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Kildare's Ordinary Joes face their biggest test with Europe's toughest cycling race
You are an accountant guy, a lecturer guy, an IT guy, a journalist guy, a lab guy, a sales guy, a manager guy.
You're are an Ordinary Joe. You have an ordinary job and you live in an ordinary house with an ordinary car with other ordinary folks.
You do not drive a Ferrarri or live in an enormous house. You are not on hundreds of thousands a week and you do not train full time.
You are either a MAMIL - a Middle Aged Man In Lycra, or well on your way to getting there. You saved up for your bike and you are your own mechanic.
And yet on the last Sunday in August 2014, you will line up for the toughest long distance bike race in Europe.
Eight men, all associated with Maynooth Students for Charity, the cycling club attached to NUI Maynooth, are planning to take part in the Race Around Ireland. It is widely recognised as Europe's most challenging endurance event.
It is 2,190 Kms, and from the moment it starts on Sunday, August 31, the team will have 96 hours, or four straight days to complete it.
The race can be completed solo, or in a relay with two, four or eight-member teams. Last year, a team of four from Naas Tri-club won their category.
The eight are mainly Kildare natives, John Fallon, (Castledermot), brothers Alan and Mark Nugent (Maynooth), Dave Hickey (Celbridge), Nick Rabe (South Africa but living in Celbridge), this reporter (Blackwood), Ivor McCormack (lived in Celbridge for many years) and Bill Watson from Lucan.
Many of them were sporty as youngsters but only discovered cycling well into adulthood. Since then it has been a joyful revelation - particularly the physical and mental benefits, and the camaraderie of the club.
Their progression through the world of cycling has been a series of challenges approached and conquered. The Race around Ireland will undoubtedly be the toughest.
In order to complete the event before the cut-off time they must maintain an average speed of 22kph.
The team are aiming for around the 30kph mark, which will be tough, but doable.
Every month from now until then they will measure their progress by testing themselves on the same circuit - starting in Maynooth, heading out to Kilcock, Clane, Barbertstown cross and back to Maynooth. It's 32.44kms which, in January, took them all just over an hour to complete.
There will be a cost involved, and the hope is to offer an attractive package to potential sponsors - in cash or in kind. But for the next eight months it's all about training hard for those four days.
There are averages to be increased, weight to be lost and miles and miles to go before they rest.
And they can't wait!
Make sure to pick up your copy of Fit for LIVING with your copy of this week's Leinster Leader on sale now.


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The 2019 Loan Charge has been condemned by a House of Lords committee, which claims that 'disturbing evidence' shows that HMRC has misused its powers in collecting the retrospective tax.
The report, 'HMRC Powers: Treating Taxpayers Fairly', published by the Economic Affairs Committee, concludes that recent powers provided to the taxman "undermine the rule of law and hinders taxpayers' access to justice."
What is the Loan Charge?
This measure was introduced via the Finance (No.2) Act 2017 to clamp down on tax avoidance schemes, specifically those which paid users in the form of loans – via employee benefit trusts. In many cases, there was no expectation that these loans would be repaid, resulting in significant tax savings for both client and worker.
Although legislation to tackle such tax avoidance schemes has been in place since the implementation of the Finance Act 2011, the Loan Charge retrospectively applies to all unsettled loans made via such schemes on or after the start of the 1999 tax year!
This element of the Charge has led to particular condemnation, together with the disproportionate way HMRC has acted towards individuals caught by the new rules.
Although undoubtedly many users of tax avoidance schemes will be aware of the risk associated with such arrangements, others were unaware of the implications or forced to join such schemes by third parties – such as hirers (see specific points below).
See Chapter 4 of the report for clauses relating specifically to the Loan Charge.
The balance of power "tipped too far in favour of HMRC"
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, chairman of the Lords' Committee, in his opening statement, condemned the new powers HMRC has been granted to tackle tax avoidance, as well as their use of such powers.
Although HMRC clearly has an important role in tackling tax avoidance, Lord Forsyth says since 2012, "HMRC has been granted some broad, disproportionate powers without effective taxpayer safeguards. High penalties, designed to deter some taxpayers from continuing appeals against tax liabilities, are a tax on justice."
The report also specifically criticised Treasury minister Mel Stride, who refused to attend the committee's evidence sessions.
Individuals targeted, but not scheme providers
The Committee says that HMRC has aggressively pursued individuals (an easy target), rather the operators of tax avoidance schemes.
"In the absence of publicised actions, HMRC appears to be prioritising recovery of tax revenue over justice by targeting individuals, rather than promoters (who could be considered more culpable), so it can more easily recover liabilities."
Indiscriminate nature of the Loan Charge
The report clearly states that whilst all tax avoidance is wrong, and all users "must accept some degree of culpability", the loan charge rules are indiscriminate, and that scheme users joined up for a variety of reasons – not necessarily solely to avoid paying tax.
"In many circumstances, individuals were being directed to use these schemes by their employer, who would have been in a better position to determine the consequences for the employee of taking a loan."
Retrospective taxation
The report criticises the Loan Charge for its retrospective nature – enabling HMRC to go back almost two decades, undermining the existing time limit framework, and potentially abusing their newly acquired powers.
The Committee recommends "that the loan charge legislation is amended to exclude from the charge loans made in years where taxpayers disclosed their participation in these schemes to HMRC or which would otherwise have been 'closed'".
Support for individuals
The Committee received a large amount of evidence which demonstrated the hardship caused by HMRC to individuals.
As a result, it recommends that HMRC "urgently reviews all loan charge cases where the only remaining consideration is the individual's ability to pay."
The report also urges HMRC to set up a dedicated helpline well in advance of the 'go live' April 2019 date.
How did the Government respond to the report?
Responding to the report, the Government reiterated the importance of individuals' paying their fair share of tax.
"Parliament has given HMRC powers it needs to tackle businesses and individuals who do not pay their fair share, and it uses them responsibly and subject to appropriate checks and balances.
"On the loan charge, in particular, it is important to bear in mind that disguised remuneration schemes are aggressive tax avoidance structures that allowed some people to avoid the taxes that Parliament requires them to pay."
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Brave the Rainforest Adventure at SEA LIFE Scarborough
Businesses across the Yorkshire Coast are getting ready to reopen and welcome you back. Please check the individual website for reopening dates, opening times and booking details.
We recommend you follow current public health advice and maintain social distancing.
Ranger Andy invites you to discover our brand new Rainforest Adventure! A storm has hit SEA LIFE Scarborough and Ranger Andy needs your help to unearth what lies beneath the surface of the Rainforest.
Immerse yourself in a world of creepy crawlies, lurking lizards and curious critters. Come just centimetres away from Green Tree Pythons, and be mesmerised at the incredible colours of our Poison Arrow Dart Frogs!
An adventure awaits, so what are you waiting for? Guarantee your space as one of our first explorers and pre-book your tickets today.
Indoor and outdoor attraction with two food outlets, an outdoor adventure playground, educational facilities and disabled access.
Event details
|Sat 15 Feb - Thu 31 Dec 2020
Prices start from £9.90 per child when you pre-book tickets online through the official website.
Tickets on the door are priced at £16.50 per child and £19.00 per adult and include free return entries throughout the whole of 2020.
Also at this Venue
Events at this Venue
|Sat 15 Feb - Thu 31 Dec
|Brave the Rainforest Adventure
|Sat 17 Oct - Sun 1 Nov
|Spooktacular Halloween Trail
Sea Life
Scalby Mills,
North Yorkshire,
By Road:
Follow brown signs for North bay attractions and continue along A165 following signs for Whitby. The turn off for the Sea Life Centre is along Scalby Mills Road on the right hand side of the road. Look out for the Ivanhoe Public House.
By Public Transport:
Bus service 9A terminates at Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary.
with charge
: 2 miles from Scarborough station
- Baby changing facilities
- Cash Point
- Coach parties accepted
- Credit cards accepted (no fee)
- Credit cards accepted (with charge)
- Disabled toilets
- Education/study area
- Facilities for groups
- Facilities for educational visits
- Gift shop
- On-site catering
- On-site light refreshments
- Picnic site
- Public toilets
- Regional Tourist Board Member
- Welcome Host
- Accepts groups
- Facilities for corporate hospitality
- Children welcome
- Disabled access
Indoor and outdoor attraction with two food outlets, an outdoor adventure playground, educational facilities and disabled access.
Self-Assessed Accessibility Details
- Designated parking for guests with disabilities
- Within 50 metres approx. of entrance
- The surface of the car park and pathway leading to entrance:
- is solid
- Drop-off point for guests outside entrance
- The route from the parking area to the entrance:
- Is flat (i.e. without steps)
Public Areas
- Level access (no steps/thresholds) or access by ramp or lift:
- From the entrance to reception / ticket area
- To a specially adapted public toilet suitable for wheelchair users
- To the gift shop
- Good contrast between the floor and walls
- Lift equipped with raised floor numbers or braille numbers or letters
- Contrast markings on clear surfaces such as glass doors
- Baby changing facilities
- Seating available for visitors with limited mobility
- Clear signage
- Effective lighting for visually impaired visitors
- Good colour/tonal contrast for visually impaired visitors
- Routes/pathways suitable for wheelchair users or visitors with limited mobility
- Displays at suitable height for wheelchair users / children
- Entrance is well lit
- Level access (no steps/thresholds) or access by ramp or lift to cafeteria
- Good contrast between the floor and walls
- Menus available in large print (14pt and over)
- Restaurant / cafe provide meals for visitors with special dietary requirements:
- Sugar free (diabetic)
- Gluten free (coeliacs)
- Lactose free (dairy free)
- Low potassium
- Low sodium
- Nut free
- Additive free
- Organic
- Vegetarian
- Seating suitable for wheelchair users, ie moveable and good height for person sitting in a wheelchair
- High chairs for children
- Children's menu
SEA LIFE Scarborough is fully accessible however in parts, an alternative route will be needed to be taken to avoid the stairs.


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Beautiful bracelet. Fits nicely.


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15 best photo editors on most platforms
Photography is all over the place these days. You can snap pictures with your phone and edit the images right there on the phone. Alternatively, you can do the old fashioned method with a DSLR and editing on your computer. No matter the path you choose, we have you covered. There are a lot of excellent photo editors for most platforms and we can help you find them. Here are the best photo editors for most platforms!
PC, Mac OS, and Linux
- Check out the best PC photo editors here!
- Or the best photo editors for Mac here!
- We covered the best photo editors for Linux too!
Price: Free / $9.99 per month / $52.99 per month
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop are two of the most powerful photo editing tools on PC (and other platforms). Lightroom has a bunch of features specifically for image manipulation, batch editing, watermark stuff, and RAW support. Photoshop includes some additional stuff like spot removal tools, HSL, and other similar features. We recommend both because it's a rip-off to get just one at a time. Adobe has a special photographer subscription with both Lightroom and Photoshop for $9.99 per month. The full suite, should you need it, goes for $52.99 per month, but most photographers won't need that. This one is natively compatible with PC and Mac. You can use the Wine app on Linux to use it there as well.
Affinity is a very above average photo editor. It includes all of the usual tools that you need such as color correction, HSL, white balance, shadows, highlights, and other image manipulation and retouching tools. The app also supports RAW files, tone mapping (HDR), batch editing, and support for Photoshop files if you need that. It's not quite as powerful as Lightroom or Photoshop, but it still includes all the stuff a photographer would normally need. It's also fairly reasonably priced at $49.99. The Mac OS version is available on iTunes. Windows users should use the website.
Affinity Photo is a popular and powerful photo editor for Mac, PC, and Linux. In fact, this one is available directly from iTunes for Mac users. It lets you edit PSD files (Photoshop) and it has support for HDR, RAW, and batch processing. You also get layers, retouching features, and other popular features. This is right up there with the best on the platform and it should work for pros and hobbyist photographers. It's definitely good for those with multiple operating systems on multiple computers. It's a tad pricey, but it's a single cost rather than a subscription.
GIMP is one of the most powerful and popular multi-platform photo editors. It's considered among the best alternatives to Photoshop as well and it shares many of the same tools. It has a laundry list of features that include a customizable UI, various photo enhancement tools, image manipulation tools, and plugins that add additional functionality. Plugins also add file type support. It's a little harder to learn than others on this list, but it's still worth it. It works on PC and Linux without problems. You need another app called Macport for it to work on Mac until the developers get a version Mac OS up and running.
Luminar is an above average photo editor for both Mac and Windows. It has a clean UI, tons of features, and a single price tag without a subscription. Some of the features include a few dozen filters for quick editing, several dozen presets, RAW support, and the usual array of photo editing tools that you get in most photo editors. It even works as a plugin for Lightroom if you want to use both. This works best for hobbyists and semi-pros, although serious professionals may want to go with Lightroom with Luminar as a plugin.
iPhone and iPad
Adobe has some of the most popular photo editor apps for iPhone and iPad. Some popular options include Adobe Lightroom CC, Photoshop Fix, Photoshop Mix, Photoshop Express, and a few others. Most of them include simple things like filters, red eye removal, spot fixes, and other such things. Others, like Lightroom, include more serious features like RAW support and batch editing. We recommend Lightroom CC for serious mobile photographers. The Photoshop apps swing at a more casual audience. You can't really go wrong either way, though. The apps are free for most of their features. An Adobe Creative Cloud subscription adds some additional features.
BeFunky is a surprisingly decent photo editor for iOS. It has a variety of basic editing tools along with some extra features. That includes a blemish fixer, a collage function, a bunch of photo effects and overlays, and even some simple stuff like frames. This sits in the same ballpark as photo editor apps like Audodesk's Pixlr, VSCO, and similar apps. It's good enough for social with enough features to attract the attention of some serious photographers on some occasions. The base app is completely free. The in-app purchases are for additional filters and effects and are permanent.
Enlight is an interesting photo editor on iTunes. It has a lot of popular and powerful controls. They include controls for tone, color, and detail along with various filters, black and white photography options, drawing support, and some other neat stuff. We especially liked the photo mixer feature. It puts two photos together for a double exposure effect, a difficult effect to replicate on most photo editors. Anyway, this app has a ton of features and some of them are good for power users as well. It's not quite as powerful as something like Adobe Lightroom. However, this also only costs $3.99 once and that's a decent deal for what you get.
Polarr is available for a few platforms, but it works extremely well on iOS. It fills the same role as Autodesk's Pixlr. It has a bunch of filters and effects for the social media crowd. However, it also includes more powerful stuff like layers, various blending modes, various masks and adjustments, and more. The UI is a little more complicated than most. However, it also shows more tools at once than most other apps. Adobe still has more features, but this is definitely better than most. The app has a subscription cost as well as single costs for some features. That part is a little convoluted, but check out the iTunes page for a full breakdown.
Snapseed is arguably the best free photo editor for iOS devices. It features more than two dozen optimization and editing tools along with filters, RAW file support, image tuning, and the basic stuff like crop and rotate. You can even save styles for faster application in future photos and the app includes photography tips and tricks. It's actually fairly powerful for both serious and casual use cases. However, in true Google fashion, the app has a few outstanding features that work better than most other apps. Other apps have more features, but Snapseed hits a sweet spot. It's also completely free with no in-app purchases or ads.
- Check out the best photo editor apps for Android! Link takes you to our sister site, Android Authority. Also, Adobe apps and Snapseed are just as good on Android (if not better) than they are on iOS, so we won't list them twice here, even though we recommend both apps for Android as well as iOS.
Fotor is a long time member of this list and there are many blogs and lists that list Fotor as a must have option. We agree. It's has a lot more actual editing tools than most and includes the ability to enhance photos with a one-tap tool for your convenience. Some of the other tools include crop, rotate, brightness, contrast, saturation, exposure, vignetting, shadow, highlights, temperature, tint, RGB, and, others. There are also over 100 filters to choose from (some available as in-app purchases). It's not bad for what it does. The only downside is that the app makes you log in to use it and it's one of the more expensive photo editor apps.
LightX is one of the upcoming photo editor apps. It had rousing success on iOS. There are quite a few decent features as well. It has a background changer tool, color splash effects, and a range of slider tools with various additional controls. You can even merge photos together for some neat effects and looks. There are also blur features, photo collage features, shape manipulation, and stickers. It only just recently left beta, but it should be fairly stable for most people. This one is also relatively inexpensive as well.
PhotoDirector is a newer entrant (comparatively speaking) into the photo editing space on Android and this one is pretty good. Like Fotor, this one focuses a lot more on manual enhancements rather than filters and you have access to HSL sliders, RGB color channels, white balance, and more. It helps properly edit most types of photos. There are also sliders for tone, brightness, darkness, exposure, and contrast for more in-depth editing. It's by the same developers of ActionDirector, a mainstay on our best video editors list. The only downside of this one is that it requires a subscription for all of the features. Otherwise, it's all good.
Photo Mate R3 is another excellent Android photo editor. It's newer than most so it's still in active development. For now, you'll have access to a fairly strong set of editing tools, including all of the basics. It also includes support for RAW files, an essential feature for serious mobile photographers. The app also comes with a Lens Collection feature so you can fix lens issues including vignetting, distortion, and chromatic aberration. This is about as pro as it gets on Android. It competes favorably with apps like Adobe Lightroom.
Pixlr by AutoDesk, also known as Pixlr Express, is a powerful photo editor and one that our readers have recommended to us time and time again. It has some of the best one-touch enhance tools that we've seen and it also includes a bunch of other features and tools that you can use. There are also filters, although it cleverly disguises them as "overlays" and there are also cosmetic editing tools like a blemish remover and a teeth whitener tool. It one of the better photo editor apps with a little something for everybody. It's also entirely free and that's a rarity for this feature set.
Thank you for reading!
If we missed any great photo editor apps, tell us about them in the comments below! You can also click here to check out more app stuff from DGiT!


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Friday, August 18, 2006
Why would any artist choose to work in the medium of the comic strip? The pictures are squeezed into tiny boxes where they compete for space with word balloons. The quality of reproduction is usually awful. And for writers, the medium has even less to offer. There is never enough space for words, and the flow of the narrative is chopped into short installments.
For many, these inherent drawbacks prevent comics from ever being a platform for truly excellent art.
But for at least one eccentric group, comics seem to be the best possible medium. Some artists with a strong personality and a talent for both words and images have found that comics allow them the freedom to combine all their strengths and realize their full artistic potential. These include George Herriman (Krazy Kat), Chester Gould (Dick Tracy) and Harold Gray (Little Orphan Annie). These creators could not have achieved the same heights by drawing and writing as two separate disciplines.
Among the greatest to use the special potential of the medium was Walt Kelly in his comic strip, Pogo.
Kelly starts out as an excellent artist. Note in the picture above how effortlessly he employs his knowledge of anatomy and his expressive line to serve the action in this panel: the raised shoulder, lowered head, splayed fingers and recoiling stance of the alligator are all conveyed with the kind of brush work that has not been seen in comic strips for many decades.
Similarly, in the following picture Kelly quietly understands that feet curve in toward each other:
But Kelly was also an excellent writer. Here he combines those drawing skills with his typically clever words:
Kelly could treat words like pictures and pictures like words.
The medium allowed him the freedom to play games and create effects that could never be found in an exclusively literary or visual art form.
Kelly's accomplishment was not just the sum of his drawing and writing. He invested his own distinctive personality and language to create a work that was uniquely his own.
I doubt he could have achieved such greatness in any other medium.
The medium does not suit everyone. Plenty of comic strip artists such as Frank Frazetta or Noel Sickles could not reach their full potential until they were set free from the straightjacket of the comics medium. And there are good writers such as John Updike who gave up drawing comics because they seemed to do better focusing on words alone.
It is easy to get the mixture wrong. Today we seem to have a lot of clever writers such as Art Spiegelman or Chris Ware who cannot draw well, and as a result the quality of the combined work suffers.
Those who were destined to be either an artist or a writer can do good work in comics, but they can never seem to take full advantage of the medium. But for the odd little band of eccentrics such as Kelly, Herriman, Gould and Gray there is no higher art form.
12 comments:
- Fabricari said...
Thanks for sharing such high resolution scans of the original art. Those inks are beatiful, the expressions speak volumes. Comics are indeed restrictive, but sequential art is an art form of it's own, neither fine art nor writing; storytelling, yes. I love the magic of taking two loose illustration, adding vox bubbles and breathing life into the figures. You get that, though; this was an interesting article - thanks for including comics as part of your syllabus.
- Hilus Anendorf said...
Great! I LOOOOOOVE comics, so for me it's no surprise at all to see them in a "Art" site! Makes sense to me. Oh, just one thing: I KNOW that your post its not a "Summum" of ALL the great comic strip artists, but i miss here E. C. Segar (very good, complex characters, and AMAZING talent for writing long histories) and Winsor McCay (Marvelous design, splendid use of the space combined with the narrative). Thanks!
- David Apatoff said...
Thanks, Fabricari. I am often astonished by the difference in quality between the originals and the printed reproductions in newspapers. So many artists took the time and care to draw with a delicate hand, realizing their audience would never really see the difference. That's one reason I like to show the originals to the world.
I am reminded of Robert Fawcett's explanation for why an illustrator should always do his or her best even if the audience won't see or appreciate the difference: "The argument that 'it won't be appreciated anyway' may be true, but in the end this attitude does infinitely more harm to the artist than to his client.'"
- David Apatoff said...
Anendorf, I agree with you 100%. McCay and Segar are part of the pantheon of great comic artists. I love their work and the work of many others. I draw no bright line between comic artists and other kinds of artists.
- spacejack said...
I think I need to get a Pogo collection. It's been a long time since anyone recommended that to me.
I was always quite impressed with Watterson's brush work in Calvin and Hobbes.
And just a personal bias, but I hate to see a list of comic artist/writers that doesn't include Will Eisner or Frank Miller.
- Unknown said...
Great post, not enough people know or appreciate Walt Kelly.
He was an adept animator as well.
Did he do his own lettering on these samples, or was it Henry Shikuma?
In any case, one of the greatest experiences of my collegiate life was to be able to sit alone at a table in the basement of a museum and see an original Pogo and Krazy Kat side by side. Something clicked in my brain and hopefully has influenced my own cartooning for the better.
David, I truly appreciate your knowledge, love and effort put into creating this blog. It is one of the very few sites that I regularily visit.
We both share the lowe toward great art and great artists and I am glad I am not the only one which do not hold in high regard artists and pseudoartists (illustrators, painters, comic artists...) which do not deserve attention - let alone fame - they enjoy these days.
Thank you for these large scans. Upon seeing the original art one is able to see even more clearly Kelly's influence on generations of cartoonists. Frank Cho is the last in a long line.
- Miras said...
Thanks, great article, great images. I have not know Mr. Kelly's work.
I agree with most of your conclusions, except for one: Chris Ware can draw comics, and can tell good stories. And his comics are complete. But this is my opinion, and I could be wrong. :-/
As others have said, comics are a unique art form, massively different from 'pure' drawing and 'pure' writing.
In a recent post you talked about visual thinking. I think comics can be thought of as writing using pictures. In that sense, Spiegelman and Ware are two of the best comic creators who ever existed, on par with Kelly, Herriman and McCay (even if their drawings are not).
Wonderful! The man was truly an authentic clinical genius, everybody knows that. But, to top it all, your presentation is great. Very well written, right on point, and very instructive. (even for me, a Pogo scholar for the last 40 years...) Wonderful!
Now, some of the drawings are easily tracked down, but for some others, it is not so clear from which year they come from, where they as well re-issued in some books, which ones, etc...?
We wouldn't be sad if sometime you could somehow supply those informations.
Are the originals yours?... You, lucky devil!
- Lucas said...
Just one comment to disagree for difference sake!
Chris Ware is a great artist, check out his sketchbooks to see what i mean.
The blog is very good and interesting by the way.
- FreedomOfThinking said...
Hello! Do you have personal pages in online social communities?


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Please note all submissions are currently closed as the site is being re-developed. Get in touch if you have any questions.
Tales Magazine is now transitioning into Tales Journal. An online blog featuring all the beautiful works of past and present magazine entries.
Watch this space to find out more!


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Horror director Eli Roth ("Cabin Fever", "Hostel") has built a career primarily on films that raise the bar on shocking, torturous scenes splattered with blood and gore. He also fittingly had a memorable role as the "Bear Jew" in Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" in which his character was known to dispatch his enemies by way of a baseball bat to the head. This is the realm Roth normally operates in, but his new film takes him in a slightly different direction with a mixed result. Roth fans will be surprised when they view "Knock Knock", a thriller that plays like an updated and over the top version of "Fatal Attraction". For "Knock Knock", it's a tale of two halves. Roth and his screenwriting partners Nicolas Lopez and Guillermo Amoedo succeed in setting up a scenario that will at minimum garner audience interest in finding out which way it will go. Unfortunately, the story runs out of ideas at about the 50 minute mark, as Roth has his characters ham it up in a lame and unlikely third act that is repetitively stupid and ultimately uninteresting.
Right away, the filmmakers blatantly want to establish a key element in the story, which is a remake of the 1977 film "Death Game". Evan Webber (Keanu Reeves) is a devoted husband and family man, who along with his wife, Karen (Ignacia Allamand), have created a home that seems to leave no wall space uncovered with giant poster sized photographs of them with their two children. Roth's camera explores the hallways and rooms of this modern Los Angeles home slowly enough that we can count the number of family photos as he finds his characters in situations typical of what we would believe is mainstream America. It's Father's Day, and the kids can't wait to present Evan with a cake and a gift they made. Evan is, of course, thrilled even if they interrupted an opportunity for a morning tumble between the sheets with his wife. Before they move to the kitchen for breakfast, Roth has Evan utter an important piece of dialogue in which he points out to Karen it has been three weeks since the last time they had sex. He also infers he would rather not wait until Monday as she has promised since Karen and the kids are on their way out for a weekendat the beach while Evan, a successful architect, stays at home to work. But, like many husbands willingly do to avoid a fight, he agrees to wait until they get home after the weekend.
As is the case with nearly every film in this genre, the plight of the characters always depends on how sound their level of decision making turns out to be. "Knock Knock" could've been a hilarious short film if Evan would have decided to pretend he wasn't home when he hears a knock at the front door on the first rainy night with the family away. But of course, he opens the door and finds two young attractive women standing in the rain with that look of innocence on their faces asking for help. Now I don't know about you, but common sense would dictate here it is a really bad idea to let them in the house for any purpose. And yet Evan invites them in to not only use his computer, but also to strip their soaking wet clothes off so he can put them in the dryer. Now we already know Evan's wife left him unsatisfied for the weekend and we also know there has to be more to these two girls than they are letting on. When the two of them emerge from the bathroom wearing nothing but white bathrobes, they sit in Evan's living room to strike up a conversation about everything from his previous job as a DJ to his relationship with his wife. Eventually, they identify themselves as Bel (Ana de Armas) and Genesis (Roth's real life wife Lorenza Izzo) as their banter begins to delve into that of a sexual nature.
The time frame in which the trio has to wait for a cab Evan has called for them is said to be 45 minutes and it's made as uncomfortable as possible by Roth as he skillfully choreographs a series of interesting movements by his characters around the room as both sides clearly have different intentions. Or do they? Evan goes out of his way to point out the various photos of his wife and family (as if anyone wouldn't notice) as Bel and Genesis continually find reasons through conversation to put a hand here, put a hand there, sit close enough that their bodies press against his. Evan stands up and moves from chair to chair several times, but he can't seem to shake what the girls are obviously up to. When the car arrives, he finds the girls have poured themselves a bubble bath, which he walks in on and then gives in to the temptation we knew would happen some forty five minutes before.
This is where "Knock Knock" takes an unfortunate turn. Evan has a difficult time getting the girls to leave the next morning, but they ultimately agree to him taking them home, which he does. And then the screenwriters run out of ideas. It's not like Roth had the option of having Evan discover his dog boiling in a pot of water on the kitchen stove, so he comes up with something else. A repeat of nearly the same scenario the very next night. Where it goes from there is up to Evan, but Bel and Genesis seem to have something else in mind. There is really nothing inventive or entertaining about the film's second half and a half hearted attempt at a twist ending fails miserably in making any sense of the girl's motivations. Reeves does his best work prior to the act, but falters after when being given nothing to do but repeat over and over again how "crazy" Bel and Genesis are. Believe me, you won't need Reeves' character to tell you that since it becomes rather obvious several times over. I suppose the moral question here is should a married man be held accountable to such an extreme when he was trying to do the right thing, but then encounters two attractive naked women dripping in soapy bubbles who literally throw themselves at him? In my previous line of work, we used to say "If it's predictable, it's preventable." In other words, don't open the door in the first place. Maybe they'll move on to the next house. GRADE: C-


text:
Microsoft has acquired Double Labs, an Android app startup which develops the popular Echo Notification Lockscreen for Android devices. This app had received between 1 million and 5 million downloads so far in Play Store.
Highlights of Echo Locker:
? Instant notifications – Echo shows the complete notification and not just a summary. Never miss an important message or notification with Echo.
? Minimal design – Cool lockscreen design. No effect on your battery
? Music controls – Control music without unlocking
? Automatic Grouping – Auto groups your Instagram alerts into social and your Gmail messages into work. Similar alerts are bundled together so you can deal with them all at once.
? Snooze – Snooze notifications to come back at a later time or place you're ready to deal with them: tomorrow, when you get home, or whenever you like.
? Lockscreen security – Protect your phone with Echo's pattern lock.
? Personalize – Personalize your lock screen design with wallpapers and notification settings
Download it here from Play Store.


text:
Latency comes in different flavours, but what we will talk about here is the time delay between succesively recorded tracks. When you have an audio sample on the first track and you record a second track playing along the first one, you want these two tracks to be perfectly aligned. On desktop systems, this problem is taken care of by a good audio system that has facilities like synchronised start of playback and recording, very accurate reporting of play head position and more. Examples of these are ASIO (Windows), Core Audio (OSX) and ALSA (Linux). Also, our own USB audio system has accurate positioning information.
Android however, was made primarily to make phone calls and play your mp3's. It was never made to record audio on such an advanced level as we want. That's why it has no such facilities as described above and we have to correct for latency manually, as far as we possibly can..
If the time delay (latency) between two recordings is constant, we can measure this delay and (automatically) correct for this delay each time we record. Sounds easy! Or perhaps not??
We have done extensive research analyzing the latency on various Android devices and we can only come to the conclusion that if you're lucky, you have a device where latency is reasonably stable, but if you're not, latency can vary between recording takes. What does help though is using OpenSLES and/or newer Android versions (4.2 or higher) and our 'Session latency correction'.
The good news is that when you use a USB audio interface, the latency jitter is minimal (around 0 to 2 milliseconds usually).
To see if latency on your device is constant or acceptibly constant, you can use our automatic latency detector. The first time you record a 2nd track, the app will ask you to perform the automatic latency check. If you have cancelled that or want to run the automatic latency detector again, open the Menu → Help and select Determine latency. Follow the on-screen instructions.
Starting with Audio Evolution Mobile version 3.1.8, there is an option in the app's preferences called 'Session latency correction'. When enabled, this attempts to measure the latency when you first press record after starting the app, by playing and recording a beep and measuring how much delay there was in between. If you do not change sample rate or change from mono to stereo recording, the beep will not play again and the latency will be constant and corrected for on each recording take, which will reduce latency tremendously.
Note that you need to be quiet when this beep is played and need to disconnect any headphones, otherwise the beep is not detected correctly and the wrong latency correction will be applied. You can connect headphones after the beep has been played.
If you want to let the app determine the session latency again in case something went wrong, please restart the app (or possibly force close it if that still does not work). You can also disable the option in the preferences, do a dummy recording, Undo and enable the option again.
Note: you need to choose OpenSLES as 'Audio system selection' in the app's preferences in order to use this feature!
To detect latency manually, we will put a short sine wave (beep) on exactly 00:01 (1 second). Either create your own beep sound in programs like Audacity or download our beep sound here: http://www.audio-evolution.com/downloads/BeepSine1000Hz.wav (you may need to use right click → Save target as… in order to download the file). Put the beep file on your Android device where you can find it later and Import this file in Audio Evolution Mobile using the button at the top left. This will pop up a menu where you choose 'Import sample'. Now browse to the Beep wav file and select it. The audio file will be placed on the first track at 00:00:
In order to move it to 00:01, zoom in fully (with two-finger move), select the Grid option (either a top-row button or menu item in 'Other'), and select 'Beat'. Since we are in a new project, the tempo defaults to 120 bpm, so 0:01 will be perfectly at a beat. Select the Edit mode (the pencil button) and slide the beep sample to 0:01:
DO NOT FORGET TO GO TO THE GRID OPTIONS AGAIN AND SELECT 'No grid'! Save this project for future reference.
Now that we have the sample ligned up, it's time for recording. Make sure the Latency Correction in the preferences is set to 0 (which is the default value if you haven't changed anything). Make sure that the time display says 00:00:000 at the bottom, otherwise slide your finger leftwards on the project overview at the bottom right to get it to 00:00:000. Make sure you unplug any headphones and turn up the volume using the physical volume buttons on your device. It's best to put your device flat on the table, not in your hand, which increases the chance of the microphone recording the speaker output. Make sure you and your room are silent. Press record, wait for the beep to be played and wait a second more. Press stop.
If all went well, you will see the beep recorded on the 2nd track somewhere:
If it's not clearly visible, you could normalize the recorded sample by going back to Move mode, then long-pressing the sample → Offline fx → Normalize. If your sample is completely flat, your mic didn't pick up any signal from the speaker. Put the device on the table, turn the volume to max and try again.
Now make sure the grid is turned off and go into Range mode.
If the recorded beep is BEFORE the original beep: Slide your finger on the recorded track and align the vertical dotted line to the start of the recording and release. Then slide your finger again, but now release at 00:01:000. The latency in seconds can be seen in the time display area at the bottom behind 'L'. If it reads 00:00:109, your recorded beep was recorded 109 milliseconds before playback. Cool huh? Well, just kidding, the recording started later than playback, which is what causes this. The next image shows that the recorded beep is BEFORE the original one:
If the recorded beep is AFTER the original beep: Slide your finger on the recorded track and align the vertical dotted line to 00:01:000. Then slide your finger again, but now release at the start of the recording. The latency in seconds can be seen in the time display area at the bottom behind 'L'. If it reads 00:00:109, your recorded beep was recorded 109 milliseconds after playback.
You should try this out several times after each other to figure out if the latency on your device is stable. Simply press Undo twice to remove the recorded beep and the newly created track and record again. Make sure to always record from 00:00:000!
If you found your latency to be stable, you can correct for it by zooming in so that the range is large and clearly visible. Then tap in the middle of the range: a pop-up menu will open. You can either select 'Range info' to look at how large the range is in seconds and frames or you can just go ahead and tap on 'Use as latency correction'. This will determine the latency correction based on your selected range and save it into the preferences.
You can also do it manually by entering the latency in sample frames in the menu Preferences → Latency Correction. You need to enter latency correction in frames, not milliseconds, since frames are more accurate. Simply do the following calculation:
(latency in milliseconds / 1000) * 44100.
For example:
(109 / 1000) * 44100 = 4806 frames
Important! If your recorded beep was BEFORE (to the left of) the original beep, you need to enter the latency correction as a negative value! So, 4806 will become -4806.
We urge you to find any means possible to let Google (the authors of Android) know that we need low latency, jitter-free audio for Audio Evolution Mobile. One bug report that has been there for years, which also shows it's not our fault and we are not alone in this can be found here: http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=3434
Android Jelly Bean (4.1) brings down the latency just a little bit, but the jitter remains.


text: About 1989 if remember correctly, they demolished the original Stax Recording Studios in Memphis. Being a Stax fanatic, I, naturally, took a long road trip and commandeered one of the bricks before they hauled them to wherever. I put a plaque and a few emblems on the brick and it's been in my various offices over the years and now resides in our music room. Visitors usually give a polite puzzled smile when I point it out. This was pre-iphone and before the custom of documenting everything in pictures, so I don't have documenting evidence as to it's authenticity, so it's probably worthless--except to me. I treasure the darn thing. When I pass, my relatives will probably shrug and toss the thing out. So do you have any music related mementos(other than instruments) that are uniquely near and dear to you?


text: Items About Submit Order by Default Name Ascending Name Descending Last Modified Go 1 item found Filter Results Italy: acquisition of citizenship dataset Citizenship. In the present section, there are the summary tables concerning procedures to acquire the Italian citizenship by marriage (according to art. 5 of Law 5/02/1992, n.... Italian Ministry of Interior. Department for civil liberties and immigration annual report Italy


text:
|hargrett library :: manuscripts and photographs :: manuscripts finding aids :: search results :: item display
Descriptive Summary
|Hargrett Library
|Slavery in Georgia collection
|1.0 folder(s)
|Coll. Number:
The collection consists of materials relating to enslaved people and slavery in Georgia. The materials include estate appraisals for the estate of Brittain Smith (1802) and Valentine Hatcher (1812); an inventory of the estate of Valentine Hatcher (1812); and a property list of the estate of Brittain Smith (1802); a bill from Lusk, Lathrop, and Co. documenting items purchased for slaves' use (1834); and a letter (1856) from Linton Stephens in Sparta (Ga.). The appraisals and property list give the enslaved peoples' name and value. The letter (16 Dec. 1856) lists enslaved people Linton has for sale including their price, name, and age and discusses the health of several slaves.
Cataloged as part of the Georgia Archives and Manuscripts Automated Access Project: A Special Collections Gateway Program of the University Center in Georgia.
Slavery in Georgia collection, ms2923, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Georgia Libraries.


text:
Man killed in Wednesday morning crash in Midland County
A man was killed early Wednesday morning after his vehicle was struck by an 18-wheeler on an Interstate 20 service road, according to Odessa's public information coordinator.
Arthur Lynn Rios, 41, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred in the 7900 block of the I-20 service road. The wreck occurred in the Odessa city limits, which is in Midland County.
Rios was drving a car eastbound on the north service road of I-20 when he was struck by a tractor trailer exiting a private drive, according to a press release.
The tractor trailer driver was not injured. There weren't passengers in either vehicle.
Odessa police officers responded to the crash at about 6:39 a.m. Wednesday.
Charges have not been filed; the investigation continues.
Rios is the 19th person to die on Midland County roads this year, according to Reporter-Telegram records. There have been 16 fatal accidents this year.
The most recent fatal crash occurred Sunday, when a 23-year-old Midland man died from injuries suffered in a rollover on Loop 250.
He was driving west on Loop 250 near North County Road 1150 when he lost control of his pickup, which left the roadway and rolled, according to a DPS trooper at the scene. He was not wearing his seat belt.


text:
Tease by Ella Frank
is coming May 9th!!!
Tease (Temptation #4)
by Ella Frank
Cover Reveal
April 19th, 2017
April 19th, 2017
Cover Designer:
Shanoff Formats
Contemporary Romance
Four years ago I met a man
who forever changed my life.
He dared me to try.
I dared him to love.
And while that's where our story began, it's certainly not where it ended.
-Tate Morrison
Tease – verb: to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity often without intending to satisfy it….unless your name is Tate Morrison.
It's been four years since Logan Mitchell walked into Tate's life and irrevocably changed it. Four years since the sexy as sin lawyer dared him to try, and four years since Tate won his love.
Now, as they approach the next chapter of their lives Logan is determined they won't end up like many of their friends. Settled. Domestic. Boring. However, that's easier said than done. With busy careers and working odd hours, finding time for one another is becoming increasingly difficult.
But that sh*t isn't going to fly with Logan or Tate.
The two of them are determined to compromise to get what it is they want, and what they want is each other.
Tease is the sexy, tantalizing continuation of the two men who stole your heart…and popped your cherry.
Start the Series Today!
(Free in Kindle Unlimited)
Try (Temptation #1)
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Take (Temptation #2)
Trust (Temptation #3)
Ella Frank is the USA Today Bestselling author of the Temptation series, including Try, Take, and Trust. Her Exquisite series has been praised as "scorching hot!" and "enticingly sexy!"
A life-long fan of the romance genre, Ella writes contemporary and erotic fiction and lives with her husband in Portland, OR. You can reach her on the web at www.ellafrank.com and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ella.frank.author
Some of her favorite authors include Tiffany Reisz, Kresley Cole, Riley Hart, J.R. Ward, Erika Wilde, Gena Showalter, and Carly Philips.


text:
Golden Oaks Estates is perched on a gently graded pocket in one of Nanaimo's most exclusive enclaves. Offering an extremely rare, sunny, South exposure and situated next to 145 acres of park, the community offers something for everybody. All of the lots are large in nature with many having unique panoramic mountain views, while others enjoy ocean and city landscapes. Conveniently located within minutes to a well-equipped private fitness centre, beach access, ferry and seaplane terminal to Vancouver, and all the conveniences Central & North Nanaimo has to offer. Watch your kids play in the neighbourhood park, soak up views from your decks, and live one step closer to your weekend – every day. Linley Park, adjacent to Golden Oaks, is an outdoor enthusiast's dream boasting fantastic hiking and mountain biking trails, amazing bird watching, a scenic lake, ideal dog walking paths and wild flower meadows. An ideal neighbourhood for young families, downsizers seeking tranquil views, or anyone craving city conveniences, but values nature and all that comes with it!
Seize this completely unique opportunity, limited lots available.
Now Selling!
For more information, please contact:
Doug Johnston – 250-758-8383
Carl Steele – 250-758-7753 (cell: 250-816-7753)
Tim Struch – 250-753-2353 or 250-758-4432


text:
Swapping out goggle lenses are great in theory—but you either leave the other lens behind when you head out, or risk frostbite to change them while on the slopes because it's never as easy as the manual promises. Julbo hurdles this hassle by offering photochromic lenses in their ski goggles, which automatically adjust the tint with the changing light conditions. Next fall they'll introduce the new Snow Tiger lens, which should transfer seamlessly from bright to dim light, and also includes a new glare filter to block an reflections that would otherwise obscure your vision. They come with only 53 percent polarization, which should be enough to pick out the divots in the shadows, but removes the distortion that occurs with fully-polarized models that makes it next-to-impossible to read your smart phone. They'll also drop with two new goggle frames, the women-specific Luna and Universe, which has a semi-rimless external frame, an insane level of flex, and a front venting system that should keep the lens from fogging up. The Universe with the new Snow Tiger Lense will run $220, and the Luna will retail for $180.
—Nathan Borchelt


text:
The latest opinion polls show Canada's opposition Conservative Party with at least a 10-point lead as the country prepares for Monday's parliamentary election.
If Prime Minister Paul Martin loses on Monday, the Liberal Party will be out of power for the first time in 12 years.
Mr. Martin, a former finance minister, is hoping the electorate will credit him with Canada's booming economy. However, his administration has been mired in a corruption scandal that originated under his predecessor, Jean Chretien.
Mr. Martin's opponent is Stephen Harper, who convinced several conservative political alliances to merge and form the Conservative Party in 2003.
The prime minister has tried to depict his challenger as an extremist on social issues. Mr. Harper -- an economist -- has been running on a platform of tax cuts and shifting more power away from the national government to the provinces.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


text: 2000 Years Later & Homs (aka Emesa) is in the News Again February 1, 2012 I'm an American. My country is only a few hundred years old. My countrymen can be insular; even with jet planes the rest of the world seems very far away. And so, when we hear that a tank was captured Continue reading → Continue reading... alexio, antony, emesa, emesan dynasty, emesan royal family, homs, kingdom of emesa, lily of the nile, octavian, palmyra, syria, zenobia


text:
Flood Brothers employs a team of seasoned professionals to deliver unparalleled FF&E installation and disposition service to hotel owners and developers. Regardless of how large or small your project is, our experts can skillfully manage the job. Whether you're renovating ten rooms of an intimate bed and breakfast or 2,000 guestrooms and public spaces within your large resort, Flood Brothers has the experience, skills and tools to make certain your project is planned and executed exactly as requested.
Professional FF&E Installation
Unlike many other companies that work with you from a distance, our furniture installation team deploys on-site and ensures that all tasks and deliverables are completed effectively, efficiently and professionally. We also work closely with your management team, as well as your selected furniture manufacturer(s), to ensure a streamlined and seamless experience with little or no disruption to your guests or staff.
Our Project Manager will assemble the right size team for your job. Each one of our team members are highly skilled and have been "Flood Certified" through extensive training of each manufacturer's specifications.
Our Project Manager will coordinate the installation, taking into account the project schedule, corridor and elevator access, loading zones and staging areas. The installation team will carry the plan through to your expectations by protecting floor and wall surfaces, accommodating employees and guests in the area, and completing the installation to your specification.
Every installation is thoughtfully planned and orchestrated from original plan to final departure. Our work is not complete until all of the furniture is level, adjusted, and cleaned by our team.
Flood Brothers FF&E Services
- Receiving: Whether owner or manufacturer supplied, we efficiently and professionally coordinate the receipt of all items. If desired, we can also provide warehousing and/or delivery services, along with project management and logistics.
- Inspecting: We thoroughly inspect all items to ensure that inventory matches expectations. If we identify any discrepancies or concerns, they are immediately escalated to you for targeted investigation and swift resolution.
- Handling: Our thoroughly trained and highly experienced hotel furniture installation team ensures that your items are safe, secure, and will be free of any damage caused by handling – guaranteed.
Punch List & Closeout
Before wrapping up any FF&E installation project – small or large – we create highly detailed punch lists to ensure that all work is completed to specifications and expectations. We take immense pride in delivering "white glove" service, and never closeout a project until it is 100% finished, right down to the very last detail.


text:
The Facebook app isn't the greatest first party app for BlackBerry, but it's definitely one of the hottest in terms of demand. With almost every single BlackBerry user on Facebook, a good Facebook app is crucial. The coming updates to Facebook, 1.8 and 2.0, will mostly address performance issues, but we haven't seen much in the way of new features. Personally, I think this app needs to support Facebook Apps, and it will truly be the app we all want.
Upcoming features for Facebook 1.8 (coming May 2010) include:
- Faster load times
- Video uploading
- Replacing BIS-E notifications with BlackBerry Push APIs
Facebook 2.0 (coming end of year) will feature:
- User interface redesign
- People Search
One of the downsides to RIM making an app is that updates come much slower than we would all like.


text:
When I first became interested in cryptology, I made the acquaintance of a software engineer who was writing a European version of the (at the time) standard software toolkit from RSA, "RSARef".
Normally, this would be a futile exercise; why would you want a compatible library from a third party when the original is readily available?
In those days, however, it made perfect sense, because the US Government had declared that encryption software was a "dual-use" technology, and therefore exporting it was illegal.
Encryption software was classed as military goods, and its transfer was covered by the International Trafficking in Arms Regulations. It was all treated rather seriously, so there was a gap in the market for a compatible toolkit and my friend's product, RSAEuro, was a moderate commercial success. I ended up writing the developer's documentation.
The US embargo on exporting crypto was rather impractical in the days of the internet, and there was a thriving unofficial competition amongst crypto enthusiasts for the most amusing way to circumvent it.
Commercial users suffered too. We were stuck with 40-bit rather than 128-bit encryption for web applications, crippled firewall VPN modules and so forth. Then there were the inevitable compatibility issues when dealing with international links. It was a real pain.
They finally saw sense and, these days, unless you are in a country on the official "naughty list", you can happily download proper crypto. So you would think the world might have grown up and seen how futile such attempts to limit downloads are.
Enter the DVD community, or more specifically, the HD-DVD and Blu Ray lobby with their new protection scheme, AACS, used on the new high-definition movie formats. Given the embarrassing ease with which DVD encryption was broken, AACS was hailed as a much better solution.
Digital piracy is an interesting area for crypto people, because it is one of the few areas where crypto attacks are both highly profitable and well published, so it is a fertile ground for novel attacks.
A critical feature of AACS was the use of a "broadcast encryption" scheme. This scheme allows content to be distributed using keys that can be subsequently revoked, rather than the fixed key that was the main weakness in DVD's scheme. If a particular set of keys gets compromised, they can be disabled, defeating the pirates.
This is a nice idea if it works, and it's a pretty big "if". Needless to say, AACS has been attacked by a number of industry experts, and recently one of them succeeded in extracting the so-called "processing key" that allows the decryption of protected discs. This was an impressive technical achievement and led to a few pirate high-definition movies circulating on the net.
The response from the AACS crowd was legal rather than technical. They issued a number of legal threats to sites hosting the magic 128-bit number, despite claiming that the key in question had been revoked.
Given that the US Government failed to prevent the widespread export of entire cryptography toolkits, their optimism that they would be able to stop a 128-bit number leaking out is rather naive. The lawyers have since been playing an active game of "whack-a-mole" with the sites that publish the key.
The methods used to extract the key also demonstrate the futility of using general-purpose computers for high-grade crypto; the keys were found floating around in the PC's memory.
Many people have written on the futility of protection schemes for consumer media. There is certainly a benefit in making it difficult to copy media, but assuming it will be impossible is a poor tactic. Despite the ease with which DVDs and CDs can be duplicated, their price now makes it too much hassle for most consumers.
AACS was designed with failure in mind, which was a pragmatic decision. However, at the first hurdle, they have called in the lawyers, which gives me little faith in their technical solution.
- Nick Barron is a security consultant. He can be contacted at email@example.com.
A naive view of crypto
By Nick Barron on Jul 25, 2007 7:57AM
The idea that you can stop consumers copying electronic media doesn't hold water. But people will still try.
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text:
Inspired by a bigger-than-expected rise in factory orders, investors sent stocks sharply higher Wednesday, taking advantage of lower prices after last week's declines and extending the market's advance to a second day. The Dow Jones industrials surged 102 points.
Surprisingly strong sales at Starbucks, brokerage house upgrades and a legal victory for Merrill Lynch contributed to the gains.
"The market continues to look forward to better economic news in the second half of the year," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist and senior market strategist, Banc of America Capital Management. Investors "are beginning to believe the recovery story and want to be invested to profit from it."
The Dow closed up 101.89, or 1.1 percent, at 9,142.84, having advanced 55.51 Tuesday in late-day bargain hunting.
The broader market also rallied. The Nasdaq composite index rose 38.60, or 2.4 percent, to 1,678.73, having gained 17.33 the previous session. The Standard & Poor's 500 index advanced 11.43, or 1.2 percent, to 993.75, following Tuesday's win of 7.82.
Volume was light because many traders were absent ahead of the Independence Day holiday. Trading will end early today and the market will be closed Friday.
Wall Street welcomed news from the Commerce Department that orders to U.S. factories rolled in at a total value of $320.6-billion in May, representing a 0.4 percent increase from April's level, stronger than the flat reading economists predicted. The increase came after orders fell by a sharp 3 percent in April from March, the steepest decline since November 2001.
But whether the market can hold its gains depends on economic news continuing to be strong and on the second-quarter earnings reports that companies begin releasing later this month. Investors are particularly anxious to hear what companies say about the third and fourth quarters, having placed their bets on Wall Street for a second-half earnings and economic recovery.
"There is always something the market is looking ahead to. Tomorrow is the next big roadblock with (June) unemployment data coming out," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke LLC.
Among Wednesday's winners, Starbucks advanced $1.64 to $26.97 after the company announced its June sales widely exceeded Wall Street's expectations.
Microsoft rose 73 cents to $26.88 after Merrill Lynch upgraded it to "buy" from "neutral."
Jefferies Group climbed $3.53 to $54.10 after Wachovia Securities raised its rating on the investment banker to "outperform" from "market perform."
Merrill Lynch advanced 44 cents to $48.64 as federal judges over two days threw out lawsuits by investors blaming it for the money they lost after the Internet bubble burst. Some analysts attributed Tuesday's late-day buying to Merrill Lynch's legal win, saying it would lift the cloud hanging over brokerages and investment houses.
Baxter International fell 57 cents to $25.01 after the health products and services company reduced its yearly earnings estimate and announced it was cutting 2,500 jobs, or 5 percent of its work force.
Advancing issues outnumbered decliners slightly 3 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume was a light 1.88 billion shares, but above Tuesday's 1.85 billion.
The Russell 2000 index, which tracks smaller company stocks, rose 9.72, or 2.2 percent, to 458.89.
Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average finished Wednesday up 3.4 percent. In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 advanced 1.1 percent, France's CAC-40 rose 2.2 and Germany's DAX index climbed 3 percent.


text:
One of the big dilemmas for many Australian BBWs is whether they're good enough to date. The truth is that yes, you're amazing, and you should get out there and date! Did you know that many BBWs in Australia don't struggle with weight issues? Often an acceptance of their weight occurs at a certain point in time. This is when they move onto acceptance, and feel comfortable in their skin.
If you want to feel positive about your body, here are some questions you need to ask yourself, and then solve. Remember that if you feel great about yourself, you're going to attract people to you who are ready to try BBW dating Australia.
1. What don't you really like? It can be easy to blame a weight issue on all your problems. You have a crappy job, or you need a new car, or you had a fight with your friends, but somehow you want to blame everything on being big, instead of getting to the heart of the matter. This means examining what it really is that you don't like about yourself. Perhaps you're quick to anger, or you are impatient, or a procrastinator. All of these things can impact your life far more than carrying extra weight.
2. Figure out what scares you. You may have heard how the plus size dating Australia sites are amazing. Your friends have found true love, but something is holding you back. You may be scared of something. Perhaps you're worried about being judged for your weight, or your new partner will ask you to diet. But the truth is that on the BBW dating Australian sites, partners have already accepted your weight, so you need to accept your weight too.
3. What do really want? Are you bored with hanging out by yourself every night and every weekend? Perhaps you're not ready for marriage yet, but you would like dates for dinners and movies, or to go golfing, or watch football. But you need to make an effort to find men to date, as you can't hide yourself inside all the time.
4. Do you want to better yourself? There's nothing wrong with wanting to improve your looks or become more knowledgeable, but take small steps first. A goal to improve your heart health by taking two walks a week is much better than saying you're going to lose fifty pounds. Or, stop by the makeup counter for some updated makeup trends to suit BBW Australian ladies.
5. Should you dump him? Are you not entirely happy with your casual dating choices? There's nothing wrong with dumping them and moving on. There is someone perfect out there for you!
Now you're ready to go ahead and join thousands of other Australian BBWs who have achieved happiness by joining a plus size dating Australia site. Stay active and get out there and have fun. You'll discover that there are many male Australian BBW admirers just waiting to meet you!


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Heartbeat Hardware bags make storage and transporting your hardware simpler and easier. (Prices are in US dollars)
9 in stock
Heartbeat Hardware Bag
Heartbeat Hardware Bag is custom made to Heartbeat Percussion specifications. The hardware bag is 44″ long and features heavy duty zippers, reinforcing at the bottom for extra protection, wheels for making transporting easier, and black with burgandy piping and white Heartbeat embroidered logo.
Shipping within Canada and the United States is free for orders $200.00 and over. There is a flat charge of $25.00 for all orders under $200.00. Shipping costs for international orders will be provided upon receipt of your order but prior to payment being completed. Any import duties and taxes applicable are the responsibility of the purchaser.


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Getting started
When you get your licence, your risks of crashing increase significantly. Suddenly, you have to find your own way, without the protection of a parent/supervisor or driving instructor. Find your own way now by taking active control of your learning. Get used to asking questions in a way that shows you're curious.
If you're not sure where to begin, focusing on forming good driving habits and working on your car control skills is a good starting point:
- Take control of the driving habits you begin to learn – talk to your parent/supervisor about working together on making your automatic driving habits high-quality ones.
- Work hard on your car control skills early on. Car control takes time and concentration, but it's easy compared to gaining good awareness and driving experience – the more automatic your car control skills, the more you'll be able to concentrate on the road and traffic.
Be determined. Driving – like football, maths or piano – is a complex skill that takes a lot of practice. You should feel confident that you'll get there, but it definitely takes hard work.
Find the right support
When choosing a driving instructor, arrange to have a trial to see if their teaching style suits you. If you feel you're not being taught well, tactfully look for another instructor.
Your free lesson is a good place to start – a Keys2drive-accredited instructor can help you determine what you need to look for in a driving instructor.
You also need to ensure that you and your parent/supervisor are compatible. Have a look at How to work with your parent/supervising driver for tips on communicating.


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Make this adorable Happy Valentine's Day Heart Hanger as a gift, or to bring a bit of the holiday spirit to your house on Valentine's Day!
Get the February 2012 Design Now
Download the .vp3 format for Designer Diamond, Designer SE, Designer Topaz or if you have 3D, 4D or 5D Embroidery software.
* Download the .hus format for software other than 3D, 4D or 5D Embroidery Systems. *The .vp3 format uses true thread colors keeping the downloaded design colors closest to the original.
Click here to get February 2012 Free Design Instructions (PDF)
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VIKING® is trademarks of KSIN Luxembourg II, S.a.r.l. HUSQVARNA and the "crowned H-mark" are trademarks of Husqvarna AB and used under license. © 2019 KSIN Luxembourg II, S.a.r.l. All rights reserved.
/Be Inspired/Blog/February 2012/February 2012 Free Project: Happy Valentine's Day Heart Hanger


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As our GB men and women prepare for their medal quests at this Summer's Olympic Games, it is more important than ever to show your support to the team!
We've compiled a list of the top ten ways you can get involved in Great Britain's bid for glory this Summer.
One of our top ten ways to get involved is to send a message of support to the team or make a pledge to the Hockey Nation.
Our pledge at Great Britain Hockey is two-fold...
"We pledge to the Hockey Nation to give our best on the pitch for the nation and our sport"
"We pledge to the Hockey Nation to provide opportunities for everyone to enjoy our sport and feel part of the Hockey Nation in 2012"
What will you pledge? Click here to make a pledge or send a message of support to the teams.
Have a look at our top 10 ways to support Great Britain Hockey this Summer and click on the links to find out more about each way, it really is easy to get involved!
1. Like us on Facebook at 'Great Britain Hockey' 2. Watch the GB team in action on TV – click here for the Olympic Schedule 3. Paint the town red with official GB merchandise 4. Call the Hockey Hotline on 0845 340 4000 for information on where to play or watch 5. Play hockey at a 'Give it a Go' session in your area 6. Follow us on Twitter @GBHOCKEY2012 7. Watch the GB games from your local Hockey House 8. Help deliver the legacy by becoming a Hockey Maker 9. Send a message of support to the team, make a pledge to the Hockey Nation or sign up for GB Hockey updates 10. Challenge your work colleagues to a game of Rush Hockey
Register to receive the latest news straight to your inbox. There are different newsletters to suit all your hockey needs, each containing exciting and exclusive features.


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Jordan Ashley Morris
- Civil Rights, Family Law, Landlord Tenant ...
- Oklahoma, Tennessee
Native Oklahoman, Jordan A. Morris, has been practicing law since 2014. She currently represents clients in Montgomery County and the surrounding counties in Northern and Middle Tennessee. Jordan specializes in civil litigation (contract disputes, landlord/tenant issues, personal injury), criminal litigation, family law issues (divorce, custody, paternity, child support, juvenile, adoption, guardianships), immigration law, estate planning (trusts, wills, conservatorships), and probating estates.
Jordan earned her J.D. in 2013 at Florida Coastal School of Law (FCSL). Jordan was the recipient of the Governor's Merit Scholarship. She was recognized for her commitment to her community and education when she was awarded the Pro Bono Honors Award and Certificate in Advanced Legal Research, Writing and Drafting. She was a member of the Moot Court Honor Board where she assisted the school in reaching multiple, national championships. While Jordan was in law school at FCSL, their Moot Court, appellate advocacy program had emerged as one of the nation's most elite programs reaching #1 rankings in the nation.
Jordan was founder and creator of the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) at FCSL, where she was President of the organization during her time there. The organization would venture out to the communities to teach underprivileged citizens about 4th Amendment illegal searches and seizures, Miranda warnings, capital punishment and general police encounters. The FCSL's NLG chapter would also attend protests as legal observers to help ensure that people's 1st Amendment, freedom-of-speech rights were not infringed. Jordan has a strong commitment to the public and is a strong advocate for human rights. She spent 2010-2012 volunteering at the Duval County Public Defender's Office, 4th Judicial Circuit in Jacksonville, FL.
Jordan moved to Clarksville, TN in 2016. Jordan is licensed to practice in Tennessee and Oklahoma- she is a member of both State's
- Civil Rights
- Family Law
- Landlord Tenant
- Estate Planning
- Criminal Law
- Personal Injury
- Divorce
- Immigration Law
- Juvenile Law
Free Consultation
My free consultations can last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. It really depends on the issues that the client is facing. The main reason for the consultation is to ascertain whether the potential client actually needs an attorney.
- Credit Cards Accepted
- Contingent Fees
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Florida Coastal School of Law
- J.D. (2013) | Law
- -
- Honors: Recipient of the Governor's Merit Scholarship Moot Honor Board Pro Bono Honors Award Legal Research, Writing, and Drafting Certificate
- Activities: Florida Coastal's Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild
- University of Central Oklahoma
- B.A. (2010) | Criminal Justice
- -
- Honors: Dean's Honor Roll
- Website
- Morris Law Firm


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Home > NRC Library > Document Collections > Generic Communications > Information Notices > 1989 > IN 89-85
Information Notice No. 89-85: EPA's Interim Final Rule on Medical Waste Tracking and Management
UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY AND SAFEGUARDS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555 December 15, 1989 Information Notice No. 89-85: EPA'S INTERIM FINAL RULE ON MEDICAL WASTE TRACKING AND MANAGEMENT Addressees: All medical, academic, industrial, waste broker, and waste disposal site licensees. Purpose: This information notice is provided to inform licensees that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has promulgated an interim final rule (40 CFR 259) on medical waste tracking and management under a mandate from the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988. As of June 6, 1989, EPA has determined that the regulation applies to the medical wastes generated in five States (known as "Covered States"). These "Covered States" are: Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island. This notice also identifies and clarifies areas of overlap between Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and EPA requirements. Licensees may wish to review this information for applicability to their programs and consider actions, as appropriate, as may be required by rule. However, suggestions contained in this information notice do not constitute NRC requirements; therefore, no specification or written response is required by NRC. In addition no specific written response is required by EPA. Description of Circumstances: On March 24, 1989, an interim final rule on medical waste tracking and management under the authority of the Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 was published in the Federal Register, Vol. 54, No. 56, pp. 12326 - 12395. On June 6, 1989, a supplementary Federal Register Notice, Vol. 54, No. 107, pp. 24310 - 24311, identified the participating States, identified the effective dates of the new rule, and extended the public comment period. On August 24, 1989, a Federal Register Notice , Vol. 54, No. 153, pp. 35189 - 35191, removed Louisiana and the District of Columbia from the demonstration program leaving the States of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico as participants in the program. NRC Part 35 licensees constitute one category of medical institutions covered by the new EPA rule. Since radioactive materials are sometimes associated with medical wastes, NRC licensees may be affected by that rule. Discussion: The Medical Waste Tracking Act of 1988 requires the EPA to promulgate regulations on the management of medical wastes by establishing a two-year demonstration 8912110017 . IN 89-85 December 15, 1989 Page 2 of 4 program to track medical waste. On March 24, 1989, EPA published "Standards for the Tracking and Management of Medical Waste; Interim Final Rule and Request for Comments" in the Federal Register (54 FR 12326). In general, this EPA rule established criteria and procedures for State participation in the demonstration program, EPA's definition of "medical wastes" for use under the Act, and the regulations and standards to be used in the demonstration program. The EPA regulation defines the regulated medical wastes applicable to the demonstration program, it establishes a waste tracking system, and sets out segregation, packaging, storage, labeling, and marking requirements. The EPA regulation defines "medical wastes" as "any solid waste which is generated in the diagnosis, treatment (e.g., provision of medical services), or immunization of human beings or animals, in research pertaining thereto, or in the production or testing of biologicals. The term does not include 261.4(b)(1) of this chapter." The regulation also defines the "regulated medical waste" subject to the new waste tracking requirements. These "regulated medical wastes" include cultures and stocks, pathological wastes, human blood and blood products, animal wastes, isolation wastes, and used and unused sharps (syringes, needles, scalpel blades, etc.). Regulated medical waste that has been both treated, so as to substantially reduce or eliminate its potential for causing disease, and destroyed, is not regulated once the treatment and destruction processes have been completed. However, generators who both treat and destroy regulated medical waste on-site are subject to specified recordkeeping requirements. Note that hazardous wastes as defined under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in 40 CFR Part 261 are not covered by the new EPA rule. Therefore, "mixed waste" (waste with both a RCRA hazardous component and a radioactive component) are not included in these new requirements. However, mixtures of RCRA hazardous waste and regulated medical waste may be subject to the tracking requirements in some circumstances. 20.311 requires that wastes shipped to a commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal site meet the waste classification and waste form requirements in 10 CFR Part 61. The low-level radioactive waste regulations, 10 CFR Part 61, require that hazardous, biological, pathogenic, or infectious material be treated to reduce to the maximum extent practical the potential hazard from the non-radiological materials. Hazardous wastes are covered under the EPA requirements in 40 CFR 260-270. However, radioactive medical wastes having a biological, pathogenic, or infectious component need to be treated prior to shipment for disposal. Since treated wastes must also be destroyed in order to be exempted from the new EPA regulation, we expect some impact on low-level radioactive waste disposal facility licensees for tracking biological, pathogenic, and infectious wastes. Licensees in the Covered States . IN 89-85 December 15, 1989 Page 3 of 4 who treat and destroy radioactive medical wastes would need to track these wastes up to the point of treatment and destruction. Because some medical wastes regulated under the new EPA regulation are only treated, but not destroyed, and some medical wastes (e.g., unused radioactive material in syringes) may not require treatment under 10 CFR Part 61, some radioactive medical wastes would need to be tracked to the disposal site. The EPA tracking system will provide assurance that regulated medical waste is properly handled and managed. The regulations require each person in the chain-of-custody of medical waste management to take responsibility for assuring that the waste reaches the proper treatment or disposal facility. A tracking form, described in the new regulation, is required to be used. The EPA regulation requires generators of regulated medical wastes in the Covered States to segregate sharps and fluids from other regulated medical waste and general refuse, to the extent practicable, prior to transport off-site. The regulation also prescribes packaging in rigid, leak-resistant containers. Storage of medical wastes must be (a) performed in a manner and location that maintains the integrity of the packaging and affords protection from water, rain, and wind, and (b) maintained in a nonputrescent state. Specific labeling and marking requirements are also set out. It should be noted that the low-level radioactive waste disposal regulation, 10 CFR Part 61, prohibits the use of cardboard and fiberboard containers. These requirements were adopted due to several instances where low-level waste disposal operators injured themselves on needles that penetrated card- board and fiberboard package containing medical wastes. Since radioactive medical wastes are generally shipped for disposal in DOT 17H steel drums, no impact to licensees is expected. The EPA regulations include a new tracking form for covered medical materials. In the Federal Register notice it is stated that the EPA tracking forms would be sufficient for meeting the NRC manifest requirements under 10 CFR 20.311 for radioactive wastes provided that the additional 10 CFR 20.311 information is included in Box 14 of the form. This statement needs clarification. Commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites have very different manifest information requirements that could not be placed on the available space on the EPA form. In addition, Agreement States regulating commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites require approval of new manifest formats. Consequently, licensees in Covered States who ship regulated medical waste offsite for treatment or disposal would need to attach the low-level radioactive waste disposal site manifest forms to the EPA medical waste tracking forms. In some cases, generators of regulated medical waste in Covered States may use waste brokers or processors in non-Covered States. Also, the three commercial low-level radioactive waste disposal sites are located in non-Covered States (Nevada, South Carolina, and Washington). The new EPA regulations apply throughout the country, but only to wastes generated in Covered States. . IN 89-85 December 15, 1989 Page 4 of 4 Therefore, waste brokers, processors, and disposal site operators in non-Covered States will need to comply with the new EPA medical waste tracking requirements when they handle, process, or dispose of wastes generated in Covered States. This information notice is issued for information only and should not be construed as a legal interpretation of the EPA regulation. No specification or written response is required by this information notice. If you have any questions about this information notice, please contact Timothy C. Johnson at 301-492-0558 of this office. If you have any questions on the new EPA regulations, please contact the toll-free RCRA/Superfund Hotline at 800-424-9346 or 202-382-3000 in Washington, DC or Mary Greene, 202-475-8551, Office of Solid Waste, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OS-332, 401 M Street, S.W., Room S-242, Washington, D.C. 20460. Copies of the new EPA regulations are available by calling the RCRA/Superfund Hotline. Richard L. Bangart, Director Division of Low-Level Waste Management and Decommissioning Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Technical Contact: Timothy C. Johnson, NMSS 301-492-0557 Attachments: 1. List of Recently Issued NMSS Information Notices 2. List of Recently Issued NRC Information Notices .
Page Last Reviewed/Updated Friday, May 22, 2015


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There are hundreds of VPN Services out there each offering different sets of features and services at different costs but with the same promise of Anonymity. VPN is now a popular choice when it comes to maintaining anonymity over a network. With so many VPN services it's really a very daunting task to select one VPN that would serve all your needs for privacy online. With most Governments and companies spending zillions of to snoop on user data it's only wise to protect your data. here we list a few VPN services that take your Anonymity seriously.
What is VPN ?
If you are new to the concept of VPN then try reading our Beginners Guide to VPN: What is VPN & How to Use it ?
However here's a quick look into VPN (virtual private network) services. A VPN is essentially a blanket that covers your data that is being transmitted over internet. A VPN is a service that encrypts and redirects all the internet connections on your computer. Thus it's a good way of protecting yourself against hackers and snooping. Not just these, they also provide a hard time for your ISP (Internet Service Provider) to monitor your activity.
Not all VPN services are as anonymous as they promise to be.There are reports of VPN services keeping logs of user data and submitting it to authorities when asked for. Following services were shortlisted based on user reviews spread across various forums across the internet and our own experience.
Note the sequence of this list does NOT matter as the performance of these services will vary from user to user and with time.
Private Internet Access
One of the top choices of the users across internet for a VPN service , Private Internet Access was also awarded PC Magazine Editor's Choice Award for VPN services.The company is only one of the few companies that operate outside of the USA thus stays safe from its laws and jurisdictions.
Server Location: United States , Canada ,United Kingdom ,Switzerland ,Netherlands ,Sweden ,France ,Germany ,Romania ,Hong Kong
Platforms Supported: Window, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android
VPN protocols supported: PPTP, IPSEC, OpenVPN and L2TP
Price: MONTHLY $6.95 YEARLY $39.95 (subject to changes)
Payment Method: Credit cards, Paypal, almost any Gift Card, Amazon Payments, CashU, Google Wallet, OKPay, Bitcoin, and Liberty Reserve
Based in Romania VPN.AC has servers in 9 countries (US, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Romania, Hong Kong and Canada), and are known for being experts at VPN security obfuscation. They also have support for Elliptic Curve Cryptography along with TLS 1.2 , one of the most secure types of cryptography available. they also provide a trial Account for a period of one week on payment of $2.
Server Location: US, UK, Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Romania, Hong Kong and Canada
Platforms Supported: Window, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android
VPN protocols supported: PPTP, IPSEC, OpenVPN and L2TP
Price: MONTHLY $9 YEARLY $58(subject to changes)
Payment Method: Alipay and Unionpay, Paypal, BitCoin, CashU, Paysafecard and UKash
BtGuard seems to be a little basic but very effective. Consider the fact that BTGuard is also being recommended by TorrentFreak a frontier in online privacy. With its servers based in Canada the service is very well off the hooks of authorities asking for user data, as Canada has no data retention laws , however this may change with time. However BTGuard has been known to keep the users billing information and email and they also do not accept anonymous BitCoin payments.
Server Location: Canada, Europe and Asia
Platforms Supported: Window, Mac OS X, Linux
VPN protocols supported:OpenVPN & PPTP, 256-bit AES encryption
Price: MONTHLY $9.95
Payment Method: Paypal, BitCoin, Credit cards
AirVPN is based in Italy and has servers that offer at least a 1 Gbit/second. Servers of AirVPN are located in the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, United States and United Kingdom.
Server Location: Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, United States and United Kingdom
Platforms Supported: Windows Linux Mac OSX Android iOS
VPN protocols supported:
Price: MONTHLY € 7 YEARLY € 54 (subject to changes)
Payment Method: Bitcoin, Paypal and credit cards
Based in Ecuador Nord VPN has no logging policy and supports 256bit encryption and bitcoin payments.Although the company is a bit new and users have also reported speed issues but it's a great option for Anonymity.
Platforms Supported: Windows, iOS, Linux, Android
VPN protocols supported: OpenVPN, L2TP, PPTP, IPSec
Price: €4/mo
Payment Method: Bitcoin, WebMoney, PayPal, Paysera and Credit Cards
VPN to avoid when Privacy is your main concern
They were hacked and are also known to keep user activity logs.
Many complaints of poor customer care and company says nothing much about Privacy.
Hotspot Shield
Too many ads and POP-up banners. Also the company makes money selling user activity logs to third party services. Moreover most of the websites will still remain blocked even if you use this service
Said to keep logs , no support for P2P clients


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.. as an Independent Consultant Trainer and Business Writer
Through the years, I have spoken informally to many people about my spiritual experience, and more particularly about the benefit of keeping a personal journal'.
'This eBook began life in 2008 when I uploaded chapters 1 and 2 onto my (then) website, with further chapters following irregularly until the book was completed and self-published in 2010.'
'I have sought to learn from a wide range of experiences. You will read the manner and extent to which my spiritual guidance has shepherded me through an exhilarating life – ensuring a personal walk with a personal God.'
'I'm pleased to share what – and how – I have learned. I know there is so much more to learn and share.'
Jean Roberts
A$ 9.95Buy Now


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Chunky knit with an oversized fit, the Amalia Sweater can be layered over a tee for extra warmth or worn by itself for the ultimate cool-girl cozy look. Just add jeans and booties for the perfect fall look!
- Brooke is 5'6" and is wearing a size small
- relaxed fit
- dry clean
- cotton/nylon/polyester
- imported
- measurements of a size small: bust - 44" | length - 24"
WE ONLY OFFER STORE CREDIT FOR RETURNS! Feel free to email us at hello@shopriffraff or DM us with any questions regarding fit, styling, or our return policy in general.


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How to Turn on Touchpad Scroll
Though small business computers that operate from a desktop typically connect to a mouse, you may use a laptop touchpad when you work from other locations. The pad's lower and right edges enable you to scroll through long documents and Web pages. The lower edge scrolls horizontally, the right edge scrolls vertically and the two together handle the functions of a mouse's wheel or third button. If your pad does not appear to allow scrolling, turn the feature on through your driver settings.
Click the Windows "Start" button. Type "mouse" into Search field and click "Mouse" in the search results to open the Mouse Properties window.
Click the "Device Settings" tab.
Click "Settings."
Click "Scrolling" in the sidebar. Click "One-Finger Scrolling" if the option appears.
Click the check boxes labeled "Enable vertical scrolling" and "Enable horizontal scrolling."
Click "OK" in the two open windows to close them.
Photo Credits
- Thomas Northcut/Photodisc/Getty Images


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These past couple of months have been such a blur that I almost forgot about another first I have coming up this weekend: Simply Phoebe makes its catwalk debut!
Let's be clear it's not me on the catwalk (phew!), but a few of my creations will be featured in the fashion show being held as part of the Fair@Square Fair Trade + Ethical Festival, on at Federation Square in Melbourne this weekend.
I am really proud to be part of an event that celebrates and promotes ethical fashion and am looking forward to checking out the work of others doing their bit.
My involvement came about through meeting one of the organisers at Finders Keepers. She liked my work and the fact that my pieces are created using remnant, recycled and vintage materials, making them a good fit with the event. You can check her her own creative adventures and fashion and craft-related musings on her blog, Style Wilderness (oh, and if you'll excuse a little self-induldence, I do have to share that I was extra-chuffed to find out that she is a former fashion editor of Vogue Japan!).
The fashion show is on at 2:45 pm on Saturday and Sunday at Federation Square. It's being hosted by Lady Melbourne, vintage-fashionista extraordinaire, and there's a ton of other fashion and non-fashion related events happening as part of the festival over the weekend. You can check out the full program here.
Simply yours,