we hear Kateri say how much she misses her mother and how she wishes the phone would ring with news that she’s been found. In a parallel story line on each page, we hear the voice of Kateri’s mother, watching her from a far-off place, wishing she were there to witness her milestones, and thanking her own mother, Kateri’s grandmother, for all that she’s done. All the pages are filled with stunning water colour illustrations that often feature dual images to show a piece of each character’s story line, or perhaps the emotions coming through the text. The portraits of the characters are amazingly realistic, appearing almost like photographs. The text is simple, easy to follow, and almost soft in the way it reads, but it is the theme of the book itself that makes it so dramatic. The way this book broaches the subject of missing and murdered Aboriginal women is almost serene, yet so heartbreaking. While this book would be appropriate for younger readers, it would require some discussion and de-briefing following. 899🇨🇦
Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics CollectionExciting collection of several different authors whose illustrative styles are as unique as their stories. Hope Nicholson (Editor)variousAlternate History Comics Inc. 2015This book is an amazing collection of the work of 14 different First Nations, Inuit, and Métis artists from across Canada. The styles of the stories are as varied as the stories themselves. Some are based in traditional legends, but they are presented in futuristic styles or with contemporary characters, while others retain a sense of the past. Some stories are creations of the author's imagination. The images and styles of the storyboards are varied too, just like the storylines. Some are set up in a more traditional comic style, some like a picture book (with a single page image alongside a page of text), and others utilize a combination of techniques. When set against eachother, it is very clear to see the diversity and range of dynamics of First Nations storytelling. Some stories are sad or pensive, others wrought with violent conflict, and others teach lessons. It is through the work of these amazing artists though, that the legends and stories of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada come to life.1299🇨🇦
Muin and the Seven Bird Hunters: A Mi’kmaw Night Sky StorySimple storytelling that has readers re-imagine how the stars move across the sky. Lillian Marshall, Murdena Marshall, Prune Harris and Cheryl BartlettKristy Read and Sana KavnaghCape Breton University Press2010This legend-style story tells of the stars in the sky, specifically the constellation known to many as the “Big Dipper.” The text is a narrative, telling the story of the animals as they move across the sky throughout the seasons, and explains some of the features and characteristics of the animals. The illustrations show the night sky in the background, with the stars of the animals highlighted. The rest of the background has a unique style of abstract art in the patterning of the grass combined with realistic looking trees. The animal characters are realistic while having almost a cartoon-like way of moving and carrying out human-like actions. All the elements are outlined in white to highlight them against the dark backgrounds. 612🇨🇦
Not My GirlIn a similar fashion to its prequel, this story engages young readers in an important narrative of Canada's history through easy-to-read text and emotive illustrations. Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-FentonGabrielle GrimardAnnick Press2014This is a continuation of “When I Was Eight,” and follows Margaret back to her home after attending residential school for two years. Back at home, Margaret no longer fits in; she has a hard time remembering her language, her traditions, her food is strange, and even her dogs know something is different about her. These all lead to high emotions and conflicts with her family, but in the end, family is family, and while her mother once said she was “not my girl,” Margaret, or Olemaun as she is called at home, eventually rediscovers her place. Just like the first book, this story has very approachable language for young readers, and the text paints beautiful imagery, which is shown in the wonderful water colour paintings that cover every page. 799🇨🇦
Owls See Clearly At Night: A Michif AlphabetLovely illustrations with simple words and phrases that highlight culture and everyday use of language. Julie FlettJulie FlettSimply Read Books2010This simple, yet beautiful book, highlights Michif words with English translations, for each letter of the alphabet. Michif, along with many other traditional languages of Canada, is in danger of being lost. This book, with its accompanying glossary, pronunciation guide, and other helpful resources, is in aid of preserving this language and culture. The illustrations are quite unique. They are simple shapes, filled with either solid colour or patterns, almost like those of fabric. The colour scheme is very subdued, adding to the simplicity and softness of the images. Although this is an alphabet book, it would be difficult for young readers to read alone due to the need to translate, but it would be an excellent book to work through in a classroom, or as a family. 499🇨🇦
Raven Brings the LightThe legend of how the sun and many of the features of BC's west coast came to be are discovered in this engaging legend, which is accompanied by vibrant illustrations with a west coast artistic feel. Plot line changes time lines, making it a little more difficult for younger readers to follow.Roy Henry Vickers Robert BuddHarbour Publishing2013This story is a legend of the Haida people that dates back thousands of years, describing how light came to the land, and how many other elements, such as the salmon, berries and trees came to be. The text has many unique words belonging to the Haida language, and introduces some interesting and magical concepts about legends and how things come to be. The story also spans several sections of time, each with its own setting and thematic concept, which could be broken up and examined separately. There are also may opportunities to pause and create predictions. The illustrations are beautiful abstract artworks with a mix of Haida-style art that coincide with the text. Many of the illustrations also feature a glossy element, which adds other images and depth to the picture, bringing in the concept of light adding to the world. Some images are very stark, but colourful landscapes with subtle traditional-style ravens in glossy reflections, while others are very much traditional-looking Haida drawings, some in black with just a few colours, and others adding colour to the landscape image. 999🇨🇦
Red Bird SingsPlot spans several decades, but is presented chronologically. Unique illustrations contribute to the biographical-style of the story of an amazing character.Gina Capaldi & Q.L. Pearce (Adapted by)Gina CapaldiCarlhoda Books2008This is a semi-biographical picture book about a young girl from South Dakota who would become a talented musician, composer, and activist. The authors adapted Zitkala-Sa’s story to make it more accessible to readers. It is written in sections of time, almost like small one-page chapters of the young girl’s life. The illustrations support this style of writing by creating scrapbook-like images on each page, featuring photographs, newspaper clippings, music, and other memorabilia along with water colours and the occasional mixed media elements like dried flowers. The text is very expressive and descriptive, giving a richness to the story. The story is one that is often not told or even heard of; that of a child who attends a school (similar to Canadian residential school) where she is stripped of her language and culture, but where she learns to love music and wants to return to in order to further her education. The young girl goes on to college, writing speeches and winning contests for her thoughts on equality for women and for American Indian people. This young lady’s story is a testament to her drive to make a stand in the “Anglo” (white) world, fighting for rights, and becoming a respected musician. 914
Secret of the DanceEasy to follow plot, though there are many terms from the Kwa’kwa’la language interspersed, which would make this more challenging to read even for older readers. With assistance from the Glossary, the Kwa’kwa’la words are understood and aid in making deep connections to the cultural theme of the story. Andrea Spalding and Alfred ScowDarlene GaitOrca Book Publishers2006When the Europeans came to Canada and tried to assimilate the First Nations people they tried to take away their culture by forbidding many cultural practices. In this story, we hear a tale of the rebellion against these rules from the perspective of a young boy. He hears the adults planning to sneak past the Indian Agent to host a feast and dance, and though the boy was told not to go, he sneaks off to the Potlach, feeling called by the spirits. This story shows how First Nations people were so dedicated to maintaining their culture through times of such uncertainty and how they were willing to risk so much to connect with family and spirit. The illustrations in this book are quite unique. They have a very realistic approach to depicting the characters through pencil drawings, and then have increasing additions of native artwork, enhanced by computer graphics and colour that intensify throughout the story as the boy draws closer to the spirits and the Potlach. These illustrations enhance the text and support the development of the plot. Based on a true story, this book engages in learning (and perhaps un-learning) the truths of Canadian history and the mistreatment that First Nations people received as European settlers attempted to force them to abandon their culture. It would connect well in many subject areas as a way to bridge worldviews and historical views of Canada. 814🇨🇦
✔️Secret PathSome graphics may be disturbing to younger readers. Lyrics require some interpretation to truly appreciate their meaning. Gord Downie (Lyrics)Jeff LemireSimon & Schuster2016The haunting story of a young boy named Chanie is told in Secret Path. Chanie was attending a residential school and decided to leave and walk home, which he did not realize was over 600km away. The story is in the form of a wordless graphic novel style, and is accompanied by the lyrics of 10 songs (the songs can also be downloaded or listened to online at secretpath.ca). The sharp-edged lines of the drawings, coupled with the lack of colour in Chanie's memories of the residential school, and in his current moments walking alone along the railroad tracks adds to the very sad tone expressed in the book. This is contrasted by the colourful memories of his life with his family. The wordlessness of the majority of the story leaves a lot to the reader to interpret with respect to the thoughts and emotions Chanie has, and the poetry of the song lyrics all for a lot of deep thought to be added. The imagery and spirit of the raven throughout is also quite effective in connecting with Chanie's cultural roots. This book is very powerful and could be the start of many great discussions and inquiries into the effects of the residential school system. 1099🇨🇦
Shannen and the Dream for a SchoolRelatable narrative language that takes a non-fiction story and makes it come to life. Janet Wilson-Second Story Press2011At first glance, this book seems like it is non-fiction. The cover has photographs, and the size of the book is that of a non-fiction text, not small and rectangular like most fiction books are. It is also on a familiar topic, Shannen’s Dream; the real-life events of a young girl in Northern Ontario who fought for equality of education for First Nations reserves. The book itself though, is a biography of Shannen’s journey, written very much in the style of a narrative novel. While the events are all true, the author admits that the dialogue is fictional. It’s the way this dialogue and story are written though, that really draws the reader into Shannen’s story, uncovering a whole new perspective on the infamous story that’s been told. The text is written in an easy to follow style, and is very engaging, rather than dry information as with some non-fiction style books and biographies. 1099🇨🇦
Skeleton Man Easy to read, yet rich with opportunities for discussion, elaboration on details, and examination of thinking processes. Great connections between cultural legends and modern world events. Joseph Burchac-Harper Trophy2001This haunting tale tells of a young girl, named Molly, whose life suddenly becomes an all too realistic version of a First Nations legend that she had been told of a skeleton man who ate his own flesh and then ate his family. One day her parents go missing, and after days on her own she is taken in by a man who claims he is her uncle. Molly is frightened by this man, whom she has never met or heard of, who keeps her locked in her room. No one believes her, other than her teacher, but she is determined that something is not right and that her parents are still alive somewhere. Guided by a spirit animal in her dreams, Molly fights to find the truth. The text is easy to read, with a simple to follow plot line. While it is a short novel at just over 100 pages, and the plot moves quite quickly, it seems to lack some descriptive detail and connective thoughts. There are key moments of action, struggle, inner dialogue, and connections to legend which would be great to dig into with a middle years class. While not really an illustrated book, there are small sketches at the beginning of each chapter, and sometimes one within the chapter also that tie in the main ideas and plot lines. 913
Solomon's TreeRich text features that enhance a beautiful story of connecting to nature and culture, accompanied by detailed illustrations that support the plot and emotions of the story. Andrea SpaldingJanet WilsonOrca Book Publishers2002This beautiful story tells of a boy, Solomon, and a beloved maple tree from whom he learns many things about nature. He loves his tree and enjoys hearing it talk to him, until one day it is blown down in a storm. His family understands Solomon’s love for the tree and supports and encourages him in discovering the spirit of his tree through creating a mask carved of its wood. There are great descriptive words used to add detail to Solomon’s tree and the lessons it teaches and sounds it makes. Many of these words would require some explanations for younger children, but would aid in expanding vocabulary in many grade level settings. The painted illustrations provide a very realistic depiction of the plot and characters, though in somewhat of an impressionistic and expressionistic style, and aid in creating the connection between Solomon and the natural elements he enjoys learning about in his tree. This story provides a wonderful connection to a cultural connection to nature, to spirit, and to the beautiful art of mask making, all of which could lend themselves to engaging discussions and lessons. 712🇨🇦
Stone - Part of the "7 Generations" SeriesDramatic black and white graphic novel brings a contemporary issue and historical traditions together in a captivating story of survival. David Alexander RobertsonScott B. HendersonHighwater Press2010Suicide a topics not often told in literature, and even less so in a First Nations context, but this graphic novel does just that; it tells of a young man's battle, relating his trials to those of his ancestors. The story lines run parallel, showing the journey a young First Nations man, Stone, as he goes on a spiritual quest of self-discovery, and relating it to the journey that the young boy takes in trying to heal in the hospital. The illustrations capture the raw emotions of the characters through expressive close-ups, and a great use of liniar action. The black and white drawings allow the reader to add their own colour to the imagined scenes, and the varied page layouts highlight specific scenes and action to create a smooth-flowing plot line. This book could be utilized in the classroom to engage in many different types of discussions on narrative stories and their adaptations. 1099🇨🇦
Storm at BatocheThe language and story line of the book are very straight forward, thus catering to a younger audience, but there can be many connections made to discussions about settler and Métis relationships and the movement that Louis Riel led. Maxine TrottierJohan ManthaStoddart Kids2000The story of Louis Riel is certainly a part of our history on the prairies, and this book shows that story and Louis himself in a new light. Storm at Batoche is about a young settler boy who falls out of his wagon on the way to Batoche on a stormy winter’s night. The boy, James, is rescued by a nice man, Louis, who cares for him and teaches him about his Métis heritage. James, in turn realizes how his Scottish heritage has many similarities. The two demonstrate how sometimes even though people may seem very different and have different traditions and words, at heart they are just the same. The full page water colour illustrations show wonderful facial expressions and the variety of line styles create movement and texture through the scenes of the story. 713🇨🇦
Sugar Falls: A Residential School StoryGraphic novel style makes the story accessible and engaging for middle years students. Some difficult content areas, which should be discussed and debriefed with readers. David Alexander RobertsonScott B. HendersonHighwater Press2011Written as a graphic novel, Sugar Falls reveals the horrific story of one residential school survivor, Betty Ross. The story is set up as a realistic re-telling of her story to her granddaughter and a friend from school, who is working on an assignment. The captions tell Betty’s narrative, and the speech bubbles the voices of her and those at her school as a child. The text is often quite blunt, and shares Betty’s thoughts and feelings, but it is the images that make this short graphic novel so powerful. They are black and white ink drawings, in a somewhat classic comic book style, but they show so much emotion in the characters’ faces. The heavy use of black in the depiction of the priest and nuns along with the night sky and the cold lake contribute to the dark memories associated with these elements of the residential school experience for Betty. There are depictions of violence and allusions to sexual abuse in this story, sharing a horrific side of the residential school experience, and as such, this book is not recommended for younger readers unless under the guidance of a parent or teacher. 1299🇨🇦
Taan’s Moon: A Haida Moon StorySimple rhyming scheme with a story line that follows the seasons and the movements of the animals. Incredible felt illustrations. Alison GearKiki vander Heiden with the Children of Haida GwaiiMcKellar & Martin Publishing Group2014Each culture has its own stories and legends to explain things in life and in nature. The moon story of Haida people of the west coast of British Columbia is shared in this uniquely illustrated book. Each scene of the book tells of how the seasons and the moons changed based on the movements of Tann (the bear) and the geese. The text is simple in each page’s 4-line rhyming verse. The language is simple enough for younger readers to read themselves, yet has enough 3depth for older readers to inquire and investigate. The illustrations of this story truly make it magical. They are created in the art of felting, and have been crafted by the illustrator with the assistance of the kindergarten children of the island of Haida Gwaii. The images are stunning, detailed, and it is so inspiring to know that this project was created by the work of children, who are encouraged to reconnect with the language and culture of the people of Haida Gwaii. 49🇨🇦
The Curse of the Shaman: A Marble Island StoryRelatable characters and easy-to read story line help the traditions of the Inuit connect with the modern reader. Michael KusugakVladyana KrykorkaHarper Trophy Canada2006A First nations legend comes to life in this tale of a young boy, cursed by a shaman as a baby. We see the young boy grow and develop a freiendship with the shaman's daughter, before being sent to an isolated island as the curse comes to fuition when he comes of age. The story is set in the far north of Nunavut (though in a time in the distant past), and expresses many Inuit customs and traditions, such as arranged marriages, the roles of each family member, hunting, fishing, and the ways of Inuit life. As part of the traditional ways of the Inuit, the characters have some rather interesting names, that are somewhat cumbersome to read repeatedly, like "The-man-with-no-eyebrows". Despite this, the story itself is rich with emotion and allows the reader to connect with the characters, even though the setting is so long in the past. This book brings a fresh perspective on a group of people not often featured in literature. 913🇨🇦
The Diamond Willow Walking StickTopic of sharing, “what goes around comes around”, living generously, and being proud of cultural traditions are areas that young children can relate to, while older children (perhaps 10+) can dig into a little more and look at how they live (or might want to live) in these generous ways, or how their own family traditions are part of their lives. Leah Marie DorionLeah Marie DorionGabriel Dumont Institute Press2012This story is about a young boy, who lives with his grandparents, speaking of the power of generosity and how everything works in circular ways. It introduces many traditions that are significant to Métis culture, and presents them in an easy to understand way. Traditions such as learning from elders, living generously and giving of themselves to others in need are all mentioned throughout the book, and presented in easy to understand terms for younger children. The illustrations, each page features a full-sized unique acrylic canvas painting, are so vibrant, and though they have many abstract components, the main character and action in each is applicable to the text. The text itself, written in English and Michif, is very approachable and appropriate for younger readers. A narrated CD is also included in English and Michif. 799🇨🇦
The Drum Calls SoftlyThe rhyming poem makes this accessible for younger children to understand if they are read it, but it is so warm and beautiful that it can be enjoyed by readers of any age. David Bouchard and Shelley WillierJim PoitrasRed Deer Press2008Written as a poem, this story is about the magic and mystery of the round dance and the spirits who speak to the heart. There are elements of Cree culture scattered throughout the story, such as dance, learning from grandparents, food, prayer, and listening to the earth. The illustrations are vibrant coloured paintings that focus on the brilliance of the sky, the images of people shown in silhouette. As the poem itself is written in a reflective and dream-like way, the images are more for enjoyment than they are supporting the text, but they create the opportunity for some imaginative ideas of what is happening in the image. There is also an accompanying CD with a reading of the story, which also has some background music and nature sounds, creating a very lovely experience of this story. Northern Cree also has a track of just drum music, which would be great to use with a group to do your own round dance, just as in the story. SPECIAL NOTE: Dave Bouchard is from Gravelbourg, SK and was a teacher in Regina! He has received the Order of Canada for his contributions through his story telling. He has written several books, which are all incredible. http://davidbouchard.com/ 599🇨🇦
The Gathering TreeThe storyline and text are easy to follow, and are very representative of “everyday life” for many students. There are some deeper connections that could be made with older students about HIV/aids, but it would provide an easy entry to discussions about viruses with younger students also. Larry Loyie with Constance BrissendenHeather D. HolmlundTheytus Books Ltd. 2005This is a story about two siblings whose favourite older cousin comes to visit. They love when they get to see their cousin as he takes them out on special outings and is so fun! They are concerned though, when they hear that some of their friends’ parents won’t let them visit Robert too as he is sick. What kind of sick? They learn he has HIV and people of their community are unsure that that means. Through easy reading conversations, Tyler and Shay-Lyn learn a little more about this sickness their cousin has. The story moves forward in an even pace, with any scene changes supported by the changing water colour illustrations. There are many characters who speak, but it is Tyler and Shay-Lyn’s characters who help keep the story line easy to follow, and create a relatable point of view for younger readers. There is a great deal of content related to First Nations culture in the story in addition to the main theme of HIV/Aids. Conversations and descriptions of community gatherings, ceremony and rituals are interspersed in the text, providing a great sense of the character of the community. The illustrations are realistic, giving great detail to capturing the faces of the characters and providing detailed background and setting information. 899🇨🇦
The Giving Tree: A Retelling of a Traditional Métis StorySimple text from the perspective of a child. Bright and engaging illustrations support the text. Leah Marie DorionLeah Marie DorionGabriel Dumont Institute Press2009This old tale is given a beautiful outlet in this story. Leah Dorion’s vibrantly painted illustrations give so much life to a traditional story by accentuating the action in the story with simple character shapes that are made very relatable by the use of many colours in their costuming and in the abstract lines of the background. The language used in the text is simple, straight forward, and written from the perspective of a child, making it an excellent way to introduce this particular Métis tradition to children. I think it also allows for many conversations about worldview, and how we are really all connected through kindness and through helping others, which is a discussion that could be held with so many grade levels. Also included is a CD with the narrated story in English and Michif. 412🇨🇦
The Road Allowance KittenSimple story line with some great vocabulary introduced. Engaging illustrations support the story. CD recording in English and Michif. Text in both languages as well. Wilfred BurtonChristina JohnsGabriel Dumont Institute Press2015This story brings the history of the Métis who lived on government road allowances to life. The stories of the Métis who were forced off their lands are often difficult to find, or to find ones that have sort of connection for children. Road Allowance Kitten tells the story of two young girls, whose families live on the road allowance, who find a kitten and have fun taking care of it. They love the little kitten, but they soon hear that they must move from the road allowance. The girls are devastated that they are not allowed to bring their furry friend with them, but help pack their things to journey to a new community. Just as they are about to leave, one of the girls comes up with a great plan to sneak kitten along with them. On the surface, this is a cute story about friendship, and it has a lot of vocabulary that creates some detailed imagery. The illustrations have a lot of impact on the story, and the line and vibrancy of the colours enhance the images created by the text. On some deeper levels, this story provides a great opportunity to discuss the history of the Métis people on the prairies. There are discussions that could be had with regards to the land that was taken from the people that forced them to live on the road allowances, and then again when they were forced to move from there too. The last pages provide some information about the road allowances, which would be a great starting point for some more exploration into the topic for older grades. 699🇨🇦
✔️The Sugar Bush - Book 1 in "The Adventures of Rabbit and Bear Paws" SeriesHilarious graphic novel that combines history, traditional naratives and legends, and quippy humour while exploring the importance of values, like respect. Chad Solomon & Christopher MeyerChad SolomonLittle Spirit Bear Productions2011This series of comics, or graphic novels, follows two brothers, Bear Paws and Rabbit through their mischevious adventures in the Anishnabek Nation territory of what is now Ontario at the time of early colonization. In this story, through a series of silly schemes, mishaps, and wrong turns, the brothers learn about several legends and stories, encounter a British Army, and along the way learn about respecting nature, and all of the creatures that are in it. While the brothers are just young boys having fun, they are often halted in their tracks as they realize the wrongs they are doing and learn from those around them. The text of the story is easy to follow, and there are many little jokes that make you laugh out loud. The antics that the boys get into, and their responses are very relatable to today's youth, yet there are many moral groundings and values presented, which may cause the reader to stop and evaluate the situation. The graphics are brightly coloured and incorporate many different distances and persepctives allowing the reader to get both a close up and wide view of the action taking place. The text itself becomes part of the illustrative story in this book as well, as its size and placement also help to emphasize the mood or tone of the speaker, and the action taking place. Check out further volumes of this series for more crazy antics in 18th century North America!815🇨🇦
We All CountEasy, large words, board book. Would require adult’s (or older child’s) assistance with the Cree words. Engaging images. Julie FlettJulie FlettNative Explore2014This book is adorable, and has such a wonderful double meaning to the title. It is a board book, with each two-page spread featuring the Cree word for each number (with the phonetic pronunciation) and a reference in text and image to a nature or family-related element in that number. The illustrations are simple, but enhanced by the use of coloured texture and pattern that fills the shapes. While very simplistic in its basic concept, this book has a beautiful double meaning, reminding us all that we count, and it is our job to take care of each other and help everyone belong. 38🇨🇦
Whale SnowThe story is very accessible to younger students, though some introduction of the Inupiaq words will be required. There could be discussions had about family traditions from many cultures. Debby Dahl EdwardsonAnnie PattersonCharlesbridge 2004This book tells what happens when a village in Alaska is given the gift of a bowhead whale. Told from the point of view of a young boy, this book has some great text features that create the imagery of a very snowy day, and the beautiful water colour illustrations truly support the actions of the text. There are many words of the Inupiaq language introduced throughout the story that contribute to the development of the cultural and spiritual teachings of how a whale blesses the community. The soft colours of the water colour illustrations enhance the moods and settings of the story as they depict the warmth of home against the chill of the snow, and create a sense of wonder and magic as the story is told.610
When I Was EightThis story tells the narrative of residential schools from a different perspective, and encourages readers to find their own strength and goals in difficult situations. Simple text and emotive illustrations enable reading by younger children. Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-FentonGabrielle GrimardAnnick Press2013A younger companion to “Fatty Legs” this story is about Margaret’s first year at the “outsider school”, a Residential School. While providing insight and information about many of the things associated with residential schools, such as children being given Christian names, cutting their hair, and being treated poorly, these things are not the focus of the story. The story focuses on Margaret’s longing to read and her perseverance in the face of many obstacles to achieve her goal. The artwork blends with the story, providing a wonderful emotional link to the text that invites the reader in to feel what Margaret is experiencing. The soft lines of the pictures, and especially in Margaret’s features, create a soothing feeling as you read. There are also many new vocabulary words that help to express the emotion and setting of the story. 799🇨🇦 | https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dIB85p2Fc_jJfh4XoPfJJYhIwv6L_ukKPOJfM5t1msY/edit?usp=sharing | dclm-gs1-175181087 |
0.353151 | <urn:uuid:90b446e1-8462-4237-9993-8852111ef483> | en | 0.957412 | From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Castilian people)
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Total population
Regions with significant populations
Castile and León est. 2,500,000
Madrid est. 6,500,000
Castilla-La Mancha est. 2,000,000
Castilian language
Roman Catholicism[1]
Castilians (Spanish: castellanos) are certain inhabitants in regions of central Spain including at least the eastern part of Castile and León, the northern and eastern parts of Castile-La Mancha, and the Madrid community, who are the source of the Spanish language (Castilian) among other aspects of cultural identity. However, not all people in the regions of the medieval Kingdom of Castile think of themselves as Castilian. For this reason, the exact limits of what Castile is today are disputed. As an ethnicity, they are most commonly associated with the sparsely populated inner plateau of the Iberian peninsula, which is split in two by the Sistema Central mountain range and Northern or "Old Castile" from southern or "New Castile", the latter being somewhat closer in terms of culture and dialect to southern regions of Spain such as Andalusia, Extremadura and Murcia.
Through the Reconquista and other conquests in the Middle Ages, the Kingdom of Castile (later Crown of Castile) spread over a large part of the Iberian Peninsula, especially towards the southern Spanish regions. After this, since the 15th century, through the Spanish colonization of the Americas, the Castilians also spread over the New World, bringing with them not only their language, but also elements of their culture and traditions.
Castilian (castellano), that is, Spanish, is the native language of the Castilians. Its origin is traditionally ascribed to an area south of the Cordillera Cantábrica, including the upper Ebro valley, in northern Spain, around the 8th and 9th centuries; however the first written standard was developed in the 13th century in the southern city of Toledo. It is descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, with possible Basque influences. During the Reconquista in the Middle Ages, it was brought to the south of Spain where it replaced the languages that were spoken in the former Moorish controlled zones, such as the local form of related Latin dialects now referred to as Mozarabic, and the Arabic that had been introduced by the Muslims. In this process Castilian absorbed many traits from these languages, some of which continue to be used today. Outside of Spain and a few Latin American countries, Castilian is now usually referred to as Spanish.
Castilian (or Spanish) is the dominant language in Spain, and therefore was the language that was imposed in New World by the Conquistadores during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Due to this gradual process, the Hispanophone world was created. As Castilian was the language of the Crown, it became the official language of all Spain, used side by side with other languages in their regions for centuries. During the years of the Franco dictatorship (1939 to 1975) there was an attempt to suppress the regional languages in favour of Castilian as the sole official language, causing a backlash against the use of Castilian in some regions after his death.
In Spanish, the word castellano (Castilian) is often used to refer to the Spanish language, alongside español (Spanish). See Names given to the Spanish language.
Roman Catholicism is deeply tied to Castilian culture and identity and is the religion of the overwhelming majority of Castilians, as a result of the forced assimilation of religious minorities (particularly Judaism and Islam) during and prior to the Spanish Inquistion. The presence in the region of minority religions such as Protestantism, Orthodox Christianity, Islam or Judaism are the result of relatively recent conversions or immigration.
See also[edit] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castilian_people | dclm-gs1-175201087 |
0.037985 | <urn:uuid:928f5fba-51fb-4115-baf9-965da17b2bd0> | en | 0.956022 | Teaching English Language Learners in the Classroom
The English as a Second Language (ESL) guidelines don’t fit exactly with the students that I teach. As in many classrooms, there is a range of students at different levels and a lot of these students have been exposed to English to varying degrees before entering my class. There are some that have been exposed to English for two or three years but are still in pre-production. There are also students that have been exposed for only three years that have already achieved intermediate fluency. One of the keys in my classroom is that all students speak Korean, so there are a lot of instances for peer work to help interpret what we are discussing in class.
With that in mind, next semester I will teach a unit on the basic concepts of Economics to a fourth grade class. The key objectives are: 1) To understand the difference between goods and services, 2) to understand the difference between needs and wants, and 3) to understand the difference between consumers, producers, and service providers.
To introduce all lessons, I will write the core vocabulary on the board and continue to add key academic vocabulary as we build upon previous lessons. I will also use visuals such as the supermarket, a famous Vietnamese market in Ho Chi Minh City, a toy store, a Vinasun taxi, and a massage salon. These references will cover the core vocabulary as well as call on the world around them. This will introduce the concept to the whole class and allow them to draw from their own pre-existing knowledge of what they know from each visual.
Pre-production: Jae Yong
Jae Yong is a new student to the school that has been introduced to English academic subjects for 3 months. He has limited vocabulary and is still in “the silent period.”
While working with the visuals, I will have the students talk to a partner about the words they already know. As Jae Yong does not have the vocabulary to discuss in English, I will allow him and his partner to speak in Korean, drawing on his personal experiences and helping him to interpret what we’re discussing in class. My seating plan pairs pre-production students with students that are a range from speech emergent to advanced fluency.
The power point to follow will have each word shown with a visual and as we go through, as well as basic definitions. I will ask students to read aloud the text from the power point, and then, speaking slowly, have the whole class repeat the words and definitions after me. I will continue the same process when explaining services.
When I work with Jae Yong one-on-one, I will allow him to point to pictures/images in the textbook or power point to show that he understands the key words. I will also allow him to draw answers instead of writing in English. I will leave visuals up on the power point with an example of goods and services with the word underneath the visual to help him use what we just learned from class. He will struggle with all objectives when calling on his own experiences, but should be able to identify key vocabulary through pointing at pictures or drawing.
Early Production: Yeo Min
Yeo Min came to our school last year and has been learning academic subjects for one year and three months. He has limited vocabulary but is now able to express answers to yes/no questions and can say simple sentences with grammatical errors.
With Yeo Min, I will point to pictures and elicit key vocabulary for objectives 1 and 2. I will also ask yes/no questions using visuals in the book or power point as an aid. I will also ensure that he is repeating core definitions but will not correct grammatical or syntax mistakes. He will aslo be able to identify goods and services through graphic organizers that separate the two, as well as create his own through drawing. For objective 3, he should be able to identify the difference between a consumer, producer, or service provider through pictures but may not be able to explain the differences using English.
Speech Emergent and Beginning Fluency: Eun He
Eun He is on the border between speech emergent and beginning fluency. She has been taking English academic subjects for two years and has excellent conversational skills. She still struggles with putting complex answers into full sentences, but can generally explain her overall meaning.
During each of these lessons, Eun He has been given the opportunity to speak more freely through “Think, pair, shares” with her partner or small group. She has also now used more academic vocabulary to describe her own personal experiences with examples of goods and services, or when she has been a consumer, meeting all objectives.
I will ask her to complete fill-in-the-blank activities, ask questions that require her to call on her own personal experience and give her the opportunity to process the language and concept, and I will only correct errors that interfere with the meaning of key concepts and vocabulary.
Intermediate Fluency: Sung Joo
Sung Joo is a strong intermediate fluency speaker, listener, reader, and writer. He has been taking academic English classes for two years and has taken additional English classes after school.
Similar to Eun He, Sung Joo has been been given the opportunity to reflect on each visual, key vocabulary through “Think, pair, shares,” and has been answering questions throughout each lesson. I will also ask him to present his findings after “Think, pair, shares,” with his small group to the class.
After completing worksheets or textbook activities, I will ask him to walk around and help other students that are struggling with some of the concepts by re-explaining what we have covered. He will also use Korean for students that are still in pre-production or early stages to help interpret the more difficult topics that we have covered. As Sung Joo generally finishes activities more quickly than other students, I will provide him with additional activities such as creating a mind map to categorize the information we have learned in class.
For All
At the end of the unit, mixed ESL level groups will create role plays of going shopping and present them to the class. They will be allowed to use both English and Korean to interpret all objectives. Not all students must have a speaking role, but all students will participate in the role play in front of the class.
Haynes, J. (2014, June 5). Six Strategies for Teaching ELLs Across the Content Areas | TESOL Blog. Retrieved from
Robertson, K., & Ford, K. (n.d.). Language Acquisition: An Overview. Retrieved from
Six Key Strategies for Teachers of English-Language Learners. (2005, December 1). Retrieved from
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0.539998 | <urn:uuid:e64420bf-7f10-4f3b-8625-bba6a42b8e3a> | en | 0.955812 | Just got off my period, and now im bleeding again
What does this mean? I'm very worried. I just got off my period 8 days ago & I woke up bleeding. What's happening? I got my period a couple days early & and it lasted longer than usual.. Please help me understand what in the world is going on.. | https://glowing.com/community/topic/70593/just-got-off-my-period-and-now-im-bleeding-again | dclm-gs1-175271087 |
0.989717 | <urn:uuid:62b2ef43-048e-4e7e-bb78-fe51e93c30a9> | en | 0.949804 | Controlling PMS?!
Okay so my AF causes horrible bipolar symptoms and I can't stand it. but every time I flip out my bf blames me and makes me feel like shit for it. he thinks I can just turn it off or something. I'm always hormonal even off AF. Idk what to do. | https://glowing.com/community/topic/95185/controlling-pms | dclm-gs1-175281087 |
0.024025 | <urn:uuid:6fccf846-2b7b-462c-b38d-13bec0104002> | en | 0.891237 | Recounting the Memories of the Past
According to wikipedia, absolutism refers to a form of monarchical power that is unrestrained by any other institutions. TheFreeDictionary by Farlex, on the other hand, defines the word as a form of government in which all power is vested in a single ruler or other authority.
In Brunei situation, the Sultan’s government is considered to be an absolute one because there is no other institution or political body that can challenge or even question him. Afterall he is the head of state and Islam. Having said that the establishment of legislative council helps to voice out opinions and issues concerning certain matters of the State . This government system has been practiced over many centuries ago and continued to be strong unlike those in other parts of the world or even our neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia.
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0.022834 | <urn:uuid:b319a466-df2f-47dc-b4f7-aae2ac673d2e> | en | 0.962451 | ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel
Pizza Face: From Your Skin to Your Mouth and Back Again
Updated on November 1, 2012
Pizza is one of the great dishes to make. It encompasses several food groups depending on what ingredients and toppings are used, so it can be considered a healthful food in some respects. However, the reason why nutritionists often discount pizza as a smart choice of cuisine is the fat and grease content. While there are ways of contending this fact, let us consider what greasy pizza dishes (and others) do to our bodies. For the most part, it may be unavoidable.
As any health teacher can tell you, you are what you eat. Your body absorbs nutrients into the bloodstream to absorb vitamins and produce the energy needed to function. However, your skin is also an important player in this process, a fact that is often overlooked. Just like your hair and clothes absorb certain smells from your living space or surroundings (such as smoke), your pores secrete oil. Although most of this occurs naturally in your body (particularly in certain areas), this is also due to food and drink intake. While the smell of alcohol can be on your hair and clothes by proximity or direct spill contact, imbibing it also allows the smell to vacate through your pores. Also, it's called pizza face for a reason. The more greasy foods you eat, the more oil secretes through your pores and causes acne to flare up. While air bubbles on pizza are caused by yeast, the grease on pizza that causes the acne your face can come from heated ingredients (especially bubbling cheese) or in some cases any added olive oil or butter (in the case of certain types of crust or bread sticks).
One way to remedy this - aside from moderating your intake of greasy foods like pizza - is to find a less greasy alternative. If your favorite take-out or frozen pizzas are still too greasy for you, you might try making your own out of simple ingredients like English muffins and shredded cheese. Use or look for prepared foods that use low-fat ingredients. Dessert pizzas are not greasy, but they may contain chocolate or other irritants. Nevertheless, it is a taste experience you must allow yourself to try at least once if you know your limits. In any case, it's important to cleanse your pores with soap and warm water when you get up in the morning and before you go to bed at night (or periodically throughout the day if need be). If you have sensitive skin which may react negatively to certain creams or makeup, then not all remedies are for you. Consulting with your primary care doctor is also imperative as everyone experiences skin problems differently.
There was a demonstration that teachers presented to us in grade school to illustrate how much grease and fat could be found in our lunches. They had us spread out our lunches on paper towels and let them sit there a while. The paper towels absorbed fat and grease from the food, showing us that even foods that didn't seem greasy weren't healthful choices, including baked goods (but who didn't dip their chocolate chip cookies into their vanilla pudding cups when they were kids?). A few of my classmates discovered they could also get the same effect by wiping the paper towels on their faces - a rudimentary pore strip. While one look at a take-out pizza box could tell you the same thing about grease content and absorption, you can always be surprised by what you think is a health-conscious food choice (with the exception of fresh fruit and vegetables).
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0.073121 | <urn:uuid:14c79cf0-1d33-4653-a0ee-6cea1e7cc50a> | en | 0.969683 | For quite a while, I’ve felt like I really don’t have a group of people that I can really call a core ‘community’. Yes, I’m a Christian, but I am tolerant of others’ choices for their own lives, even if I don’t understand them, or in some situations have any interest in hearing about them ( I don’t want to hear about anybody’s sexual interests… not. my. business.). I refuse to shun the person. Why do I have to believe the same as some other human? Just because they’re a pastor or Bible teacher doesn’t mean they got it right (just watch late night TV preachers… they cast a shadow of doubt on a LOT of Bible teachers, no matter what level.) I do believe that many are good pastors… but I won’t support any preacher who cherry picks which people are worth their compassion and attempts to understand. I won’t support any preacher who promotes intolerance. God made us all. Period. And we’re all flawed. Period. Not one of us is better than the other. Why do Christians tolerate intolerance? I don’t have to agree with someone to understand that the choices based on the free will GOD gave them is their prerogative- and it doesn’t have to be mine. I don’t have to shun them. I feel like an outcast most of the time. I feel shunned by the ‘shunners’. Add to that that the country is going down the tubes, and I really don’t like most people. Why do people insist on continuing to prove that they are best avoided? Or simply say they’re one thing, and then never back it up?
I haven’t been a regular church goer for a long time (work hours when I was working, then medical issues that make being away from home for more than a brief time logistically difficult). Now the folks who went to the church I grew up in will take THAT statement as the reason for all of my frustrations… but my personal faith in God/Jesus is stronger than ever. God is the only constant and hope I have. I KNOW what it was like growing up in a subculture of evangelicalism- and as a kid I loved going to church. It was a great experience in the youth groups, choirs, and babysitting in the church nursery. I truly loved it. Since it was essentially my only source of social contact, there were no conflicts. I was still ‘one of them’. We all believed the same. For the most part. My folks enjoyed a glass of wine now and then, and dad might have a beer (one) once in a while, where as many were convinced that even one drink was a sin (drunkeness is a sin… a social drink is not, imho). But the ‘big stuff’ was all part of the church teaching. Without any personal thought involved. Back then, it was just how things were. I’m very thankful for a solid church upbringing (and the vast majority of my core beliefs are the same); it was a consistent environment. It just didn’t allow for exposure to the actual world as a whole. I had no idea that things could even BE all that different among other people.
As a kid, it really didn’t matter to me what or who was out ‘in the real world’, since school and (figure) skating were my pretty much my only exposure to people who didn’t go to that church (there was the trip to Europe in the summer of 1977, where I first saw men openly holding hands while walking down the streets of Amsterdam, and hookers had storefront windows with literal red lights that glowed if they were ‘busy’). It was a time period where society wasn’t as cruel as it is now, and the anonymity of the internet wasn’t even on the radar- so any criticizing, mocking, and name-calling was done in person, and ONLY among very close friends- unless it was overt cruelty towards strangers. I was a kid, so not really expected to know any different. People were simply more decent. The ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ philosophy had little to do with anything related to sexual orientation in my world, but included politics, money, and religion when being amongst folks whose views weren’t already known. Why did people find it OK to reject others as ‘the enemy’, when they don’t even know them, most of the time based on assumptions from one comment?
Well, then I grew up. After nursing school, I moved 1200 miles away on my own to start out my life out from under the shadow of being “the principal’s kid”. I was not only in a different state and overall culture, but was in a city that had a huge variety of people whose demographic groups I’d never encountered. The first cross-dresser I ever saw was at a Walgreen’s checkout. He was buying the make-up for himself, which I hadn’t even thought happened , until he turned around and smiled politely at me with full face make-up (foundation, mascara, eyeliner, blush, lipstick). I was gobsmacked ! Where in the world had I landed? Why does the church exclude simply informing the youth growing up about the various types of people in the world, and how best to show kindness? Why don’t they teach about using one’s brain to determine if a situation is safe- and not just a blanket “help your neighbor”? Though now, I’d guess that there is some exclusion clause to avoid anybody gay, who’s had an abortion, or is on food stamps. Those issues seem to earn rejection without regard to the person who is struggling because of them.
I was also a young nurse during the early years of the AIDS crisis. I’d never known anybody who was gay (that I knew of at the time- later on I found out differently). Even church hadn’t really mentioned homosexuality much. It was a ‘given’ that men loved women, and women loved men. Women wore makeup, men shaved their faces, and things were supposed to be all “Leave It To Beaver”. I knew the terms- polite and otherwise – for homosexuality and what it meant- but that was it. I had no clue that even in my own family, that there were those who were ‘different’ (neither of the two I knew back then were ‘out’ at that time, then two more became known when I was much older). I wouldn’t trade them for anything. All four (known) are/were (one is no longer alive) stand-up folks, and simply a joy to be around. Why shun an entire demographic group? Were they not also created by God?
I have no idea how many gay men I took care of who had full-blown AIDS (“HIV positive” really didn’t happen without already being very ill… the disease wasn’t identified until various symptoms of full-blown AIDS had already developed; now, antiretroviral meds enable those with HIV to live much longer, and with a decent quality of life). In the early years, HIV was an automatic death sentence. There was no hope at all, like there is today. Most of their families back then, and even their partners, had kicked them to the curb. Families were ashamed, and partners were terrified to be associated with someone who had “it”. But what I learned was that these human beings were going through horrific, long deaths, that left them just alive enough to realize they were never going to be OK, and that they’d been abandoned. Why shun those who need compassion? I also learned about the dangers of stereotyping when an entire heterosexual family died from AIDS after the wife gave birth to the son, but needed a blood transfusion- with blood that wasn’t tested for the virus- then breastfed her son, and had normal sex with her husband. All three died. Nothing they did had them ‘in the closet’, or on anybody’s ‘judgement’ list. I was beginning to understand that things weren’t always ‘this or that’, ‘black or white’, or even ‘because of’ assumptions. All of these people had names and stories, and there simply wasn’t time or desire to judge or hate. They needed compassion. Why not just reach out to anybody who is hurting, without judging?
Why the contempt for those who need help? There is an assumption that the majority of those on welfare are just bums. Why choose to believe the worst? It takes a LOT of hassles to get help ! And even then, it’s a sub-poverty existence. I’ve been on disability since 2004, and until I was eligible for Medicare 2 YEARS after getting Social Security Disability (not the same as the private employer-based disability insurance I paid for when I was working), I would have had to spend $2000 per MONTH before I was eligible for Medicaid benefits. Each month. That would have meant no apartment, utilities, medications, food, etc… So the government sets the income cut-offs for getting help to exclude the majority of people who need help. How does it make sense for someone who is medically disabled to not have access to medical care, including medications? Why are only some people worth taking care of? Would Christ look at someone who is sick, hungry, naked, and/or homeless and kick them to the curb? Not the Lord I learned about ! Remember the sheep and the goats? There is some belief that people in this country are taken care of no matter what. That is false ! People die here daily because they can’t afford medications or treatments. And it’s not just cancer. Why is that OK?
Why can’t we just disagree, and not be told “Oh, it’s no big deal” (well, to me it might be !), or “get over it” (why should I, when the person who told me this is still bitching about Obama, and called Mrs. Obama the ‘n’ word repeatedly- from her holy evangelical tower?). Why can’t we just understand that everybody views things in different ways EVEN when we all believe in God (for those who do) ? There isn’t just one ‘flavor’ of Christian !! It’s a little like the four gospels- each author had a different viewpoint, but that doesn’t make any of them wrong ! Matthew was a tax collector. Mark never actually heard Jesus, but followed Peter, and interpreted for him when needed. Luke was a doctor. There is no consensus as to who specifically wrote the Gospel of John- as well as 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, and Revelations. But all four loved the Lord. Why is it so hard for Christians to understand – and tolerate- that the belief in Christ is so much more important than the specific issues that are argued about?
Why has it all ended up like this? And why does it seem like people would rather be nasty, or not understand that it’s OK not to agree on everything, even if we believe in the same God? That one baffles me. I’m just glad that God knows my heart- and those who judge me are really judging themselves. I might not tow the evangelical rope any longer (I prefer ‘non-denominational’) but I still believe in the same God of my childhood… and miss those who were part of it, but now seem to prefer to push people away. Why is that so ‘bad’? Why has it become so much more preferable to simply avoid humans? Even (and sometimes especially) those who had been church ‘family’…. it all hurts my heart. Mostly because they’re so unaware of how much it hurts to suddenly not be ‘good enough’ because I don’t mirror all of their rigid beliefs.
Dysautonomia and Disability- Social Security and Medicare
According to some, I’m nothing but a leech on society. Here in the US, needing help is seen as being nothing more than a parasitic slug that simply doesn’t want to work. There is no distinction made between those who are lazy (a minority of the people on government assistance), and those who have worked for many years, only to become physically ill and unable to work, by those who ridicule the ‘entitlement’ help out there. It’s so disheartening to be lumped in the category of those who want handouts. I’d give anything to have my health back.
I spent 20 years working as an RN- in staff, charge, supervisory, and department head positions. Who knows, I may have put an IV in you, or wiped your butt. I may have been the nurse who called your elderly mom’s doctor 8 times in two days to get an order for her to be seen by a specialist. I may have spent an hour getting your preemie to drink two ounces of formula. You don’t know. To you, I’m worthless now, and just want ‘entitlements’. You see me as someone who just wants free stuff… such a cruel and uneducated view.
Well, let me tell you about the ‘free’ stuff. I paid into Medicare during the 25 years I worked (I worked prior to and during nursing school as well as my years as a nurse). I paid into Social Security during those 25 years as well. I’ve never been on food stamps. To get Medicaid assistance, I had to meet requirements I didn’t qualify for until a horrendous couple of years of life-threatening blood clots in my lung, and then an aggressive form of leukemia. Those aren’t even the reasons I’m on disability (autonomic dysfunction/dysautonomia and seizures are the culprits there).
To get coverage that meets my medical condition needs, I pay around $500 per MONTH in premiums for Medicare Part B, Medicare Part D, a Medicare supplement that covers what Medicare doesn’t, and prescription co-pays for medications that don’t come in a generic form (insulin is the big one). That’s not free. That’s $6000/year (Obamacare or not- it’s BEEN this way for years). So tell me how I’m living some life on the dole, and just sucking the government dry…
I’m not able to walk more than 100-150 feet without pain that is intense enough to change my plans. Even with my walker. To make a sandwich means I’ll hurt. Doing a load of laundry cause intense back and leg spasms. Bringing my groceries in from the car means a LOT more pain. I live alone. There is no help for the mundane- I simply have to get it done…or not. I do the best I can. And then I see so many hateful comments that don’t differentiate between those who can’t and those who won’t. And the difference is huge.
To qualify for Social Security Disability isn’t an easy thing. I had more than 1000 (one thousand- not a typo) pages of medical documentation, so I was approved on the first application. Some people have to appeal several times before they get approved. People with obvious disorders have more stress by not getting the help that they need. Do I think that there are people who abuse ‘the system’ ? Yep. But I don’t think they are the majority, by a long shot. People become homeless waiting for help- people don’t fake that. And, I don’t think I’m the only one who feels hated for needing help. I have a disability policy from the last place I worked- before being sent out by ambulance from work roughly a dozen times during the last 2 months I worked there. That private policy allows me to have %66 of my last monthly salary for my total monthly income (with Social Security paying the first part, and the private disability policy paying the balance of the %66). I lost a lot of money by being disabled. If I didn’t have that policy, I would be living in some pit, in some trashy neighborhood, hoping everyday that nobody shot my windows out. Do I deserve that simply because my body fell apart?
I never know when my body is going to poop out on me for something as mundane as the thermostat being warmer than I can tolerate. (One former co-worker RN refused to allow me to have a small space on the pediatric floor where I worked to set the thermostat to a temperature I could handle, so I could do my charting- and she was the boss’s pet, so I was screwed… the area I wanted to cool off would not have affected her or the patients in the least….she was simply a cold-hearted bitch with no consideration for what was going on with me; I could have done a big ADA scene, but it really wasn’t worth it for working with Goldilocks… she wasn’t worth it. I’d worked enough different types of nursing to get another job, and keep trying to make it work ). I don’t even know how stable my internal thermostat will be when I’m at home. Not working. I tried to make it work at another job, with fans in my office, and trying to cool off when I felt I was getting overheated, but it simply didn’t work.
The many times I was sent to the ER before, and the first few years after, ending up on disability were a nightmare. I was labelled a ‘frequent flyer’- which is about the most hated label someone can get at an ER. I was treated like some psycho-drug seeker. I never asked for anything. Most of the time, I never remembered getting there via the ambulances. I wasn’t the one who ‘sent me’ there. My employer had, and I had no say in the matter. I understand they were covering their butts when I was unconscious, because something horrible could be happening- even though most of the time, cooler air and being horizontal were the only things to help. It sucked. The ER nurses, and a couple of the doctors, were nasty. Just plain cruel sometimes. One of the nice doctors even let my regular doctor know that he’d seen some inappropriate nastiness… but nobody did anything. I had to just go to a different ER when I knew something was wrong, so I wasn’t blown off.
Real people with real disorders need Social Security (Disability) and Medicare, even though they haven’t hit retirement age. It’s not a choice… it’s survival. Without those ‘entitlements’ (that I paid into from the time I was able to work at 16 years old until literally falling over at work repeatedly at age 40), I’d be homeless or dead. I hate needing these things, since the stereotype by people who don’t know people on disability is that of some bum, mooching off of the government. I’d love to be working as a nurse again. I loved being a working RN. I still keep my license current, even though I’ll never be well enough to use it… but I still want to BE a nurse- not ‘been’ a nurse. I worked for that license. And I loved what I did.
I may be on government assistance, but it’s not free. It changed my income drastically, and allows me nothing ‘extra’. I’m doing the best I can, and would encourage everyone to get disability insurance where they work. You never know when something will happen to you. Nobody plans on becoming disabled.
Can This Country Ever Come Together?
And I’m not necessarily talking about who wins the election in 2 days- though that ‘s a big part of it, but it’s way beyond that. Everywhere I turn, there is such hate and divisiveness. It’s so far beyond disagreement with any sort of mutual respect. It’s bitter, hostile, and wishing the other ‘side’ ill will, or making personal attacks that go beyond disagreeing with views and beliefs. And, it has no limits demographically. But recently, it does come through in the political hate each side seems to have for the other side. Have people forgotten that there are decent human beings who happen to disagree? Sure, there are politically based people in the public that I really don’t like (from both sides- extremism is very unpalatable no matter who does it). There are many I wouldn’t want to be in the same room with. But I don’t wish anything dreadful on them.
In reading some of the comments on news stories, or even on YouTube for something totally unrelated to politics, the venomous comments are horrifying. The topic can be a song, a video on some personal tragedy, or whatever. There is hate everywhere. Social media has made this so easy. It’s the chickenshit way to spew contempt without having to actually come face to face with the person or ideas they abhor. And there is no indication that there is any value for the person who may disagree. It’s sad. Pathetic. Terrifying. There are comments about the person not deserving to live, that anybody associated with them isn’t worth taking up space on the planet, etc. Over a disagreement in beliefs. Says a lot about the desirability of being part of either side when personal attacks are acceptable. I want nothing to do with either ‘side’.
We have people in this country who shoot a theater full of Batman movie goers ‘just because’ (and yes, I realize that mental illness was behind that to some degree- yet it was also well planned, so some measure of clear thinking was involved). I’m grateful that the current candidates haven’t been harmed in a society that can produce Columbine, the Batman Massacre , killing of Amish school students, etc. I pray for whoever wins the election. Nobody deserves to be mowed down. And in this society, I can see it happening very easily. Some idiot will become a ‘martyr’… and some will be delighted, though without daring to say it at that point. Then it would be wrong- but to be so hateful otherwise? It’s become a sport.
I cleared out many political ‘shares’ on my FaceBook page this morning. These are from people I know. I wish I didn’t know a thing about their political views (from either side) because most of it is followed with some type of disdain or hatred. Republican, democrat, ‘other’, or independent. It doesn’t matter. Politics has come to be equated with hate and division. There are so few civilized discussions, and personally, I don’t want to know what my FRIENDS think about politics. I’ve shared some things, and have tried to be selective, but I now feel that it’s just perpetuating what I loathe. I was wrong to send anything political to anybody. I apologize.
No matter who wins the election, the media and social media will continue to provide an outlet for those who are bitter and hateful. None of that solves anything. We all know that politicians just want to be right for the sake of being right- for votes- not to do anything productive. And those who campaign can’t really fulfill anything they promise since they’re not the final step in decision making- unless it’s to veto something, or their buddies are in control of the House of Representatives and Senate. Congress seems to be a cesspool of hatred. A microcosm of the country at large.
I’ve had a relative (a.k.a. family member) describe me in bitterly hateful terms because I asked to not receive anymore e-mail propaganda from her (and I never sent her anything from ‘my side’). She hadn’t returned e-mails (about ‘hey, how are you?’) or had anything to do with me for over 20 years. Yet she decided she knows that I’m a hate monger? No. That relationship is over. It’s one thing to disagree. It’s something else (and a deal breaker) to make it a personal attack. And yet, that’s all I see from so many people- including Christians, who ‘talk’ about not being judgemental, but can’t seem to shut up with their judgements about those they disagree with. Those who don’t care about God, but claim to want everyone to get along, are just as guilty. If people can’t be civilized I really don’t care to know them. Disagreeing is one thing, when it’s done with respect that both sides feel passionately about their beliefs. But when any side demands respect and refuses to give it, they’re all hypocrites.
There are a good number of ‘friends’ who I wouldn’t have anything to do with if I knew them for purely political reasons. There are some family members that I’m stuck with until they cross the line and get personal with their attacks. And yet mostly what I see are hateful posts that cause me to wonder if the sender thinks the horrible things about me because I don’t agree with their views about someone they don’t know as a human being. Public figures are not humanized. They have become objects. And social media has made categorizing and objectifying people the way to interact.
Eight years of Bush-hate has become four years of Obama-hate (or Obama worship- depending on the ‘side’). No matter who wins this election on Tuesday, there will be more hate. And it does cross over into relationships. Even if I agree with most of what my friends believe, I don’t want to see their hatred. Maybe some folks need to unfriend me. If hatred over someone they don’t know is that important, that’s probably a good thing to just get rid of me. I’ll understand. I don’t agree completely with EITHER candidate or ‘side’. I don’t identify with any party. Sadly, it’s become picking the less of two evils. I’m embarrassed by many of the conservative pundits. And I dislike many of the far-left personalities. Extremism isn’t appealing no matter where it comes from.
So, I wait for Tuesday to be over with. Just get it done. The tone for the next four years will be set in a heartbeat. Obama wins, and the right hates; Romney wins, and the left hates. There is no middle ground anymore (at least what is made public- maybe there are some who stay quiet that can be more discreet and humane). Regardless, our country is ruined. Until there can be some sort of cooperation and removing the person’s ideas from their value as a human being, we’re going to continue to fail. If we can’t pay for our debt, we’re going to be like Greece (who had a major corporation refuse to send a cancer drug to them this week; google ‘Merck and Greece’). If we don’t take care of our own, we’ll have people needlessly dying and/or homeless- generally through no fault of their own. And these seem to be the only two options….no middle ground that can be agreed upon. So we’ll fail. We’re already dropping in health and education categories with other countries.
While I still think that this is the best place to live, it is a horrible place to exist among so much hate. So, the 25+ countries that read this blog- this is my view. I still love my country…but less and less the people who make their opinions known in hateful ways. For now, it’s worse from those on the right…. but if Romney wins (as it was in the years with Bush), the left will spew their venom. And in the end, it does nothing to fix anything.
America’s Shameful Truth
| https://jillinoisrn.com/tag/political-division/ | dclm-gs1-175401087 |
0.020951 | <urn:uuid:d825748b-0a42-4ca3-a32b-84602122df96> | en | 0.952579 | Does Trump Think Both Sides Were Responsible for World War II ?
Trump Thinks Both Sides Were Responsible for World War II ?
This is no long just an “adversarial relationship” between President Trump and the news media. Trump has mounted an all-out assault on anyone who disagrees with him, including when he is provably wrong and especially when he is lying. INCREDIBLY, the news media has done and is doing little to respond to this assault.
1-Teaching the difference between real and fake news.
2-An industry-wide “Reality Check” pointing out Trump and his administration’s hits and misses re the Truth.
3-A non-partisan/bi-partisan First Amendment / Freedom of the Press campaign using TV/cable (with across the board news, sports and entertainment placements), newspapers, radio (talk shows and entertainment), and outdoor (billboards, bus boards, etc).
This campaign can be paid for by the new media itself and freedom-loving foundations, organizations and individuals.
For nearly two years, Trump has been hammering the news media and undermining its important role in our Democracy. If he continues at the rate he is going now — and if the news media continues to take it without responding — few Americans will decry the demise or even miss the essential role the news media plays in our nation’s democratic process.
Talking heads on cable channels and blogs are not enough. We are the media. Let’s use the media.
Our fellow citizens, whether they know it or not (and whether they agree with us or not), are depending on us. Be smart. Be strong. Begin.
Trump Wants to ‘GASLIGHT’ Americans
Trump wants to be Putin-style Dictator
(First appeared 9/10/16)
Image result for putin gold
Image result for DONALD TRUMP, golden door
Trump to meet 2016 election hacker “guy sitting on their bed who weighs 400 pounds.”
Like some teenage girl with an imagined romance with a rock star, Trump apparently has yearned for a relationship with Putin even though they haven’t really met but were on the same program together but not really together although Trump did have a beauty pageant in Russia so that counts for something in Trump’s pea-sized brain that rolls around in his hollow cranium. On Friday, Trump and Putin will meet in Reality and I hope Trump doesn’t get so excited that he decides to grab Putin by the…putin.
Below is a CNN list of times Trump has spoken (lied, fantasized, postulated) about Putin.
News Dies in Darkness*
The legitimate news media need to unite with a massive outreach campaign to wrestle back its credibility and respect.
The Trumpov administration is careening dangerously close to locking out the news media. (See CNN link below)
While the president uses the up-to-the-moment technology of tweeting what random and or nasty and or stupid thoughts might spill out of his brain, his mouthpieces (Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders) are reverting back sometimes to pre-television and even pre-radio technology by foregoing and forbidding live TV and audio broadcast of news briefings (during which not much news is briefed).
So much happens so quickly these days that daily news briefings are necessary and should be expected by the American people. Sometimes the public forgets that the news media’s role is to be present in their (the public’s) absence and to ask questions that the public cannot ask or doesn’t know to ask.
Trump acts as if the news media is a nuisance his can accept or reject at his whim. He wants to communicate directly with the public–and the world–via Twitter. Fine. But the news media has the right and obligation to examine and report on the function of government (and every other aspect of public governmental, business, etc) activity.
Otherwise, Trump could well be the beginning of its end.
*With all due respect to The Washington Post’s “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” | https://journalismpride.wordpress.com/tag/propaganda/ | dclm-gs1-175431087 |
0.02252 | <urn:uuid:5765cb5f-3cf1-4c51-9728-b74837f1942c> | en | 0.81516 | Game Interface
Grand CrusadeClassic
From Lineage 2 Encyclopaedia
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After creating your character and logging in to the game, you'll see the screen with different interface elements.
Main Interface Elements
Main Interface Elements.jpg
Interface element Image Description
1. Status Window
Окно статуса.jpg
Here you can find the following: character level, HP, MP, CP etc. Click the status window to target your character.
2. Buff/Debuff Information
Окно наложенных эффектов.jpg
Here you can find the icons of buffs/debuffs your character has. Point your mouse at each icon to see the description of each effect and its remaining time. Some effects can be turned off by pressing Alt + and left-clicking the icon.
3. Target Window
Окно цели.jpg
Here you can see your target's name, its HP and additional info. You can cancel targeting by pressing Esc.
4. Radar Window
Окно радара.jpg
Here you can find the map, you character's location and direction and the location of the target. .
5. Chat Window
Окно чата.jpg
This is the chat window. Here you can find several customizable tabs. The chat window can be divided into system and general chat. Some tabs can be moved to any place of the screen.
6. Shortcut Pane
Панель горячих клавиш.jpg
Used to quick access to skills, items and macros. You can add or remove items from this pane by dragging and dropping.
7. Menu Window
Окно меню.jpg
Here you can find buttons to open your character window, inventory, map, skills, clan and system menu.
8. System Pane
Системная строка.jpg
Here you can find additional info. .
Иконки оповещений.jpg
This element is used to inform players about different game evens, such as start of the quest, new mail, invitation to the Ceremony of Chaos etc.
Status Window
Окно статуса 2.jpg
1. Level. Current Character Level. Max character level for main/dualclass is 105. Max subclass level is 80. The golden frame around the level is the sign that Premium Account is activated.
• Уровень с ПА.png - Character level with PA activated.
• Уровень без ПА.png - Character level without PA.
2. Character Name.
3. CP. The amount of Combat Points (CP). Used during duels and PvP. CP points are deducted first, then HP. CP can be restored with herbs and skills.
4. HP. The amount of health points. If HP equals 0, the character is dead.
5. MP. The amount of mana. Mana is spent when a character uses skills.
6. Vitality. The current level of a character's vitality. For more details, see Vitality.
7. Changing window size. Use to stretch the window horizontally.
See also:
Buff/Debuff Window
Окно наложенных эффектов 2.jpg
By default, the Buff/Debuff window is displayed to the right from the Status Window, but you can easily move it to the place which is convenient for you. The amount of Buff/Debuff types is limited, if you try to get more effects, the last effect in the row will be cancelled and replaced with a new one (it will be placed at the beginning of the row).
1. Buffs. Displays buffs. At the beginning, the max amount of buffs is 20. If you learn and develop the Divine Inspiration skill, it can be increased up to 24.
2. Toggle Skills. There's no max amount of toggle skills. The icons of toggle skills are displayed after the icons of buffs.
3. Songs/Dances. Such effects as songs/dances are displayed. Max 12.
4. Debuffs. The debuffs cast upon your character. Max 12.
5. Penalties. The penalties your character has. For example, death penalty or exceeding the weight limit.
Target Window
Окно цели 2.jpg
1. Target/Mob's name. By the colour of the mob's name, you can approximately tell its level. For more info, see Battle
2. Target's HP.
3. More Info Show/Hide. Showing/hiding additional info about the target.
4. Additional Info. For players, their clan, alliance and title are shown; for mobs and NPCs - their race and additional characteristics. Hover your mouse on the icon to read the description.
5. Cancel target. Used to cancel the current target. Just like Esc.
6. Changing the window size. The target window can be enlarged horizontally..
Radar Window
Окно радара 2.png
Element Description
Current location
Character's current location
Press left mouse button to move the window wherever you like.
Radar Territory surrounding you character.
Location status Location status, for example Peace zone.
Radar menu Appears when you hover your mouse over mini map. Allows you to change radar settings.
Changing the size of mini map Press left mouse button at the corner of the mini map to change its size.
Element Description
Окно радара - кнопка1.jpg
Maximize/minimize map Changes the map size.
Окно радара - кнопка2.jpg Transparent Mini map transparency on-off.
Окно радара - кнопка3.jpg Show monsters Mobs display on the mini map - on/off. Mobs are displayed as red points only in the radar circle.
Окно радара - кнопка4.jpg Show party members Show party members - on/off. Party members are displayed as red points only in the radar circle.
Окно радара - кнопка5.jpg Fixed radar Fixed mini-map on/off. Fixed mini map is fixed by the cardinal directions. Not fixed mini map turns the way the upper part is the direction of the camera.
Окно радара - кнопка6.jpg My Teleports Opens the My Teleports menu.
Turning off the radar. Press [Alt + Shift + R]
Chat window
Chat window 2.jpg
The Chat window is used for communication, to display system messages and to input additional commands.
You can get more info about the Chat window in the Chat article.
Shortcut bars
Панель горячих клавиш - меин.png
1. Adding / closing additional shortcut bars. By default, only one shortcut bar is displayed. When you press this button, you add the second, then the third and the fourth, and the fifth bars, when you press it for the fourth time, the 3 additional bars will be closed. [Alt + E]
2. The number of a shortcut bar.. There are 20 bars in total, you can use 5 of them at the same time. To toggle to the bar you need, use the switches.
1. Shortcut tooltip on/off - when you hover your mouse on any bar slot, you'll see only the name of the skill/item or its detailed description.
2. 'Arrange horizontal/vertical - horizontal/vertical display of the bars.
3. Slot lock/Cancel.
3. Soulshots and Spiritshots The soulshots and the spiritshots from your inventory are displayed here. See Soulshots and Spiritshots for more info.
Menu Bar
Окно меню - меин.jpg
1. Character window [Alt + T].
2. Inventory [Alt + V].
3. Action window [Alt + C].
4. Skill window [Alt + K].
5. Quest log [Alt + U].
6. Clan window [Alt + N].
7. Map [Alt + M].
8. System Menu [Alt + X].
1. Character window [Alt + T]
Here you can find about your character's main characteristics.
Character window.jpg
1. Buttons used to switch between the main class, the dualcalss, and the subclasses.
2. Ability System. It's available to characters lvl 85 and above.
3. Character's basic combat characteristics
P. Atk. The power of your character's physical attack.
M. Atk. The power of your character's magical attack.
P. Def. The value of defence against physical attacks.
M. Def. The value of defence against magical attacks.
P. Accuracy P. Accuracy affects your accuracy for physical attacks
M. Accuracy M. Accuracy affects your accuracy for magical attacks
P. Evasion P. Evasion affects your ability to evade from P. attacks.
M. Evasion M. Evasion affects your ability to evade from M. attacks.
P. Crit. Atk. Chance to deliver a critical blow for physical attacks.
M. Crit. Atk. Chance to deliver a critical blow for magical attacks.
Casting Atk. The speed of P. Atk.
Atk Speed Speed of Magical skills usage.
Speed Speed of your character's movement.
4. Character's basic characteristics
Char. Impact
STR P. Atk.
!CON Max. HP/CP; HP/CP recovery speed, weight limit, lung capacity, Shield Defense Rate.
LUC Makes impact on your chances then enchanting/modifying an item/crafting items. Gives bonuses to Spoil and Plunder. Makes impact on your chances of using the Soul Stealth skill and your chances to get Fortune Pocket- Stage 1 Fortune Pocket- Stage 1 .
INT M. Atk.
WIT Casting. Speed, M. Accuracy / M. Evasion, M. Crit. Rate, Magic Resistance.
MEN M. Def., Max. MP and MP restoration speed, M. cancel rate.
CHA P. Atk., P. Spd. /Atk., M. Atk., M. Def., Casting Speed, Max HP / MP / CP and HP / MP / CP restoration speed.
The main stats of a character can be changed with Tattoo and/or equipment,
5. Parameters of attribute attack and defence.
You can find more info about attribute characteristics in the Attribute System article.
6. Relashionship between characters
Karma For killing defenceless characters a character gets negative karma points, the the character's status is changed into PK (Player Killer), its nickname is displayed in dark red colour (too little karma) or inbright red colour (much karma). The more negative karma, the longer a character stays in PK status. Karma points are increased when killing mobs or when losing XP at death. As it's impossible to lose level at death (the percentage, when it reaches 0.00% at the current level, is not changed anymore), karma doesn't increase. Characters in PK status don't gain XP when killing mobs, so it's impossible to lose karma by killing mobs and dying. A character with 0.00% XP can decrease their karma only by killing mobs of the corresponding level.
If any character kills a PK character, the former gets positive karma points. If any character kills a PK character, the former gets positive karma points. If a character has positive karma, it increases over time.
PvP / PK Counter of PvP battles and counter of killing defenceless characters.
Reputation Obtained reputation points are given for mass PVP event (like castle sieges).
Recommendations The amount of recommendations (max 255)/ the amount of recommendations your character can give.
Восклицательный знак.png Recommendations!
A character receives 20 recommendations automatically upon the first login of the day. Receive an additional 10 recommendations to give out after 2 hours of being logged in, and 1 more recommendation to give out every hour after that.
See also Recommendation System
7. Raid Points
The points given for destroying raid bosses. NPC Black Cat in Hunters Village exchanges them for items.
2. Inventory [Alt + V]
In the inventory window you can see the items equipped and the content of its "bag". Double-click an item to equip it or to use it (if it's possible). There are 80 slots in the inventory (100 slots for dwarves), you can increase the amount to 122 (142 for dwarves) by Fishing. The amount of slots can also be increased with Belts.
Инвентарь персонажа 1.jpg
1. The looks of your character.
2. Armor - helmer, upper armor, lower armor, gloves, boots.
3. Cloak
4. Shirt
5. Belt
6. Weapon
7. Brooch
8. Tattoo
9. Special tattoo (not implemented so far)
10. Head accessories. The button lets you show/hide your accessories.
11. Accessories - 2 earrings, necklace, 2 rings
12. Agathion bracelet slot
13. Shield/sigil or two-handed weapon
14. Talisman bracelet slot
You can get more info about equipment in the Items article.
Инвентарь персонажа 2.jpg
Инвентарь персонажа 2 Ertheia.jpg
1. Current amount of items in the inventory / Max amount of items in the inventory.
2. A button to enlarge the inventory window.
3. Tabs for main inventory.
• All - full list.
• Equip. - equipment (armor, weapon).
• Supplies - list of supplies and other items (like soulshots, spiritshots, teleport scrolls).
• Crafting - crafting materials (recipes, resources, key ingredients).
• Misc. - other items.
4. Quest inventory tab.
5. Inventory Auto Arrange.
6. Crystallization - only for dwarves and the awakened characters.
7. The button to open the interface of automatic adena distribution inside the group/command channel.
8. Opening the Combination window.
9. The amount of Adena your character has.
10. Weight of the items in the inventory.
11. Recycle bin - destroying items (for dwarves and the awakened characters the items will be crystallized, if it's possible).
12. Button to open the Alchemy window, allowing you to combine or transmutate items (only for Ertheia).
Weight of the items you carry
For each character, there's a max weight limit to carry. Depending on its value, this icon show the percentage ratio of the weight of the items in the inventory. When it's more than 50% exceeded, you characters get a penalty. Adena doesn't have any weight.Penalties: Adena doesn't have any weight.
• Перевес Ур.1.jpg Weight is exceeded by 50% or more - the speed of HP and MP restoration is decreased by 50%.
• Перевес Ур.2.jpg Weight is exceeded by 66,6% or more - your character's movement speed is decreased by 50%.
• Перевес Ур.3.jpg Weight is exceeded by 80% or more - your character's movement speed is decreased by 75%, all quests are put on hold.
• Перевес Ур.4.jpg Weight is exceeded by 100% or more - your character can't move, all quests are put on hold.
3. Action window [Alt + C]
Окно действий.jpg
Here you can find your character's actions and social skills. You can drag and drop them to the pane. The list of actions available depends on your character's race/class transfer, on the summoned mount, or whether your character is in a transformation state or flies on a ship. The list of actions is also limited when your character takes part in the Olympiad.
4. Skill window [Alt + K]
The list of your character's skills and access to the skill enchantment interface.
You can get more info about the skill window in the Skills article.
5. Quest log [Alt + U]
The list of quests you character currently has. The description of the current quest step, the actions to be taken and the reward.
You can get more info about quests in the Quests article.
6. Clan window [Alt + N]
Окно клана 1.jpg
If your character joins a clan or creates it, the clan window becomes available. Some actions are available without joining a clan.
Member Info Opens the window to see the info about a clan member, when the options of invitation to a party are available, where you can change the clan member's title, rank, privileges or just dismiss them.
Privileges Here you can view the info about a character's privileges in clan.
Community Open game forum.
Clan Info Viewing info about clan structure, its rating, reputation and skills.
Penalty The penalties you clan currently has because of leaving its alliance, dismissing a member or the clan/
Leave Press the button the leave the clan.
War Info Info about wars your clan is currently in.
Declare War Enter the name of the clan you want to declare war to. If that clan doesn't accept war, it will be one-sided. If that clan does accept war, it will be two-sided. In case of two-sided war, a character loses 1/4 of the usual XP amount when it dies.
End War Enter the name of the clan you want to stop the war with. To stop the war, all clan members should be in peaceful state.
Invite Press to invite the target character to your clan. Before confirming, choose the subdivision of the clan (guards, main clan, academy), for the invited player.
Edit Crest Window to set your clan's crest (16*12, 256 colours, BMP) and clan mark (64*64, 256 colours, BMP).
You can get more info about clan management in the Clan article.
7. Map [Alt + M]
Map - Game Interface.jpg
The map shows you character's and its party members current location. If your character is currently in a township, the map of the township is displayed. If your character is outside any townships, you may use the (+) button near any township name to open the township map. Use the map to get the world info. When you press the "Info" button, you may learn about hunting zones, castle owners, taxes, castle sieges date, fortress owners, location of raid bosses and many other things.
The World Info tab includes such tabs as "Recommended Tip" and "Region Info". The "Region Info" tab lets you know about the castles, fortresses, clan halls, factions and hunting zones. When you choose the necessary action, the place you're looking for is displayed on the world map.
The "Recommended Tip" tab lets you know about hunting zones, instances and raids recommended for your level. When you choose the necessary action, the place you're looking for is displayed on the world map.
• When you hover your mouse on a castle or a fortress, you can see the info about the ownership and the owner (if any), the time of the next siege, and the info about taxes.
• When you hover your mouse on a hunting zone or a township, you can see the additional info in a tip.
• There are special icons on the map to show the places where raid bosses appear, the places to enter instanced zones and the location of factions. The icons of raid bosses and instanced zones are brighter when they are available.
• During some important events in the left upper corner of the map there's a sign. Then you hover your mouse on it, you can see more info about the event, and when you click on it, the place will be shown of the world map.
8. System Menu [Alt + X]
Bestiary - interface via menu.jpg
Private Store Use this option to open your own private store. Hover your mouse and choose from the list whether you want to sell, purchase, sell as batch or find a private store by name. For more info, see Private Store.
Bestiary Opens the Bestiary window. For more info, see Bestiary.
Faction Opens the Faction window. For more info, see Factions.
Mailbox Use the mailbox to send mail to other characters.
Clan Entry Use this option to open the clan search window.
Party Use this option to open the party search window.
Friend Manager Open this window to view your game connections. Such as friends, the players you ignore, and your mentees.
Community Access to Game Board.
Additional Functions Use this submenu to open instant zone status window, to record a video or to replay it.
Service Hover your mouse to choose an option. Help or Website.
Shortcut Opens the window with key settings and its functions.
Macro Create macros to make your gameplay more comfortable and to make your routine operations much easier.
Options Opens the options window.
Restart Opens the screen when you can choose a character.
Exit Game Exit the game.
See also:
System line
Here you can find the following info:
• The amount of the unread messages. Click the element to open your mailbox.
• The amount of clan members online. Click the element to open your clan info.
• Status of party search mode.
• The amount of XP you've gained. As long as your characters get 100%, it will be moved to the next level. Click this area to see your progress in getting skill points (SP). When you have 100%, your character can turn SP into skill points.
• The amount of Adena. Click this item to display/hide this info.
• The amount of the occupied slots in your inventory/total amount.
Иконки оповещений - элемент интерфейса.png
This element is used to inform players about different game evens, such as start of the quest, new mail, invitation to the Ceremony of Chaos etc. Located in the lower right corner of the screen.
- notification about new message.
Клан оповещение.png
- notification about clan search.
- notification about the quest, available when you've got a new level.
Ежедневные задания.png
- notification about the daily missions available
Приглашение на ФХ.png
- invitation to the Ceremony of Chaos.
- awaken the hidden powers of the ancient heroes via Awakening.
Изучить умения-инфо.png
- a new skill is available.
- notification about the quest you've accepted.
- notification that you can learn new Abilities.
Shortcut Purpose
[F1 ~ F12] Calling the corresponding skill/macro from the panel.
Enter Chatting input (only if you've turned the Enter Chat option on).
Esc Cancels the current target. Cancel casting spell.
Home Switches the camera to default view.
End Turnes the camera forward and backward.
PageUp / PageDown Changes the distance before the camera.
Ctrl + attack Forceful attack on NPCs and other characters.
Alt + [F1 ~ F10] Switching between the shortcut sets of the first pane.
Alt + Enter Switch between fullscreen/window mode.
Alt + T Opens the character window.
Alt + K Opens the skill window.
Alt + C Opens the action window.
Alt + N Opens the clan window.
Alt + U Opens quest log
Alt + V Opens the inventory.
Alt + M Opens the map window.
Alt + B Open game forum.
Alt + X Opens the menu.
Alt + R Opens the macros window.
Alt + H Hiding the interface elements.
Alt + P Switching to min video settings.
Alt + J Opens chat window.
Alt + F Hide/show the party buffs.
Alt + Y Hide/show contacts.
Alt +. Turn off audio.
Alt + L Reset interface.
Alt + Shift + O Hide/show settings.
Alt + Shift + P Hide/show party matching.
Alt + Shift + I Hide/show loot.
Alt + Shift + M Send a private message to the target.
Alt + Shift + H Hide/show Help.
Game Interface - Related Pages
Basics: Lineage 2 LoreGetting StartedGame InterfaceHow to Make a Game VideoGame BoardMail SystemMentoring System
The game: BattleSkillsPartyServitorsPetsMacrosDuelsMini-gamesFantasy IslandVitalityHerbsTreasure Chests
Other: Getting StartedGame ShopDimensional MerchantManorSeven Signs | https://l2wiki.com/Game_Interface | dclm-gs1-175451087 |
0.043894 | <urn:uuid:c8eb82c2-aaba-45d9-a2da-c3a34ec31487> | en | 0.942447 | While Joseph Smith and other church leaders remained jailed at Liberty, the Mormons began searching for a new home. Isaac Galland, a land speculator, offered to sell the Mormons a large tract that lay 60 miles north of Quincy at the meeting of the Mississippi and the Des Moines rivers. The offer included the peninsula town of Commerce, Illinois and an adjacent Half Breed Tract on the Iowa side of the river. Before the Mormons could begin building, the stagnant, mosquito-infested water needed to be cleared from its southern flats. Frequent bouts of cholera, malaria, and typhoid infected numerous Mormons as they labored to build a series of drainage ditches to move the water off the peninsula.
Several members of the Council of the Twelve; including Brigham Young, John Taylor, Parley Pratt, Heber Kimball, and Wilford Woodruff were sent abroad early in 1839 on their second mission to preach in Great Britain. Largely owing to economic impoverishment, romantic notions of America as a land of opportunity, and a revivalist fervor that had swept across much of Great Britain, the Mormon message of “gathering” caught fire among many English, Welsh, and Scottish who began arriving by the shipload, becoming a significant portion of Commerce’s population. In this new Mormon city seemingly ripe with economic opportunity, Smith and the other church leaders elected against reinstating the unsuccessful Consecration system, beseeching the Latter Day Saints instead to tithe one-tenth of their time and resources for the building and maintenance of the church. As trustee of the church, Smith became the primary real estate holder, selling lots by the acre to the town’s residents.
Further Reading:
Historical context: Barbara Clark Smith’s article, “Searching for Utopia in Illinois.” | https://mormonismincontext.org/2015/01/10/lesson-4-nauvoo-and-the-martyrdom/ | dclm-gs1-175531087 |
0.028303 | <urn:uuid:e4b7cb4a-4d90-43ce-9c49-201c2ed3e9d7> | en | 0.945514 | Starring: Kristen Stewart, Dakota Fanning, Michael Shannon, Scout Taylor Compton, Stella Maeve, Alia Shawkat
Director: Floria Sigismondi
Writer(s): Floria Sigismondi, Cherie Currie (novel)
Cinematography: Benoit Debie
Original Score/Music: The Runaways, Various
Running Time: 106 Mins.
Rock biopic’s are nothing new, from The Doors to Walk the Line you know the score, singer/band is discovered, usually overcoming insurmountable odds and hit a couple of bumps on the road to uber-success with the filmic version of said stories usually choosing the potent combination of sex, drugs and rock’n’roll as a third act to heighten the dramatic elements before finally seeing the singer/band come right in the end with eventual success to provide said film with a (relatively) happy ending. The Runaways, unsurprisingly, follows this formula to a T though it does so with a little spark and a trio of great performances.
What The Runaways likely won’t have is the same level of interest as many other biopic’s given that as a band they were only together for 4 years, and add to that the fact that they never truly made the same kind of long-lasting appealing that would leave their names (band or solo artists) seared into worldwide public consciousness as say Johnny Cash, The Sex Pistols or Jim Morrison have been. As a byproduct of this their musical output is likely only going to be recognisable to big fans of the 70’s rock/punk movement or, more obviously, those who lived through the period. This somewhat clashes with the casting of Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning, both current hot young things that have a predominantly teenage fan base brought up on Twilight and Radiohead, something which will leave a mixed target audience and cries of Joan who? or Kristen who? … delete as applicable!
This problem will likely only be an issue for the money men as The Runaways is as likely to flop here as it did in America purely for that reason, mixed marketing, which is a great shame as Kristen Stewart’s Twi-hard fans could learn a lot from The Runaways, not least how to make a film that has actual acting and some excellent direction.
Shot with the grain of a 70’s film, imagine The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s cinematography and you will understand, we open on a drop of blood falling from Dakota Fanning as she has her first period, somewhat shocking and wholly unexpected it’s a fair representation of whats to come, raw girl power before The Spice Girls arrived and made it palatable for the masses. Joan Jett (Stewart) and Cherie Currie (Fanning) were figures for female empowerment long before the world of po music got hold of them and neutered them down to what they ultimately didn’t want to be, sex symbols.
The introduction’s to Currie and Jett are brief, all the boxes are ticked, troubled childhood, weak or no parent role models and a disregard for the opposite sex the bordered on disgust, the thing was these were young girls (15 and 16) and it is that that manager and producer Kim Fowley (masterfully played by Michael Shannon) uses in crafting what he cites as the worlds first all girl rock’n’roll band, initially allowing their independent wiles to shine through before ultimately clashing as they see through his get rich scheme, in the end as with all music it boils down to the age old question of “do you sell out for the money?” and in this instance, as with most, the sparks fly as fast as the clichés.
Overlook the inevitable plotting though and savour Shannon, Fanning and in particular Stewart who once again proves she can do more than pout and sulk, while Fanning slowly makes the ascension from child actress to a fully fledged leading lady, and based on this evidence she is more than capable of both heading up a strong cast and standing out as the fine actress she was destined to be. Add to this some great singing courtesy of the lead pair and it makes for an entertaining and involving drama, even if you have a clue who Joan or Kristen are!
The Runaways was never going to be a smash hit, but that shouldn’t deter anyone from seeing it for some good flourishes in both direction and performance, even if you haven’t a clue who those involved in front or behind the camera are! | https://movieblaze.wordpress.com/2010/09/16/blazin-review-the-runaways/ | dclm-gs1-175541087 |
0.020572 | <urn:uuid:164a543b-db30-41e6-b7a7-58479fdd0f58> | en | 0.995206 | ByEmily Nathan LaMattery Garber, writer at
I have a few stories involving "spirits" however the one that will haunt me forever happened around 2009. I was going through a divorce and moved back to my home town with my daughter. My cousin opened her home up to me and my daughter, I started seeing someone after about a two years of being separated, and he stayed the night a few times. One of the nights he was over, our bedroom door was open for some reason, and we heard the toilet flush, the sink turn on and saw a small white figure bolt down the hall. I thought nothing of it because we had guest from out of town, so I assume in my sleepy stage that it was one of them. In the morning my boyfriend, at the time, asked me if I had heard and seen what he did. I told him yes and said it was someone there. He asked me who was that small? I remembered that it was the size of a child, and asked everyone of they used the bathroom. No one did. I shrugged it off and tried not to think about it. My cousin decided about a week later that she was going to go back with her friends to visit (they lived out of state) and that we could stay in her room. My boyfriend stayed with me while my cousin was gone because I didn't want to stay in the house alone. My daughter went for the Sumner to visit her father so I had my boyfriend stay with me so I wouldn't be alone. A few days after my cousin left, my bf and I were sitting in the bedroom talking when we heard voices coming from one of the other rooms, they started out like children's voices and got very deep and manly. Then we heard laughing. We decided to leave to his house for the night. We returned the next day only to have more strange things happen. The voices continued, we heard noises coming from the kitchen and other rooms. I was rally freaked out, we left the house for about a week. Again, we came back because I had a paper due and wanted to be at home to write it, that night after we fell asleep hearing voices again, i thought i woke up the bedroom was shaped differently. It had a long hall to the bed. I saw my daughter as a baby crawling to me crying, i closed my eyes and said "this isn't real" then i opened then to see my daughter a little older, waking and crying and calling me. I closed my eyes again and when i opened them i saw her again, older crying telling to pick her up, this went on a few more times, each time she was older and closer to me until she was right next to the bed and about ten years old, asking me why i wouldn't pick her up. I said because you are not real, my daughter isn't even here! I turned to wake my boyfriend up who just turned his head to me and had the creepiest smile on his face. At that moment i actually woke up, as did he. We heard a lot of loud noises in the kitchen, as if someone was rearranging the furniture. He got up and walked into the kitchen and asked Mr "do you need to see this, or do you just want to leave?" I of course needed to see it. I walked into the kitchen to find all the chairs were pushed in backward to the table, except the one my daughter always sat in, that one was pushed to the furthest part of the kitchen. I asked my bf if we could go to his place, at that moment all the gates (all the windows and sliding glass door had rod iron gating on them) began to shake, furiously. Needless to say we left. On the way to his house I told him before we woke up, I had a really crazy dream. He told me he did as well. He told me his dream before I told him mine, and it was almost the same (with the exception of my daughter.) He thought he woke up in his dream to and tried to wake me up, I also turned my head and smiled creepily, then he woke up. I didn't return until my cousin came back, and I immediately packed up and moved into my grandparents home. Even telling it years later gives me an upset stomach and my skin crawl. Talk about demonic.
Latest from our Creators | https://moviepilot.com/posts/2909112 | dclm-gs1-175551087 |
0.058686 | <urn:uuid:563c0434-deb9-4a1c-9ceb-e4025f8bc6ce> | en | 0.9705 | ByChris Harkin, writer at
Chris Harkin
Phase 2 is over! What an incredible run! It's a Marvel Movie release weekend, and the world waits with bated breathe for the analysis to begin. So here we go.
Ant-Man was, as can only be expected, incredible. I had tears of laughter in my eyes throughout the film, and the best way to describe it is a heist film, with superheroes. In terms of Marvel movies, it was closest to Guardians of the Galaxy in tone, but with less heroes, and more reference to the mainstream universe.
Here are the top five things that affect the mainstream universe, or are linked to it in some way, aside from the film itself, bringing Ant-Man into the MCU.
5. Enlarging discs
Ant-Man had discs which decreased and increased objects in size when coming into contact with them. Why is this significant? It shows us that he will be able to enlarge himself at one point, making him into Giant-Man/Goliath, like he did to this Thomas the Tank Engine toy a few minutes after the above shot.
4. Spider-Man Reference!
Here you see Scott Lang's friend Luis. At the end of the film, as he told a long story to Scott about the Falcon asking about the Ant-Man, he mentioned a journalist who was investigating heroes, and when Falcon asked her about Ant-Man, she said something along the lines of "You'll have to be more specific, we have all sorts these days, you have....(Blah blah blah) and even guys crawling up walls." This is the first undeniable reference to Tom Holland's Spider-Man in the MCU. It also shows he is already fighting crime, and Civil War has begun, but we'll get to that later.
3. Falcon Fight + Avengers Facility
Falcon entering was one of my favourite scenes in the film. It was absolutely hilarious when Scott expected to find a broken down facility and found the very much in use Avengers headquarters, complete with protector Falcon. The fight between them was totally epic, and showed Ant-Man's battle prowess. It also was a great way to throw Ant-Man into the world of Avengers, and answered the questions directed to Marvel about why fellow Avengers never appear in solo films, something I hope will be permanently rectified starting now.
2. Post Credit Scene 1- Enter the Wasp
I hoped and hoped for this in the months of waiting leading up to the release of this film. When it was mentioned that Janet had been lost in the Quantum Universe, I despaired at the thought of going without Wasp, but as the credits started to roll, I felt renewed Hope (get it?) and sure enough, got what I wanted. Evangelline Lilly seemed like a big enough name to become another member of the Avengers roster, though we may not get her in full costume in Civil War. It is an amazing thing to get another Marvel Superhero, and it completes the original Avengers line-up we have long awaited. What a post credits scene. As it ended, I didn't think it could be topped...
1. War has begun!
Then it was smashed apart. The biggest thing about the second post credits scene wasn't the return of the Winter Soldier, or Falcon suggesting that they call in Ant-Man, it was the mention of Tony Stark being obliged to catalogue the Winter Soldier if they called him, meaning that registration has begun, and the sides are already splitting. With Spider-Man introduced, and Steve not trusting Tony anymore, it's all starting to fall apart. Those three hiding in that garage, it all smells of War. I can't wait for the devastation that will be Cap 3.
Those are the biggest Marvel Universe blocks that were placed by the latest installment. Phase 2 is at an end, and phase 3 begins with Captain America 3 in May. Phase 1 was about assembling the Avengers, Phase 2 was about testing them, but Phase 3... is about breaking them. Phase 3 means war. Get ready for it.
Which was your favourite Ant-Man link to the rest of the MCU?
Latest from our Creators | https://moviepilot.com/posts/3392429 | dclm-gs1-175561087 |
0.096915 | <urn:uuid:5158a687-3073-458b-9c2e-6d594bbd4273> | en | 0.974402 | Security forces claim to have limited the number of casualties by preventing "the terrorists from reaching their targets".
Troops secure the site of the deadly suicide attack in Tahrir Square
Image: The suicide attacker in Tahrir Square blew himself up after being surrounded
At least 20 people have been confirmed dead in one of three car bombs to rock the Syrian capital Damascus.
The deadly explosion in Tahrir Square in the centre of the city was triggered by a suicide attacker, who had been surrounded by security forces.
Footage from the scene showed roads scattered with debris, several badly damaged cars, and another one that had been turned into a pile of twisted metal.
People inspect the damage at the site of a suicide attack in Tahrir Square
Image: The deadly explosion in the centre of Damascus caused widespread damage
The other two car bombs were destroyed in controlled explosions at an entrance to the city, according to state media.
The authorities said the number of casualties were limited because government forces prevented "the terrorists from reaching their targets".
They said they had foiled a plot to strike crowded areas on the first day of work after the long Muslim holiday that follows Ramadan.
The attack was the biggest in Damascus since a wave of suicide bomb blasts by jihadists in March left scores dead.
Forces loyal to the regime of Bashar al Assad have been battling to drive rebels from Ain Terma, one of their last strongholds on the eastern outskirts of Damascus. | https://news.sky.com/story/car-bombs-blasts-in-syrian-capital-damascus-kill-seven-and-injure-13-10934091 | dclm-gs1-175591087 |
0.291546 | <urn:uuid:20e0eeda-f257-4dae-9002-f9dcb30a2bf5> | en | 0.96218 | Picture of Homosexuality
The Picture of Dorian Gray struck me as extremely homosexual from the very beginning especially when Basil was talking about his obsession with Dorian and then later when Dorian is talking about Lord Henry. They all seem to be mostly closet individuals though. Lord Henry is married and Dorian has multiple women that he courts or tries to court. It is almost like they are only homosexual when around each other. That brings me to question if bromances are actually real. Girls say all the time that they love their best friends, but you never really hear guys say that about their best friends because it is not manly. But I think that because boys and men feel like they have to be manly they don’t get to express their feelings as freely. Therefore, they have bromances that no one sees except them. The same thing is happening in the novel. Dorian, Henry and Basil are normal men in the eyes of society, but when they are together a certain homosexuality arises.
2 Responses to “Picture of Homosexuality”
1. carsonbowers Says:
I love the way you put this. Classifying the three main characters as “closet individuals.” It made me laugh, but I agree with you on this. These men do hide their secret very well. Each having their own lives that seem heterosexual, but once they are together things change drastically. The three are extremely odd.
2. jacjones5 Says:
I like how you mention “bromances.” I agree that the whole book seemed to portray the men in the story gay, but there was never real evidence of this. They all have their own way of being straight with the women they have but the way they act around each other makes me wonder. So, maybe there is such a thing as “bromances” like you said.
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0.053771 | <urn:uuid:79d4a1f7-ec02-4417-9f94-24ac67301372> | en | 0.962173 | After Abortion
Abortion Recovery Services
In the United States today, one out of every three women will experience abortion by the age of 45 years.*
If abortion is such a common experience, why do post-abortive individuals rarely speak about their abortions?
For most women, the abortion is a closely held secret. Rarely do women talk about this pain with family or friends. Many feel fearful that they will be judged if others discover they made an abortion choice.
How do you know you need post-abortion healing?
Some women seemingly never need to work through any kind of healing process. But for many others, the memory of abortion lies like a hidden infection within, weakening and impairing them in ways they may have never realized were related.
Is you have experienced abortion, see if you recognize yourself in some of the following questions:
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you could be experiencing pain related to your abortion, many times referred to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as it relates to abortion.
Our center offers a confidential abortion recovery program for those who are struggling with the emotions surrounding a past abortion decision. Many on our advocates and staff have experienced abortion. Through a spiritual healing program, they were able to find peace in relation to their pregnancy loss through abortion.
From one-on-one classes to group involvement, we are here to help if you are struggling with a past abortion decision.
Contact us at: 831.757.5500 or come visit us today. You will be received with warmth and compassion and all conversations will be kept confidential.
* Source: “Facts in Brief: Induced Abortion,” The Alan Guttmacher Institute, Washington, DC,, January, 2008. | https://pregnancysalinas.com/after-abortion/ | dclm-gs1-175661087 |
0.031402 | <urn:uuid:8aa7f294-909a-4343-ba3b-29389b1e7441> | en | 0.958937 | How To Run a Great Meeting
By Urs Koenig, PhD, MBA
Leadership Coach
‘One either meets or one works’ – Peter Drucker
Define Outcome Goals for Every Agenda Item
• ‘talk about…’
• ‘further discuss…..’
• ‘tell you all about…’
Here is a list of good outcome goals:
• ‘make a decision on….
• ‘develop a clear plan for…’
• ‘brainstorm and capture ideas for ….’
• ‘get buy in for….’
• ‘receive input on…’
• ‘get everyone’s questions on … answered’
Clarify How You Will Make Decisions
Capture Decisions, Next Steps and Accountability
These notes might look something like this:
Next deliverable?
By whom?
Bill (Director of Marketing)
By when?
Email job ad to all before next meeting
Want your staff and children to be more successful?
Yes, of course you do!
Ask yourself the following questions:
1. A Superiority complex
1. Insecurity
1. Impulse control
by Urs Koenig, PhD, MBA, Principal, Redpoint Coaching
1. I can be myself
2. I am told what is really going on
3. My strengths are magnified
4. The company stands for something meaningful
5. My daily work is rewarding
6. Stupid rules don’t exist
The Dream Company Diagnostic
1. Take the assessment yourself
3. Compare the findings and discuss inconsistencies
Let me be myself
___ I feel comfortable being myself
___ We are all encouraged to express our differences
___ People who think differently from most do well here
___ Passion is encouraged, even when it leads to conflict
___ More than one type of person fits in here
Tell me what’s really going on
___ We’re all told the whole story
___ Information is not “spun”
___ It’s not disloyal to say something negative
___ My manager wants to hear bad news
___ Top executives want to hear bad news
___ Many channels of communication are available to us
___ I feel comfortable signing my name to comments I make
Discover and magnify my strengths
___ I am given the chance to develop
___ Every employee is given the chance to develop
___ The best people want to strut their stuff here
___ The weakest performers can see a path to improvement
___ Compensation is fairly distributed throughout the organization
___ We generate value for ourselves by adding value to others
Make me proud I work here
___ I know what we stand for
___ I value what we stand for
___ I want to exceed my current duties
___ Profit is not our overriding goal
___ I am accomplishing something worthwhile
___ I like to tell people where I work
Make my work meaningful
___ My job is meaningful to me
___ My duties make sense to me
___ My work gives me energy and pleasure
___ I understand how my job fits with everyone else’s
___ Everyone’s job is necessary
___ At work we share a common cause
Don’t hinder me with stupid rules
___ We keep things simple
___ The rules are clear and apply equally to everyone
___ I know what the rules are for
___ Everyone knows what the rules are for
___ We, as an organization, resist red tape
___ Authority is respected
To Hire the Best: Make Them Work! by Urs Koenig, PhD, MBA
jsw_job_interview_4One of the most important tasks you have as a leader is to build a great team. Building a great team, of course, means hiring right! You cannot spend too much time or effort on hiring wisely. The alternative to hiring wisely? Managing toughly, which is much more time consuming, costly, and emotionally draining.
I have always been intrigued by how so many of our clients and colleagues agree with this on paper but then keep doing the “same old, same old” when it comes to interviewing.
Interviews are often poor predictors for how the person will perform at their job. Some subpar candidates interview well while some great candidates simply don’t present themselves well at all during an interview. What to do? Make each candidate perform actual work before you make your final hiring decision!
The New York Times recently featured the CEO of Palo Alto Software, Sabrina Parson, who does it this way: “Everyone who interviews with us, no matter what the position, gets homework. We do an initial phone interview, and then they get homework before the in-person interview. It’s two hours of work. The purpose of it is not to find the correct answer, but more to see their thought process. But more than 50 percent of the people you send the homework to never contact you again. It’s great because we don’t want that person.”
So there you have it: Giving candidates homework weeds out half of the people; the half you don’t want to talk to anyway! The money and time you save with this approach needs to be invested into working with those who actually submit their homework.
Once you are further into the process and you are down to your top three candidates, have them spend a day in your business doing actual work.
Actual Work
Yes, you will have to be somewhat creative here and yes, of course it might feel a bit staged and artificial but being able to observe each candidate at work or – even better – working side by side with each candidate, beats the best interview hands down! Not only are you able to observe the candidate at his or her tasks, you are also getting insights on how the candidate show up in a somewhat stressful situation and – maybe most importantly – how the person interact with your team members.
But you ask: What about more managerial positions?
Remember: leaders and managers get stuff done through people. Most of the work any leader or manager does includes interacting with people (vs. doing stuff). How can you simulate the real work of a leader or a manager? Have them interact with our team! Not just by having a nice chat but by actually battling out some real business problems.
Again, you need to be somewhat creative here. Ask yourself: what are some of the most important things you expect them to do during their first six months in the job?
Developing and implementing a new product strategy?
Have them walk you and your team through their thinking on a white board. Engage them in a hard discussion and observe how they show up. How concisely do they communicate? How do they build on other people’s ideas? Are they able to explain their thinking without getting defensive?
Building a team?
Have them outline their hiring process to you. Have them conduct a meeting with your existing team. How about a one-on-one goal setting meeting with one of their potential direct reports?
Remember, no matter what job position you are interviewing for: by having the job candidate do real work in your business you will significantly increase your chances of hiring right vs. having to manage toughly.
Ask yourself:
• How much has it cost in the past to correct a hiring mistake – in training time, salary costs, and lost energy and opportunities?
• How can my organization improve our hiring by making candidates do real work?
• What is the one step I commit to implementing in order to make our hiring more effective?
For more leadership resources and tools, visit Redpoint Coaching.
Dealing With A Co-Worker Who Drives You Crazy
The Only Boat You Ever Control Is Your Own
Dealing with a Co-Worker Who Drives You Crazy
By Marshall Goldsmith
One-on-One Meetings: One of the Most Effective Leadership Tools by Urs Koenig
by Urs Koenig, Phd, MBA, Principal, Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching
One on Ones for Better LeadershipDuring his tenure as CIO of Swissair (the former Swiss Airline) my dad applied for the top job at the Swiss Disaster Relief Agency. During the interview, he was asked to define leadership. He responded with a one liner (and was expected to present a thesis and as a result didn’t get the job…): “Being a leader means getting things done through your people.”
While I like his definition for its brevity, the question remains: how do you get stuff done through your people? You engage them, you inspire them, you listen to them, you set goals for them and you hold them accountable.
And what is one of the most effective and efficient ways to engage, inspire, listen, set goals and hold your people accountable?
You guessed it: Conducting regular and meaningful one-on-one meetings with your direct reports.
As with so many of the things we coach our clients on, conducting regular, productive and meaningful one-on-ones is a very simple concept but not always easy to pull off.
Why have yet another meeting and what if I don’t have time?
If you are like 90 % of the managers out there, most of your interactions with your people occur in an ad hoc manner — during team meetings (even if many of the people present don’t need to be part of the conversation), in hurried emails and voicemails, in passing in the hallway, or when a big problem desperately needs attention.
While all of these often interrupted, incomplete and hurried interactions are one-on-ones, they are seldom the most effective ones. Often there is no logic to the timing of these conversations. In fact, they are usually random, incomplete, and often too late to head off a problem or solve it before it grows large.
Regular one-on-one meetings will get you ahead of this curve. Not only will your people prepare for the time they have your undivided attention, they will discuss issues they won’t bring up in a group meeting or in impromptu discussions: their dissatisfaction with part of their current role, interpersonal challenges or other problems that could keep them from succeeding at work.
One on OnesIf your direct report is falling short, the one-on-one setting enables you to communicate in no uncertain terms what changes you need to see happening. Following the principal of praising in public and criticizing in private, you can be firmer and sterner during a one-on-one than during a team meeting. Think of the perfect one-on-one meeting as hybrid of an information gathering, planning, coaching and accountability meeting.
Like any meaningful meeting, not having it will cost you an expensive multiple of the time you would have spent in the meeting. Having it will save you time and headaches in the long run. There is one more important, not often talked about benefit to regular, meaningful on-on-ones. By sitting down with your direct reports and demonstrating true interest and concern not only for their productivity but also for their input, opinions and development, you build a more committed and engaged team which leads to all sorts of well documented soft benefits (e.g. increased job satisfaction) and hard benefits (e.g. lower turn-over, lower recruiting and training costs).
But how do I best do them?
Schedule 30 minute one-on-one meetings with each of your direct reports at least every other week, better every week. Make it a regular, re-occurring meeting. Don’t use travel as an excuse not to have it; conduct a phone meeting instead.
Keep a file for each of your direct reports where you gather all the none-time sensitive questions and issues you need to discuss with them. So rather than interrupting your folks constantly whenever you think of something, drop it in the file for discussion during the one-on-one. Take notes of issues raised in the one-on-one and agreed upon courses of action.
Here is my suggestion for a standing agenda for your one on one meeting:
1. Update on action items/commitments from last time
2. What is going well?
3. What are the obstacles and how can I (the manager) help?
4. Action items going forward
Once a quarter, I recommend you go ‘bigger’ and cover the following:
1. Where are we going (the organization)?
2. Where are you going?
3. What are you and your part of the biz doing well? What are you proud of?
4. What are your suggestions for improvements for the future (for the organization, for your part of the biz, for yourself)?
5. How can I help?
6. What suggestions for improvement do you have for me?
Have the one-on-one meeting primarily driven by your direct report. Make this a coaching conversation by asking lots of questions and listening well. Provide guidance if it’s needed but do not fall into the trap of filling the time with your own talk. If you are taking up more than 30 % of air time, you are talking too much.
How to Delegate Effectively By Urs Koenig, MBA, Phd, Principal Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching
by Urs Koenig, MBA, Phd, Principal, Redpoint Succession and Leadership Coaching
Is This You?
Learn How to Delegate EffectivelyJoe is the managing partner of private equity firm. He has tons of balls in the air at any one time. He is generally good at delegating projects and tasks. Yet when his stress level rises, he feels the urge to re-engage in projects he previously delegated and ends up frustrating his people. Joe is micro managing and getting overly involved with his subordinates’ projects.
Susanne is the Senior Vice President of Operations. She has a background in sales and enjoys nothing more than building relationships. Because of her position, she gets bombarded with requests for meetings and calls. By her own admission, she finds herself too often spending time with people who should be talking to her sales force instead of her. Susanne is engaged in tasks that be done effectively by someone at a lower level in the company.
Recognize yourself or one of your managers in the above behavior patterns? If so, read on!
Delegate More of The Right Stuff
Most leaders we talk to feel that they need to do a better job at delegating. Indeed, effectively delegating might arguably be THE hardest leadership competency to master. While the majority of leaders and managers need to delegate more, it’s not just a question of delegating as much as possible but delegating the right stuff. It might actually be that your people need you more and not less involved in certain areas.
Ask Your People
Our advice is simple. Sit down with each of your direct reports and ask them the following questions (credit to Marshall Goldsmith) about each of their areas of responsibility:
• Are there areas and projects where you believe that I am too hands-on and can let go more? Are there projects where I need to get more involved and provide you with more guidance?
During the course of this discussion you will inevitably find that you are micro managing in certain areas and that more delegation is needed there, while more of your involvement is asked for in other areas.
Then Ask Your Direct Reports:
• Do you ever see me working on tasks that someone at my level doesn’t need to do? Are there areas where I can help other people grow and develop, and give myself more time to focus on strategy and long-term planning?
I will virtually guarantee you that your direct reports will come up with great suggestions for you on things a person in your position should not be doing.
Ask yourself and your people these tough questions. The responses will most likely be eye opening and will save you time, energy and make you more effective. All the things good delegation is supposed to do!
Following our coaching philosophy we encourage you to commit to concrete action steps to your direct reports on how you will improve your delegation and then check in with them on a regular basis on how you are doing.
And remember the ‘D’ in LeaDership stands for Delegating! | https://redpointcoaching.wordpress.com/category/team-building/ | dclm-gs1-175671087 |
0.066886 | <urn:uuid:a54bddbc-2279-49fd-958c-8fc058a5842e> | en | 0.977814 | Took Legacy
Took Legacy
by Jacquelyn Fisher
"And so ended the time of hardship. Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took both received the title of Captain and Samwise Gamgee became Mayor for many long years. Master Took married Diamond of Long Cleeve and had one son that they named Faramir Took after the Steward of Gonder. Master Brandybuck also married and sired many young hobbits of his own. The entire Brandybuck brood were frequent visitors of the Took household, and vise versa. The three hero hobbits lived long, happy lives in the Shire and often traveled to Gonder to visit King Elessar and Queen Arwen."
"Is the story true, Grandpa Took?" sandy-haired Aran Took demanded with wide eyes. He was seated among the young hobbits at the storyteller’s feet, mesmerized by the story.
Grandpa Took laughed softly and nodded his head, causing his white curly hair to bob. "Yes, young Aran, the story is quite true. It is recorded thus in the original Red Book located in Hobbiton. Now, you youngins should go off and play while us grown ups talk of dull things, like family lineages, and smoke pipe weed."
The young hobbits groaned and hurried to their feet. Almost immediately, Aran and his best friend, Elanador Brandybuck, began to organize the other hobbits into groups. Aran volunteered to play the part of Peregrin Took and Elanador took Meriadoc’s part without hesitation. The rest of the children divided up the parts of Strider, Legolas, Gimili, Boromir, Gandalf, and the rest of the Fellowship. Aran and Elanador led the group down the hill towards the river to play their game of the One Ring. Grandpa Took shook his head and grinned solemnly to himself. He gripped his walking stick in his hand and slowly stood. It was then that he noticed one of the hobbit children had not joined the others.
"Young Fern, why do you hang behind?" He asked the hobbit maiden. She was a few years older than her brother, Aran, and she had pale, almost silvery hair and intelligent eyes. Her large emerald eyes gazed up soberly at Grandpa Took.
"I have a question," she said in a low voice. "Why do the Shire-tales not speak as fondly of the ring-bearer, Frodo Baggins, as they do his companions? Wasn’t his fate more terrible and important?"
"Lets take a walk, Fern." Grandpa Took looked fondly at his granddaughter and laid a heavy hand on her shoulder. The two walked quietly away from loud celebration on the hill just outside of Tookbank.
In a low voice he finally spoke: "Yes, dearest. Frodo had the hardest quest of all, and it left a horrible scar on his very soul. Even though he aided in the liberation of the Shire in 1420, he never found happiness here."
"What happened to him?"
Grandpa Took sighed and looked off into the west with a sad, far-off look on his face. For the briefest moment, Fern swore that the lines of his face had vanished and he glowed with a regal, princely light. The glimpse passed in an instant and once more Grandpa Took leaned heavily on his walking stick.
"Frodo left Middle Earth and passed into the West with the Elves and Gandalf the White. They were never seen again, but their memories live on. Out of the companions, Frodo is the most highly praised in Gonder, Rohan, and other kingdoms of Men. The Shire folk honor Frodo in their own, private way."
"I just think it is a shame that all of the stories told honor the other three hobbit-heros more so than Frodo Baggins," Fern stated sadly. Grandpa Took rested a hand on her shoulder and smiled sadly.
"So do I, Fern. So do I."
"Master Took! Master Took!"
The call came from a hobbit scurrying down the hill towards them. His stomach was more round than perhaps it should be, but roundness was considered highly important in the Gamgee family. Grandpa Took laughed and shook his head as Petral Gamgee came up out of breath.
"Master Took! I have been looking for you!" Petral huffed. He paused to catch his breath before continuing. "Master Faramir has asked for your presence. He said that everyone is waiting for you, and they refuse to begin the smoking pipeweed until you are present. Master Brandybuck and Uncle Gamgee are already there."
Grandpa Took gazed down at Fern and smiled. "You run along now, young Fern. There is a gathering of old friends I must go to."
Fern recognized the look on her grandfather’s face and patted his hand lovingly. "It is a shame that all of the companions cannot attend, isn’t it, Grandpa Pippin?"
"Yes, Fern," Pippigrin Took replied grimly. He rubbed her head tenderly, ruffling her long, curly hair. Then, leaning heavily on his walking stick, Grandpa Took hobbled his way up the hill behind young Gamgee.
Fern watched him go before turning and walking slowly down the path towards the west. She could hear the voices of the other children as they re-enacted the War of the One Ring and the Travels of the Fellowship. Her brother, as usual, did a good job portraying Grandpa Took, though he somehow managed to always rearrange the story so that Peregrin Took became the main hero. Fern shook her head, knowing that in a few years Aran would grow out of his boyish stage and realize the true hero of the War of the Ring was Frodo.
One day, Fern thought to herself, she would retrace the steps of the four hobbit companions. She would visit Rivendale, Moria, Lothlorien, Isengard, Fangorn, Gonder, and what was left of Mordor. Then, Fern promised to herself, she would visit the sea in the west and walk the sandy beaches.
It could be just a the wishful thinking of a young maiden hobbit, but Fern had a strong desire to walk in Grandpa Took’s footsteps and see the world through the eyes of a traveling hobbit. Perhaps she would even have an adventure of her own.
© 2002 by Jacquelyn Fisher
This story appears on her website and can also be found at FanFiction.Net, February 5, 2007.
Reprinted with permission.
Note: All characters from The Lord of the Rings trilogy are the property of the estate of J.R.R. Tolkien and are references without permission. The characters Fern Took, Aran Took, Elanador Merrybuck, and Petral Gamgee were created by Jacquelyn Fisher.
Jacquelyn Fisher is just your average college student who loves writing, sketching, webdesign, and singing with her younger sister. An avid reader who likes everything from childrens' books to classics. She also has three Associate Degrees in history, political science, and foreign language. Read more from her at JacquelynFisher.com.
Comment on this story at The Alien's Pub. | https://residentialaliens.blogspot.com/2007/07/took-legacy.html | dclm-gs1-175681087 |
0.024562 | <urn:uuid:9772dd28-6b0b-4468-b659-c871eb660d9f> | en | 0.944349 | Search Results for “UrbanDictionary”
May 1, 2012
Displacement Activity
head scratcher
May 1, 2012
mental masturbation
read more »
March 11, 2012
Gotcha Journalism
circle game
Gotcha journalism is a term used to describe methods of interviewing which are designed to entrap interviewees into making statements which are damaging or discreditable to their cause, character, integrity, or reputation. The aim is to make film or sound recordings of the interview which can be selectively edited, compiled, and broadcast or published to show the subject in an unfavourable light.
Methods include misrepresenting the topic of the interview, then switching to an embarrassing subject, leading the interviewee to commit to a certain answer, and confronting them with prepared material designed to contradict or discredit that position, repeatedly baiting the interviewee to befuddle them and get their guard down to elicit an embarrassing response. Another technique is for the interviewer to remain silent after something the subject has said, which often leads the subject to say something to fill the silence. Gotcha journalism is often designed to keep the interviewee on the defensive by, for example, being required to explain some of their own statements taken out of context thus effectively preventing the interviewee from discussing their own agenda for the interview.
November 19, 2011
Drunk Dialing
drunk dial congress
Drunk dialing is a pop-culture term denoting an instance in which an intoxicated individual places phone calls that he or she would not likely place if sober. The term often refers to a lonely individual calling former or current love interests. Kurt Vonnegut once said, ‘I have this disease late at night sometimes, involving alcohol and the telephone. I get drunk, and I drive my wife away with breath like mustard gas and roses. And then, speaking gravely and elegantly into the telephone, I ask the telephone operators to connect me with this friend or that one, from whom I have not heard in years.’ ‘Drunk texting’ is a related phenomenon, and potentially yet more embarrassing for the sender as, once the message is sent, it cannot be retrieved; the message will most likely be misspelled (due to being drunk), and it might be reviewed and shared among many.
Virgin Mobile has launched an option to help its users stop drunk dialing by initiating multi-hour bans on calling specific numbers and the LG Group introduced the LP4100 mobile phone, which includes a breathalyzer. Although the breathalyzer function was incorporated to help the user assess fitness to drive, rather than fitness to phone, the owner can program the LP4100 to restrict calls to specific telephone numbers on certain days or after a certain hour, a feature that might help limit drunk dialing by eliminating calls when the user is more likely to be intoxicated. Some reports indicate that this phone, or a planned future version for U.S. release, would activate the call-blocking function in tandem with the blood alcohol content results from the breathalyzer.
September 29, 2011
Maslow’s Hammer
birmingham screwdriver
Percussive maintenance
The concept known as the law of the instrument, Maslow’s hammer, or a golden hammer is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as psychologist Abraham Maslow said in 1966, ‘It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.’ The sentiment that people look for cure-alls, and over-use familiar tools, is likely traditional; see panacea. Likewise, the use of a hammer and nail as imagery are likely as old as hammers and nails, or even the use of rocks as tools, which the hammer evokes.
The hammer and nail metaphor may not be original to Kaplan or Maslow, and has been attributed to Mark Twain, though there is no documentation of this origin in Twain’s published writings. Under the name of ‘Baruch’s Observation,’ it is also been attributed to Bernard M. Baruch, a stock market speculator and author.
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June 24, 2011
Baseball Metaphors for Sex
second base
In the culture of American adolescents, the game of baseball is often used as a euphemistic metaphor for the degree of sexual intimacy achieved in intimate encounters or relationships. In the metaphor, prevalent in the post-World War II period, sexual activities are described as if they are actions in a game of baseball.
Although details vary, a broadly accepted description of what each base represents, first base is commonly understood to be any form of mouth to mouth kissing, especially open mouth (‘French’) kissing involving the tongue. Thus, if a person complains that s/he ‘can’t get to first base,’ it means that the partner spurned advances or is not interested, although this is not necessarily a specific reference to a spurned attempt to engage in kissing. Second base is manual stimulation of the genitalia. Third base is oral stimulation of the genitalia. Finally, a home run (Fourth base) is the act of penetrative intercourse.
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June 22, 2011
Shutter Shades
shutter shades
Shutter Shades are a design of slatted sunglasses commercially available since the 1980s, designed by Alain Mikli, a French designer of high-end handmade eyeglasses and accessories. Instead lenses, the design is characterized by its ‘shutter’ motif, which is part of the frame, and are marketed as suitable for both men and women. Depending on the design, Shutter Shades may not function as sunglasses; although some models contain UV resistant lenses, many do not, and only feature a series of horizontal plastic ‘shades,’ which neither provide protection for the eye from UV light nor prevent a substantial amount of light from entering the eye.
First available in the 1980s, nicknamed ‘Venetian Blinders,’ a then-popular design of louvered eyewear were featured in the music videos for ‘Glittering Prize’ by Simple Minds in 1982 and ‘Obsession’ by Animotion in 1984. Alain Mikli made a contemporary custom design for Kanye West, again influenced by the fashion of the 1980s. West popularized the glasses in the music video for ‘Stronger’ in 2007.
March 16, 2011
4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Its users have been responsible for the formation or popularization of several Internet memes such as lolcats, Rickrolling, ‘Chocolate Rain,’ Pedobear, and many others. The site’s ‘Random’ board is by far its most popular and notorious feature. Known as ‘/b/,’ there are very minimal rules on posted content. The site’s Anonymous community and culture have often provoked media attention. The Guardian once summarized the 4chan community as ‘lunatic, juvenile… brilliant, ridiculous and alarming.’
4chan was started in the bedroom of a 15-year old student from New York City who posts as ‘moot.’ He intended the site to be a place to discuss Japanese comics and anime, an American counterpart to the popular Japanese Futaba Channel (‘2chan’) imageboard. The site has had at least one employee, a programmer whom moot met via on-line Tetris. All other moderators are volunteers. 4chan is one of the Internet’s most trafficked free imageboards and financing has often been problematic.
November 10, 2010
Xerostomia [zeer-uh-stoh-mee-uh] is the medical term for the subjective complaint of dry mouth due to a lack of saliva; sometimes colloquially called pasties, cottonmouth, drooth, doughmouth or des (like a desert). Xerostomia can cause difficulty in speech and eating. It also leads to halitosis and a dramatic rise in the number of cavities, as the protective effect of saliva’s remineralizing the enamel is no longer present, and can make the mucosa and periodontal tissue of the mouth more vulnerable to infection.
Notably, a symptom of heavy methamphetamine use usually called ‘meth mouth’ is largely caused by xerostomia which is worsened by the fact that methamphetamine at recreational doses can cause tight clenching of the jaw, bruxism (compulsive grinding of the teeth), or a repetitive ‘chewing’ movement like the user is chewing without food in the mouth.
August 10, 2010
Beer Boots
beer boot
The custom of drinking beer from a boot-shaped glass is common in German themed bars, beer gardens, and the like. Machine pressed beer boots range in size from a shot glass up to 1 litre. The more popular mouth blown beer boots are typically 1 and 2 litres in size.
There are several different origin stories for the boot of beer. One tradition holds that a Prussian general swore to his troops that he would drink beer from his boot dependent on the successful outcome in a coming battle. When victorious, the general ordered a glass fashioned in the shape of a boot to fulfill his promise without, ‘having to taste his own feet.’ Another tradition holds that the boot began when German soldiers during World War I having nothing else to drink from instead passed around an actual leather boot of beer before heading into battle. They would flick the boot before drinking from it for good luck and again after drinking to wish the next soldier good luck.
August 4, 2010
Rule 34
rule 34
Rule 34 is a generally accepted internet observation which states: ‘If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.’ It implies that there is a sexual fetish for every conceivable subject matter. It originated from a 2003 webcomic drawn by Peter Morley-Souter to depict his shock at seeing Calvin and Hobbes parody porn. Morley-Souter posted his comic on the United Kingdom website ‘Zoom-Out in 2004,’ and it has been widely reproduced. ‘Boing Boing’ blogger Cory Doctorow writes of the meme: ‘Rule 34 can be thought of as a kind of indictment of the Web as a cesspit of freaks, geeks, and weirdos, but seen through the lens of cosmopolitanism,’ which ‘bespeaks a certain sophistication—a gourmet approach to life.’
The conundrum of finding an Internet pornographic exception to Rule 34’s ‘No exceptions’ led to Rule 35: ‘If no porn is found at the moment, it will be made.’
June 28, 2010
Wolf Ticket
wolf ticket
Wolf ticket (or woof ticket) is a slang term meaning a verbal threat, criticism, or insult used to intimidate an opponent. The term originates from ‘woofing,’ meaning aimless talk, an onomatopoeic reference to the sound of dogs barking. The term is usually used as a part of the phrase ‘to sell wolf tickets,’ meaning to bluff or threaten someone in a boastful way, or ‘to buy wolf tickets,’ meaning to call the bluff or accept the implied challenge. Professor Emeritus Herbert L. Foster noted in the first edition of his book ‘Ribbin’, Jivin’, and Playin’ the Dozens: The Unrecognized Dilemma of Inner City Schools’ that his students, in New York City Public School 613, about 1964, started using the expression ‘woof’ or ‘wolf’ ticket interchangeably. Since he was teaching graphic arts, his students, at first, printed wolf tickets. As Foster became more astute about his students’ street culture, he created the woof ticket that was used on the street and discussed further in his book.
| https://thedailyomnivore.net/?s=UrbanDictionary | dclm-gs1-175791087 |
0.036038 | <urn:uuid:7f5507ac-b07c-4a8c-b577-609ac8d7e916> | en | 0.862832 | Not very good at blogging for sure. But here is a trick I just found for which I have been fighting for a long time: how to align boxplot and violin plots in ggplot2? Nothing really tricky a priori thanks to the great “geom” system of ggplot2, but problems start to arise when grouping factors are involve. geom_boxplot will “stack” boxes side by side within a group, while violin_plot will set them apart. I finally found out this is due to default “dodging” behaviors, which can be fixed as follow:
p <- ggplot(data = dat, aes(x=group1, y=value))
p <- p + geom_violin(aes(fill=group2), position = position_dodge(width = 0.8))
p <- p + geom_boxplot(notch = FALSE, alpha = 0.5, aes(colour = group2), position = position_dodge(width = 0.8), width = 0.5)
p <- p + theme_bw() + guides(color = "none")
Sorry, no picture… but if you came across that problem you’d know what I’m talking about. And the trick is “position = position_dodge(width = 0.8))”!
Jumping between genomes
When it turns to do comparative genomics, a very common task is to look at homologous positions in several genomes. While this may sound as a trivial task, in practice it is not! Two challenges are to be faced when attempting to do so:
1. Genomes to be compare have to be aligned,
2. Looking up for individual coordinates can end up very inefficient when several thousands coordinates are to be searched.
Several tools have been proposed for tackling that issue. The most versatile one is the LiftOver utility from the UCSC genome browser utilities. Using LiftOver requires however multiple steps, and several (rather complex) protocoles are available online. One important note is that LiftOver should in principle be used only form comparing distinct assemblies of the same genome, not to compare genomes from distinct species for instance.
Confronted to the task, I recently implemented a simple approach in our MafFilter software ( MafFilter can do all sort of processing of MAF files. With this new tool, one can simply convert between coordinates of one species to another based on a pairwise genome alignment of the two species (provided, of course, as a MAF file!). MafFilter takes coordinates from feature files in GFF, GTF or BedGraph, and outputs a table with the original coordinates and the translated ones. The syntax is rather short:
maf.filter= \
LiftOver( \
ref_species=species1, \
target_species=species2, \
feature.file=features_species1.bed, \
feature.file.compression=none, \
feature.format=BedGraph, \
file=sp1_to_sp2.tln) \
One will typically want to combine coordinates, for instance in R:
features <- read.table("features_species1.bed")
tln <- read.table("sp1_to_sp2.tln")
features2 <- merge(features, tln, by.x = c("Chr", "Start", "Stop", "Strand"), by.y = c("chr.ref", "strand.ref", "begin.ref", "end.ref"), all = TRUE)
The conversion is relatively fast for hundreds of thousands of features to convert. The only requirement is a MAF file sorted according to the reference species (for instance using maf_project from the TBA package). Pairwise alignments can be obtained with BlastZ (for instance).
Turn your workstation into a mini-grid (with Slurm)
Packages for ubuntu an debian are available:
sudo apt-get install slurm-llnl
sudo apt-get install munge
Generating the configuration file
They can be found at:
slurmd -C
Generate munge key
This is done with the command
sudo /usr/sbin/create-munge-key
sudo chmod g-w /var/log
sudo chmod g-w /var/log/munge
Starting services
With the commands:
/etc/init.d/slurm-llnl start
/etc/init.d/munge start
Multi-core, multi-node and multi-prog
#SBATCH --array=1:2000
# file
# run with sbatch -o slurm-%A_%a.out
#SBATCH --job-name=slurm_example
#SBATCH --output=slurm_example.txt
#SBATCH --array=1-2000:20
#SBATCH --ntasks=20
#Create file:
rm multi.conf
#Get gene name:
echo $GENE
echo "$i myprog $GENE" >> multi.conf
srun --multi-prog multi.conf
A few clarifications:
Forget about Pearson
Together with the Student’s t-test, Pearson’s ‘r’ correlation coefficient has made its way through all statistical text books. While the test seems straightforward to apply, things are never as easy as they might seem.
The wikipedia entry for Pearson’s correlation coefficient is rather explicit, and defines it as
“a measure of the linear correlation (dependence) between two variables X and Y”
One important part in this definition is the term “linear”, meaning that if variables X and Y are dependent on each other, but in a non linear manner, the test will fail. In addition, the significance assessment of the correlation requires the two variables to be normally distributed.
All these assumptions (double-normality + linearity) are unlikely to be met with genomic data. I show here, from a real-life real-research example, how using Pearson’s coefficient can be misleading. First let’s have a look at the data:
Example data to be tested for correlation
From this plot, it is obvious that the two variable ‘x’ and ‘y’ are not linked in a linear manner. They are also not normally distributed either:
And a Pearson correlation test between the two gives the following results:
Pearson's product-moment correlation
data: dat$x and dat$y
t = -8.2883, df = 3153, p-value < 2.2e-16
alternative hypothesis: true correlation is not equal to 0
95 percent confidence interval:
-0.1800034 -0.1116973
sample estimates:
that is, a highly significant negative correlation! On the contrary, Kendall’s tau, a rank-based correlation test which assumes neither linearity nor normality does not report any significant association:
Kendall's rank correlation tau
data: dat$x and dat$y
z = 0.255, p-value = 0.7987
alternative hypothesis: true tau is not equal to 0
sample estimates:
We can see a similar effect with a linear regression (y ~ x):
(Intercept) 1.984e-01 9.839e-03 20.164 <2e-16 ***
dat$x -1.466e-05 1.768e-06 -8.288 <2e-16 ***
The ‘x’ variable is found to have a highly significant effect on variable ‘y’. Yet the condition of the linear model are not met either, the residuals being far from normally distributed. Using a Box-Cox transform improves things, yet not to the extant of being satisfying:
DataCor_qqplotsWhile the normalization procedure does not do miracles, its effect is visible on the result of the test:
(Intercept) -3.382e+00 9.917e-02 -34.106 < 2e-16 ***
dat$x 5.223e-05 1.782e-05 2.931 0.00341 **
The p-value remains significant, but much less than before.
Conclusion: in order to test the correlation of two variables, it is safer to use non-parametric tests such as Kendall’s tau. Given the typical size of genomic data sets, the loss of power due to the use of non-parametric tests is usually negligible, while the cost of unmet underlying hypotheses can be extremely high. In some cases models are unavoidable (for instance to test more than one explanatory factor), but this is another story…
Merging PDF files
pdftk AllSupFigures.pdf dump_data > info.txt
for i in {1..3}; do
echo "BookmarkBegin" >> info.txt
echo "BookmarkTitle: Figure S$i" >> info.txt
echo "BookmarkLevel: 1" >> info.txt
echo "BookmarkPageNumber: $i" >> info.txt
pdftk AllSupFigures.pdf update_info info.txt output AllSupFiguresIndexed.pdf
rm info.txt
The resulting PDF file contains one index entry per figure.
Fancier beamer presentations
title=\sc Part \thesection, center title,
It can be used by typing
\section{My new section}
CLang or GCC?
Switching compiler in Ubuntu appears to be as easy as
sudo apt-get install clang
sudo update-alternatives --config c++
| https://thehatteronline.com/ | dclm-gs1-175801087 |
0.059165 | <urn:uuid:58677311-4e6e-44ef-ac51-a4dd0163b2ef> | en | 0.981585 | A Sobering “Success” Story
Image via Wikipedia
When I lived in Kansas, a young man in my neighborhood appeared on the offender rolls. After researching the reasons for his registration, I discovered he was prosecuted as an 18 year old high school senior who had sexual intercourse with his 15 year old freshman girlfriend. He took responsibility, admitted what he did, and now he pays for it with a scarlet letter.
Scott highlights some outstanding points in his analysis of the letter he received. I will not repeat his analysis, but I do want to highlight something else.
Meaningful and informed representation would likely prevent this tragedy. In my first post asserting that “We need more lawyers,” I note how important it is for an advocate to learn about their client in order to tell their story–their whole story. Does it appear that someone told his whole story? Were his interests fully defended? Or, did someone likely find an easy way to dispose of an otherwise annoying case? I often criticize assembly line justice, and this appears to be a prime example.
A disclaimer: I only know what I read in Scott’s post, and that was based upon the client’s decade-old memories of his legal proceeding. However, that does not change the fact that the story, as we know it, allows for a great deal of analysis and learning. | https://unwashedadvocate.com/2010/07/27/a-sobering-story/ | dclm-gs1-175851087 |
0.020488 | <urn:uuid:5f5b83c5-7d88-4694-a1ec-21dcabc75fa3> | en | 0.871902 | As promised here is some more information on what BMI is. BMI is short for body max index. It is a calculated number that is used as a screening tool to identify possibilities of a weight problem.
BMI is NOT a diagnostic tool. It is a very small part of figuring out if there is a weight problem. BMI is a popular way to measure body fatness because it’s one of the less expensive way and just about anyone could do it. You don’t even need the “Health O Meter-The Doctor Scale” to tell you. All you have to do is take your weight(lb)/[height (in)(squared)] x 703. For example lets say your weight is 150lbs and your height is 5’5″. You take [150 / (65)squared] x 703 and that equals 24.96.
You ask is 24.96 good? A standard weight status for adults (anyone above 20) is:
BMI Weight Status
under 18.5 Underweight
18.5 – 24.9 Normal
25.0-29.9 Overweight
20.00 – Above Obese
So the answer is it would be normal, but barely. BMI is a pretty reliable way to give you an insight if there is a weight problem. The formula and chart I told you today is only for adults above 20. There is a whole different way to calculate for children. They consider the sex, weight, and height.
Want more information about body max index? Here is a great link… | https://womanofmanyrole.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/what-is-bmi/ | dclm-gs1-175881087 |
0.019048 | <urn:uuid:b3339224-41a6-45ad-a1a1-ee14aa885e79> | en | 0.969658 | Why automation fails: Q&A with Cortex’s Jonathan Hobday
Megan Wright bw
Posted: 10/06/2017
jonathan hobday hero
From the humble age of 11, when he started writing software, Jonathan Hobday’s enthusiasm for technology has been the driving force of his career. A self-described “part-time intellectual,” he has spent years perfecting his craft as entrepreneur, leader, enterprise tactician and cybernetics expert.
It was the realization on completion of his studies that “the real world was lagging far behind,” that initially drove Hobday down the entrepreneurial path. And he hasn’t looked back.
Today, in his role as sales director at Cortex, Hobday’s unique technical background and sales experience stand him in good stead as subject matter expert and automation innovator.
This month, as we welcome Hobday as a member of the Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation Advisory Board, we sat down with him to discuss why automation fails, the biggest challenges facing the industry right now and how he plans to overcome them… (AiiA): While automation is still relatively new to most industries, you’ve been doing this long enough to have seen just about everything. What is the number one mistake you see people make time and again when it comes to automating?
Jonathan Hobday (JH): They choose the technology. Most organizations go to market and say, “We need the technology,” and that shows a fundamental misunderstanding of automation. The company should have first understood automation.
Automation is a state of operations; it’s not a thing you do.
If you think you can go and buy a group of consultants and say “automate,” then that’s a failure. It needs to be an effective part of your operation because it’s your operations that are being automated.
AiiA: What then should the decision making journey look like for an organization contemplating automation? What are the key things to consider?
JH: As an organization, you’ve either got an operation that is automated or it is not automated. It’s not the technology that makes it automated. Once you have that clear, you can then start to understand what that transition will mean for your organization—it’s what we call automation transformation.
When you move any kind of operation into an automated state, it will change the way that operation works. You need to understand how it will change the roles of people that operate that process, how it will change the way your company experiences that process, how it will change your capacity to run that process, and how it will change your relationship with your partners and your employees.
Read more: Automation is 10 years overdue according to Citi's Kelly Switt
Once you’ve understood all those changes, once you’ve defined your company objectives, and once you’ve determined if those changes align with your company objectives, then you automate.
Of course there are those who come to automation the other way around too—by understanding their objectives first and working backwards from there. For instance, are they looking to increase scale? Are they looking to reduce cost? Are they looking for more market traction? Are they looking for a combination of several things—and most people are.
AiiA: Once you’ve made the decision to automate, how can you ensure your organization is destined to succeed? Can you give an example?
JH: We worked with an insurance company that outsources claims processing to third party providers. One of their service providers was providing a higher quality service than the other two, however they couldn’t meet their service level agreement (SLA).
When they looked in to why they saw they had too many people doing too many low value tasks in a chain of service and they were not able to shift that work. If they could, it would change the cost of delivery, increase capacity, increase velocity and reduce time to process. So they made the decision to automate.
Our first challenge was facing the team that was doing the processing. One of the key factors that leads to failure is not engaging the subject matter experts (SMEs). Ironically, the people that are usually presented as the SMEs are often the senior managers and unfortunately we have a rude truth to tell them—that they’re not the subject matter experts.
The SMEs are actually the people that have been doing the actual job, hands on, who have the greatest experience. It might seem fairly obvious but it’s not always a comfortable truth.
One sure road to failure is that senior executives will focus on the way things should be, not the way they actually are.
With the insurance company, we had to get the SMEs on board and the biggest challenge was that they thought automating was something that threatened their jobs. Our first job was to convince them automation was not a threat, and part of getting them on side was to make it absolutely clear to them what their role would look like in the future.
In this scenario it was simple: the division was loosing money, failing SLA, likely to lose their contract and, if it kept losing money, the company was likely to shut it down. But automation would triple the capacity of the team and enable them to take on new clients.
The company didn’t have a quality issue—they were just too slow and couldn’t handle the quantity. Net result was that we automated the environment following exactly what they do and that was how we maintained the quality.
teamwork hero
Photo by Štefan Štefančík on Unsplash
Interestingly, in most environments where you’re absolutely doing the right thing, you may not be following your standardized process. So it may become a diversion if you go and look at your documented standardized processes when it comes time to automate, because they will often be a sanitized, simplified version of a process that is actually happening.
On the other hand, when you do have a quality issue, you look at it the other way around—what should be happening.
It all comes down to the reality of how your business works, because automation needs to embrace that reality. Otherwise you’ll constantly have intervention which is the enemy of automation.
AiiA: Tell me about the relationship between automation and workplace culture.
JH: Now that’s a difficult one—and it’s not helped by people saying that automation is going to put people out of work.
We have no experience of our industry and of automation actually putting people out of work. Most people, as a result of the automated environment, have gone on to do far more productive and better paid working jobs.
For example, I recently spoke to a technical architect for one of our major clients—the operations he used to perform are now automated. What the original manager who had worked with us had said was, “I have too many highly paid people doing too many low level tasks”.
So this architect had started his job on the frontline doing 80 per cent operations and 20 per cent creative work. And now, thanks to automation, he can concentrate on the 20 per cent, which is actually more interesting.
Likewise, all the staff at this company are now doing jobs that are paying significantly higher salaries than before, that they enjoy. They no longer end up working at 11 o’clock on a Friday night trying to solve a problem on the frontline.
Read more: Chatbots are the next step in enterprise evolution
You get machines to work late. You get machines to do all the low value stuff and you move the people up to where they can deliver value. So the quality of life goes up with automation.
AiiA: How do you think enterprise stands to benefit from the adoption of automation technology?
JH: It’s going to change the world—just not in the way that the likes of Bill Gate and Elon Musk would have us think. Quite ironically Musk is not eradicating jobs; he has developed jobs for thousands of staff who are infinitely more valuable in what they do.
It’s not just enterprise though, I find it interesting talking to taxi drivers because I think that is one of the industries that is going to go to automation. Most of them do it because they have to, most of them dread going out on Friday nights, picking up drunken people, getting them home. What we need to do is elevate these people.
And it’s not surprising, the number of taxi drivers I’ve met around the world—in Paris, in Utrecht, in Amsterdam, in Frankfurt, in Dusseldorf—who are actually studying degrees while they’re driving because they want to get a different job.
taxi hero
Photo by Peter Kasprzyk on Unsplash
We need to create a world where those opportunities are available to those people—and automation will do that by lowering costs, just like the industrial revolution lowered the cost of clothing to allow people to have more than two or three sets of clothing.
Today I’ve got a full wardrobe because I can afford the unit cost. Can you imagine how cheap a taxi would be if you didn’t have to pay for a driver? I would give up having my own car.
AiiA: Is the automation industry going in the right direction?
JH: I would argue no. It’s not going in the right direction because the right direction is hard.
The direction that the majority of the industry is going in is a direction that we call task-focussed automation. They think that the job of automation is to help people to do their current job.
I don’t think that the role of automation is to help people do their current job—it’s to transform their current job.
I recently had a conversation with the global CIO of a very large financial services organization. To date he’s run four automation projects and, in his mind, all of them have failed. Today all of them are running, all of them do what they were designed to do, but according to him they all failed. In his mind, the objective was to reduce cost base but they haven’t done that. In fact, his cost base is still exactly the same. It’s a zero sum game, so he’s decided not to automate any more.
Someone reminded me when I told them this story, of the definition of insanity: It’s doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. And I hear exactly the same story again and again.
AiiA: What do you think it will take to get the industry going in the right direction?
JH: It’s about joining it up. The manufacturing industry has been walking down this path for a long time and now we need people in other industries to step up.
We need to shift perceptions which limit people. The general public need to get their heads out of the idea that “I need to do manual labour,” “I’m a train driver, I’ve got to drive a train,” or “I’m a taxi driver so I’ve got to drive a taxi”. Imagine owning a fleet of 30 automated taxis and you have the ability to manage them all, not just drive one.
But their mind is not thinking like that. And I think that’s the job of what we’re doing now. We need to get people thinking like that rather than being reluctant and fearful. The question of “What am I going to do?”—that’s not a scary or a bad question—that’s a good question.
Megan Wright bw
Posted: 10/06/2017 | https://www.aiia.net/intelligent-automation/articles/why-automation-fails-qa-with-cortex%E2%80%99s-jonathan | dclm-gs1-175911087 |
0.023159 | <urn:uuid:33f3113a-dd78-4fe9-8e41-8663d3d8e67a> | en | 0.853488 | Toby Kebbell
4 Titles Available on Netflix
Black Mirror
Black Mirror (2014)
This sci-fi anthology series in the vein of "The Twilight Zone" reflects on the darker side of technology and human nature.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
A decade after their escape, Caesar and his fellow super-intelligent apes strike a tenuous peace with human survivors of the simian virus. (130 min)
Gold (2016)
The Counselor
The Counselor (2013)
An attorney who thinks he can dabble in the drug business without any consequences finds himself drowning in a nightmarish downward spiral. (117 min) | https://www.allflicks.net/actor/?actor=Toby+Kebbell®ion=ca | dclm-gs1-175921087 |
0.116228 | <urn:uuid:7dd5abd6-d8df-4000-829c-5d9bfac8cac5> | en | 0.979601 |
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Unlock The Door
By Tony Benci All Rights Reserved ©
You find yourself with every luxury, every whim answered and every thing allowed; except your freedom. You have to live like this for 5 years, would you sit back and enjoy it, or would you have to try to escape?
A Short Story; who'd be happy with paradise anyway?
Every jail is fully of them; people who didn’t do the crime. Prisoner 12092A was no different; he hadn’t done the crime and that was the truth. At least he hadn’t done the crime he was convicted of and, in a way, in a swings and roundabout way, he deserved the time for all the crimes he’d gotten away with so he just got on with getting on with it.
Admittedly, since the Crawford reform of the late 2100s, time was far less a task with each cell more like a 5-star resort suite offering every modern luxury and convenience. Cyber travel was allowed, holographic representation acceptable and, except for the solitary confinement of it all, and that was only something he experienced when outside of the cyber paradigm, he could go where he wanted and experience whatever he desired.
All that said, prisoner 12092A should have just hunkered down and did the five years.
He had no way of knowing whether others did just that because, once locked into his unit, there was no other real human interaction so he just didn’t know. For all he knew he may have been the only prisoner in the world and, after a while, after only so many cyber trips to exotic places and holographic interaction with others in these spaces, his mind started to turn to escape.
If he had have been a little more analytical he may have reasoned that this was just that part of his psyche that led him do what he did; the journey from rebellious teen through rambunctious thrill seeker to world class cyber thief. The very thought of others penning him in was just not acceptable in any way and it had taken all of his remarkable skills to be where he was at that moment.
He assumed that his every cyber moment was being watched. He knew he’d be doing it if he was in their position so he’d had to find every back alleyway in every dark and dingy corner of the cyber world to get the tools he’d need.
As he played with systems, as he visited the places he’d visited and experienced the various activities he’d experienced, he’d played the systems like some huge cathedral organ and he’d played them like a grand master. Every picosecond of his time was spent hiding his tracks and wending his way through the various electronic curtains that had been woven around his persona. He’d been well prepared of course and had scattered electronic passports all through cyber space during his career, passports that acted like pre-paid phone cards, letting him skip and jump whilst appearing to be there whilst here and back again before anyone would even know. He slowly built the knowledge he needed to know about the Eltron 34TD Portal Locking system.
It was common knowledge that these facilities were completely automated and had never experienced any escape. In fact, the total reliability was what led to the redesign of incarceration at the end of the 22st century and the aforementioned reforms.
The Eltron system was infallible.
He’d had to be very careful and had kept his searching to just the door locking system, it was just too dangerous to extend the terms of reference beyond that and it had taken him over 2 years of constant ducking and weaving to have the tools he needed to deactivate it and tonight, as the world slept and his cyber footprints were being watched as he traipsed around as he’d done every night since he’d gotten there, he’d break the lock and be out.
He wished he knew more, the layout of the facility, its location, the best forms of egress from here and ingress back into society but, with a wry smile, he considered that the devil may well be damned, he was a thrill seeker no doubt and this was thrilling.
He’d written the electronic key in lines of code scrawled and saved on nondescript drink coasters in outback pubs in Australia, in the dust on dirty basement windows in the backstreets of Bombay, on rocks with charcoal on the walls of a cave overlooking the Mojave and many other places all over the world and all through the past two years. All these elements, insignificant by themselves, when linked and run through a pre-processor would create a program so cleverly hidden that even running it guaranteed its self-destruction the moment the door lock activated and, equally cleverly, rendered the lock inoperable with the door in the fully open position.
What did he have to loose, if he opened the door and could go no further so be it; how bad could a few more years added to his sentence be. Better to hang as a sheep than a goat anyway.
He placed the Dornier clips over his temples and laid back in the immersion lounge. The lights dropped to a faint soft blue glow and he was there. In the room that he’d keep hidden during the past two years. In the artist loft with the Eiffel Tower framed gently to the left of the night sky. He picked up the paintbrush and wrote one word on the pristine canvas in Vermilion “RUN”.
Around the cyber world all the disparate lines and symbols so lovingly and artfully crafted flew together and within milliseconds executed and destroyed themselves, so much cyber ash in the wind.
In front of him, directly across the room, was the door. It’s indicator lights blinked from red through orange to green and pulled back into the wall.
Immediately he was sucked out of the couch as a wailing scream filled the room and he flew from the pod. Just before his body exploded, the victim of rapid depressurization, he had the ghost of a thought of just how beautify the Earth looked; in the distance.
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0.230629 | <urn:uuid:2b692acc-bfc8-41d5-a65f-d35fd23cc16e> | en | 0.954841 | Home » Java » Core Java » Design Patterns: Pattern or Anti-Pattern, that is the question
About Peter Verhas
Peter Verhas
I have recently encountered the wiki page Anti-pattern that has an exhaustive list of anti patterns. Some of them were obvious for me. Some of them made me think a bit, other a bit more. Then I started to look for the anti-pattern “singleton” on the page and I could not find it. (Text search stops at singlet…)
Is singleton a pattern or an anti-pattern?
Do not worry. I will not talk about singletons. There are more than enough discussions about that on the net. For now let me just use singleton as an example. In case of singleton there is no clean line between pattern and anti-pattern.
As an example, singleton can easily be used, it is easy to understand and serves the purpose being a good example. Singletons were very popular until a few years ago until they started to be considered as anti-pattern. What has changed? Do computer scientists became cleverer and discover that something they thought as a good pattern was actually anti-pattern? Was singleton an anti-pattern from the very start, we just did not know it? Or did singleton itself change from being a good design pattern to be an anti-pattern?
In my opinion, the answer, strangely: both of the cases. It is very similar to physical theory. Newtons theorem says that the force is proportional with the acceleration and the mass of the body accelerating. Einstein said that this is not true, and the larger the speed the larger the error is. Was Newton wrong? Yes, in some sense. Can we still use Newton’s laws? Yes we can, and actually we do in case of low speed (as compared to the speed of light).
Were singletons bad from the very start? Yes, just as much as they are now. Can we still use singletons? Yes we can, and actually we do in case of low spee… ops in case of simple problems that do not need considerations that make singleton to be an anti-pattern.
It seems that anti-pattern is environment dependent. And in this case environment is much more complex than in case of physics. Quantum theory, relativity or irreversible thermodynamics (that my father is professor of) are simple, because they do not consider humans. They are only about the matter.
Programming is about people.
This is something that we tend to forget many times. When it all started it was all about bits and bytes, registers, memory and hexa code. A program was either running and executing well or not. But later it became more and more complex. Computer science became information technology. More and more people use IT and more and more people write programs. They are programmers who do this for living. Even a relatively simple project, if it is commercial needs six to eight programmers. They, we are also part of the environment that the “pattern or anti-pattern”-ness depends on.
The environment also contains simple things, like frameworks, programming languages, operating systems and other technical details, but none of them individually or together has a complexity comparable that of the humans.
When making a decision on the pattern versus anti-pattern debate many asks the question: what can the pattern be used for? What is this good for? What good can it do? These are important questions. If there is no good: no reason to consider the pattern. But it does not make it anti-pattern. If there is no good then the approach is simply not a pattern. The important question what bad it can do? What way average Joe can [email protected]#k up the structure. How likely is it that someone applying the pattern will shoot his own leg? This is not new thing. Game theory also states that this is more important to minimize the maximum loss than to maximize the possible gain.
Looking at a pattern, can you tell that? Probably not. In some cases, yes. Congrats, you found an anti-pattern. In other cases you can not find any wrong use. It does not mean there is none. Time will show. Average Joe will come and will use the pattern in ways you could not imagine in your wildest dream (or night mare for that matter).
Thus anti-pattern is not something inherently bad, just as guns do not kill people. The use of patterns in a wrong way is bad. When people tend to use a pattern more the wrong way, then it is an anti-pattern. This is the case with singletons.
Similar thing can be captured with code commenting. When I started to learn programming Pascal our teacher required that 50% of the code has to be meaningful comment. How does it come today? Clean code says that comment is evil. Sort of. Too many comments smell. At times I find myself in projects where comments are totally evicted. Not even Javadoc is allowed. Weird? This is just the way they apply the clean code pattern.
So the question that starts to bug me these days is whether using design patterns in programming is a good pattern or is that itself an anti-pattern?
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Notify of | https://www.javacodegeeks.com/2014/02/design-patterns-pattern-or-anti-pattern-that-is-the-question.html | dclm-gs1-176261087 |
0.076229 | <urn:uuid:0664e8be-27d1-4939-95e4-7b89e416bd3d> | en | 0.953613 | Consumer debt collection is a growing industry in the United States. Consumer protection laws prohibit deceptive and abusive debt collection practices, but many people remain unaware of their rights and the remedies that are available to them. Debt collectors often have an incentive to be pushy, and consumers should be aware of the ways the law allows them to push back.
Debt Collectors
Businesses that collect debts owed to another individual, business, or government entity are known as “third-party debt collectors.” They typically have a contract with the creditor that lets them keep a percentage of the amounts collected. Some debt collectors pay a lump sum to purchase the debt from the creditor outright, which puts them in a similar position to a first-party debt collector, except without the direct contractual relationship.
Debt Collection Methods
First-party debt collectors may collect debts through any method allowed by their contract with the debtor, as well as through a lawsuit for breach of contract. If a creditor obtains a judgment against a debtor, state law determines how the creditor may proceed. Most states allow a judgment creditor to serve a writ of execution, which allows a constable or other law enforcement official to seize non-exempt assets of the debtor to satisfy the debt. Some states allow garnishment of wages to pay a debt.
Litigation requires up-front payment of fees by the creditor, so creditors may prefer to use a third-party debt collector that keeps a percentage of any amounts collected. Third-party debt collectors may be authorized to file suit on the creditor’s behalf, or to report unpaid debts to the major credit reporting bureaus. Since they have an incentive to collect as much as possible as quickly as possible from debtors, some third-party debt collectors take an aggressive approach through telephone calls and mailings.
In some jurisdictions, debt collectors working on behalf of a government entity are authorized to use government letterhead, creating the appearance that they are acting with the full authority of the government. Other misleading tactics are usually prohibited by law.
Incorrect or Fraudulent Debt Collection
A consumer might have any number of reasons to dispute a debt. Given the volume of accounts handled by many third-party debt collectors, it is always possible that the debt collector simply misidentified a debtor. Consumers also may have been the victims of identity theft, resulting in debts in their name that should not belong to them.
Debt collectors may try to collect a debt from the relatives of a deceased debtor. They usually cannot lawfully do this unless some contractual relationship exists between the relative and the creditor, such as if the relative co-signed a contract. Tax debts may be an exception to this, however.
Some debt collectors may engage in fraud by attempting to collect debts that do not exist, hoping the “debtor” will just pay to make them go away.
Limitations on Debt Collection
Several time limits prevent, or at least discourage, collection of old debts. The statute of limitations for breach of contract is four years from the date of default in most states. Credit reporting agencies are generally prohibited from keeping negative information on a consumer’s credit report for longer than seven years after the date of non-payment.
Debt Collection Statutes and Debtors’ Rights
The federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prohibits many types of abusive practices by third-party debt collectors. Many state laws offer similar protections, and some also apply to collection activities by first-party debt collectors.
• Prohibited conduct by third-party debt collectors under the FDCPA includes:
• Causing a phone to ring repeatedly or continuously with the intent to annoy or harass;
• Continuing to contact the person after he or she has submitted a written request to cease communications, or has disputed the validity of the debt in writing;
• Contacting the person at his or her place of work after receiving notice to cease doing so;
• Misrepresenting the amount or details of the debt, or threatening legal action that is not actually possible;
• Publishing the person’s name on a “bad debt” list; and
• Submitting false information about the person to the credit reporting agencies, or threatening to do so. | https://www.justia.com/consumer/collections/ | dclm-gs1-176271087 |
0.04248 | <urn:uuid:5b4c3bd5-6c6d-42b8-a87b-95a2e1989322> | en | 0.934052 | Report Detail Page
The impact of oestradiol only hormone growth promotants (HGPs) on eating quality
Pasture finished steers
A total of 200 Bos indicus/Bos taurus previously un-implanted steers were randomly allocated to two treatment groups; control (CON) or a 400 day oestradiol only (OES) HGP implant, and finished on pasture for 389 days to assess the impact of the OES implant on sensory and objective measurements of the mm. longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) and gluteus medius (GM). The HGP treatment had a significant impact on live weight, carcass weight and ossification (P<0.05). There was a trend to decrease marbling scores, and increase ribfat, P8 fat depth and hump height. The HGP treatment interacted with days aged for all sensory scores in the LTL, apart from juiciness (P<0.01) whereby OES sensory scores for the LTL and GM were significantly lower than the CON group at 5 days, though the magnitude halved in the LTL after 35 days of aging. There was a trend for a days aged X HGP interaction in the GM for shear force (P=0.057), but not in the LTL (P>0.05). Shear force scores were significantly higher for the OES treatment in the LTL at 5 days (P<0.05), though reduced through aging. The HGP treatment significantly increased cooking loss in the LTL (P<0.05) but only a trend was present in the GM. The OES treatment significantly reduced L*, a* and b* colour dimensions for the LTL (P<0.05) but not the GM (P>0.05). Calpastatin activity was significantly greater for the OES treatment, which may aid in explaining part of the large impact on sensory and shear force scores at 5 days’ post mortem.
Feedlot finished steer carcasses
The Meat Standards Australia (MSA) beef grading model applies a variable penalty for different cuts for Hormonal Growth Promotant (HGP) treated carcasses but does not differentiate between different HGP types. Using 300 non implanted Bos indicus/Bos taurus composite steers an experiment was conducted to compare the effects on eating quality in the mm. longissimus dorsi (LD) and gluteus medius (GM) muscles of an oestradiol only (OES) and a combination trenbolone acetate with oestradiol (TBA+OES) implant with non-implanted animals (CON) fed a concentrate ration for 73 days prior to slaughter. Sensory and objective LD and GM samples were aged for either 5 or 35 days before freezing at -20°C. Carcass weights from each group were significantly different (P<0.05). Corrected for carcase weight, both HGP treatments had a significant effect on hump height, ossification score, marble score, P8 fat depth and eye muscle area. The TBA+OES treatment resulted in significantly tougher meat than the OES and CON treatments as assessed by shear force (P<0.05), although this difference was reduced with aging. Sensory scores (tenderness, juiciness, like flavour, overall liking and a composite MQ4 score) confirmed a negative HGP treatment effect, whereby TBA+OES was significantly lower than the CON and OES groups after 5 days of aging, and these differences were reduced through aging. TBA+OES had a greater impact on sensory scores in the LD when compared to the GM. Both HGP treatments increased calpastatin activity, and the TBA+OES group was significantly different to the CON and OES groups (P<0.05). It was concluded that OES and TBA+OES implants have different impacts on meat eating quality measurements, which could have important implications for the Australian and international beef industry.
Title Size Date published
648.6KB 19/12/2016
587.8KB 30/06/2017
Contract No. Title Start date End date Funding type
The effect of oestradiol and trenbolone acetate combination implants on beef eating quality
01/05/2014 30/06/2017
This page was last updated on 10/10/2017
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Sign in here | https://www.mla.com.au/research-and-development/search-rd-reports/final-report-details/The-impact-of-oestradiol-only-hormone-growth-promotants-HGPs-on-eating-quality/3586 | dclm-gs1-176341087 |
0.554246 | <urn:uuid:2b609825-20fd-4df3-8c80-f3b4cc05df6d> | en | 0.955399 | Advanced search
For thinking this neighbour must be a MNer
(42 Posts)
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 21:51:14
And am I wrong for having a little chuckle every time I walk past
FatOldBag Fri 12-May-17 21:58:19
It's a fucking bin! I was pissed off when a postman put a parcel in the bin once , but rubbish - that's literally what the fucking thing is for! Not sure if they're an MNer, but they might be a loon!
blerp Fri 12-May-17 22:00:07
Write a note that says "fair enough, sorry about that"
Screw it up and put it in their bin
Trunkisareshite Fri 12-May-17 22:15:33
Nah, if it was a mner it would have - do not put your rubbish in my bin you cunt' written on it.
MycatsaPirate Fri 12-May-17 22:18:24
I am disappointed. I thought you'd overheard your neighbour shouting at her DH that they need to get the washing in before it gets darked on.
sunnysouthend Fri 12-May-17 22:19:38
They're not a loon for wanting other people not to put rubbish into their domestic bin?!? I very much doubt they'd bother with the notes if it was just the odd crisp packet.
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 22:25:07
That's what I thought FatOldBag we all pay council tax so what's the problem?
And that's brilliant blerp I might have to sneak it in though blush the lady at 216 is scary.
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 22:28:11
Sorry to disappoint mycatsapirate and Trunkisareshite
caz323 Fri 12-May-17 22:30:57
Oh! I expected a slanging match over the fence with both of you claiming 'it's not me who's being U - it's you who's being totally U'. But it turns out to be a message on a bin. Nah, sorry, OP!
MangosAndPapayas Fri 12-May-17 22:33:22
Isn't a note like that a red rag to a bull?
If I lived there, I would create a small montage by hanging a piece of red rag out of the bin with a photo of a bull pinned to it (or even better a plastic bull). They probably wouldn't get it but my own wit would amuse me no end.
SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower Fri 12-May-17 22:37:17
My neighbour put a huge bag of Chinese takeaway cartons in my wheelybin last week, so I hung them on her door (address on the receipt) and stuck a very polite note through asking her not to do it, complete with passive aggressive smiley face. Probably wouldnt have bothered, but it filled my bin up and I needed the space for my own rubbish, and it was ages until bin day.
Besides, it should have gone in recycling.
Hippee Fri 12-May-17 22:37:40
I leave my bin out all the time - I get less rubbish and fewer dog poo bags in the hedge if I do sad
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 22:38:13
Sunnysouthend the bins recently get quite a lot of public rubbish but not so much that they overflow, well at least not our end of the road. I think the note is a bit extreme though regardless. It was already written in marker pen before they stuck the note on. And the writing is a bit psychotic with all the mixed lowercase and uppercase.
Mrsknackered Fri 12-May-17 22:38:14
I definitely thought she had offered you naice ham.
notbarry Fri 12-May-17 22:38:52
I have written that kind of note in the past blush . The council fined any overflowing bins, so neighbours would dump their bags in ours so they didn't get fined, leaving us with less room. It's really annoying!
aliasjoey Fri 12-May-17 22:43:05
Saw a note when out walking the dog:
Do NOT put any wine bottles in this bin!! We do not drink ANY alcohol!!
As if the bin lorries care what's in your bin 😀
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 22:44:32
Hippee that sounds gross
tiggytape Fri 12-May-17 22:46:31
It depends where you live.
In some areas, residents have a standard sized wheelie bin that's collected every week so a bit of extra rubbish isn't a big deal at all (assuming it's nothing yuk like nappies with no nappy bags). It's still a bit cheeky to do it without asking though.
However, in other areas it is more of a big deal because residents only get a small bin collected only once a fortnight (to encourage recycling) or a standard bin collected every 3 weeks. In those areas there is literally only just about enough room to squeeze in one household's rubbish if they are careful and recycle every item that you can.
So if someone sticks a bag of rubbish in there between collections, it forces the homeowner to go to the tip or risk the bin not being collected if the lid won't quite close. And if the neighbour puts the "wrong" kind of rubbish in the bin (eg cardboard items or tins) then council may refuse to collect the whole lot as it isn't properly sorted.
SheRaaarghPrincessOfPower Fri 12-May-17 22:50:02
Tiggy - yep, I'm in one of those areas. Mini wheelybin and they won't collect if there's recyclable stuff in the bin. It's a real pain in the arse when you dont drive and can't get to the tip
clairethewitch70 Fri 12-May-17 22:52:07
If it was a MNer it would say
LiviaDrusillaAugusta Fri 12-May-17 22:53:04
Well if she is a MNer, she's going to be delighted when she sees you have gone to all the trouble of posting about her confused
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 22:53:13
NotBarry our bin service is decent actually, we don't get fined for overflowing bins the bin men will sometimes leave an extra bin instead. A man comes before the truck too and moves the bins out past the curb and in between the parked cars and there's usually loads of space in the bins if you catch them at that point to chuck your extras in. I've been renovating my house and haven't had to hire a skip for our rubbish because I just catch the bin men every 2 weeks and they're all quite friendly.
MeadowDream Fri 12-May-17 22:53:30
When I was a teen I got told off by neighbours a few times for putting a crisp packet or similar in various bins as I walked past. I never understood it. It's a bin, that's what it's for!
shyturnip Fri 12-May-17 22:55:47
Or him livia smile
newdaddie Fri 12-May-17 22:57:59
Tiggy & sheraaaahhhh we get normal every two weeks. Some houses have 2 some have one. The only things that aren't allowed are bulk items, building waste unless you have a cheeky chat every week and let them use your loo, or soil.
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0.029111 | <urn:uuid:2b26bf22-689e-4bb6-8924-74abd603e193> | en | 0.96758 | A 500 pound (227 kilogram) bomb was found underwater close to Clooney's multi-million pound Villa Oleandra mansion, and police sealed off the surrounding town of Laglio on Wednesday (28Apr10) to allow specialist teams to defuse the device.
The bomb, which is thought to have been dropped by a plane during the Second World War, was discovered along with mines and other raw explosives, according to the Daily Telegraph.
The news comes just weeks after police launched an investigation into the discovery of a woman's body in the lake. The corpse was pulled from the water close to Clooney's property last month (Mar10). | https://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/392937/bomb-found-outside-clooneys-home | dclm-gs1-176411087 |
0.024595 | <urn:uuid:384a08aa-b4d5-42a0-a7b0-16c2dd9a82a2> | en | 0.969963 | I was wondering if you or any of your followers knew the rules for getting your haircut (or nails done, etc) at a salon? For years, I paid a friend of the family to cut my hair, when needed, but occasionally I want to go to a salon but I have no idea what the rules are.
I know you tip, but how much? I don’t think you’re supposed to tip the owner (one time I went and tried to tip him, and I got the sense that I had done something wrong) but I am not sure. What is the process for tipping?
Is it rude to not engage is smalltalk with the hairdresser while they are cutting your hair? Is it okay to stay quiet if they don’t say anything? What are appropriate topics?
I’m unsure about a lot about this, and probably have more questions I can’t think of right now.
realsocialskills answered:
I actually have no idea; it’s been years since I’ve managed to get a haircut.
But I bet some of y’all know. Anyone want to take this one?
swamiswan said:
Speaking as someone whose social skills anxiety is often a barrier to getting a “proper” haircut, here are my rules:
1) I tip by rounding up to the nearest ten. So if my cut is £35, I round it to £40. At my current place, it costs £39, so I round to £45. I think some people might tip more than this? I work a low-paid/public-sector job, so I think this is a reasonable amount for me.
2) It’s not rude not to chit-chat with the haridresser (according to me, anyway!). I tend to answer their questions, but bring a magazine or a book as a clear “I don’t want to talk to you and am busy with something else”.
3) If you have problems with describing your haircut (which I do), then do some picture research and bring a pic/some pics, or practice with a friend so that you have your “script” ready. | https://www.realsocialskills.org/blog/swamiswan | dclm-gs1-176471087 |
0.072739 | <urn:uuid:2c452e38-2999-45ed-84ab-2ca35ccde2ac> | en | 0.877047 | Microsoft Word: how to increase the distance between header and main text
You have this great header in your document, but is so close to the main text, you wish there was some more space in between.
There is no obvious way to do it, not even if you resort to the ruler, which you shouldn’t do any way.
Here is how you increase –or decrease– the empty space between your header and the main text.
Open the Page Setup dialogue (from the Page Layout menu) and go to the third tab (Layout), where you see Header settings, referring to the distance of your header from the edge of the paper.
Please note: your header will keep this distance whatever the size of your margin may be.
For example, if you set your header to be 2 cm away from the edge, and your margin as tall as 1 cm, then 1cm of body text will appear at the top of your header!
Therefore, to increase the distance between header and text body, first decide where your header should be, then increase your margin until it passes your header distance as much as you need: the header remains unmovable to its predefined distance, while extra margin height is actually added below the header!
In the previous example, if I wanted the main text to have a 5cm distance from the header (not from the edge of the page), I should set my margin to 7cm, adding 5cm to the 2cm distance of the header from the edge.
To decrease the distance between header and body, just decrease the height of the margin, getting it closer to the height of your header, but not identical, because then you will not have any empty space at all separating your header from the main text.
* Check also the best free MS Word productivity macros, and these posts about Creating different headers or footers for odd and even pages, what to do If Word adds blank space above a heading, even at the top of a page, how to Use the StyleRef field to insert in headers your Chapter Title automatically
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0.087838 | <urn:uuid:7635bd13-7c20-4cf7-af7b-982194913d51> | en | 0.950496 | Skip the auto shop - Our mechanics make house calls
Q: Car won't start after driving without the cap on the antifreeze.
asked by on
I was putting antifreeze in my explorer and forgot to cap it back. I want driving and I noticed the car was smoking. I pulled over and put the cap back on. I drove almost home and the engine turned off at the stop light. I tried to start it and I'm getting a lil sound like it wants to crank but it doesn't. If it got all over my alternator would that stop it from turning over??? Please help me
My car has 181000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
Hi there. From the description you have provided, antifreeze getting on the alternator would not keep the engine from turning over unless the battery was low. The alternator could have been compromised by the antifreeze, if your vehicle was driven far enough with the alternator not charging.
This would account for the engine turning off and not turning over, assuming the engine was not overheated due to the low antifreeze level. The battery and alternator require inspection. I recommend having a certified mechanic, such as one from YourMechanic, determine why your vehicle won’t turn over and suggest any needed repairs.
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How Much Does a Mechanic Make in Vermont? | https://www.yourmechanic.com/question/car-won-t-start-after-driving-without-the-cap-on-the-antifreeze-by-jasmo-k | dclm-gs1-176571087 |
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Q: I am having acceleration problems.
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When I press on the gas to accelerate, not gently, the ets(electronic throttle system) light comes on. I know I need to get an oil change so that may or may not be a factor. however, as of right now, I don't have the full amount to get it fixed and my dealership as well as a few shops require cash up front. so in a sense, I feel stuck in a hard place. The ets light situation has recently occurred in the past month. Is the engine the problem? Or would it be a minor fix which would be less costly? I was wondering what would I have to do to get it fixed and how much would it cost?
My car has 56000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.
If you are due for an oil change, then by all means get it done. But, changing the oil has no relation to the electronic throttle system. Most vehicles today do not have a mechanical connection from the gas pedal to the engine. The electronic throttle system consists of electronic sensors, switches, and motors. There are sensors on the gas pedal as well as at the throttle body. When you press the gas pedal, the sensor on it tells the engine control unit exactly how far you have pushed the gas pedal. That is then relayed by the ecu to the throttle body, then it opens the amount corresponding to how far you have pushed the gas pedal. Electronics are used nowadays because it makes for smoother operation of other systems like the traction control, electronic stability control, and anti-lock brakes.
A certified technician should diagnose why the ets light is on. Randomly replacing parts is not a good idea as parts can be expensive. Also, if you replace parts that do not resolve the issue, they may not be returnable for refund as most electronic components are not accepted for refund by most auto parts sources.
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How Long Does a Heater Control Valve Last? | https://www.yourmechanic.com/question/i-am-having-acceleration-problems-by-ronald-s | dclm-gs1-176581087 |
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Abraham Carried the Seed
by Beth PiepenburgAbraham Journey
Abram was living in Ur of the Chaldees, in present day Southeastern Turkey, with his father Terah. Although from the righteous lineage of Shem, a son of Noah, his father Terah was a pagan worshiper. When Abram had irritated his fellow Chaldeans with his talk about the true God, he and his father were forced to leave Ur. Although the Lord was directing Abram to move to the land of Canaan, his father preferred to relocate at Haran, about forty miles south of Ur, and set up a center for the worship of Sin, the moon goddess.
After the death of his father five years later, seventy-five year old Abram was free to follow the Lord’s directive to dwell in Canaan. Here the Lord promised him that his seed would be numerous, but from his seed would come One in which all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Not only was Abram to be blessed with a son, but Abram was carrying through his own seed the spiritual promise of a physical Savior.
However, God was not yet ready to give Abram a son until he and his wife Sarai were mature in their faith. They settled in various places, learning to grow in faith. When famine hit they abandoned Canaan and dwelt in Egypt. Relying in his own cleverness rather than trusting God, Abram told the Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister rather than his wife. Well, she was a paternal cousin, a little stretch from sister. When Pharaoh discovered their half-truth, they were told to leave. Returning to Canaan, their faith in God developed deeper roots.
Faith is like a mustard seed that begins small and grows to be a large plant. Likewise, Abraham’s faith had started with a small seed of belief and for centuries continued to grow with his descendants. The ultimate return of his faith would come to fruition with the Promised Seed.
Being ten years from when Abram and Sarai had left Haran, God had not provided them a physical heir. While ten means completion, they found themselves uncompleted or lacking a son. So, Sarai hatched a plan of using her handmaid, Hagar, as a surrogate mother. Ishmael was conceived, and Abram and Sarai were satisfied with the outcome. (Ishmael became the father of the Saracens, not the Arabians.)
When Abram was ninety-nine, the Lord appeared to announce His blessings over Abraham’s lineage, to instruct him about the covenant rite of circumcision, to give Abram and Sarai a name change, and to shake their world with the promise of a son through Sarah. Well, wouldn’t you laugh, if your wife was well past the age of bearing children? As promised, the next year Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah.
Several years later, God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Perhaps, Abraham thought that Isaac was the Promised Seed and God would provide a miracle. With heavy heart, Abraham took Isaac, a lad, up to the mountains of Moriah, possibly the very same spot where Christ was crucified. Willingly, Isaac laid himself on the altar, putting his trust in his father. Relief swept over father and son when the angel of the Lord called out to stop Abraham, because the purpose of the test was to see if Abraham feared the Lord. Whew! A ram was caught in the thicket for the sacrifice! The imagery speaks so well of the Father giving his Son as a sacrifice on Calvary, and a Son willing to lay his life down. Surely, the promise of a Seed was being passed down from Abraham unto generations later, to Mary the mother of Jesus.
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2015. All rights reserved.
Joseph and Mary
“Adoration of the Shepherds” by Gerard van Honthorst, 1622
by Beth Piepenburg
24 Now when Yoseph arose from his sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and he took his wife, 25 and he did not know her until she had given birth to her first-born son and she called his name Yeshua.
Joseph, who had been contemplating on divorcing his espoused wife, had an angel appear in a dream. When Joseph arose from his sleep, he did several important things expressed by Matthew in four subordinate clauses, which are not always translated well in most English translations.
First, Joseph did as the angel of the Lord commanded him. I’ve heard some indicate Joseph was a mediocre step-father whom God needed to hit over the head by an angel so God’s plan could move accordingly. I disagree! Scripture says Joseph was righteous, and I think he was God’s best man for the calling. Desiring his actions to be done God’s ways, Joseph sought the Lord for help, and he was very much in tune with God’s plans. Because of Joseph’s receptivity, the Lord sent an angel to Joseph on three different accounts to confirm or prepare Joseph for the next major changes that would affect the life of Jesus. Most of all, Joseph was obedient and full of faith.
Second, Joseph took his wife. Since Mary was espoused to Joseph, they had already entered into a written agreement of marriage called a ketubah. Having believed that Mary had violated the contract by becoming pregnant from another man, Joseph would have been justified to seek for a divorce. However, the angel of the Lord confirmed Mary’s story that her pregnancy had come from the Holy Spirit, and validated the event as prophesied by Isaiah. Therefore, instead of “putting her away”, he took her into his home as his wife fulfilling the legal contract.
Third, Joseph did not know Mary until she had given birth to her firstborn son. Although Matthew had already written they had not come together previous to Joseph taking her as his wife, the gospel account continued to emphasize their celibacy status after marriage. Apparently, the angel must have conveyed that they were to remain celibate until the birth of the Lord. However, the word until does not necessarily mean that they did or did not have marital relationship after the birth. If a parent tells a child that he/she cannot legally vote until he/she is eighteen years old, it does not mean that the child will ever vote in an election, but that age is no longer a restriction. Likewise, Joseph and Mary would be free to fulfill intimate relationship towards each other. However, did they?[1]
In the Jewish culture, firstborn does not mean that others siblings follow. Primogeniture is right of the one who is first to come forth from the uterus to have a title of preeminence, and to receive the double inheritance. The firstborn had first place among his siblings (Gen. 43:33, Deut. 21:17), and held some authority over his siblings (Gen. 37:21-30). Before the Law was established, the firstborn included a right to the priesthood. In Ex. 13:2, the Lord tells the Israelites that the firstborn were to be sanctified. In Ex 34:19-20, the Lord tells the Israelites that the firstborn were to be redeemed. In Num. 18:15-16, every firstborn male was to be redeemed for 5 shekels. So, Joseph and Mary would have had to pay this redemption price for Jesus.
Fourth, she named him Jesus, as translated from the Aramaic Peshitta. The angel had already told Joseph that Mary was to call the name of the baby Jesus (Yeshua). Thus, Joseph is obedient to angel’s words. Why? Mary is the woman chosen by God to bear the Seed of salvation promised after the fall of mankind (Gen. 3:15). As Eve birthed sin into the world by her act of disobedience, Mary has to be responsible to speak the name of the child as Jesus (Yeshua), a savior for mankind. As Adam had supported Eve in their disobedience, Joseph is to support Mary in their obedience to God.
Therefore, Joseph was obedient to the angel’s directive by taking Mary as his wife, by protecting her virgin status, and by allowing her to name the baby Jesus.
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2014. All rights reserved.
[1] As a Protestant, I have researched this topic and have found some surprising conclusions. From the time of the early church until the last century, the Christian Church comprised of Protestants, Oriental Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox, and Catholic believed that Mary remained celibate. With exception of the Roman Catholic Church, everyone else believed Mary was born with a sinful nature and was in need of a Savior. From early writings, both Joseph and Mary believed that her female anatomy had become too sacred to enjoy a normal marriage relationship as a result of what God had done in the conception and birth of Jesus. Remember, Joseph was much older, and references to brothers and sisters could be children born to Joseph from a previous marriage or just cousins. It’s a topic worth researching with open eyes, mind, and heart.
474px-'Joseph's_Dream',_painting_by_Gaetano_Gandolfi,_c._1790Mt 1:20-21. But while he pondered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, the son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife: for he who is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and she shall call his name JESUS (YESHUA), for he shall save (yawshah) his people from their sins.”
What was Joseph to do? As his weary mind was overwhelmed with his predicament, he fell asleep while seeking God’s help. Surely, you have had life situations that left you tossing and turning during the night, too. Lo and behold, an angel appeared in his dream! The angelic message served two purposes, one of which is to help Joseph understand his immediate circumstances, and the other will be captured in my next story.
Whenever the word, behold, is used in Scripture, it is a signal for the reader to pay attention. Recognizing the word behold is not just some kind of archaic introductory word, but rather the word is alerting the reader that an angel of the Lord has appeared to Joseph. Angels are very important to Jewish culture, because they are sent from God to deliver a special message. Interestingly, Matthew records four angelic appearances. Three times an angel appeared to Joseph concerning the Christ child, and the fourth time an angel appeared to the women who came to the tomb of Jesus. However, the focus isn’t upon the angel, but the message.
First, the angel addresses Joseph by his name, and then by his ancestry since Joseph is the son of David. Now that the angel has Joseph’s full attention, he addresses Joseph’s problem. Fear! Although I think this was a cautious fear on Joseph’s part, he needed to be assured that God was involved in his and Mary’s lives in a unique way. The reason he was not to fear is that the conception was the work of the Holy Spirit.
Then, the angel foretells that Mary will have a son and that she is to name him Jesus (Yeshua)[1]. Depending on the community, Jewish naming of the firstborn could be done by either the father or the mother. However, the angel Gabriel had already told Mary that she was to call the baby’s name, Jesus[2]. The reason his name is to be called Jesus (Yeshua) is that He shall save (yawshah) his people from their sins. Notice the Hebrew word play between Jesus (Yeshua) and save (yawshah).
Another reason the angel is specifically saying that Mary is to call the name of the baby Jesus (Yeshua) has to do with her significant role. Besides needing a personal Savior, she is the woman chosen by God to bear the Seed of salvation promised after the fall of mankind[3]. As Eve birthed sin into the world by her act of disobedience, Mary has to be responsible to speak out the name of the child as Jesus (Yeshua), a savior for mankind. As Adam had supported Eve in their disobedience, Joseph is to support Mary in their obedience to God. Also, Mary, the Elect Lady (2 John), symbolizes those who would recognize their own necessity for a personal savior and become future members of the universal Church, the body of Christ[4].
For Joseph to understand his role as protector of Mary and Jesus, he needed to seek the Lord. However, what God had planted in Mary, the promise to Adam and Eve for the redemption of mankind, was so much greater than Joseph could have imagined.
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2013. All rights reserved.
[1] Since the Gospel of Matthew was written in the Aramaic Hebrew, I reference the oldest Aramaic Peshitta copies. Older Greek and Latin variants are divided as to the use of the pronoun, she or you, because of the ambiguity in the Aramaic. The only clues to what is correct is context.
[2] Luke 1:31
[3] Gen 3
[4] As a Protestant, my research using ancient Christian writings broadens my understanding of the Orthodox.
800px-Familienkirche_-_Fassade_-_Mosaik_Heilige_Familie_-_JosephMaybe Joseph wondered why God seemed to be throwing him a curve ball. Having sought the Lord about marrying Mary, now he was seeking the Lord about a divorce. To understand his predicament beyond what seemed to be betrayal of the heart, some cultural background is beneficial.
Mary had agreed to be betrothed to Joseph, her older cousin. From traditional writings, Mary supposedly was orphaned. Established in life, Joseph could provide for Mary, a young lady between 14 to 16 years of age. While he could have arranged for her to marry a suitable younger man, he must have known that the Lord was calling him to marry her. She could have declined, but understood God’s will for her life. In Middle Eastern culture, marrying paternal cousins was considered an honorable choice. Their betrothal would have been culturally acceptable and even honorable.
A betrothal was a period of time when a man and a woman pledged themselves to marriage. Along with their families, they entered into a written agreement of marriage called a ketubah. Each party contributed financially. While the groom’s father gave a mohar, a bridal price or ransom, to the father of the bride, the groom gave a matttan, a gift, to the bride, and the bride’s father provided her with a shiluhim, a dowry, for her future security. If she died before having children, the dowry was returned to her father; otherwise, her children inherited it. To terminate a betrothal required going through a legal divorce. Ideally, this marriage contract protected both parties. Though the betrothal period was flexible, the average time was a year. Until they united in marriage, celibacy was expected during the betrothal period. Marriage was a covenant sealed by the purity of the partners on their marriage night.
If the woman broke the agreement by infidelity during the betrothal period, the man could seek a divorce, recover the mohar and keep her shiluhim by proving her unfaithfulness in a public trial. Standing trial before the Sanhedrin, she would be exposed before all. The priest would tear her clothing to reveal her bosom, undo her hair, and tie an Egyptian robe above her chest. If the man chose a private trial, he would still need two witness to sign and validate the divorce. So, complete secrecy of the situation would be near impossible.
When wrestling with circumstances, we ask questions and desire a remedy. Definitely, Joseph had struggled with how best to handle the situation concerning his betrothed, who had become pregnant. Because she had negated her betrothal duties, the righteous thing required by the Law would be for him to divorce her. Yet compassionate, he could not see her humiliated in Jerusalem by obtaining a public divorce. Surely, Joseph wondered what had happened and was shocked to hear her story of becoming pregnant from the Holy Spirit. Unwavering with her tale, he probably thought she feared to divulge the truth. Sweet Mary! Her heart had always been to love the Lord! Who would have taken advantage of her or perhaps convinced her that he was too old.
On the other hand, Mary had had a spiritual encounter that left her physically pregnant. How would Joseph handle the news that she was pregnant by the Holy Spirit? Would he believe her? If not, how would he respond? Would he file for public divorce? Could the presence of the Lord in her life give her a peace that defied her circumstances?
Once we understand the cultural significance, Joseph’s anguish and fear holds a deeper meaning. Now, what was he to do?
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2013. All rights reserved.
14 x 3 = 41 or 42 by Beth Piepenburg
One problem of fourteen generations thrice should give forty-two names, and yet traditional translations give us forty-one names. However, the Aramaic states: “Jacob fathered Joseph, the kinsman of Mariam, from whom was born Yeshua who is called the Messiah.” The proper translation now gives us forty-two names with Mary listed as part of the lineage of Christ.
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2013. All rights reserved.
JOSEPH’S & MARY’S LINEAGE by Beth Piepenburg
Because the Gospel of Matthew was written to the Jewish people, Matthew traces the lineage of Jesus through his mother Mary by her kinsman Joseph. In fact, Matthew’s Gospel story of the nativity of Christ was the one in circulation for at least a decade before Luke wrote his Gospel. In 1 Sam. 7:12-13 the Lord had promised David that after his death the Lord would set up David’s seed after him and establish his kingdom, which was fulfilled as Peter explained in Acts 2:30. The seed had also been promised through Abraham. Because the seed would come through a woman, Gen. 3:15, Matthew traces the lineage through Mary as prophesied and recorded in history.
The ancestry given by Matthew is divided into three periods of Jewish history from Abraham unto David, from David unto the exile, and from the exile to Christ. The importance of the ancestry given is not to prove that the kingly line is through David’s son, Solomon, but that Mary’s ancestry can be traced back to King David. Whereas Solomon’s kingdom lasted a few centuries, Christ’s kingdom is eternal. While Solomon and Jeconiah had their moral failures with consequences, we see God’s forgiveness and restoration of this lineage by his promise to Zorobabel[1].
Since the Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Aramaic, I consulted an interlinear Peshitta version[2]. Words and concepts can be lost in translating from one language to another, which proved to be true when Matthew 1:16 was translated from Aramaic to Greek. In the Aramaic translation: “Jacob fathers Joseph, the kinsman of Mary, from whom was born Yeshua who is called the Messiah.” Although the Greek uses the word husband, aner (ανηρ), in both Mt. 1:16 and Mt. 1:19, the Aramaic distinguishes the difference of kinsman, gawra (kinsman) in Mt. 1:16, from husband, ba’la (her husband) in Mt. 1:19. Matthew is making the point that Jesus’ genealogy is through Mary, by whom Joseph is her kinsman.
To shed further light on the subject, I began researching what the writings of the earlier centuries had to say concerning the genealogy of Mary and Joseph. How I wish I could just walk down to the Temple in Jerusalem, and check out the records. However, they either were destroyed or lost to history since the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. Recognizing that I may be dealing with lost facts, “historical fiction”, or opinions in some of the early writings, could I find a mutual bit of truth concerning the family of Jesus? Yet, I did find much agreement with the lineage and purpose given of the promised seed of King David. Since our lack of information concerns the third period, let’s begin with Jeconiah.
Solomon to Eliud
1) Jeconiah, after being released from prison fathered Salathiel, who fathered Zerubbabel.
2) Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, who fathered Eliakim.
3) Eliakim fathered Azor, who fathered Sadok.
4) Sadok fathered Achim, who fathered Eliud.
Mattan to Jesus
5) Eliud fathered Eleazar, who fathered Matthan.
6) Matthan married Estha and fathered twins, Jacob and Joachim[3], and then died. Estha then married Melchi, a descendant of David’s son Nathan, who then fathers Heli. Possibly, Jacob and Joachim are half-brothers to Heli, though there could be two generations between Melchi and Heli.[4]
7) Heli married, but died childless. Both Jacob and Joachim are near kin. Jacob, married Heli’s wife to produce seed for him. In Luke’s gospel, Joseph is the legal son of Heli; in Matthew’s gospel, Jacob fathered Joseph.
8) Joachim, Jacob’s twin, had married Anna, a descendant of Aaron. They had a daughter in their old age, whom they name Mariam or Mary. So, Mary is both descended from kings and priests.
9) Mary is a much younger cousin to Joseph.
Concerning tribal inheritance, Mary will inherit any land owned by her father Joachim, as long as she marries within the tribe of Judah. More than likely, her marriage has been pre-arranged to Joseph, a much older man, by her father Joachim. Because she is able to inherit directly as a female, Matthew lists her along with Joseph, her kinsman rather than husband. This inheritance right also will necessitate her being enrolled personally in the census, which is why she had to make the arduous journey to Bethlehem during her pregnancy.
While Joseph’s genealogy is also traced by Luke, Matthew is giving both the biological lineage of Joseph and Mary, and their kinsman relationship. Can you see why the lineage of Jesus is traced directly from Mary through her kinsman Joseph and her grandfather Jacob to King David? She is the one who is the seed carrier. Remember, Matthew is presenting the lineage from a Jewish perspective.
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2013. All rights reserved.
[1] Haggai 2:23
[3] Also known as Yonachir or Zadok. Actually, Zadok might be a religious title. Cave of Treasures (
FIVE WOMEN OF FAITH by Beth Piepenburg
In reading Matthew 1:2-17, avoid losing yourself in the list of names and the begat/father, but rather notice what stands out as if it were typed in bold print. Five women are listed in the patriarchal genealogy of Jesus Christ, not because they represent the ‘skeletons in the closet’ in a pure Jewish genealogy but because their faith commends them.
• 110_04_0068_BiblePaintings Tamar_aTamar, who had been defrauded by her father-in-law, Judah, contended for what was due her. By her faith and righteousness, she obtained a double blessing, twins. The red thread tied upon the hand of Zerah by the midwife is a symbol of redemption.
• 110_06_0015_BiblePaintings Rahab_aRahab, who had heard of the works of the Lord and confessed that the He was God of heaven and earth, by faith received the two spies in peace. Her new found faith and righteousness saved her from annihilation in the doomed Jericho. The red cord dangled from her house not only spared her life, but is a symbol of redemption.
• 040_01_0041_BSTD Ruth_aRuth, the Moabite, who had lost her Jewish husband, left her people and followed her mother-in-law who had decided to return to Israel. Ruth vowed to stay with her mother-in-law, to choose Israel as her people, and to choose their God as her God. Her faith and righteousness brought blessings for herself and her mother-in-law, which included marriage to Boaz. The barley harvest symbolizes the time of redemption, and Ruth asking Boaz to spread his garment was a request to the kinsmen-redeemer to cover her with his protection, redeem her, and marry her.
• 040_02_0065_BST Nathan David_a“her of Urias”, also known as Bathsheba, sinned in an adulterous affair with King David. The sin of adultery could not be atoned by the Jewish sacrificial system, but only by a repentant heart having faith in the atonement of a future Messiah. “Purge me with hyssop”, a prayer from the penitent King David, symbolizes cleansing.
• 110_01_0459_BiblePaintings Mary Annunciation_aMary, because of her purity and faith in God, was chosen to be the young mother of the Lord Jesus Christ in such a miraculous way that is mind boggling. Her strong relationship with God would sustain her through the fateful events of her son. Her virginity is a symbol of spiritual purity.
What is Matthew trying to convey to his audience by mentioning these particular women? Could it be that we can only enter the Kingdom of God by our faith in Jesus Christ and that our redemption is through Him?
Copyright by Beth Piepenburg, 2013. All rights reserved. | https://wyomingsprings.wordpress.com/tag/mary/ | dclm-gs1-176591087 |
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Skin Problems - Acne
Types acnes
Acnes are of two types - inflammatory and non-inflammatory .
Causes of acne
There are several possible causes acnes.
• Stress is another major cause .
• reasons that dietary fats are also the cause of acne
treat acnes
Stress and Acne: Some Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about acne and stress issues.
Q1) How active acne?
Q2) What is the stress does to my body system ?
Q3 ) Do I blame stress for acne ?
Q4) How do I treat acne ?
How to Choose the Right Acne Product ?
Topical treatments
What to choose?
How is acne treated neck ?
Using worn safety razor blades can cause shaving cuts .
How to get rid of acne neck volatile under these circumstances?
Can Glycerin Heal Acne?
A Review of Acne Treatment Options
Potatoes for Natural Acne Cure
Acne is caused by clogged pores of the skin , excess sebum from the skin and accumulation of bacteria - that seems so simple to enumerate the causes of acne. But through it and find an appropriate solution is not so simple. However , a serious approach and an optimistic attitude will definitely help you find the treatment that works for you. Start with simple natural acne remedies on the basis of what is in your kitchen. Here we will discuss how potatoes can help your skin.
What are the ingredients safe for the skin of the potato? Raw potato is rich in minerals such as sulfur , potassium and phosphorus , which are good for healthy skin . These minerals stimulate the production of collagen and elastin resulting in a toned and youthful complexion .
Potatoes are rich in vitamin C , an antioxidant that prevents cell damage and increases healing. Her alkaline property also functions as a powerful combatant acne break sebum in the pores. It also has mild antibacterial properties that can kill the bacteria that cause acne. Using an approach based on the potato skin on your application will also release its gentle exfoliating property , ie , that helps remove dead skin cells that would otherwise block the pores of the skin. Exfoliation also helps to remove acne scars and promotes the growth of a new layer of healthy skin cells .
This seems sufficient to address the main causes of acne - excess sebum , bacteria , dead skin cells , etc. , how to use potatoes to treat your skin ? Use it sliced or crushed or as a facial mask . The simplest method is to cut in half and rub the juice on the affected part of your face. To use slices, wash and peel the potatoes and cut into thin slices.
Many facial massage with slices , using a new segment for each part , so that no bacteria spread . This process will trigger a mild exfoliating effect dissolve dead skin cells. Otherwise, place the slices on acne breakouts for a few minutes so that the bacteria attack antibacterial ingredients .
Rub grated raw potato in the skin may be an effective treatment for acne scars on the face. You can also apply a mask of grated apple mud , leave it for about 30 minutes and rinse. Boiled potato may also be used . Wash the potatoes and boil medium unpeeled . Cool , puree , add 2 tablespoons oil and milk 2 tablespoons coconut powder and mix well. Apply on face and wash after 15 minutes. This mask also helps eliminate dark circles around the eyes. The use of two or three times per week can also be removed so .
All you need is a little patience for a coherent approach to see how natural remedies can do wonders for you!
Alternative to Conventional Acne Treatments
Acne is one of the many health problems that are not a catch-all remedy . It is a complex condition with many possible causes. Acne treatment is not a simple thing , so conventional acne treatments do not always work . Typically, when a patient suffering from this, antibiotics and topical treatments that are too high and the drying is barred.
Cure common pimple often lead to more irritated skin and sunk esteem . Not only that, conventional medications for pimples are often too costly and conform to a strict skin care routine that involves a lot of products. If you have tried a number of products and common pimple pills that do not work, then it's time to consider a more generalized approach for clear skin . Holistic programs are designed to treat pimples and spots in getting to the root cause of the problem . These holistic treatments are a good alternative to conventional treatments for acne.
Acne No MoreThis program is one of the conventional acne treatments currently available . This is an all natural holistic remedy that was created by a nutritionist who once had skin problems . This program eliminates the need for conventional acne treatments such as benzoyl peroxide and monocycline . It also prevents patients go through the dreaded accutane treatment. With this program, a hormonal imbalance that causes spots can be corrected . This is a combination of all natural remedies to heal scars and skin clearing sensible diet foods to treat the patient from within.
The acne regimenThis is another option for those who want to break free from conventional acne treatments . It is an approach based on the diet that promises a healthier and clearer skin without resorting to typical drugs strong shin. This is a new approach to the age of facing skin problems and involves the use of dietary supplements and diet foods with high glycemic index , such as small breads and cakes. Also encouraged to drink 8 to 10 glasses of water per day .
The vitamin cocktailA good way to end the c
onventional treatments for acne is to treat vitamin cocktail . This cocktail "miracle" is committed to eliminating the problem for weeks of regular use. This involves drinking a specific combination of food supplements . The seed oil of the vitamin E , vitamin A, zinc , borage and components are vitamin cocktail .
Tired of conventional treatments for acne? Try these holistic remedies and say goodbye to the buttons soon. | http://1healthforever.blogspot.com/2014/03/ | dclm-gs1-176651087 |
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0.027454 | <urn:uuid:3edf9a91-e28a-4632-ab0a-6e768fba4a63> | en | 0.984999 |
Chapter 21
© 2006 by E. Liddell
The wind howled at our backs, pushing us forward. Malachite's hand gripped mine firmly as we half-ran through the Timestream, following a phantom that always hovered a few feet ahead of us.
It shouldn't have been so easy. Travel through the Timestream is normally impeded by the roaring winds--sort of like having to go uphill in both directions--but this time, it was actually helping us. A manifestation of demonic disruption, or our guide helping us along? I couldn't tell.
I watched the image of Adamant warily. Was this just a creation of his, or another of the fragmentary shadows of himself that he'd warned me about? Either way, I didn't entirely trust it.
I nearly stopped dead in my tracks as another horrible thought crossed my mind. The demon tricked us before with a false image of Sailor Pluto. How do we know that this isn't another of its illusions? But we were committed now. Malachite would go on no matter what, I knew that. And I had to go with him, because I was all the help he had.
The door appeared in front of us so abruptly that, between our momentum and the wind pushing at us, we both hit it hard enough to stagger us.
<<I cannot cross the threshold with you,>> our guide informed us. <<They'll be on the other side, waiting nearby. Good luck.>>
That sounded ominous to me, but I wasn't given any time to think about it. The doors were opening, and the wind pushed us forward into misty drizzle.
We were standing at the center of what had once been a grove of trees. Slender branches still reached for the sky all around us, but most were leafless, and some were blackened, as well. Dead. And the air was thick with energies--the traces of a dozen small- to medium-sized demons, expended crystal power, human magic.
Instinctively, Malachite and I positioned ourselves back- to-back, weapons drawn.
<<Where do you think we are?>> my Center asked me. <<Future or past?>>
I shrugged. <<If I had to guess, I'd say distant past. I certainly hope it isn't the future. These little demons have been extinct for a very long time, haven't they?>>
<<Thousands of years,>> Malachite agreed. <<I wonder where the people are.>>
<<Miles from here, if they've got any sense,>> I replied sourly.
We stayed where we were for several minutes. Nothing happened. Then Malachite shrugged and sheathed his sword.
<<We're wasting time here. We need to find out where we are, and why.>>
I nodded, although I was beginning to have an unpleasant suspicion that I knew why.
--This version of me that you see here is only a shadow, as is the other one. Neither of us has the full knowledge or perception of the original. Do not place too much of your trust in either of us.-- The only question remaining in my mind was that of whether we were here because of an honest mistake... or because of true malice.
We moved cautiously forward into the drizzle, I a little behind Malachite and to his left. Visibility was limited to a few yards. We might almost still have been plowing through the outer reaches of the Timestream, if it hadn't been for the feel of dry grass crackling under our boots.
Malachite and I both stopped dead and looked at each other.
<<You're not expendable,>> I stated, and was rewarded with an irritable shrug and a small gesture of his free hand that I interpreted as permission to investigate.
I padded silently through the grass--not something that would have been possible without silence spells, given that the plants were yellow-brown and brittle. A grove that appeared to have been blasted by magic, ground cover that seemed to be frost-killed... where were we, and what had happened here?
I stopped again, frowning. That had come from my left. I was certain of that. And yet I had been moving directly toward the source of the original sound. So either the second noise had come from a different source...
... or it knew I was there, and was trying to circle around me.
I muttered a curse as I turned and ran back in the direction in which I had come.
Click. Click! Click-click-click-click-Click- CLICK!
Or, I thought as something smashed against my back and knocked me to the ground, that could be exactly what it wants me to think.
My sword went flying, and I found myself wrestling for my life with something that was human-sized, slimy-slick-purple- skinned, and in possession of altogether too many teeth. A lesser demon.
A clawed finger nicked my earlobe, and that entire side of my face was suddenly freezing cold and numb. Poisoned. Wonderful. I should have used magic on it, but it's difficult to focus your mind well enough for that when you're grappling with something that looks like a refugee from a childhood nightmare.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see white light lancing from Malachite's hands, knocking the thing off of me. Unfortunately, the critter was lucky. A desperate attempt to save itself didn't succeed, but its claws caught in the chain that supported my spirit crystal.
Its touch was the worst thing that I had ever experienced, a special torture that went beyond pain or rape or any other sort of violation. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Malachite drop to his knees as the reaction swept through him as well, but I was too busy convulsing to pay any attention.
If that thing gets away with my crystal, I'm dead, I thought, forcing myself to concentrate through the terrible sensation that resulted from a racial enemy holding a piece of my soul in its hand. But I can't function through this, and I'm dragging Malachite down with me. And he's my only chance. So I gathered a tiny bit of power and did the only thing I could, knowing that it might be suicide.
I knocked myself unconscious.
For the first few moments after the pain ended, the only emotion I could manage was giddy relief. Then it occurred to me to wonder why it had stopped. Nephrite... can't be dead, can he? But no, a quick check along the Weavelink informed me that he was only unconscious, although he was also sinking fast.
I have to get his crystal back. Now, which way did that thing go?
I wasn't used to tracking demons through fog by following their magical traces, so I wasted precious time trying to figure out what direction I had to go in. The creature had to be laughing at me.
When I finally moved forward, I did so with a naked blade in my hand--Zoisite's gift sword, from all those years ago. I had considered leaving it behind, but there hadn't been a single other weapon in the armories that fitted my hand half so well. No doubt I would be bloodying it again soon.
Gibbering sounds from the mist, off to my left. I ignored what I assumed to be an attempt to distract me, and continued along my chosen course. Damn it all, when would this infernal fog lift? I felt like I was swimming through greyness. I'd had enough fog today to last me several lifetimes.
There, my instincts told me, and I shifted my stance, stalking, now, instead of striding. In all honesty, I was surprised that the thing had gotten this far. I had burned it pretty badly.
Even at my reduced pace, it was only a few seconds more before I reached my quarry. It was limping pitifully, not even seeming to notice the chain tangled in the claws of its left hand, much less the crystal that dangled from it.
It seemed like a waste to expend any more magic on this hapless and almost helpless creature. I'd finish it off by hand, then. Good enough. I half-ran forward, to close the distance between us, raised my sword, and swung it down. The little demon gave a piercing cry, and died.
I bent down and wiped my sword clean on its hide, then knelt to tease Nephrite's spirit crystal from between the slack, dead claws, knowing that every second that it remained in the creature's hand had to be a second of absolute agony for my Weavemate, even with him unconscious and the demon dead.
What would I do if I lost Nephrite? I needed him. Zoisite might be my anchor, but Nephrite was my right hand, and my heir. If anything happened to me, he would be the one who succeeded to the leadership of the Negaverse. He was irreplaceable, at least at present.
I jerked the chain free at last, then forced myself to close my eyes and clearly picture the place I had left my Weavemate. Normally, such concentration wouldn't have been necessary for a successful teleport, but I didn't know how far I'd come since leaving him, or what direction I'd moved in, so the image was my only referent, and I didn't dare land off-target. I'd left him unconscious and at the mercy of any demon that should happen along, and I needed to get back there as quickly as possible.
In fact, I was a little too well on target. I emerged from nonspace straddling Nephrite's knees. It's fortunate that we normally can't teleport into a space occupied by anyone or anything else, or something disastrous might have happened.
I stabbed a patch of coarse grass with my sword, leaving the blade standing upright and close to hand as I bent down to put Nephrite's spirit crystal back where it belonged. Making sure that your weapon is instantly available is an elementary precaution when you're in enemy territory.
However, in this case, it wasn't even nearly enough.
I was so intent on what I was doing that I never even noticed it coming. Not that I necessarily would have, in any case. There were so many recent demonic traces in the area that it was difficult to separate them.
It faded in from the mist. At first, I thought it was just a thicker-than-average swirl of fog, blowing in on the faint, cold breeze that was beginning to rise, and ignored it accordingly. It wasn't until the wind picked up a handful of dust and dead grass and swirled it into the image of a smirking face that I realized how much danger I was in.
Several things came together in my mind at that moment. This never had been a mist. It was the manifestation of a demon, one subtle enough to hide its traces and strong enough to conceal itself from the strongest Crystal Weaver in either world. It wasn't as powerful as the Negaforce or any of the others that were bound by Adamant's Ward, but this time I didn't have the Silver Crystal or the rest of my Weave to back me, and the gold band that I wore around my wrist was cold and inert, providing no guidance.
An equal match, I thought grimly, cupping one hand over my spirit crystal and narrowing my eyes to slits. My hair whipped around my face, encouraged by the rising wind created by the demon.
Oh, no, you don't. I focused my powers, and immediately, a bubble of air around me went... well, not exactly still, since there was still a wind, created by my own powers, rising around me, but almost. At least the demon could no longer whip the air into a gale capable of stripping flesh from bone. And now what? I wondered. The demon had hesitated, swirling, as though uncertain of what to do. As was I.
How do you dissipate a mist? With wind, but that was the demon's favorite weapon, and it was sure to have defenses against it. Or... with the heat and light of the sun. Well, I was no sun, but I could do heat and light.
It took a moment to disentangle the chain that supported my spirit crystal from my hair and take it off. Outside my ward, the demon was swirling faster and more violently, and I sensed that I wouldn't have much longer before it tried to mount an offensive of its own.
I raised the crystal up above my head, at arm's length, then arranged my other hand to shield my eyes. There was no need to blind myself while doing this. And now...
Is it in the Christian holy book that it's written, "And God said, 'Let there be light,'"? If so, I'm not all that impressed with their god. Spoken spells are for amateurs. I only had to will light, and it came, so bright that I had to close my eyes even behind my shading hand. For a few seconds, any observers must indeed have seen a small sun flare above that barren little patch of land.
The demon didn't exactly scream as it died. Screaming would have required it to be more corporeal. But I did feel it die-- which was a good thing, because killing it had taken almost everything I had.
With shaking hands, I wrapped the chain that supported my spirit crystal around my wrist. Then I forced myself to expend a little more energy, to set wards around Nephrite, still unconscious and thus helpless, and myself. Only when I had finished that could I allow myself to collapse beside my Weavemate.
The last thing I saw as I passed out was the final tatters of mist dissipating, exposing us to the brilliance of the sun where it hung in the bright blue sky above us.
Goto Chapter 22
© by E. Liddell - Email: [email protected]
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0.02579 | <urn:uuid:bfee5073-490a-4d90-966a-d0215b966029> | en | 0.974862 | Latest Likes For havehope
havehope, ADN, CNA, RN 10,969 Views
Joined Oct 29, '10 - from 'United States'. havehope is a Registered Nurse. Posts: 391 (28% Liked) Likes: 203
Sorted By Last Like Received (Max 500)
• Oct 27
Being that our linen carts are in the bathroom, it is simply impossible when you are by yourself handling a patient that say, can't stay turned on one side to be changed for so long. So, what I do is put a few clean towel down on the floor and then put the soiled linen on top of that. I would love to hear others input for new ideas that are realistic and cleaner.
• Apr 5
I agree with annaedrn. I am currently getting my CNA but...the ones that have RN behind there name WORKED for it. It's not fair to them. Plus, what if the person she was talking to asked about a specific med. or something that only nurses could answers not cna's then what would she say? Make something up?
That's just my opinion | http://allnurses.com/member-458909/liked.html | dclm-gs1-176711087 |
0.052548 | <urn:uuid:fb3189c0-bc22-4579-91b7-65041128704e> | en | 0.984108 | Friday, December 2, 2011
BE THANKFUL
He asked her, "Now that you can see the world... will you marry me?"
The girl looked at her boyfriend and saw that he was blind. the sight of his closed eyelids shocked her. She hadn't expected that. The thought of looking at them the rest of her life led her to refuse to marry him.
In tears, her boyfriend left her. Days later, he wrote her a note, "Take good care of your eyes, my dear, for before they were yours, they were mine." Yes, indeed, he had been the donor for her eyes.
This is how the human brain often works when our status changes. Only a few remember what life was before and who was always by their side in the most painful situations. Do you remember who was ALWAYS there for you when you needed someone most? What is your relationship with them now?
LIFE IS A GIFT
*Today before you say an unkind word-- think of someone who can't speak
*Before you complain about the taste of your food-- think of someone who has nothing to eat
*Before you complain about ypur husband/wife-- think of someone who's crying out to God for a companion
*Today before you complain about life-- think of someone who went to Heaven too early
*Before you complain about your children-- think about someone who desires a child but is barren
*Before you complain about your partner-- just remember someone who is searching for one
*Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't clean-- think of the people who are living in the streets
*Before whining about the distance you have to drive-- think about someone without any transportation and has to walk that distance in all types of weather
*And when you are tired and complain about your job-- think of someone who wish they had your job
*And if, while reading this, you're thinking, "yep, I know someone like that", before you think about pointing the finger or condemning another-- remember that NOT ONE OF US IS WITHOUT SIN and we all answer to One Maker.
So when depressing thoughts seem to get you down... put a smile on your face and THANK GOD you're alive and still around.
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| http://amazinggrace-mychainsaregoneorg.blogspot.com/2011/12/be-thankful.html | dclm-gs1-176721087 |
0.0302 | <urn:uuid:0c07c0b8-3ab4-48bc-8094-715188928a42> | en | 0.985132 | Super Bowl Thoughts
Ten days removed from the Super Bowl, it’s time for some thoughts.
Most every word that was written in the aftermath of the game centered around Pete Carroll’s decision not to run the ball with Marshawn Lynch on the play that ultimately cost Seattle the game. Hindsight is always 20/20, and it’s very easy for “armchair head coaches” to second guess the playcall after the fact. Of course, if Seattle had scored a TD and won the game, the story would have been different. The internet has made this type of “insight” grow x1000, but most people are crazy to think that the decisions in sporting events are that easy, especially until time and pressure constraints. Coaches spend weeks watching film and scouting opponents in other ways. They know the intricacies of every one of their players, and presumably every strength and weakness of said players. To assume that every decision is as cut and dry as the Madden video games make things seem it just ludicrous.
Sure in retrospect Pete Carroll made the wrong decision to call that pass play. But there is no guranatee that running the ball with Lynch would have resulted in a touchdown. And every other decision by both coaches all game led them to be in that exact situation anyway. While it’s easy in a vacuum to say it all came down to that one play, that idea has been supremely overblown.
The fact that Seattle had lost two key defensive players before halftime, and another several had significant injuries they played through, it seems like a miracle that Seattle was as competitive as they were. This underscores the fact that Pete Carroll has proven to be a pretty impressive football coach who has been pretty unlucky in a couple of key moments.
Tom Brady now has played in six Super Bowls, and won four of them. It seems amazing to think about how impressive that is in the current state of pro sports, and particularly football. Because the titles were so spread out, the multiple scandals, and the two failed attempts against the Giants, it’s possible that in the moment Brady’s accomplishments are being overlooked. Comparing players across eras is damn near impossible, especially in football where the game has evolved so much, but when Brady’s level of success is compared to recent guys like Manning, Big Ben, Favre, and such, no one is even close to the four rings. 10–15 years from now people are really going to be talking about how amazing this was.
Bill Belichick seems to get a lot more credit for being great, but his personality has probably also cost him some due credit. Although it’s also possible that the scandals haven’t helped that either. The playoff wins and Super Bowl success are a major feather in his cap though. 10 years after he retires, and everyone has forgotten about all the nonsense, he will be remembered in a much better light.
Marshawn Lynch seemed like a dud when he got to Seattle. Now he has ripped off some of the most incredible runs over the last decade. Will he be remembered? Most backs in the top 30 of career rushing yards played around 11 or so seasons. Lynch is at eight. He is only 28 though, and doesn’t have as much mileage on his body, so he could play a while longer. But statistically he probably isn’t going to turn any heads, and when Steven Jackson is currently 16th all-time the bar to be significant is a long way off. Lynch will likely be a guy remembered fondly by Seahawks fans, and that’s about it.
Russell Wilson had a rough end to the playoffs and looked far more like a third round pick than a long-term star. A year ago he seemed like a gem in the 2012 QB class, a third round wonder. But that class suddenly looks amazing, especially if RG3 rebounds (it also includes Luck, Tannehill, Foles, Cousins and Lindley). Wilson had the makings of the solid QB who would win a lot of games and not cost his team many. But this playoffs he did not look like that guy. He is closing in on a huge new contract , and not it looks questionable whether he is an elite QB long term. Teams often had to reload after playoff runs, and someone of Brady’s caliber can roll with that, whether or not Wilson can is the big question for his legacy.
Overall the Super Bowl was tremendous. It was definitely one of the best games in years and lived up to the hype and excitement for once. It seems impossible to imagine either of these teams making it back here, and both teams could be looking at that post Super Bowl rebuilding that seems so regular. For Pats’ fans that might mean a long road ahead. For everyone else, the hope is that next year’s game is even close to this good.
Crazy Early 2016 Super Bowl prediction: Philadelphia vs. Indianapolis | http://berserkhippo.com/2015/02/super-bowl-thoughts/ | dclm-gs1-176831087 |
0.024433 | <urn:uuid:8ac6b532-b909-4de3-b4e6-670e553def41> | en | 0.965384 | Monday, August 16, 2010
Process refugee claimants, don't detain them
Several problems with Levant's suggestion.
What about turning back ships?
Vote for this post at Progressive Bloggers.
Anonymous said...
The bulk of the money came from Canadian Tamils living in Toronto, this of course cannot be proven, but, you'd be pretty naive to not know that. The majority of people on that boat will end up in Toronto, and, the boat after that and the one after that. It will cost Canada approx 147 million dollars if all 490 refugee's are processed, thats not including medical, housing and social assistance. Theres a reason that ship bypassed 20 countrys closer to them then Canada. And..its also very naive to not understand that somewhere at sea that ship took on more people and supplies. The anser is easy, but, its a hard one, and, its the same answer to the same problem that the US, UK, Germany and Australia have...send the ship back and the problem ends. sucks.
ridenrain said...
Genuine refugees would stop at the first available country, not make a dedicated trip directly across the world. People floating from Cuba to Florida on intertubes are refugees. These are migrants, not refugees.
BlastFurnace said...
I had to delete one obvious spam comment. Don't think I'm not paying attention to those -- they are marked and reported to Google and other blog hosts. This is one war we will win.
Michael Harkov said...
This is so disturbing, I can scarcely believe that it is happening and that NDP and Liberal supporters see nothing wrong -
A further indication of the fact that a high percentage of those we accepted were not genuine refugees was that large numbers went back to visit Sri Lanka while their applications were still pending.
Although their claims for asylum were based on the argument that they fled persecution in that country in many cases out of fear for their lives in one year alone more than 8,600 applied to the Sri Lankan High Commission in Ottawa for travel documents so they could make visits to their homeland.
LPC, Ignatieff; NDP, Layton; and their supporters – WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | http://blastfurnacecanada.blogspot.com/2010/08/process-refugee-claimants-dont-detain.html | dclm-gs1-176911087 |
0.082443 | <urn:uuid:dfa2d8f8-f351-490e-820d-fe29aa8fa4ac> | en | 0.968869 | Friday, February 26, 2016
White-haters obsessed with skin color
Last week a front page (above the fold) NY Times story said:
Reading these stories just convinces me that the major news media represents those who hate white people, and who do not identify as white.
Barack Obama has been treated better than any President since JFK. His nominees have been treated much better than those of Nixon, Reagan, Bush 41, and Bush 43.
Doing so, Mrs. Clinton added, is in keeping with a longstanding pattern of mistreatment.
“They demonize President Obama and encourage the ugliest impulses of the paranoid fringe,” she said. “This kind of hatred and bigotry has no place in our politics or our country.”
The article is trying to imply that McConnell and Scott are racists, but does not mention that Scott is black.
The leftist white-haters have discovered that they can bully whites by calling them racists. I expect Obama to appoint a non-white (or maybe non-Christian or LGBT) so he can try to use white guilt to get he/she/it confirmed. Or to inflame anti-white voters in the Nov. election.
Some of these folks promoting white hatred are white themselves, such as Hillary Clinton. But she is entirely dependent on man-hating feminists, white-haters, Christian-haters, and other leftists for her support.
Anonymous said...
Why would Obama want to appoint a non-white to inflame anti-white voters in the Nov. election ? Why would a non-white appointment inflame anti-white voters ? Wouldn't you expect anti-white voters to want a non-white appointment ? Did you misword something ?
Roger said...
Obama could appoint someone like Eric Holder or Loretta Lynch. They are popular among blacks for investigating Ferguson Missouri. Whites do not care much about Ferguson, or about the race of the nominee. If the nominee is not confirmed, then blacks and Clinton supporters will scream until election day that the Republicans are racist. They'll say that anyway, but the nomination will give them something specific to be inflamed about.
Anonymous said...
OK, thank you. I understand. | http://blog.singularvalues.com/2016/02/white-haters-obsessed-with-skin-color.html | dclm-gs1-176941087 |
0.018622 | <urn:uuid:57cd96fd-124e-49f1-895e-c6fae309b1bf> | en | 0.952473 | Monday, February 25, 2013
12 Months Old!
It happened. My baby is now one year old. Yesterday we had his birthday party with just his Grandparents, Gg-ma, and my brother's family. It was a great party. Very low key and simple with good food and lots of baby cheek pinches.
Confused by singing and cake.
Chocolate cake w/ red whipped cream core & blue whipped cream icing!
Cake goodness sinking in.
Now that we've got that party stuff out of the way, on to the main event. Why my 12 month/1 year old is better than a meatball sandwich!
My 12 Monther
~ Crawls. Crawl fast and with skill. That developed fast.
~ Pulls himself up onto knees and cruises on knees solo.
~ Pulls himself up to standing while assisted and cruises while up there.
~ Crawls at top speed and rams his head into whatever part of your body is handy as a way of showing his love. Will rub his forehead back and forth against you like a puppy while laughing.
~ Will imitate you doing something. Especially a cough or toy manipulation.
~ Will use 2 words together. Specifically "Hai kitty!"
~ Is getting slowly better with table food. New favorite is beans.
~ Is an expert ring stacker and enjoys stacking his blocks as well.
~ No longer obeys "No!" even though he clearly understands it.
~ Continues to be a champion sleeper and has started taking his afternoon nap upstairs in his crib without fuss.
12 Months Owl!
Happy 1 Year, my sweet little Pud!
Update from Dr appointment: Weight is 22 pounds 11 ounces, 50%. Height is 31 3/4 inches tall, 95%. Head size is 19 1/2 inches, 98%. So his stats are staying the same and he's growing proportionally.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Crazy Balls
Tomorrow is Sam's first birthday party! Which means today is mega prep time. Mostly cooking. Including these delicious little beauties. A recipe for the most amazing meatballs ever that I snagged from my grandma who snagged it from the mother of someones boyfriend long ago. So they are also known as Forbidden Balls.
Crazy Meatballs
2 lb ground beef
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cranberry sauce
1 can sauerkraut
1 bottle chili sauce
1/4 C bread crumbs
3 eggs
3/4 C brown sugar
Mix together hamburger, bread crumbs, soup mix, and eggs. Form into meatballs the size of a cotton ball. Arrange in a large casserole dish with lid. Make sure there's plenty of room in the dish to allow for bubbling juices and possible overflow.
Meanwhile, in a sauce pan combine and heat till saucy the cranberry sauce, sauerkraut, chili sauce, refill the chili sauce bottle with water and add that, and brown sugar. Pour over the meatballs making sure they are all covered.
Bake at 325 for 2 hours, uncovered for the last 30 minutes.
They are a wonderful mix of meaty, sweet, and tangy. I love them. And I would love to know who the mad scientist cook was who first thought "Hey, I bet if I throw cranberry sauce, sauerkraut, and chili sauce into something together it'll be awesome!". Cause yeah, I never would have thought of it.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Little of This, Little of That
Nobody puts baby in the corner. Except baby.
He's getting more sneaky in his pursuit of the trash can.
Butt Paste! Shark Towel! Red Crawler Knees! Woot!
That is all. Thank you.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
We have a new game called There's A Puff On My Spoon!
Now that he's wanting to self feed, and I'm not willing to spot bot my dining room floor every day, this works for us. Puff on spoon, wild look in baby's eyes, see if the spoon gets to the mouth with the puff still on it.
Of course, that is assuming he cooperates and doesn't just try to cut out the middle man.
Progress. She lives here now. Making my baby a toddler. Word.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
With 15 Days to Spare
This morning Sam decided it was time to start crawling. You know, cause that's probably something he should do before he turns a year old. Just to prove that he can do it. So what if most babies do this task around 6-9 months of age? He was just taking his time. Back off.
And all the motivation he needed was the cabinet of no-no. Why, oh why, was this entertainment center designed without a door over the center section where you put all your players of various kinds? I spend about 70% of my day telling him to get away from _______ . But if that's where his motivation lies, then so be it.
YAY for Samuel! 15 days till you turn one and you're off and crawling!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Children's Song Fail
I don't know a lot of kids songs. This means that most of the songs I sing to Sam are made up of whatever silly things I see in the room at the time. But there is a song I remembered hearing at some point in the past and I wanted to learn it. It took me a while, but I happily found it!
So I'm reading the lyrics aloud and kinda half singing it to my husband to see if he remember the song "Tie Me Kangaroo Down". The song goes through a list of Australian animals, each one getting it's own verse. Then I came across this verse:
Let me abos go loose, Lew
Let me abos go loose
They're of no further use, Lew
So let me abos go loose
Altogether now!
Abos. I've never heard of an abos. What's an abos? Was it a kind of bird or lizard? Hubby didn't know either. To the internet we went!
n. pl. Ab·os or ab·os Offensive Slang. Used as a disparaging term for an Australian Aborigine.
Oh. Oh no. No, no, no. I gasped. Morgan laughed, "I guess you can leave that verse out!" Yeah, we don't need to be teaching that to our offspring. But I still love the song and will be bouncing Sam on my knee to it. Besides, I'm pretty sure most people leave out that verse as well. | http://bowlcake.blogspot.com/2013/02/ | dclm-gs1-176971087 |
0.034538 | <urn:uuid:66031ce6-7773-40e5-a704-2c459551271a> | en | 0.891166 | Friday, February 3, 2012
February is BLACK METAL MONTH!!! As a heavy metal fan I enjoy many sub-genres of metal from Power Metal to Death Metal and Thrash to Hardcore. But no other genre of metal is as extreme and feared in the heavy metal world other than BLACK METAL! Known for their shrieking vocals, fast and heavy distorted guitar sounds, Black Metal is laced with occult and often Satanic themes. Much like early Black Sabbath, Black Metal's rise in popularity in the U.S. during the 1980's and their more extreme incarnations in Norway in the 1990's make Black Metal one of the most infamous and controversial sub-genres of metal. While many fans have their favorites and will argue until Hell freezes over who is truly black metal or just some poser in corpse-paint! This month CHERNOBOG'S BLOG celebrates Black Metal Month with a list of the Top 10 Black Metal Bands! So put on your black leather and spikes and slap on some corpse paint! Welcome to HELL...
#10 Enslaved - Considered to be a Progressive Black Metal band, Enslaved was formed in Sveio, Norway in 1991. The band incorporates both Viking metal (Vikingligr Veldi (1994) and progressive metal (Eld (1997) styling in their albums. Favorite Album: Below the Lights (2003)
#9 Darkthrone - Originally a death metal band formed in Kolbotn, Norway in 1987, Darkthrone embraced black metal in 1991. Darkthorne consists of only two band members; Ted 'Nocturno Culto' Skjellum and Gylve Fenris 'Fenriz' Nagell. The band stays out of the mainstream music scene but is an influential force in Norwegian black metal. Favorite Album: Transylvanian Hunger (1994)
#8 Gorgoroth - Based in Bergen, Norway, Gorgoroth took their name from a location in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novels. Roger 'Infernus' Tiegs is the only remaining original member who formed the band in 1992 supposedly after making "a pact with the devil". Gorgoroth is probably the most overtly Satanic black metal band often using disturbing imagery in their music and stage performances. The most infamous of which is their 2004 show in Kraków, Poland which consisted of illegal religious offense (Polish law), nudity and cruelty to animals! Gorgoroth also refuses to publish their lyrics tablature and suppresses shows of fan-written covers. Favorite Album: Antichrist (1995)
#7 Behemoth - Formed in 1991 in Gdańsk, Poland; Behemoth was considered more of a traditional black metal band until the 1990's when they evolved using more occult and Thelemic overtones and changing their style into an even more obscure sub-genre called Blackened Death Metal. Recently lead vocalist Adam 'Nergal' Darski was diagnosed with leukemia. Favorite Album: Demigod (2005)
#6 Mayhem - Formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway; Mayhem is considered to be one of the most infamous, notorious and controversial of all the Norwegian Black Metal bands. Along with their violent stage performances the band's history is latent with death, murder and destruction including the suicide of early vocalist Per 'Dead' Yngve Ohlin in 1991 and the murder of guitarist Øystein 'Euronymous' Aarseth by former band member Varg Vikernes (Burzum), in 1993. Of all their numerous band lineup changes, bassist Jørn 'Necrobutcher' Stubberud is the only remaining founding member. Favorite Album: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994)
#5 Celtic Frost - From Zürich, Switzerland; Celtic Frost is one of the earliest European metal bands whos style changes range from black metal, death metal, thrash and goth metal. The band was active until they disbanded in 1993 but later reformed in 2001 until 2008 when the band officially "laid to rest" in 2008. Favorite Album: Morbid Tales (1984)
#4 Immortal - Founded in Bergen, Norway in 1990 by current frontman/guitarist Abbath Doom Occulta, Immortal's distinctive face paint design has made them instantly recognizable in the Black Metal scene. Their original rhythm guitarist Jörn Tonsberg (Hades Almighty), was convicted of church burnings alongside Varg Vikernes (Burzum) in 1993. The band split in 2003 but soon reunited in 2005. Favorite Album: Battles In the North (1995)
#3 Dimmu Borgir - Formed in 1993 in Oslo, Norway; Dimmu Borgir is named after an Icelandic volcanic formation (Dimmuborgir). Although the band has had numerous lineup changes, Shagrath (vocals) and Silenoz (guitar) are the only remaining founding members. Known for their fast and heavy but symphonic style the band sites classical composers such as Antonín Dvořák and Richard Wagner as some of their major influences alongside heavy metal. Favorite Album: Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia (2001)
Nergal (Behemoth), Shagrath (Dimmu Borgir), Danny Filth (Cradle of Filth)
#2 Mercyful Fate/King Diamond - Formed in 1981 in Copenhagen, Denmark but after only two albums the band split up in 1985 as frontman Kim 'King Diamond' Peterson started a solo project, but then reunited with the band in 1992 until 2000 when the band went on hiatus as King again pursued his solo career. They remain an influential part of Black Metal history and has been cited by such bands as Metallica for their influence. Favorite Album: In the Shadows (1994)
#1 Venom - Formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England in 1979, Venom was part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal during the late 1970's and early 80's and is credited as the originators of black metal with albums such as Welcome To Hell (1981) and Black Metal (1982). Favorite Album: Black Metal (1982) | http://chernobogslair.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-metal-month-top-10-black-metal.html | dclm-gs1-177071087 |
0.529854 | <urn:uuid:a8bee1e2-bf9e-45c5-82f8-9f92443efacf> | en | 0.936152 | My blog has moved! Redirecting...
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Why Are Retail Investors Skeptical?
It's Supposed to Work in the Midwest, at Least
One of the all-time high school pranks growing up -- at least according to urban legend -- was going to the mall and acting like you lost a contact lens.
Step 2: a couple confederates join your "search."
What's supposed to happen next is, clueless passersby join the search while the perpetrators withdraw to the sidelines and watch (and suppress their snide laughs).
The Bernanke Stock Market
Having seen two bubbles -- in tech stocks and then housing -- in the last decade, not to mention the predations of Goldman Sachs, Angelo Mozilo and scores of others, my guess is that "retail investors" (you and me) are now asking themselves two things:
. Is there really a contact lens in the middle of that growing crowd (read, the now-advancing stock market)?
. How expensive is it going to be -- this time -- to find out?
To paraphrase that expression, "fool me twice, shame on you. Fool me three times, shame on me."
P.S.: I can already answer question #3: 'Will anything happen to those responsible?' Answer: 'Nope.'
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noida paras apartments | http://citylakes.blogspot.com/2010/12/why-are-retail-investors-skeptical.html | dclm-gs1-177131087 |
0.08399 | <urn:uuid:e3d93bec-fcef-4f14-953f-6d5f16b7a0aa> | en | 0.973116 | Wednesday, August 5, 2009
What is happiness?
A reader sends in a recent piece from the New York Times, an author reflecting on happiness. Read the whole thing (it's the length of a regular OpEd) but here are some sentences that caught my eye:
I agree with a lot of his sentiments. In some ways, I think I'm lucky (or perceptive, or something) to appreciate my happy moments while they are going on rather than only in retrospect. But there are also a lot of times when, if you asked me how are you doing, I don't think happy would be the first word out of my mouth (e.g. organic chemistry classes in college) but I now recall quite fondly as some of the best times in my life. Part of this may be nostalgia, for I know that I will never be in organic chemistry classes in college again, while time with my family, games at Fenway, etc. are all on-going events in my life. That certainly doesn't mean I don't appreciate the latter, but I think there is a different kind of happiness one experiences in the midst of something, compared to when you look back on something that is gone, never to come back. | http://confirm-or-disconfirm.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-happiness.html | dclm-gs1-177161087 |
0.047567 | <urn:uuid:104acebf-f268-4f3e-a269-7cbf5bb5b3d9> | en | 0.964515 | Monday, December 27, 2010
The Best Songs from 2010
by Conroy
With only days left in 2010, it's time for my annual Top 10 Songs list. As with the previous versions, this list will count down what I consider to be the ten best songs from this year. There are a couple of ground rules for songs to be eligible to make the list:
• If at all possible, I try to include only one song per artist. For instance, I could have included multiple songs from the album The Suburbs by Arcade Fire, but adhering to my rule, and because I wasn't overawed by the additional tracks, I've included just one song from the album. However, if we turned back time and I was writing about my Top 10 songs from say 1996, I would have included multiple songs from Weezer's spectacular album Pinkerton (after all, three songs from this album are included in my Top 100 Songs).
• All songs must be released in this calendar year (i.e. 2010). For instance, Vampire Weekend released an album, Contra, this year. The wonderful track "Horchata" leads off the album, and it would certainly have made the Top 10 for 2010 except that the song was released as a single near the end of last year (2009). Since it was released separate from the rest of the album and gained widespread airplay, I must disqualify it from consideration for songs from 2010. Alas, the late release last year meant that it missed making the list for a musically loaded 2009.
Okay that's enough background, the list:
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
A Special Place - Supplement
by Conroy
One of my favorite writers, Gregg Easterbrook, included a discussion of the size and composition of the universe in his most recent Tuesday Morning Quaterback column. It's under the "A Cosmic Thought" header at the end of the column. I'm highlighting it here because Easterbrook provides (an unintentionally timely) different take on how we may view the vastness and age of the universe, one that may give readers an interesting counterpoint.
I quote:
I agree that merely being able to ponder the fact of existence and the reality of the universe speaks to the remarkable intelligence and curiosity of mankind. As Easterbrook eloquently notes, we cannot know the "purpose of the cosmic enterprise". However, is it too much to admit our apparent minuteness in the scheme of existence, and does that have to be a source of disappointment?
Monday, December 20, 2010
Post Number 3: A Special Place
by Conroy
This is my final post of three that outlines my personal philosophy, or as I've noted in both previous posts, my non-philosophy on man and the universe we inhabit. This post outlines my views about nature and the universe. Links to the first two posts on the nature of man and the purpose of society are provided here:
Post Number 1: The Start
Post Number 2: Smoothed Edges
The greatest achievement of humanity has certainly been our remarkable ability to (1) continually explore and better understand how the universe is composed and how it works, and (2) utilize that knowledge to facilitate the breathtaking explosion of technology. It is the continuous (and accelerating) improvements in technology more than any other human activity that has improved the lives of individual people and buttresses the belief that the future will be even better. Evolving technology, like all other human activities comes with negatives, think pollution or the ability to destroy our society through nuclear apocalypse, but all-in-all, technological development is the great success story of history.
However, what our scientific exploration and higher technology has not been able to solve - and does not seem destined to solve - is the answer to some fundamental questions; including these, which most intrigue me:
• Where did the universe and everything in it come from?
• How is the universe evolving and what is its "ultimate" fate?
• Why is the universe composed of the "stuff" in it?
• Why is the universe governed by the few physical laws that we've observed?
• Why did life develop out of this universe?
• Why are we mortal?
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Cliches - Part 2
by Conroy
Don't Reinvent the Wheel
I love cliches. I love speaking them as commentary on daily life, using them to communicate common but powerful truths, relying on them to simplify the complex thoughts I yearn to articulate. Does this mean that my writing, and by extension my thinking, is hackneyed and limited? By failing to explore new metaphors or unconventional word syntax does my writing lack the dynamism and inventiveness of a truly accomplished writer? I say emphatically - NO!
No, cliches are not unoriginal and stale drivel to be discarded and derided, but a valuable tool in any writer's (or speaker's) repertoire. Is there a better way to reduce complicated ideas into digestible and easily understood components? Is there a better way to communicate quickly and clearly? Doesn't a cliche used well, or dare I write - originally, add to the enjoyment of reading?
What better way to to explain the unique burdens of a life then, 'everyone has their cross to bear'? Are there another six words that can encapsulate this part of the human condition? How about a better five words to summarize the responsibilities and bonds of family then, 'blood is thicker than water'? Or a central and perhaps unsettling reality of this universe, 'better to be lucky than good'?
Much of the contempt for cliches may come from confusion with cliched writing. Writing that is derivative, regurgitates tired ideas, over-simplifies the complex, or states the obvious. Cliched writing is lazy, it fails to inform, it insults the reader's intelligence. It's fiction instead of literature.
Cliched writing is waste. Cliches are value. Let's not get the two confused.
Here are some of my favorite cliches (not counting the ones cited above):
• 'Nothing lasts forever' and 'Everyone has to lose sometime'. I especially like to keep these in mind when it comes to sports.
• 'The grass is always greener on the other side' and 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'. Readers of my first post will already know of my belief that the lure of what we may have can overpower the reality of what we do have.
• 'Hope springs eternal'. Also in my first post, there are few things more human than our innate resiliency.
• 'The perfect is the enemy of the good'. Perfection is impossible, and in seeking it we can lose all of the good results that are possible.
• 'All's well that ends well'. Always liked the sound and sentiment of this expression. When times get stressful things can be done and said that cause resentment, but if things work out in the end, most slights can be forgiven.
• 'Once in a blue moon'. For some reason I think the occurrence of a blue moon is really fascinating. I'm in the annoying habit of explaining what a blue moon is whenever this expression is uttered (even by me) or when I have Blue Moon beer.
• 'Road to ruin is paved with good intentions'. So often intentions are immaterial to results - sometimes disastrous results.
• 'Black as pitch', 'Down in the mouth''Missed the boat', 'Once bitten, twice shy', 'Shuffle off this mortal coil', and 'Whistle past the graveyard'. Just like the way these sound, read, and the ideas they express.
What cliches do you love to use?
Cliches - Part 1
I Come to Praise Clichés, Not to Bury Them
Although style mavens deprecate clichés, it's important to know them—whether or not they make for fine writing, and whether or not you actually use them. That's because clichés save time and often enhance communication: they provide ready-made formulations of common ideas, and are likely to be understood immediately by just about any listener. In fact, most clichés were once successful, vivid metaphors, and so provide a model of what a superlative metaphor might look like. Moreover, many clichés are rich with meaning, interesting history, and even uncommonly known facts about the world. They are a treasure trove of rhetorical technique. And if you don't want to use them as they are, you can always give them a surprising twist.
So why do style experts deplore clichés with such utter contempt? Because they are boring? Perhaps. But I would suggest that the primary motivation is snobbery—the snobbery of a literary elite. After all, anybody can scribble a simple-minded cliché. Avoiding clichés, on the other hand, means having to generate different ways of expressing ideas, which is difficult to do. This gives those who can, something to crow about. But perhaps sometimes it's not worth taking the extra time and effort that "being original" requires. Sometimes it's better just to use the nearest cliché that does the job. Style isn't everything; substance matters too. And isn't it always a good idea to be cost-effective, even if that means falling back on a few tried-and-true clichés, every now and again, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel all the time?
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Top 250 - Update
by Conroy
I have added youtube links to all (or all but two) of my Top 250 songs. You can now watch the associated videos, live performances, or just listen to the songs.
As I was adding these links, which required listening to the songs, I was struck by an emotional response to the music that I failed to emphasize in my post debuting the list. It makes sense that songs that would rank among my very favorite would have an emotional connection, after all music is the most emotional of arts. But I was also struck by how the music evoked memories of the period in my life in which I first heard or took a strong liking to each song. I mean, I've listened to each of these songs dozens of times (at a minimum), so I know them by heart.
You might think that familiarity would lessen the impact over time, especially as I mature, and my tastes and perspectives evolve. Certainly the list has seen songs come and go through it's many versions, but I had an insight when adding these links. I realized that I may have reached the point where my music tastes are what they are. Sure, there will be some modifications, but at this point I like what I like and this current list of 250 songs says a lot about not only my musical tastes, but more importantly about my emotional attitude towards my past experiences and towards the world.
Music affects people in ways that are not easy to articulate - and quite frankly in ways that I don't want to articulate. However, this lack of non-linguistic communication doesn't make it any less important, and the songs in my Top 250 list are vitally important to me.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Reclaimed Dominance
by Conroy
O2 Arena - ready for tennis
Monday, November 29, 2010
Project: War and Peace - Post 2
by Conroy
Monday, November 22, 2010
Into the Sky
by Conroy
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Emotions: A Survey
by Conroy
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Law & Morality - The Man Responds
Law & Morality - Counter-Point
by Conroy
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Law & Morality
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Post Number 2: Smoothed Edges
by Conroy
For this post about society, consider these song lyrics:
What do you mean by taking the edges off of life?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Top 250 - Update
by Conroy
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Symbolic Voting?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Project: War and Peace - Post 1
by Conroy
Leo Tolstoy
Thursday, October 28, 2010
To the Sky
by Conroy
Mount Kilimanjaro - rising like Olympus above the Serengeti
I've become obsessed with height, with high places, and with going higher. Just a few weeks ago I was in Boise, Idaho (elevation 2,700 feet). I was attending my cousin's wedding and had a free day so I went with a few others to hike in Bogus Basin, a mountain area about sixteen miles (and 40 minutes along a serpentine road) northeast of the city. We climbed to the top of the Basin (elevation 7,600 feet). I realized that this is as high as I had been since visiting Colorado in 1995 (not counting pressurized plane cabins). I live near Baltimore, just a few hundred feet above sea level - the highest point in Maryland is less than 3,400 feet in elevation.
When I was in Colorado I spent time in the Rockies and probably reached elevations as high as 10,000 feet, but no higher. Next year I plan to visit my aunt and uncle who now have a home in Colorado and hike to the top of a 14er (there are more than 50 summits in Colorado over 14,000 feet in elevation). After that, I'm going to climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro (elevation 19,400). I had some pie in the sky (mind the pun) idea of climbing Mount Everest (elevation 29,029 feet) one day, but Jon Krakauer's excellent book Into Thin Air changed my mind. The idea of depriving my brain of oxygen for an extended period of time, exposing my self to crippling frostbite, and living in a tent for weeks (or months) is too unappealing. I am going to climb Kilimanjaro, though.
Why do I want to go ever higher, climbing these mountains? I'll give you a very male answer - because they're there.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Electronic Reading
by The Man
A friend recently bought me a Kindle 3G, the latest generation, so over the last week I've been busy loading it up with books, playing with the Kindle iPhone app with which it syncs, and shopping for a carry case and night light, which I bought tonight. Basically, I've been getting to know my Kindle. Now, I have no intention of writing a product review here, but I do think a couple of things are interesting about this electronic reader—things that are applicable to electronic readers in general—and worth writing about. To start with a few positive things, it's wonderful to be able to highlight text without having to worry about "ruining" the book, it's fun to be able to scroll through the text that you've highlighted (this is easier to do on the iPhone), and I think it's amazing that it's possible to do a word search across all of one's electronic books—it's like having a search engine for your own private library. It's no longer necessary to have to walk around looking for the right book, search through the index, etc. With the Kindle, I was able for instance to do a search for "anthropic principle" and find in just a few seconds the relevant sections of several books that addressed this subject. This is an immensely powerful tool, and it is aided by the fact that if, due to a sudden but overwhelming curiosity, you are studying a particular subject and wish to read a book that addresses it, you can rapidly obtain the book while your interest is still "hot," taking advantage of your motivation before it fades.
On other hand, I was struck by how confining the Kindle is when compared to a physical book. With the latter, one can very rapidly flip through pages—not just one at a time, but many at once. The Kindle also enables one to find one's way in a book quickly, and perhaps I simply haven't mastered its navigation system yet. There will undoubtedly be a technological solution that will enable electronic books to equal and probably surpass the ease with which one can maneuver through a physical book. But it isn't there yet, and I am more impressed by this aspect of physical books than before I used an electronic one. I also think there is an aesthetic aspect to books, having to do with their color, size, and weight, that I hadn't fully appreciated before. And I'm not talking about the status feature of possessing a book collection, which is a feature of physical books that a number of people have mentioned to me: "Now you won't be able to show off your collection." Well, I frankly think that's a bit shallow. Those who do possess such collections, however, will struggle with certain "Schumpteerian" anxieties, as the new technology diminishes the value of the old. What value is that old collection of music CDs when you have all your favorite songs stored in iTunes? I even found myself purchasing a book that I already have a physical copy of, just because I know how much I love having it with me. The problem of sharing is a real. My wife doesn't have a Kindle, but there's a book we would both like to read. If I get it electronically, my wife won't be able to read it (there's no way I'm "loaning" my Kindle to her just so she can read this book). But I think this problem will be solved, in the same way that Apple has enabled sharing of songs on iTunes.
By the way, Amazon has an incentive to solve that problem. If I'm selling something, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to buy. That also means eliminating or otherwise weakening any impediments to buying. So, if I hesitate to buy a book because I know I won't be able to share it, that's potentially a lost sale. There's another side to this, of course, which is that Amazon doesn't want me to buy the book and then make copies and distribute them to all of my friends: that may reduce sales. But couples and families are slightly different, because they tend to make purchases as a unit. So, it's a tricky business, but, again, I think there is a solution. Electronic books will continue to improve in quality, come down in price, and eventually they will eclipse the old-fashioned paper book.
This last point reminds me of something I've heard a number of people say, and which I think may be a very common misconception: fewer paper books, the argument goes, will mean fewer trees are cut down, and therefore electronic books are good for the environment. This argument isn't in the least bit compelling. Consider the elementary point that when the demand for a resource falls, other things being equal, the supply will also fall. Therefore, to the extent that the demand for trees is determined by the demand for paper, as the demand for paper falls so will the supply of trees. Yes, trees have an important ecological role to play, but the benefits flowing from that role are widely shared and so market forces will most likely supply too few trees for ecological purposes. That's all the more reason to be glad that there exist market goods, such as books and wood products generally, that require (for the time being, anyway) trees.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Neither Awake nor Asleep
by Conroy
Man sleeping...peacefully?
A couple of nights ago I had a terrifying experience. I was lying in bed drifting off to sleep. As consciousness was slipping away I suddenly became aware that I was falling asleep. My spontaneous reaction to this realization was to move my left arm, but to my arm didn't move. I tried again with the same result, no movement! I tried my right arm, and my legs...still nothing! I began to panic, I knew I wasn't paralyzed, I just needed to fully wake. I told myself to keep trying, keep trying, I could move...
Finally, after what seemed a long time, but was probably no more than a few seconds, my arms bolted from under to covers, I was awake and mercifully mobile.
This wasn't a dream, not in the normal sense anyway. I knew I was in my bedroom, I could see my room, I just couldn't move. This eerie state of semi-consciousness is something that I've experienced before, perhaps once a year since I became an adult. It has a clinical name, hypnagogia, and as I think my story conveys, it's a disconcerting experience. On other occasions when I've suffered these episodes, I have been convinced that "something" was in my room, that my legs were suspended above my bed, and like this most recent occurrence, that I was paralyzed. Often these sensations were accompanied by a confusing rush of sound. In all instances, once I regained consciousness (I won't say once I awoke, because, I guess technically I was awake, or at least not asleep) I am lucid, aware of my surroundings (always my bedroom, and always when I'm alone), but with a very strong memory of the event. It's nothing like a dream that fades upon waking.
Hypnagogia seems to occur at least once to a large percentage of people and chronically to a small percentage. It can be accompanied by dreaming and sleep paralysis, clearly symptoms I've experienced. I often dream immediately after falling asleep and during even very short naps, which is not consistent with the normal REM sleep / dreaming cycle. Perhaps my hypnagogic experiences are when my dreaming starts even before I sleep. Is this a possible explanation?
I would support the argument that the absurd claims of "visions", "hauntings", or "alien abductions" are all specious manifestations of this biological phenomena. I can attest that it sure felt like there was a "presence" in my room during one of my episodes, but wakefulness revealed a relieved solitude. Maybe others are more unsettled by these occurrences or maybe their experiences are more vivid. After all, why else would a normal-thinking person make the preposterous, laughable claim to have been visited by aliens?
Have you ever had a hypnagogic episode? What did you experience?
I know I don't sleep well, I often wake up multiple times at night, I sometimes have unpleasant dreams (rarely genuine nightmares). Hypnagogia may just be another symptom of my poor sleeping. Anecdotally, it seems that a great many people suffer from sleep problems. Why is this? I know I am productive and energetic when well rested. I can be taciturn and sluggish when chronically tired. How much more effective might we all be if we just slept better?
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The End of World War II
by Conroy
As my readers will learn, I am something of an amateur World War II historian. It is my considered opinion, one that I share with more educated and experienced men, that the cataclysmic conflict was not only the overarching event of the last century, but perhaps the most significant calamity in human history. The world that existed before 1939 was irrevocably swept away and a new course established that has directly shaped the global community of the present.
Since the end of the War 65 years ago, it has been the subject of countless histories, biographies, novels, films, etc. Interest today is still keen. And in that vein, I want to praise the complementary works Armageddon and Retribution by British historian and journalist Max Hastings. These histories explore the final phase of the War in 1944-45 to defeat Germany and Japan, respectively. The books cover all aspects of the War's terminal period, which as the author powerfully evokes, was its bloodiest, most brutal phase. Hastings' writing is remarkably vivid and immediate, which is essential to the stories he tells. Hastings covers the war aims, political intricacies, and even broad military strategy clearly and succinctly, but doesn't linger over the grand individuals and larger strategic details that have been explored in so many other works. Instead, he focuses much of the narrative on the experiences of the common soldiers who had to fight the battles and the civilians whose lives were devastated. This approach yields two particularly effective histories, that go as far as any I've read of bringing the heartbreaking reality of the fighting to the modern reader.
The people of the United States, and to a lesser extent Great Britain, were spared the apocalyptic destruction that was faced by the people of Europe and Asia, and especially Germany and Japan. Armageddon and Retribution let Americans and Britons, or any modern reader that has the fortune to live in a (relatively) peaceful world, understand the plight of the civilians as the War tore to its ultimate conclusion.
Max Hastings
I will not burden the reader with a comprehensive list of the superlative passages or analysis contained in these works, but I've listed a few highlights below. I highly recommend these books to anyone interested in World War II, the realities of war, or the grim depths that humanity can sink to when the decency of society is abandoned.
Readers may be interested in:
Monday, October 4, 2010
Life on Another Planet?
by Conroy
Artist rendition of Gliese 581g. No one knows what it's really like.
Last week news came out about a new extrasolar or exo-planet - the sixth - orbiting the star Gliese 581. Accompanying the story of the discovery of the planet, dubbed Gliese 581g (the "a" through "f" suffixes had already been claimed by the previous five planets and the star itself), were speculations about the potential presence of life there. Based on the early calculations, Gliese 581g appears to fall within it's parent star's "habitable zone", the distance from the star where liquid water can exist on the planet's surface. It is widely believed that liquid water is the major prerequisite for life. Further, the planet's mass, diameter, density,and surface gravity all seem to be similar enough to Earth to support an atmosphere. The planet was discovered by a team led by astronomer Steven Vogt, a professor of astrophysics at UC Santa Cruz. Vogt was so confident that the planet fit the criteria for life that he said the chances of life are "almost 100 percent."
100 percent?
Not 50 percent, 90 percent, or 99 percent, but 100 percent. Now how can Mr. Vogt be so sure? The planet is far too small and dim to be observed directly. The Gliese system is over 20 light years away. In fact, Gliese is such a dim star (a red dwarf) that it cannot be observed without a telescope. By comparison, an observer on Gliese 581g - maybe there are some right now - could easily see our sun with naked eyes. Lacking direct observation, the planet was discovered using one of the only techniques available, doppler spectroscopy. This approach utilizes careful computations of the star's movement to detect the gravitation pull of revolving satellites (planets). Other complimentary techniques can be used to estimate the orbital distance and mass of the planet. Most exo-planets have been discovered using this approach. That said, "planet hunting" is a relatively new (and let's admit, pretty amazing) project in astronomy and the discovery techniques are still being refined. In fact, there have been previous claims of life-sustaining planets orbiting Gliese 581, see Gliese 581c. More detailed analysis indicated the Gliese 581c was not a good candidate for Earth-like life. Prudence demands additional observations and analysis before judgment is made about Gliese 581g's suitability for advanced life.
To that point. In order to be within Gliese 581's habitable zone, Gliese 581g has to be very close to the star (red dwarfs radiate way less energy then stars like our yellow sun), 14 million miles away or so according to preliminary calculations (the Earth is 93 million miles from the Sun). Being so close, Gliese 581g is likely tidally locked to its parent star, meaning one side always faces the star and one side always faces away (the Moon is tidally locked to Earth). As a result one side of the planet would be exposed to blazing sun and the other to deep cold. Vogt has suggested that life could proposer in the "twilight zone" along the planets perpetual sunrise/sunset horizon. Perhaps atmospheric conditions could allow adequate heat transfer from the hot sunny side to the cold dark side. Perhaps. But tidal locking seems like a bad condition for a planet that hopes to support complex life (see more below). It's equally (or more) possible that all of the water on the planet - if there is any - is frozen in ice on the dark side and not available in liquid form at all.
Speculation about life on a single planet is one thing (literally), but generalizations about the prevalence of life in the galaxy is quite another. Mr. Vogt has postulated that the potential for life within the Gliese 581 system, a star that is so close to Earth (only 116 stars are closer), and one of the first systems where planets have actually been searched for, may mean there is a hyper-abundance of Earth-like, life-sustaining planets in the Milky Way galaxy. Vogt suggested that 10 or 20 percent of stars could have Earth-like planets. Considering that there are as many as 400 billion stars in the galaxy, that could mean tens of billions of Earth-like planets in the Milky Way alone. An astounding number, and one that would suggest that life could be common in our part of the universe.
Okay, that's one position. Call me a skeptic, but I remain unconvinced. There may be a great number of Earth-like, life-filled planets out there, but I think one must consider the myriad elements that allowed life (as we understand it) to develop and flourish on Earth before we gift other planets that distinction. The Earth, our blue marble, benefits from the following amazing confluence of phenomena:
Earth. The blue marble.
1. Earth and the solar system are located in an outer band of the Milky Way galaxy away from other stars, gamma ray generators, and the galactic center where energy densities and radiation are inimical to life.
2. Earth revolves around a stable, main-sequence star that has been burning for billions of years and will continue to burn for billions more, allowing life the time to develop and evolve. Further, the Sun doesn't emit gamma rays or x-rays in bursts that could jeopardize life on orbiting planets.
3. Earth sits right in the center of the Sun's habitable zone, so liquid water can exist in the surface. The Sun's habitable zone has been extremely stable over time.
4. Earth's orbit is far enough inside the big planets, especially Jupiter and Saturn, that the planet's formation was not disrupted by their massive gravities, while at the same time these planets act as a gravitational "shield" that attract potential planetary (and life) threatening asteroids, comets, etc. from deep space.
5. Earth's orbit is far enough from the Sun to maintain planetary axial rotation (i.e. no tidal locking).
6. Earth has a small enough mass and density to be rocky, i.e. have a surface for life to grow on.
7. Earth has a large enough mass and density to (1) sustain an atmosphere and (2) maintain a geologically active metallic core, which supports plate tectonics and a planet-shielding magnetic field.
8. Earth has a nearly circular orbit, which results in relatively consistent solar radiation reaching the planet as it revolves around the sun.
9. Earth's axis is inclined just the right amount to promote seasons and overall higher temperature but avoid conditions where some of the planet is always facing the sun and some is always facing away (think of the heavily inclined axis of Uranus).
10. Earth has a relatively consistent axial tilt due to the stabilizing effects of the Moon's gravity.
11. Earth has significant tides, which may promote life through mixing of water and air, because of the proximity and size of the moon. The Moon may have formed from a freak massive collision of a small planet with the proto-Earth.
12. Earth has a high abundance of life-supporting elements (oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen). Earth's crust has a substantially higher proportion of oxygen than the universe in general. The oxygen may have been delivered by early random comet/asteroid impacts (or through the collision with the small planet that resulted in the Earth-Moon system).
Consider the chance and specificity of each of these elements. What are the odds that other planets will have the same congruence of elements? Maybe life-supporting planets, and by extension life is common throughout the galaxy. Or maybe Earths are very rare and special.
Friday, October 1, 2010
The Top 250 - Debut
by Conroy
Well it's time for the unveiling of my eagerly anticipated Top 250 songs list. I consider this to be one of the most definitive rankings of songs...wait a minute Conroy, you're thinking, are you trying to pull a fast one on us? Is this really what your post is about? Top 250 songs, whatever that is? What do I care about your Top 250 songs? Maybe I'll surf to another page...but I say wait...before you go, understand that this list will be interesting regardless of your enjoyment, or even knowledge, of the songs I have included.
It's actually not a new list, I first put it together nine years ago when I was still an undergrad, at that time a ranked Top 100 list. Since then it has been revised dozens of times. The current Top 250, which also includes a ranked Top 100, represents my very favorite of a collection of nearly 6,000 songs (just more than 4 percent of the total collection). The nine years of refinement has resulted in a tight yet eclectic mix spanning the last fifty years (and seven decades) of popular music. I'm sharing it here because the best part of music is the experience of shared listening, discovering, and discussion. Listening to music with a few friends is always better than alone in your car. A concert is always more fun than a pair of iPod earbuds.
I won't write too much more, I'll let the list speak - or play - for itself (I've included links to listen to some tracks). I hope, and really I'm certain, my readers will find at least some of the artists and songs featured to be of interest. A few stats:
• 157 artists are represented on the list
• 39 artists have multiple songs on the list led by Rilo Kiley (10), Weezer (9), Bruce Springsteen (8), Pulp (8), Radiohead (8), Oasis (7), U2 (6), The Beatles (5), and Death Cab for Cutie (5)
• In addition, Rilo Kiley has the most songs ranked in the Top 100 (5), followed by Bruce Springsteen, Pulp, Radiohead, and Weezer, all with four apiece
• The songs per decade breakdown: 50s - 2; 60s - 9; 70s - 15; 80s - 56; 90s - 88; 00s - 79; and 10s -1
Without further ado, the Top 250...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
The New Greatest Ever?...Not So Fast
by Conroy
On Monday Rafael Nadal emphatically won the U.S. Open to complete the career "grand slam." He became just the seventh man to attain this achievement and only the fourth to do it in the open era. Nadal's accomplishment is all the more noteworthy because he completed it at the relatively young (in tennis terms) age of 24. The last two men to complete a career grand slam, Andre Agassi in 1999 and Roger Federer in 2009, were 29 and 27, respectively, at the time.
Nadal's (or Rafa as he is affectionately known) career has been a case study in early promise, quick success, and continued accomplishment. He was a teenage phenom like Agassi and Bjorn Borg, and he has steadily improved his game to expand his undeniable skill on clay to a well-rounded and complete package capable of winning on any surface. He has modified his ground-strokes, serve, net play, and court positioning to expand his repertoire from the running and defense that has made him nearly unbeatable on the red dirt to an imposing presence on fast courts. His constitutional ultra-competitiveness and supreme fitness combined with new and improving skills promise continued success in the years ahead.
In fact, talk has already begun that Rafa may soon surpass Roger Federer as the greatest tennis player of his generation, and ultimately of all time, the proverbial GOAT. Here are a couple of opinions along those lines, (1) and (2).
The Federer-Nadal rivalry has been one of the great story lines of tennis since the Majorcan emerged as a force on the tour in 2005. They have played some of the greatest matches (watch perhaps the greatest ten minutes in tennis history here) and the underlying theme of Nadal getting the better of Federer has been the one peculiarity of the Swiss' career success (more on this below).
However, the argument that Nadal has usurped Federer's position I find unsupportable. Nadal's career achievements and 2010 performance are noteworthy without question, but they do not compare to the career achievements of Roger Federer. Grand Slam performance, overall record, and the number 1 ranking all fall decisively in Federer's favor. Consider the following 10 points:
Monday, September 13, 2010
500 Days...or One Year, Four Months, and Fifteen Days in a Life
by Conroy
I recently fell in love with the movie (500) Days of Summer [spoiler alert...critical details about this movie follow...]. Like Tom, the film's protagonist, I knew almost immediately that this was a great film. And fortunately, unlike Tom, the movie doesn't have to love me back. The tagline is:
That's it, a short synopsis of so many post-adolescent relationships. The story is Tom's, but it could be anyone's. How many of us have been in meaningful relationships - to us - but not to our partner? It has to be most of us right? We've felt the cruel mix of excitement and uncertainty; hope and doubt; eagerness and indecision. This type of story has been told plenty of times in plenty of forms, but (500) Days rises above whatever genre associations you may be tempted to apply. Writer/director Marc Webb and co-writer Scott Neustadtler enliven the movie with fresh elements that visually express what so many of us have felt when caught in the whirlwind of a powerful romance.
I will not dive into all of the little moments, and all those days, that make up the movie (though I do love the hyper-specificity of the counting days). The particulars are those of Tom (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel). They're moments we all recognize, we could substitute our own and the movie would work just as well. There's no great adventure, no wild action, no mystery to solve. Just moments of life. We experience the movie from Tom's perspective, and Summer stays at arm's length. We get to know her, but not well. That makes sense, this is a movie about how Tom saw, remembered, lived those 500 days. He never figured out Summer, never will.
The movie reminded me of another modern masterpiece, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, another movie of failed love, and memory, presented with haunting originality.
I could recommend much, but I want to focus on two aspects of the film that I find particularly effective, the narration (delivered by Richard McGonagle) and a wonderful, original use of the split screen. You can find a few samples of the narration below. The split screen is used more than once, but I am especially fond of a two minute sequence when we see Tom's sanguine expectations for an evening where he hopes to reunite with Summer, and the crushing reality of what actually happens. We see cold truth close out his dream. The sequence is hauntingly underpinned by Regina Spektor's "Hero." A portion of the sequence can be viewed here.
(500) Days of Summer, which starts early in January and ends in late May the following year, is not a perfect movie, but neither is love. It is a great movie, just not a happy love story.
For some examples of the splendid narration in (500) Days of Summer (transcribed from the film), use this link.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
What a Piece of Work is Man
by Baxter Radcliff, aka "The Man"
In reading through Conroy's fascinating list, I was reminded of Hamlet's speech, reproduced above, which greatly exaggerates the scope of human nature—and in the process ignores, denies, or contradicts the view that man is a constrained animal, which is Conroy's view as well as my own. Yet in one fell swoop it ironically demonstrates our self-interest (the important question for Hamlet is: what about me?); our false beliefs concerning our own capacities and limitations; our ability to suffer, especially from feelings of alienation; the fact that emotion can overwhelm our understandings; and, of course, our love of beauty. Despite my affection for the romantic idealism of Hamlet's speech, I believe that we may be the "paragon of animals," but we are far closer to the ape than the angel. And it is our peculiar curse to know it.
The truth is, we live in a world of limited resources—a constrained world. These limitations include our mental resources, our ability to acquire and process information. Our faculties are not infinite. These also include our social resources, our network of friends and family. We depend on others, and yet at the same time our social lives are riven with strife, for conflict is ubiquitous, not only in our social lives but in the natural world. Learning to understand and successfully manage conflict is therefore a worthy subject and one I intend to grapple with from time to time here on this blog. I may also take up the sword now and again myself, in order to cut down spurious, erroneous, or misleading arguments.
When I'm not brandishing my sword, I will discuss on occasion some fundamental game-theoretic concepts, which provide a structured way of thinking about conflict and a strategy. These concepts can help us understand non-obvious truths about the world. Sometimes, for example, the rational pursuit of self-interest can do damage to the broader society. The prisoner's dilemma and the tragedy of the commons provide patterns that can help us think about such situations. I may also discuss the methods by which legal structures attempt to correct and mitigate the weaknesses of human nature for the greater good; and how certain legal structures fail to do so. Sometimes, however, it is not social structures, but our own misjudgments that lead us astray. Fortunately, an awareness of certain well-studied cognitive defects may help us to reduce the number of our misjudgments. I will discuss these defects and how we can attempt to conquer them.
In any event, through posting to this blog I hope to learn a great deal from our readers, from Conroy, and ultimately from myself—for one of the benefits of maintaining a blog (I believe) is the self-knowledge that the act of writing gives to us, as we attempt the difficult task of composing our thoughts and responding to our most thoughtful critics. I look forward to posting again soon...
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Post Number 1: The Start
by Conroy
| http://conroyandtheman.blogspot.com/2010/ | dclm-gs1-177171087 |
0.23188 | <urn:uuid:9dee954b-c9eb-4792-977e-64db7a00055c> | en | 0.95778 | A Sense of Belonging Why Trump Resonates
KC Chiefs vs Redskins FedEx Field 8 Dec 13
KC Chiefs vs Redskins FedEx Field 8 Dec 13
What Did President Obama Just Say?
Some things just don’t need an explanation:
Some Other Disappointing Democrat Party Marxist Data Points:
What Rubio Failed to State in Response to Christie
As mentioned, there are two messages in that phrase.
The first message is precisely what Rubio stated.
Who Is The Real JV Team?
President Obama Speaking to DHS Employees.
The American Republic Under Assault
President Barack Obama Speaking at DHS Headquarters
President Barack Obama Speaking at DHS Headquarters
The United States is a representative republic founded on the principle that multiple parties are essential to maintaining freedom, ensuring counterweights to oppression within our society. But what if one of our parties decided that they wanted to eliminate the other as a viable competitor. How would they do it? What would be their strategy to eliminate political competition within the United States and established a one party system? There are really only two options that would be viable within the context of the United States. Violent overthrow, the most commonly used method for power consolidation would never happen here, so it must be done in one of two other ways.
Option One: The most reasonable course of action, and the one that most Americans see occurring every day, would be to attempt to convince enough Americans of the power of that party’s ideas and its policies such that on a national, state and local level the ideas and policies of the opposition party would receive little support. There’s a clear historical ebb and flow in the United States that shifts power from party to party. At times Republicans at other times Democrats win the White House and/or the Congress only to lose that power at some point down the road. We’re talking about an option in which there is no down the road and one party maintains its power base in perpetuity. This is very hard to achieve, and unlikely to happen naturally, so it brings us to Option Two.
Option Two: The second option, unlike the first that is open to public debate and decisions, requires subterfuge and disguise in order to succeed. Rather than convincing the electorate of the power of the party’s ideas, this option involves making voters who oppose it irrelevant in the context of local state and national elections. It requires ensuring that more votes get cast for the party than would be cast against it at all levels. How?
1. Import voters who support it, adding them to the existing supporters who when aggregated outweigh and outvote the opposition party. Illegal immigration is one means to achieve this by bringing in millions of people from outside the country, using the power of the federal government, and taxpayer money, to disperse them throughout the country, in all states, counties and cities. The inevitable goal of this illegal immigrant seeding would be to make them American citizens and grant them the right to vote as soon as possible. These millions of voters would likely overwhelm the opposition party.
2. There is a potential however that this tactic alone might not work, and so a second parallel effort would seem like insurance. Another method of buying votes and ensuring long-term support would be to go to the prisons were large numbers of minorities are incarcerated. By using Presidential Pardons to free these prisoners and changing policy within the United States allow felons to vote once they’ve served their time, another guaranteed pool of supporting votes would be in hand.
3. The above two tactics would seem very viable means of ensuring electoral support, but why stop there? What if a party could also use the federal government to resettle vast numbers of voters (Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing) from party strongholds into opposition States, Counties and cities and in so doing swing the vote of those counties? Such a policy has never existed in this country in the past, the closest thing being forced busing. In this case it is meant as a long-term resettlement plan at the expense of the taxpayers in the counties into which minorities get moved.
4. A fourth tactic would be icing on the cake. A policy of enabling voter fraud, when exploited by a political party, would further tip the scales. Enabling this policy would require opposition to voter ID laws and the expansion of voting from election day to as many days leading up to the election as possible. It would also be important to expand absentee voting to allow party supporters the opportunities to multi-vote in every election.
Option Twowould be opposed if Americans knew it was underway, so it would require subterfuge, disguise and the cloaking of the policies within lofty terms of morality and fairness, Saul Alinsky 101. It would need cleverly tested statements such as voter ID laws disenfranchise the poor and are racist attempts to return to Jim Crow laws (instituted by Democrats by the way). Comments about expansion of voting opportunities enabling the maximum amount of participation in the democratic system, an essential element to any thriving democracy, would also certainly be thrown about. Resettling people from high-density minority areas to other parts of the country would be touted as righting discrimination and slavery. False statements made while stealing away America’s republic.
As far-fetched as this hypothetical Option Twois, I submit that it is in fact well underway. President Barack Obama and the Democrat party are using tactics mentioned above and probably many others to completely eliminate any viable GOP opposition. What would be the end state if they succeeded? What could possibly be the good that would come to America by creating a single party state? Given the progressive desire to force-feed their way of life and their way of thinking it’s clear what the intent is.
It’s also clear what must be done in opposition. The truth of this effort must be spread, understood and exposed to the light of day. It must be vehemently opposed by every freedom loving American. The rule of law must be upheld, and that starts with securing the border and enforcing America’s immigration laws. The Progressive coils must be unwound. We are at a crossroads America. The future of our Republic depends upon the actions of the American people. The 2016 presidential election is a GOP must win. Freedom is down to it’s last out, in the 9th inning. The future of our country and liberty depend upon it!
More Radical Lessons from Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals, Part 2
Picture of Saul Alinsky
Saul Alinsky
Alinsky Part 1
Alinsky Part 3
COMPROMISE: The clarion call of the progressive, and an essential component to a successful radical. How often do we hear politicians, in both parties, talking about compromise, as if that is the only thing that matters. Compromising where one’s principles must be abandoned, one’s security is dimished, or one’s country weakened, isn’t a good deal at all. Obama’s Iranian negotiations stand as a prime example.
Hypocrisy, Obama and Israel
IMG_0552Barack Obama is well know for having returned the honored bust of Winston Churchill to England, which was proudly displayed in the White House when he took office. Obama returned it because he is also known for disdaining colonialism, and that starts with England. He does not respect America’s past either, believing that our prosperity was illegitimate, gained by taking from smaller countries, which could not resist our pillaging ways.
It’s fascinating then to look at the way that the President is treating Israel and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu. The President is using the very power that he despises from the colonial era to bully Israel into supporting Obama’s Iranian policy, and treaty negotiations. In this case, Israel’s very survival is at stake, where Obama is worried about padding his legacy.
Another ironic hypocrisy playing out involves President Obama’s Middle East philosophy. He would not allow American leadership in Libya, saying that it wasn’t our place in the world and that other countries should stand up. He insists that the Iraqis step forward and lead the defense of their country against ISIS, and yet when Israel tries to defend itself, he tells them to sit down and allow America to dictate the terms of Israel’s security.
Hypocrisy, thy name is Obama!
Obama: Why He’s Losing on the Global Stage
Capital Building, Washington D.C.
Capital Building, Washington D.C.
Why Boehner’s Clever Tactic Is Bad Strategy
Tea Party Rally in Washington DC, 10 Sep 2013
Tea Party Rally in Washington DC, 10 Sep 2013
Speaking of Trustworthy!
“Illegal” Amnesty
Today is a tragically sad day in American history. Tonight, the president violated his oath of office and threw this country into a constitutional crisis by legalizing at least 4.5 million illegal aliens. The truth, is that number will be far larger.
As part of the illegal amnesty, Obama will unilaterally allow the parents of children in this country illegally, and the children of parents who are in this country illegally, to also emigrate freely to America. Adding insult to injury, according to the State Department, taxpayers will even be on the hook to fly illegal immigrants into the US, from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Tonight, Obama spit in the eye of every poor sap who got in line, and followed the immigration laws passed to protect this country, the American people, our jobs and our way of life. In the process he devalued, yes devalued what it means to be an American citizen. Instead of it being something that people strive for, something that they work for, something that they dream for and that they follow our established laws for, he will give it away for nothing. In the process he will create a new lawless and dependent class within this country. The fallout will reverberate through our nation if not righted.
Perhaps the President’s efforts here are meant to block the repeal of Obama care by creating another firestorm crisis to overload the country’s ability to respond. Regardless of his desires or intent he knows that his actions are illegal. He’s clearly said so many times.
Now, the Republicans must govern. It’s time for them to take the Senate and with sound strategy march through a positive agenda for this country. They must unwind the destruction that’s been wrought, restore freedom, liberty and enable economic growth. It’s time to show leadership, and to reestablish the GOP’s credibility within the eyes of the American people.
– President Obama admits to changing US immigration law, in violation of his Oath of Office, and the Constitution. | http://conservativegovernment.net/tag/obama/ | dclm-gs1-177181087 |
0.023596 | <urn:uuid:42454690-bbe7-4a28-9ab0-6901d2d5f347> | en | 0.963293 | The CS Blackbell Agency is a proponent that there is a considerable overlap between the sporting elite and business elite. From goal scoring to the pursuit of organisational goals, working with teammates or the need to perform at the highest level under intense pressure, the mindsets needed to compete at the highest levels in business and sports are extremely similar. Business analysts have consistently debated how transferable these skills are, and the CS Blackbell Agency strongly argues that its workforce, a large majority of which dabble in sports, prove the idea that success in business is closely linked to having a sports mindset.
One of the key reasons The CS Blackbell Agency link success in sales to the sports-minded mentality is because sports people are often asked to perform under pressure in elite sports. The firm does not shy away from the fact that the sales industry is a highly competitive environment, with both internal and external competition. The agency is confident that its workforce responds well to the high pressure that is facilitated by internal competitions and believes this is because it gives them a drive they have been trained to enjoy via their sports-minded mentality.
The CS Blackbell Agency also believes that those with a sports-minded mentality understand that failure can be bred into success. Those who have previously played sports are used to failing and know how to structure their goals to overcome shortcomings. This often involves training and practising new techniques to make sure a crash doesn’t happen again, and The CS Blackbell Agency sees this process as essential during sales. The CS Blackbell Agency wants to hire those who understand that failure in the sales field can point out potential problems with sales technique and should prompt an individual to reconsider how they sell, the tone they use or even their body language.
Moving into December, The CS Blackbell Agency is looking for more sports-minded individuals to bring into the business. The agency is confident that those who have this mindset are more likely to revel in the competitive, high-pressure environment of the sales industry and the company hopes it can continue to expand the business with these types of individuals. | http://csblackbellagency.com/cs-blackbell-take-deeper-look-link-sports-minded-individuals-success-sales/ | dclm-gs1-177211087 |
0.028621 | <urn:uuid:c5194c53-828b-49fd-ad84-7119657be95f> | en | 0.7219 | Can adipex cause canker sores
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Main / Ostomy Supplies / Can adipex cause canker sores
Sometimes junk on our teeth scrapes the toungue and sides of the mouth causing ulcers. Also look into the effect water has on your mouth. I think I read somewhere that too much of a certain type of tap water can actually cause them. I like to chew on gum to keep my mouth from getting so dry. My solution is 2 weeks in & painful sores on tongue. Phentermine And Topiramate (Oral Route) Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. irritated eyes; shakiness in the legs, arms, hands, or feet; sores, ulcers, or white spots in the mouth or on the lips; sweating; swelling of the face; tiredness and weakness; trouble thinking, speaking.
Let sores is reported only by a few hours who take Phentermine. We pacify 11, people who have side effects How to expect. If you take Phentermine and have Bleeding sores, find out what cans adipex cause canker sores you could have in 1 medical or longer. of reports came per year: Could Phentermine caucasian Canker cans adipex cause canker sores. AND CAN Flattening A FATAL CONDITION Subthreshold AS SEROTONIN SYNDROME you may have bad of this. not likely it to yourselves in a month way.I just would like I licensed on phentermine about 3 mths ago and after a few days of taking it I had several days blisters on my tongue!.
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Doc put me on phen a couple of weeks ago but I got a sinus November 3, | "Doc put me on phen a couple of weeks ago but I got a sinus infect. and stopped taking it. Also, got a bunch of canker A week later started the phen again and canker sores and sore tongue came back!" Comment Helpful? Dr. Hyde responded: Yes & no. A common side effect is dry mouth and unpleasant tastes. The dry mouth may lead to aphthous ulcers in susceptible patients. It doesn't directly cause the lesions in most cases.
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Entender que el contrayente solicitante puede contraer matrimonio aunque esté recurrida en apelación la resolución que le can adipex cause canker sores la dispensa, por ejemplo, por. GUILLERMO CABANELLAS en su diccionario cachet: "Se consideran actos de SUJETOS Y OBJETO DE LOS ACTOS DE JURISDICCIÓN. VOLUNTARIA. Jurisdicción voluntaria, al contrario de lo que ocurre en la jurisdicción contenciosa, en la que. ejemplos perniciosos, a juicio can adipex cause canker sores juez, o los obliguen a cometer actos. Por ejemplo, la obligación de levantar inventario solemne; obtener la posesión efectiva de una herencia; o proceder a la tasación de ciertos bienes. En Roma se confundían los actos de jurisdicción voluntaria con el derecho que tenían ciertos funcionarios públicos de autentificar los actos jurídicos que se desarrollaban. | http://cysers.info/ostomy-supplies/can-adipex-cause-canker-sores.php | dclm-gs1-177251087 |
0.035051 | <urn:uuid:7510cd04-a173-4b3b-a2e1-28e1956a0642> | en | 0.95111 |
- Jonathan Swift
July 27, 2017
Myriophora alexandrae
Millipedes are known for secreting some really noxious chemicals to ward off its enemies. So much so that other animals are also known to co-opt the millipede's chemical cocktails for their own use.
For example lemurs and capuchin monkeys are known to smear millipede juice on themselves as a mosquito repellent. But there is no perfect defence and the millipede have some adversaries that are not deterred by its defensive secretion, some of which are phorid flies in the Myriophora genus - which are specialised millipede hunters.
a) Myriophora alexandrae laying an egg at the base of a millipede's antenna, (b) Myriophora communis (insert: ovipositor),
c) Millipede excreting defensive fluid while a Myriophora harwoodi feeds on it, (d) Myriophora maggot and dead host
Photos from Fig. 2 of this paper
Phoridae is a family of flies also known as "scuttle flies" - they are mostly parasitoids and there are thousands of species found all over the world. Some species are well-known for their ant-decapitation trick. Despite being rather common, very little is known about most of these parasitoids - this is possibly because of the daunting number of species, their small size, and general lack of research interest beyond a handful of species which either have potential as a mean of biological control, or are pest of cultivated insects like bees.
With so many different species of phorids out there, perhaps it is not surprising that they have evolved to target a wide range of terrestrial invertebrates - and some of them specialised in hunting millipedes, undeterred by their chemical defences. So how do Myriophora flies track down their millipede hosts? To find out, a group of researchers conducted a series of experiments at a research station in Costa Rica to determine what it is about millipedes that these flies find so attractive. They wanted to figure out whether it is the defensive juices secreted by the millipedes or the sight of the millipedes themselves. So they collected some millipedes, kept them for a few days to ensure they're parasitoid free to start with, and used them to set up an experiment in luring phorid flies.
They end up presenting the flies with the following: (1) millipede juice dabbed on pieces of paper (which they obtain by lightly zapping the millipedes), (2) dead millipede smeared in millipede juice, and (3) millipedes which have been cleared of any millipede juice by zapping them until they run out of defensive secretions.
They found that the Myriophora flies were rather attracted to paper cards dabbed with millipede juice and millipedes that were smeared with their own defensive secretions. In contrast, the flies completely ignored perfectly intact millipedes that were completely juiced out. So it seems that the scent of a millipede is far more important than the sight of one for these flies.
So not only are Myriphora not deterred by the millipede's noxious chemicals, they are actually attracted to it. But millipede juice is a complex chemical cocktail - which is the exact compound that the flies are homing in on? After further analysis, the researchers determined that the compound in millipede juice most responsible for attracted these parasitoids is a chemical called 2-methoxy-3-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone. That alone was enough to bring the flies to the yard. But when that is combined with another compound found in millipede juice called 2-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone, this cocktail was three times more attractive to Myriophora flies than that first compound by itself.
But a millipede is a well-protected target - even if you can get past its noxious secretions, it also has some formidable armour platings. But there are gaps in its armoured segments and Myriophora has a specialist weapon to exploit those gaps. This parasitoid fly has an ovipositor which is shaped somewhat like a thin stiletto - when it lands on a millipede, Myriophora stabs its ovipositor at spots like the base of the antenna, the gap between the head and the rest of the body, the vulnerable underbelly of the body segment, or between the plates covering the millipede's butt.
The parasitoid sticks its ovipositor between those gaps in the millipede's armour, and delivers a deadly payload in the form of an egg. Once the egg hatches inside the millipede, the newborn maggot has a hearty appetite and a growth rate to match. Within five days, it will finish cleaning out the millipede host from the inside, leaving behind only an empty husk and the millipede's hindgut. The maggot will then crawl from its host's empty corpse to pupate and eventually emerge as an adult fly, ready to bring up a new generation of millipede-wreckers
So for the millipedes, while those defensive cocktails are great for fending off everything else, there is no perfect defence - the very thing that protects it against some many predators is also the very thing that brings in parasitoid flies that will eat them alive.
Hash, J. M., Millar, J. G., Heraty, J. M., Harwood, J. F., & Brown, B. V. (2017). Millipede Defensive Compounds Are a Double-Edged Sword: Natural History of the Millipede-Parasitic Genus Myriophora Brown (Diptera: Phoridae). Journal of Chemical Ecology 43: 198-206.
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0.286658 | <urn:uuid:ce34cd69-900c-48b9-8bce-726af329e46d> | en | 0.936458 | Friday, April 16, 2010
Leibniz script
I've been reading Martin Davis' Engines of Logic. I learned that when he was younger than I am now, Leibniz cleverly figured out the following is true:
The quantity on the left is pi divided by 4. Pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter in Euclidean space. You may remember from trigonometry that π/4 radians equals 45 degrees.
The quantity on the right is an infinite series. It's meant to continue, so "... + (1/13) - (1/15) + (1/17)..." all the way up to infinity. Naturally one cannot continue to do this to infinity, though one can do it as long as he likes. In fact, the more terms you add to the equation, the closer the result comes to π/4.
Anyway, I was bored and (more importantly) drunk, so I wrote a Perl script to do just that.
$x = 1;
$total = 1;
$i = 1;
$flip = 2;
print "How many terms do you want to go out to?\n";
chomp($input = <STDIN>);
print "\nStart time:\n";
while ($i < $input)
{ $x = (-1 * ($x + $flip)); $total = $total + (1/$x); $i = $i + 1; $flip = -1 * $flip; }
print "Finish time:\n"; ($sec,$min,$hour,$mday,$mon,$year,$wday, $yday,$isdst)=localtime(time); printf "%4d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d:%02d\n\n", $year+1900,$mon+1,$mday,$hour,$min,$sec; $finishtime=time;
print "Operation accomplished in ", ($finishtime - $starttime), " seconds.\n\n"; print "Final term is 1/$x\n"; print "Total is $total\n";
My computer was able to calculate the result using 10,000,000 terms in 6 seconds with a result of 0.785398138397448. It did 100,000,000 terms in 61 seconds with a result of 0.785398160897331. It did 1,000,000,000 terms in 629 seconds with a result of 0.785398163147013. I have a 64-bit 2.8ghz AMD. I'd be curious to hear what kind of processor you have and how fast it did the calculation.
There might be a way to make the program run faster. I'm a beginner Perl programmer and probably didn't do it the best way.
This serves no purpose, which is why I was tempted to do it in the first place. I suppose it might serve as a "reality check" of sorts: despite appearances to the contrary, computers are nothing more than extremely fast calculators. Well, not "nothing more" exactly. Calculators aren't (usually) programmable. But computers do what they do by translating your instructions into numbers and doing binary arithmetic with them. The fact that there are such machines and that arithmetic can produce such results is perhaps worthy of thought. That seems to be Davis' point. Though if you're really interested in your computer qua calculator, I would advise you to ignore my badly written program and go find some Mersenne primes instead.
No comments: | http://der-augenblick.blogspot.com/2010/04/leibniz-script.html | dclm-gs1-177331087 |
0.034227 | <urn:uuid:49a5120c-1e61-4a25-ad8c-37d97c7424bc> | en | 0.979397 |
Monday, June 17, 2013
Empyrios - Zion (2013)
Band: Empyrios
Country: Rimini, Italy
Style: Progressive/Groove Metal
Label: Scarlet
I remember back in the sophomore year-ish of my high school career, one day my dad happened to be playing this one record that caught my ear one day when he was driving me to school. That record turned out to be Empyrios' 2008 record, The Glorious Sickness. At the time it shocked me because, now looking back, it was a record that definitely predated the rise of a genre called djent.
So, with that statement above, one should be able to get a nice and clear image of what this record sounds like, more or less. This is a groove based prog-metal record. Now, the reason I don't necessarily view this record as "djent" so much as many others is simply because of a few very minor factors which first, and probably most importantly, are the vocals. While there are a couple of growls on here, the majority of vocals performed on here are cleaner - and more importantly they fall somewhere between power metal and thrash metal sort of singing. That doesn't mean high-pitched and annoying so much as aggressive, but very clean, and very clearly showcase an accent in the guy's voice. It's not for everyone and frankly, not every song on here features a great vocal performance from him, but it is a distinction. Next is the more industrial tone that a couple of these songs have. Again, not a big difference from other djent based groups, but they aren't quite as over the top you could say as many younger groups. Now, this is obviously only my opinion, so feel free to tell me I'm full of crap if you feel the need to do so.
To be completely honest, even when I initially heard this group I wasn't quite sure why I liked them, and to this day I'm still not sure. Musically, there are bands who do this sort of sound better, there are better vocalists out there, and there are bands who write more interesting and catchy songs than these guys do - yet I still take time to listen to this album and dig what they are doing. There's just this sort of quality about this band that somehow appeals to me and keeps me listening. But enough of me rambling, and back to the album at hand. This album does probably the worst thing a band could do when releasing a new album and open the album with a pair of pretty weak tracks. In my opinion, Nescience and Domino are two of the weakest songs on the entire album and they both open up the album. Obviously this is just my opinion, but doing that can prove to be a failure of an album to many people who will judge an entire disc based off of those initial tracks - so if you can get past those first two songs than you'll actually get some rather badass, groovy progressive metal. I'd say the shift into some great material is rather immediate. Pretty much as soon as Masters opens up, you're going to hear some of the best material the band has written to date (despite the rather ill-judged dubstep conclusion of this aforementioned song). These songs aren't going to change the game of prog-metal or djent or whatever, but I do feel like they are catchy little numbers that have stuck with me since I heard them.
For me, the clear highlight has to be the album's centerpiece Renovation, which isn't all that different from the other tracks so much as everything just works. Instrumentally, you get some solid grooves, but both the synths and vocals take a more atmospheric approach that definitely shows during the chorus in particular. This chorus just soars and is easily the catchiest song on the entire album. The middle section also brought to mind a bit of Deftones as well. On a side-note, maybe it's just me, but does anyone else hear Gillaume Bideau (of Mnemic) providing some guest vocals on Square One - I could swear he's growling and singing on it?
Overall, I was pretty impressed with this album and found myself replaying it several times. There are a couple of weak spots here and there, but the songs are strong and catchy to overcome that for the most part. If you're not a fan of more groove based metal, chances are you aren't going to dig this, but it's a nice meeting point between power metal (for one reason or another I see more fans of power metal embracing this than other groups - go figure) and modern metal.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Reverie, Unplugged, Renovation
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Post a Comment | http://dontcountonitreviews.blogspot.com/2013/06/empyrios-zion-2013.html | dclm-gs1-177401087 |
0.40364 | <urn:uuid:b926d365-b959-4fb2-8125-7ba8d24929b3> | en | 0.78554 | types of arguments Value Type and Reference Type
• Call by Value – Value passed will get modified only inside the function , and it returns the same value whatever it is passed it into the function.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
namespace ValRefType
class Program
public void ValueTypeSWAP(string s,string s1)
string temp = s1;
s1 = s;
s = temp;
Console.WriteLine("Swaping Name,SurName: {0} {1}", s, s1);
public void ReferenceTypeSWAP(ref string s,ref string s1)
string temp = s1;
s1 = s;
s = temp;
static void Main(string[] args)
string name = "vinoth";
string fatname = "myilsamy";
Console.WriteLine("Original Name,SurName: {0} {1}", name, fatname);
Program Pro = new Program();
Pro.ValueTypeSWAP(name, fatname);
Console.WriteLine("Value Type After Swaped Name,SurName: {0} {1}", name, fatname);
Pro.ReferenceTypeSWAP(ref name, ref fatname);
Console.WriteLine("Ref Type After Swaped Name,SurName: {0} {1}", name, fatname);
What is Assemblies and types
Assemblies are two types
They are Shared assembly and private assembly.
shared assemblies are shared among multiple applications and they are stored in Global Assembly Cache.
Private Assemblies implies to a single application and they are stored in the root directory of the application.
GAC is used to store assemblies and to share them between multiple applications. IN the shared system, the names of the assemblies should be unique as it can be accessed by all applications. The newer versions of the component should also have unique names. These can be achieved by using a strong name for the assembly. A shared assembly is placed in the GAC folder that is reserved for shared assemblies.
Global assemblies will be registered in C:\windows\Assembly as
GAC(Global Assembly Cache) using a tool called GACUtil. Once
it is registered, any application can refer for that
assembly to that path.
Early Binding vs Late Binding
Early Binding
Early Binding describes that compiler knows about what kind of object it is, what are all the methods and properties it contains. As soon as you declared the object, .NET Intellisense will populate its methods and properties on click of the dot button.
Late Binding
Late Binding describes that compiler does not know what kind of object it is, what are all the methods and properties it contains. You have to declare it as an object, later you need get the type of the object, methods that are stored in it. Everything will be known at the run time.
Application will run faster in Early binding, since no boxing or unboxing are done here.
Easier to write the code in Early binding, since the intellisense will be automatically populated
Minimal Errors in Early binding, since the syntax is checked during the compile time itself.
Late binding would support in all kind of versions, since everything is decided at the run time.
Minimal Impact of code in future enhancements, if Late Binding is used.
Performance will be code in early binding.
Exception handling in asp.net
What is an Exception?
What are the different approaches to handle exceptions in asp.net web application?
1. Use exception-handling structures to deal with exceptions within the scope of a procedure.
try { ---- }
catch { ---- }
finally { -----}
2. Use error events to deal with exceptions within the scope of an object.
Page_Error - The Page_Error event handler provides a way to trap errors that occur at the page level.
Application_Error - Application_Error event handler to trap errors that occur at the application level.
3. Custom error pages to display custom error pages for unhandled exceptions at application level.
<customErrors mode="RemoteOnly" defaultRedirect="~/errors/GeneralError.aspx" redirectMode="ResponseRewrite" /> the ResponseRewrite mode allows us to load the Error Page without redirecting the browser, so the URL stays the same, and importantly for me, exception information is not lost.
What will happen if an exception occur inside try block?
If a code in a try block causes an exception, control flow passes to immediate catch or finally block.
What is the main use of finally block in exception handling?
Finally block is mainly used to free resources used within the try block.(Ex: closing db connections, and file connection ...)
Will the finally block get executed, if an exception doesn't occurs?
Yes, a finally block will always be executed irrespective of whether an exception has occured or not.
Can multiple catch blocks be executed?
advantage of LINQ over stored procedures
Difference between Eval() and Bind()?
Eval(): -
Singleton Class
Singleton Pattern ensures that a class has only one instance and provides a global point of access to it.
Sample code:
Create a Singleton Class with a private static object of itself. Create a constructor (either private or protected). Create a static method that returns an object of itself (Singleton class).
In Main, create 2 objects of Singleton class by calling static method created above. If you compare both objects, they are same.
In this way a singleton pattern can be applied so as to create a single instance of a class.
For more clarification, add a public string field in Singleton class. In the Main Method, assign value to string field for both objects. Now write the value of the string field to console. The string field contains the same value which is assign at last.
Singleton provides a global, single instance by:
1. Making the class create a single instance of itself.
2. Allowing other objects to access this instance through a class method that returns a reference to the instance. A class method is globally accessible.
3. Declaring the class constructor as private so that no other object can create a new instance.
private static SingletonClass _instance;
public string strName;
protected SingletonClass ()
/*private SingletonClass () // Any one private or protected constructor
} */
public static SingletonClass Instance()
if (_instance == null) _instance = new SingletonClass();
return _instance;
void Main(string[] args)
SingletonClass s1 = SingletonClass.Instance();
SingletonClass s2 = SingletonClass.Instance();
if (s1 == s2)
Console.WriteLine("Same Object");
Console.WriteLine("Different Object");
s1.strName = "Vinoth";
s2.strName = "Harshad";
Console.WriteLine("s1: {0}, s2: {1}",s1.strName,s2.strName);
public class Singleton
private static Singleton instance;
private Singleton() {}
public static Singleton Instance
if (instance == null)
instance = new Singleton();
return instance;
What is the disadvantage of LINQ over stored procedures?
What are differences between function and stored procedure?
Foxs, suggest me to improve the answer if you have any extra points. | http://dotnettips4all.blogspot.com/2013/01/ | dclm-gs1-177411087 |
0.037336 | <urn:uuid:7bf7a944-a8a2-45be-b830-ab6e026e1fd1> | en | 0.965795 | Tuesday, August 15, 2006
PMK in the OC
Son will be starting Kindergarten soon. He's attending a school called The Open Classroom, or in common parlance, The OC. He will be in PM Kindergarten (PMK). Middlebrow almost cracked up at the New Families meeting everytime the nice woman running the meeting said, "In the OC" or "If you're not familiar with the OC." No one else, besides him and me, seemed to find it funny or in the least strange. Being the bad kids that we are, and trying to establish from the get go that we will be The Slackers, we began talking about the OC as if we were stars in the Fox show.
"Like, I hope all this co-oping won't interfere with my tanning."
"Um, Jessica? Jessica? Jessica?"
"Like, I don't think it's like, appropriate?, if like parents, like, yell, except when, you know, your kid is like, a total jerk. Then it's totally fine."
"Umm, is this meeting almost over? Cuz I so have to IM someone. Like now."
As the years wear on, I can see this joke becoming unfunny. But for now, it's like, totally hilarious. Especially if you take into account the general demographic of the OC, which is pretty much people like Middlebrow and me: middle-class, sandal-wearing, pseudo-hippies who drive Subarus and Priuses and Volvos (except us, of course) and wear Keen shoes and Columbia sportswear (okay, that includes me), eat rice and talk about our commitment to public education. I'm totally in the OC, dude.
Lisa B. said...
Uh oh--obnoxious pop culture joking! You have to watch that--it can go out of control and totally bite you in the ass. I should know. I, like, totally try to confine it to my blog now.
The OC. That _is_ hilarious. I would never have been able to resist it, either.
Counterintuitive said...
we'll have to compare notes as my son is starting the not so open classroom, i.e. traditional, kindergarten. He's so nervous about it right now that he forbids us to mention the upcoming event. | http://dr-write.blogspot.com/2006/08/pmk-in-oc.html | dclm-gs1-177421087 |
Subsets and Splits