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ICTs transforming Nigeria's schools
In the past, twelve-year old Samuel Jacob would wake up in the morning, put on his school uniform and suddenly feign illness in order to be allowed to stay home from school. At other times, the Akwa Ibom State-born primary six pupil of Saint Andrew's State Primary School in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, would go to school and sleep most of the day in class owing to boredom.
Now, Jacob's attitude to learning has changed dramatically. These days, he is punctual to school, very active and always eager to learn.
What has so dramatically transformed his life is the introduction of ICT into his school by the governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi.
Jacob is not the only child showing a new interest in learning.
Silverline Wike, head teacher, State School, Okoro-Nu-Odo, Rumuokoro, Port Harcourt, says she has seen many similar cases of revived learner interest recently.
She recounts that before the primary school education renaissance that brought about the renovation of some 500 primary schools and gave a face-lift to all the secondary schools in the state, she used to wake up and reluctantly prepare for school.
But with newly renovated, well ventilated and tastefully furnished classrooms, an ICT laboratory with 31 desk top computers, e-library, a 300-capacity auditorium, race tracks, football and basketball pitches, a school farm, standby generator as well as a nursery section all equipped with a sick bay, schooling has become an attraction of a sort to all and sundry.
ICTs a 'magic wand'
"The computers have affected the learning and teaching process positively in the school, especially in the life of the children. The children get so excited when it is their turn to come to the computer lab to work. They are so much excited and have demonstrated unprecedented zeal and eagerness to learn such that my seven-year old daughter, Beauty, in primary two, scored higher marks than I recently when the computer instructed set a test for us," Wike explains.
For her counterpart, Kpugikwa Dorman Nwizuga, head teacher, St Andrews State Primary School, Ikwerre Road, Mile 1, Diobu, introducing ICTs into the school is like a magic wand that has had a dramatic impact on the teaching and learning atmosphere in the school.
"It is amazing how the pupils are responding to instructions. They come to school punctually and are ever eager to learn. In the past, when our pupils went on holiday, they stayed back one or two weeks before resuming school. The story has changed. If you ask them to come to the school on Saturday and Sundays, you will be shocked at the number of pupils that will be around. As a matter of fact, some of them wished they could come here all through the week to operate the computers," he says.
According to him, with a pupil population of 361, at 30 per classroom in primary grades one to six, the school timetable is designed in such a manner that each class has a time allocated to it for computer studies.
"There are 31 computers in the school. Each of the 30 pupils will man a computer while the instructor uses the last one to instruct them. It is incredible how the pupils rush out enthusiastically to the computer lab each time it is their turn to go in," he added.
He said this has also impacted on the teachers who hitherto were not computer literate, as they too must learn how to operate computers.
Wike says the introduction of ICT into the school has also affected the morale of the teachers psychologically as they now see themselves as impacting knowledge under a congenial environment. This has also affected the way the teachers dress.
"We now wear suits like our counterparts in the banks, we no longer feel inferior. Generally, we are grateful that Governor Amaechi has restored the dignity of the teaching profession," she said.
The pupils, feel similarly inspired to greater ambitions.
Seven-year old Beauty Olunwa, daughter of Wike, who is in primary two at State School Okoro-Nu-Odo, Rumuokoro, says she is happy about having computers in her school. "I wish to become a medical doctor and help the sick and needy. Now that there are computers in my school, I operate it and feel very happy sitting down there operating it. I am sure this will help me to realise my ambition," she says.
Prince Friday Nna, age 12, whose initial ambition was to become an electrical engineer, says with the introduction of computers in his school, he is beginning to change his mind. "I am interested in how the computer was made. So, I am going to work hard so that I can make my own computer," he says.
Other pupils of the school who spoke to Biztechafrica.com are Mary Onyesoh, Chid Nwanele and Rachael Austin.
Twelve-year old Gladys Misominah, said she would want to be a teacher. Asked why, she says likes sharing knowledge with people. "I wish to become a teacher. Look at all the people teaching us in the school. They are all teachers. If they are not here, who will teach us?
The computer has made me to want to become a teacher more. I enjoy the class each time the computer instructor is teaching us," she says.
Nwanele says he would wish to become a psychiatric doctor to attend to the mentally sick. "There are so many sick people out there. I like to be able to help them by putting their brains back to normal. Governor Amaechi has done well by giving us computers. It is helping us a lot because we are now more serious," he says.
Wike says her day now begins as early as 5 am. "I now wake up as early as 5 am, do my morning devotion, prepare and the family for the day and hit the roads by 6.30am. Ten minutes after, I will be in school preparing for the day," she said adding that the introduction of computers has changed the face of teaching and learning in the school.
Looking forward to the transformation
Prudent Comprehensive College is a private secondary school located on the outskirts of Lagos. Constrained by paucity of funds but aware of the place of ICT in the 21st century, Musa Abdulsalami, who is a director and principal of the school, told Biztechafrica.com that efforts are on to fully equip the school's computer lab.
According to him, the school has placed order for 20 additional desktop computers to support the few ones available.
"You can see our computer lab and you can also see that we have limited numbers of desk top computers now. Hopefully, at resumption in September, this lab would be filled with computers. We will also go a step further to put internet connectivity in in the lab so that students can do guided research on the internet. This will assist us pedagogically," he said.
Like his colleagues in Rivers State, the principal said the use of ICT in the school has whipped up the interest of the students, some of whom have gone beyond what the instructor teaches and broken new grounds in computing.
A 14-year old senior secondary school (SS1) student of the school says her first contact with physical computers was in the school. "Before now, our computer instructor, Anty Abimbola, would teach us the basics like key board, mouse and other components.
Now that the school has purchased some computers, I am so excited that I can put into practice, those things she has taught us," she said. With an ambition to study medicine, Elizabeth says early exposure to computer will assist her realise her dreams while her counterpart, 15-year old Lateef Akinyemi, an SS2 student, says early knowledge of how to operate computer will smooth his way to becoming a petroleum engineer in the future.
"With what I have been taught now, I usually visit a local cybercafe in my neighbourhood to check my email, Google some topics in chemistry, biology and physics. Sometime ago, I read about DNA test and did not know the meaning, what I did was to dash into a cybercafe, Google it and I was amazed with the result I got. I am happy that the school is making efforts to get internet connection for the school with a promise of strict supervision to avoid abuse," he says.
Growing internet penetration
Availability of computers for schools will no doubt deepen internet penetration in the country. Speaking at a one-day workshop on Domain Name Registration and Management, organised by the Nigerian Internet Registration Association (NIRA), the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) Professor Cleopas Angaye, observed that the level of ICT penetration in the country also called for development of efforts to serve the indigenous market, attract foreign investment and contribute to the gross domestic product.
Speaking on the current internet penetration in Nigeria, Angaye said: "The Nigeria internet population witnessed tremendous growth with a boost from 2,418,679 users in 2005 to an estimated number of about 10 million users in 2008 and currently over 44 million internet users, thereby, positioning Nigeria as one of the fastest growing internet users in sub-Saharan Africa."


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One of a Kind Mountain Hat - Navy
Coming Soon
This one of a kind cotton front trucker hat features a hand-carved block printed patch of Jelt's iconic Bridger Mountains. The low-profile design features a slightly shortened brim with trim to match.
- Cotton twill front in navy with green trim on brim
- Black mesh with snapback closure
- Multi-color one of a kind block printed patch, made from reclaimed materials
- One size fits all

subset: commoncrawl


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I'm drooling over this chocolate orange bark recipe, but this deliciously quick and easy, dessert has an ulterior motive.
Last week I was in Ottawa for work and I tacked on a few extra days to my trip so I could visit my friend Ashley. Since moving from Ottawa I've visited her every year but the gaps between visits widens as we both get busier, so I was so thrilled to capitalize on this opportunity to see her. We always squeeze in some shopping and crafting (Exhibit A and Exhibit B), but spent most of our time just chatting and catching up. She recently started selling doTERRA brand essential oils and I use a lot of essential oils in my crafts on the blog (like my DIY air freshener, my handmade soap experiments, and my pretty soy candles), so this time we chatted a lot about essential oils. Because she's starting her own business, I shared my knowledge about connecting with people on social media, taking styled product photos and – of course – we brainstormed a ton of fun projects. Ashley taught me all about the difference in quality between doTERRA oils and the (much, much) cheaper kinds of essential oils I've been using in my DIYs. I learned about the true cost of making quality essential oils – especially when a company like doTERRA empowers growers and cultivates healthy working relationships.
But I still wasn't sold on the massive price difference, so to demonstrate the quality Ashley whipped up this delicious chocolate orange bark using a doTERRA brand essential oil.
You can pretty much convince me of anything if there's chocolate (or turquoise) involved!
I had never in my life made chocolate bark, but it was so delicious that I wanted to share it with you. If you're looking for a pretty dessert to whip up in two seconds flat, you might want to try this easy chocolate orange bark recipe. It's simple to make but looks so fancy! Here's what you need:
- Orange essential oil – 6 drops
- Shredded, unsweetened coconut – small handful
- Semi-sweet baking chocolate – 8 oz
- One large orange (to zest)
- Baking sheet with rim
- Parchment paper
- Small pot
- Zester – must be turquoise or mint for recipe to work 😉
Making this chocolate orange bark is too easy to even call this a recipe: simply melt the baking chocolate on low heat in a small pot, add 6 drops of orange essential oil and combine well, then pour into a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let cool a few minutes and top with orange zest and shredded coconut.
Pop into the freezer for a couple of hours and – ta da! World's easiest dessert! But it tastes phenomenal – dangerously addictive, with a very satisfying orange flavor.
I've only ever cooked/baked with extracts, not oils, so this was a fun experiment! Have you ever tried cooking with essential oils?
I have so many more DIY projects in the bath and beauty realm I'm excited to try, so I'm definitely tempted to start splurging on better quality essential oils. Until my conversations with Ashley, I didn't realize how many fillers and harmful contaminants were lurking in essential oils marketed as "pure".
But darn it, the prices are so intimidating! It makes sense though, if 30lbs of lavenders are what's required to make 15ml of oil… Plus doTERRA reportedly has excellent relationships with farmers, who are paid fair wages and have healthy working conditions. I will always pay more for a product if I know that the money goes to workers. And really, you need so little that a bottle really goes a long way!
If you're going to experiment with some essential oil recipes or DIYs, or pop some oil into a pretty diffuser to naturally add a fabulous aroma to your home, check the ingredients and quality of the essential oils you buy because some brands actually contain really toxic stuff. If you've been intrigued by doTERRA and the concept of a high quality oil, I'd love to put you in touch with my friend Ashley, a new Wellness Advocate for the brand (the only way to purchase these oils – the "doTERRA" labeled products available on Amazon are knock offs). It doesn't matter where you live in the world, she can set you up and she's just so, so knowledgeable about the products and company. She has actually worked in health advocacy for much of her career, so she's especially interested in the health benefits of essential oils and uses them to enhance her family's wellness (like using certain oils as a decongestant for mild colds and diffusing calming aromas to help her family relax and unwind).
Plus she'll ply you with goodies, so there's that added incentive…


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On the northern edge of New Songdo City's Central Park, Central Park II is comprised of one 50 and two
45-story residential towers, rising above an urban street edge of two and three-story commercial and retail
buildings. The innovative design challenges the consistent, vertically extruded form of towers typical to Korean
residential construction by creating a south-facing, shifting glass volume in front of a north-facing cast stone and
aluminum volume. Unique residences are located in the shifting glass form, whose glazing panels are reinforced
and shaded by a diagrid of aluminum fins.
Central Park II creates a series of landscaped roof terraces at the commercial, low rise buildings, accessible as amenity spaces from the residential towers.
Responsibilities included Project Design, Financing, Construction Management, Marketing & Leasing.
Architect HOK / Dong-il
Construction Manager POSCO E&C
Date Completed 2011
Project Budget $470 M


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We carry a wide variety of ever-evolving HP products that are sure to meet the needs of your printing environment. To find the best solutions, please contact us for more information.
Check out Centric's full lineup of HP multifunction copiers and multifunction printers HERE.
Interested in learning more about the HP M401 Printer? Contact Centric Business Systems today! Or call us at (877)902-3301.
Speed (PPM): 25-60


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Tuesday, March 13, 2012
How do you pay tribute to a great woman? I can try.
My aunt, Amparo DeCastro, passed away today, in her sleep, in her apartment, all alone, at the age of 80.
She was one fantastic crocheter, making stuff without patterns. I'm not sure if she even knew how to read patterns. She just did them.
She was also one talented seamstress, sewing us clothes of all kinds since we were little and even now.
You see, she never got married. All of us, her nieces and nephews, were her kids. When she migrated to the US, she would send us, who were left in the Philippines, huge boxes of stuff, from candies to shoes, clothing, goodies, etc.
Admittedly, she wasn't that easy to live with and that's probably why she preferred to live on her own, even when she got sick. She never fully trusted people, even her own sister. Well, she trusted my dad, who was her oldest brother.
I remember her being sick most of her adult life, from diabetes to high cholesterol, and lately, congestive heart failure. Yet, she still preferred to live alone.
Last time I saw her was Christmas eve, when we took her to the hospital because of edema. Living an hour away from her, I called her on the phone, but not often enough.
I am so sorry that she died all alone. I thought about calling her yesterday but never did. That is one regret I have, never had the chance to hear her voice for the last time.
I love you, Ninang, and I will miss you.
Posted by Vicki Suan at 12:25 PM
1 comment:
- teddy bear said...
The post is very nicely written and it contains many useful facts. I am happy to find your distinguished way of writing the post. Now you make it easy for me to understand and implement. Thanks for sharing with us.
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- This article is about the alternate reality immortal, Vandar. You may be looking for his primary universe counterpart, Flint, and alternate reality counterpart Vandal Savage.
In an alternate reality, Vandar was a Human, an immortal born in the Stone Age on Earth, and living through countless centuries. In this reality, Vandar had become leader of an empire—the Imperial Planets, which expanded throughout the galaxy by the 23rd century. Due to a time distortion caused by a Legion of Super-Heroes time travel accident in yet another reality, Vandar was a composite of two people—Vandal Savage from the Legion's universe and Flint from the prime reality—both of whom had similar origins of being born as an immortal Human. (TOS - Legion of Super-Heroes comic: "Issue 4")
|Aliases of Flint
|primary universe
|Akharin • Methuselah • Solomon • Alexander the Great • Lazarus • Merlin • Leonardo da Vinci • Johannes Brahms • Abramson • Brack
|alternate realities
|Vandar • Vandal Savage
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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Immerse yourself in our creative culture
Pursue your passions at California College of the Arts, where diverse practices meet and inspiration is at every turn. With access to the Bay Area's creative communities and thriving industries, you'll take part in exciting collaborations, deepen your practice, and learn from art and design leaders, including our renowned faculty. Attending CCA is your time to discover your voice, refine your skills, or completely reinvent yourself.
Community Arts
Fashion Design
Graphic Design
Industrial Design
Interaction Design
Interior Design
Jewelry + Metal Arts
Painting + Drawing
Visual Studies
Writing + Literature
Dedicated studio managers
The right tool or material is often exactly what you need to achieve a breakthrough. Our creative spaces, overseen by experienced studio managers, support your work in traditional craftsmanship, digital fabrication, and hybrid practices. Artists and designers themselves, studio managers are available to help you master the fundamentals and safely use equipment and tools.
With a high level of overlap across disciplines, students use studios and shops to collaborate with friends from other programs and take their own projects in unexpected directions. Check out a few of our favorite spaces for cross-disciplinary work below.
Model Shop
Specializing in foam, plastic, and wood, the Model Shop is open to all students. Required shop safety and skills orientations cover best practices for sanders, drill presses, lathes, various saws, and our vacuum forming machine for 3D molding. Students also have access to commonly used hand tools and a dedicated sanding area.
Dogpatch MFA Studios
Studio spaces for MFA in Fine Arts students are in the nearby Dogpatch neighborhood. Surrounded by alternative artist spaces and cultural organizations, such as Minnesota Street Project and Workshop Residence, graduate students experience and contribute to one of the most exciting creative communities in San Francisco. From industrial sewing machines to workstations for digital media and sound editing, on-site resources support a range of practices.
Digital Craft Lab
Open to all undergraduate and graduate architecture students, the Digital Craft Lab (DCL) is a collaborative space for advanced research, digital fabrication, data visualization, and material experimentation. Students explore the future of architecture with our state-of-the-art KR AGILUS, a lightweight industrial robot for precise automation and assembly.
Pre-College Program
Taught by accomplished CCA faculty, the Pre-College Program is an immersive, four-week experience designed to help students push beyond concepts to portfolio-ready pieces. Attendees live and study at our Oakland campus, which is especially beautiful during the summer, as they deepen their skills in an area they already love or try a new medium. Classes are weekdays from 9 am to 4 pm and are the equivalent to three college-level credits.
Summer Atelier
Open to students about to enter their freshman or sophomore year of high school, Summer Atelier features topic-focused programs in drawing and painting, screenprinting, photography, and graphic novels. Students refine existing skills, learn new techniques, and exhibit their work.
Young Artist Studio Program
Our Young Artist Studio Program is an exciting opportunity for rising seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. Students learn to translate their visual experiences into studio-based projects through the exploration of foundational art and design techniques. You can choose from three different learning formats that focus on one or multiple subjects.
Pursue your passions overseas
Current CCA students can expand their worldview and skills by participating in one of our summer study-abroad programs, which vary in theme each year. The course European Design Capitals, for example, takes students to Berlin, Amsterdam, and Milan to explore design culture and history from multiple perspectives. In another study-abroad program, titled In Search of Emptiness and Wabi Sabi, students investigate traditional Japanese aesthetic values in Tokyo and the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Kamakura. Or CCA students can choose to stay closer to home by attending an Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design (AICAD) Exchange Program at one of 31 participating schools.
Bring your talents to California
Through the AICAD Exchange Program, full-time, junior-level domestic college students can attend CCA for a semester, as long as they're already enrolled at a participating school. Exchange students benefit from the Bay Area's thriving art and design culture, the college's incredible resources and facilities, and a close-knit community of creative practitioners.
Make summer about art and design
For-credit summer courses at CCA are available at a reduced tuition rate for undergraduate and graduate students. Courses can be as brief as a three-week intensive or as long as a 13-week session that spans the summer. Eligible students from other accredited colleges are also welcome to register.
Learn a new skill or deepen your practice
Through CCA Extension, we offer year-round, non-credit courses that cover various design and fine arts disciplines. From learning to draw vector images in Illustrator to exploring basic metalsmithing techniques, course skills help creative professionals, current students, and aspiring young artists explore new directions. Custom programming for companies and organizations, which can help develop or strengthen particular employee skills, are also available upon request.


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BBC Natural World: The Queen Of Trees
Technical SpecsIan Holm narrates the extraordinary story of the African sycamore fig tree and its symbiotic relationship with a tiny insect partner, the fig wasp. Neither could exist without the other, and in turn they support hundreds of other animals from ants to elephants. Each fig is a world in miniature - a stage for birth, sex and death as the tiny players battle against predators and parasites.
Video Codec: XviD
Video Bitrate: 1302 kb/s
Video Resolution: 704x400
Video Aspect Ratio: 1.76:1
Audio Codec: MP3
Audio BitRate: 128 kb/s CBR
Audio Channels: 2
RunTime: 48:49
Captured By unknown
The.Natural.World.The.Queen.Of.Trees.WS.XviD.avi [501.69 Mb]


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Like every modern corporation and business I am forced to impose new fees to stay in business. Video posted for legal reasons.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Why is the Super Bowl so close to Valentine's Day?
It's not fair to men-- who are incapable of making SUCH A drastic emotional switch. Between the Superbowl and Valentine's Day women are asking us to MAN DOWN!!! Normaiily I would take months developing a thought like this but I challenged myself with a 4 hour develop/shoot/edit/upload deadline and I am only 1:47 minutes behind schedule.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Somebody sent me this video-- little embarrassing
Resourceful. But not a first date kind of move to make. It's a little blurry but it's obviously me.
Posted by Orny Adams at 9:33 AM 1 comment:
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Blog Not Catching Fire? Here Are 5 Reasons Why
February 16, 2012 | By admin+ | No Comments
Maintaining a good blog is hard work; there's no doubt about that, but what if you're putting in the time but not seeing the desired results? The first step is to identify the problem. The next is to do something about it.
So why is your blog not resonating with readers? Do any of the following five reasons sound familiar to you?
- Sharing isn't easy. Many readers who may be inclined to share a post with the click of a button may not be willing to take the extra step to copy and paste a link. This guide explains how to add various social media sharing features to your blog to make it easier for them.
- The Headlines aren't catchy. If you can't even get people to read your blog posts, you definitely won't get them to share. Use headlines that engage the reader and make them curious. Factor SEO in as well; it's good to have keywords in the title, and make sure the headline will pop even on a Google search results page.
- Your information is not valuable. Readers will only engage with a blog and – more importantly – share it with friends if it provides interesting content or entertains them. Writing a meaningless post just for the sake of it can actually do more harm than good in the long run.
- Your posts are difficult to read. The success of Twitter and Tumblr shows that attention spans are short. Use lists, break your text into multiple sections and use different types of media to keep the reader's attention.
- You operate in a vacuum. The blogosphere is an ecosystem. When you comment on other relevant blogs, those writers will often do the same. Write guest posts to grow your audience and direct more traffic to your site. Even blogs need to be promoted.
Understanding how your blog readers behave can help you improve results, and Social Strategy1 can provide the information you need. We'll track the ways your audience shares information so you can capitalize on the most effective methods and adapt accordingly.


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Where secular
ARE the majority!
The home for:
Eclectic Homeschoolers
Freethinking homeschoolers
Non-religious homeschoolers
Secular homeschool would like to thank:
A possible third option, if you have a good one, is the public library for physical books. If I purchased every book my daughter read, we would have had to move her out of her bedroom just to store...
So in your post you have two separate things going on:
1) Paper books or e-reader (and if so, what one)
2) If an e-reader, do you get a subscription service (the Kindle Unlimited or Amazon Prime...
Im with you on the space issue!
Id go with an ipad, not something that is specifically and only a reader. (I love my ipad mini, wouldnt trade it for a bigger thing, its almost the size of a...
My daughter loves reading books, she is really fond of using the physical books, which I respect, however, we live in a condo, and a reality check, it is not practical keeping all the books...
We had to stop Meals on Wheels this year due to schedule conflict. I would walk up to the clients house with just one of my boy and leave the other in the car so they could have a moment with a...
SecularHomeschool.com was created to provide information, resources, and a place to share and connect with secular homeschoolers across the world. Secularhomeschool.com aims to be your one-stop shop for all things homeschool! We will be highlighting information about wonderful secular homeschool resources, and keeping you up to date with what is going on in the world of secular homeschooling. But that is only the beginning. SHS is your playground. A place to share the things that are important to you. A place to create and join groups that share your interests. A place to give and get advice. There are no limits to what you can do at Secular Homeschool, so join today and help build the community you have always wanted.
SecularHomeschool.com is a community and information source where secular homeschoolers ARE the majority. It is the home for non-religious homeschoolers, eclectic homeschoolers, freethinking homeschoolers AND anyone interested in homeschooling irrespective of religion. This site is an INCLUSIVE community that recognizes that homeschoolers choose secular homeschool materials and resources for a variety of reasons and to accomplish a variety of personal and educational goals. Although SecularHomeschool.com, and its members, have worked hard to compile a comprehensive directory of secular curricula, it does not attest that all materials advertised on our site, in our newsletters, or on our social media profiles are 100% secular. Rather, SecularHomeschool.com respects the aptitude of each individual homeschool parent to fully research any curriculum before acquiring it, to ensure that it holistically meets the educational, personal, and philosophical goals of each homeschooler.


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Ranking Importance
This year resesrch shows that approximately 85% of all Web sites are found via search engines
When you write a query in a search engine like Google, yahoo, Bing and hit enter or click on search button you get a list of website results that enclose that query term. Users usually be likely to visit websites that are at the top of this list as they notice those to be more related to the query. If you have ever considered why some of these websites rank improved than the others then you must know that it is because of a great website marketing practice called Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO is a method which helps search engines catch and rank your website higher than the millions of other websites in response to a search query. SEO helps you get visitors from search engines.
Our SEO, SMM and Web Development teams are working with collaboration, to keep our
every client and able to earn highest return on investment (ROI) with best strategies.
We value each client and provide best services to develop our client's businesses to the next level.
Our team analyzes the website nature and performance of each section of the Web pages and search engine's procedure, as well as their communications. As being a purely logical method, we deal with the 5 most vital parts like SEO Friendly design, Technical issues in website and visibility in search engine, Unique content and target keywords.
The objective of on page and off page optimization is to make a website reliable with your targeted keywords. Google search engine is a robot, not a human and so, you must follow our verified procedure to inform the robot so that it carries your website up when your possible clients are searching for particular industry related keywords.
Before start a search engine optimization (SEO) task, it is important to realize the procedure involved in an effective SEO advertising. We provides to customers who want a concentrated, full service methodology to search engine marketing.
Keyword density tells you how frequently a search term performs in a text in relation to the entire number of words it contains.
Onpage optimization refers to all measures that can be taken directly within the website in order to improve its position
In the field of SEO, link building describes actions aimed at increasing the number and quality of inbound links to a webpage
Our SEO review consists of several factors like a content, linking structure, social media efforts, and its trust on the internet
This year resesrch shows that approximately 85% of all Web sites are found via search engines
96% of Internet users begin their Web search through a major search engine (Google, Bing, Yahoo, AOL)
SEO allows you the ability to choose keyword phrases for searches performed by potential customers
In January 2016, more than 17.5 billion searches were performed with 342 billion search results
Solid SEO and search friendly Web design will help bring visitors to your Website
Consumer perception is that the higher a Web sites is ranked in a search engine
We focus strongly on function and usability and train you to manage your website as a business asset. We go to great lengths to assure your content is delivered in such a way that visitors can easily and intuitively find the information they seek, resulting in a pleasant and productive user experience.
Improve and monitor your website's search engine rankings with our supercharged SEO tools. Instantly create competitor analysis, white-label reports and analyze your SEO issues.CONTACT US


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Your cruising world is good, but it could get better if you get yourself one of the best inflatable dinghies. While making that choice, keep in mind that it should be great since it is what you will need while cruising. There are various cruisers including Trinka, Dyer, Walker Bay, Fatty Knees as well as Bauer. However, inflatable dinghy stands out from the rest.
Looking at options available, they are several hence the need to shortlist the best dinghy. Otherwise, it will become hard for you to choose. Would you forgive yourself if you failed to select a good one and ended up not enjoying your next boat ride? There are high chances that the answer is no. Since we understand that you want something to ensure that you enjoy every bit, we have you covered. There are inflatable dinghy reviews for the best. In addition to that, there is an inclusion of the pros as well as the cons of each. We have included outstanding features as well. With all that information, deciding will be easy. Read on!
1. Newport Vessels Seascape Air Mat Floor Inflatable Tender Dinghy Boat (9-Feet)- BEST CRUISING PARTNER!
Newport Vessels is a brand whose products have passed the test of time which is worthwhile, and its Newport Vessels Seascape Air Mat Floor Inflatable Tender Dinghy Boat follows suit. High-quality Korean PVC is the material. For that reason, it is very durable. Expect rides that are not only stable but also smooth. That is all thanks to its 18-inch tube which is suitable for high speeds as well. It has a PVC drop-stitch high-pressure air mat. Its weight is 78 lbs, but it has a carrying capacity of up to 1,095 lbs. Other things include a beach seat and two oars made of aluminum, maintenance kit, foot pump and drain plug just to mention a few. Dimensions are 26 x 60 x 108 inches. There are the pros and cons that follow next.
- Both inflating and deflating is easy.
- Storage after ease is also not difficult.
- It is limited to carrying a maximum of three people.
2. Inflatable Sports Boats – Dolphin 8.8′ – Model 270 – Air Deck Floor Dinghy with Seat Bag- HEAVY DUTY INFLATABLE DINGHY!
The next product is incredible because of its multi-functional nature. You do not expect anything short of excellent quality all thanks to the nautical engineers who design this inflatable dinghy. In addition to that, they have used PVC material. It is resistant to puncture, oil stain as well as UV. It has drop stitch high-pressure air floor made of the same material. There are three chambers, and its maximum power is 10 HP. It weighs 60 lbs with the dimensions of 42 x 24 x 10 inches for secure storage. The inflatable dinghy can handle a maximum of four people. It can hold a maximum weight of 1070 lbs. Some of its cons and pros are as follows.
- It is durable.
- The package is a full set which includes a removable seat cushion, an aluminum bench seats, bag, two oars, foot pump as well as a maintenance kit.
- There is nothing regarding this vessel that you would dislike.
3. Newport Vessels Baja Inflatables Sports Tender Dinghy Boat 11'9"-TAKES BOAT RIDING TO THE NEXT LEVEL!
This is yet another one from the Newport Vessels that has earned the loyalty of many customers because of its high quality. The PVC material is excellent to the extent that regardless of whether the water is fresh or salty, there are no chances of you parting with it. You can go with a speed of more than 25 meters per seconds making the exercise fun and fabulous. The ride is also smooth because of the stable floor. It can handle a weight of 1,519 lbs and carry up to 6 people. Below are not only its pros but also cons.
- It is ideal for a large family of about six people.
- Both carrying and storing is easy.
- The glue used is unreliable especially if you visit hot places.
4. Inflatable Sports Boats Killer Whale 10.8′ – Model 330 – Aluminum Floor Dinghy with Seat Bag-CRUISER WORTH EVERY PENNY!
This product is from Inflatable Sports Boats which is formidable when it comes to giving its customer the best. It does not limit you to either fresh or salt water. The inflatable dinghy can carry up to 5 people for a perfect whole family getaway. Convenience is a guarantee because of various reasons. First, the weight is 80 lbs. Secondly, the dimensions are 80 x 24 x 11 inches. In addition to that, it is deflated in a bag which you use for its storage after use. The maximum weight is 1268 lbs. Pros and cons are as stated below.
- Its maximum power is 15 HP for great fun while remaining stable.
- The manufacturer has used a strong glue.
- It is hard to carry because of the aluminum floor.
5. Newport Vessels 10-Feet 6-Inch Newport Inflatable Sports Tender Dinghy Boat-GET THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!
This is yet another one from the Newport Vessels which drives home our point that the manufacturers value quality. This particular inflatable dinghy is a perfect size for easy portability. It has an 18-inch tube. For that reason, it remains stable, and the ride is comfortable throughout. Its maximum speed is 20 meters per second. The material used for the boat is PVC while that of the floor is wood with an aluminum frame. It can carry five people with the weight of 1248 lbs. Let's look at its various pros and cons.
- The size is ideal for a relatively large family cruising moments.
- The motor is powerful.
- It is relatively heavy for transport.
6. Tangkula New 1.2mm PVC 10.5′ Inflatable Boat Tender Raft Dinghy With Floor Gray-PERFECTLY SIZED FOR USE BY THE WHOLE FAMILY!
Tangkula has designed this inflatable dinghy with the requirements of a cruising fanatic in mind. All its features are what both the standard and experienced boat riders expect. It is made of PVC which has a thickness of 1.2 mm. For a quiet time, while towing, the manufacturer has put in place stainless steel D-rings. Performance and stability are paramount features and knowing that the inflatable dinghy has a V-shaped hull. It can hold a weight of up to 1248 lbs. The maximum number of people is 5. There are pros and cons highlighted below.
- Regardless of where at high speed or idle this dinghy is stable.
- It is easy to tow and row it.
- It has two seats only.
7. Sea dog 3 person stripboard Inflatable Boat Rafting Fishing Dinghy Tender Pontoon floor Boat 7.5 ft. – IDEAL FOR A SETTING THAT IS NOT OVERCROWDED!
Sea Dog has not left its loyal customers without one of the best inflatable dinghies. They have never disappointed them, and they are not even planning to do so. That is why it is in our inflatable dinghy reviews to ensure that you join the other happy cruisers' fans. For stable movement, the tube has a diameter of 1.18 inches. The dimensions are 90 x 55 x 46 inches. That is a size perfect to hold a maximum of 3 people with weight not exceeding 463 lbs. However, we must take a look at the pros and cons.
- Its small size ease transportation as well as storage.
- The tube has a diameter perfect for stability.
- Its size is small for a big family.
Buying Guide: Things to Keep in Mind While Purchasing Inflatable Dinghy Include:
- The number of persons it can hold.
- The maximum weight it can handle.
- The material of the boat and the floor.
Those are the options that you should consider when buying an inflatable dinghy. Though the price factor may be beyond our control, it is smart also to put it into consideration. How easy is it to either inflate or deflate the dinghy? Is it perfect for fresh or saltwater or both? With those questions answered and the inflatable dinghy reviews discussed, the decision will be easy.
Final Verdict: For leisure boat riding and taking your cruising to another level, getting yourself one of the best inflatable dinghies. Which one is the perfect size for your family or friends? Which speed are you comfortable with when boat riding? Which water body do you plan to take your fun? The inflatable dinghy will be ideal for all including lakes rivers, ponds, and bays. With these reviews, why are you waiting any longer? Give your family something to make them look forward to the next cruising expenditure.


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This issue of THE COMIC BIBLE MAGAZINE has an article about the major networks diversity programs which includes some important dates to remember in order to apply.
One of the dates quotes is July – when ABC Disney Talent Program opens up. To read the article pick up a copy at your local newsstand or buy it online at www.thecomicbible.com In the meantime, here is the information about the program directly from the ABC/Disney website;
Launched in October 2001, Disney l ABC Television Group's highly coveted Casting Project identifies/develops culturally and ethnically diverse talent and actors with disabilities by hosting a talent showcase each year in New York and Los Angeles. Former participants include ABC talent such as Jorge Garcia ("LOST") and Carrie Ann Inaba ("Dancing with the Stars"). Selected participants perform one-act vignettes for casting directors, talent agents, managers and other industry professionals who view a series of live, one-act vignettes performed by the actors. The showcases are produced in partnership with AFTRA /SAG and Actors' Equity Association.
About The Program
Actors selected to participate in the Casting Project work with veteran directors for an intensive, two- to three-week rehearsal process in preparation for the East Coast or West Coast showcases. Each showcase spotlights actors performing one-act vignettes for invited casting directors, talent agents, managers and other industry professionals. Selected participants will be assigned a network executive from the Casting Department who will act as their mentor for one year. Additionally, participants will have access to various ABC and ABC Studios executives. Various workshops also will be scheduled throughout the year for the actors to further hone their craft. As a direct result of the Casting Project, 90% of our showcase actors have either auditioned for, or were cast as, a series regular, recurring or guest role on primetime and/or daytime television, as well as being cast in film and commercial roles. What's more, 60% have either met or signed with agents.
When To Apply
The annual submission for the New York and Los Angeles Casting Project showcases varies. [This year's calendar for submissions is July and the L.A. program is scheduled for September.]
How To Apply
Actors must submit their headshot and résumé during the submission period. No material will be accepted outside of the designated submission period.
About The Selection Process
After receiving submissions from across the country, each year the ABC and ABC Studios (New York and Los Angeles) primetime casting departments narrow down the search by selecting more than 1,200 actors to move into the audition process.
Participants for each talent showcase must be at least 18 years old. Previous acting experience/training is required of all, but professional representation is not necessary.
Submit Headshots & Resumes only to:
Disney/ABC Talent
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
500 S. Buena Vista Street
Burbank, CA 91521
For all comedy news – read THE COMIC BIBLE MAGAZINE www.thecomicbible.com


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%0 Journal Article %J Psychonomic Bulletin & Review %D 2019 %T How to never be wrong %A Samuel J Gershman %X
Human beliefs have remarkable robustness in the face of disconfirmation. This robustness is often explained as the product of heuristics or motivated reasoning. However, robustness can also arise from purely rational principles when the reasoner has recourse to ad hoc auxiliary hypotheses. Auxiliary hypotheses primarily function as the linking assumptions connecting different beliefs to one another and to observational data, but they can also function as a "protective belt" that explains away disconfirmation by absorbing some of the blame. The present article traces the role of auxiliary hypotheses from philosophy of science to Bayesian models of cognition and a host of behavioral phenomena, demonstrating their wide-ranging implications.%B Psychonomic Bulletin & Review %V 26 %P 13 - 28 %8 02/2019 %G eng %U http://link.springer.com/10.3758/s13423-018-1488-8 %N 1 %! Psychon Bull Rev %R 10.3758/s13423-018-1488-8 %0 Journal Article %J Biological Psychiatry %D 2019 %T Incentives Boost Model-Based Control Across a Range of Severity on Several Psychiatric Constructs %A Patzelt, Edward H. %A Kool, Wouter %A Millner, Alexander J. %A Samuel J Gershman %K Computational psychiatry %K Habits and goals Incentives %K Model-based control %K Psychiatric constructs %K reinforcement learning %X
Human decision making exhibits a mixture of model-based and model-free control. Recent evidence indicates that arbitration between these two modes of control ("metacontrol") is based on their relative costs and benefits. While model-based control may increase accuracy, it requires greater computational resources, so people invoke model-based control only when potential rewards exceed those of model-free control. We used a sequential decision task, while concurrently manipulating performance incentives, to ask if symptoms and traits of psychopathology decrease or increase model-based control in response to incentives.
We recruited a nonpatient population of 839 online participants using Amazon Mechanical Turk who completed transdiagnostic self-report measures encompassing symptoms, traits, and factors. We fit a dual-controller reinforcement learning model and obtained a computational measure of model-based control separately for small incentives and large incentives.
None of the constructs were related to a failure of large incentives to boost model-based control. In fact, for the sensation seeking trait and anxious-depression factor, higher scores were associated with a larger incentive effect, whereby greater levels of these constructs were associated with larger increases in model-based control. Many constructs showed decreases in model-based control as a function of severity, but a social withdrawal factor was positively correlated; alcohol use and social anxiety were unrelated to model-based control.
Our results demonstrate that model-based control can reliably be improved independent of construct severity for most measures. This suggests that incentives may be a useful intervention for boosting model-based control across a range of symptom and trait severity.
The law of least mental effort states that, everything else being equal, the brain tries to minimize mental effort expenditure during task performance by avoiding decisions that require greater cognitive demands. Prior studies have shown associations between disruptions in effort expenditure and specific psychiatric illnesses (e.g., schizophrenia and depression) or clinically-related symptoms and traits (e.g., anhedonia and apathy), yet no research has explored this issue transdiagnostically. Specifically, this research has largely focused on a single diagnostic category, symptom, or trait. However, abnormalities in effort expression could be related to several different psychiatrically-relevant constructs that cut across diagnostic boundaries. Therefore, we examined the relationship between avoidance of mental effort and a diverse set of clinically-related symptoms and traits, and transdiagnostic latent factors in a large sample (n = 811). Only lack of perseverance, a dimension of impulsiveness, was associated with increased avoidance of mental effort. In contrast, several constructs were associated with less mental effort avoidance, including positive urgency, distress intolerance, obsessive-compulsive symptoms, disordered eating, and a factor consisting of compulsive behavior and intrusive thoughts. These findings demonstrate that deviations from normative effort expenditure are associated with a number of constructs that are common to several forms of psychiatric illness.%B Scientific Reports %V 9 %8 02/2019 %G eng %U http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-37802-1 %N 1 %! Sci Rep %R 10.1038/s41598-018-37802-1 %0 Journal Article %J Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience %D 2018 %T Planning Complexity Registers as a Cost in Metacontrol %A Kool, Wouter %A Samuel J Gershman %A Fiery A Cushman %X
Decision-making algorithms face a basic tradeoff between accuracy and effort (i.e., computational demands). It is widely agreed that humans can choose between multiple decision-making processes that embody different solutions to this tradeoff: Some are computationally cheap but inaccurate, whereas others are computationally expensive but accurate. Recent progress in understanding this tradeoff has been catalyzed by formalizing it in terms of model-free (i.e., habitual) versus model-based (i.e., planning) approaches to reinforcement learning. Intuitively, if two tasks offer the same rewards for accuracy but one of them is much more demanding, we might expect people to rely on habit more in the difficult task: Devoting significant computation to achieve slight marginal accuracy gains would not be "worth it." We test and verify this prediction in a sequential reinforcement learning task. Because our paradigm is amenable to formal analysis, it contributes to the development of a computational model of how people balance the costs and benefits of different decision-making processes in a task-specific manner; in other words, how we decide when hard thinking is worth it.%B Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience %V 30 %P 1391 - 1404 %8 10/2018 %G eng %U https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/jocn_a_01263 %N 10 %! Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience %R 10.1162/jocn_a_01263 %0 Journal Article %J Behavioral and Brain Sciences %D 2017 %T Building machines that learn and think like people. %A Brenden M Lake %A Ullman, Tomer D %A Joshua B. Tenenbaum %A Samuel J Gershman %X
Recent progress in artificial intelligence has renewed interest in building systems that learn and think like people. Many advances have come from using deep neural networks trained end-to-end in tasks such as object recognition, video games, and board games, achieving performance that equals or even beats that of humans in some respects. Despite their biological inspiration and performance achievements, these systems differ from human intelligence in crucial ways. We review progress in cognitive science suggesting that truly human-like learning and thinking machines will have to reach beyond current engineering trends in both what they learn and how they learn it. Specifically, we argue that these machines should (1) build causal models of the world that support explanation and understanding, rather than merely solving pattern recognition problems; (2) ground learning in intuitive theories of physics and psychology to support and enrich the knowledge that is learned; and (3) harness compositionality and learning-to-learn to rapidly acquire and generalize knowledge to new tasks and situations. We suggest concrete challenges and promising routes toward these goals that can combine the strengths of recent neural network advances with more structured cognitive models.%B Behavioral and Brain Sciences %V 40 %P e253 %8 2017 Jan %G eng %U https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/behavioral-and-brain-sciences/article/building-machines-that-learn-and-think-like-people/A9535B1D745A0377E16C590E14B94993/core-reader %( Published online: 24 November 2016 %R https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X16001837 %0 Journal Article %J Cogn Psychol %D 2017 %T Compositional inductive biases in function learning. %A Schulz, Eric %A Joshua B. Tenenbaum %A David Duvenaud %A Maarten Speekenbrink %A Samuel J Gershman %X
How do people recognize and learn about complex functional structure? Taking inspiration from other areas of cognitive science, we propose that this is achieved by harnessing compositionality: complex structure is decomposed into simpler building blocks. We formalize this idea within the framework of Bayesian regression using a grammar over Gaussian process kernels, and compare this approach with other structure learning approaches. Participants consistently chose compositional (over non-compositional) extrapolations and interpolations of functions. Experiments designed to elicit priors over functional patterns revealed an inductive bias for compositional structure. Compositional functions were perceived as subjectively more predictable than non-compositional functions, and exhibited other signatures of predictability, such as enhanced memorability and reduced numerosity. Taken together, these results support the view that the human intuitive theory of functions is inherently compositional.%B Cogn Psychol %V 99 %P 44-79 %8 2017 Dec %G eng %U https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010028517301743?via%3Dihub %R 10.1016/j.cogpsych.2017.11.002 %0 Journal Article %J Psychol Sci %D 2017 %T Cost-Benefit Arbitration Between Multiple Reinforcement-Learning Systems. %A Kool, Wouter %A Samuel J Gershman %A Fiery A Cushman %X
Human behavior is sometimes determined by habit and other times by goal-directed planning. Modern reinforcement-learning theories formalize this distinction as a competition between a computationally cheap but inaccurate model-free system that gives rise to habits and a computationally expensive but accurate model-based system that implements planning. It is unclear, however, how people choose to allocate control between these systems. Here, we propose that arbitration occurs by comparing each system's task-specific costs and benefits. To investigate this proposal, we conducted two experiments showing that people increase model-based control when it achieves greater accuracy than model-free control, and especially when the rewards of accurate performance are amplified. In contrast, they are insensitive to reward amplification when model-based and model-free control yield equivalent accuracy. This suggests that humans adaptively balance habitual and planned action through on-line cost-benefit analysis.%B Psychol Sci %V 28 %P 1321-1333 %8 2017 Sep %G eng %N 9 %R 10.1177/0956797617708288 %0 Conference Paper %B AAAI Spring Symposium Series %D 2017 %T Human Learning in Atari %A Pedro Tsividis %A Thomas Pouncy %A Jacqueline L. Xu %A Joshua B. Tenenbaum %A Samuel J Gershman %X
Atari games are an excellent testbed for studying intelligent behavior, as they offer a range of tasks that differ widely in their visual representation, game dynamics, and goals presented to an agent. The last two years have seen a spate of research into artificial agents that use a single algorithm to learn to play these games. The best of these artificial agents perform at better-than-human levels on most games, but require hundreds of hours of game-play experience to produce such behavior. Humans, on the other hand, can learn to perform well on these tasks in a matter of minutes. In this paper we present data on human learning trajectories for several Atari games, and test several hypotheses about the mechanisms that lead to such rapid learning.
Recent progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has renewed interest in building systems that learn and think like people. Many advances have come from using deep neural networks trained end-to-end in tasks such as object recognition, video games, and board games, achieving performance that equals or even beats humans in some respects. Despite their biological inspiration and performance achievements, these systems differ from human intelligence in crucial ways. We review progress in cognitive science suggesting that truly human-like learning and thinking machines will have to reach beyond current engineering trends in both what they learn, and how they learn it. Specifically, we argue that these machines should (a) build causal models of the world that support explanation and understanding, rather than merely solving pattern recognition problems; (b) ground learning in intuitive theories of physics and psychology, to support and enrich the knowledge that is learned; and (c) harness compositionality and learning-to-learn to rapidly acquire and generalize knowledge to new tasks and situations. We suggest concrete challenges and promising routes towards these goals that can combine the strengths of recent neural network advances with more structured cognitive models.%8 04/2016 %1
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102089%0 Generic %D 2016 %T Probing the compositionality of intuitive functions %A Eric Schulz %A Joshua B. Tenenbaum %A David Duvenaud %A Maarten Speekenbrink %A Samuel J Gershman %X
How do people learn about complex functional structure? Taking inspiration from other areas of cognitive science, we propose that this is accomplished by harnessing compositionality: complex structure is decomposed into simpler building blocks. We formalize this idea within the framework of Bayesian regression using a grammar over Gaussian process kernels. We show that participants prefer compositional over non-compositional function extrapolations, that samples from the human prior over functions are best described by a compositional model, and that people perceive compositional functions as more predictable than their non-compositional but otherwise similar counterparts. We argue that the compositional nature of intuitive functions is consistent with broad principles of human cognition.%8 05/2016 %2
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/102698%0 Journal Article %J PLoS Comput Biol %D 2016 %T When Does Model-Based Control Pay Off? %A Kool, Wouter %A Fiery A Cushman %A Samuel J Gershman %X
Many accounts of decision making and reinforcement learning posit the existence of two distinct systems that control choice: a fast, automatic system and a slow, deliberative system. Recent research formalizes this distinction by mapping these systems to "model-free" and "model-based" strategies in reinforcement learning. Model-free strategies are computationally cheap, but sometimes inaccurate, because action values can be accessed by inspecting a look-up table constructed through trial-and-error. In contrast, model-based strategies compute action values through planning in a causal model of the environment, which is more accurate but also more cognitively demanding. It is assumed that this trade-off between accuracy and computational demand plays an important role in the arbitration between the two strategies, but we show that the hallmark task for dissociating model-free and model-based strategies, as well as several related variants, do not embody such a trade-off. We describe five factors that reduce the effectiveness of the model-based strategy on these tasks by reducing its accuracy in estimating reward outcomes and decreasing the importance of its choices. Based on these observations, we describe a version of the task that formally and empirically obtains an accuracy-demand trade-off between model-free and model-based strategies. Moreover, we show that human participants spontaneously increase their reliance on model-based control on this task, compared to the original paradigm. Our novel task and our computational analyses may prove important in subsequent empirical investigations of how humans balance accuracy and demand.%B PLoS Comput Biol %V 12 %P e1005090 %8 2016 Aug %G eng %N 8 %R 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005090 %0 Generic %D 2016 %T Where do hypotheses come from? %A Ishita Dasgupta %A Eric Schulz %A Samuel J Gershman %X
Why are human inferences sometimes remarkably close to the Bayesian ideal and other times systematically biased? One notable instance of this discrepancy is that tasks where the candidate hypotheses are explicitly available result in close to rational inference over the hypothesis space, whereas tasks requiring the self-generation of hypotheses produce systematic deviations from rational inference. We propose that these deviations arise from algorithmic processes approximating Bayes' rule. Specifically in our account, hypotheses are generated stochastically from a sampling process, such that the sampled hypotheses form a Monte Carlo approximation of the posterior. While this approximation will converge to the true posterior in the limit of infinite samples, we take a small number of samples as we expect that the number of samples humans take is limited by time pressure and cognitive resource constraints. We show that this model recreates several well-documented experimental findings such as anchoring and adjustment, subadditivity, superadditivity, the crowd within as well as the self-generation effect, the weak evidence, and the dud alternative effects. Additionally, we confirm the model's prediction that superadditivity and subadditivity can be induced within the same paradigm by manipulating the unpacking and typicality of hypotheses, in 2 experiments.%8 10/2016 %2
http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/105158%0 Journal Article %J Science %D 2015 %T Computational rationality: A converging paradigm for intelligence in brains, minds, and machines %A Samuel J Gershman %A Eric J. Horvitz %A Joshua B. Tenenbaum %X
Scenes filled with moving objects are often hierarchically organized: the motion of a migrating goose is nested within the flight pattern of its flock, the motion of a car is nested within the traffic pattern of other cars on the road, the motion of body parts are nested in the motion of the body. Humans perceive hierarchical structure even in stimuli with two or three moving dots. An influential theory of hierarchical motion perception holds that the visual system performs a "vector analysis" of moving objects, decomposing them into common and relative motions. However, this theory does not specify how to resolve ambiguity when a scene admits more than one vector analysis. We describe a Bayesian theory of vector analysis and show that it can account for classic results from dot motion experiments, as well as new experimental data. Our theory takes a step towards understanding how moving scenes are parsed into objects.
%B Vision Research %V Available online 26 March 2015 %8 03/2015 %G eng %U http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0042698915000814#sthash.vpJfuWmr.dpuf %R doi:10.1016/j.visres.2015.03.004 %0 Generic %D 2015 %T Information Selection in Noisy Environments with Large Action Spaces %A Pedro Tsividis %A Samuel J Gershman %A Joshua B. Tenenbaum %A Laura Schulz %B 9th Biennial Conference of the Cognitive Development Society %V Columbus, OH %G eng


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Great Barrier Reef to star in global TV series
3 December 2015
Australia House in London was transformed into a private cinema last night, as royalty, celebrities and media were treated to a special pre-screening of a new documentary film on the Great Barrier Reef, which Tourism Australia believes will inspire greater interest and more visits to the world's largest coral reef system.
The three-part series produced by BAFTA award-winning Atlantic Productions – 'Great Barrier Reef with David Attenborough' will be broadcast across the world, including the United Kingdom and Australia.
More than 200 guests attended the invite-only event, including his Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh. Amongst other guests making their entrance along a VIP 'sand carpet' specially created for the evening were Helena Bonham Carter, Heston Blumenthal and Barry Humphries.
The special screening was jointly hosted by the Australian High Commission and Tourism Australia, and included a special appearance and Q&A session by the film's presenter and renowned naturalist David Attenborough.
Tourism Australia Managing Director, John O'Sullivan, said the release of the TV series coincided with a new campaign it was launching early in 2016 and aimed at promoting Australia's aquatic and coastal experiences.
"Our aquatic and coastal story has always been an important part of selling Australia, but has never before taken centre stage in a campaign. This film will show the Reef in ways never previously seen before and provides a wonderful vehicle for us to shine a light on Australia's outstanding aquatic and coastal experiences.
"Our research shows that aquatic experiences, and particularly the Reef, are major draw cards for tourists from all of our major international markets," Mr O'Sullivan said.
David Attenborough spent approximately three weeks on the Reef as part of the filming schedule, which took in Ribbon Reef and Osprey Reef and Lady Elliot, Magnetic, Orpheus, Lizard and Heron Islands.
CEO of Atlantic Productions and producer for the project Anthony Geffen said that the filming project was unique, combining the latest filming techniques, science and cutting edge research.
"Documentary filming techniques have come on leaps and bounds since David last filmed on the Great Barrier Reef nearly 60 years ago, and I think the images we have captured will not only wow audiences but also assist them in better understanding and, importantly, appreciating one of the most fascinating natural wonders on our planet," he said.
The series goes to air just weeks before Tourism Australia unveils a major push to promote Australia's aquatic and coastal experiences. The new campaign aims to tap into the fact that around 70 per cent of international visitors undertake an aquatic or coastal experience as part of their trip to Australia.
Note to editors:
Atlantic Productions is one of the world's leading factual production companies, whose TV and film productions have won BAFTAs, Emmys and other top industry awards. Atlantic's productions with David Attenborough have been seen by more than one billion people in more than 150 countries, since their first collaboration in 2009.
Covering an area of almost 350,000 square kilometres from around Bundaberg in the south to the northern tip of Queensland, the World Heritage Area, the Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef ecosystem and considered to be one of the seven natural wonders of the natural world.
Stock library video footage of the Great Barrier Reef (not associated with the Atlantic Productions series) can be downloaded free of charge from Tourism Australia's video gallery.
For more information contact:
Atlantic Productions
Monique Levine
+44 207 932 9825
Email Address
Tourism Australia
Leo Seaton
General Manager Media and Communications
+61 2 9361 1363, 0447 463 197
Email Address


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131 Little Lonely Houses For The Solitary Soul
Living in a city does have its perks, but even city-dwellers dream of escaping to some small comfortable house or cottage surrounded by wilderness to let their weary souls re-charge. All of these beautiful houses surrounded by picturesque views will inspire you to get away from it all – for a weekend or for good!
Most isolated homes like these had practical uses, and some still do – as hunting lodges or farm houses. These days, however, more and more such homes are instead rented out to people who want a peaceful place to rest or work.
Vote for your favorite house! If you've been to one or have just photographed one, we'd love to see it!
This post may include affiliate links.
Cottage In The Woods, Scotland
Intimate and cozy, crackling fire, a cup of tea and some sandwiches. Warm blankets and a good book, kerosene lamps A dog sleeping at my feet
The Solitairy House Of Elliðaey Island, Iceland
Hofskirkja, Iceland
A Hut In Winter
Lake Tekapo, New Zealand
Guys, this is a church, not a cottage. It's called The Church of the Good Shephard, it's an amazing place, but you can't actually live there
Hidden Forest House
Apuseni Mountains, Romania
Hobbit House, Wales
This has got to be the one, tucked in, safe and sound. Lots of visual interest too. Trees, flowers, walls, green. Love it.
Icelandic Mountain Meadow Retreat
Trøllanes, Faroe Islands
Holmur Reykjanes, Iceland
Little Red House, Iceland
Red House In Snowy Norway
I would move ther in this instand! all i need is electricity so i can listen to my favorite music and some tea
Arnarstapi, Iceland
House In The Middle Of Drina River Near The Town Of Bajina Basta, Serbia
Tiny House In The Fields, Hungary
In The Fields Of Gold, Alberta, Canada
I grew up in Alberta, and last I checked, Alberta was in Canada, not the USA.
Snaefellsnes Peninsula, Iceland
this is the same house as #15 from a different angle and a different season. look at the mountain and the rocks near the shore...
Craig Highland Farm Holiday Cottage Near Plockton, Scotland
Barrier Highway, South Australia
Silence - Ioan Balașanu
Rice Terraces Of Mu Cang Chai, Vietnam
House In Nepal With View Of Himalayas
This is wonderful "House In Nepal With View Of Himalayas". Pls mail me the address of this place at email@example.com
Saint Cado, France
The House At The End Of The Fjord, Norway
Magical Home, Poland
Stoneham, Quebec, Canada
Salzburg, Austria
Šumiac - Červená Skala, Slovakia
A Tiny House In The Meadow, Lithuania
Hidden Place, Swabian Alps, Germany
the setting is a bit creepy. I might try to renovate the house before moving in .
Fog By The Lake, Norway
Liptovska Teplicka, Slovakia
Miniature House, Hungary
Maniitsoq, West Greenland
Rock House, Tenno, Italy
Fagaras, Romania
Forgotten House, Austria
Philips, Alberta, Canada
Red House In Tors Cove, Newfoundland & Labrador
Casita De Vorera, Menorca
House On The Lake, Iceland
Cozy White Cottage In The Turkish Aegean Coastal Region
Cottage, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Little House In Wester Ross, Scotland
Traditional "gamme" - Finnmark, Norway
Applecross Road, Scotland
House In Tea Plantation, Munnar
Little Red House, Iceland
Pokhara, Nepal
Korowai Tribe House In Tree, Papua New Guinea
Montana, Usa
House In The Fields, France
Black Rock Cottage In Glencoe
The Gingerbread House In Hungary
Waiting, After All These Years... Pulia, Italy
Tiny House In The Woods, Lithuania
glass is too shiny or shouldn't exist its like clean as a lab sterile, also its dubious that someone would take the time to overhang room
Dolomiti - Croda Da Lago - Italy
Shelter Overlooking Nuup Kangerlua (godthåb Fjord) Near Nuuk, Greenland
Balea Lake Chalet Romania
Arnafiroi, Iceland
House Isolated With Grass, Iceland
His And Her's - Near Stoer, Assynt, Scotland
Winter In Lapland
Reflection, Norway.
My House In The Hood, Alta Maremma, Toscany
Old Timber House - Gjøvik, Norway.
Opløfjorden Norway
Rangamati, Bangladesh
Kaptai Lake, Rangamati, Bangladesh
Shepherds' Hut In The Winter, Montenegro
Sunset Peak On Lantau Island, Hong Kong
Cabin On The Beach, Opposite Of Popotan Island, Palawan, Philippines
That Little Church
Lonely House In Carinthia
And It Was Called Yellow
Alakir Valley, Turkey
Misty Mountains, Poland
Riva Di Tures, South Tyrol, Italian Alps
Riva di Tures... been there so may times. Wonderful and peaceful place. Beautiful shot!!!


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Until the end of the Indian tour of Pakistan, we will be running a daily Paper Round of what newspapers in India and Pakistan, and from around the world, are saying about this series. This is what the media had to report today:
The Daily Times has a small feature on Yasir Hameed, the 26-year-old Peshawar native who led Pakistan to victory at the Arbab Niaz Stadium yesterday. Hameed's 98 was pivotal as Pakistan chased down an Indian total of 244 for 9. "Going in to bat, I prayed to God to help me show a credible performance in front of my home crowd," he's quoted as saying. "It was disappointing to miss the century, as that would have been a lifelong memory, but victory, and that too against India, was pleasant indeed."
* * *
As for Dawn, it bemoans the fact that Peshawar won't be hosting a Test match against India. Both South Africa and New Zealand refused to play there last year, and the daily suggests that the crowd's behaviour yesterday deserved more than just a one-day match. "Every ball was cheered and every stroke appreciated, no matter whose bat it came from," wrote a staff reporter. "So exemplary was their behaviour that they mingled freely with the Indian fans, smiling, talking and enjoying the game. A small group of them went round the stadium waving Pakistani and Indian flags in an excellent display of friendship. On a huge water-tank just outside the stadium flags of both countries fluttered side by side, giving more meaning to the 'Friendship Series'."
* * *
Across the border in Rajasthan, there was less to cheer about as 18 people were arrested in a major crackdown on cricket-related betting. According to The Hindu, 15 were arrested in Jaipur, and three in Udaipur, for operating the racket on behalf of the Mumbai underworld.
* * *
The Indian Express has a profile on the man behind Taj Television, which owns the Ten Sports channel that presently has broadcast rights for all games played in Pakistan. Abdul Rahman Bukhatir's story is an interesting one, particular the role that cricket has played in his life.
"In 1981 he built himself a stadium in Sharjah, paid generous sums to have the world's best cricket players come and play for him, and in 2001, for a diversion if nothing else, put together his own sports channel as well," writes the paper. "Think about it. He could now watch replays of tournaments he organised, on a channel he ran, in the pavilion of a stadium he owned. It wasn't cricket, it was a bloomin' fairy-tale."
Bukhatir's passion for cricket is chased back to his childhood. "I first played the game in 1964 at the age of eight," he told the paper. "I was then living in Karachi." And then, in 1981, he invited unofficial Indian and Pakistani teams - one led by Sunil Gavaskar, the other by Javed Miandad - to play exhibition matches in Sharjah. He had smelt opportunity in the entertainment-starved south-Asian expats in the Emirates. Bukhatir certainly knew his market.
Aside from memories of Karachi, he is fluent in Hindi, a legacy of many visits to Mumbai ("I love the city").
* * *
The Telegraph, a Kolkata-based newspaper, reveals that a Pakistani fan has dropped a court case against Shoaib Akhtar so that he can concentrate on the matches against India.
"My client Syed Najmul Abbas dropped the case in the interest of the country so that Shoaib can give his best against India," said the petitioner's lawyer, according to the paper. Shoaib's supposed crime? A newspaper interview last year in which he said, "In Pakistan, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis are in decline. They were great but they are not matchwinning bowlers any more. So I have to make it all happen on my own."
Abbas had gone to court claiming that Shoaib's remarks tarnished the image of his country.
* * *
And last, but certainly not least, the Tehelka newspaper gives Bishan Bedi space for yet another rant on the subject of chucking. Bedi alleges that the subcontinent is a hotbed of chuckers, and includes India's Lakshmipathy Balaji along with his list of usual suspects.
In the column, Bedi suggests that Sourav Ganguly and his team should take issue with Shoaib Akhtar's action, going on to add: "There are at least three Sri Lankans and four members of the present Pakistan team who clearly chuck." The quartet, according to Bedi, are the Shoaibs Akhtar and Malik, Shahid Afridi and Shabbir Ahmed.
And in a devastating aside, Bedi refers to Muttiah Muralitharan as a "Sri Lankan bandit closing in on a dream artist called Shane Warne".


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Title: The Long and Winding Road (Bear, Otter, and the Kid #4)
Author: by T.J. Klune
Buy link: Amazon.com (Second Edition)
Release Date: August 11, 2017
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 346 pages
Reviewed by: Parvathy
Heat Level: 2 flames out of 5
Rating: 5+ stars out of 5
Family is not always defined by blood. It's defined by those who make us whole—those who make us who we are.
And here, at the end, Bear and Otter will be tested like they've never been before.
There's a knock at the door from a little girl who has nowhere else to go.
There's a phone ringing, bringing news they do not expect.
There's a brother returning home after learning how to stand on his own.
As these moments converge, all of their lives will change forever.
Beginning in Bear, Otter, and the Kid, and continuing in Who We Are and The Art of Breathing, TJ Klune has told a saga of family and brotherhood, of love and sacrifice. In this final chapter, the events of the past pave the long and winding road toward a future no one could have imagined.
The long and winding road is the heart warming, beautifully captured, emotional and soul-stirring conclusion of the journey started with Bear,Otter, and the kid. This book will make you cry, make you laugh and will leave you with oodles and oodles of heart warming gooey feelings.
I don't want to go too much into the story as it will be spoiling the book. But all I can say is this book reaches into your heart and will grab hold of it and won't ever let go. Every familiar face and everyone we have known from the beginning of their journey is present and they all will make you fall in love with them all over again. We see their growth and how their relationships have grown and evolved. This book is a beautiful ode to the emotion called 'love' and how capable we are of loving and the sacrifices and the extend we go for our loved ones. There has not been another story which makes me feel all the emotions as this series. The long and winding road will make you relive every thing you have read through out the series and gives you more moments to cherish. It will simply make you fall in love and make you wish the book did not end…
The long and winding road is a book that needs to be experienced to know the extend of the emotions and it's beauty. Read this book to know what is it like to feel, to live, love and be happy. I wish I could read more about them. You will too…!! Highly recommended..!!!
Bear, Otter and the Kid Chronicles
Buy Link Amazon Global Author Link GoodReads More Author Reviews


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Friday, January 15, 2010
Mysteria, the Muse of Mystery
Gary is some sort of engineer (we think he is, anyway; we were in a wine bar) and our favorite line from his bio is "Despite my technical background, I am actually capable of rubbing two words together to make a sentence." Gary's debut novel, THE EPHIALTES AFFAIR, will be out in fall 2010 with St. Martin's/Minotaur. Learn more about Gary here.
Hi. It's a pleasure to be a guest on Pens Fatales. Sophie tells me today's topic is "The Muse". This is like a red rag to a bull, since I write historical mysteries set in Classical Greece, the home of the original Muses.
These days muse refers to anyone who inspires an artist. Pattie Boyd was the muse for both George Harrison's Something and Eric Clapton's Layla, thus making her, I suppose, a bi-muse.
But that's the modern meaning. Originally the Muses were supernatural beings. If you didn't have a Muse on your side then you were out of luck, inspiration-wise, doomed to create nothing but flat, lifeless work.
There were nine Muses, each providing inspiration for one of Epic Poetry, History, Lyric Song, Tragedy, Dance, Erotic Poetry, Sacred Song, Comedy and Astronomy. Those were the arts and sciences as the Greeks knew them 3,000 years ago.
I imagine that since then each Muse has had to move with the times. So for example Erato was the Muse of Erotic Poetry. What with the wide expansion in the genre, Erato these days is probably run off her feet inspiring all the Harlequin authors.
Euterpe likewise must be totally overworked. She was the Muse of Lyric Song, which exploded into rock 'n roll and pop. Euterpe did an outstanding job with Elvis, The Beatles, and Pink Floyd. I assume she doesn't attend Eurovision and Idol.
You'll notice there was no Muse of Mystery Writing. Does this mean we mystery writers are condemned to be uninspired? Not on the evidence. I'd argue mysteries, science fiction and fantasy have had the most vibrant writing of the last century.
I have an idea that as new art forms are created – ones which don't fit into the job descriptions of the current crew –a new Muse magically comes into being and joins her sisters. There is a Muse of Mystery, but she's a recent birth.
Mysteria is her name (and is in fact a true ancient Greek word taken slightly out of context).
Mysteria's attribute – all the Muses have attributes – is a bloody dagger which she holds in her raised hand. In case you're wondering, Euterpe's traditional attribute is a double flute, but it could use updating to an electric guitar. Erato's attribute is a small lyre. The lyre could use updating too, but although I have several suggestions for a Muse of Erotica, I'm not going there.
Mysteria comes to mystery writers and whispers into their ears the ideas they didn't know they were going to write until they suddenly appear on the page: the cool character who comes from seemingly nowhere; the minor detail tossed in at random, which 100 pages later turns into a major clue; the relationship which seemed minor, until during revision you realize it's what the book is all about.
If my experience is anything to go by, Mysteria the Muse works very odd hours.
Mysteria must creep into my house at night, because an awful lot of my good ideas are with me the moment I wake up. Perhaps more embarrassingly, she seems to hang out in my shower, because that's another place where ideas flow like, errr, water. I have never actually run naked from the shower to the keyboard, but that's because I keep pen and paper by the bed.
Mysteria likes to visit after midnight. She is noticeably absent during daylight hours. It's amazing how often I have written flat, lifeless dross all day long, only for my writing to come alive for no obvious reason the moment midnight ticks by. I can only assume that's the moment Mysteria enters the room, come from an assignment elsewhere (probably Sophie's house).
Sometimes Mysteria stays away for weeks at a time, and when she does it gets lonely.
I know of only one way to coax Mysteria into visiting my head, and that's to write. Mysteria helps those who help themselves by writing even when she's not around. So if you'd like to meet this Muse, sit down and write 50 pages, or 100, or 150. Eventually she'll drop by and whisper in your ear.
26 comments:
- Sophie Littlefield said...
Hey Gary, I just gave Mysteria a couple of toaster waffles and a couple of cold Mickeys Big Mouths and sent her on her way to you - she should be there any minute!
- January 15, 2010 at 7:04 AM
- Juliet Blackwell said...
Hmm, I've noticed Mysteria in MY shower as well.
Question for you: how come the muses are never depicted as really hot-looking men? I'm thinking I would be particularly inspired by a gorgeous hunk called Mysterio barging into my shower. On the other hand, I'm not so sure about the "bloody dagger in hand" -- that would make him slightly more Norman Bates than Mysterio-the-hot-muse...
- January 15, 2010 at 7:10 AM
- Sophie Littlefield said...
so for me, Mysterio would look like this one guy from the falafel joint but talk like Alan Rickman. And he wouldn't bother me in the shower, but would bring me a patty melt AND do the dishes.
- January 15, 2010 at 8:33 AM
- Rachael Herron said...
I'm really liking this Mysterio fellow. I think I should change my genre...
- January 15, 2010 at 8:44 AM
- Gigi Pandian said...
Oh, so THAT'S where Mysteria goes after dark -- to Gary and Sophie's houses! Because I gotta say, she's never at my house after dark. In fact, she usually only sticks around for the morning. I'm not complaining -- I'm happy she visits at all :). Right now she's confusing me between two manuscripts, but what can you do?
- January 15, 2010 at 1:01 PM
- Gary Corby said...
Hi Ladies! Thanks so much for having me here.
Mysteria's with me now, says thanks for the waffles Sophie, and is ready for an exciting day of synopsis writing.
Woops, she just burst into tears. All right, maybe we'll kill someone instead.
Gigi, so Mysteria spends the morning shift with you! I wondered. She's probably trying to tell you both stories are equally brilliant.
I'm not sure Mysteria can use a knitting needle, Rachael, except to skewer someone. I'm dead sure Mysterio couldn't. But there's bound to be a Muse of Knitting.
I don't know why the Muses are always hot chicks, Juliet, not that I'm complaining, but you are in the perfect position to change them to hot guys if you like, with Lily's help.
The Pens are definitely my personal stylists from now on. I'll consult with you before next I visit the US!
- January 15, 2010 at 2:50 PM
- Lisa Hughey said...
Gary--thanks for visiting!! I think I'm with Julie, you take Mysteria and send Mysterio over to my house. But he can only get in the shower if he's willing to clean it too. :)
- January 15, 2010 at 3:24 PM
- Gary Corby said...
Thanks Lisa! I met a third of the Pens at the last Bouchercon, and I hope I can meet the rest of you at the next one in San Francisco.
What is it with guys being hotter if they clean the house? This is a worrying trend.
- January 15, 2010 at 3:33 PM
- Adrienne Miller said...
Sorry Gary, it's true. A guy vacuuming is the sexiest thing there is. Sorry. I don't make the rules. That Erato of yours does.
- January 15, 2010 at 4:27 PM
- Gary Corby said...
This explains why I used to have so much trouble getting dates. If only I'd been holding a feather duster.
- January 15, 2010 at 4:41 PM
- Patrick Lee said...
My muse is named Evictia. She oddly resembles my landlord, and lurks somewhere in my future, compelling me to write something... anything...
Awesome post, Gary! Definitely agree that more time spent writing equals increased presence of the muse (the actual, non-landlord one).
- January 15, 2010 at 6:05 PM
- Gary Corby said...
Thanks Patrick.
There's an old Michael Moorcock book which is dedicated, "To my creditors, who remain an eternal source of inspiration."
- January 15, 2010 at 6:17 PM
- Loretta Ross said...
I wish Mysteria (or, even better, Mysterio!) would visit me at home more often. The muse tends to follow me around when I'm at work and can't go write anything down to save my soul.
If Mysterio will speak in Sean Connery's voice, I'll follow him anywhere!
Great post, Gary, as usual. And nice blog, ladies (though I still want to know which one of you he met 2/3 of!)
- January 15, 2010 at 7:56 PM
- Gary Corby said...
Hi Loretta!
My phone gets a constant workout for that reason. When I think of a plot twist or a good few words and am far from paper I voice record it. The funny thing is, if I record it I never need to listen later because I remember, but if I don't record then I can't for the life of me recall the thought.
To explain Loretta's 2/3 comment...I said on my blog that I met a third of the Pens at Bouchercon, which would be 2 and 2/3 people.
Of course the explanation is simple. These things happen at crime writer conferences if someone gets sloppy in a demonstration session.
- January 15, 2010 at 8:08 PM
- Carrie said...
This was cute Gary. Always fun when an author can be playful. :)
- January 15, 2010 at 9:08 PM
- Gary Corby said...
Thanks Carrie. It was fun.
- January 15, 2010 at 9:48 PM
- Loretta Ross said...
Speaking of Gary and conferences and sloppy demonstrations, The Pens Fatales have impressive writing credits, but I'm going to have to be even more impressed if I find out that they (or at least 2/3 of them) are Vegemite survivors! ;)
- January 16, 2010 at 7:52 AM
- Gary Corby said...
None of the Pens Fatales are Vegemite survivors. At least, not at my hand. But you never know, they might like it!
- January 16, 2010 at 2:26 PM
- Shelby said...
vegemite survivors!!!! :) too funny..
- January 17, 2010 at 11:21 AM
- Gary Corby said...
Hi Shelby! There's a story behind the Vegemite. I took jars of it to the US on my last trip and had a wonderful time watching Americans try it.
Americans are such a polite people. None of them actually threw the jar back at me.
- January 17, 2010 at 2:31 PM
- Sophie Littlefield said...
It's one of my chief regrets that I didn't know Gary when he was doling out the Vegemite like candy from the Shriners float. Well....maybe it's not, actually. GC, can you maybe load the saddlebags with some nice Shiraz before your your next visit? The other 7 1/3 Pens are expecting a lot, given how we talk you up around here!
- January 17, 2010 at 9:21 PM
- Gary Corby said...
But Sophie, if I'd fed you Vegemite, we might not still be friends.
It just so happens the question of Shiraz came up with Bobby McCue from the Mysterious Bookstore in LA.
Carrying enough of the precious liquid is (a) heavy, and (b) expensive, so I'm not sure it can be managed, but I'm trying!
- January 17, 2010 at 10:56 PM
- T. Anne said...
Mmm, Mysteria. I like her name. I must have her twin sister hysteria as my muse. She too likes to save her best work for dark. It's this unforgivable nature of hers that has me nodding off during the day. I'm an early riser. I need to find a compatible muse. Too bad the words wont come that early. Nice post Gary!
- January 18, 2010 at 7:10 AM
- Gary Corby said...
I love the name Hysteria for a Muse!
I think you might have the beginnings of a short story there Anne: what happens when an artist and her assigned Muse have incompatible personalities?
- January 18, 2010 at 4:07 PM
- _*Rachel*_ said...
The muse of knitting carries a size 8 knitting needle, but it's her clothes that get all the attention. Unfortunately, she doesn't stick around very much; a lot of knitting is just grunt work.
I heard about that vegmite on Janet Reid's blog....
- February 4, 2010 at 10:56 PM
- Gary Corby said...
Hi Rachel, thanks for dropping by!
Your muse of knitting sounds about right. I think she wears a knitted beanie.
Yes, I do seem to have acquired a reputation for Vegemite. I suppose there are worse things.
- February 5, 2010 at 2:29 AM


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Sounds good! cant wait to play itwill we be able to use our unlockables?
Work on the second map has finally begun. I hope things will go faster now that I've finished constructing the prefabs which these next maps will be almost entirely made of.Also, when you're going through a mine (like where gems are mined) do you think it would be cool to have places where there is a very faint colored glow in the rock? Or would it just be better if it was completely dark? In both cases the player will need to use a light source to navigate.
You should put bloody versions of those doors there instead of clean ones
I'm really looking forward to this story! Better than I expected.
cant wait will there also be a tutorial/ walktrough
There will be a walkthrough if I could find a free game recorder that actually works.


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