text:
Note To News Editors: For reproducible pictures, go to URL: http://www.usgs.gov/amphibian_images.html
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists are making headway in unraveling clues to the causes of massive die-offs of frogs and other amphibians. The agency announced today that a little-understood, emerging iridovirus disease associated with large die-offs of frogs and salamanders in the Midwest and the East has caused another recent die-off, in North Dakota.
USGS wildlife pathologist D. Earl Green said an iridovirus infection is the culprit in most of the deaths of U.S. western tiger salamanders at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Cottonwood Lake Study Area near Jamestown, North Dakota.
Wildlife health scientists at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, also are investigating numerous other amphibian die-offs that recently occurred or are continuing to occur in several locations across the United States. The die-offs, which involve multiple species of frogs, toads, salamanders and one species of newt, are occurring on private, state, and federal lands including several national parks.
"The U.S. Geological Survey is leading the government's efforts to help determine why amphibians are disappearing," said Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. "This is a crisis that has attracted worldwide concern. It requires timely, aggressive research. It is no exaggeration to say that USGS research on these die-offs has global implications."
Whether some of the ongoing die-offs are related to recent local or regional amphibian declines across the United States, or are sustained, long-term events only recently discovered, is still unknown. The wide geographic distribution of these mortality events and the number of species involved may represent an entirely new phenomenon or may be partly the result of increased surveillance of amphibian populations. Amphibian researchers and land managers worldwide, however, are concerned about the often severe and mostly unexplained declines of amphibian populations on many continents, including in remote and pristine areas.
Research by USGS and other scientists has identified many deadly virus infections and chytrid fungus as causes of some recent amphibian die-offs and local population declines. Scientists are actively investigating other hypotheses that could help explain these worldwide declines, including increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation due to ozone thinning, the spread of non-native predators, contamination from pesticides and other chemicals, and rising temperatures. Many biologists suspect a combination of factors may be responsible.
At the Cottonwood Lake Study Area, sick salamanders were first noticed in May by USGS researchers Ned Euliss and David Mushet as they conducted amphibian sampling in one of the study area's 17 wetlands. By July, when salamanders in the study area typically reach their yearly peak in numbers, the researchers were only able to trap a total of eight salamanders in the three traps they had set out. Last July, in the same wetlands, the researchers had caught between 100 and 150 salamanders per trap.
The disease outbreak has spread to two other wetlands so far; the status of salamander populations on the many wetlands off the study site is unknown. "We've been studying amphibians in these 17 wetlands since 1992 and have other long-term data from the area since 1967, and have never seen or recorded any die-offs due to disease," Mushet said. Because the salamanders also exhibit unusual skin abnormalities, USGS is conducting additional testing to rule out a concurrent infection or toxin.
Since 1996, when USGS began investigating amphibian mortality, iridoviruses have been associated with numerous tiger salamander die-offs in the western United States and Canada. USGS virologist Douglas Docherty has isolated iridoviruses from tiger salamander die-offs in Idaho (1999), Utah (1998), and North Dakota (1998), and Green has found microscopic evidence of an iridovirus infection in tiger salamanders from Wyoming (1999). Other researchers have confirmed iridoviruses in tiger salamander die-offs in Arizona (1996) and Saskatchewan, Canada (1997).
USGS has identified iridovirus as the likely suspect in several other recent amphibian die-offs. According to Kathryn Converse, a wildlife disease specialist at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center, iridovirus is also the probable culprit in a late June die-off of hundreds of spring peepers – a type of frog – at Acadia National Park in Maine. Also in June, USGS scientists isolated iridovirus from mink frogs found dead in Minnesota; from wood frogs, bullfrogs and spotted salamanders found dead in North Carolina; and from wood frog tadpoles and spotted salamanders found dead and dying at a Massachusetts site where several hundred to a thousand amphibians were reported to have died. For the second consecutive year, numerous frogs and salamanders at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee experienced a spring die-off associated with iridovirus.
USGS diagnostic work on several other recent or ongoing amphibian die-offs has identified yet another amphibian disease, chytrid fungus. It has been implicated as a likely cause of major amphibian die-offs in pristine areas around the globe and has been isolated in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park where state-endangered boreal toads are dying from chytrid fungus infections that are very similar to those that killed boreal toads in the park and other regions of the state in 1999.
The USGS serves the nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.
Subscribe to receive the latest USGS news releases.
**** www.usgs.gov ****
Links and contacts within this release are valid at the time of publication.


text:
This Product is crafted in a Midlands foundry. Although we aim to hold plenty of stock, our stock moves quickly. Please be reassured that we will inform you if a delay is expected once your order is placed. Feel free to call if on a tight deadline.
Reproduction 'Vacant Engaged' toilet lock. Also known as an indicator bolt. Solid Brass with a distressed antique finish and quality dial. The originals of these classic early 20th century toilet locks are now highly sought after. Perfect for use on the bathroom or toilet door. This product is hand made in the UK and features a slide action bolt which spins the dial with ease.
Standard UK delivery £4.95 (aim 3 working days
Express UK delivery £7.95 (next working day)
UK Highlands and Islands £15.50 (aim 3-5 working days)
Ordering from Overseas? No problem, click here.
Fear not, we have a flexible 28 day returns policy, click here.
Great Service and Product worth every penny
Works for inward opening doors only, shame as our WC door opens outward our joiner had to cut our door frame about and reduce the size of the locking bracket to make it work, yet was fine for our bathroom. I think it should be clear on website product description this is the case.
Really nice product in person. Will be perfect for our bathrooms. The color of Antique Brass varies depending on the source. This is darker on the spectrum with not much yellow (which I like).

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Richard Haddad's anti-science screed ("Get past alarmism on global warming," Oct. 26) reminds me uncannily of the previous White House's readiness to disregard well-grounded warnings from their political opponents, as when Bush administration officials treated the briefings they'd received from Clinton staffers about Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaida as unwarranted alarmism. Sept. 11, of course, brought us the infamous Cheney doctrine: Even a 1 percent chance that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was sufficient reason to mount a military offensive.
Notice that beforehand, justified warnings were dismissed, and afterward, no evidence was required to justify action.
Mr. Haddad needs to hear a few plain facts. The earth is, in fact, getting hotter and the scientific consensus on human causes of global warming is exceptionally strong. The "climategate" scandal has been repeatedly debunked and the economic consequences of shifting to renewable energy are overwhelmingly positive.
When scientific expertise is politicized by conservatives who prefer to deny inconvenient facts, our country and the world are the losers.
Warren Senders, Medford, Mass.


text:
Built In The Style Of '50S Show Rods
Our first look at this fabulous-looking Model A came during the SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center one year ago. An international tire manufacturer had the smart idea to park the Hemi-powered roadster in its exhibitor booth, where the roadster got loads of attention. Who knows how many of those aftermarket industry folks remember the name of that tire company, but probably very few of them have forgotten the incredible roadster sitting in the booth.
The next time we spotted the car was at the West Coast Kustoms Cruisin' Nationals in Paso Robles. In sunlight, on pavement, and rolling on more suitably traditional wheels and tires, the low gold roadster looked even better than it did in Vegas.
In Paso, we found out that this low-slung highboy is owned by Nick Garfias, a car designer from Long Beach, California. Nick gets paid to design vehicles for Mercedes-Benz, and in his spare time, applies his creativity to hot rods. He told us the long, low profile of the roadster and the elaborate powerplant setup were influenced by early front-engine dragsters. He took that influence and put it to work on a period hot rod set in the late '50s to early '60s. The result is perfect. Nick's brand-new rod looks fresh from the show circuit of that era, or right off the pages of a 50-year-old issue of Rod & Custom. Years later, we would've looked back at the roadster and called it "ahead of its time."
The roadster's history has been traced back through a handful of owners. We've heard a story about the car emerging from a barn somewhere to be sold, super cheap, to a hot rodder who happened to be visiting the town. Nick confirmed that it had come to California from North Dakota, and was then sold to Verne Hammond from the Burbank Choppers, who kept the car-still wearing full fenders-until selling it to Jack Carroll, who ended up selling it to Nick.
The condition of the original steel body was fair (the driver-side quarter-panel was warped from a fire-Aussie Steve had done some initial work on that), but nothing was beyond repair, and the roadster was transformed to conform to Nick's design over the course of the following four years.
Almost the entire car is built using traditional parts and even traditional tools. In areas where he said he "needed more than one set of hands," Nick got help from friends, such as Dave Orton. He shaved the body panels, leaving the external door hinges, and channeled the body a single inch over the '32 frame to retain the look of a highboy while lowering the profile. The American Stamping 'rails are bobbed and reinforced with an aftermarket X-member and custom-fabricated crossmembers. A modified suicide frontend locates the dropped axle in front of the 'rails; but Nick toned down the typical suicide appearance by positioning the channeled '32 grille between the axle and the steering rod. It exaggerates the roadster's extra-long look, but actually keeps the wheelbase short. On the front-engine dragsters that helped influence this roadster, the engine determined the overall look as much as the body did-so Nick made sure his power-plant choice was a big part of the external appearance. Hood sides and top were left off to expose the dressed-up '56 Hemi-they wouldn't have fit anyway. The Hallock windshield, a liberal dose of chrome, and Gary Gastmeyer's dazzling gold paint job are more elements consistent with the roadster's early show rod theme.
Probably the hardest part of the buildup was keeping the car quality high enough to meet Nick's standards. Being a designer, he can spot details that you and I wouldn't notice in a month. That educated eye added to the difficulty of the project, and Nick told us that he built some parts three times before he was satisfied. But it all paid off in the end. Not long after his road trip to the Cruisin' Nationals, Nick had the Model A down at the beach, where Rick Amado got these sweet shots of the brand-new '50s-era golden oldie.
Rod & Custom Feature Car
Nick Garfias
Long Beach, California
1929 Ford Model A roadster
An early show rod had to have a stunning engine. Nick continued the tradition by loading the roadster with a Chrysler Hemi. The stock 354 came out of a '56 New Yorker. Lance Soliday in Burbank, California, did the machining and assembly on the block, boring the cylinders 0.060 over. The Iskenderian 270 Mega cam operates the valves in the stock iron heads, topped with chromed Firepower valve covers. A six-pack of fully functional Stromberg 81 (rebuilt by Jere Jobe at Vintage Carburetion Technologies with adjustable jets from Flathead Jack) feed the Edelbrock log intake manifold. The headers were fabricated from '36 driveshaft tubes paired with lakes pipes. A SPAL sidewinder fan (with off-center motor) pulls air though a custom radiator. Nick runs a gear-reduction starter from Mopar, vertex magneto rebuilt by Joe Hunt, and a Chevy generator. Pat McGuire from Wilcap provided the transmission adapter to tie the Hemi to a '64 Muncie M20. The four-speed, built at Ron's Transmission Service in Anaheim, has a 10 1/2-inch clutch. A custom driveshaft from Driveline Specialties turns the 3.78 gears in a '57 Ford 9-inch limited slip rearend.
Nick added a Chassis Engineering '34-style X-member and custom quarter-inch steel plate crossmembers to the American Stamping '32 'rails, and built the motor mounts, headlight stands, F-1 shock mounts, hairpins, and other suspension and steering parts. What didn't get painted was chromed. In the front, the grille shell conceals the SAC leaf springs mounted with a modified suicide perch. The Mor-Drop Ford axle has a 4-inch drop and is drilled with 11/16-inch holes. Nick made a set of custom batwings to fit the axle and the hairpin radius rods. The front and rear shocks are from Pete & Jake's. The '40 Ford spindles were switched left to right. Brakes are '40 Ford in front and Pete & Jake's in the rear with a late-'50s to early '60s Chevy truck master cylinder. The Schroeder 10:1 steering box is mounted by a fabricated roll hoop. In the rear, the 'rails are Z'd up several inches. The rear suspension includes '36 wishbones, antiroll bar, and Panhard bar. The '36 rear springs feature a custom main leaf from Deaver Spring in Santa Ana, California. Lower shock mounts were custom made from early Ford steering arms. The rear axles were drilled out to fit early Ford bolt pattern. Nick made a flange to fit a N.O.S. aircraft filler cap from a '54 Constellation (possibly from a de-icing tank) to a Model T gas tank.
Wheels & Tires
A narrow tread and wide white sidewalls is exactly the authentic tire the gold roadster needs. Nick wrapped 6.50-16 and 7.50-16 Firestone bias-plies around chromed 16-inch Ford sedan wheels.
Body & Paint
The body is original '29 Model A steel, repaired after some past fire damage and typical neglect. Nick's performed a lot of bodywork, but kept it all very low-key-shaving the handles (except the trunk handle), radiusing the perimeter of the interior edge to keep the upholstery below the body lines, and channeling the body 1 inch over the 'rails. The Hallock windshield frame and cowl were curved to fit together perfectly. The Deuce grille shell was sectioned 3 1/2 inches to match the proportions of the car. The taillights are '46-48 Ford. The vintage BLC sealed-beam headlights were popular aftermarket parts during the '40s and '50s. These are mounted on fabricated stands. Mario Cazare did the skin finishing. Nick picked House of Kolor Goldmine Gold to give the roadster a timeless finish. Gary Gastmeyer shot the paint.
It took a lot of imagination to come up with an interior as deceptively simple-looking as this. Nick designed the seats so that the bottoms are split by the driveshaft hump, but the full bench-style back is retained. He took his concept drawings to Eddie and Sons in Bellflower, California, where the seat frames were padded and covered with Arctic White Spinneybeck full-grain leather. The stitched rolls were kept flat in keeping with the old-time hot rod look. Notice how the Deuce-style dash was pie-cut and curved to follow the lines of the cowl, and then welded to the cowl to form a single seamless piece. Stewart Warner Wings gauges were the perfect choice to fill the instrument panel. The two-spoke wheel is from a '49 Chris Craft boat, restored to new condition. Finally, Nick shifts gears with a cool-looking extended T&F shifter, top mounted near the firewall.


text:
This sure is a book that divides opinions among historians. Hence, I like it. I believe that Corrigan is quite right to take on the 'mythbuster' mantle. There are a trememdous amount of fallacies in history, and many surround the Great War. Not helped, it has to be said by cultural influences such as Blackadder, or 'Oh what a lovely war!'.
Corrigan's quote about the myth that Tommy marched up to the front in 1914 singing Tipperary, smoking a pipe, sat in a trench for four years, and went over the top and saw all his mates killed is one of my favourite passages in any history book. The original BEF in 1914, the old contemptibles, were a tiny force of 4 then 5 Divisions. The British Army expanded slowly, with Kitcheners volunteers largely entering the fray in 1916 on the Somme. Also, very few units spent very long in the front-line. My research suggests that a five day stretch in the front line would have been a long stint. Often, Battalions might spend up to a month away from the front training and resting. By no means did ever Tommy spend all of the war sat in a wet, muddy hole.
The conduct of the war also comes in for examination. Corrigan feels, perhaps with some value, that Haig could not really have done much better than he did. And, actually, I am rather inclined to agree. It goes against the perceived wisdom of an aloof cavalryman unconcerned with losses, but I have yet to hear, read or see of anyone suggesting HOW the 'Donkeys' could have fought the war differently. How the war was fought was a product of its time, with the mass armies of the nineteenth century, massive technological and industrial change but leaders and institutions that had not yet fully grasped these changes.
Corrigan's argument on casualties is more difficult to support, I feel. Supported by statistical analysis, including percentages, Corrigan argues that the losses in the Great War were not as frightful as is generally thought. True, Britain did not lose as many men as France or Germany, but we need to remember that the vast majority of those killed were conscripts, whereas Germany and France had large standing armies. My research has shown that TWICE as many people from Portsmouth died between 1914 and 1921 as did between 1939 and 1945. Having researched thousands of casualties in Twentieth Century conflicts, I am cautious to add that losses are not just about numbers, but the social impact.
But whether we agree or disagree with certain points is, I think, besides the point. When a historiography is riddled with assumptions and becomes as stale as that of the Great War, anything that gives it a good kick up in the air cannot be a bad thing. Even if they're not strong arguments, it makes us go back and re-evaluate our thinking again.


text:
TWO NEW broadleaf weed herbicides from Dow AgroSciences recently received EPA registration. CleanWave and Starane NXTcp herbicides expand the company's presence in the small grains market. Dow AgroSciences is seeking state registrations for CleanWave in Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota for 2006, with more registrations planned for 2007.
The new herbicide controls more than 30 broadleaf weeds, including large kochia up to 8 in. tall, as well as acetolactate synthase (ALS)-resistant and dicamba-tolerant biotypes. CleanWave also controls wild buckwheat, lambsquarters, prickly lettuce and sunflowers. The product will be targeted in areas of continuous wheat and wheat-fallow systems due to rotational crop restrictions under the label.
Starane NXTcp will be offered as a co-pack in 2006. Starane NXTcp provides control of annual broadleaf weeds such as kochia, wild buckwheat, lambsquarters and Russian thistle. It is tankmix compatible with all leading grass herbicides. The company is seeking state registrations for the product in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Learn more about CleanWave and Starane NXTcp herbicides at www.CleanWaveHerbicide.com and www.StaraneNXT.com.


text:
You see the following error message when you try to make a purchase or redeem a prepaid code on your Xbox 360 console:
Sorry, there's a problem with the Xbox service. Try again later.
Status code: 801650C8
This may mean one of the following:
Note If you're trying to redeem a prepaid code, see How to redeem an Xbox prepaid code.
To resolve this problem, try the following solutions.
Solution 1: Check the Xbox Live service status
If you see any alerts here, wait until the service is up and running and try again:
Solution 2: Pay any outstanding balances
You may get this error if you have an outstanding balance on your Microsoft account. To resolve this problem, you'll have to pay your outstanding balance. Here's how:
Note If your subscription is overdue, adding a prepaid code will not settle the balance you owe. You will have to settle the overdue balance using the steps above before redeeming your prepaid code.
Thanks for your feedback!
Provide feedback for this topic
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "Error 801650C8 occurs when making a purchase or redeeming a prepaid code on your Xbox 360" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


text:
Willis and Towers Watson have merged. Visit willistowerswatson.com
View our solutions by
Welcome to our Professional Service Firm Practice website. This site contains details of our people, services and expertise. It is a forum to access the knowledge gained through our experience with clients and markets.
Our team has specialist knowledge of all leading professions with considerable aggregate experience of UK and international risks and insurance exposures. We are the access point to the Willis global network including our placement distribution.
We aim to develop thinking and solutions that permit clients to manage their risk efficiently and effectively.
Our intellectual and technical strengths equip us to deal with any risk or insurance related problem that you might encounter. We strive for excellence in the delivery of our services and promise to deliver objective advice backed by sound logic and data where available.
We would be delighted to discuss your insurance needs further in person. Please contact our FINEX Professional Indemnity team on firstname.lastname@example.com.
* Financial and Executive Risks
All Professional Indemnity Contacts


text:
28 October 2011
At the end of 2011, Professor Kim Walker will complete her second term as Dean & Principal of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, a role she commenced in 2004. In a fitting tribute to her tenure as Dean, during which The Con has achieved unprecedented international recognition, the SCM Symphony Orchestra will take on the challenge of Mahler's magnificent Ninth Symphony, under their Maestro, Professor Imre Palló, in a concert aptly titled Endtime.
Professor Walker will long be remembered for transforming the Conservatorium into the thriving institution it is today and for achieving an unprecedented level of musical excellence and an impressive international profile. At the core of The Con's new reputation is the substantial orchestral program constructed by Professor Walker over the past eight years, which now includes the SCM Chamber and Symphony Orchestras, the Early Music Ensemble, Modern Music Ensemble and Jazz Big Band, as well as many smaller groups.
The program has provided SCM students with opportunities to tour and perform in a broad range of ensembles and musical styles, engaging with repertoire from Rameau to Reich, a vital foundation for anyone seeking a successful career as an orchestral musician. The unique dimension that Prof. Walker has given students over the past eight years is a global perspective and experience.
This year, the SCM's Early Music Ensemble, led by Dr Neal Peres Da Costa, went on tour to Europe and performed in Milan's Basilica San Simpliciano and Genoa's 17th century Palazzo Rosso. There was no returning home after these performances: they then combined with Milan's Scuola di Musica to form a new ensemble, led by the internationally renowned virtuoso Stefano Montanari, and performed a program of Vivaldi at the Alkmaar Music Festival in the Netherlands. The tour concluded with a combined orchestral project and further performances in association with the Royal College of Music London, whose Historical Performance Unit visited Sydney in 2010 to give similar performances with the Early Music students at the Conservatorium.
Such is the SCM's international profile that, at the same time, another group of SCM students were invited to Switzerland to take part in a prestigious chamber music and orchestral project, with performances at Lausanne's Music Festival. SCM students worked with fellow students and lecturers from other world-ranking music schools, including London's Guildhall, the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Singapore's Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, as well as the Lausanne Conservatory.
An integral appointment to the SCM orchestral program was that of Professor Imre Palló as Pro-Dean (Performance) and Chair of Conducting. Palló, formerly one of the Principal Conductors at the New York City Opera and Chair of Instrumental Conducting at Indiana University, demanded a high standard of musicianship and discipline from the students then he came to Sydney in 2005.
Last month, the SCM Chamber Orchestra played under Pallós baton in New Caledonia, where students experienced the sublime counterpoint of French sophistication and a Melanesian lifestyle. They performed to three full houses and standing ovations at the Conservatoire de Musique de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. The program included Barry Conyngham's Falling Water, a 101 Compositions for 100 Years commission, featuring soloists Kim Walker and Yoshi Ishikawa (University of Colorado at Boulder) and works by Mozart and Rossini.
Prior to these tours, in 2010, the SCM Chamber Orchestra gave a joint concert at New York's Lincoln Centre with their counterpart orchestra at the Julliard School of Music and performed in San Francisco and Boulder, Colorado. In the same year, the SCM Symphony Orchestra was the resident orchestra at the prestigious Bronnbach Festival in Germany and the Modern Music Ensemble and The Con's Jazz Big Band gave over forty performances at the Shanghai World Expo. In 2009 they undertook a comprehensive tour of Europe, visiting the UK, Italy, Switzerland and Austria.
The "Endtime" Mahler concerts this weekend will be a final tribute by The Con's orchestral students to Dean Walker, who has done so much to give them the best possible foundation for their careers as professional musicians.
In his Harvard University lecture, The Unanswered Question, the great Leonard Bernstein described Mahler's Ninth as being:
"Terrifying and paralyzing, as the strands of sound disintegrate ... in ceasing, we lose it all. But in letting go, we have gained everything."
The graduating students and the departing Dean have achieved much fine music and have much more to look forward to.
Endtime: Mahler's Ninth Symphony
SCM Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Imre Palló
Friday 28 October at 6.00pm
Saturday 29 October at 4.00pm.
The Friday Concert will be followed by a Farewell Celebration in the atrium for SCM staff, students, Alumni and Friends of The Con.
Contact: Mick Le Moignan
Phone: 02 9351 1385
Email: 1a51221d6b3401541e2e0a272621023633252b2f087f262c5e480302


text:
As a current graduate student at Saint Michael's, we know you're hardworking and dedicated… that's why we are committed to supporting you and providing online access to the information you need. The pages in this section will help you get started as a new student, register for courses, and navigate all that Saint Michael's has to offer you — including building your career.
If you can't find the answer to your question or the information you're looking for, contact your program office or feel free to give us a call at 802.654.2251.


text:
Scieszka mixes science and silliness again to great effect.
Frank Einstein, kid genius and inventor, is staying with his grandfather while his parents travel to Antarctica. That's just fine with Frank; he and his sidekick, Watson, have inventing to do, and Grampa Al's fix-it shop is the perfect place to do science. Frank is hoping to win the Midville Science Prize because Grampa won when he was a kid…and because the prize money will let Frank save Grampa's shop from the bill collectors. Frank's attempt to build a SmartBot fails, but overnight, a spark ignites the brain he's created for the bot, and the next morning he finds two very different robots in his workshop. Now he's got Klink, a smart, self-assembled robot who can learn, and Klank, who's really into hugging. Frank doesn't feel right entering Klink and Klank in the contest since they assembled themselves, but together with Watson, the four of them can surely some up with something great. Only evil, rival child genius T. Edison stands in their way, and he'll stop at nothing. Scieszka launches a six-book series with a likable protagonist and a good supporting cast. Science facts are slipped into the story on nearly every page, and Biggs' two-color drawings are the C12H22O11 on the cookie.
Less wacky (and more instructive) than Scieszka's Spaceheadz series—but just as much fun. (Science fiction/humor. 8-12)


text:
Our Favorite Werewolvesby IMDb-Contributing-Writers | last updated - 30 Oct 2017
From "Teen Wolf" and Trick 'r Treat to "True Blood," we just can't get enough of these shape-shifting beasts. — Sharon Knolle
19 images
Oz, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2000)
Our favorite guitar-playing teen (Seth Green) is a smart guy of few words who dealt surprisingly well with learning he a werewolf, as well as all the weirdness that Sunnydale dishes out. ("That explains a lot," he famously says after witnessing a vampire get dusted for the first time.) To get his wolf side under control, he leaves town, breaking girlfriend Willow's heart.
David, An American Werewolf in London (1981)
Two Americans backpacking across Europe are attacked by what the survivor (David Naughton) is told is a crazed lunatic. Except he heals remarkably fast and finds he's having the strangest nightmares, including visits from his murdered friend (Griffin Dunne). One of the more memorable werewolf films in recent memory, this film includes a groundbreaking transformation scene (courtesy of FX whiz Rick Baker) and a sly sense of humor.
Scott McCall, "Teen Wolf" (2011-2017)
Tyler Posey stars as the teen wolf of the title, who is an asthmatic geek before being bitten. Now that he's a werewolf, he's a star athlete on the lacrosse team and fierce protector of his friends. But there's a downside: The girl he loves comes from a family of werewolf hunters. And you think you have problems! Fun fact: Tyler was in the running for the role of another werewolf, Jacob in Twilight.
Alcide Herveaux, "True Blood" (2010-2014)
This Southern gentleman (Joe Manganiello) has to be one of the hunkiest werewolves ever on TV. Since the show was on HBO, we got to see quite a lot of him. He was one of the show's good guys, who almost invariably could be counted on to do the right thing. Despite his natural strength, he found being a pack leader just wasn't for him.
Laurie, Trick 'r Treat (2007)
Anna Paquin plays a shy girl who dresses up as Little Red Riding Hood for Halloween in this horror anthology. The trick? She's not an innocent victim but a bloodthirsty werewolf in disguise. Paquin would go on to romance vampires and her own hunky werewolf on "True Blood."
Ethan Chandler, "Penny Dreadful" (2014-2016)
This Victoria-era gunslinger (Josh Hartnett) can't escape his wolf nature, which has resulted in untold carnage. Although a heroic and decent man, he can't control himself during a full moon. After killing one of his own friends, he turns himself in to the detective on his trail.
Lawrence Talbot, The Wolf Man (1941)
The classic movie monster Lon Chaney, Jr., son of horror legend Lon Chaney) is bitten by a werewolf then tragically becomes one himself. Unlike other lycanthropes, he transforms not when the moon is full but when the wolfbane blooms. Chaney went on to play the Wolf Man in four sequels, including Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man.
Remus Lupin, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
As his name hints, Hogwarts Professor Lupin (David Thewlis) is secretly a werewolf. His wizard friends Sirius Black and James Potter are so loyal that they learn how to transform into animals themselves (becoming Animagi) to make sure he isn't a danger to anyone in his wolf form.
Lucian, Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
When he's not playing the leader of a werewolf uprising, Michael Sheen is every inch the well-mannered British gent in films like The Queen. But as a Lycan fighting against his vampire oppressors, he's a different (and very sexy) beast altogether.
Will Randall, Wolf (1994)
Jack Nicholson had already played the devil in The Witches of Eastwick. And in this 1994 film, he puts in another devilish performance as a publisher who gets bitten and discovers that the new beast within is just the edge he needs to intimidate his romantic and work rival, James Spader.
George, "Being Human" (2008-2012)
This rather geeky, quiet lad, who's played by Russell Tovey, is attacked while on holiday in Scotland (beware the moors!). Good thing he has understanding roommates who happen to be a vampire and a ghost. After accidentally scratching girlfriend Nina, he's the rare wolf with a mate.
Ginger, Ginger Snaps (2000)
Werewolves, like vampires, have always been symbolic of the deepest and darkest side of human nature. In this clever indie, Katharine Isabelle plays a death-obsessed teen who embraces her newfound wildness by partying and having unprotected sex while her sister frantically searches for a cure.
Lawrence Talbot, The Wolfman (2010)
Benicio Del Toro takes on the legendary character in this update of the 1941 classic, which is set in the same Victorian era as fellow monsters Frankenstein and Dracula. Lawrence has the added burden of family secrets and a doomed romance with his dead brother's fiancée, (Emily Blunt). Critics weren't wowed by it, but the creature effects by Rick Baker are impressive.
Jacob, Twilight (2008)
Just this teenager's luck: His crush Bella (Kristen Stewart) is already in love ... with a vampire! Taylor Lautner set many tween hearts aflutter as the lovelorn werewolf who imprints on Bella's daughter and is thus sworn to protect her to the death.
Tyler Lockwood, "The Vampire Diaries" (2009-2017)
Who says only vampires can be hot? As resident wolf Tyler, Michael Trevino proves every bit as appealing as vamp brothers Damon and Stefan Salvatore. Then again, he ends up being part vampire himself, becoming the first successful hybrid in the blending of ancient bloodlines.
Elena Michaels, "Bitten" (2014-2016)
In this Canadian series, Laura Vandervoort stars as a woman who's turned into a werewolf by her ex-fiancé and now must juggle obligations to her human boyfriend and her werewolf pack. She's haunted by her abusive past, especially when her tormentor resurfaces as another wolf, a "Mutt" who has no allegiance to any pack.
Ellie, Cursed (2005)
Ellie (Christina Ricci) and brother Jimmy (Jesse Eisenberg) are both attacked by a wolf-like creature and soon begin exhibiting strange, new abilities like super strength and lightning-fast reflexes, as well cravings for raw meat. Can they figure out the identity of the wolf who bit them so they can remove the curse for good?
Eddie Munster, "The Munsters" (1964-1987)
What happens when Frankenstein and a vampire have kids? One is perfectly normal, and the other is a werewolf, of course! That was the formula for one of our all-time favorite sitcoms. Butch Patrick is still best-known for playing young Eddie Munster, who slept in a chest of drawers and had a stuffed toy werewolf named Woof-Woof.
Stu, What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
The token human in this vampire clan, Stu (Stu Rutherford) has a fateful run-in with sworn enemies, the werewolves! Can his new status be overlooked by his friends? We look forward to more of Stu and his wolf buddies in the upcoming sequel, the cleverly titled We're Wolves.


text:
Element A5.HC
1 Bed | 1 Bath | 863 sq. ft.
Contact Us
Thank You!
Your submission was successful. We will get back with you shortly.
*Dimensions and square footage shown are approximate and pricing/availability is subject to change.
Come see what E3 is all about
Follow Us on Instagram


text:
Fakhr al-Dīn Ridhwān ibn Rustam al-Sā'ātī (d. between 618-626 H/1220-1229 CE) was a scholar and mechanical engineer, author of the book 'Ilm al-sā'āt wa 'l-'amal bihā in which he described the famous public clock set in Damascus by his father. We present hereafter a short outline of his biography, extracted from the data provided by different historical sources that included entries on him.
By Professor Moustafa Mawaldi*
This article was translated from Arabic by Haya Zedan (FSTC). A thorough revision and copy editing was performed by the editorial board of www.MuslimHeritage.com.
1. Biography
1.1. His name and career
The complete name of our scholar is: Fakhr-ul Dīn Ridhwān bin Muhammad bin Alī bin Rustam bin Hurduz Al-Khurasānī Al-Sā'ātī. This long name is contracted in historical sources to a shorter one: Fakhr al-Dīn Ridhwān b. Muhammad b. Alī b. Rustam Al-Sācātī. He was born and raised in Damascus, where he died. As well as a scholar and scientist, he was an astronomer, a mechanician (especially as a clockmaker, from which he gained his title as-Sā'ātī), a physician, a writer and poet, a musician, a politician and a calligrapher.
1.2. His family
His Father, Muhammad Al-Sā'ātī, is originally from Khurasan. He moved to Damascus and lived there until he died around the year 572 H. He was referred to in historical literature as an engineer. He created the clock on Jīrūn gate (Bāb Jīrūn), famous as the gate of the clocks, located east of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, between the years 1154 and 1174 CE, in the time of al-Malik al-'ādil [the Just King] Nūr Al-Dīn Mahmūd bin Zingī in Damascus (died Shawwal 569 AH/ May 1184 CE). Muhammad Al-Sā'ātī was described by Al-Safadī and Ibn Abī Usaybi'a as unique in his knowledge of clock-making and astronomy.
Figure 1a: View of Damascus Citadel located in the northwest corner of the Old City. (Photography in the public domain).
Figure 1b: The foundation inscription of the Citadel of Damascus with the name of al-'Adl the brother of Salahaddin. (Source).
Fakhr 'l-Dīn's brother, Bahā Al-Dīn Abū Al-Hasan Alī, known also as Ibn Al-Sā'ātī, was born in Damascus and died in Cairo in 604 AH/1207 CE. He was a famous poet, and was spoken of by Ibn Abī Usaybi'a as follows: "He was the best of his time in poetry, and has no equal". His work was published in Beirut in 1938-1939.
Figure 2: Diagram of Ridhwān al-Sā'āti's clock as depicted in the original manuscript of his book 'Ilm al-sā'āt wa 'l-'amal bihā. (Source: J. Shawqī, Al-'ulūm wa 'l-ma'ārif al-handasiyya fī al-hadhāra al-islāmiya, Kuwait, 1995, p. 297).
1.3. His academic development
Ridhwān grew up in a house of knowledge, for he was raised by his father, the renowned creator and engineer. From him he learned astronomy and the science of mechanics- clock-making, and he learned the medical profession from Fakhr 'l-Dīn Muhammad Ibn Abdu-s-Salām Al-Mārdīnī (512-594 AH/ 1118-1198 CE), and from Abū Al-Hajjāj Radī 'l-Dīn Yūsuf Ibn Haydara Ibn Al-Hasan Al-Rahabī (534-631 AH- 1140-1233 CE). Ridhwān remained to learn with Abū Al-Hajjāj for some time, and was apt and intelligent, excelling at what he pursued, diligent in his learning. This was confirmed by Al-Safadī and Ibn Abī Usaybi'a. Ridhwān studied literature under Abū Al-Yamn Tāj al-Dīn Zayd Ibn al-Hasan al-Kindī (520-613 H/1126-1217CE). Ridhwān's upbringing and learning is reflected in his work and scientific achievements.
1.3. The positions he held
Ridhwān worked in the palace of the King Al-Fā'iz Ibrāhim (the nephew of Salāh 'l-Dīn al-Ayūbī) and the son of the Just King Sayf 'l-Dīn Abū Bakr Ahmad. He then served the Great King Sharaf al-Dīn 'īssā, son of the Just King (died 624 AH/1227 CE) in a medical capacity, and held a ministerial role as well, which exemplifies Ridhwān's political knowledge and capabilities, and his aptitude at medicine.
1.4. Date of his death
There are no records of Ridhwān's birth, and sources vary on his exact date of death. Yāqut al-Hamawī in his book Mu'jam al-Udabā' lists Ridhwān's death in the year 618 H. Al-Ziriklī followed suit in his book Al-A'alām, and Ismā'īl al-Baghdādī in Hadiyat Al-'āarifīn and acknowledged Ridhwān's death in the year 620 H. This was also reiterated in Mu'jam Al-Mu'alifīn and with Humaydān in A'lām 'l-hadhāra. Ibn Abī Usaybi'a in his book 'Uyūn Al-'anbā' and al-Safadī in his book Al-Wāfī bi'l-wafayāt declined to state a date for Ridhwān's death, saying only that Ridhwān died in Damascus of jaundice. Other sources have listed dates that are incorrect (627 H /1230-1231 CE), and the reason is that Yāqūt himself defines the date of Ridhwān's death, but Yāqūt died in 626 H / 1229 CE. This confirms that Ridhwān died before Yāqūt, between the years of 618-626 H / 1221-1229 CE.
2. His writings
2.1. Mechanics, clock-making and astronomy
Ridhwān finished a book in Muharram 600 H/September-October 1203 CE on the science of clock-making titled: Kitāb 'ilm al-sā'āt wa 'l-'amal bihā (The Science of clocks and working with them), in five chapters. The book is devoted to the description of clock machinery, the working of the device, shapes of its different parts, sizes, and how to work with them. He included illustrations of the machines and how they operate, as well as recommendations for their daily use, and problems that may occur, and how to avoid these to maintain a fully functional machine.
Ridhwān's knowledge of clock-making indicates his knowledge of astronomy as well, and this is because of the strong relation between the two subjects in that time.
Ridhwān's book was published by Muhammad Ahmad Dahmān in Damascus in 1401 H /1981 CE, and was translated by Wiedeman and Hauser into German, a short translation dependant on the manuscript 1348 preserved in Forschungsbibliothek in Gotha in Germany. The treatise is considered to be a move in a new direction for educational texts as far as organization and segmentation [1].
2.2. Medicine
Figure 4: A view from the courtyard of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus where Ridhwān's clock was erected. (Source).
Most of the sources and references point to Ridhwān's medical aptitude, which made him Royal Physician to the two brother kings Al-Fā'iz and Al-Mu'azzam. He was complimented in Al-Safadī's book Al-Wafī by saying: "he was a physician complete and dignified in medicine and literature, and he was fond of the words of Sheikh Ibn Sīnā and fascinated by it."
Ridhwān is the author of the following two medical texts: A completion of the book Colinge by Ibn Sīnā, and Al-Hawāshī (marginalia) based on Al-Qanūn by the same Ibn Sīnā.
2.3. Literature and music
Ibn Abī Usaybi'a described Fakhr 'l-Dīn Al-Sā'ātī as a decent writer who wrote in the best quality. He is the author of a poetry text titled Al-Mukhtār fī 'l-ash'ār in which we read:
فِي صُفْرَةِ اللَّوْنِ يَحْكِــي لَوْنَ مِسْكِينِ
وَرَوْضَــةٍ زَادَ بِالْأُتْرُجِّ بَهْجَتُهَـا
مِنْ فُرْقَةِ الْغُصْنِ أَمْ مِنْ خَوفِ سِكِّينِ؟
عَجِبْتُ مِنْهُ فَمَا أَدْرِي أَ صُفْرَتُهُ
He wrote also:
لِأَنَّـنِـي بَيْنَهُـــــــــــــمُ فَـارِسُ
يَحْسُدُنِي قَوْمِي عَلَـى صَـنْعَتِي
لَنْ يَسْتَوِي الدَّارِسُ وَالنَّاعِسُ
سَهِرْتُ فِــــي لَيْلِي وَاسْتَنْعَسُوا
And further:
مِنْ كُلِّ مَا يَهْوَى وَمَــــــا بَتَحَبَّبُ
حَسْبُ الْمُحِبِّ تَلَذُّذ بِغَرَامِـــهِ
مَنْ كَانَ فِي شَيءٍ سِوَاهَا يَرْغَبُ
رَاحُ الْمَحَبَّةِ لَا تُرِيحُ بِرَوْحِهَا
Furthermore, he was knowledgeable in music and was adept at playing the 'ud (luth). Yāqūt al-Hamawī reported that he attended gatherings with Ridhwān in Damascus where he played more than once.
In conclusion, we may say that Ridhwān b. Muhammad Al-Sā'ātī's scholarly achievements embodied science, art and literature, and he was a distinctive personality that held prestigious positions in his society.
3. Sources and references
- Baghdādī, al-, Ismā'īl, Hidāyat al-'ārifīn fī asmā' al-mu'allifīn wa-'l-musannifīn. Baghdad: Maktabat al-muthanā, no date, vol. 1, p. 369.
- Brockelmann, Carl, Geschichte der Arabischen Litteratur. Leiden: E.J.Brill, vol. 1, 1943, p. 625; Supplement I, 1937, p. 866.
- Hajjī Khalīfa, Mustafā b. 'Abd-Allāh, Kashf al-zunūn 'an-asāmī 'l-kutub wa-'l-funūn, Baghdad: Maktabat al-muthanā, no date, vol. 2, p. 1451.
- Hill, Donald R., Arabic Water Clocks. Aleppo: Institute for the History of Arabic Science, University of Aleppo, 1981, pp. 69-88.
- Ibn abī 'Usaybi'a, Muwaffaq al-Dīn, 'Uyūn al-'anbā' fī tabaqāt al-atibbā', edited by Nizār Ridhā. Beirut: Dār al-hayāt, 1965, pp. 402-403, 661-662, 672-675.
- Ibn Jubayr, Muhammad ibn Ahmad, Rihlat ibn Jubayr, edited by Husayn Nassār. Cairo: Maktabat Masr, 1955, pp. 258-259.
- Jazarī, al-, Abū 'l-'Iz Ismā'īl, Al-Jāmi' bayna al-'ilm wa 'l-'amal al-nāfi' fī sinā'at al-hiyal. Aleppo: Institute for the history of Arabic science, 1979, p. 51.
- Kahhāla, 'Umar Ridhā, Mu'jam al-mu'allifīn: Tarājim musannifī al-kutub al-'arabiya. Damascus, 1377 H/1957, vol. 3, p. 189; vol. 4, p. 166; vol. 10, p. 170, vol. 13, p. 295.
- Leclerc, Lucien, Histoire de la Médecine Arabe. Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1876, vol. 2, p.159.
- Nu'aimī, al-, 'Abdulqāder b. Muhammad, Al-Dāris fī tārikh al-madāris, edited by Ja'far al-Hassanī. Damascus: Al-Majma' al-'ilmi al-'arabī, 1951, p. 388.
- Ridhwān, Fakhr al-Dīn ibn Muhammad al-Sā'ātī, 'Ilm al-sā'āt wa-'l-'amal bihā, edited by Muhammad Ahmad Dahmān. Damascus, 1981, pp. 56-57, 60-62, 74-75.
- Rosenfeld, Boris A., & Ihsanoglu, Ekmeledin, Mathematicians, Astronomers & other Scholars of Islamic Civilization and their Works (7th-19th Centuries). Istanbul: Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture, 2003, p. 201.
- Ruska, Julius, "Al-Sā'a", Dā'irat al-Ma'ārif al-Islāmiya. Cairo, 1933, vol. 11, pp. 56-57.
- Safadī, al-, Salāh al-Dīn Khalīl ibn Aybak, Kitāb al-wāfī bi-'l-wafayāt, edited by Ahmad al-Arna'ūt and Turkī Mustafā. Beirut: Dār 'ihyā' al-turāth al-'arabī, 1420/2000, pp. 86-87.
- Sarton, George, Introduction to the History of Science. Huntington & New York: Robert E. Krieger publishing company, vol. 2, 1975, pp. 631-632.
- Sbānū, Ahmad Ghassān, Mamlakat Hamāt al-'ayyūbiya. Damascus: Dār Qutayba, 1984, pp. 199-200.
- Sheshen, Ramadhan, Izki, Jawad, Akbikar, Jamil, Catalogue of Manuscripts in the Koprulu Library. Istanbul: IRCICA, 1406/1986, pp. 482-483.
- Suter, H., Die Mathematiker und Astronomen der Araber und ihre Werke. Leipzig: Druck und Verlag Von B. G. Teubner, 1900, pp. 136-137, 218.
- Suter, Heinrich, "Ibn al-Sā'ātī", Dā'irat al-Ma'āarif al-Islāmiya. Cairo, 2nd edition, 1969, pp. 305-306.
- Suter, Heinrich, " Ibn Al- Sā'ātī" Encyclopédie de l Islam, New edition. Leyden / Paris: Brill, Maisonneuve / Larose, 1975, vol. 3, p. 945.
- Taqqūsh, Muhammad Suhayl, Tārīkh al-'ayyūbiyīn fī misr wa-bilād al-shām wa-'iqlīm al-jazīra (569-661 H/1174-1263). Beirut: Dār al-nafā'is, 1999, pp. 56, 206, 229-230, 239, 245-246, 299, 326.
- Taqqūsh, M. S., Tārikh al-Zinkiyyīn fī 'l-mawsil wa-bilād al-shām (521-630 H/1127-1233). Beirut: Dār al-nafā'is, 1999, pp. 11, 195, 201, 287, 439.
- Wiedemann, Eilhard, und Hauser, Franz, "Über die Uhren in Bereich der Islamischen Kultur", Nova Acta Abh. der Kaiserl. Leop . Deutschen Akad. der Naturforscher 100 (Halle 1915) .PP.1- 272.
- Yāqūt al-Hamawī, Mu'jam al-'udab'ā, Dār al-ma'mūn, no date, vol. 11, pp. 141-142.
- Zahir, Hamīdaan, A'lām al-hadhāra al-'arabiya fī 'l-'ulūm al-'asāsiya wa-'tatbīqiya. Damascus: Publications of the Ministry of Culture, 1996, vol. 3, pp. 238-243.
- Zambauer, Edward von, Mu'jam al-ansāb wa-'l-usrāt al-hākima fī al-tārikh al-islāmī. Beirut: Dār al-rā'id al-islāmī, 1980, pp. 150-152.
- Zaydān, Jorjī, Tārikh 'ādaab al-lugha al-'arabiya. Beirut: Maktabat al-hayāt, 2nd edition, 1978, vol. 3, p. 21.
- Ziriklī, al-, Khayr al-Dīn, Al-A'lām, no date, 3rd edition, vol. 3, p. 53.
End Notes
[1] See Abdel Aziz al-Jaraki (2007), When Ridhwan al-Sa'ati Anteceded Big Ben by More than Six Centuries.
* Dean of the Institute for the History of Arabic Science, Aleppo University, Syria.


text:
The odds were definitely in The Hunger Games favor this weekend: the big screen adaptation of the immensely popular young adult novel opened to an enormous $152.5 million, which ranks third all-time behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 ($169.2 million) and The Dark Knight ($158.4 million). Remarkably, it debuted above all of the Twilight movies, and it also topped Alice in Wonderland ($116.1 million) for highest debut ever for a non-sequel. Among all the impressive Hunger Games statistics, two lesser-discussed ones are worth highlighting. First, the movie had an incredible hold on Saturday—it only fell 25 percent to $50.4 million, which ranks behind Spider-Man 3 ($51.3 million). This suggests that demand for The Hunger Games exists across a wide array of moviegoers, and isn't just rooted in the type of rabid fans that drove the front-loaded openings for recent Harry Potter and Twilight movies. The other crazy statistic is one that should result in a noteworthy spike in champagne sales in Santa Monica, California this week—after just over two days in theaters, The Hunger Games has already passed Fahrenheit 9/11 ($119.2 million) to become Lionsgate's highest-grossing movie ever. Knowing that they had something special on their hands, the company went all-in with one of their most expensive productions ever (just under $80 million after tax rebates). Lionsgate followed that up with a nicely targeted marketing effort that consistently built up anticipation until it reached a fevered level over the past month. Aside from just reaching out to fans of the book, though, they went a step further by clearly outlining the high stakes and making the movie seem accessible and interesting to a broad range of potential moviegoers. While a majority of the audience for The Hunger Games were women (61 percent), the fact that it did have some appeal to men as well surely helped it get as high as it did. In comparison, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1's crowd was 80 percent female. The Hunger Games audience also skewed slightly older (56 percent were 25 years of age and up), and they awarded the movie a strong "A" CinemaScore. On 268 IMAX screens, The Hunger Games grossed $10.2 million this weekend. That's roughly $38,000 per screen, which is a very impressive figure for a 2D movie that doesn't include any footage shot in IMAX.Thanks to the mammoth movie in first place, the Top 12 earned $203.8 million this weekend. That's the ninth-highest aggregated weekend ever, and first all-time in the month of March.While The Hunger Games was obviously the biggest draw this weekend, there were other movies in theaters as well. 21 Jump Street took second place with $20.5 million, which is off 44 percent from last weekend. Through 10 days in theaters, the movie has earned $70.2 million, which is a bit ahead of Jonah Hill's Superbad through the same point. Dr. Seuss' The Lorax dipped 42 percent to $13.2 million in its fourth weekend in theaters. With a total of $177.4 million, it's now lagging behind Despicable Me by $13 million; regardless, it still looks like a lock to close with over $200 million. This may have been the weekend where John Carter officially transitioned from domestic disappointment to disaster. The movie plummeted 63 percent to $5.1 million, bringing its 17-day total to just $62.4 million (or less than The Hunger Games made on opening day). It is playing better overseas, but it's still not at the levels needed to really ease the pain over at the Mouse House.Act of Valor rounded out the Top Five this weekend with $2.04 million. The combat flick, which features active-duty Navy SEALs, has earned a very solid $65.9 million so far.Abortion drama October Baby opened in 390 locations and wound up in eighth place with an estimated $1.7 million. Further down the chart, Indonesian action movie The Raid: Redemption scored $213,785 from 14 locations for a solid per-theater average of $15,270.Last Weekend• Audiences Report to '21 Jump Street'This Weekend in Past Years:• 2011 - 'Wimpy Kid' Blindsides 'Sucker Punch'• 2010 - 'Dragon' Takes Flight,' 'Hot Tub' Gets Soaked• 2009 - 'Monsters,' 'Haunting' Scare Up Big Business• 2008 - 'Horton' Hatches Easter Win• 2007 - 'TMNT' Sees Green on Crowded Weekend• 2006 - 'Inside Man' Takes the Bank• 2005 - 'Guess Who' Dines at Top SpotRelated Charts• Weekend Box Office Results• All-Time Domestic
An company
© IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Box Office Mojo and IMDb are trademarks or registered trademarks of IMDb.com, Inc. or its affiliates. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy under which this service is provided to you.


text: Hello everyone. My Dad (number_seven) sent me a link to geocaching maine so I could view some pictures of their winter campout last weekend. Great pictures and looks like everyone had a blast. (wish i would of taken the 3 hour ride up). Maybe next year. LOL. Anyways just wanted to introduce myself and husband. We are the "hvaclu crew" from Alfred Maine. My husband(Bruce) and I (Donna) love geocaching but like to do the hiking ones best. We have been using Garmins for quite awhile but just bought a PN-40 so I will have all kinds of questions. Hope to meet you all along the way someday. Donna


text:
Some of us are still in the Bronze Age and listen to music on CDs. Here's mine
Music sourced from the official soundtrack available on Bandcamp, burned from FLAC to standard CD-DA. All images are FS wallpapers, composited in GIMP. 44 layers total, not counting unimportant layers that I have deleted from my source files. A handful of in-game files were used, most notably some background text that is barely visible on left side of the CD labels. I thought I found the exact font used for the game's title, but while Agency FB is definitely used in the game, I realized late in the process that Agency's capital A is obviously different from the game's title. Oh well. Besides some minor printing blemishes and the fact this "little" project took 8 hours to complete, I'm satisfied with the result.
P.S.: If anybody hailing from the Stone Age makes a Frozen Synapse vinyl, I want to know about it!
Companion thread on the Steam forums
Frozen Synapse Soundtrack CDs and Jewel Case
Chat about anything and everything Frozen Synapse
Moderator: Admins
Post Reply
3 posts • Page 1 of 1
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2016 7:33 am
Re: Frozen Synapse Soundtrack CDs and Jewel Case
This game is great, I would buy it a second time if it ever came out on Android.
Find more:
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Android/ ... sp?c=67151
Find more:
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Android/ ... sp?c=67151
Re: Frozen Synapse Soundtrack CDs and Jewel Case
Great idea, absolutely love the game soundtrack.
Support Frozen Synapse by voting for it on this list of tactical games.
Post Reply
3 posts • Page 1 of 1


text: Watch Blithe Spirit (1945) online free full movie Putlocker and Download in HD quality. The Noel Coward/David Lean combination which turned out such dramas as Brief Encounter and This Happy Breed sets its sights on the viewer's funny bone with Blithe Spirit. Rex Harrison plays a novelist, newly married to straight-laced Constance Cummings. Via a seance, Harrison accidentally summons the spirit of his first wife, Kay Hammond. Believing that Hammond wants to ruin his marriage, Harrison enlists the services of local medium Madame Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to exorcise Hammond's spirit. She fails, and in time, Harrison's second wife is killed; now he has two playful spirits on his hands! Technicolor is used throughout Blithe Spirit, with the ghosts' shimmering paleness providing contrast to the plain, everyday colors of Harrison's conservative country home. Blithe Spirit was later transformed into the Broadway musical High Spirits, with the original script bent out of shape to turn the character of Madame Arcati (played by Beatrice Lillie) into the leading role. Watch movie online links are given below.


text:
Durham News: Sports
Chris Denny notches first OCS win in Late Models
Chris Denny has arrived.
Denny, who finished fourth three times in 2013 and again in this season's first Late Model Stock Car event, finally got his first win in the Orange County Speedway's premier division on Saturday.
Denny was a regular winner in the Limited Sportsman class in 2008 before opting move up to LMSC. He cracked the top 10 two years ago, and in 2013 he finished in the top 10 in nine out of 10 starts at OCS.
Saturday, he started on the front row and went on to out-duel Late Model veterans Chuck Lawson and Mike Chambers to win the 75-lap LMSC race.
Denny clocked in a lap at 14.379 seconds around the track's three-eighths mile asphalt oval to win the pole. He got in front early by about 2 seconds ahead of Lawson and seemed well on his way to victory. But Lawson trimmed the lead to less than 1 second shortly before a caution period for debris near the race's halfway mark.
On the subsequent restart, Lawson jumped out into the lead and held Denny at bay until a late yellow flag caused by the spinning car of Libby Privette.
On the next and final restart, Denny turned the tables and got the jump on Lawson to retake the point. He held on to take the victory, while Lawson barely edged Chambers for the runner-up spot.
"I want to thank Chuck for running me clean," Denny stated in victory lane. "I ran him up the track on that last restart, and I want to apologize to him for that".
In a 35-lapper for the track's Limited Sportsman class, pole-sitter Brandon Baker earned his second straight win, this time after a terrific battle with Lawson for most of the race. Lawson spun in a late-race attempt to pass Baker for the lead and dropped back to fifth place. Baker held off Jerry Hinesley to win, with Lawson charging back to finish third.
Baker and Hinesley have finished 1-2 in both of the season's first two Limited events.
In other races: Corey Purnell took the street Stock Division race, Greg Autrey was the best of a 14 car field for the Pure Stocks, Jordan Pickerall notched the Bandolero trophy, and Wesley Martin edged Ray Chriscoe to garner the Super Mini Truck win.
Racing will return to Orange County Speedway on May 10 with the second Annual Paul Ring Memorial a 100-lap event for Late Models preceded by races for Limiteds, Pure Stock, Street Stock and Super Mini Trucks.
Orange County Speedway
Unofficial results of April 26
(top five in each class)
Late Model Stock: 1, Chris Denny. 2, Chuck Lawson. 3, Mike Chambers. 4, Donald Brace. 5, Tracey Chambers.
Limited Sportsman: 1, Brandon Baker. 2, Jerry Hinesley. 3, Chuck Lawson. 4, Daniel Schadt. 5, Chris Gray.
Street Stock: 1, Corey Purnell. 2, Michael Smith. 3, Richard Hayden. 4, Austin Purnell. 5, Scott Cross:
Pure Stock. 1, Greg Autry. 2, Layne Riggs. 3, Brandon Watson. 4, Mike Milam. 5, Jared Gillis.
Super Mini Trucks: 1, Wesley Martin. 2, Ray Chriscoe. 3, Scott Martin. 4, Jeffrey Martin. 5, Kiser Martin.


text:
CubicleSoft is a small business that develops software products. The software I develop is built for those who sit in cubicles all day long, hence the name CubicleSoft. My original primary business plan was to do what most software businesses do - throw everything against a wall and see what sticks. I was constantly trying random things and obviously wasn't working very well.
I recently changed tactics and I'm moving forward on a primarily web-based platform, building the necessary pieces of a very large project. Each piece is building toward a final objective and is much more focused as a result.
My current product line is pretty extensive for a single developer. Each project is carefully crafted for the enterprise. This is the list of products I am actively developing/maintaining:
I can only work on one project at a time, although several of the above share common components, thus upgrading them becomes easier. I have a very specific objective with these products and, well, all shall be revealed publicly in the next couple years but you might already be able to guess where I'm headed.
A number of these projects are also available on GitHub.
Providing technical support is an important part of software development. Each of the actively developed products above have their own official support channels (forum, issue tracker, etc) and I monitor them regularly. Please use those where available.
If the official support channel is down or unavailable or you've found a security vulnerability in a product, please reach out to me directly about those issues at email@example.com so that the problem can get fixed. Don't send me help requests outside of the official support channels.
These are some former projects that I've put on the ol' mental back burner due to not having enough time to work on them.
I've got some great ideas to revive some of these projects but I'm just one programmer and the enhancements I'd like to see would require huge refactoring of the respective code bases.
If you need to contact me about any of these products, e-mail email@example.com.
These projects are no longer relevant. I had fun developing them but I either found an alternate solution or simply shut them down.
I've got a few other minor dead projects too.


text:
"SUPERLINEA Lenses for Mid Power LEDs"
Material: Clear PMMA, Non-yellowing, 10-year guarantee**
Full angle C0-C180 at 50% from maximum: ~ 27x100°
The light spots here represented refer to tests carried out with 22 ½ Watt LEDs, 5.6x3mm size, ~1100lm@Strip
Superlinea Lenses offer exclusive installation also in continuous rows made of limitless number of parts by simple fastening. Ideal for use in narrow width luminaire designs, in architectural and decorative applications. Non-water-resistant. An extra protection is recommended for outdoor applications.
**PLL2091 series is made of the same material used to produce PLEXIGLAS® Solar which guarantees it will show no yellowing for 10 years.
Yellowness Index (YI) according to the test standards for Arizona/Florida outdoor exposure testing:
- YI 6 under hot/dry conditions
- YI 8 under hot/wet conditions


text:
Tuesday 1 May 2007: J-SQ + BW-SQ #2
Complete as many rounds as possible in twenty minutes.
Advanced - Intermediate:
- A set of Squat Jumps
(e.g. Box Jumps, Hurdle Jumps, Star Jumps, Half-Squat Jumps, etc.)
- A set of Bodyweight Squats
(e.g. Deep Knee Bends, Half Squats, Hindu Squats, Sumo Squats, Pistols, etc.)
If you are unaccustomed to plyometric training, perform the Basic WOD.
- A set of Half Squats
- A set of Lunges
- A set of Calf Raises
- A set of Jumping Jacks
Post results to Comments.


text:
Salute gentlemen, wanted to extend a quick invite to any and all who wish to join in a little Thursday night action. We're going to run the classic Syndicate VM - Somme High Recons "Battle for Intelligence" map. This map is basically just a competition between Central and Entente to get the most total recon frames per side. There are 3 zones on each side, you can photo them as many times as you want (two zone per sortie - you only carry 20 frames). First side with a total of 100 frames wins.
The real fun of this map is there are a great many airstarts for both recons and fighters, and the fighting is HIGH, 4K+ meters, just like the real thing. Entente recon birds are the venerable French Breguets, so be careful you DVIIF and DXII pilots, we'll be watching for you ;) Also, don't be afraid to just hop in a fighter and go mix it up, remember fuel loads are unlocked so things can get tricky.
Hope to see you all in the air, we'll fire up the server around 20:00GMT for the European pilots and hopefully continue on into the night for North America. Good luck gentlemen!


text:
Cooke & Lewis Appleby High Gloss Cream Tall glazed door (W)300mm
Current price
Cooke & Lewis Appleby High Gloss Cream Tall glazed door (W)300mm
- Delivery Delivery within 7 days
Click & Collect Unavailable for Click & Collect
- 45 day returns policy. Read our returns policy
- Brand
Product notices
[This is a block of tabs..]
Product Details
Product Information
This stylish cream Tall glazed door will spruce up any kitchen, giving it a contemporary feel.
- Cream, glass, non-framed door with an integrated handle design and gloss finish
- Built to last - 10 year guarantee
- Compatible with 300mm tall wall cabinets - or 600mm tall wall cabinets and 625mm tall wall corner cabinets (2 packs required)
- Buying guide pack number - Pack F1
Features and Benefits
Integrated handles complete the clean and uncluttered look of our Appleby Cream kitchen. Its simple design, combined with neutral tones, make it great for creating a light and spacious feel in even the smallest of rooms.
- Kitchen formerly known as Cooke & Lewis Appleby Cream
- These kitchen doors are easy to clean, with no need for detergents, alcohol or abrasives. Simply wipe down with a damp cloth and buff dry. Great for messy chefs.
- If you're looking for kitchen ideas and inspiration, B&Q are here to help. We have dedicated experts to guide you through your project with free consultation to design, plan and personalise your new kitchen.
- Our Appleby kitchen doors are prepped and primed prior to painting, then sprayed twice with our high gloss lacquer and finally carefully cured with heat to create a high quality gloss finish that lasts. Every door is personally inspected by our experienced kitchen craftsman before being individually boxed by hand. That's why we guarantee them for 10 years.
- Everything you need to complete your kitchen is available at B&Q. From our range of handles, to our soft close hinges. You can even use our Which? Trusted Traders endorsed Homefit installations team, helping you with your ideal kitchen to the last screw.
- Made from responsibly sourced, Forest Friendly timber
Technical Specifications
|Pack F1
|300mm tall wall cabinets - or 600mm tall wall cabinets and 625mm tall wall corner cabinets (2 packs required)
|Colour description
|Postformed laminate
|Surface finish
|Handles included
|Handles integrated into design
|Hinges included
|Hinges, including soft-close, available separately
|Height (mm)
|Width (mm)
|Thickness (mm)
|Timber approval
|FSC® approved
|Timber certificate
Health and Safety
Please note that this item has additional safety or regulatory datasheets available. The product may have possible health and safety hazards covered in these documents. Refer to the container for full information and always follow the instructions.
Product reassurances
Choose a convenient delivery date on 1000s of products
45 day returns policy
Arrange collection or return to store.Customer support team - 0333 004 9999
Free delivery on standard orders over £40 ex VAT
Excludes Large and Bulk delivery


text:
|Biosequences .. Software .. Molbio soft .. Network News .. FTP
4th ConGen- Population Genetics Data Analysis Course Recent Approaches for Estimation of Population Size, Structure, Gene flow, Selection Detection focusing on conservation and beyond 31-Aug/4-Sep 2009, Flathead Lake Biological Station, Montana, USA Applications for 2009 are open! Objective: To provide training in conceptual and practical aspects of data analysis for the conservation genetics of natural and managed populations. Emphasis will be on interpretation of output from recent novel statistical approaches and software programs. The course also will allow daily discussions among young researchers and top-researchers to help develop the next generation of conservation geneticists, and to identify developments needed to improve data analysis approaches. This course will cover analysis methods including the coalescent, Bayesian, approximate Bayesian, and likelihood-based approaches. Who should apply: Ph.D. students, post-docs, and population biologists with a background of at least one semester university-level course in population genetics and a course in population ecology. Applicants must have a basic background in population genetic data analysis, including testing for Hardy-Weinberg proportions and gametic disequilibrium. Participation will be limited to 20 people allowing efficient instruction with hands-on computer exercises during the course. Priority will be given to persons with their own data to analyze (for example graduate students at the end of their degree program). Deadline for application is 30 June, 2009 Course/Workshop Format: For each subject, we provide 30-45 minutes of background, theory, discussion and introduction to concepts. Immediately following, we will conduct data analyses together for 30-60 minutes using relevant software programs and real data sets. Evening hands-on computer sessions and housing together of instructors and students in the same location will allow for extensive exchange and facilitate learning. For detailed information see http://popgen.eu/congen2009/ congen from popgen.eu


text:
By Bonnie Schwartz
A half-naked man is directing my husband to turn our 2.5-year-old daughter face down into the pool while I watch nervously from the side.
Never mind that our kid has never been in a pool before, let alone that she has yet to learn to float comfortably on her back.
"Face down?" I think. "Face down?" What's he trying to do? Drown her?"
It turns out he's not trying to drown her. What he's trying to do, he later explains, is get her as comfortable floating on her stomach as she is starting to feel floating on her back (while my husband gently supports her), skills that are the basic building blocks of developing comfort in the water.
Jitters aside, it was my idea to bring our daughter here today, given that I am one of those moms, the kind who lies in bed at night with horrific visions of toddler tragedies jerking in CinemaScope across the undersides of her eyelids.
Soon after my daughter turned 2, I decided that what she really needed to do right away was learn how to swim, fearful she might find herself beside a body of water and inadvertently fall in (never mind that we live in the desert; never mind that what qualifies as a body of water here is the sandpaper-dry arroyo that runs through town that we locals like to call the Santa Fe River).
When I began to research the toddler swim classes available in our burg, I mostly found several-week sessions in which parents and toddlers sign up for no less than three classes per week.
Not only is that a whole lot of driving back and forth practically every other day to dip a 2-year-old into a pool with a bunch of other 2-year-olds while living through their sonically magnified screams (did I mention that, aside from neurotic, I am also lazy and noise-sensitive?), I wasn't convinced my daughter Willow would have the patience necessary for—nor could I envision her enjoying—so much structured exposure to the world of water play.
Unlike the more social children of some of my friends—kids who love getting together with other half-pints in pursuit of communal fun—my little one doesn't particularly like the kind of structured social activity that group classes require. So after much asking around and interviewing over the phone several very nice, knowledgeable instructors who teach at some of the pools in town, I started to hear a single name invoked from parents whose children were similarly persnickety. The name of the instructor who was recommended over and over again was Jim Kemper, sounded in excited, whispered tones.
It took me a little while to get in touch with Kemper. He's a busy guy. While he calls himself retired (over a 40-year career he worked as a meteorologist in Florida, Washington, DC and Alaska, until he retired 2½ years ago), he is almost never close enough to a telephone—mobile or stationary—to pick it up. Either he is life-guarding at El Gancho or acting as a golf marshal on one of the local courses or teaching one of 20 weekly half-hour swim lessons. Whatever his days hold, this 68-year-old retiree likes to be on the move.
When I was finally able to pin Kemper down, I wasted no time setting up an appointment for my husband Gong, Willow and myself to meet with him for our first swim lesson. How he deals with children, he explains, is, rather than work directly with the kids (who typically don't want a stranger having anything to do with them), he teaches parents methods to help their progeny become comfortable in the water. The lessons take place at El Gancho, where parents can pay a $6 per person guest fee (if they are not members) in addition to Kemper's fee of $18 per half-hour lesson.
While Kemper's list of approximately 100 local clients includes those from 6 months to 75 years of age, 90 to 95 percent of his clients fall under the age of 12.
"Four to 6-year-olds are the ones I work with most," he says. "Six is perfect. By that age they have more confidence in their judgment, are not as fearful and they listen better."
One of the things I quickly learned to appreciate about Kemper is his acknowledgement and understanding of a toddler's attention span.
"I usually give one half-hour class a week to a child enrolled with me, but of that half hour only 15 or 20 minutes is taken up by actual instruction. Fifteen minutes is just about enough. After 20 minutes they're done," he says.
Within a few minutes of Gong, Willow and Kemper submersing themselves in the natatorium, Kemper had Gong leading Willow around the pool by her outstretched arms. Frightened grimaces turned quickly to relaxed grins as she started to feel secure in my husband's hold and to enjoy the feeling of the water buoying her tiny frame.
"I'm flying," she repeated as Gong drifted her around the pool.
Kemper soon directed Gong to flip our kid over and over, from stomach to back, back to stomach, like a rolling pin. While she was initially more comfortable on her back than her tummy, by the end of the lesson, she had figured out how to keep her head and mouth high enough above the water line for the front-floating enterprise to feel less treacherous. By the 15-minute mark, Kemper was submerging a plastic light-up shark into the blue liquid and having Willow retrieve it, requiring at times that she wet her face as she reached for the shark. His tactic was effective. Once that clever blinking shark was in the picture, Willow seemed to completely forget that submerging her face was something she didn't want to do, laughing heartily every time she plucked the shark victoriously from the shallow pool floor.
Once my nervousness abated, the lesson turned out to be buckets of fun for Gong and me as we reveled in our daughter's quick progress. I assumed it was just as much fun for Willow, but when I asked her on the drive home if she wanted to go back to the pool later in the week she responded, in typical toddler fashion, decisively in the negative. So going forward, like it or not, we plan to force our kid into the pool. Maybe at some point she'll start to like it in there. And if not, at least we'll have a good time. Anyone know where we can find some of those fabulous light-up sharks?
Bathing Suit Bound
In Santa Fe, swim-lesson options abound. Here are a few:
BiCentennial Pool
1121 Alto St., 505-438-9431
Offers swim lessons for infants, toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays or Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Session 1: June 22-July 17; Session 2: July 20-Aug. 14; Session 3: Aug. 17-28. $168 plus tax for 12 classes. Private lessons also available.
Casa Solana Pool
1125 N. Plata Circle, 505-983-9001
Offers swim lessons for various ages, levels and abilities, Monday through Thursday mornings. Session 1: June 8-18; Session 2: June 22-July 2; Session 3: July 6-16; Session 4: July 20-30; Session 5: Aug. 3-13. $60 for Casa Solana Neighborhood Association members, $75 for non-CSNA members, for eight 45-minute classes. Pool membership is not restricted to Casa Solana residents.
El Gancho Fitness, Swim and Racquet Club
104 Old Las Vegas Hwy., 505-988-5000, 505-603-7791
Offers swim lessons on a continuing basis for kids and adults ages 2 and up year-round with Jim Kemper or Patrick Serrano by appointment only. $18 plus tax per half-hour private lesson, $20 plus tax per half-hour semi-private, or $38 plus tax per hour semi-private, in addition to $6 per person guest fee if not a member.
Fort Marcy Pool
490 Washington Ave., 505-955-2510
Offers infant (6 months-2 years), preschool (3-5) and children's (6-12) classes in three sessions this summer. Classes will be held on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings. Session 1: June 8-26 (registration 8 am-5 pm June 5 ); Session 2: July 6-24 (registration 8 am-5 pm July 2); Session 3: Aug. 3-21 (registration 8 am-5 pm July 31). $45 per session. Private lessons also available.
Genoveva Chavez Community Center
3221 Rodeo Road, 505-955-4066
Offers one-hour parent-tot open swims on a drop-in basis 9-10 am, Tuesdays and Thursdays in the therapy pool and 10-11 am in the leisure pool. $8.
Preschool children (ages 3-5) and Level One (ages 6 and up) classes will be offered in four two-week sessions this summer, Mondays through Thursdays, choice of mornings or afternoons. Session 1: June 1-11; Session 2: June 22-July 2; Session 3: July 13-23; Session 4: Aug. 3-13. $60 per session. Private lessons also available.
Salvador Perez Pool
601 Alta Vista St., 505-955-2601
Offering swim classes for children ages 5 and up Monday through Friday mornings in four sessions this summer. Session 1: June 15-26 (registration begins at 8 am June 12); Session 2: July 6-17 (registration begins at 8 am July 2); Session 3: July 27-Aug. 7 (registration begins at 8 am July 24); Session 4: Aug. 12-25 (registration begins at
8 am Aug. 11). $45 for 10 sessions. Private lessons also available.


text:
Eli's Vanilla Bean Cheesecake Brings Vanilla Cheesecake to a Whole New Level
Eli's takes a new approach on vanilla cheesecake by infusing creamy cheesecake batter with Nielsen-Massey single source Madagascar vanilla bean paste. Baked in a fluted vanilla crumb crust and topped with house-made vanilla pastry cream, swirls of vanilla mousse and a sprinkling of vanilla crumb around the edge, this classic dessert is re-imagined for foodservice. The cheesecake is 9" round, pre-sliced 14 and certified kosher dairy.