text:
Donate to ROC Wheels
Here at ROC, we are extremely dependent on donations from our supporters to make a difference in this world. Please use the button below to be redirected to a page for donations. Even if you can only donate $5, every piece will go towards helping a child somewhere in the world. If you are feeling so inclined, one wheelchair can be donated for just $400 and we can guarantee that you will make a difference in not only one child's life but also a whole community. We thank you for your support of ROC Wheels and remember to REACH OUT AND CARE.
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Obituaries: Jean Breckenridge
- February 7, 2013
- By Staff, Baptist Standard
• Jean Breckenridge, 93, Feb. 1 in Tyler. In 1996, she donated 78 acres of land, her home and a trust fund to Baptist Child & Family Services to construct a home for adults with mild to moderate developmental disabilities.
Built by Texas Baptist Men Retiree Builders, Breckenridge Village in Tyler includes six cottage-style homes, a chapel, greenhouse, swimming pool, fishing pier, health center and activity centers. Today, 10 adults engage in Breckenridge Village's day program, and 40 residents call the faith-based community their home. She was a longtime member of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler. She was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Robert; son, Bob Jr.; sisters, Mignon Pierce, Dorothy Bartlett and Lillian Pressler; and brother, Robert George Jr. She is survived by her son, Jimmy.
• Jim Gray, 68, Jan. 30 in Waco.
• Charlotte Wingfield, 82, Jan. 27 in Dallas. She was an educator 32 years, mainly as an elementary school teacher specializing in math. She was a member of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas and of a Baptist church in every community where she lived. She participated in Bible Study Fellowship, was a Sunday-morning greeter at church, supported mission causes and after retirement, became a volunteer tutor with underprivileged students. She was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Jack; and sister, Frances Dudley. She is survived by her son, Mark; sister, Peggy Rose; brother, Larry Wileman; and twin grandsons.
• Cindia Brown, 71, Jan. 9 in Madisonville. She was pianist for many years at Bedias Baptist Church, where her husband was pastor. She is survived by her husband, Jerald; sons, Bobby and Joe; daughter, Natalie Barnett; brother, Kenneth McDougald; sister, Linda Manuel; six grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. A great-granddaughter, Kyleigh Rabe, followed her in death later in the month.

subset: commoncrawl


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This app has been in HTC Sense on some Android phones for quite a while, and now the manufacturer is updating Locations on Windows Phone, too. Pretty neat solution that might save you a few bucks in buying turn by turn voice-guidance navigational software, unless you are clamoring for things like live traffic updates and speed camera lists, of course.
The actual surprise is that it seems to be totally free, like the Drive navigation on Nokia's Lumia Windows Phone handsets. There is a more limited supply of maps, and you can only download US regions for free one by one, and have to pay for the whole of America, but these are very minor quibbles.
We say kudos to HTC for deciding to grace its Mango-ified phone with free voice-guided offline navigation. The Taiwanese definitely seem to be shifting focus back to Windows Phone as well - today we learned that they are urging Microsoft to allow them more flexibility to play around with the interface and further differentiate from the rest of the pack. That's the spirit.
source: Engadget


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Ask an Eye Doctor and Get an Answer ASAP
Hi. I'm online and happy to answer your question today.
Thanks for the help
I'm sorry i'm not good with medical terms but i will try to explain it as clear as i can
I would find it difficult to believe that he could not have a corneal transplant. This surgery is very, very successful in restoring vision to patients with keratoconus that can not be improved with special contact lenses (soper lens)
here is a link to these lenses used in keratoconus patients:
in our country it tookk him over a year to get an appointment with the specialist and that made his vision worse
I would not believe the second person you consulted....that does not make sense to me.
he will have another appointment with a specialist on saturday
His case is not hopeless..........
have you met any case where it is so bad that even surgery is not working?
we are all worried
No. I have never seen a case of keratoconus where corneal transplant could not be at least tried once....
I think you should review this site. It will give you information on what can be done so you know if what the consultant tells you on Saturday makes sense:
I'm sorry that your bother is having such a difficult time getting the quality care he deserves.
the first 3 options ... he was told not a chance..
will the case lead to blindness?
It can decrease his vision to the point where he would be "legally blind", which in the USA is best corrected vision less than 20/200. It would not be expected to cause him to go "lights-out" blind.
if the other diagnosis with the specialist required him to do the surgery... it needs to be done fast?
he is color blind by the way... is there a link to the case?
That depends. If his cornea is intact then there is no real rush to do the transplant surgery since he will be getting a new cornea anyway.
No. As far as I know there is no link between colorblindness and keratoconus.
About 8% of men in the world are red/green color deficient (not really "color blind") and this, in and of itself, is nothing to worry about.
ok so the last option is transplant surgery ... no other option to correct the vision..
otherwise keeping the vision as it is with inserting lens and eyeglasses as was suggested... is that treatment known? what is your opinion on this and is it worth it?
Inserting a lens and eyeglasses may work for a bit but his cornea may continue to change, leading to the need for a corneal transplant in the future.
While I firmly believe in doing surgery after all other options have been tried and have failed, I would think doing surgery to remove the lens would not be as good as doing surgery to replace the cornea.
But, I would be sure to ask the surgeon who wants to go a corneal transplant why some of the other options listed on the NKCF webpage, such as soper contact lenses, intacs stromal rings or corneal cross linking shouldn't be tried first.
no the other options were not tried... just eye test were they tried the lenses they have...
he did it first in general hospital ... then in optics center
both tried all lenses then said his case cannot get any lens
That being said, removing your brother lens (like is done in cataract surgery) and just using glasses doesn't sound like a good choice from what you have posted.....
Ok. Sounds like they did try to fit him with special lenses and his case is too advanced for that option to work
Is there anything else you would like to ask me?
i don't know... we sent the reports to a hospital in another country and they said he can do the normal options you mentioned plus surgery ... but the reports were more than 1 years old ...
is it possible the time he spent without treatment cancelled the chance of normal treatments?
If you could come to the USA, Wills Eye Hospital inPhiladelphia, Pa would be able to offer your brother World Class treatment. This would also be true of Moorfield's Eye Hospital in London, England
I really can't think of many reasons, from what you have posted, that would cause your brother to not be able to have a corneal transplant.....I really think there is something available that can help him.
these results were text by his now from today diagnosis
right eye:
sphere +0-5
cylinder -3.00
axis 80
left eye:
cylinder: -2.00
axis 100
what does this mean?
That does not seem like an eyeglass prescription in a keratoconus patient. As a matter of fact, that is a very normal eyeglass Rx that would be seen in a person with moderate astigmatism.
Corneal topography and a complete clinical exam is the best way to grade the severity of his disease.
aha... ok then... maybe visiting a specialist is the answer here...
thanks a lot for your time... at least now i can explain to mom not to worry too much...
Glad I could help.
i really appreciate your support
I hope this information was helpful for you. But I do work for tips so I want to make sure you are happy before rating me. If you have another question on this or a related issue feel free to fire away. And please let me know if the rating system gives you any troubles. Thanks in advance, Dr. Rick
thanks a lot
good bye
Hi again Dr. Rick...
my brother has also Lazy eyes beside keratoconus and that what the doctors believe cause the complicated situation... what do you know about the case?
I have the report and can send it to you if you want
does this mean the treatment he was offered will stop the vision from being worse? they said it will give 10% improvement...
here is the report they gave him today
Hi Dr. Rick..
Will it be ok with you for other questions? I still feel there are more areas to discuss since there will be another consulation on Saturday and hospitals here may be presenting their maximum capacity in treating the condition. better treatment might exist in another hospital/country and we are ready for this if it gives better improvement.
I took my mother to the same doctor who did the consultation and he confirmed he has lazy eyes (amblyopia) beside his keratoconus and currently his vision is 20/70.
The operation they proposed to perform is corneal cross linking which will stop keratoconus from progressing and he will keep the vision to be 20/70. Later on they will give him glasses which will give 20/50 as maximum corrected vision.
My questions:
1. Is there other treatments for similar cases?
2. Is 20/50 or even 20/70 vision anough for a person to live normal life? I did read on the internet is that 20/50 is considered mild low vision. but is 20/50 with his condition is the same as a normal person with 20/50 vision? do they see the same way?
3. is it possible that the hospital here does not have advanced glasses for his case? I mean maybe other specialized places can provide lens which can give him more than 20/50.
4. The doctor said that after cross linking. There is no need to do the transplant operation because it will not have an affect. What I understood from our conversation is that corneal transplant will always fix the bad vision (not what is lost). Why they are proposing glasses rather than the operation?
5. Will the vision still decrease after cross linking? Is it true that the vision will stop decreasing after the age of 40?
6. We are nearly convinced that he needs to do the cross linking.. Currently working on papers and insurance and at the same time getting more consultation. does the case need urgent treatment? will a month time affect the current vision?
I might need to update you next Saturday with the consultation report with another physician..
Very thankful for the follow up on this case


text:
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Vol. 54
Title:Hardy Shrub Rose Research Trials
Author:Laura G. Jull
pp: 429-433
Roses are among the most popular plants in the United States among amateur and professional gardeners. Traditionally garden roses (floribunda, grandiflora, and hybrid tea) have attracted the majority of market attention, however, the care and attention required to grow them successfully has spawned a demand for rose taxa that require less intensive management, i.e., hardy shrub roses. The climatic conditions of the upper Midwest can make garden rose culture a challenge. High summer humidity and sub-zero winter temperatures can cause numerous disease problems and lack of winter hardiness. In addition, homeowners and green industry professionals would like roses that have a reduced reliance upon pesticides without sacrificing plant vigor, health, and flowering.
Characteristics of hardy shrub roses such as cold hardiness, repeat flowering, and pest resistance make them attractive choices for modern landscapes, yet not all cultivars exhibit these desirable
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Phone: 717-243-7685 . Fax: 717-243-7691 . Email:


text:
Toggle: English / Spanish
Left heart ventricular angiography is a procedure to look at the left-sided heart chambers and the function of the left-sided valves. It is sometimes combined with coronary angiography.
Angiography - left heart; Left ventriculography
Before the test, you will be given medicine to help you relax. You will be awake and able to follow instructions during the test.
An intravenous line is placed in your arm. The health care provider cleans and numbs an area on your arm or groin. A cardiologist makes a small cut in the area, and inserts a thin flexible tube (catheter) into an artery. Using x-rays as a guide, the doctor carefully moves the thin tube (catheter) into your heart.
When the tube is in place, dye is injected through it. The dye flows through the blood vessels, making them easier to see. X-rays are taken as the dye moves through the blood vessels. These x-ray pictures create a "movie" of the left ventricle as it contracts rhythmically.
The procedure may last from 1 to several hours.
You will be told not to eat or drink for 6 to 8 hours before the test. The procedure takes place in the hospital. Some people may need to stay in the hospital the night before the test.
A health care provider will explain the procedure and its risks. You must sign a consent form for the procedure.
You may feel pressure when the catheter is inserted. Occasionally, a flushing sensation occurs when the dye is injected.
Left heart angiography is performed to assess the blood flow through the left side of the heart.
A normal result shows normal blood flow through the left side of the heart. Blood volumes and pressures are also normal.
Coronary angiography may be needed when blockage of the coronary arteries is suspected.
Risks associated with this procedure include:
Right heart catheterization may be combined with this procedure.
Left heart ventricular angiography has some risk because it is an invasive procedure. Other imaging techniques may carry less risk, such as:
Your health care provider may decide to perform one of these procedures instead of left heart ventricular angiography.
Davidson CJ, Bonow DO. Cardiac catheterization. In: Mann DL, Zipes DP, Libby P, Bonow RO, Braunwald E, eds. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 10th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Saunders; 2014:chap. 19.
A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org). URAC's accreditation program is an independent audit to verify that A.D.A.M. follows rigorous standards of quality and accountability. A.D.A.M. is among the first to achieve this important distinction for online health information and services. Learn more about A.D.A.M.'s editorial policy, editorial process and privacy policy. A.D.A.M. is also a founding member of Hi-Ethics and subscribes to the principles of the Health on the Net Foundation (www.hon.ch)
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text:
I had ONLY an UPPER eyelid lift about 3 months ago I have a bruise/mark that is greyish in color that I never had prior to surgery. I haven't been in the sun My camera is broken to post a photo...it is a vertical line the thickness to what a crayon would draw extending about 1.25 inches down below my eye. Directly after surgery I was VERY bruised. 1-What length of time shall I expect this to go away? 2-If it doesn't, what can it be? 3-If it's permanent, what treatments can rid this completely?
Bruised Mark After Upper Eyelid LIft-3 Questions?
Doctor Answers 1
Bruise 3 months after Upper Eyelid Surgery
{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}
{{ voteCount >= 0 ? '+' + (voteCount + 1) : (voteCount + 1) }}
Sometimes, hemosiderin pigment deposits in the soft tissue and is not broken down. This produces the bruise or mark. Most of these resolve over time, but this may take a year or two. There are not great treatments for this, and time tends to help the most.
These answers are for educational purposes and should not be relied upon as a substitute for medical advice you may receive from your physician. If you have a medical emergency, please call 911. These answers do not constitute or initiate a patient/doctor relationship.


text:
Cupcake pincushion by Nicki Trench
Welcome! You are browsing as a guestWould you like to see 3 projects made from this pattern and much more? create a free account What am I missing?
Cupcake pincushion
From the book:
This is a very simple little cupcake pattern that doesn't need to be knitted on four needles. It's just worked in one piece with the minimum of shaping.


text:
Loaves & Fishes
Loaves and Fishes is the story of Jesus's feeding the five thousand as told in John 6, related from the point of view of the boy who shared his lunch of five loaves and two fishes with the throng of people who came to hear Jesus speak. Full-color illustrations by the author.
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text:
The New England Patriots (6-3) face off Sunday in Foxboro against the surprising Indianapolis Colts (6-3) and star rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, who is having a sensational rookie season and only seems to improve as the year goes on.
"He's been impressive." Coach Belichick said of Luck on WEEI., "certainly he's an outstanding athlete. He can run, he's got real speed to get out of trouble and buy time in the pocket. He's made a lot of yards on converted third downs. … I think he sees the field well – has good vision, good poise. … I've certainly been impressed watching him."
The Patriots may have some trouble slowing down Luck and the Colts offense, which ranks 5th in the league in yards/game. Colts come into Foxboro winners of four straight. However, running back Donald Brown did not practice Thursday and has been bothered by a lingering knee injury. His status this week is unclear but if he is unable to go the Colts will rely again on Vick Ballard to carry the ball. Ballard has had limited success this year averaging only 3.5 yards per carry and has been unable to find the end zone. The strong Patriot front seven should be able to hold the Colts running game in check especially if Brown is limited or unable to go.
Therefore, it will be up to star receiver Reggie Wayne and Andrew Luck to score significant points, which is a must when facing a Patriot offense that ranks first in the NFL. Expect good games out of both Stevan Ridley and Tom Brady as they take on a Colts defense that ranks 22nd against the run and 18th against the pass.
This should be a high scoring game but expect the Patriots to come out on top. Despite a good Colt passing attack facing a weak Patriot secondary, the Patriots are +16 in turnover differential this season, while the Colts at -9 rank near the bottom of the league. The Patriots should win the turnover battle as well as have no problem moving the ball on offense and march to a win.
Prediction: Patriots 35 Colts 27Tags: Andrew Luck, Donald Brown, Football, Indianapolis Colts, New England, New England Patriots, NFL, Reggie Wayne, Stevan Ridley, Tom Brady


text:
Cowan Heights CA Real Estate & Homes for Sale
2 Properties Found
Cowan Heights real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale.
Commercial properties are also available.
If you see a property you're interested in, contact a Cowan Heights real estate agent to arrange a tour today!
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9932 Highcliff Drive Cowan Heights, CA 92705
Courtesy: Teles Properties, Inc.
View additional info
Situated in the prestigious community of Cowan Heights in the renowned City of North Tustin is where you'll find 9932 Highcliff Drive. This exquisite modern establishment was designed by noted architect Jay Reynolds in 2010 and was recently updated in 2016. Surrounded by evergreen bamboo and eclectic greenery, be one with nature in the home's tranquil environment. This home's 14 foot ceilings and walls of custom sliding Fleetwood doors integrate the outdoor and indoor living spaces seamlessly. The glass walled windows in the living, dining and office rooms fill the interior with rich exterior lighting. The outdoor entertaining area features a Saltwater infinity edge pool, spa and a fully equipped top of the line Viking gas grill with rotisserie double burner cooktop. This stunning home features 4,800 square feet of living space, 30,328 square foot lot, 4 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, massive living room, elegant fireplace, cozy family room, exterior and interior entertainment areas, Vul
Courtesy: Crestico Realty
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Big lot, and plenty of room for development.
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Cowan Heights & Nearby CitiesCowan Heights Real Estate Tustin Homes for Sale Villa Park Homes for Sale Orange Homes for Sale Anaheim Hills Homes for Sale Santa Ana Homes for Sale Irvine Homes for Sale Placentia Homes for Sale La Jolla Homes for Sale Yorba Linda Homes for Sale Anaheim Homes for Sale
Cowan Heights ZIPs92705 Homes for Sale


text:
Father: Johnson Wyatt b: MAY 1839 in Virginia
Mother: Polly Mary b: FEB 1837 in Virginia
Marriage 1 Rhoda E. White b: SEP 1859 in Russell Co., VA
RootsWeb.com, Inc. is NOT responsible for the content of the GEDCOMs uploaded through the WorldConnect Program. If you have a problem with a particular entry, please contact the submitter of said entry. You have full control over your GEDCOM. You can change or remove it at any time.


text:
Hector Avalos, the biblical scholar calling for an end to biblical studies, occasionally posts over at Debunking Christianity. His latest two posts expand on a debate he had with pastor and apologist Rev. Juan Valdes. The debate was over the scientific accuracy of Genesis 1-3, and now both men are answering questions and drawing out arguments.Avalos' major point is that apologists do not understand the texts they're dealing with, nor the way that scholars interpret them:Briefly, the … [Read more...]
The Dome Overhead
Do You Know Noah?
I'm kind of curious about the movie version of Noah that's coming out in March. This is the one directed by Darren Aronofsky, known for Black Swan.I'm curious to see what he does with it. The Biblical version is so very spare. Even the Mesopotamian version in Gilgamesh is more poetic. It's going to take a lot of work to flesh it out.But according to the Hollywood Reporter, Aronofsky has a lot of potential problems, both with the new material and the old:The screenings revealed a … [Read more...]
Clarity and Contradiction in the Bible
Hemant asks, "What's the Most Difficult Biblical Contradiction for Christian Apologists to Reconcile?"On one hand, none of them are really all that difficult. There are a number of escape hatches that even a fundamentalist can use. All contradictions are really just "apparent contradictions," which require the apologist to spin the meaning of the original text. Sometimes they can argue that both sides are correct, such as when they say that Judas hung himself over a field.If all else … [Read more...]
We shouldn't always listen to Progressives either
Here's the other side of yesterday's coin. Roger Wolsey of the Patheos blog The Holy Kiss has produced a list of 16 principles by which progressive Christians interpret the Bible. The problem is that he begins with the following statement:Atheists and fundamentalists each tend to read the Bible in the same wooden, overly literalistic manner. The difference is that atheists reject what they read in that manner, while fundamentalists believe it.I wish Progressives would show a little … [Read more...]
Selective Reading Round-Up
A few interesting conversations around the web about Biblical literalism and selective reading.First off, our friend and neighbor James McGrath wants us to know that Geocentrism is Better than Young-Earth Creationism. James points out that the existence of geocentrism is a major problem for creationists for the following reasons:1) You cannot appeal to the idea of being part of the minority that is daring to go against the flow if all you deny is evolution or the age of the Earth. The … [Read more...]


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Subject: [htdig] Excluding URL
From: Paul Rhoades (email@example.com)
Date: Thu Mar 23 2000 - 07:21:54 PST
I'd like to index a static site using htdig whose URL's have the following format
Where each page is identified by a unique ArticleNumber and ArticleVersion number. An ArticleVersion of 0 always relates to the most recent (highest) version of an article and therefore I'd like to index the site using the following "wildcard type" URL, such that only the latest version of all articles are included :
I've tried using 'limit_urls_to' and 'valid_extensions', but to no avail. Any help would be gladly received!
Paul Rhoades.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Thu Mar 23 2000 - 06:23:36 PST


text:
Our Purdy's Wharf Business Center at 1959 Upper Water Street (Tower 1) on the waterfront of Halifax Harbor is in the city's growing downtown core. The center is a comfortable spot for local and visiting professionals to get their work done in a place that balances professionalism with fun.
Purdy's Wharf's downtown location allows you to walk to a wide variety of shopping, dining, lodging and entertainment options. Pedways that connect directly to the building ensure that the area stays walkable even in winter.
Our meeting rooms provide you with a spacious place to hold meetings. Our videoconferencing center lets you get screen time with colleagues who are out of town.
4 options available, from one month to years.
Prices are per person per day.
To arrange a visit, speak to our team on +1-844-241-5515
Whatever your business, whatever your budget we'll help find the right workspace.
Whatever your business, whatever your budget we'll help find the right workspace.
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[Date Index]
[Thread Index]
[Author Index]
Real coefficients in complex numbers
If you are calculations with complex numbers: a + I b How do you state
that a and b are real? For example I might want to calculate the real
part of
a + 1/(b + 1/(1/I c + d)) ; Where a,b,c,d are real
Can this be done in a nice way. (Yes, I do know how to do the
calculation by hand)
Niels Langager Ellegaard


text: Simon, There are no jobs waiting in the queue when these jobs are submitted. Sometimes they all run, and other times a small fraction are held in the queue, apparently at random and without any obvious reason. Mark On Tue, 2010-10-05 at 10:10 -0500, "Mgr. Šimon Tóth" wrote: > > We are using a basic PBS/Torque installation, with the torque-scheduler, > > on CentoOS5. > > How many jobs do you have in queues waiting for execution? > Yours sincerely, Mark A. White, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Manager, Sealy Center for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics X-ray Crystallography Laboratory, Basic Science Building, Room 6.660 C University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston, TX 77555-0647 Tel. (409) 747-4747 Cell. (281) 734-3614 Fax. (409) 747-1404 mailto://firstname.lastname@example.com http://xray.utmb.edu http://xray.utmb.edu/~white -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.supercluster.org/pipermail/torqueusers/attachments/20101005/be80c69f/attachment-0001.html


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About the Book
Take a stroll through the misty mornings in the Yarramalong Valley
Author website
Features & Details
- Category Fine Art Photography
Standard Landscape, 10×8 in, 25×20 cm
96 Pages
- Publish Date Oct 02, 2012
- Language English
- Tags Erskine, Mandy, valley, Yarramalong
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About the Creator
Mandy Erskine
Yarramalong, NSW, Australia
Mandy Erskine has been a keen photographer for over 25 years, and has lived in Yarramalong for 15 years. Although the subjects she photographs are many & varied, it is perhaps in the misty mornings of the Yarramalong Valley that she finds the most inspiration.
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In what The New York Times is calling a "significant concession," President Bush allowed the topic of U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq to enter a discussion about America's long-term strategy in the region. This occurred Thursday during a video conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The New York Times:
The United States and Iraq have agreed to set a "general time horizon" for the "further reduction of U.S. combat forces in Iraq" following the improvement in security conditions in the country, the White House said Friday.
The breakthrough, which was reached between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in discussions via video link on Thursday, could lead to the successful completion of a long-term security agreement covering American operations in Iraq—from combat missions to detaining Iraqis—by the end of this month, a White House official said.
"We're converging on an agreement," the official said, referring to ongoing negotiations between Iraq and the United States on the deal.
AP photo / Hadi Mizban
Ready to take over?: Iraqi army soldiers patrol the streets of northwest Baghdad's Shula neighborhood last Monday.


text:
Hey! So guess who forgot about making a new dev-blog post…so much for that semi-monthly schedule
We've been fairly busy working on the project since the re-announcement back in early May. Lots of progress has been made on many fronts, including mapping. After that last dev-blog entry, we we're trying to figure out what the next one should be about. And since Cage had been making some amazing progress on the weapon artwork, we decided to talk a bit about the new weapons in Supplice.
By the way, check out Cage's Corner for more artwork-focused stuff; I'll toss a link to the site in the sidebar. Cage has already done a sprite time-lapse video of the weapon pickup sprites (which you can watch at the end of this post), and he will likely be making more Supplice-related artwork posts there soon. Check it out!
Early on in the project's development, before we moved to ZDoom, I had plans for making slight weapon behavior alterations to the original Doom arsenal. Doom's weapons are great – they are satisfying to use and they each fulfill a purpose without too much overlap. Some might say that tampering with their behaviors is tantamount to altering the gameplay entirely. I agree with that to an extent, but mostly within the context of the original game. When it comes to custom content, namely new maps, I feel like you get a bit more leeway messing around with Doom's weapons.
The original plans for the weapon alterations went as follows:
- The Pistol got replaced with a slightly faster (sub-Chaingun speed) Rifle with perfect accuracy. If there's one weapon I dislike in Doom, it's the Pistol. It feels unwieldy and pathetic…by design, I imagine, but otherwise the slot it occupies needed something a bit more useful. A faster firing, highly accurate hitscan weapon rounds out the arsenal so you don't have to drop a Shotgun super early into the map to keep players from getting frustrated. It also makes low HP, long range targets much easier to deal with.
- The Chainsaw got an upgrade, allowing it to do double damage through doubling the firing rate. The idea here was to make the Chainsaw feel a bit more useful, and in turn making it more of a sought after weapon (giving the mapper some impetus to place it in more interesting ways). This was a change that I wanted to test out a bit before following through, because it can inadvertently make certain encounters a lot easier (ie. you will stunlock Cacos and Demons with ease). Basically though, I wanted a powerful melee weapon which, besides the Berserk, doesn't really exist in Doom.
- Somewhat in the same vein as the Pistol, the Chaingun was getting an upgrade to a Minigun. This was a very simple change here – the firing rate was doubled and then I increased the max bullet ammo capacity by +50/100. The idea was to bring the Chaingun up to parity with the SSG (in a sense, the Rifle was meant to be somewhat level with the Shotgun…so same idea). A faster Chaingun doesn't really change its behavior at the core, it just makes it better at what it does normally. That being a gun that works well to mow down low-mid HP enemies and stun higher HP enemies.
- The Rocket Launcher got a slightly faster flying projectile. Initially this was meant to be a Cyberdemon buff; I wanted a more dangerous Cyberdemon with rockets that took a bit more focus to dodge. But I quickly learned that, in Boom's DEHACKED at least, the Rocket-in-Flight object is shared between the player and the Cyberdemon, and there's no way to decouple the two. So if I wanted to make the Cyber's rocket faster, I had to make the player's faster as well. After trying it out, I liked the change as it made the Rocket Launcher a little more fun to use at longer ranges…and hey, if the Cyber gets faster rockets, why not Doomguy too?
I dabbled a bit with some other experimental changes, especially after moving the project to MBF, but nothing else really stuck. There was an attempt to create a new weapon using MBF's Beta BFG behavior, but I'm not sure it would have went anywhere. If it would have worked, I was planning on replacing the Chainsaw with some sort of super secret weapon (akin to something like the Unmaker from Doom 64).
So the general idea was to give a bit more utility to some weapons while also buffing others. Mapping and item/monster placements, as well as the general difficulty curve, was going to be molded around these changes as well. On the whole, these are pretty mild changes, and I didn't really want to get much crazier with them considering the original scope of the project.
Then fast forward to not so long after we moved to ZDoom, and the weapon roster looks quite a bit different.
After our move to ZDoom, I had a few goals that I wanted to achieve with the weapons in Supplice. First, I wanted to preserve certain aspects of the arsenal. There had to be a shotgun of some kind, a minigun/chaingun, a rocket launcher, and of course the BFG must persist. Secondly, I wanted to reduce behavior overlaps as much as possible, and where overlap exists I wanted there to be some kind of trade-off. Third, the weapons needed to be not frustrating to use and play against in Deathmatch. And fourth, I wanted them to be fun, interesting, and refreshing…if we're going to have new weapons, they need to be fun!
We discussed a bunch of ideas, some of which were a bit crazy. But after a bit of convincing on my behalf for some of my more controversial ideas, we finally settled on a set of behaviors that we all seemed to like (though there are still a few rough edges here and there, which will eventually get ironed out). The Supplice arsenal is 10 weapons strong. Each ammo type (melee, bullet, shell, incendiary, and cell) has 2 weapons, and each weapon has an alternate-fire mode (think of Unreal). The alt-fire behaviors expand the arsenal to something way more varied than the original Doom arsenal, even though we've only got 1 extra weapon overall.
Blah blah blah goals, blah blah blah behaviors…ok here are the weapons of Supplice!
A clenched ball of meat and bone. This is the same as the vanilla Doom Fist behavior-wise. The only difference will be its sprite, which isn't done yet.
This is the only weapon, so far, that doesn't have an alternate firing mode. We've talked a bit about possible alternate firing modes, but at the moment I'm not sure the fist will have one.
Being a terraformer, our protagonist has access to this mining tool turned weapon. The Pilebunker is a multi-purpose melee weapon inspired by Doom's Chainsaw. It has a set of rotating drill heads which dig into rock (and for our uses, demon flesh). It does damage similar to the vanilla chainsaw, but it's a bit more powerful. The alternate firing mode is where its name comes from. Holding down the firing button will charge up the weapon; releasing it will fire out an explosive melee 'spike', which does tons of damage to a single target (possibly at the cost of an incendiary round, but that's not certain yet). At full charge, the weapon also fires out a 'pressure wave' projectile which pierces enemies and gives the attack a bit more range.
Assault Rifle
Your starting weapon, and much more substantial than a puny pistol. The Assault Rifle offers good firepower with decent accuracy at a firing rate that's below the vanilla Chaingun but faster than the Pistol. It is more accurate than the Pistol as well, allowing you to take out longer ranged targets a bit easier.
The alternate fire mode fires out a super burst of tracer rounds at an overall slower firing rate which works well to snipe enemies at even longer ranges. This weapon is meant to offer up just the right amount of firepower and utility for a player when they are just starting out, or if they find themselves low on ammo. It also gives the player a decent long-range option to start off.
The Minigun is your standard, high-powered bullet munching machine. On the surface, its a beefed-up Chaingun, but the behavior is a tiny bit more complex. There's a short spin-up time before the weapon reaches full firing speed. Accuracy degrades as the firing rate increases, making it much less useful at longer ranges when firing at full speed. Ideally the spin-up time will be something that player can take advantage of, allowing them to purposefully 'tap' the fire button to get a higher accuracy shots at slower firing rates if needed. The Minigun spits out a ton of damage and will chew through low HP enemies with ease. Even higher HP enemies will have issues with its stun-lock potential.
The alternate fire behavior for the Minigun is actually one that's still somewhat up in the air at the moment. We've got 3 ideas that we're trying to settle on:
1. Auto-turret mode – When pressing the alt-fire button, the Minigun is removed from the player's inventory and is placed on a tripod. It will then start targeting and firing at enemies on its own. Enabling this mode removes a certain chunk of bullet ammo from the player's inventory as well; once that ammo is used up by the auto-turret, it drops and turns back into a pickup-able weapon. There's some details here that need ironing out still.
2. Tracer round burst fire – This mode fires out 6 projectile bullet 'tracer' rounds in a very tight spread with perfect accuracy. It's meant to be a beefed up version of the Assault Rifle's alt-fire behavior. Kind of boring but pretty useful.
3. Auto-rev – Enabling this starts the barrels spinning, offering instant full-power shots right from the get-go. The drawback is that the accuracy is even worse in this mode and enabling auto-rev will also alert demons without even firing the weapon.
Combat Shotgun
A highly versatile tri-barrel shotgun weapon, a staple weapon for close-quarters combat. The primary fire offers vanilla-Doom style shotgun blasts but at a slightly higher rate of fire thanks to the mechanized rotating barrel design. The alternate fire blasts buckshot from all three barrels at once with a very wide scatter pattern, very much like the vanilla SSG but at the cost of one more shell per shot. Out of all the new weapons, I figure this one is going to be the one that most oldschool Doomer's will either love or hate. The entire idea here was to consolidate the shotguns of Doom into one weapon, making it extremely versatile and allowing us to come up with something unique for the secondary shell-ammo weapon. No longer will you have to ponder whether to take a couple of seconds to switch from your SSG to your Shotgun to blast away that lowly Imp
The Slugger is a heavy-duty beast of a weapon. It packs the same punch as a SSG at point blank range, but without the buckshot-like spread. As its name suggests, the Slugger fires two shotgun slugs (essentially big freakin' bullets) which do the same amount of impact damage as a point-blank shotgun blast. They have very good accuracy meaning it can be used at ranges that a normal shotgun can't reach. However all of the damage is focused into a single projectile, so it will suffer when taking on groups of enemies. At extreme close ranges, the slugs do extra damage, giving a risk/reward incentive for player's who like to get close and comfy to enemies like Baron's of Hell.
The true firepower of the Slugger lies in its alternate firing mode. Each press of the alt-fire button will load an additional two slugs into the weapon (at the cost of a loading animation), for a max of 8 total slugs. You can then blast away all of the slugs in a quick staggered fire, doing tons of burst damage.
Rocket Revolver
An advanced take on the old style Rocket Launcher. The Rocket Revolver fires high-speed rockets at the same pace as the old Rocket Launcher. The revolver design allows for the weapon to handle the extra stresses of the higher-powered rockets.
The alternate firing mode fires out impact cluster grenades. These grenades can bounce off of walls and will explode upon impact with the floor/ceiling or an enemy/object. The cluster bomblets allow for a wider range of explosive radius damage. The grenade also does a bit more damage than a direct rocket, but it has much less range and can be a potential hazard to unwary users.
A highly destructive flamethrower which will incinerate all but the most hardy of enemies in short order. It has very short range and it eats through ammo very quickly, but it works well if you find yourself surrounded and you need a way out. The primary fire is meant to be extremely powerful at the cost of range and ammo; it will chew through your incendiary ammo much faster than the Rocket Revolver. The alternate fire shoots out a blob of dense, flammable acrid gas. Upon impact, it bursts into a cloud of lingering gas which slowly does damage to anything within it. This gas blob can be lit on fire which turns it into an intense fireball. When this fireball impacts a wall or enemy, it explodes into flames, doing much more damage than the gas with the drawback of it not lasting nearly as long. The secondary fire should be very useful to area of denial and as a way to do damage over very large areas, much larger than normal explosives.
Plasma Blaster
The Plasma Blaster is an enhanced version of the vanilla Plasma Gun. It still excels at doing high damage to single targets or doing crowd control, but it has been given more abilities to deal with groups of enemies and long-range targets.
It's primary firing mode has been modified so that it can better take on clusters of enemies. The plasma projectile that it fires explodes into plasma static upon impact, doing extra damage to surrounding enemies. The projectiles also do a tiny bit more damage and fly a bit faster, however this comes at the cost of a slightly reduced firing rate. The alternate firing mode fires out an extremely fast moving plasma 'arrow', which cuts through enemies and does small explosive damage upon impact with hard surfaces. This plasma arrow is great for dealing with long-range targets and rows of enemies, as it pierces and is the fastest flying projectile in the game.
Still the same room-clearing legend as before, but now with extra enhancements to make it even more powerful and ridiculous! The 'L' refers to its main enhancement – Lightning
The primary firing mode shoots out an enhanced BFG plasma ball. This plasma ball is super-charged and flies through the air with electrical bolts popping out of it, doing extra damage to enemies that are near its trajectory. The BFG also fires out an extremely high-powered lightning bolt from the muzzle of the weapon at the same time, making it extra deadly when being fired at close range.
The alternate firing mode fires out a smaller ball of plasma for half the ammo cost. This projectile is similar to the normal BFG projectile, however it paralyzes all enemies with electricity for a few seconds, allowing the player to either escape or find a better firing angle with the primary firing mode. One possible addition we've considered is giving this projectile a gravity-well behavior where it will also pull enemies closer together, thus making the primary fire even more deadly, or allowing you to manipulate monster locations to create an escape route.
And there you have it, the weapons of Supplice (more or less)! Some things are still subject to change, of course, as everything is still actively being worked on. But this is probably very close to what the weapon arsenal will look like in the finished project. (Note that the first-person views are raw renders and are going to be painted over later on)
You'll probably notice a general trend towards power buffing across the board. This is intentional since the rest of the gameplay will follow suit; there will be more resistance and more difficult encounters on the whole compared to the original games. I am going to be careful about preserving certain 'vanilla' aspects of the weapons. For example, a normal shotgun blast will do roughly the same damage as vanilla, a rocket will do the same damage, etc. There's definitely a balance that we want to preserve since this is still meant to be Doom.
I'll try to get a new dev-blog post up not so long from now. There are a few more things that I can talk about, including the new monsters, new powerups, or the general setting and theme of Supplice's episodes. A mapping-focused dev-blog post will come eventually as well.
Finally, I'll leave you guys with a time-lapse video of Cage working on the weapon pick-up sprites. It's really neat to watch and I highly recommend it to anyone who might be interested in some spriting tips!


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Dude Perfect, the legendary trick shot group, just moved into their new headquarters. And it is awesome.
"It's basically office meets man-cave meets mini fantasy factory," Coby Cotton told The Huffington Post in an email.
Judging by the trampolines, gadgets, basketball hoops and -- well -- copious amounts of actual office space, he isn't far off.
Leave us a comment if you have any suggestions for things they should add to their office!
Amazing Trick Shots


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Washington A senior United States trade official says its sugar sector remains highly sensitive to foreign competition, amid pessimism that a regional free-trade agreement can be completed this year.
In a sign Trade Minister
Asked by The Australian Financial Review if she could envisage Australian sugar exports being granted proper access to the US in return for Australian concessions, Ms Cutler said: "All countries have sensitivities in the TPP and will bring these sensitivities to the table, whether it's Japan with respect to its sensitive agricultural products, the US, Vietnam and other countries.
"We are negotiating on these products, mainly on a bilateral basis and those negotiations are continuing. It's very typical in any negotiation, that the most sensitive and difficult issues are the ones that are really worked out in the end-game of the negotiation."
Florida is home to big sugar mills, which have enormous lobbying power.
Most of 300 foreign affairs experts at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington on Wednesday, felt the TPP trade deal would be delayed until 2015 or 2016.
As well as the challenge of the countries agreeing to terms for trade rules on goods, services, intellectual property, labour laws and state-owned enterprises, President Barack Obama is also battling for support in Congress.
His own Democrat Party is resisting giving the White House a fast-track mechanism to ratify a deal into law. It would only allow Congress to vote for or against an agreement and not amend it.
The TPP is supposed to be a "21st-century" regional free-trade and investment agreement for Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam. President Obama set a December 2013 deadline, but negotiations will drag into this year.
The Howard government's 2004 free-trade agreement with the US excluded better market access for sugar, which is subject to high tariffs of more than 80 per cent once total sugar imports exceed 87,000 tonnes.
The sugar omission was criticised by some trade experts, although other agriculture products such as lamb, did win US market access.
John Howard's then-international adviser,
Trade ministers meet again in February for negotiations.
The Australian Financial Review


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Tomorrow Never Knows festival announces its full lineup for 2014
John Newman, Cayucas, Darkside, Yuck and more to hit the fest that spreads across Lincoln Hall, Schubas, Metro, Hideout.
Tue Oct 29 2013
Up until today, all we knew about the 2014 edition of Tomorrow Never Knows was that ambient-pop duo Darkside was performing. Now we know everything else that will hit the annual indoor music festival that spans Lincoln Hall, Schubas, Metro, Smart Bar, the Hideout and Athenaeum Theatre. Well, mostly everything. The headliners, at least.
As always, the fest, a bright light of new music in the dead of winter, focuses on rising talents that you can expect to hear throughout the year and see at summer festivals. Cayucas, a sort of Vampire Weekend lite that is enjoying some commercial success in ads for Bose and the NFL, kicks off TMK14 on January 15 at Lincoln Hall.
A couple of potential pop stars hit small clubs. Betty Who ("Exactly," you're saying), an Australian with shades of Pink and Robyn, plays Schubas (January 16), while Brit John Newman brings his Sinatra-goes-dubstep shtick to Lincoln Hall (January 18). The 23-year-old could be Lana Del Rey big, or he could be Willy Moon pretend-big.
Other headliners include grunge nostalgist Yuck (Lincoln Hall, January 19), eight-piece chamber folk-pop troupe San Fermin (Schubas, January 18) and not-to-be-confused-with-the-Weeknd garage act Weekend (Schubas, Friday 17). There's even some comedy from Natasha Leggero (Hideout, January 18).
All shows are at 9pm and $15 unless noted; passes for all five days are $75 and go on sale soon. Visit tnkfest.com for the complete lineup.
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More things to do this winter
- 1. Cozy up to a fireplace at these restaurants and bars.
- 9. Work up a sweat at the gym.
- 11. Drink hot booze.
- 16. Get down at one of Chicago's best dance clubs.
- 17. Check out Tomorrow Never Knows 2014.
- 18. Indulge in some salt therapy.
- 19. Get your nature fix at the Garfield Park Conservatory.
- 20. Attend Hannibal Buress's Comedy Central taping.
- 21. Explore Eataly, Mario Batali's Italian superstore.
- 22. See a movie at the Hollywood Palms. (It's a jungle in there!)
- 23. Up your winter hat game.
- 24. Commute by Divvy bike (yes, even in winter).
- 25. Watch films from our list of the 50 best documentaries.
- 26. Sing away the winter blues at karaoke.
- 27. Take a winter road trip.
- 28. Hop to a new Chicago brewery.
- 29. Eat at Dusek's Board and Beer in historic Thalia Hall.
- 30. Get hooked on hot yoga.
- 32. Treat yo'self at a winter spa.
- 33. Treat yo' skin, too.
- 34. Make a killer party playlist.
- 37. Visit a new Chicago boutique.
- 38. Discover the sport of curling.
- 39. Hang out in Chicago's most serene spaces.
- 42. Build a snack stadium for your next sports-viewing party.
- 43. Try all the flavors at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. (There are tons.)
- 44. Spend the day at one of Chicago's best museums.
- 48. Stop by one of Chicago's best comedy shows.
- 49. Cheer on the Bulls or Blackhawks at United Center.
- 50. Try some of the Midwest's best gin.


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New York Gov. George Pataki and the Seneca Indian Nation have struck a deal to bring three Las Vegas-style casinos to western New York in a bid to directly compete with a casino and racetrack with slot machines in nearby Canada.The agreement, the first to allow slot machines in New York, still needs state and federal approval, and critics, including gambling foes and nervous competitors, are eyeing ways to stop or at least slow the opening of the planned casinos.Pataki and Seneca leaders, after years of private talks, agreed to locate casinos in downtown Buffalo, located across the river from Ontario's Fort Erie Race Track, and Niagara Falls, located near the successful Canadian Casino Niagara facility. A third casino would be permitted somewhere on one of the Seneca's two reservations located south of Buffalo."These casinos will provide a major boost to the economy of western New York by allowing us to compete with our Canadian neighbors, bringing thousands of new jobs to the region while encouraging private-sector investment from around the world," Pataki said.Though the casinos would pose a competitive threat to the region's Thoroughbred and Standardbred racetracks, racing insiders were beaming, because the casino deal with the Indians would make their task of selling a racetrack video lottery terminal proposal much easier.The racing industry, in a show of unusual camaraderie, has formally released a study that shows thousands of VLTs scattered around the state's tracks, with the exception of the New York Racing Association's Saratoga, would generate $2.7 billion in revenue.Racing lobbyists said they will push a fairness argument with lawmakers. There are now two Indian casinos in New York, one near Utica and the other in far northern New York. Both of them have VLTs.The Seneca casino deal includes some exclusivity arrangements designed to protect new casinos from competition. Though details on that provision are still elusive, it could hamper the push for VLTs at racetracks, insiders said. At the very least, it would put Magna Entertainment's plans to open a racetrack near Niagara Falls in doubt.In return for slot machines and their exclusive arrangements, the Senecas will give up a portion of revenues to the state. By the seventh year of the 14-year agreement, one-fourth of the drop from the devices would go to the state.Seneca officials expect the Niagara casino to open in April 2002, with the Buffalo facility up and running by later that fall. Even casino supporters call that timetable optimistic.Under a recent court order, Pataki must get approval from the state legislature for the deal to move ahead. Critics were already lining up in the two houses, charging that Pataki cut a sour deal because it did not solve a major land claims lawsuit filed some years ago by the Senecas for a portion of territory in western New York. Moreover, they claim the state constitution bars slot machines.
Still, legislative approval is likely, given the political and economic pressures behind the casino deal. The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs would then need to give its approval; it has only approved two off-reservation casino sites in the United States.
Deal Struck to Bring Casinos to Western New York
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Keep a Small Fire Extinguisher in the Kitchen
A Class C fire extinguisher should cost you about $25. Even if you're not prepared to run out and get one right now, at least make sure you know where a big pot lid is. Why? If there's a grease fire (which is the kind of fire that there's likely to be in a kitchen) you want to clamp a pot lid on it, not throw water on it.