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Hi all,
I have a lousy web connection so generally I try and use Chrome, however for a while now it's been having start up issues. A window launches but just stays blank white so I have to close it and relaunch, sometimes it can take about 5 restarts to get it running.
I didn't notice the problems coincide with any additions of new software and haven't really added anything new in ages. I tried reinstalling but same problem, this is on XP.
My W7 laptop runs it just fine, had a quick look around the web but couldn't find anyone with quite the same problem, anyone else have similar issues with Chrome or know about any software conflicts?
My chrome still doesn't work. Google is dropping the ball for like the last 5 months. A quick fix is to right click on chrome icon > properties > at the end of the short cut path add --no-sandbox with a space before the --no > save and reload.
i have also facing the same problem thanks for pointing this and also for great suggestions
Try to uninstall the chrome, restart your computer, clean computer with the Advanced SystemCare 5, download fresh chrome setup, install... voila
Maybe some extensions are making your browser slow or check plugins running on chrome, that might cause problems too. I had similar problem, it needed a lot of time to load a website, i have deleted all extensions and disable most of the plugins i don't need, restart the pc and everything was fine.
That doesn't work. Untill they fix my solution is it
You actually have an option to try another browser, try to clean your cache or cookies first.
Not the most helpful advice, is it? If you went to a garage and told them your car wouldn't start, you'd not be too impressed to be told to drive a different one, would you?
Not the most helpful advice, is it? If you went to a garage and told them your car wouldn't start, you'd not be too impressed to be told to drive a different one, would you?
I actually tried to move from fx to chrome. Chrome has a nice mobile sync option. The a few weeks later it crapped out. So I'm still on fx. Love fx just a bit slow and a CPU hog. Chrome only works intermitidlty for me now. I download each new update in hopes of a fix and nada. There are some quite large threads around the internet. Google employees have chimed in too so they are aware of it. Only some have the problem so it must be a OS issue.
Mine seems to be working again.


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Video on the Desktop & HTML5 – What to consider?
Confused about HTML5 video? Well, you're not alone. Although HTML5 is a very promising platform and a common standard for mobile video experiences, it has not matured as a platform for desktop video. Before investing in a HTML5-only video solution, consider these facts about HTML5 video on desktop:
1) Inferior playback experience
- There is NO video streaming standard across browsers for HTML5. Therefore the video will be delivered via progressive download which means longer load times, no ability to seek video, and local temporary copy of video stored on users' desktop.
- There is NO adaptive streaming. With adaptive video streaming, the video player can detect a user's network connection and serves the right video quality dynamically – lower quality for slow bandwidth and higher quality for faster connections. Without this, every user will have a "one-size-fits-all" video playback experience.
2) More videos to encode and manage
- There is NO video format and codec that all browsers support. You will have to encode to at least 2 and up to 4 different video formats just to get video to playback (ie. MP4, OGG Theora, WebM).
3) Limited player customization
- Each HTML5 browser has its own default look & feel for video player controls. It's difficult to create a consistent viewer experience and the level of customization is greatly limited.
4) Limited reach
- Not all desktop browsers are HTML5-compatible. In fact, approximately 40% of worldwide users are still using IE 8 or below, which does not have support for HTML5 video tags. This means you won't be able to serve video to nearly half of your market if you relied on HTML5 video alone.
Adobe Scene7 can help you get around these limitations with the following best practice workflow:
- Encode videos to MP4 H.264 – a single format that can be played on desktop and mobile screens (including iOS and Android). You can even use an out-of-box adaptive video encoding setting which simplifies encoding with a single checkbox selection.
- Publish videos using the Scene7 smart universal video URL which dynamically plays back video based on device detection and network connection serving the optimal experience to each user. Click here to see it in action.
This easy workflow gives you a simplified asset management, automatic device detection, superior streaming delivery, adaptive adjustment of video quality based on network connection, and the utmost customization flexibility for your video player.

subset: commoncrawl


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Griffin claws are the claws of the griffin, a magical creature with the front of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion. It is not specified whether the claws are from the talons of the eagle half of the animal, or the claws of the lion half. When powdered, the claw can be used as an ingredient in the Strengthening Solution.
In 1995, while writing on essay on the correct method of brewing Strengthening Solutions for Professor Snape, Harry Potter put the wrong weight for powdered griffin claw four times, as he was destracted by Fred and George Weasley's demonstration of Puking Pastilles.[1]
Behind the scenes
- According the legend, if poisoned wine was served in a griffin claw, the claw would change colour and alert the drinker to treachery and deceit.[2]
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 17 (Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four)
- ↑ Griffin on Wikipedia


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A large study of more than 12,000 Swedish men showed that first-time prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels for men age 44 to 50 predicts the chance of developing metastatic prostate cancer (cancer that has spread to other parts of the body) or dying of the disease up to 30 years later. PSA is found in higher-than-normal levels in men with various conditions of the prostate, including prostate cancer and noncancerous conditions.
Researchers found that 44% of the men who died from prostate cancer had the highest PSA levels when they were initially tested between the ages of 44 and 55. Accordingly, men with lower levels of PSA for their age group had a much lower risk of developing metastatic prostate cancer or dying from prostate cancer.
In this study, researchers defined a low PSA level as one that was lower than the mid-point for the levels from all men in a specific age group. They found that men with these lower PSA levels had a much lower risk of dying or developing metastatic prostate cancer: 28% of the metastatic cancers or deaths were in men between ages 44 and 50 who had a low PSA level, 18% occurred in men ages 51 to 55 with a low PSA level, and less than 1% occurred in men with low PSA levels at age 60.
The risk for men age 44 to 55 may seem high; however, researchers noted that the short-term risk of metastatic prostate cancer or dying from prostate cancer is very low. Because this study shows an increasingly lower risk of metastatic prostate cancer and dying from the disease as men with low initial PSA levels age, the researchers suggest PSA testing three times between ages 44 and 60 for men with low PSA levels. This means that about half of men would have less frequent testing and the other half with higher PSA levels would be screened more often.
What this means for patients
"Doctors need a better way to accurately identify men at high risk for prostate cancer who need aggressive monitoring and those at low-risk of the disease who can be safely spared from frequent testing," said lead author Hans Lilja, MD, PhD, Attending Research Clinical Chemist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. "Our results suggest that as many as half of men can safely undergo as few as three PSA tests in their lifetime. Such a testing schedule might spare these men from unnecessary PSA testing."
Questions to ask your doctor
- What is my risk of prostate cancer?
- Do you recommend screening for prostate cancer? At what age?
- What do my PSA levels mean?
For More Information


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NEW YORK, N.Y. - Senior Alyssa Baron scored 25 points to lead the University of Pennsylvania women's basketball team to a hard-fought, Ivy League road win, 70-63, over Columbia on Saturday night at Levien Gymnasium.
Penn won its sixth straight game and for the 14th time in the last 17 games. The Quakers improved to 14-5 overall and are off to their first 4-1 start in league play since 2003-04.
It was a great atmosphere with a large, rowdy and pink-wearing crowd on hand for Columbia's Play 4Kay game. But the Quakers tamed the fans at the start with some hot shooting out of the gate.
Penn made seven of its first nine shots, including two threes from juniorKathleen Roche and led by as many as 11, 24-13, with 7:54 left in the half.
The Lions, who wore pink uniforms and pink sneakers for the occasion, trailed by 10 with 5:11 before intermission, but went on a 10-3 run in that span and closed the gap to three, 33-30, at the break.
Columbia (4-16, 1-5 Ivy) opened the second half with four of the first five points to tie the game, 34-34, with 18:31 to play. However, that's when junior forwardKara Bonenberger, who finished one rebound shy of a double-double,ended Penn's extended scoring slump with back-to-back buckets. That sparked a 10-1 run. JuniorKaty Allen capped that stretch with a strong bucket underneath and Penn led, 44-35, with 14:40 to play.
The teams traded baskets for the next seven minutes until the Quakers went up 12, 54-42 at the 7:57 mark. Then the Lions scored seven of the next eight to close within six, 55-49 with 5:59 to go.
A few minutes later it was a four-point game, 57-53, with 3:44 left. But Baron scored four straight and put Penn up 61-53 with 2:45 remaining. Then with 1:14 to play, Allen pulled down an offensive rebound and the putback gave the Quakers an eight-point edge. Columbia had to foul from then on and Penn put it away with 7-of-8 shooting from the free throw line, including 5-of-6 from senior captain Meghan McCullough.
Inside the Numbers
Penn finished 21-of-43 (48.8%) from the field and was 4-of-6 (66.7%) from three. Columbia was 22-of-50 (44.0%) and 2-of-6 (33.3%) from beyond the arc. The Quakers got to the line 38 times, but made just 24 (63.2%). The Lions held a slight rebounding edge, 32-30.
Baron, who had 28 points in Friday night's win, moved into 16th-place on the Ivy League's all-time scoring list and now has 1,653 for her career - three away from matching Kirsten Brendel for third on Penn's all-time scoring list.
Bonenberger had 16 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-10 shooting. Freshman Sydney Stipanovich had four blocks (she's had at least that many in five of the last six games) and also contributed three points and six rebounds. Roche finished with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting. McCullough had eight points and two assists.
Up Next
Penn returns home to wrap up the first half of Ivy play. Yale will serve as Penn's Valentine with a matchup at The Palestra on Feb. 14. The following night, Brown will visit the Cathedral of College Basketball for Penn's annual Pink Game—fans will receive free pink t-shirts and pom-poms. Both contests will tip at 7 p.m.
Download: 19-Columbia Box.pdf


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I just watched a documentary on Ho Chi Minh (HCM) called "The Truth about Ho Chi Minh" (in Vietnamese: "Sự Thật về Hồ Chí Minh") and combined with all my knowledge about him that I've picked up throughout all the years, I've come to the conclusion that he is one of the most evil figures of the 20th century.
The man was born Nguyễn Sinh Cung on May 19th 1890 in a small village called Hoàng Trù. At an early age he lived with his father and 3 siblings (2 brothers, 1 sister). When he turned 10, his father renamed him Nguyễn Tất Thành (Nguyen the Achiever). His father Nguyễn Sinh Sắc who served the imperial court is suspected to have been murdered by the French regime who believed his sons had been supporting a resistance movement against the French (at the time Vietnam was merely a colony of France). HCM later moved to the imperial city of Huế to attend a lycée school. It was there he met with whom would later be part of his Communist party - Phạm Văn Đồng and Võ Nguyên Giáp.
After spending some time teaching in Phan Thiết, on June 5th 1911, he boarded the Amiral Latouche-Tréville en route to Marseille, France. After arriving in France for the first time, HCM applied for attendance in the Colonial Administrative School but was rejected. Hence, he spent some time in France working as a cleaner and waiter. It was also during his time there that he began to take interest in western politics after frequenting libraries. He began to become interested in the ideology of communism. From around 1912 till around 1919, HCM spent time in various cities in the USA and England. It is reported that whilst in the USA, he may have met with Korean nationalists which may have triggered the start of his political life.
In 1919 he returned to France where he spent the next few years being educated in political institutions. It was during this time that he adopted a new name - Nguyễn Ái Quộc (Nguyen the patriot). He petitioned both France and the USA in his desire to install a nationalistic government in Vietnam. On both attempts he was ignored. In 1921, he co-founded the French Communist Party and spent much of his time in Russia during the years to follow. He became a member of Comintern (Communism International) in 1924 travelled to Guangzhou, China. In the following year, he allegedly betrayed a rival nationalist named Phan Bội Châu. HCM later argued that he needed the 100,000 piastre reward of Phan Bội Châu's capture and the already growing resentment of the French to establish his own Communist party.
In 1926 he married a Chinese woman by the name of Tăng Tuyết Minh (Zeng Xueming) who taught him Mandarin (by the time he had already known English, French, Russian and Vietnamese). However, there is evidence that he had relations with at least 3 other women. He left for Moscow in 1927 after a coup led by Chiang Kai Shek. The next few years were frenetic as he spent time in Thailand and Hong Kong where he was arrested. In 1933 he was released.
By the start of WWII, he has changed his name to what he is now most known as - Hồ Chí Minh (Ho the Lightbringer). He later returned to Vietnam to bring his fight against the French. In 1945, he became the leader of the supposed Democratic Republic of Vietnam (Northern Vietnam). It was in 1946 that showed his true colours when he banned all opposition parties and ordered the killings of anyone who opposed his party. This basically made the north of Vietnam a dictatorial regime. On September 2nd 1945 after forcing Emperor Bảo Đại to abdicate, HCM read out his Independence speech and declared the birth of the DRVN (Democratic Republic of Vietnam).
In September 1945, 200,000 Chinese soldiers made their way to Hanoi. HCM was forced to sign an agreement in which he was to dissolve his Communist party and Vietnam would become autonomous. However, after the Chinese left, fighting with the French continued. After HCM went to Moscow in 1950, it was decided that China was responsible for training the Việt Minh (anti-French resistance). On May 7th 1954 after the French were defeated at Điện Biên Phủ, France conceded the entire empire of Indochina and Vietnam was temporarily independent. After the 1954 Geneva Accords, it was agreed that Vietnam should be reunified under one single government within 2 years. However, with the Cold War escalating and the US backing of the anti-communist South Vietnam, these elections unfortunately never took place. Thus began the 2 decade long conflict commonly known as the Vietnam War. At the start of the war, about 1 million North Vietnamese civilians headed south due to fear of the Northern regime. Only 100,000 (mostly communists) headed the other way round.
Despite never heaving a treaty between each other, the US began to back South Vietnam financially at first, then militarily by 1965. Propaganda was being spread on both sides and one of the main reasons the elections of 1956 never took place may have been the fact that communism could not be trusted (or that HCM's party may have easily been elected due to widespread propaganda). In 1968 at the height of the war, the communists launched a major offensive known as the Tết Offensive where during the Lunar New Year celebrations, North Vietnamese and guerilla Viet Cong soldiers attacked almost every major city and town in Southern Vietnam. Though tactically and in terms of casualties, it was a big loss to the communists, morale wise the South began to deteriorate. On September 2, 1969 HCM died after becoming very ill. However, because his party's anniversary was on the day of his death, his death was only broadcast one day later on September 3rd.
By 1972-73, most of the US and its allies' forces had already withdrawn. Public opinion on the war back in the US and all around the world was at a low. Though the US promised that should the North Vietnamese ever attempt to invade the South, they would return and aid militarily. Unfortunately, this never occurred causing many South Vietnamese to feel betrayed. On April 30th 1975 after nearly 21 years of hell, the communists overran the South. The gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon was rammed by a tank and thus signalling the end of the war. But for millions, it was only the beginning. Millions of Southerners and some Northerners fled by boat triggering the exodus of the boat people.
One year later in 1976, Vietnam was officially reunified under the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the former capital of South Vietnam was renamed Ho Chi Minh City.
HCM may have been a nationalist but he caused so much suffering.
- He ordered the execution of tens of thousands of political rivals during the formation of the dictatorial "un"-Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
- During his land reforms, he ordered the mass execution of nearly 1 million land owners or suspected land owners.
- His communist forces throughout the Vietnam war murdered hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. One example is the Hue city massacre in which nearly 5,000 civilians were massacred with no reasoning behind it.
- His communist forces caused the mass exodus of the boat people in which 1 in every 2 died. 2 million fled, 1 million died as boat people!
- After the war, his forces rounded up hundreds of thousands former ARVN (South Vietnamese) soldiers and sent them to supposed "re-education camps" where over 100,000 died and many others tortured and forced to work on the fields.
- From 1975 till 1986, millions of people died of starvation - this caused many more boat people to flee.
- Vietnam though in recent years has achieved high economic growth is still a poor country where there is widespread poverty, crime, corruption and abuse by government officials and police officers etc. I personally witnessed many of these occurrences...infact, my family were forced to bribe one of the customs officials $10 in order to get through.
To many Ho Chi Minh may have been a hero, to me - he was nothing more than a murderer.
The Truth about Ho Chi Minh
The place for chat about anything not related to language.
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The Truth about Ho Chi Minh
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Re: The Truth about Ho Chi Minh
All I can say is, that a) you've changed my opinion on this guy quite a bit, and b) that was an epic post, you deserve an award for it.
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Re: The Truth about Ho Chi Minh
ILuvEire wrote::shock:
All I can say is, that a) you've changed my opinion on this guy quite a bit, and b) that was an epic post, you deserve an award for it.
Did the US fight against him? Or were we on his side? I'm bad with my Vietnam war history. I despise war. (I wouldn't be surprised if the US gave him weapons). Why did Vietnam name their capitol after him? It's lke Stalingrad, Leningrad or Hitlerberg
Re: The Truth about Ho Chi Minh
Against him. He was the Communist leader.
I'm not really surprised by any of this, although I did learn a few facts I didn't know previously. All dictators are fundamentally the same; they use the same methods to gain and hold onto power, and those are brute force and silencing of dissent.
I'm not really surprised by any of this, although I did learn a few facts I didn't know previously. All dictators are fundamentally the same; they use the same methods to gain and hold onto power, and those are brute force and silencing of dissent.
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Re: The Truth about Ho Chi Minh
imbecilica wrote:he was nothing more than a murderer.
That about sums it up.
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The Regional Math and Science Center (RMSC), serves students, teachers, parents, school districts, business and industry, and other organizations interested and involved in mathematics and science education. The RMSC provides a mosaic of mathematics and science services to Kent, Ottawa, and Montcalm counties including:
Teacher Opportunities: Various STEM professional learning opportunities are available through the Regional Math and Science Center. We facilitate various state-wide programs along with opportunities designed specifically for your district.
Professional Learning: 3 Act Tasks, NGSX, Fall Science Update
Curriculum Support: including information on Michigan's standards
Resources: links and information on Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, Michigan Mathematics and Science Centers Network
Student Opportunities: links and information on Michigan Science Olympiad, Super Science Saturday, Energy Saturday
The Center is housed within Grand Valley State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The work of the Center is supported, in part, through a grant from the Michigan Department of Education.


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Independent – Contoural does not sell any products, provide document storage services or offer "reactive," matter-specific discovery services.
Cross Functional - Our engagements incorporate a combination of legal, compliance, records management, information technology, security and change management best practices.
Flexible – Contoural services can be tailored either for some part of a specific project or an entire enterprise-wide program.
Experienced – Contoural has served more than 20% of the Fortune 500, a number of Federal agencies, as well as numerous mid-sized companies and public entities. Our consultants average more than 15 years of experience in their respective fields.
Real Impact – Contoural services provide measurable impact on real-world business needs.


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sorghum banana muffin photo by vsimon
Oh, these are big and beautiful. These muffins are adapted from a recipe for banana bread with chocolate chips.
Now it is gluten free, dairy free, and whole grain.
Banana pure makes them very moist and tender, not crumbly. And they hold well in the fridge without getting dry.
Vince says (always) that he would prefer some banana chunks, not all blended up. That suggestion (always) causes me to make faces. Banana chunks are just too slippery for me. He will have to make his own if he wants chunks. He (always) knows this.
I use dark brown sugar because it has more antioxidants than many other sweeteners. To me, 1 cup of dark brown sugar overwhelms the banana flavor, adding a molasses undertone. But most people like their muffins very sweet. And these are plenty sweet.
Some people (me) would be happy with less, say 3/4 cup of sugar. The ripeness of the bananas impacts the sweetness too. The riper they are, the sweeter they are. This is a great place to use bananas that are getting really soft, spotty, and fragrant.
The demerara sugar topping is fun. But it is optional. Demerara sugar is washed raw cane sugar, in big crunchy crystals.
nice tender texture photo by vsimon
Sorghum Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips
|makes 12
|metric measures
|3 large very ripe bananas, peeled
|500 gm
|¼ cup canola oil
|60 ml
|1 large egg
|50 gm
|2 cups sorghum flour
|250 gm
|1 tsp xanthan
|4 gm
|1 cup dark brown sugar, or less
|200 gm
|1 1/2 tsp baking powder
|6 gm
|½ tsp salt
|4 gm
|¼ cup chocolate chips
|40 gm
|2 tablespoons demerara sugar, optional
|25 gm
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put bananas, oil and egg in a blender and process until smooth.
In a large bowl, mix flour, xanthan, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Pour blended bananas into the flour mixture. Stir until smooth.
Allow to rest for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the xanthan to rehydrate. The batter will get thicker.
Put papers in muffins tins.
Stir the chocolate chips into the batter.
Evenly divide the batter into the muffin papers. Sprinkle generously with demerara sugar.
Bake for 30 minutes. It really does take this long.
PS I love banana muffins, but will not eat a raw banana. Most people just cannot understand that. I say, everyone doesn't like something. For me, it is raw bananas. Do you love them? Or turn them into treats?
PPS Your opinion counts! Please see the poll in the sidebar and vote for the 3 topics you would most like to see in video cooking classes.


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Dear Super Loved Ones,
I write this letter with a heavy heart and elevated cholesterol. Earlier today, our advisor and chief strategist, Ham Rove, passed away. Authorities believe he repeatedly tripped and fell onto a knife several dozen times. Later some dogs ate him. It was all quite tragic.
When it comes to describing how important Ham Rove was to Colbert Super PAC, I find myself at a loss for unsubpoenaed words. Ham Rove did everything for this organization, particularly any of the things that an angry donor or federal official might want answers to.
Due to Ham Rove's timely passing, I am announcing that Colbert Super PAC is shutting down effective immediately. During this time of mourning, we ask that you respect our privacy, and more importantly, the privacy of our money. It wishes to stay out of the public eye, so please don't go trying to find it. Rest assured, you won't. We have a really good lawyer.
I am a man of faith. I believe that Ham Rove in a better place now... and so is the money. I hope you have faith as well, because that's all you're ever going to know for sure.
Don't stop bereaving,
Stephen Colbert
Former President
Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow (defunct)
Visit the archive...


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Darkblue Tennis Shoes Sale from Yonex for Men(1 Product)
Sort byMost popular first
- Your choice:
- Yonex
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- Reset selection
Yonex Tennis Shoes
Power Cushion Eclipsion Clay Clay Court Shoe Men - Dark Blue
£126.90£101.90Available sizes:
* All prices incl. VAT
The crossed out prices are the RRP.
The crossed out prices are the RRP.


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It is a very good place to stay with a very good relationship Price/Quality. The only point against it has is that is it very difficult to access. There is no letter, no indications on the road and the road that leads to the place ( around 500 mts ) is extremely narrow. Only a small car could fit.
Carlos Bibi


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Wandy returns with masterful gem as Bucs roll
PITTSBURGH -- Pitching on a healthy left hamstring, Wandy Rodriguez hamstrung the Atlanta Braves.
Jumping back into the fray after having to skip one turn due to a strain of his left hamstring muscle, Rodriguez utterly silenced the team with the Majors' best record and most home runs, holding them to one hit through seven innings of the Pirates' 6-0 victory at PNC Park.
In becoming the second Pirates starter in three days to hurl seven innings of one-hit ball -- allowing only a fourth-inning single by Jason Heyward to echo A.J. Burnett's mastery on Wednesday -- Rodriguez faced the minimum of 21 batters. He struck out five without a walk.
After Mark Melancon and Vin Mazzaro each contributed an inning of relief while themselves facing the minimum, the Pirates had their first 27-man game since July 25, 1982 (when John Candelaria's four-hitter against the Braves came with three double plays and a caught-stealing).
Yes, it was that special, this treat for a chilly crowd of 18,705.
"It was like throwing darts, man," manager Clint Hurdle marveled about Rodriguez. "As sharp as you ever want to see a guy -- from Pitch One to the 82nd pitch he threw."
Pitching 101, Rodriguez indicated.
"The key was that my fastball location was really good," Rodriguez said through an interpreter, Pirates bullpen coach Heberto Andrade. "I could spot it wherever all the time."
The lefty's pitching and some lusty hitting spoiled Tim Hudson's first go at career win No. 200.
So, both things to which Hurdle had looked forward came up rosy.
In one pregame breath, Hurdle had said, "I'm looking forward to seeing Wandy pitch," and in the other he had said, "It will be an exciting opportunity for us not to let [Hudson] get to 200."
Rodriguez's one-hit pitching lacked the suspense of Burnett's earlier gem. Burnett sustained a no-hitter against the Cardinals until two outs in the seventh when Carlos Beltran doubled. Heyward filled the Braves' hit column with a one-out single in the fourth. Justin Upton followed with an inning-ending double play to keep Rodriguez's workload at a minimum.
"That fastball command … he was throwing on a downhill plane, getting that and the breaking ball to both sides of the plate," Hurdle said. "Just excellent. Very aggressive, really good with the first-pitch strikes, working ahead and avoiding deep counts against a good hitting team. It was just what we needed."
It also was what Rodriguez has been giving the Pirates since general manager Neal Huntington acquired him from Houston a few days prior to last July's Trade Deadline. Since beginning his Pirates tenure with a couple of shaky transition starts, Rodriguez has gone undefeated in 10 starts with an ERA of 2.14.
"He's pitched some pretty good games for us," Hurdle nodded, "but this one jumps right out."
When Rodriguez felt the hamstring strain 11 days ago in Chase Field, he tried to loosen the tightness by going through gyrations that Hurdle likened to "some kind of a Pilates class."
Rodriguez took the Braves to a different sort of class Friday night. Of the 21 men he faced, he started off 15 with first-pitch strikes.
"I've never seen him not pitch well," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "It seemed like when he was with Houston and faced us, he was a guy who gave us fits. He's a left-hander that cranks up 91, 92 mph, has a good curveball and knows how to pitch. You never get a good pass at him."
Hudson's 200th win began to elude him early, with an extra-base barrage in the second inning. Neil Walker tripled, Pedro Alvarez yanked his second homer in as many games over the right-field stands, Russell Martin doubled and another double by Jose Tabata scored him for a 3-0 lead.
"You've got to tip your hat to those guys," Hudson said. "They came in with a pretty good gameplan and I didn't make very good pitches. They had a guy on the other side of the field that was pretty good too. It just wasn't a very good night all the way around."
Three innings later, Garrett Jones' two-run single chased Hudson on a 5-0 hook. The opposite-field liner continued an impressive spree by Jones, who has hit .428 (12-for-28) in his last nine games, raising his overall average from .167 to .326.
"We're doing a good combination of everything right now: Hitting with some power to do some damage, but also grinding out at-bats and taking our singles," Jones said. "It's good to get off to a good start; in the past, it's taken our offense a while to get going."
By the time of Hudson's departure without recording an out in the fifth, the only remaining intrigue concerned Rodriguez's ability to perpetuate a rather odd Braves trend: Through 15 games, when they scored, they won, their only two losses coming in 2-0 and 1-0 shutouts by Philadelphia and Kansas City, respectively.
Rodriguez did his part, then Melancon and Mazzaro did theirs to let the Braves keep that weird distinction. Mazzaro gave up a leadoff infield single in the ninth to Andrelton Simmons but he, too, was erased on a double play, off Gerald Laird's bat.
Tom Singer is a reporter for MLB.com and writes an MLBlog Change for a Nickel. He can also be found on Twitter @Tom_Singer. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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Virtue OLED Board Features:
The original Virtue board made your gun perform better, and now the new Virtue OLED Board makes you perform better too. Virtue OLED is designed with an Organic OLED (pronounced "oh-led") Display offering a battery efficient screen that is instantly visible in all lighting conditions. Quad-Layer PCB technology increases performance, reliability, consistency, and adjustability.
Virtue OLED uses an Organic Display Screen to change the way you use your gun. Making changes in the programming menu is now easier than ever, but Virtue OLED doesn't stop there. The Virtue OLED Board Maintenance Monitor™ tracks bolt cycles using the gun's eyes and the Lube Monitor ™ will tell you when it's time to lubricate your gun. And Virtue OLED's patent pending DT™ Technology improves your skills as a player by incorporating pro-level Drill and Training Modes into your board.
With just the touch of a single button while the gun is live, you can make adjustments to the Game Timer, display the ROF Meter, or access any of Virtue OLED's 8 Drill Modes without ever entering the programming menu!
Feel free to contact our customer service with any questions or concerns regarding your order at:
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About the Book
Every child knows how to say no.
Just ask one.
' Do you want some brussel sprouts?'
'NO,' they will shout, 'I HATE brussel sprouts.'
'You don't mean that,' you will say.
'Yes I do,' the child will say, 'because brussel sprouts taste like armpits and they're YUCKY.'
'More for me then,' you will say, even though you secretly long to throw the brussel sprouts out of the window too.
Unfortunately, as we grow up, we forget to exercise our NO muscle when it most matters. This little book has whimsical text and gorgeous illustrations to help remind us - grown ups and children - where our 'no' muscle lives and how to use it.
Features & Details
- Category Self-Improvement
Small Square, 7×7 in, 18×18 cm
32 Pages
- Publish Date Sep 25, 2012
- Tags How to say no, saying no, decision making, assertiveness, overwhelm
About the Creator
I'm a multidisciplinary brand doula, author, illustrator & wordsmith. My backstory is full of cameo pieces as creative director to award-winning non-profits, boutique tourism destinations, the wine-and-dinery folk and heart-centred solopreneurs. I've been both a tech and lifestyle journalist over in sweet New Zealand and my decade-long love affair with location independence has taken me all over the world. I'm a full-on multipassionate whose pursuits include printmaking, permaculture, natural building and herbal medicine. My daughter thinks I'm an almost-witch. I don't have a cauldron but I do have a fig tree.
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Sometimes dust settlements in the air vents prevent circulation and cause the laptop to heat up. You might not even know that it's the root of your issues, and before you know you have a burnt-out motherboard. Due to laptop overheating as you are at a loss of important data it becomes necessary that to get the problem easily rectified.
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Royals take over first place with eighth straight win
Escobar's two two-out RBIs help Ventura and Co. slip past Athletics
KANSAS CITY -- Now it's the first-place Kansas City Royals.
Not even the Majors' winningest team could slow down its hottest, as the Royals notched their eighth straight victory by holding off the Oakland Athletics, 3-2, on Monday night as a cranked-up crowd of 21,479 roared at Kauffman Stadium.
Kansas City has won 16 of its last 19 games and took over first place in the American League Central, as Detroit lost to Pittsburgh, 11-6, and slipped into second place, a half-game back. The Royals (64-53) had last held the lead on June 19, and it's the latest in a season the Royals have been in first place since Aug. 29, 2003.
The A's have the top record in the Majors, 72-46, and they're leading the AL West.
"You want to be in first place," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "That was our goal -- to get back to first place. And now our goal is to stay there."
An RBI single by Alcides Escobar snapped a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning against A's starter Sonny Gray.
Lorenzo Cain opened the inning with a walk, and Raul Ibanez rolled into a forceout. Nori Aoki ran for Ibanez and took second base as Mike Moustakas grounded out.
With two out and a 0-2 count, Escobar lined a single to center and Aoki scored easily.
"I was looking for a curveball again because he threw one for the called strike on me and another one on a bad swing," Escobar said. "And I said, 'If he throws me one more, I'm trying to hit a ball through the middle.'"
That he did, and it was his second RBI on a two-out, 0-2 pitch from Gray. The other came in the second inning, driving home Alex Gordon, who had singled and advanced to third on Moustakas' hit.
"We're capitalizing on just about every opportunity we get right now. It's fun to watch," Yost said. "The confidence there in the seventh inning -- I just felt like Esky was going to come through once Nori got to second."
After the Royals scored an unearned run in the first inning, the A's came back against Royals starter Yordano Ventura for a 2-2 tie in the third, after two walks, on Brandon Moss' two-run single with the bases loaded.
"The two walks hurt him, but if you go back and look at the walks, he wasn't crazy wild," Yost said. "There were three or four pitches that probably could've gone either way. But I thought he threw the ball great."
With Ventura gone after the sixth, Yost morphed into his basic bullpen plan for the final three innings -- Kelvin Herrera in the seventh (a perfect inning) and Wade Davis in the eighth (also perfect) and closer Greg Holland in the ninth.
"Those three guys are about as good as you get," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "They don't worry about righties, lefties. They all get both of them out. When they get to the seventh inning with the lead, they feel pretty good about it."
There was a bit of uncertainty before the finish, however. For the second straight game, Holland got into a jam before he escaped. Josh Donaldson opened the A's ninth with a single and Moss walked. But Derek Norris hit a bouncer to Moustakas who started a double play.
"It was a little chopper, and Holly did a great job of getting a ground ball in that situation. So having him get that ground ball right at me, the easiest play is step on third and throw it across the diamond," Moustakas said.
Stephen Vogt hit a long fly ball to center field but Jarrod Dyson ran it down to cinch Holland's 35th save. Then Dyson did a celebratory back flip, a la Ozzie Smith.
"I did it for the crowd and the boys," Dyson said. "Don't look for it every time."
The last time the Royals took first place, they did it on the road in Detroit.
"It's always a great thing when you can do it front of the home crowd," Dyson said. "There's a lot of people here, they're chanting and they want it. They haven't had a winning club in so long so we're trying to bring that back to Kansas City."
But he emphasized, with 45 games left to play, the Royals are determined to be cool about it.
"We're trying to make that playoff push but we can't get caught up in it with whatever Detroit is doing and whoever is behind us," Dyson said.
Teammate Billy Butler agreed that the Royals, in the midst of the first-place excitement, are trying to keep grounded.
"I ain't never even tried a back flip," Butler said. "I'm keeping my feet on the ground."
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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I love…love. Yes, I'm a hopeless romantic and I can't wait to see the new film The Lucky One starring Taylor Schilling and Zac Efron (hubba hubba).
Ahem…anyways…The Lucky One is about a U.S. Marine Sergeant Logan Thibault (Efron) who returns from his third tour of duty in Iraq, with the one thing he credits with keeping him alive—a photograph he found of a woman he doesn't even know. Learning her name is Beth (Schilling) and where she lives, he shows up at her door, and ends up taking a job at her family-run local kennel. Despite her initial mistrust and the complications in her life, a romance develops between them, giving Logan hope that Beth could be much more than his good luck charm.
Doesn't it sound so beautiful!! I told you I'm a romantic! I already know I'm going to cry. LOL!
In celebration of the release of The Lucky One, I'm giving away a ($50) gift card for e.l.f. cosmetics, courtesy of The Lucky One. We all know and love e.l.f. cosmetics-professional makeup starting at just $1. Imagine what $50 would get you!! They even have a The Lucky One Sweepstakes going on right now. Enter here. But, in the meantime enter to win via the widget below.


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HOUSTON - Tales of sex, blackmail and wild parties fueled by drugs and alcohol. This real-life drama centered on an ex-Spring Branch Independent School District teacher and the former student who allegedly became her lover has it all.
"I think it's pretty messed up that a teacher is having sex with a student," said Rafael Padilla, a student at Northbrook High School where 28-year-old Kathanna Culp once taught.
Spring Branch ISD fired Culp on Dec. 14, after administrators said she confessed to the principal that she was being blackmailed by a former student whom she claimed was threatening to expose their sexual relationship if she didn't give him money.
According to court papers, during the seven-month relationship Culp allegedly had with a high school senior, Culp hosted parties at her Montrose-area apartment and supplied her guests, some as young as 14, with liquor, beer and marijuana.
Police arrested the former Northbrook High School teacher earlier this week. Local 2 was unable to reach Culp or the former student for comment.
Students who know Culp and the former student had mixed opinions.
"I don't see what's wrong about it. He already graduated," said William Chan.
"Honestly, it's surprising. It's not something you expect. It hits everybody," said Louis Martinez.
Culp has been charged with improper relationship with a student.
Copyright 2013 by Click2Houston.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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You're used to using the Typewriter tool in earlier versions of Acrobat; and can't find it now. Don't worry, its still there in Adobe Acrobat X.
Choose Tools > Content > Add or Edit Text Box.
The Typewriter toolbar that you are familiar with displays. See Acrobat online help topic here to learn how to use the Typewriter toolbar.


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Khronos Announces WebCL 1.0, SYCL 1.2, and EGL 1.5 Specificationsby Ryan Smith on 3/19/2014 9:00 AM EST
7 Comments
Back to Article
JDG1980 - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - linkWebCL? Really? I wonder how long it will be before people start writing pages designed so that whenever your browser visits the page, it will use your GPU to do scrypt mining in the background (for their benefit). Reply
inighthawki - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - linkWebCL just sounds like a giant security hole in the making. I can't think of a SINGLE reason why I would need GPU compute on the web. Not a single one.
Let me know when browsers start supporting this so I can disable it first thing :) Reply
ddriver - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - linkI think the whole "web" moniker is getting ridiculous. There can be found a use for GPU compute in applications running in browsers, but hey - that's as simple as linking the browser executable to OpenCL - really no need for yet-another-standard.
God forbid the implementations suck as much as WebGL does... Reply
matt321 - Thursday, March 20, 2014 - linkThe use-cases I can think of would be something like Photoshop or a Near-Line Editor in a Chrome Browser, something used on a Chromebook, to expedite exports, renders, etc. Reply
Haravikk - Monday, March 24, 2014 - linkAs Matt says, this is useful for continuing with the ability to port programs from traditional native apps to fully web-based versions. Currently any kind of complex number crunching is extremely difficult to do efficiently in Javascript alone, meanwhile OpenCL presents a very powerful abstraction allowing an app (web or otherwise) to easily take fuller advantage of both CPU and GPUs in a system. The security concerns are of course understandable, but this could potentially allow web-based games to implement very sophisticated physics engines.
For example, the web-based version of the Unreal engine uses asm.js to more efficiently compile code ported from C/C++, but it's still stuck within Javascript's comparatively limited environment. If you read articles about it then the main stumbling block is when too many physics operations are needed, as they start to interrupt rendering since everything is forced to work in a single main thread. By offloading physics to WebCL the web version of Unreal could actually truly start to approach native levels of performance, even more so whenever WebGL gets updated to match the upcoming OpenGL version (which should reduce reliance on the CPU) Reply
extide - Wednesday, March 19, 2014 - linkThere is already an implementation of a bitcoin miner like this... Reply
Haravikk - Monday, March 24, 2014 - linkInteresting stuff, especially this SYCL update for OpenCL; as much as I like C, if you're working in C++ already then diving between the two languages gets to be a huge pain for developing with any consistency, so it'll be nice to see C++ support at last.
One thing I'd really like to see the Khronos group look toward is allowing OpenCL to actually issue OpenGL commands; rather than trying to follow what AMD are doing with Mantle. This would allow a program to effectively offload some or all of its rendering engine entirely onto the GPU, leaving the CPU to only process what commands need to be issued to change view point, add/remove objects in the scene and so-on. With a suitably re-structured version of OpenGL with that in mind, we could end up with a truly significant modern rendering system. Especially since a game could dispatch different rendering engines to different GPUs. For example, in a system with integrated GPU and a discrete GPU the main rendering engine would go to the discrete GPU, while a "helper" engine would go to the integrated one to handle things like off-screen rendering jobs.
I think SYCL probably is needed first to make such a system easier to develop with, but it could be extremely powerful, and potentially give us a truly modern OpenGL that's ahead of other APIs for a change. Reply


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There is a keen interest in those who look to the future with hope, to be also aware of the dangers. And perhaps the most misunderstood - but brilliant - philosophers of the future was a Frenchman called Jean Baudrillard. You may or may not know the name, but you have seen his work, if you've seen The Matrix.
Even by the dubious standards of French philosophers, Jean Baudrillard's writing is shockingly difficult to read. And the worst part is, he does it on purpose. His work is aggressively opaque, confounding any but the most serious attempts to understand what he has to say.
But then, it is a common disease of the philosopher to write in dense and unreadable prose. Sometimes the work of modern philosophers is so difficult to follow, let alone consider, that it is more effective to get deep insight yourself, from scratch, than to stumble through such contrived labyrinths hoping for a ray of light.
Most of the time, a philosopher who does not write clearly is not worth reading. If they don't make it clear, that's because they don't care enough about what they're saying to think it's important enough to communicate, or strong enough to stand alone without smoke and mirrors.
And more often than not, they're right.
But sometimes, very rarely, you get someone who writes in this way who actually does have something very serious to say. Baudrillard is one of these people.
He described himself as an intellectual terrorist, and although most people who read him will remember him only as a man of crimes against writing, his thinking was radical, savage, and terrifying indeed.
If there is one phrase I could coin to sum up what he's talking about, it's this - the neon coffin. That the advances we make, and continue to make, doom us to a world of perpetual cheapness, shallowness, and exponentially increasing degrees of fakeness.
One of the things about being a philosopher - if you're serious about it, and you actually do want to know the truth - is that you can't just reject things you don't want to hear. Baudrillard's ideas are not nice, and not hopeful. But we must remain beholden to the truth, to reality. Because if we are not, and if we simply believe whatever we want to believe, whatever little myths or excuses suit our present desires, then Baudrillard is right, and the future is lost.
To begin to go beyond him, we must do something else, something that perhaps is more suited to those of a daring bent.
We must stare into the dark, without flinching. We want to drive a stake through its heart, and to do that, we can't just snap at its heels. And if it turns out that he is right, and we are doomed then we will see that with open eyes too, and never unsee it. That is the risk we run. It is the greatest risk - to roll the dice and look unflinching at a truth that might destroy all hope.
And it might.
So let us look then, at the heart of what this man has to say, and see if we can't find a way to stake it.
Speed. The problem, when you really boil it all down, is speed. Speed of travel, speed of reaction - but more than any of that - speed of communication.
Things move fast now. Really fast. Anyone can say anything, and say it to everyone, and do it all in a mere instant. And most people do. And as speed rises, so the hunger for speed rises, because there is so much to see and do, and so precious little time to fit in all in.
The capacity for rapid communication creates an exponential demand for more rapid communication, and something has to give. What gives is detail. Substance. Contour. Depth. Passion. Humanity. Truth.
What remains is the little soundbites. The short, punchy taglines. The '5 star ratings' of reviews. Just give me the labels. Give me the labels. Suicide bomber. Check. Right wing extremist. Check. Single parent family. Check. Government spending. Check. Liberal. Conservative. Communist. Capitalist.
Check. Check. Check. Check.
All of a sudden everyone wants the York Notes. TL; DR. But because the mass demand is only for the short version, the shrill version, the version stripped of depth and contour, that becomes the only place where big money can be made. And so big money invests in it. And it grows.
A world of labels. Split away from the reality to which they refer, packaged, polished, served up and consumed. Greedily consumed, of course, by teeming and countless millions who regurgitate those polished labels and look like they have opinions of their own.
A dark vision, indeed. And it gets darker still. Because the problem is, there's no way to fight this. Any attack on the system just fuels it. Rage against the machine, and the machine will do what it does. It will label you. Shelve you. Reduce you to a to a soundbite, a label. Goth, punk, geek, rocker, dissident, rebel... whatever.
And as long as you stay below the radar, you can experience real living, hidden away from the charts, the Gap and the howling, jagged emptiness of the mainstream.
But beware - because if you gain any real scale, and catch the eye of the machine, it will isolate you as a demographic, and build flashy, shiny, polished copies of what you are. Products to create an impostor of whatever island of reality you've carved out of the lies. A cheap copy, with multi-million dollar advertising budgets. And many will buy into that copy, and say they are like you, and because there are many of them, your hideaway will become swamped with wannabees who don't really care what it's there for, or why it was necessary in the first place. They just like the look.
Fight it, and you make it stronger, because fighting is very easily packaged. The York Notes write themselves. This side believe A, B and C. That one, X, Y and Z. Look at them fight, and be entertained. Here are some opinions that sound clever - you can use them if you want, and people will think well of you.
This is the neon coffin. The prison Baudrillard wrote about. The prison you cannot smell or taste or touch.
I don't like that this is happening. I'm not happy about it. I don't 'support' this.
But it is happening. It extremely pronounced, and becoming more intense, entrenched and extreme with each passing year.
It is the dominant force of our times, hidden from view by the noise it makes, and the show of it. And if Baudrillard is right, it is the dominant force of our future, and the fate of humanity.
Baudrillard calls this universe of superficial labels 'hyper-reality'. Reality sped up so it loses cohesion, becomes splintered and fractured, and more than all this, fake. And then that fakeness feeds back into itself, and we get parodies of parodies, copies of copies. He calls it a crime that hides its own tracks. And we are all complicit.
A vision of a future superficially bright, but inside, the human spirit rotting and dead.
The neon coffin. The modern world.
Don't flinch it. Because if he's right, we should at least have the courage to face this doom with open eyes.
But if he's wrong, there is only one way in which we can find out how he's wrong. And that's to look, and not to flinch. Because there may be a way. Just maybe. A way to a better world, and brighter tomorrow.
All things eventually sunder under exponentially increasing speed. This is the heart of Baudrillard's insight.
But even in this darkest of places, it seems to me that there is a hope.
Perhaps hyper-reality itself is starting to come apart at the seams.
Perhaps not - maybe it is merely my wishful thinking, but as the superficiality of the world increases, more and more people are being spun out of that superficiality.
X-Factor. Justin Bieber. Twilight.
A talent show. A pop singer. A film.
Why is it that these things create such intense and savage loathing in so very many? Is it the music that makes so many so full of hatred?
There has been bad music before, and bad films. But has there ever been so many millions united in furious rejection of them?
What are they rejecting? Because the passion and intensity of the negative reaction totally outstrips any normal reaction to a bad film, or a bad song, or a bad television show.
I think people are starting to see. They are starting to see something else. Not what the individual film, or song, or show is, but what it represents. A massive, bloated, corporate monstrosity that exists to feed the masses into superficiality, silence, and the illusion of free choice between different kinds of garbage.
Bill Hicks was one of the first to see this clearly. His brutal excoriation of the false and hollow culture of his time seems more and more relevant as time passes, not less and less. And these passions are rising in more and more people. As the corporate machine becomes more and more potent and effective at delivering superficiality, its true nature is becoming clearer, easier to discern, and harder to ignore.
Perhaps it is my wishful thinking, but I believe that Baudrillard was even more right than he thought he was. Even the sundering may be sundered, even the shattering might have a breaking point.
As the corporate machine churns out 'culture' that is ever more facile and shallow, it is hitting that breaking point for many, many millions of people.
Not the majority. The majority keep the machine fed.
But a very large number, and growing, are finding themselves strangers in their own land, strangers to a culture that is coming closer and closer to a kind of event horizon of superficiality. It's running out of ideas. It's cannibalising itself.
Ask yourself this - when's the last time you saw a film that was genuinely new? Heard a singer with real originality?
It happens - yes. But it is happening with ever decreasing frequency. Repeats, remakes, reboots, cover songs. All the genres set in stone. Science fiction. Fantasy. Even literary fiction, the 'worthy' writing we all dread to read, was brilliantly characterised by Nicolas Mosley as just one more genre - the genre of elegant despair.
Perhaps that's why we dread to read it. We know what it has to say. We've seen it all before.
We are living in the midst of apparent plenty, and yet many of us rail with fury against it. Fictions of fictions, copies of copies.
Because beneath all this lies something that cannot break, cannot be divided, cannot be split or cracked, and can never die. Something that calls out to be found and opened up, and whenever that call is met, it opens up further, and deeper still.
It is the only thing that can truly meet that human need we try to fill with glitz and frippery.
Real depth. Real substance.
Because all of this starvation of substance and truth has created a hunger. A hunger that for now can only find its outlet in blind fury and derision - scorn for the superficial lies, and the pop stars and the talent shows, and the film franchises, and the machine.
But even then, we must learn from the Frenchman. You can't kill it with hate. It's feeding on your anger. Instead, leave it alone, and watch it kill itself. Nothing lasts forever. Nothing but the truth.
And the truth is that we are not tiny children to be forever satisfied with simplistic songs and shows, and easy answers that never work.
More and more people want something else. Yes - still a minority of people. But a large minority, and growing.
The world wants you to wallow in the poverty of fictional riches, and sit like a fat, bloated spectator, a little emperor in your own mind, accepting the threadbare clothes you're given because they are packaged in shiny wrapping. Don't worry, says the world. Don't trouble yourself. Consume. Spectate. It's always someone else's problem. Someone else will sort it out. You can't be expected to do anything. You're so small. You don't have the 'talent' that all these lucky people have. These beautiful people. It's not your fault you can't change the world. And you can't. So stay quiet. Say what you're told to say. Argue the arguments we give you to argue. Look like you have an opinion to other people who have accepted this.
Leave the big things to us. We'll sort it out. Here, watch this new show. It has vampires.
The rebellion of our age, the revolution of our time, the battle for our future, is not one waged with guns or bombs over lines on a map. It is waged with courage and hope over the ownership of the human spirit.
And it cannot be won by fighting.
The lines drawn are these - do you care? Is any of this your problem? Do you still dare to hope? Are you prepared to do anything about it? Are you prepared to support those who are already doing something? Are you prepared to step off the couch, unplug from the superficiality, and in whatever way you can, enter the fray?
Because the problem is this. Nothing is set in stone. It is not written in the stars that humanity will rise from the mire. If our rage is all we have to throw at the superficial, that rage is very easily subsumed into it, marketed to, commercialised and neutered.
Instead, a truer and deeper rebellion is to support, nurture, develop and spread the one thing that the machine cannot replicate. Cannot cheapen. Cannot corrupt. Cannot tame.
This is how important it is that you support those indie developers. That you post links on your Facebook page, or Reddit, or any social media site, or forum, or podcast, to the amazing work done in the fringes by radical thinkers who break the mold. When you tell your friends over a coffee or a beer. When you fuel the subcultures, and don't sell out. When you go to live shows, and buy the tracks of real musicians who have given their hearts to the song. When you support those many, brilliant comedians who can never make the mainstream while they insist on rocking the boat.
When you make real contributions to support the work of people who play from their heart. Who have spent their lives to cultivate real quality, real craftmanship, in the hope that one day the storm will break, and the world will awaken, and quality will matter again.
These things cannot exist without support. The machine will not support them. It is extremely effective at sidelining them, pushing them aside and starving them of every scrap of oxygen it can.
Nothing can grow in a vacuum. If you do not actively support them, they will die.
And if you do support these things, what you are making happen is this - that when the storm does break, and the world stirs in its uneasy slumber, and blinkingly opens its eyes - that there are wonderful things for it to see. And perhaps, if they are wonderful enough - if they have been supported enough, and nurtured enough - then the world will reject that terrible fate that Baudrillard foresaw.
Just as the victory of the human spirit is not written in the stars, neither is its defeat.
The machine wants your rage. It wants your hate.
What is cannot handle is your support for an alternative.
So the choice of which future humanity will see, it would seem, is yours to decide.


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Results 20,981 to 21,000 of 39909
I've played a bit of Dragon Age: Origins. This is my third time, I think. I like the game, but I don't think it's on the level of earlier games, certainly not even close to Baldur's Gate or Planescape: Torment as some people would claim. That's not to say Dragon Age sucks, it just feels too formulaic, even for Bioware*. At least with the proper mods and high difficulty even the almost endless filler combat becomes bearable, which is my biggest gripe.
*Dragon Age 2 is a much better game in terms of freshness of story telling, we all know the problems with it being rushed. It's not so bad when you stop thinking about it as Dragon Age 2 and pretend it's a spin off. Mind you, the problems with it are obvious and can't be justified but I liked how they tried to move away from the Bioware formula. I'm hoping Inquisition will be better.
- Join Date
- Jan 2012
- Posts
- 1,320
Finished Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons earlier. Spoilers: I knew something was wrong with that girl. When she crawled over the log instead of walking, I just had a bad feeling.
Great game overall, very atmospheric and pretty.GW2: Urraca Aldor
BDO: Safcana / Family Name Aldoran
http://lparchive.org/Crusader-Kings-2/The Onward March of Bundles - Bundles, bundles, bundles! click on this nao! Humble Monthly September 2017 Edition instantly unlocks Killing Floor 2, and other marvelous games later, you can betcha! Like what I'm doing? new subscriber? just want me shut up? use this link, please!, some vBucks are thrown at me, no cost or inconvenience is thrown at you! Thankees! Steam - HowLongToBeat - weirdfish#2792 (HotS)
Whatever we do to the Web, we do to ourselves.
Having picked up a small netbook which I convinced myself was for going back to Uni, I am playing The Banner Saga on that, a game I picked up on release but never made it more than an hour in for some reason.
On my desktop I'm bouncing between League of Legends, AssCreed IV, Tower of guns and TitanFall. Occasional Spurts of Dark Souls when I feel I can deal with it but I can't seem to get into it.
I'm playing Pokemon Liquid Crystal, a ROM hack based on Fire Red, and a spectacular scripting bug caused me to end up in the black void that envelops the outside of buildings you entered. I made the stupid decision to save the game right there so I could avoid losing an hour of progress in the hope that I could get out of there somehow, not fully realising that not being able to do so would mean losing all 25 hours I'd put into the game until then. But after some save game juggling to and from my Android emulator and my PC emulator, a lot of frustration with ghostlike save games that the emulators seem to produce, and some noclip cheats I'm back in the game. Hooray! I feel so accomplished.
Also playing Teleglitch now and then, and with the routine I'm developing I get the urge to write a guide on how to play it, just to organize my thoughts a bit. Which is probably a bit premature given I haven't managed to beat level 8 yet, but I can get to level 5 consistently, so I think I'm doing decently.
I bet the Twitch Plays Pokémon stream has sky-rocketed emulator and rom usage of Pokémon games and they were already pretty darn popular (but obviously Pokémon can't work on a non-mobile platform with reduced social elements...). I know I played a lot of X on my 3DS whilst watching the stream.
In today's JG's Adventures, the story arc of "Without my GPU" continues with a glimpse into the madness of having his game collection be reduced to a handful of games that are playable. And playable is a loose interpretation in some cases!
You'd think I'd try and use this time to accomplish something else, but if anything it's just driven me to find what does work. So what does? Well, what I've tried thus far includes FTL (despite my issues with the game, it remains eminently playable), 2D Sonics, including Sonic CD, and Torchlight 2. I also imagine Binding of Isaac and VVVVVV will work, considering both work on my more broken laptop, but having 'completed' Isaac not so long ago and having no desperate appeal to go back and do some of the challenge stuff in VVVVVV, I've used to start them up.
So, FTL. I have gotten to the point now where easy is just straight up too easy, appear from when the game decides you're going to lose and you can only sit back and watch the fires burn. Normal still feels scummy though and I go back to my issue of not feeling like my application of skill is worth as much as I feel it should be. I entirely accept it's at odds with how the game is designed to be and at around 38 hours, that's not exactly bad for something I take issue with, but it is so quick and easy to play, the music is great (even if I will confess to turning that off and listening to some highly interesting Nerdist podcasts) and it's very easy to pause to leave and come back to. I...don't know how much more active I feel I can be in the game though than I already am; I can micro-manage fine, control things well, even in chaos, but I don't feel like it's enough.
Then there's Sonic which is, well, Sonic. I love it, and quite honestly I was surprised that CD worked because of the engine it works on, but I have also fully completed that. Then again, I thought I'd completely finished Sonic 2 and earlier this year I found out about a route I was never aware of before, some 22 years after its release! That leads me onto Torchlight 2. I've sung its praises plenty of times before and apparently I must do so again. Enabling Netbook mode, which I feel is a universal laugh at my expense although incidentally unlike TL1, it's an option you need to manually change in an .ini, as opposed to in the options menu, turning everything else off or completely down and a run resolution of 720 (native for me is, of course, 1080) and it, well...well it looks like this:
(Character name, Tara (it was going to be Tear, but I didn't think that worked well as a name) and my pet is a panther called Glitch (which I do think works well as a name)
Comparison shot to everything at full, 1080:
Never the mind! Despite how...questionable it looks, it does actually run at a constant 60fps (from best I can tell) so it maintains its smooth feel and great play. I have also decided to start a Hardcore run, which in itself triggers an achievement, of a Veteran difficulty Engineer. Yeah, yeah, I know it's cheesy, but 1) I haven't done a Hardcore run in TL2 before, or any of these types of games really apart from Path of Exile recently, and that was in a group and 2) I haven't had a run with the Engineer yet. My RPG build is Gun and Broad, but looking over the talents there's some really fun synergies you can clearly pull off. Most of them I won't be able to do, of course, but like the Embermage which I've played extensively with, there's a lot of options which is great.
The main problem of course is that single handed guns almost entirely go off needing Dexterity, a stat I don't see myself going into too much. This means my weapons are probably always going to be a little under-levelled for the environment, but I suppose that's where the abilities come in. I shall be playing the role of a tinker, so lots of bots and fire and electric damage where possible. Hey, just because it's Hardcore doesn't mean I can't do it my own way, right? Only had one close encounter, the first boss you come across in a side quest almost took me down, but one potion and I was as nicely topped up for victory. It's fun! Knowing you can die certainly adds an element of fun and excitement to it and to play a little conservatively, which is something I usually have a bit of trouble with.
I'll leave you with a bonus pic of poor/broken graphics. (I'll post my full set in the Screenshot thread.)
- Join Date
- Jul 2011
- Posts
- 392
Just finished Lone Survivor. The atmosphere was fantastic, but I wasn't a huge fan of the gameplay, and found it unnecessarily frustrating at times. Aside from that, I found the ending to be something of a cop out, though that's down to personal preference more than anything. Overall, though, I'd say that it was good.
first ranked match in DotA 2 and they're already kicking my ass. The thing is, my team that time were grossly incompetent that I felt like I'm still playing in the normal pubs. Started like shit like most of my time as Meepo early stage but nothing for me to worry about. Got my farm despite four deaths before I was on the roll but by the time the game reached an hour, Lycan was too much to handle even if I have a sheepstick on tow. Lucky for us, we managed to plow through most of their defences and before Lycan does anymore damage, we zeroed in the ancient and won us the game. Welp, I now know who's another hard counter for Meepo now!Art blog here.
Doodles poodles sheboodles
Watch me fail as Nobunaga
I've racked up an obscene amount of time on Kerbal Space Program in a short spa-- er, period of time and without even noticing. Last night I landed on Minmus for the second time with enough gear to do goo, material, temperature and seismic tests in three biomes, I collected something like 28 reports... Then ran out of fuel. Even though a fart could escape Minmus I only had 10 units of liquid fuel and 6 of RCS fuel, I tried to escape anyway or at least orbit it but that just resulted in a parabolic trajectory with absolutely no way of slowing down to land. Naturally I had Jeb EVA, collect the reports then jump off the stricken vessel to float back down with the jetpack to await rescue. This'll be a nice challenge, I think, but the addition of a probe capsule to the ship has affected (as you'd expect) the handling and fuel consumption.:emofdr:
10,000,000. It's surprisingly dull and random for a match-3 game. All you ever do is roll dices until you get a good run and then you buy slightly more loaded dice but there seems to be very little skill involved. Not exactly the high point of gameplay.Immersive Sims on Steam WIP
Thrust Issues: A Marvelous Guide to Fencing in Dark Souls 2
Your name is burning in the language of Xanadu.
On my part, I've been having trouble sticking with a game for quite some time. I've got at least a couple adventure games which I still haven't finished; I played once, for a couple hours, Darksiders which gave me this strange feeling of a hollow shell of a game; not to mention other stuff I've begun (sometimes more than once) and left in various states of completion. Last in line, Bardbarian which I'm very close to finishing only owing to its being neither complicated nor long.
Then, as much as my eureka moments with The Swapper impressed me, I'm feeling too tired to play anything that requires brainpower.
So I had this bit of a hankering for some survival and wandered for about 5 minutes in my last Minecraft world before heading to Don't Starve, this time on the pad, and I was doing pretty well, or so I thought, that is until the second full moon when I was going to put down my backpack and don my log armor and instead dumped it into the fire, promptly falling victim to a horrible death. Sigh.
Next stop was Krater. The beginning is a bit weak, especially the writing feels a little lackadaisical, there are a few bugs that at this point in time are hard to swallow (crash at start with default team, keyboard remapping not working 100%), and some choices don't really work out e.g. the half-baked voice acting, why not opt for some gibberish or sound effect like Don't Starve, or going 3D in the conversation screens - yes I get you guys had character models and animations done already, but that doesn't mean they look that great up close - was it really less expensive/more effective than using static portraits? -- but by the time I put it down, I was getting in the groove and managing the squad and that was feeling pretty good actually.The Onward March of Bundles - Bundles, bundles, bundles! click on this nao! Humble Monthly September 2017 Edition instantly unlocks Killing Floor 2, and other marvelous games later, you can betcha! Like what I'm doing? new subscriber? just want me shut up? use this link, please!, some vBucks are thrown at me, no cost or inconvenience is thrown at you! Thankees! Steam - HowLongToBeat - weirdfish#2792 (HotS)
Whatever we do to the Web, we do to ourselves.
Darksiders doesn't really start building up any momentum until the first dungeon which takes a bit of time to get to. Once you've completed it though, you're well into the thick of it. Its depth develops as it goes on, but it's not that 'deep' of a game. The combat is as complex as you want it to be, really. Not exactly rewarding, but certainly fun enough.
So I rescued Jeb, but it wasn't until I tried to get him to board the capsule that I realised... I'd accidentally brought someone along for the ride. Jeb made it back ok, though, with over 1,600 science stored in the capsule and his brain, so I call that a success. Even if I did have to deorbit from Kerbin using the RCS thrusters. It was a nailbiter.:emofdr:
Think it was the first one, some stupid bat style thing with what seemed like a gazillion hit points (it's entirely possible that I hadn't spent enough time faffing around upgrading my skills or upgrading the wrong ones and took it on too early hence the seeming non dying of the damn thing, either that or I'm rubbish!). It just felt unfortunate to me that the game chose that moment to start taking its cues from Metroid instead of Zelda. Crossing from derivative but quite fun into derivative and boring just didn't inspire me to go much futher, but I might be willing to give it another shot sometime as I'm definitely inclining towards games that I can sit on the couch and play with a controller at the moment and once Saints Row 4 is done I'll be needing another one.
From what I recall of that fight, it's throw bomb, hit a few times, rinse and repeat until dead. It has been years since I've played it and I really don't recall it being a bullet sponge, but it might well be. I know a lot of people had trouble with that fight too, again something I didn't encounter. Might've played a factor?
Yeah been quite a while for me but I seem to remember the rinse and repeat cycle taking an interminably long time to the point where after failing when I was probably very close to killing the damn thing I just didn't have the will to try the one more time I probably needed (I'm definitely less patient these days!).


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1997 Chrysler LHS Problems
RepairPal has identified the most common problems with the 1997 Chrysler LHS based on complaints from actual vehicle owners. We'll tell you what the problem is and what it'll take to fix it.
A dirty throttle body may cause low engine idle speed or frequent stalling, as oily residue blocks air flow in the throttle when the throttle is closed. Throttle body cleaning may be necessary to correct this condition. Our technicians caution against spraying cleaner directly onto the throttle body as this may damage the throttle position sensor (TPS).
A defective vehicle speed sensor can cause problems with the cruise control and speedometer operation, as well as erratic shifting. The connectors on the sensors are also susceptible to corrosion, which will create similar symptoms. Any of these problems can cause Check Engine Light illumination.
A defective fuel pump check valve (which maintains fuel pressure in the system when the vehicle is not running) may lead to long cranking times or hard starting (sometimes with stalling). The fuel pump should be replaced. However, if these symptoms are accompanied by Check Engine Light illumination, there may be a problem with the engine coolant temperature (ECT) sensor.
Some vehicles may develop a musty odor coming from the HVAC system, Dodge has issued a cleaner/disinfectant and a coating for the evaporator designed to inhibit bacterial growth.
The window glass lift plates tend to bend or break and cause the window glass to tilt and bind in the door. The lift plates can be replaced separately from the window regulator. In more severe cases, however, a new window regulator may also require replacement.
Failure to use the correct automatic transmission fluid and follow the maintenance schedule can result in shifting problems.
When a no start condition is caused by a faulty camshaft or crankshaft sensor, related fault codes stored in the powertrain control module (PCM) should not be trusted. Our technicians tell us that under certain conditions a fault code can be stored for the "good" sensor. Care should be taken to properly diagnose this condition.
Worn sway bar bushings or sway bar end links may cause a rattling or clunking noise from the front suspension during low-speed driving. Though not always the root cause, front struts are often replaced for this condition.
Debris and corrosion in the AC housing may cause the AC evaporator core to develop a refrigerant leak.
Poor output from the heater and/or engine overheating can be caused by air left in the cooling system after the cooling system has been serviced. Our technicians tell us the proper coolant fill procedure should be used to prevent this problem from occurring.
When the car is accelerating, spark plug cables may cause intermittent misfires and popping sounds from the engine compartment.
The automatic transmission can develop problems like harsh shifting, shuddering between shifts, and a buzzing while in Reverse. Repairs for many of these problems are outlined in service bulletins and require removal and disassembly of the transmission.
Software updates are available to address transmission issues. However, due to the age of these vehicles, mechanical failures are more likely to be causing transmission problems. If a mechanical failure is repaired or the transmission is replaced, it is important to make sure any software updates have been taken care of. Failure to do so could result in continuing transmission issues.
Faulty pressure transducers (sensors) or the evaporator temperature sensor may cause the AC to stop functioning. The body control module (BCM) may lock up and create similar symptoms. Disconnect the battery for five seconds before resetting the BCM.


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Olney Global Table Lamp Other Beige
- Dimensions(In): 16 x 16 x 23
- Type of bulb: 100W
- Number of bulbs: 1
- Bulb(s) included: N
- Cord Length(In): 72
- Cord Color: Translucent
- Switch Type: 3-Way
Brand: Surya
Have a question about this product or looking for wholesale pricing? Please use the form below, include the quantity and delivery zip code so we can prepare a quote.
Returns accepted within 14 days of delivery. Please see Return Policy for details.


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About Leah Carlson
Born: Troy, Ohio
Current: Troy, Ohio
Birth: December 10
On Moms.com since: Nov 8, 2013
I am Leah, a 26 year old first time mom. My daughter Holly was born March 9,2013. I am primarily a stay at home mom but also work part time as a Figure Skating Coach. My husband and I are enjoying life as new parents. SITE HOSTESS


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Cycling Apparel & Gear
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Outfit yourself in streamlined jerseys and lightweight jackets that shield against wind and chill. Experience second-skin fit with cycling shorts, tights and pants designed for both men and women, designed to reduce drag and promote aerodynamics. Off-road riders enjoy the trail in more relaxed-fitting apparel built for durability and abrasion resistance.
Get a better grip cycling gloves designed for an ergonomic fit. Shop men and women's cycling shoes, specially designed with a low-profile design and breathable feel, so you pedal easy. Pick up the gear you love from the brands you trust like Nishiki®, Pearl Izumi® and Canari®.
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- Zippered shirts and jackets allow you to customize your level of warmth. Layer for unpredictable weather with tank tops and zip-up jackets and gain protection from Mother Nature in biking apparel designed with a weather-resistant finish. When temperatures drop, look to cold weather gear, like leg and arm warmers.
- Never let your hand slip from the bars again with cycling gloves designed for a flexible, comfortable fit. Choose gloves designed with details like gel palm pads, extra knuckle protection and mesh or perforated paneling that increases air circulation, so you're never tempted to take them off as you ride. For maximum hand mobility, choose fingerless cycling gloves.
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Looking for more? Browse all bikes or cycling gear from DICK'S Sporting Goods.


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Waterdeep might refer to:
- Waterdeep, the city on the Sword Coast of Northwest Faerûn
- Waterdeep (novel), the 1989 novel in the Avatar series by Troy Denning (as Richard Awlinson)
- Waterdeep (adventure) (FRE3), the 1989 1st edition adventure by Ed Greenwood
- Waterdeep and the North (FR1), the 1987 1st edition sourcebook by Ed Greenwood
- City of Splendors: Waterdeep, the 2005 3.5 edition sourcebook by Eric L. Boyd
|This page uses content from Forgotten Realms Wiki. The original article was at Waterdeep (disambiguation). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with DnD Wikia, the text of the Forgotten Realms Wiki is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


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HEAD coach Gary Thornton has admitted he does not know how long York City Knights will be able to keep hold of prop revelation Brad Brennan.
The Knights brought Brennan in on loan from Batley Bulldogs primarily as a stop-gap due to Nathan Freer, Nathan Harper, Austin Bell and Iain Morrison all being ruled out by injury or illness. But he has since been a man-of-the-match contender in both of his two appearances to date, against fellow high-fliers Oldham and Hunslet.
The 20-year-old still has two more games to go of his initial one-month spell - at Gloucestershire All Golds on Sunday and against Gateshead Thunder the week after - yet Thornton has already spoken to Batley about keeping him for the rest of the regular season and indeed the play-offs. The Bulldogs, however, were being non-committal.
"I've had a meeting with Paul Harrison (Batley chief executive). We're going to play it by ear," said Thornton.
"A lot will depend on how Batley Bulldogs go in the meantime. John Kear (Batley coach) is happy for him to stay a bit longer and then we'll see.
"The player needs to be happy as well. He seems happy - he's getting plenty of game-time, which he's pleased about. He played big minutes against Oldham and against Hunslet, and he was delighted to get into the (Championship One) Team of the Week and to get that recognition here.
"He's got two more games and we'll take it from there. We've thrown our hat into the ring. We'd like to keep him here as long as we can."
Much will depend not only on the form and fitness of Batley's current front-rowers but also on how long the Bulldogs can keep hold of big Keegan Hirst following his return to Mount Pleasant on loan from Featherstone.
Additionally, Brennan, a former Warrington academy starlet, has to journey to York from Wigan and travelling may become an issue the longer he has to make that 170-mile round trip.
Thornton also concedes that continued eye-catching performances may see Kear take him back for Batley's first team, or other clubs come in for him.
"John isn't daft," he said. "That's the reason you send players out on loan - to find form and fitness. He would expect Brad to be a standout player at Championship One level.
"That's always the danger with loan players. It's the same with James Saltonstall (on loan from Warrington). If they keep playing well, you'll always get that problem when the parent club sees them playing well and wants to take them back."
Meanwhile, fellow front-rower Harper is likely to be in contention for a recall against Gloucestershire after illness, following on from Bell's timely return to fitness last week. Jake Joynt is also in the reckoning after sitting out the last two matches.
Morrison, who has missed the last six games, also has an outside chance of featuring if he can prove his fitness this week after illness.
Doubts remain over Nathan Freer, following his concussion, and Jack Pickles, who has an adductor problem.
Elsewhere, loose-forward Lee Paterson is making good progress after his partial knee dislocation and could be available for the Gateshead game.
Hooker/back-rower Kriss Brining, who has been out since breaking an ankle against Whitehaven in March, could also return to full training next week.
Full-back James Haynes remains on the treatment table with a knee injury, while there is no news on Jason Golden, who is yet to see a specialist about his ongoing shoulder problem and is still doing the bulk of his training alone with the physios.


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Get the MBFW Look: Mally Roncal's Fierce Smoky Eye for Tracy Reese
Mally Roncal created a fierce smoky eye for Tracy Reese's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week show. Here's how to get it!
-Lucia Peters
Are you as in love with Tracy Reese's fall 2013 collection as we are? Because we can't get enough of it! As seen at Mercedes-Benz New York Fashion Week this week, the collection takes its inspiration from New York itself. The city's juxtaposition of harshness and beauty led to sharp silhouettes, bold shades like cerise and scarlet set against neutral backgrounds, and soft velvet paired with shiny patent. The look is smart, strong, and glamorous—and as such, the beauty look makeup artist Mally Roncal designed to go with it is, too.
Who is the girl who wears this look? "She is the quintessential New York City girl," Mally said. "She's confident. She's fierce. Whether she has been out all night with her girlfriends, or just working the night shift, she's out feeling as fabulous as she did when she left the house. Her skin is healthy, glowing, and artfully undone. The eyes are strong… and heavily smoky." Love!
Read MBFW Hair How-To: Veronica Beard's Sexy Side Fishtail Braid
Here's how to get it:
1. First up: Glowing skin. Use Mally Beauty's Perfect Prep poreless primer in Glow ($35, beauty.com) as a base to create a subtle glow. Then top skin with Mally's Diamond Unpowder ($42, amazon.com) to keep it looking fresh and radiant all day long. Add a little extra glow by applying Mally's Effortless Airbrush Highlighter ($45, beauty.com) on your cheekbones; then apply Mally's Baby blush ($14, amazon.com) on the apples of your cheeks. Finish with Evercolor Poreless Face Defender ($40, beauty.com) to seal in makeup for all-day wear.
2. Next: The eyes have it. To create a bold smoky eye, start by applying the black shadow in the Soho Silver City Chick smoky eye kit (included in Mally's Up All Night kit, $60, beauty.com) all over your lid; then use Mally's Eye Defining System in Crisp Black ($25, beauty.com) to smudge the look out on the ends of your eyes. For a strong, defined eyebrow, fill in your brows with Mally Beauty's 24/7 Brow Express pencil/powder ($30, beauty.com).
3. Lastly: Comehither lips. First, apply Mally Beauty's nourishing lipstick in French Kiss ($25, amazon.com). Let it set; then dab off the excess. This will make it look like you slept in your lipstick. Sexy!
Lucia Peters is BettyConfidential's senior editor.


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Anyone else excited for this show? For those who don't know, A Game of Thrones is the first book of George RR Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series. HBO is attempting to turn the series into a television show, and Season 1 will cover the first book. The latest trailer for the HBO series is here. As a fan of the books, I have to say it looks almost perfect.
And in even better news, Martin has announced that - after an interminable wait - Book 5 (of a planned 7) - A Dance With Dragons - will be published on July 12 (shortly after season 1 of the TV show ends).
Without giving anything away to those who have not heard of it, the series basically concerns a series of political struggles and wars that take place in Westeros, a fictional continent in a world where seasons last for years. It is sometimes called Lord of the Rings for adults, but I don't really like the description too much, as I feel it cheapens both series. It is a fantasy series, but one that "feels" more realistic because, while there are some magic and supernatural elements, the story takes place in a world that is very grounded in a realistic political and social system. I am probably not doing the series justice, so I won't really try to describe it further, except to say that Martin has created really cool, interesting characters, and has told an addictive and highly entertaining story about them.
Let me put it in a way this board can understand. I have been a Reds fan since I was born, and I have to say I am almost as excited for April 17 - the day the series premiers - as I am for March 31 - when I have tickets for Opening Day. Wondering if there are any other fans on here.