text:
Messaging security vendor Tumbleweed recently adopted a new indirect global market strategy but reckons direct sales will continue to grow.
The firm, which has traditionally stuck to the direct business model and a customer base primarily made up of government, banking, finance and healthcare organisations, said it hoped to push up market share by partnering with resellers, system integrators and infrastructure folk.
Tumbleweed EMEA managing director Craig Whitney, who joined the vendor in May this year, told The Register that the firm had previously "concentrated on the security elite and we've done extremely well there.
"What we see now is a huge opportunity to go deeper and wider in different vertical markets or even market sectors such as the mid-tier and SMB space. In order to do that we need to really embrace the channel."
He said that up to now Tumbleweed, which was founded in 1993 and is NASDAQ-listed, had not been particularly well known within the channel. However, he reckoned that the firm has had a very positive response from potential partners following the launch of its new channel Alliance Programme last month.
Asked if part of its new channel strategy could be seen as a face-saving operation within the squeezed European direct market place, Whitney said:
"There's still a heck of a lot of growth that we see in the direct market, but the growth potential is probably a lot greater in terms of going to other markets where we haven't played before."
When Tumbleweed posted its preliminary Q2 results in July this year, it admitted that revenue had fallen short of expectations.
The firm hopes to bring around 30 European partners on board by the end of this year. ®


text:
(Pocket-lint) - You may have read on Pocket-lint about the launch of the Monster iSport in-ear headphones back in August, and as it happened we managed to get hold of one of the first pairs to hit UK shores. Well, over in Vegas at CES, the iSport buds have had a shiny yellow makeover, all in aid of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which aims to serve people affected by cancer and empower them to take action against the world's leading cause of death.
Once again, we got up close and personal with a pair and, just like the originals, they look fantastic. They boast a patented in-ear clip design that is designed to fit nicely with your ear's inner curve, rather than fixing over the top.
It's a bit awkward getting them in the first time, but once you've cracked it, it's a doddle. The iSport also comes with a load of buds and clips of all manner of shapes and sizes so you're bound to find a pair that fit.
Music quality is great as well thanks to a tight audio seal to keep your tunes locked up in your ear and there's also noise isolation on board, which seemed to do the job when we tested the original's out last year
Controlling playback on your phone is easy, as the iSport have Monster's ControlTalk function that works particularly well with Apple devices. With iDevices it will not only let you answer and make calls, but also give you media controls as well.
Monster teamed up with RadioShack for the launch of the new iSport Livestrong branded in-ear headphones. They are sweatproof and washable, and it's not only music fans that get to benefit from these new earphones as a portion of the proceeds from sales will go to the famous cyclist's charity.
They will be available at RadioShack in the US, starting in February 2012, for $179.95. A UK launch is planned for later in the year - the original iSport buds cost £130, so expect about the same.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Approximately half of all curling clubs in the United States sponsor programs specifically geared toward youth, with numerous clubs in the Midwest hosting varsity level high school curling programs. USA Curling encourages the participation of young people in the sport through camps, competition, and development of tools that can be used by coaches and instructors.
More information about these programs can be found within the links on this page. In addition, details on safety initiatives geared toward youth athletes can be found in the USA Curling SafeSport Handbook and Youth/Junior Coaching certification requirements are located in the Sport Education Certifications and Training section of the website.
Youth Curling Program participants (above) at San Francisco Bay Area Curling Club.


text:
Arrests of SC sheriffs prompts additional training
Five of South Carolina's 46 sheriffs have faced criminal charges in the past three years, and their colleagues have noticed.
Sheriffs across the state plan to meet in April in Columbia for additional training and talks about what they can do as powerful figures in their counties to stay on the right side of the law.
Jeff Moore of the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association says the sheriffs hope to meet with the Corrections Department and get clarity on what is legal and what isn't with inmate labor. Three of the charged sheriffs are accused of misusing inmate labor.
As the most visible officials in their counties, sheriffs face much political pressure. And South Carolina sheriffs have considerable power. They often decide which cases are pursued, and they can fire deputies for any reason.


text:
THE 1975 Facedown Vinyl
We ship from Taguig City, Philippines.
This is a legit, original, officially licensed merchandise purchased directly from the band's record label, online store, or licensed distributor.
Imported item. We source our products from USA, UK, EU, JAPAN AND AUSTRALIA.
Mockups are not actual representations of item – actual items may vary.


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Lupu-528JP (Japanese/English bilingual) is released
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Joined: 28 May 2009
Posts: 2674
Location: Japan
Posted: Fri 31 May 2013, 16:46
Post subject: Presice-550JP-RC
The Precise Puppy Japanese edition, the release candidate is now available.
Work around Puppy Linux
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Joined: 09 Jun 2013
Posts: 2
Location: Stockholm
Posted: Sun 09 Jun 2013, 17:22
Post subject:
Thanx guys! this is amazing!
I found an old laptop in the garbage, It has no other boot option then ethernet, but a full owrking winblows2000 .
And whilst exploring how to give it a new, more decent life, i found puppy.
Thanks a million for this!
I'll repport my adevnture back!
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Posts: 4499
Location: Sydney Australia
Posted: Sun 09 Jun 2013, 20:25
Post subject:
Sakrecoer "
Welcome to Puppy.
shinobar puts out a good product.
Even an Aussie can use it.
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Joined: 09 Jun 2013
Posts: 2
Location: Stockholm
Posted: Mon 10 Jun 2013, 01:35
Post subject:
Thank you!
I am very happy i found it!! IT is so tiny and cute!! I realized after i posted yesterday that there was a link to a precise version here too!!!!
gonna try it today.
Do i need to uninstall the Lucide version first? I guess i will find out soon enough.....
I wish to wipe out the old windows2000 completly thou. Is it possible to mount puppy in the ram so i can format the hard drive from ugly NTFS to ext4?
Thank full for any links with info, and sorry if my post is slightly offtopic. (only slighlty off-topic because I used the windows installer sincei have no configured LAN with bootsignal. and lan boot is the only boot input i have available.
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Joined: 28 May 2009
Posts: 2674
Location: Japan
Posted: Fri 14 Jun 2013, 16:32
Post subject: Precise-550JP
Precise-550JP is released:
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Joined: 16 Jun 2008
Posts: 3913
Location: 500 seconds from Sol
Posted: Tue 25 Jun 2013, 21:09
Post subject: Reformatting Drive with limited Install options
Hi Sakrecoer,
Welcome to Puppy. I apologize for the delay in responding. I'm usually elsewhere on the Forum.
You've indicated that you wanted to reformat your ntfs drive but only had the option of a net install before you installed Lupu-528JP. So while there may be easier ways to do this, my principal concern is that you have a bootable system at all times. So the first step, if you haven't already done so, is to install GRUB4Dos --it should be on your menu-- and make certain you can boot into your current Puppy.
Except when noted below, do not reboot.
Step 2: Delete everything which doesn't pertain to puppy. Your Puppy Files consist of: initrd.gz, lupu_528.sfs, vmlinuz, lupusave-???.?fs, any other files ending in sfs (being those you've downloaded for use with puppy) and (unlikely) any folders if you've created program folders for use with puppy. You'll also want to retain gldr and menu.lst. If in doubt, don't delete it.
Edit: If you're following these instructions but using a Pup created later than Lupu, the ISOs of those Pups may have files starting with adrv and/or zdrv. You'll want to copy those files.
Also, re-run Grub4dos just to make certain that necessary boot files are still there.
Step 3. Reboot into puppy and start gparted, also on you menu. It will tell you how much of your ntsf partition is now unused. That was the purpose of Step 2: to create hard-disk space which was not in use. A fully fleshed out Puppy --with many sfses-- can happily exist on 2 Gigs. 1 Gig is more than enough for most purposes. So what I'd do is RESIZE the ntfs partition and create a second partition (linux formatted, Ext3 or Ext4,
Edit: Pups created before Puppy 4.30 may not be able to boot from Ext4
) onto which you'll install a second copy of your
Puppy. Before shutting gparted down, select your new partition, click "flags" and click "boot." To install the second copy, click the new drive icon appearing on your desktop. It is probably named sa2. When it opens it should be blank. Right-click the blank space and from the drop-down menu select New>Folder. Name it something like Lupu528JP2, or anything distinct from your first Puppy. Into that folder, you can copy all your Puppy files except your SaveFile, the one named lupusave-???.?sf. You can't accurately copy a SaveFile while it is in use. Re-Run Grub4Dos and install it to your 2nd partition. It should pickup and list your 2nd Puppy installation. Before rebooting, click the 2nd partition's desktop icon and then double-click menu.lst. It should open in your text editor. Change the line which reads:
kernel ... pfix=fsck to read
kernel ... pfix=fsck,ram -- there's no space between fsck and ram, only a comma
Click save to save the changes to menu.lst. Close menu.lst, but leave the folder open.
With that partition open, click the sa1 icon, and copy (drag>drop>copy>overwrite)
menu.lst from sa2 to sa1.
The purpose of the above is so that when you boot into the "new" Puppy it will not load the SaveFile of your "old" Puppy.
Step 4: Boot into your new Puppy. If you were happy with your SaveFile, you can now copy the SaveFile from your first installation into this Puppy's folder since its not in use. [When possible, always install Puppys to a folder: doing so avoids confusion, and provides greater flexibility when you want to make changes]. You should delete the ",ram" you added to menu.lst. In either case, you'll be asked when you shut down whether you want to create a SaveFile. But the purpose of this step is to format --completely wipe out-- everything on your 1st partition, which is probably named sa1. So again you'll call up gparted, and select that partition, delete it, select it again, select new and choose a Linux format, and optionally (see below) select "flags" & "boot" to make it bootable.
Step 5. After creating a new linux partition for sa1, you have many choices. You can repeat the steps above to create a copy of Puppy on sa1, with grub4dos there and (if you want) again follow the steps above to delete sa2 and then resize sa1 to use the entire diek. Or you can install a different Puppy to sa1. You can Install Grub4dos to sa1 and delete its installation on sa2. My recommendation is that you
end up with
the following: 2 partitions with grub4dos on sa1 and sa1 large enough to hold all your puppies together with all SFSes and program folders. Many puppys can use the same SFS. Sa2 is used for data files, a vault for pets you may want to install in future puppies (so you don't have to hunt for and download them). But in any event, before doing anything with sa2, install some Puppy (into a folder) on sa1, run grub4dos again, and make certain you can boot into the puppy on sa1.
Things you should know when considering multi-booting puppies: An SFS is an entire application you load when wanted and unloaded when not. Unless you've used a program such as "startmount" Puppy only automatically mounts the partition on which it's been installed, and sfses on other partitions will not been loaded on bootup. Program folders and external programs -- use the "well-minded" search for these with my name.
. Once you're satisfied with Grub4dos, and don't intend to change the partition on which it's located, you don't have to run the Grub4dos application to add another Puppy to the list it will offer to boot. You can open menu.lst in a text editor and copy/paste one listing, editing a copy to reflect a different Title, the name of the folder of your new puppy and adding "ram" as mentioned above before booting into your new puppy the first time.
Happy computing,
Last edited by mikeslr on Wed 05 Mar 2014, 21:43; edited 1 time in total
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Joined: 26 Oct 2013
Posts: 21
Posted: Sat 26 Oct 2013, 03:42
Post subject: User and Password http://184.108.40.206/puppy/lupu/
for shinobar
Hi, I' can't access http://126.96.36.199/puppy/lupu/ to download the windows installer for puppy precise because it requires User and Password.
Can you tell me user and password?
Thanks in advance!
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Joined: 28 May 2009
Posts: 2674
Location: Japan
Posted: Sat 26 Oct 2013, 04:00
Post subject: Downloads
The IP-address is dynamic. Access via CGI:
Or, follow the download links:
Work around Puppy Linux
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Joined: 26 Oct 2013
Posts: 21
Posted: Sat 26 Oct 2013, 11:01
Post subject: puppy precise 5.7.1
Thank you very much shinobar!
I can't find the windows installer for puppy precise 5.7.1 in the sites that you have linked: you don't have it?
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Joined: 23 Feb 2014
Posts: 1
Posted: Sun 23 Feb 2014, 17:10
Post subject: Change language
Subject description: chnage from Japanese to English
I installed Puppy Linux using your installer. I managed to change all setting to English. Seamonkey is still loading in Japanese though. How can I change that.
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Joined: 02 Oct 2013
Posts: 57
Location: Miyagi, Japan
Posted: Mon 24 Feb 2014, 03:13
Post subject: Re: Change language
Subject description: chnage from Japanese to English
Seamonkey included in lupu-528JP seems to install only a Japanese language file.
(This will be .sfs package exactly: seamonkey-2.11-ja-1.sfs)
This problem may be settled by introducing a Web browser newly:
or "Puppy Package Manager" is a method of the solution.
In addition, Seamonkey of a new version may be provided by the search in this forum.
BALLOON a.k.a. Fu-sen.
from Japan | ふうせん Fu-sen. (old: 2 8 6)
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Joined: 28 May 2009
Posts: 2674
Location: Japan
Posted: Mon 24 Feb 2014, 20:48
Post subject: Re: Change language
Subject description: chnage from Japanese to English
Alternativa wrote:
I installed Puppy Linux using your installer. I managed to change all setting to English. Seamonkey is still loading in Japanese though. How can I change that.
Try Portable SeaMonkey under English locale.
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An Indian court ordered the division of a patch of land in Ayodhya at the center of an ugly dispute between Muslims and Hindus, with a majority share going to Hindus.
Indians were glued to their televisions Thursday afternoon as a team of three judges at the Allahabad High Court ruled that one-third of the site would be held by a Muslim organization, with the remainder divided between two Hindu groups.
For more than a century members of the two faiths have fought over the site in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1992 a Hindu mob tore down the 16th century Babri Mosque there with pickaxes and their bare hands. Ensuing riots killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslim.
Despite fears that a verdict – of any kind – would unleash fresh communal violence, the region was calm in its aftermath.
"With the site being divided I don't think there will be any big trouble in Uttar Pradesh," says Sharat Prathan, a journalist in the state capital, Lucknow. "Indian people are so secular I don't think they will mind if there is a mosque and a temple near to each other."
The case has been something of a test of modern India's ability to ease sectarian tensions in a country that has experienced stunning economic growth since 1992. An improving economic environment has corresponded with a decline in the political fortunes of the chauvinistic Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A government inquiry last November determined that senior BJP members were complicit in the 1992 attack.
Hindutva fades
The party rose to prominence on the back of its antipathy for the mosque at Ayodyha and its promotion of Hindutva (literally "Hinduness") increasing its number of seats from two in 1884 to 120 in 1991. In 1998 it came to power for the first time as head of a coalition government.
But in recent years, the notion of Hindutva has faded. In a general election last spring, the BJP took a drubbing. Political analysts say the Congress party did well in part because it took votes from Indians traditionally drawn to political Hinduism.
"India has moved on and the mood has changed, mostly because the political situation is so different," says Mahesh Rangarajan, a political analyst at Delhi University. "I think the media has hyped up fears about a violent reaction."
The reaction from some Muslim Indians was a sign of the improved atmosphere in the intervening years.
"The suit of Muslims was liable to be dismissed," a lawyer for the Babri Masjid Action Committee, a Muslim group, told reporters. "But they are still entitled to one-third of the site. We can say we are partly disappointed, not fully because some of the stand of the Muslims has been vindicated." "Masjid" is a local word for "mosque."
Precautions taken
The government prepared for the worst. Some 200,000 security forces were deployed in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state. The ability to send a single text message to large groups of people was blocked in order to slow the spread of rumors. Liquor shops and many schools were closed for the day. An appeal for calm, signed by Prime Minister Singh, appeared in several Indian newspapers.
On Thursday a curfew was imposed in the Indian-occupied, Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, which has seen surging violence in recent months.
The Babri Mosque was commissioned by Babur, the founder of the Mughal empire, in 1528. For more than a century, a group of Hindus have claimed that Babur built over a Hindu temple. There is no archaeological evidence to support either belief, though the site has long been venerated by Hindus as well as Muslims. Some Hindus also believe that the site is the birthplace of their god Ram.
In 1949, Hindus reportedly placed statues of their own gods inside the mosque, claiming their presence was miraculous. When Muslims protested, authorities ruled the mosque a disputed site, and closed it down.
Ten years after the riots sparked by the mosque demolition in 1992, the dispute claimed fresh victims when Muslims attacked and killed 58 Hindu passengers on a train rumored to be returning from Ayodhya. The massacre sparked riots throughout Gujarat killing an estimated 2,000 mostly Muslims.
Headaches amid Commonwealth Games
Revisiting the issue has been a headache for India's government at a time when the country is preparing for the Commonwealth Games, held in Delhi from Oct. 4 to 14.
The city's disastrous preparations for the games have embarrassed the government and security is a particular concern after two foreign tourists were shot and wounded by suspected terrorists in the capital on Sept. 19. On Sept. 28, India's supreme court heard a petition asking for the Ayodhya verdict to be delayed until the games were over. The court refused.
The court in Allahabad also ruled Thursday that the current status of the site should be maintained for the next three months to allow for the land to be peacefully divided.
Irfan Muhammed, a Muslim taxi driver in Delhi, said he did not believe there would be a Muslim backlash against the verdict, even though his community had lost the site on which the mosque was built.
"All over India there are temples and mosques close together," he says. "All most people want is peace."


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INTERVIEW: Josh Hutcherson on Escobar, Acting & Benicio Del Toro
There's more to Josh Hutcherson than The Hunger Games. Not that he minds being associated with the exceptionally popular franchise, but he's equally passionate about bringing to life stories that are perhaps a little less special effects driven. Stories like Escobar: … Continue reading
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WVU Logo Navy
WVU Shoe Guards - Navy
It's time to use the laces on your shoes to stand out from the crowd! We are proud to say that $$ from each product sold go directly to our partner charities!
- Made with ultra-durable PVC
- 3D touch and feel as the logos "pop" off of the Shoe Guard
- Officially licensed NCAA product
- Each pack comes with 2 Shoe Guards
1.625" x 1.00" x .25"


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ok.. having 3 blogs gets to be too much at times for clarity! I accidently just posted this on my Challenge blog!! geeze and had to do a quick change-ur-rooney! (gulp) LOL.. oh well...
This is a picture of my son that just turned six on September 4Th! Man it seems like just yesterday I was sitting on the bathroom floor crying after the stick turned pink so quickly!! LOL..I bet you thought I was going to say how quickly the years have passed, and yes they did, but my tears, they were not tears of joy at that time I must add. Well, what can I say, I was 42, between 3 miscarriages, being a high risk pregnancy and doing that math, what would you have done!? I sat there and cried! Although, now six years later, I can't even believe I was crying such tears. He is such a delightful child and very laid back and I can't even begin to imagine our lives without him!! He truly is a blessing and I love him so much! So, what do I know about age and babies, I can only do the math and I guess you should just not do math in situations like that, just embrace the miracle of it all!! So, that's my little personal tid-bit about me. Just thought I would share this sweet picture of him in front of his cake. It's a little blurry because I cropped it so close, but oh well, sweet non the less. Sitting in front of your cake and getting your picture taken is a tradition in this house and I can't wait to scrap it!
September 18, 2009
Avery turns 6!
Posted by Nina at 1:39 PM
1 comments:
- Stephanie said...
Awww....Happy Birthday Avery, a blessing indeed :)
Thanks so much for visiting my Blog & for your kind words - I really appreciate it!
I love your images & will have to have a play soon :)
- September 18, 2009 at 3:17 PM
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"…I'm going to drive you all off a cliff!"
Relax! I'm only kidding—well, I'm half-kidding. I just finished One Grand Season, the second book in a series I'm writing. I am so glad to be done with the book!
Honestly, by the time I get to the last two chapters I feel like ushering every character (including the parrot!) onto a train so I can send them careening around corners, swooping past rockslides and finally out into the wild blue yonder, the wheels leaving the track in one smooth whoosh!, taking each and every one of those annoying characters on a ride they'll never forget.
Once I write the last page I generally like my characters again (okay; maybe I don't like them right away but after a bowl or two of ice cream they're usually allowed to leave the train intact) but just leading up to the end I'm sick to death of them. I suspect they share my sentiments, so I make a rule never to board a train while working toward the last chapter. Hey, you never know what might happen!
I'm off to whip up an ice cream sundae—with all the trimmings! Then, I'll take a day or two before I begin writing the third book in the series. I'm on a roll, and with no cliff in sight the characters should be safe for a few weeks at least.
Hope you're enjoying January!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
"Get onto the train..."
"…I'm going to drive you all off a cliff!"
Posted by Sarita at 5:42 AM
Labels: JaNoWriMo, One Grand Season


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See the only place on earth where two World Heritage Sites meet – the Daintree Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef – and where Australia's two Indigenous cultures come together. Discover a castle in the rainforest at Paronella Park, walk through the vast Undara Lava Tubes or test yourself with an Ironman, mountain biking or marathon endurance event.
The northern end of the Great Barrier Reef is at your doorstep in Tropical North Queensland. Dive and snorkel over pristine coral, swim with dwarf minke whales every June/July, take a scenic flight for a private picnic on the white sand of Vlassof Cay and Mackay Cay, and tackle some of the country's most epic fishing adventures in the Torres Strait or Gulf of Carpentaria.
Froom Cooktown to Mission Beach, the Wet Tropics of Tropical North Queensland are the oldest rainforests in the world. Walk and hike through the verdant landscape, find hidden waterfalls and swim in fresh waterholes, and look for the elusive cassowary, the third largest bird in the world. There's adventure, too – jungle surfing through the canopy, white-water rafting on the Baron and Tully rivers, and horse riding on the beach at Cape Tribulation.
Connect with the oldest cultures on earth. Visit ancient Aboriginal rock art sites and contemporary Torres Strait art galleries, learn how to hunt with Kuku Yalanji guides in Cooya Beach, and join in the celebrations at the Laura Aboriginal Dance Festival and Cairns Indigenous Art Fair.


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"When Thangorodrim was broken and Morgoth overthrown, Sauron put on his fair hue again and did obeisance to Eönwë the herald of Manwë, and abjured all his evil deeds. And some hold that this was not at first falsely done, but that Sauron in truth repented, if only out of fear..."
MEFA 2011 1st Place - Incomplete: Drama & Smaug's Treasure.
Recommended by: Spiced Wine
Recommender's comments: The deepest love, and the darkest agelong betrayal. Beauty and tragedy. (Slash).
Categories: Fiction
Characters: Elrond, Eonwë, Erestor, Mandos/Námo, Manwë, OFC, Sauron
Content: Action/Adventure, Angst, AU, BDSM, Drama, Dubcon, Erotica, Kink, Rape/Non-con, Slash
Completed: No
Or an account of the battle in the forest of Brethil as seen by Beleg Cúthalion, told in two parts.
Recommended by: Himring
Recommender's comments:
This story is an unusual take on an unusual subject--and as such highly interesting!The protagonist, as often in Robinka's stories, is Beleg. But not necessarily the same Beleg we already know: this, I suspect, is one of the toughest Belegs around. Although very much a Sinda and in touch with nature, he seems unusually robust and soldierly. (So does Robinka's Mablung.) This is definitely a Beleg who has spent a lot of his time patrolling the borders against orcs and other malefactors, dealing with a merciless enemy. Yet Robinka's Beleg by no means lacks a heart; he has a knack with children and is ready to sympathize with the young and weak. The Battle of Brethil is an episode in the history of Beleriand that is often overlooked--and yet it is not only the exception to the rule that Thingol withdrew his troops from any major involvement in the struggle against Morgoth after the first battle of Beleriand: if we believe what the Silmarillion text says, this was in fact the battle that stopped Morgoth's troops advancing further into Southern Beleriand at the time of the Dagor Bragollach and therefore an important event at a time of great turmoil in the history of Beleriand.The battle of Brethil--or rather the friendship between Doriath and the Haladin of Brethil more generally-- is also the exception to Thingol's general rule of non-involvement with Edain (before his daughter took a hand, that is). It is not often one sees a lot of the Haladin, except for Haleth herself. Robinka devotes considerable attention to the Haladin community, as observed by Beleg as a friendly outsider, and to the characters of Halmir and Haldir. We also get a glimpse of young Hurin and Huor. This all might sound like a very masculine proposition. But in fact the story features not one, but two strong original female characters. Beleg's love interest may be involved in the gentler pursuits, such as cooking and library work, but she is still headstrong and independent-minded. And Beleg's female colleague Sullinn is a formidable Ranger, who is capable of giving Beleg a run for his money!Chapter One deals with the run-up to the battle. As such it begins cheerfully, even humorously, but the tension mounts and in the description of ugly incidents such as happen in real war, Robinka pulls no punches. She should be strongly encouraged to write the next chapter and give us the battle itself.
Categories: Fiction
Characters: Beleg, Elu Thingol, Mablung, OFC, OMC
Content: Drama
Completed: No
Shall Legolas always stay little more than Glorfindel's slave, or might there be true happiness for him after all? A visit to Lothlórien brings many revelations for him and Glorfindel both... (Sequel to Anestel)
Recommended by: Spiced Wine
Recommender's comments:
The grand drama (so far) of Esteliel's superb series.
Categories: Fiction
Characters: Arwen, Celeborn, Elrond, Erestor, Galadriel, Glorfindel, Haldir, Legolas, OMC
Content: Angst, AU, BDSM, Drama, Erotica, Explicit Sex, Kink, Mpreg, Romance, Slash
Completed: No


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East beats West 87-81 in college all-star game
Rodney McGruder stepped to the line in the cavernous Georgia Dome, took a couple of quick breaths, and knocked down four straight foul shots to finish off his career a winner.
Kansas State's guard finished with 11 points, James Ennis of Long Beach State scored 13 and the East team beat the West 87-81 on Friday night in a college all-star game at the Final Four.
The East team, coached by Tennessee's Cuonzo Martin, built a 15-point lead in the second half before squandering nearly all of it. But the West, coached by Iowa State's Fred Hoiberg, couldn't finish the comeback, even though they started fouling down the stretch to extend the game.
Jake Cohen of Davidson made a couple free throws, and McGruder made the final four with less than 20 seconds left in the game to wrap up the victory.
"It was fun, you know? Playing with guys you aren't used to," said McGruder, who led the Wildcats to a share of the Big 12 title this season, before breaking into a smile. "I won my last college game, and it was at the Georgia Dome."
E.J. Singler of Oregon and Brandon Davies of BYU finished with 12 each for the East team.
Iowa State's Will Clyburn, playing one last time with his college coach, led the West with 17 points and eight rebounds. Mike Muscala of Bucknell scored 15 points and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley had 13 points and 10 rebounds as both teams struggled to shoot in the converted football stadium.
"It was a great feeling," Clyburn said. "Fun being here in an all-star game."
The game featured 11 seniors on each team, including Baylor guard Pierre Jackson, who led his team to the NIT championship the previous night at Madison Square Garden. He hopped on a plane and made it to Atlanta, but watched the game in warm-ups without ever stepping onto the floor.
The game basically amounted to a scrimmage with both teams hardly having a chance to meet each other, much less practice or even shoot against the blank backdrop of the Georgia Dome.
As you'd expect, there were just about as many air balls as made shots early on - but there were a few dunks, including one by Davies off a feed from Ohio's D.J. Cooper that brought several thousand fans who turned out to watch to their feet, and some nifty ball movement on both sides.
Creighton's Gregory Echenique probably would beg to differ with the notion that it was little more than an exhibition game, though. He got popped under the basket during one rebound flurry and had to leave the court with a towel held up to his lip to stop the blood.
The East team built a 43-33 lead at halftime, but the West managed to close the gap behind a 17-4 run fed primarily by 3-pointers. The East pulled back out to a 77-66 advantage in the closing minutes, but Hoiberg started pressing and then had his team foul in the final seconds.
"I kind of felt obligated to try to win," he said with a shrug.
It nearly worked, too, until Cohen and McGruder made enough free throws to wrap it up.


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I can't believe I turned 26 weeks this past Tuesday. This pregnancy has just flown by, probably due to my 2 year keeping me busy and not letting me get too many breaks! Micah Claire is so excited about her baby sister coming in just a few short weeks. I was always afraid I would never enjoy or be as excited by a second pregnancy because it wouldn't be a new experience like the 1st one. But seeing Micah Claire's excitement and watching her give my belly kisses and tickling my belly is a new joy and makes this pregnancy even more special than the 1st. And in the last week she and Shawn can now feel and see her kick in my belly and it's AWESOME!
I didn't mean for M.C.'s feet to get in this picture; but when I got home and downloaded it I loved it. To me it looks like Kinley's big sister is standing guard over her! My Papaw Stoner past away exactly a year ago and his name was Kenneth Edwin. So it warms my heart that my little girl and my papaw will share the same initals....K.E.!!!!


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Mobile First is available to read for free.
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Part 1: Why Mobile First?
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- Organization (Read this chapter online)
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This is the update to 'Mobile Web Design' I wish I'd written. It's a concise opus filled to the brim with great examples of mobile design, supported by sound advice, research, and tips from Mr. W himself.
By coupling insightful design patterns to common-sense principles, Luke's 'Mobile First' is the beginning of a quiet revolution, its title the rallying cry that should be on the lips of every web designer.


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The upcoming Town of Avon Council Meeting Agenda and Packet Materials are now available for viewing. The Avon Liquor Authority and Urban Renewal Authority agendas and materials when actions are scheduled, are included with the Town Council Meeting Packet Materials.
Copyright © 2017 Town of Avon, Colorado. All Rights Reserved.
1 Lake Street, Avon, Colorado 81620


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Van Roekel applauds final signing of health care legislation
WASHINGTON - March 30, 2010 -
Today President Barack Obama signed into law historic health care reform legislation that will benefit millions of Americans. The updated legislation includes improvements that will prevent the bill from being financed on the backs of working families.
The following statement can be attributed to NEA President Dennis Van Roekel:
"With the stroke of a pen, President Obama has put health care within reach for millions of Americans. This is not the end of the health care chapter, rather a beginning. NEA members are excited about what this means for them, the students they serve and the future of our nation. They are already contacting us with questions about how to take advantage of this historic legislation.
"Educators are eagerly awaiting the day when ailing, uninsured students do not miss school and spend the day in emergency rooms for manageable medical conditions. We know the impact of this legislation will reach beyond America's classrooms and into the homes of millions of working families who don't have insurance, have had coverage denied or dropped, or are struggling to pay for skyrocketing premiums.
"The 3.2 million members of NEA thank the President and members of Congress who had the courage and the vision to set our nation on a new path for health care. They did a good thing for middle class families, for public school employees and for the children we teach."
To view Dennis Van Roekel's video message thanking Congress for passing health care legislation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQtTBFy90y0
Follow us on twitter at www.twitter.com/NEAMedia
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The National Education Association is the nation's largest professional organization, representing 3.2 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers.
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by Anish Chand
A Chinese national is presumed dead after he reportedly fell over-board a fishing vessel in Fiji waters three weeks ago.
And Fijian authorities have been made aware of the incident which is believed to have happened in the last week of March.
51-year-old Goa Ming Zhao was a crew member of the fishing vessel Zhong Rong 15.
He is believed to have fell overboard in the Kadavu passage.
Fiji Police received a report but its not clear if a search and rescue operation was mounted.
Based on eye-witness account of other crew members, its understood Goa Ming Zhao accidently fell overboard due to rough seas.
The Zhong Rong 15 is a Chinese long-liner fishing vessel and is owned by Rongcheng Ocean Fishery Limited.
Its registered port is Shidao.
The vessel is still berthed at Suva with inquiries on-going.
The Chinese Embassy in Suva is also aware of the incident.
By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines
DESPITE its promise to address the issue of illegal fishing in the Pacific, Vietnam has found itself out in the cold at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission for the second year in a row.
Desperate to be included among the membership of the world's largest fishery, the Vietnamese have been thwarted by their inability to control the ubiquitous blue boats which plunder regional reefs of beche-de-mer and clams.
Last year at Denarau, Fiji, Vietnam promised to exert greater control over illegal fisheries by its fleet.
But on day one of the 14th WCPFC here, news broke of the interdiction of two more blue boats, this time by French authorities in New Caledonian waters after an extended surveillance exercise.
"We find this unacceptable,'' said Manuel Ducrocq, Head of Delegation for New Caledonia.
"These blue boats are reef rapists. They take sharks from within the shark sanctuary without consideration for biological conditions and the importance of species to the eco-system."
The most recent blue boat interdiction revealed that Vietnamese fishermen had taken shark skins and fins along with beche-de-mer and giant clams.
A total of 10 tonnes of beche-de-mer in 58 drums were seized by the French Navy from two blue boats. The captains of the vessels have been convicted and fined by the local magistrate in Noumea.
But the cost of the illegal activities goes much further than what the poachers take.
Ducrocq said that by law French authorities were obliged to accommodate and feed the arrested crews and later pay for their repatriation to Vietnam.
"For 12 crew members we are obliged by French law to see that they are accompanied by 15 police officers," Ducrocq said.
"So not only do we have the cost of surveillance, the interdiction and then their accommodation but in addition we must pay 15 return airline tickets for our police to ensure these people arrive in Vietnam.
"That is a huge cost which is borne by the government and cannot be recovered."
French authorities estimate that the most recent infraction by the Vietnamese will cost them around USD1.5 million.
While blue boat activities have no direct link to tuna fisheries and the 14th WCPFC, the inaction or inability of Vietnam concerning its fleet has implications on its status as a Co-operating Non-Member of the commission.
"If they cannot control small boats which poach smaller fish, then what about management of (the larger fishing) fleet?" Ducrocq asked.
"We've had discussions with Vietnam at a political level and it's obvious that it's hard for them to manage their coastal fisheries."
The task is so hard that these small boats which can spend up to 30 days at sea are able to slip past their national patrols and enter the waters of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and New Caledonia.
In the most recent case two boats were spotted by French maritime patrol aircraft based at Tontouta International Airport in New Caledonia and tracked for two days before navy units were sent to intercept them.
"New Caledonia cannot accept that others come and take resources from our territorial waters," Ducrocq said.
"It's a violation of the rights of the native population.
"The (blue boat) activities come at a huge cost to communities which are highly dependent on the ocean resources. Their food security is directly threatened and there are livelihood issues at stake here for the native community."
Ducrocq said the intention of the WCPFC was to allow Small Island Developing States – most of them much more vulnerable than New Caledonia - to manage their resources.
"For the native population the sea is their refrigerator," Ducrocq said. "They take what they need and leave the rest for later and in this way they maintain the ecological balance.
"But poachers threaten the maintenance of that balance and now we find they are even targeting uninhabited island resources."
In its effort to achieve cooperation through consensus, the collective WCPFC membership is often reluctant to take punitive measures against members and partners.
However, Vietnam's consistent failure to address Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing outside of the tuna fisheries has forced New Caledonia to look at taking unprecedented action.
"If Vietnam's response (to the blue boats issue) is not sufficient, we may have to withhold membership (from the WCPFC)," Ducrocq said.
"We are waiting to see whether they are serious or not. We must think positively and Vietnam has a unique opportunity here to make a change."
Given that its last response was to deny any responsibility for illegal activities conducted by private sector fishing fleets, it's difficult to see Vietnam taking harsh measures against the blue boats.
History shows that Vietnam will most .likely claim inability to monitor and police illegal operators.
And that will mean it continues to be seen by the region as a villain whose only place at the next WCPFC will be out in the cold.
By NETANI RIKA, Pasay City, the Philippines
WHEN the Pacific met its international partners at the 12th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission in Bali, Indonesia in 2015 it was grappling with illegal operations at sea.
Figures at the time claimed that Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fisheries activities cost around USD600 million annually in the Pacific.
And 95 per cent of that activity – according to the international environment advocate, Greenpeace – is conducted by licensed vessels.
Robust guidelines put in place by the Forum Fisheries Agency have attempted to increase monitoring and surveillance of the purse seine fleet which operates in the region.
With around 90 per cent of the fleet monitored by on-board observers, the purse seiners are estimated to account for 70 per cent of illegal activities.
That's according to figures released by the Pew Charitable Trust.
A Pew study reports harvested or trans-shipped tuna in the region at about UDS616.11 million a year - 12 per cent of the UDS5 billion paid to fishermen for their tuna catches in the region in 2014.
Despite recent efforts and observer coverage, the estimated volume of IUU product was found to be highest in the purse seine fishery, which accounted for 70 per cent of the illegal catch.
Much of that activity was driven by the use of illegal fish aggregating devices.
In the longline fleet transhipment of fish at sea, out of sight of authorities, was the weak point.
The Pew Charitable Trust's Amanda Nickson said it was clear from the figures that transhipment at sea is unacceptable.
"Our position remains very clearly that transshipment at sea should be banned until there are sufficient controls in place to ensure that we don't have it operating as a loophole for IUU activities," Nickson said at the 14th WCPFC Meeting in the Philippines.
"At this point I don't see that we're seeing a great deal of political will to address the issue as we would like but we certainly hope to see improved discussion."
James Gibbon of the Pew Charitable Trusts said the WCPFC initially envisioned transshipment as a rare event.
"Unfortunately because WCPFC has not formalised the guidelines like they were supposed to, they basically rubber-stamped any request for long liners to trans-ship," Gibbon said.
"So at this point, 52 per cent of long liners operating in the WCPFC have the authorisation to trans-ship. And that is not what the WCPFC envisioned when they put these regulations in place."
One of the other issues confronting the industry is that independent observer reports are often not submitted to the WCPF Secretariat.
In 2016 there were approximately 900 at sea trans-shipments but only one observer report made it to the secretariat.
"So there is very little monitoring of what is going on," Gibbon said
"There's a lot of transshipment that initially was thought was not going to occur but as a result of commission inaction has actually allowed this to occur."
Gibbon believes cooperation from all the relevant authorities is key to the success of any monitoring programme.
"The observer programmes (must make) sure that their reports are submitted both to the national, sub-regional and secretariat," he said.
"And it's going to take those authorities working together to cross check between the catch reports of the fishing vessels, the transshipment reports of what actually is transferred and then also the landing reports and making sure that all that information make sense."
That speaks to a broader ongoing issue of needing a strong compliance regime within the commission.
Amanda Nickson: "We've seen these trial compliance regimes roll through but we believe they could be more transparent and we believe there needs to be a more formalised and permanent compliance monitoring system in place. "
So, for how long will those discussions continue without concrete measures being put in place to end the illegal activities?
Forum Fisheries Agencies Director-General, James Movick, raised the issue of the need for more observers with the relevant equipment to report illegal activities in real time.
He was asked whether two years after talks in Indonesia the discussion on observers was merely talk without action and completely unachievable.
"No, I think we can achieve it. We're experimenting," Movick said.
"We have trials underway and the commission itself is seeking to develop standards for e-monitoring and e-reporting and work quite well in other fisheries around the world."
Movick said current work concentrated on how to adapt e-reporting standards for operating conditions in the Pacific.
"We should see a higher degree of monitoring capability for these boats," Movick said.
"I don't think it's an impossible task but as the scientist do, there will be margins of errors built into the scientific analyses. By and large we will have sufficient, verifiable data the scientists will be happy that they've got something statistically sound."
Movick and Ludwig Kumoru – CEO of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement – believe the e-monitoring option is possible in five years.
"With the way PNA is implementing the Vessel Day Scheme for the longline – within five -years is achievable," Kumoru said.
"But first of all we need to get it done within our zones, then and only then can we look to extend it to the high seas."
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement are the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
PNA member countries allow tuna fisheries vessel owners to buy days of fishing at sea for a specific monetary value,
This scheme places a limit on the number of vessels operating in the waters of the PNA in an attempt to ensure resource sustainability.
Monitoring at sea, however, is only one part of the equation.
Strong observation measures in ports where fishing boats land their catch are equally important.
Amanda Nickson said strong port-state measures coupled with a credible observer base were two ways to stop IUU fishing.
Two years after Bali the gaps in the system remain
"We don't yet have comprehensive port-state controls, we don't yet have significant enough level of observer coverage on long liners and we don't have a sufficient system in place to ensure the safety of those that were asking to help us ensure the system is legal and verifiable," Nickson said.
"So there are a lot of gaps yet to plug."
PACIFIC tuna is under threat from the world's largest fishing nations including China, Japan and South Korea.
And the inaction of the Western and Central Pacific Fishing Commission to control overfishing in the high seas and low catches within regional fisheries zones.
That's the view of Fiji's Fisheries Minister, Commander Semi Koroilavesau.
"(This) inaction of the commission is negatively contributing to over-capacity in the high seas resulting in low catches in the zone," he told the 14th Tuna Commission Meeting at Pasay City in the Philippines.
"We do not want to see this continue as our fishery may collapse under the pressure that is being forcefully exerted upon us by Distant water Fishing Nations.
Koroilavesau – a former navy officer responsible for patrolling Fiji's Exclusive Economic Zone – said previous commission meetings lingered on the need to control fishing in the high seas.
"Frankly speaking, this has not been successfully addressed," Koroilavesau said.
"We do not need to dwell too much on this since it is well known that the continuous failure of members to adopt relevant measures on sustainable harvesting of key tuna species due to the decision making process of the commission."
For several years the Pacific has tried to control fishing in the region through sustainable fisheries measures which have been treated with scepticism and sometimes outright contempt by China and Japan.
The Tuna Commission – fully aware of the powers of these huge economies – has adopted an approach which calls for compromise by members before implementation of procedures.
Because of this, it is seen as a toothless tiger by members and non-members alike.
Forum Fisheries Agency Director-General, James Movick, said however there was a need for the region to confront distant water fishing nations.
"(They must) reconcile their narrow fishing interests with their broader role as key strategic and development partners of this region," Movick said.
"The time has come to step up the conversations around the economics of tuna and what countries, thinking regionally, are prepared to take — and give — so that we, as a region, can protect our fisheries resource, while achieving our economic aspirations."
Experts have consistently warned the Pacific of a risk of over fishing but individual countries have not been able to agree on effective management measures of the southern albacore fishery.
"Our lack of unity and resolve has allowed distant water fishing nations to expand their own fisheries and to favour their own fleets," Movick said.
Koroilavesau's call at the beginning of the 14th Tuna Commission appeared to be an attempt to galvanise support for a united stand against the big fishing nations.
But those same nations control the purse strings which fund much of the development in the region from roads and wharves to hospitals, schools and clean water.
"My delegation believes in the system and processes currently in place to allow us to efficiently discuss matters," Koroilavesau said in his opening remarks.
"This might mean making hard decisions, foregoing certain benefits but hard decisions need to be made now."
Over the next four days how serious Pacific islands countries are about the protection of their fisheries and whether they can stand up against the might of the distant water fishing nations.
THE French Navy has intercepted two Vietnamese blue boats fishing illegally in New Caledonian waters.
This is the second interdiction of Vietnamese boats by the Fench authorities in the Pacific this year.
In a joint operation with the Australian Defence Forces the boats carrying shark fins and skins were seized and their crews detained on Thursday.
Describing the blue boats as unacceptable, New Caledonia's representative to the 14th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Manuel Ducrocq, called for serious measures against Vietnam.
"Despite the assurances of Vietnam last year, the illegal operations of these blue boats continues," Ducrocq said at the Tuna Commission meeting in Pasay City in the Philippines.
"I am here to warn you that the blue boats are back and we find this unacceptable."
In July three Vietnamese blue boat captains were fines $USD1.4million for illegal operations in Solomon Islands waters. They were jailed for four years after failing to pay the fines.
Blue boats typically scour reefs for highly valuable beche-de-mer, trochus, giant clam, shark fin, turtle and abalone for the Vietnamese market.
Typically built of wood they are very low in the water and extremely difficult to detect by maritime patrols and satellites.
Previously blue boats have been caught in the Federates States of Micronesia, Palau and Australia.
Ducrocq said that while blue boats did not directly affect tuna, they were the biggest example of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing in the Pacific region.
Illegal fishing is worth an estimated $USD235million annually and makes up for 20 per cent of fisheries activity around the world, according to the Pew Charitable Trust.
Bubba Cook of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said blue boat activities were emblematic about the problem of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing.
"If those vessels are getting in what about other vessels that are getting in and what about the lack of reporting," Cook said.
"We know from the Forum Fisheries Agency analysis that was done on IUU a couple of years ago that the biggest proportion of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the region is not the illegal vessels like the Blue Boats but the unreported portion, or misreported portions, so people not filing out log books or failing to record things or looking the other way on things has even a bigger impact than the Blue Boats."
Cook said blue boats highlighted a problem with illegal activities which must be addressed by the region.
The Solomon Islands' Chief Justice, Sir Alan Palmer , said in his judgment of illegal Vietnamese fishing captains that IUU was a new phenomenon to the region and caused much concern, in terms of the theft of valuable sea resources and wealth.
"This is relatively new way of intruding into the territorial seas and coastal waters by relatively small foreign vessels to fish for inshore species, with a focus on high value product in the Asian market," Palmer said.
Palmer said blue boat captains took calculated risks to enter into the exclusive economic zone of Solomon Islands waters on the view that the Pacific was a soft target.
"I can assure you and everyone else thinking of coming into our waters that if caught you will be appropriately dealt with under our laws," Palmer warned.
Less than 12 month later New Caledonia has warned the Pacific that the region is still a target despite the Solomon Islands ruling and the seizure and destruction of blue boats by Palau and Indonesia in 2015.


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For all three of you that aren't related to me and actually read this, I apologize for such a long absence and such spotty posting! I will get back to it as soon as I fix my computer in the next couple of weeks.
Hugs to all of you who have been following me, I haven't forgotten about the blog.
In fact I have some fun things to share with you as soon as I can post again, including pictures from my engagement photo shoot. We had a lot of fun and I think they turned out great!
Have a wonderful fourth of July!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
It's Been Awhile
For all three of you that aren't related to me and actually read this, I apologize for such a long absence and such spotty posting! I will get back to it as soon as I fix my computer in the next couple of weeks.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
The trend that won't die. And why should it? Cupcakes for a wedding are easier to serve, you can have plenty of flavors, and the displays are SO CUTE!
I love these tiny treats, and will glad;y indulge in one at any wedding.
|Cupcakes and Cake Pops!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Love is Your Color
One of the first recorded accounts of an engagement ring was in 1477 when the Archduke Maximilian of Austria presented Mary of Burgundy with a diamond ring 24 hours before their wedding. This introduced a tradition that has spanned several centuries and continents.
For the next 400 years, diamonds were only a luxury for the extremely wealthy, because diamond mines weren't discovered in South Africa until 1870, making diamonds even more rare than today. Because of this, the engagement ring of choice for very many was a colored stone. Long before lab created stones, rings were set with precious and semi precious jewels to signify love and commitment.
Along with many of our ancestors, hundreds of European royals choose sapphires, rubies, emeralds, and aquamarines for their engagement.
Whether you're looking for finger coverage on a budget, or hoping for something different than the ever common diamond, a colored stone engagement ring is surely something to consider. Now, enough of my blabbing.. on to the eye candy!
|Aquamarine and diamond baguette ring made by Daniel M Jewelry
|Stunning Leon Mege custom-made yellow diamond ring. For sale on consignment at Jewels by Erica Grace.
|This beauty is a Single Stone creation, with a breathtaking sapphire center stone.
|This one is too beautiful for words. A mahenge spinel set in Jewels by Erica Grace's Kylie halo. Look at that color!
|Leon Mege Emerald and diamond three stone ring. Drooling yet?
Monday, May 9, 2011
Here Comes the Mother of the Bride
Thursday, May 5, 2011
I am seriously in love with this post from Benign Objects, so I had to share.
Oh.. And Did I Forget to Mention?
I'm sitting here, watching Grease play on ABC family and about to click submit to another blog post, when I realized I haven't blogged about the very exciting news in my life!
You see, I've been obsessed with weddings since I was a kid. In 8th grade we could write a research paper on any subject, and I chose the History of Wedding Traditions. I know, I know. I'm a total freak! It's been such a joy to help brides and their families with planning their weddings, and it's something I hope to do for a very long time. I even told my mom once, or twice, when I was younger that I thought the perfect proposal was to be all dressed up and on a bridge. Who does that?
So a couple of months ago when my handsome boyfriend went to talk to my parents, my mom said, "You know you have to find a bridge, right?"
Somehow all of this was lost on me, as I was wandering around the Botanic Gardens on Easter Sunday with my sister's, boyfriend, and brother in law. You see, they had convinced me that we should take pictures for Mother's Day at the gardens and have them framed for a gift. I was not even cluing in to the fact that something was up when we were standing right in the middle of a bridge taking a couple of posed pictures in our Sunday best. It wasn't until that wonderful man handed me a little purple Easter basket with an egg inside that I realized something was going on. The egg rattled, and my hands started to shake. LUCKILY it was just a jelly bean inside, because that ring would have hit the bridge! But he was down on one knee, and said some wonderfully sweet things that I don't remember. That's the thing no one ever tells you-- I haven't the faintest idea what he said. I was so excited it all went in one ear and out the other.Well, I forgot everything except that all important question, "Will you marry me?" Of course I said yes, and was treated to a limo ride home to an Easter brunch with family and friends.
I'm spoiled rotten, huh?
So anyway, now I not only get to help other brides, I'm also getting to plan my very own wedding! It's been great so far and we are so excited. Look for pictures next spring! Until then, I'll give you all a picture of the bling, because that's all anyone cares about!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Would You Like a Spot of Tea?
I've been up since 4am to watch the Royal Wedding coverage. I think I could use more than one cup of tea to get me through the rest of today.
Was that wedding beautiful, or what? I loved seeing all of the funky hats, but the most wonderful part was the anticipation leading up to Kate's arrival.
There had been so much speculation of what her gown would be. I myself had always thought it would be a full skirt, like she had, but I wasn't convinced it would be lace. What a pleasant surprise, it was. Her gown, designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen was reminiscent of one of my favorite gowns of all time-- Grace Kelly's. Hopefully this is a sign for the return of the lace sleeve wedding gown.
|Kate MIddleton's incredible gown.
|Grace Kelly, in 1956.
I will remember this morning for the rest of my life! I sat in my living room with a robe and a tiara, nearly brought to tears by the marvelous ceremony. My phone is nearly dead from the frantic text messaging I did with family and friends. I think Twitter may explode!
What a morning!
Now, how will I get on with the rest of my day? My life now seems dull and common!


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Malkin scores in return, Penguins top Columbus 2-1
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Evgeni Malkin's favorite running mate is serving a five-game NHL suspension.
No matter. The Pittsburgh Penguins star can handle things by himself when he needs to.
Malkin scored in his return from a lower-body injury, Sidney Crosby added his 16th goal, and the Penguins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1 on Monday night.
Pittsburgh won its sixth straight home game behind 32 saves by Marc-Andre Fleury and some vintage work by Malkin. The Russian missed Pittsburgh's previous two games after hurting himself in a game-day skate on Thursday.
He appeared to be just fine when he bulled his way toward the Columbus net 4:16 into the second period for his eighth goal of the season. Malkin brushed off defenseman Jack Johnson and then deftly poked a shot past the outstretched stick of goalie Curtis McElhinney.
Not bad for a guy who sometimes struggles when separated from linemate James Neal, who served the first game of the suspension he received for kneeing Boston's Brad Marchand in the head during a loss on Saturday.
"There's no doubt they're good together," Crosby said. "They're both really good players. When they don't have each other, they're capable of making plays, too."
Crosby pushed his point total to an NHL-best 43 when a centering pass from Pascal Dupuis deflected off Crosby's leg and into the net 8:52 into the third.
"It looked like that was the only way I was going to score tonight the way it was going," Crosby said. "I had some really pretty chances that didn't go in ... that second one ended up being important for us."
Matt Calvert scored with less than a minute left for Columbus, spoiling Fleury's shutout bid. McElhinney made 28 saves but the Blue Jackets struggled again in Pittsburgh.
The Penguins have won all three meetings this season by a combined score of 9-3.
"You never want to go 0-3 against a division rival," Calvert said. "They're four-point games, and you lose a lot of points in the race."
Fleury was sharp when tested, though the Penguins did an excellent job of keeping the Blue Jackets from spending too much time in his face.
There were few close calls by the Blue Jackets after the opening 10 minutes. Fleury's only mistake came when he narrowly missed scoring a goal into an empty net with a minute to play, inadvertently sparking a sequence that led to Calvert getting loose for his second goal of the season with 56 seconds remaining.
Pittsburgh, which allowed two goals to Boston in the final minute on Saturday, didn't collapse this time.
"The main thing is we got the win, got the two points," Fleury said. "That's what matters."
The Blue Jackets are hoping to take a step forward this season after moving over to the Eastern Conference following 13 mostly dismal seasons in the West. Injuries, however, have slowed their development.
Columbus is missing forwards Marion Gaborik and Nathan Horton, defenseman James Wisniewski, and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky. Gaborik and Bobrovsky are out until after the new year. Horton is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.
The Blue Jackets had won three of four, including consecutive shutouts over Tampa Bay and Minnesota, to climb within three games of .500. They controlled play at the outset, controlling the puck for long stretches but had trouble generating solid scoring chances.
"We didn't have clean shooting lanes," Columbus coach Todd Richards said. "They created a lot of second chances, it seems like they created rebounds off Mac's pads, and it seems like our shots were caught or hit (Fleury) in the chest."
In addition to Neal, the Penguins also played without defensemen Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik and Rob Scuderi. Orpik is sidelined indefinitely after being knocked out by Boston's Shawn Thornton on Saturday.
Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said Monday that Orpik is "doing quite well" but issued no timetable for his return.
NOTES: The Blue Jackets scratched Wisniewski, D Tim Erixon and forward Jack Skille. ... Pittsburgh also scratched forward Harry Zolnierczyk and D Brian Dumoulin. ... The Penguins are 8-1 when they have been outshot.


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Several Utah State University Department of Art and Design alumni have been featured in international publications, one in the March issue of Ceramics Monthly, and several others in 500 Prints on Clay, a newly-published book.
"The accomplishments of these artists are akin to an athlete to being featured in Sports Illustrated," said John Neely, professor of ceramics in the Caine College of the Arts. "The publication 500 Prints on Clay features 500 pieces by about half that many artists from around the world and the four USU alumni had multiple pieces included."
Tony Clennell, who graduated from Utah State University in 2008 at the age of 58 with a master of fine arts degree (MFA), was recently featured in Ceramics Monthly, one of the largest and most comprehensive ceramic arts magazines. Clennell's journey to his profession is examined, from his first degree in business to his position of adjunct professor of ceramics at Sheridan College and Ontario College of Art and Design University. He studied with Michael Casson, the late British potter, and spent three years at USU studying under Neely.
"I treasure the time spent in Logan as some of the best years of my life," said Clennell, who is starting his own art school in Ontario. "Utah State University, the faculty and the students were very instrumental in my development as a potter."
Lark Ceramics recently published 500 Prints on Clay, juried by artist and teacher Paul Andrew Wandless, featuring the work of several USU alumni. The cover of the book features a large picture of a flask, created by USU alumnus Matt Conlon, who graduated with his bachelor of fine arts (BFA) in 2012.
"I was completely stunned when I received notification from Larks Crafts," said Conlon. "As an artist, I have become accustomed to rejection, but it was exciting to find out I was accepted. I feel like this may be the biggest thing I have accomplished in my career."
Inside the book are pictures of works created by Megan Mitchell, who graduated in 2012 with an MFA; Mel Robson, an exchange student from Southern Cross University who graduated in 2002; and Boomer Moore, who received his MFA in 1999.
"All of the books in the 500 series have proven to be wonderful visual explorations for anyone interested in art," said Moore. "I am truly honored to be one of the artists selected for this publication."
The Department of Art and Design prepares students for careers in teaching or applied fine arts, emphasizing art education, ceramics, drawing and painting, graphic design, photography, printmaking and sculpture.
Related links:
USU Department of Art and Design
Writer: Kara Rindlisbacher, 435-797-9203, email@example.com
Contact: Denise Albiston, 435-797-1500, firstname.lastname@example.com


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6.1101 Who may vote by absentee ballot.
(a) Any qualified elector who will be unable to appear at his polling place during the hours of voting at any election because of absence from the Territory, or district in which he is registered may cause his vote to be cast by absentee ballot subject to this chapter.
(b) Any qualified elector covered by this section shall be entitled and enabled to vote in a manner as may be prescribed by rules adopted by the Chief Election Officer; provided, that any qualified elector who by reason of physical disability is unable to mark his ballot shall be authorized to receive assistance in marking it.
(c) Any qualified elector competent to vote at any election shall be allowed to vote under this section if he falls in the following categories:
(1) absent from the Territory on election day because he is:
(i) employed in the service of the U.S. Government;
(ii) employed in the service of the American Samoa Government;
(iii) a student at an institution of learning;
(iv) an absent uniformed services voter; or
(v) an overseas voter voting in the election for Delegate for the U.S. House of Representatives.
(2) temporarily absent from the Territory on election day because of:
(i) travel for medical treatment;
(ii) travel for military-related assignments;
(iii) travel for employment-related training, conference or assignments; or
(iv) vacation.
(3) present in the Territory but absent from the district on election day because of:
(i) confinement in any hospital;
(ii) confinement in any public institution;
(iii) confinement at home because of illness or physical disability which will prevent him from attending the polls;
(iv) any religious belief, ruling, doctrine, or standard which will prevent him from attending the polls; or
(v) employment as an election official on election day.History: 1977, PL 15-42 § 1; 1996, PL 24-14; 2002, PL 27-31; amd 2010, PL 31-17.


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Which company Israelis think it is best to work for? Every year, as in the last 13 years, we perform the employees survey among tens of thousands of employees in Israel with the aim to analyze their satisfaction from their workplace and in parallel to examine what is important to the Israeli worker about his […]
From the resurgence of cybersecurity to deals seeking to bring cannabis firms to stock exchanges, here are the trends that shaped Israeli M&A in 2018
47% of the contractors expect prices to continue rising In spite of Government efforts – only 39% of the contractors expect an increase in branch's activity this year, 47% of the contractors expect dwelling prices to continue rising, 82% of the contractors expect the collapse of construction realization companies to continue this year too. […]


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In preparation for a session at useR!2012 on "What other languages should R users know about?", Dirk, Chris Fonnesbeck and I have considered implementations of this simple sampler in other languages. I describe a Julia implementation below. Full details on all of the implementations are available at Chris's github repository.
The task is to create a Gibbs sampler for the unscaled density
using the conditional distributions
f(x,y) = x x^2 \exp(-xy^2 - y^2 + 2y - 4x)
Dirk's version of Darren's original R function is
x|y \sim Gamma(3, y^2 +4)
y|x \sim Normal(\frac{1}{1+x}, \frac{1}{2(1+x)})
Rgibbs <- function(N,thin) {
mat <- matrix(0,ncol=2,nrow=N)
x <- 0
y <- 0
for (i in 1:N) {
for (j in 1:thin) {
x <- rgamma(1,3,y*y+4)
y <- rnorm(1,1/(x+1),1/sqrt(2*(x+1)))
mat[i,] <- c(x,y)
RCgibbs <- cmpfun(Rgibbs)
examples directory of the Rcpp package, Dirk provides an
R script using the inline,
Rcpp and RcppGSL packages to implement this sampler in
C++ code callable from
R and time the results. On my desktop computer, timing 10 replications of
Rgibbs(20000, 200) and the other versions produces
test replications elapsed relative user.self sys.self
4 GSLGibbs(N, thn) 10 8.338 1.000000 8.336 0.000
3 RcppGibbs(N, thn) 10 13.285 1.593308 13.285 0.000
2 RCgibbs(N, thn) 10 369.843 44.356320 369.327 0.032
1 Rgibbs(N, thn) 10 473.511 56.789518 472.754 0.044
C code for R's d-p-q-r functions for probability densities, cumulative distribution, quantile and random sampling can be compiled into a separate Rmath library. These sources are included with the Julia sources and Julia functions with similar calling sequences are available as "extras/Rmath.jl"
function JGibbs1(N::Int, thin::Int)
mat = Array(Float64, (N, 2))
x = 0.
y = 0.
for i = 1:N
for j = 1:thin
x = rgamma(1,3,(y*y + 4))[1]
y = rnorm(1, 1/(x+1),1/sqrt(2(x + 1)))[1]
mat[i,:] = [x,y]
JGibbs1 is essentially the same code as
Rgibbs with minor adjustments for syntax. A similar timing on the same computer gives
julia> sum([@elapsed JGibbs1(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
julia> sum([@elapsed JGibbs1(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
Rgibbs and 13 times faster than
RCgibbs. It's actually within a factor of 2 of the compiled code in
One of the big differences between this function and the compiled C++ function,
RcppGibbs, is that the compiled function calls the underlying
C code for the samplers directly, avoiding the overhead of creating a vector of length 1 and indexing to get the first element. As these operations are done in the inner loop of
JGibbs1 their overhead mounts up.
Fortunately, Julia allows for calling a C function directly. You need the symbol from the dynamically loaded library, the signature of the function and the arguments.
It looks like
function JGibbs2(N::Int, thin::Int)
mat = Array(Float64, (N, 2))
x = 0.
y = 0.
for i = 1:N
for j = 1:thin
x = ccall(dlsym(_jl_libRmath, :rgamma),
Float64, (Float64, Float64), 3., (y*y + 4))
y = ccall(dlsym(_jl_libRmath, :rnorm),
Float64, (Float64, Float64), 1/(x+1), 1/sqrt(2(x + 1)))
mat[i,:] = [x,y]
julia> sum([@elapsed JGibbs2(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
julia> sum([@elapsed JGibbs2(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
function JGibbs3(N::Int, thin::Int)
mat = Array(Float64, (N, 2))
x = 0.
y = 0.
for i = 1:N
for j = 1:thin
x = randg(3) * (y*y + 4)
y = 1/(x + 1) + randn()/sqrt(2(x + 1))
mat[i,:] = [x,y]
julia> sum([@elapsed JGibbs3(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
julia> sum([@elapsed JGibbs3(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
RcppGibbs (which is using slower samplers) and
GSLGibbs (faster samplers but not as fast as those in Julia) while writing code that looks very much like the original R function.
But wait, there's more!
This computer has a 4-core processor (AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 635 Processor @ 2.9 GHz) and Julia can take advantage of that. When starting Julia we specify the number of processes
julia -p 4
dJGibbs3a, leaves the result as a distributed array and the second,
dJGibbs3b, converts the result to a single array in the parent process.
## Distributed versions - keeping the results as a distributed array
dJGibbs3a(N::Int, thin::Int) = darray((T,d,da)->JGibbs3(d[1],thin), Float64, (N, 2), 1)
## Converting the results to an array controlled by the parent process
dJGibbs3b(N::Int, thin::Int) = convert(Array{Float64,2}, dJGibbs3a(N, thin))
dJGibbs3a is declared with the right-pointing arrow construction
->. Its arguments are the type of the array,
T, the dimensions of the local chunk,
d, and the dimension on which the array is distributed,
da. Here we only use the number of rows,
d[1], of the chunk to be generated.
The timings,
julia> sum([@elapsed dJGibbs3a(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
julia> sum([@elapsed dJGibbs3a(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
julia> sum([@elapsed dJGibbs3b(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
julia> sum([@elapsed dJGibbs3b(20000, 200) for i=1:10])
If you haven't looked into Julia before now, you owe it to yourself to do so.


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Southside Recipe
Get to Know the Southside, a Prohibition-Era Cocktail
Many people have an aversion to gin; it's a travesty, because gin is an incredibly nuanced and versatile spirit. Erick Castro, owner of San Diego's Polite Provisions and former West Coast ambassador for Beefeater and Plymouth gins, agrees: "The reason people don't like gin is because the most common gin drinks — the martini and the gin and tonic — don't appeal to everyone."
Castro wants to start a gin revolution with this amazing-tasting cocktail, the Southside. This classic concoction is a straightforward mixture of gin, lemon juice, simple syrup, and mint, and he believes it has the power to change the way gin is seen — much in the way the mojito changed people's perspective of rum. After sipping this refreshing, light beverage, I'm getting behind Castro's cause. To do so too, give the drink a try.
From Erick Castro, Polite Provisions, San Diego, CA
- 8 mint leaves, plus a sprig for garnish
3/4 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces gin
1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Place the mint leaves and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker. Muddle well.
- Add the gin and lemon juice and top with ice. Shake vigorously for 30 seconds.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail glass, garnish with a sprig of mint, and enjoy.
Makes 1 drink.
- Category
- Drinks, Cocktails
- Cuisine
- North American