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The PCF8574(A) is a remote I/O pin expander board included in the MAKERbuino inventor's kit (DISCONTINUED). It's connected to the ATmega328 via the I2C-Bus.
So if you're running short on usable I/O-Pins this is the thing you're looking for!
What is I2C?
The name I2C stands for Inter-Integrated Circuit.
It's a synchronous serial bus using only two wires. It's capable of transmitting data bidirectional as one wire is used for the clock signal and the other one is used for the data signal. It was initially developed by Phillips in the early '80s. Some other manufacturers call it TWI (two wire interface) due to licensing issues.
There is at least one master and up to 127 slaves on an I2C bus system. You can create a multi-master bus-system too, but that would be too much for this guide. Every slave has its own individual address. Therefore, it's easy for the master to communicate with the slaves. There's even a broadcast channel to reach every slave at once.
The PCF8574(A) has three pins to set its address within a defined range. You can set the address using the jumpers on the PCB. They are marked as A0-A2.
There is a difference between the PFC8574 and the PCF8574A as you can see below. Every address provided is written in HEX.
As you can see, the address of the PCF8574 is 0x40 (writing mode) and the address of the PCF8574A is 0x70 (writing mode).
This applies if all jumpers are set to GND, which is the case if you just received your kit and didn't change anything.
If you want to read the values you need to set Bit 0 to "1". So the initial read address for the PCF8574 is 0x41 and the initial read address for the PCF8574A is 0x71.
But beware! The Arduino Wire-library handles the addresses a little bit different. You only need to provide the 7 highest Bits of the address. The read/write Bit of the address is determined by which function you use. So if you are calling the Wire.write() function Bit 0 is set to "0" and if you are calling the Wire.requestFrom() function Bit 0 is set to "1".
Now comes the tricky part: Imagine you want to write some values to the PCF8574.
You'd think "now that's easy! I left all the jumpers connected to ground, so I just need to use the address 0x40.", but unfortunately, that's wrong.
The Wire-library internally shifts the bits one to the left and sets Bit 0 to "0". So 0x40 would become 0x80 and the PCF8574 wouldn't respond to your messages.
Therefore, you need to shift the Bits of your address one to the right in order to make it work. You can do this within the code or you can determine the shifted address before writing your code. Using defines is recommended in either way. To determine the right address before coding you can use pen and paper or you can use the programming view of the windows calculator.
We can now communicate with the PCF8754, but how should we tell it, which pins we want to use as inputs or outputs?
It's quite easy: to use a pin as an input, you just need to set it to HIGH. Then you can read its value using the Wire.requestFrom() function.
If you're reading this guide, then you've probably bought a MAKERbuino together with the inventor's kit.
This kit contains a breadboard and a couple of bits and pieces besides the PCF8574(A) GPIO expander.
We're going to use these included components to build a little circuit and test the whole I2C concept in practice!
Just recreate this circuit using the provided fritzing schematic diagrams:
As you can see, there is an LED and its corresponding pre-resistor and one button connected to the PCF8574(A). The LED is powered via VCC and the button is connected to GND. You can easily grab the VCC signal and the GND signal from the PCF8574(A) PCB since I2C is a bus system.
I've chosen the blue LED because it needs 2.9V to operate properly so you just need to "eliminate" 0.4V from VCC.
If pin P0 is set to HIGH, the LED will be OFF and if it's set to LOW the LED will turn ON. How does it work? We're providing the necessary voltage and current via VCC. This means that we've got 3.3V to power the LED and pin P0 has 3.3V at HIGH too. So the difference between the anode (+) and the cathode (-) of the LED is too low to let the current flow. As I mentioned before the LED needs 2.9V to operate. If we set P0 to LOW it has 0V (because it's connected to GND via an internal transistor) and there's our needed difference!
Be careful if you are planning to add more LEDs! You are adding more load to the voltage regulator since VCC is provided by this part. The regulator can deliver up to 250mA current max, but it's not recommended to operate at max load the whole time. Doing so could damage your voltage regulator.
Keep in mind that every part of your MAKERbuino that comes after the voltage regulator needs a certain amount of current. So every part puts a certain amount of load on the regulator.
SOLUTION: You can use the unregulated power provided by the battery directly via VBAT but then you need to measure the voltage of your battery and recalculate the values of the resistors.
One thing to have in mind: you cannot power an LED with its anode (+) connected to a pin on the PCF8574(A) because It only delivers 100µA in its HIGH state (that is about 40 times lower than the current we need to light up the LED).
Therefore, the PCF8674(A) only works in a so-called sink mode. If a pin is set to LOW, the internal transistor of the IC connects the pin directly to GND. One pin of the PCF8574(A) can take up to 25mA current in sink mode but the total current of all 8 pins shouldn't exceed 100mA as it could damage the PCF8574(A) too.
Now, after our trip to the field of basic electronics, let's move on to the code.
We want to do the following: If we push the button the LED should light up and if we push the button again, the LED should go off.
The code should do this:
- Set all Pins of the PCF8574 to HIGH within the setup function
- Within the main loop: read the states of the pins
- If the button pin has a LOW signal, increase a counter variable
- If the counter reaches a certain value, toggle a bool variable
- Write the new pin value (HIGH or LOW), determined by a boolean variable, to the PCF8574(A)
- Check if the C-button was pressed, if so – go back to the title screen
Before we can actually start coding we need to find out if we're trying to communicate with a PCF8574 or with a PCF8574A. You need to look at the IC on the PCB. Mine says PCF8574A so the address is 0x70 since all jumpers are set to GND. All Bits shifted one to the right results in an address value of 0x38.
Alright, let's go!
Firstly, we need to include all the necessary libraries:
As I mentioned at the beginning of this guide, the Wire-library is the one responsible for the I2C communication. Both, the SPI-library and the Gamebuino-library, should sound familiar to you.
Next, we need to initialize the Gamebuino library by creating a Gamebuino object and declare some basic defines and variables.
The first #define function should be clear because it's the initial address of the PCF8574A, already shifted 1 Bit to the right.
The second define determines the pin of the PCF8574A we want to use as an input. A value of 0x02 means that we want to use pin P1 of the I/O expander as an input.
The bool variable ledOff is responsible for switching the LED on or off as we write its value into the PCF8574A. You'll find out why I called it ledOff instead of ledOn once we got to the loop function.
The byte variable values stores PCF8574A's pin values. The integer counter is going to store the current value of a counter. We'll need a counter to prevent the LED from flickering as the communication happens pretty fast and you'd need to push the button for about 50 milliseconds as this is the usual screen refresh rate on the MAKERbuino.
With all those variables declared and initialized, we can move on to the setup function.
The first line of code in the setup function shouldn't need any explanation, but the next four lines are new:
Wire.begin initializes the I2C module so that we can use it. It's essential to call this first, just like we need to call gb.begin before we're able to show the title screen on MAKERbuino's display.
After that, we want to set all pins of the PCF8574A to HIGH.
We can do this by starting a new transmission to the PCF8574A using Wire.beginTransmission and the defined address of the PCF8574A.
Since Wire.beginTransmission is a write-initializing function, PCF8574A is now waiting for some kind of data to arrive.
That expected data can be sent using the Wire.write function and the Hex value 0xFF.
Now every pin is set to HIGH. Hence we're only using pin P0 and pin P1 we could've sent 0x03 too, but let's stick with 0xFF.
The last step is to tell PCF8574A that we're done sending.
We'll make that happen by calling Wire.endTransmission();. This function doesn't need any parameters.
Now let's draw a neat title screen and that's it, we're done with the setup!
Here comes the main loop section:
This might look a little bit confusing at first, but it's quite simple in fact.
Of course we need our if(gb.update()) if-statement since we want to check PCF8574A's state at every frame.
We now need to request the current values from the PCF8574A.
Requesting updated values from the GPIO expander is done using Wire.requestFrom function.
As you can see, there are two parameters required by this function.
The first one is the address of the slave we're trying to request data from and the second one is a number of bytes that we're requesting.
One byte is enough since the PCF8574(A) only has 8 pins (P0:P7).
After that, we need to read the data received from the PCF8574A.
Wire.available function returns the number of bytes that are available for reading.
It should return "1" because PCF8574A only sends one byte.
Wire.available is used as a condition of a while loop and will run once every frame.
Current pin values are being updated and stored in the values variable by using Wire.read in the while loop. This function returns the (next) byte that was received.
Now let's check if the pushbutton was pressed or not. Remember the #define for the button pin? We'll make use of it now!
We've defined the button value with 0x02. In binary, this means 0b00000010.
Okay, but how do we check it now? We need to use the bitwise AND operator.
We'll combine the current pin values and the inputPin define within the if-statement using the & (AND) operator.
There are only 2 possible results: 0x00 (the button is pressed) and 0x02 (the button isn't pressed). If the bitwise operation returns 0, the counter is incremented by 1. If the bitwise operation returns 2, it resets the counter to 0.
As I mentioned before, the counter is used to prevent the LED from flickering and now we need to check if the counter has reached a certain value.
This is another simple if-statement and should need no explanation. If the counter reaches the value of 5, the bool variable ledOff is toggled. The counter is then set to 0 again.
The next step is to tell PCF8574A whether the LED should be on or off.
A part of it should already sound familiar to you since we used the exact same functions within the setup function. The only difference is the data we're sending now.
We need to use another bitwise operator. This time it's the | (OR) operator. The | (OR) operator sets a Bit to 1 if at least one of the two Bits that are combined already is 1.
It doesn't matter if the second Bit to be combined is 1 or 0. Now, we can combine the defined inputPin and the ledOff variable using the | (OR) operator. There are only 2 possible results again: 0x03 (LED off) and 0x02 (LED on).
And now you'll know why I called the variable ledOff instead of ledOn! In order to switch the LED off we need to set pin P0 of the PCF8574A to HIGH. High means 1 in binary or true in bool while Low is represented by 0 or false. If the value of ledOff is true we're telling the PCF8574A to set pin P0 to HIGH. So it's true that the LED is off!
Alright, we're almost done coding! Great job so far! The last three things we need to do:
- print the current LED status on the MAKERbuino screen
- clear the values variable (just in case)
- make it possible to return to the title screen.
This shouldn't be too hard to understand!
Set both cursorX and cursorY to 0 and print "LED off" or "LED on" to the screen, determined by an if-statement.
Set the value of the values variable to 0 and add an if-statement to check if the C-button was pressed. If it is pressed, show the title screen!
Find the full code here:
Or simply download the Arduino source file here.


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Welcome Visitors! The Box Office is open for 2020.
Date: Friday, August 5, 2016
The Newport International Polo Series XXV featured Newport vs. Palm Beach at 5pm on July 30th. Get additional match info via private email subscription, including a Game day Scorecard (sign up) and the weekly Emagazine (sign up).
Match Results:
Team Newport took to the field once again, to face rivals Palm Beach. The history of these two teams is captivating in the fact that up until this match, every game had ended in a tie. This match would be the one to break that tie, and the winner would come out on the other side with the coveted City Cup Trophy.
Playing for Newport in the first spot was Julia DeAgelis, in the second spot was Sam Shore, in the third spot was Dan Keating and in the fourth spot was Jim DeAngelis.
Playing for Palm Beach in the first spot was Khalid Dasuki, in the second spot was Johny Lavine, in the third spot was Chip Stiegler, and in the fourth spot was George Krabbe.
Unsuprisingly, the first Chukka began with a tie between Palm Beach and Newport, with both teams scoring two goals each. (Sam Shore and Jim DeAgelis for Newport and George Krabbe for Palm Beach). The second Chukka however, Palm Beach took the lead by blocking all of Newports attempted goals, whilst still scoring two goals for themselves. (Stiegler, Krabbe) In the third Chukka Newport scored one point (Shore) but so did Palm Beach (Stiegler) so thier lead held.
Fans held on hope the Newport would rise victoriousas the fourth Chukka began, but this CHukka proved to be just as rough for Newport as the second one was. Newport scored one goal (DeAglelis) but Palm Beach scored two (Stiegler, Krabbe). The fifth score was a wash-out with neither teams scoring, which meant that Palm Beach had a 3 point lead going into the final chukka. Palm Beach knuckled down during this Chukka scoring two more goals (Dasuki, Lavine) finalizing their victory over Newport. The final score? 4 to 9, Palm Beach wins.
During the match, a weekly door prize drawing and the Best Tailgate were awarded. The match concluded with the Veuve Clicquot Champagne Toast & Trophy Presentation, as well as an autograph signing and cocktail hour to mingle with the players.
The Polo Series will feature 8 international teams this season including Mexico, Australia, Ireland, Italy, France, Jamaica, England, and the debut of Morocco, as well as 5 City Teams from major US cities and a few top regional rivals for an action-packed season through the end of September.
The Polo Series will have hosted 32 nations this year over its 25 seasons including England, Ireland, Scotland, Chile, Kenya, Jamaica, Italy and Singapore this summer, and Costa Rica, Portugal, Germany, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, India, New Zealand, Australia, Chile, Barbados, France, Canada, Hungary, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, Kenya, Brazil, and China, Sweden, Singapore, Monaco and Morocco.
Dating back more than 130 years in Newport, the polo matches are one of Newport's grandest & most popular traditions, a living legacy from the Gilded Age, and open to the public. Audiences of several thousand spectators enjoy the contests against international teams, as well as teams representing major US cities, playing against the home team every Sat, June thru Sept. at 5 PM / 4 PM in Sept.
Minutes from downtown Newport, the International Polo Grounds are located at historic Glen Farm, 250 Linden Lane in Portsmouth, RI. This bucolic setting is the last 100 acres of what was once a 700-acre manorial farm whose settlement dates back to the 1600's. Its classical stone barns from the Gilded Age and its park-like grounds were rehabilitated by Newport Polo founder, Dan Keating, and thrive today as an equestrian & community recreational property, and home of the Polo Series.
This is the 25th season of the Newport International Polo Series, with the support of sponsors including NBC - 10, BMW, ALEX AND ANI, Cox, Forty 1° North, Vueve Clicquot, NAVSTA Newport, RISD Executive Education, Stella Artois, Rockstar Limo, Lufthansa, Green Gear Global, WaterRower, Atria Senior Living, Hotel Viking, Hyatt Regency Newport Hotel & Spa, Vanderbilt International Properties, Clarke Cooke House, McGrath Clambakes, Newport Daily News, Newport J House and promotional partners including The Preservation Society of Newport, Bird's Eye View Helicopter Tours, America's Cup Charters, International Tennis Hall of Fame, Island Surf and Sport, The Cocktail Guru, Newport Mansions and Discover Newport. "Our sponsors have been with us since the beginning. Without their support, the Series would not be as extensive as it is," explains Dan Keating, Polo Series founder.
Discover Polo! Watch it, Play it, Support it. Newport Polo is the home of America's first polo club, est. in 1876, and founding member of the United States Polo Association offering public exhibition matches, polo club member services for grass & arena polo, and polo instruction year-round. Newport Polo hosts the Newport International Polo Series XXV. Information about Newport Polo's events, polo lessons, membership and sponsorship can be found in About Newport Polo.

subset: commoncrawl


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North Texas saw 4 to 7 inches of rain this weekend, washing out many weekend plans.
Friday night's Rangers against Seattle was canceled due to heavy rains. The Rangers planned to make up that game during a double-header Sunday, but the wet weather delayed a midday start time until 5 p.m.
The weather even washed out Fort Worth's Jazz by the Boulevard festival. Saturday's daytime activities were canceled, and efforts are being made to reschedule concerts with Chris Botti and George Clinton.
Weather Connection
Connecting you with your forecast and all the things that make North Texas weather unique.
Flash flood watches are in effect for nearly every county in North Texas through Monday morning as the potential for heavy rain continues. The widespread rainfall is coming to an end, but more showers are possible.
The heavy rains have swollen local waterways and filled streets with water. Dallas city workers are patrolling the Trinity River to keep an eye on water levels.
Meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin's forecast for the weekend is as follows:
SUNDAY NIGHT: Showers and storms. Locally heavy rain possible. Low: 64. Wind: NE 10-15 mph.
MONDAY: Showers and storms. Locally heavy rain. High: 78. Wind: NE 5-10 mph.
For updated severe weather alert information, maps and radars, and the daily forecast, visit our weather page.


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catering every
Cushions are the ultimate interior accessory. Not only do they look fabulous wherever placed, they are also the perfect finishing touch to any decorating project and they can infuse any space with added warmth, colour or pattern. Available in a vast collection of hues and designs, 4Bricks cushion collection is filled with every style imaginable to complement all interior schemes.
Aren't you excited to be different?


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Voluntourisim and Volunteering
Gap Year Students and Volunteers mainly differentiate themselves by the period of time spent with us. We respect everybody who wants to have a positive influence to our world and environment.
Volunteering is rather the short stay integration we find within the shorter holiday period some people only have available, and very often it involves tailor making to specific small group requests and their specific interests too. Individual enquiries with no agenda other than wishing to help are afforded the opportunity of joining existing groups or social development projects in the Kurland village area.
A minimum stay of 2 weeks is recommended. Accommodation is at one of the existing establishments according to your budget. Volunteering with a difference.
True Voluntourism, we combine as an overland safari with interaction in various communities in neighbouring countries lending a helping hand at their villages with materials and your labour. We get to enjoy a social interaction in the villages and experience some very rural living conditions. Our vehicle is a 13-seater overland truck fully equipped with camping and survival gear. We travel on safari past the ocean and mountains, desert and forests, through game reserves, National Parks and wilderness areas meeting a diversity of cultures and people.
We share and learn knowledge daily on different sciences within the Field Guides Association curriculum, from mammal Ethology, bird, reptile and plant identification, geology covering soils and grasses, medicinal and edible plants, basic survival knowledge and understanding of the ecology, and the inter-relationship of the ecosystem.
Our outings will take you out of your comfort space and question your understanding of the environment and your fragile ability to survive in a wilderness situation. A degree of fitness is required but most of all an open mind and a good pair of hiking boots.
We explore old San rock art caves and look for medicinal plants and learn some basic survival skills. We are privileged in this part of the world to be able to experience rock art dating between 6 000 - 70 000 years of age and many stone age sites stretching from the coastal region to the interior.
Adventure Tourism packages are tailor made on request for small groups. If you are in this area or wish to visit the Garden Route and experience what's available, drop us a message and we can assist and add to your itinerary with as much action as you can pack in! We do not handle car hire but will arrange your transport if required.


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Q: Should I get a membership before making reservations?
A: No.
Q: Do you offer special prices/discounts for long stay guests?
A: Yes. We offer 30% off discount for guests staying more than 30 days and prepaying in full when checking in.
Q: Do you offer breakfast with accommodations?
A: No, we don't. Our guests purchase Royal Host Restaurant breakfast tickets from our front desk. Tickets are NT$100 each however worth NT$132 at the restaurant. Breakfast service hours are from 7 A.M. to10:30 A.M..
Q: Can I bring my own pet to hotel?
A: No.
Q: Are IDs required when checking in?
A: Yes. According to local regulations, IDs are required when checking in. We are sorry but we don't accept guests offering no IDs.
Q: Can I use a credit card at Y Hotel Taipei?
A: Yes. SSL official booking, we accept Visa, Master, JCB. In person, we accept Visa, Master, JCB, AE and CUP Credit cards. As regarding for billing via fax, we only accept Visa, Master and JCB credit cards.
Q: Can I remit the payment to Y Hotel Taipei?
A: Yes, Remittance information as follows:
Name of Bank : Cathay United Bank Bank Code: 013
A/C Name: Y Hotel Taipei A/C Number: 001-03-500078-6
Swift Code: UWCBTWTP Oversea customer + 200 NTD trans charge.
Please email or fax us a copy of the bank remittance advice slip to unform us the transfer.
Q: Do you offer a safe to keep luxury?
A: Yes, we do. We offer safe services at our front desk.
Q: Do you offer luggage services?
A: Yes, we do. We offer luggage services for our checking-out guests. And we also offer services for guests arriving here before 15:00.
Q: What's the difference between Twin Room and Double Room?
A: We offer two single beddings for Twin Room guests and one large bedding for Double Room guests.
Q: How do I make overseas YMCA reservations?
A: Please refer to webpage from www.ymca.int.


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July 1, 2015 – Boca Raton, Florida – During the process of commercial disputes and regulatory investigations, those involved often find themselves with vast amounts of potentially useful and relevant information that must be collected and sorted. Lawyers and others working on these cases do not have the resources to go over every document themselves, but EDT Software believes that they have the solution to this pressing need. Tune in to watch the eDiscovery segment airing on Bloomberg International as sponsored programming on July 4, 2015 at 7:00 am GMT. Check your local listings for airtimes.
Lawyers often face struggles related to changes in the prominent forms of communication. No longer are documents entirely on paper, instead they are digital. Items often must be printed, scanned, and classified in traditional systems. Current practices for classifying documents throughout the discovery process tends to cost excessive amounts of money. EDT Software works to cut through the chaos and help legal teams streamline their collection and sorting of data.
Vice President of Programming, JL Haber, describes the importance of EDT software in the legal field. He says, "Although technology is expected to make our lives and our work more efficient, in the case of e-discovery, it can actually make things more complicated. When we learned about EDT and how they help legal teams sort through their documents efficiently, we were excited to get them on the show and share their ideas with our audience."
EDT Software allows teams to integrate and consolidate all of their information into a single place. The information can be easily modified when details of the case changes, such as the names of witnesses or the time of key events. The software helps firms to analyze the documents uploaded, so that less time is spent trying to read every letter that has been sent. The software helps to identify key documents that need to be reviewed, estimate costs associated with the cases, and more.
Those who are interested in learning more about EDT Software and its potential for legal teams in a variety of settings should tune in to Bloomberg International as sponsored programming on July 4, 2015 at 7:00 am GMT. Check your local listings for airtimes.
About 21st Century Television
21st Century Television is an award winning business and health program that is independently produced by MMP (USA), Inc. The show provides its viewers an in depth opportunity to find solutions to the industry problems from some of the top business leaders from across the world. With more than 5,000 companies participating on over 500 shows, 21st Century Television continues to be the premier and targeted outlet for the latest business and health stories. 21st Century Television airs on cable networks to over 100 million potential television households.
For specific market-by-market air dates and times, please e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com. For more information, please visit www.tvbusinessnews.com
Media Contact
Company Name: MMP (USA), Inc.
Contact Person: Susan Waters
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Phone: 561-988-9455
Address:999 Yamato Rd.
City: Boca Raton
State: Florida
Country: United States
Website: http://www.bloomberg.com/tv/channel-finder/


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Pauls Stag
Paul... Wishing you all the best for your wedding day... I also have to say you are a lucky chap to have so many great friends with whom to share your day.... Today everything conspired for us to have a truly great day.. wonderful company, superb archery and some beautiful Summer Sun..
Some very funny banter flowing and I have to say it was a real treat for me and Matt to see some superb archery right from the get go... hardly any need for us to step in as you folks really took to it like you were born to it..
A staggeringly close competition with the leaders being reeled in point by point at the end..despite the fierce competition everything was good humoured which is exactly how archery tournaments should be fought...
Team Tel 101
Team Paul 100.5
Villains 84
Fancy Flight 84
Ellievilles 74
The individual was a sensational archery spectacular which ended with 3 finalists battling it out for the right to claim to be " The Archer of the Day".
Tel the archery phenomenon 35+3
Steve the Magnificent 35+2
Mark the bold 27
Folks .. we rely absolutely on word of mouth and recommendation.. if you had a fun day please leave a comment on our testimonial page - it helps us to convince people to give us a try.... thanks. Please come again soon... that was FUN !! All the best Steve
Oh by the way, if you don't already get our monthly newsletter why not sign up in the box on the Right. We only use your mail address for the newsletters and never share it with anyone, you may opt out at any time, but we do have special offers and special events which are only available through the newsletter hope to see you all again soon- Steve
Special offer available NOW at our Kent venue Just £49 per person on our standard weekend experience days.. Thats a £20 per person DISCOUNT!!.
The New Super Amazing Robin Hood venue opening 2020... Expect the unexpected !!
Next Masterclass with availability - Call for details
* required


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3) Double tap the Instagram post that coordinates with this giveaway (prize package #5)
Sharing is not necessary, but greatly appreciated!
This contest is open worldwide and will close at 12:00 AM EST on 04.26.17. Winner will be chosen at random. Winner will have 48 hours to claim prize after email notification. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed, administered by, or associated with Facebook or Instagram.
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Beachfront Baby
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Beachfront Baby® Wrap water carriers are a must have for the summer! Performance athletic mesh lends breath-ability with just the right amount of stretch. One size wrap dimensions are 15 ft in length and 19-20 inches at the center. One size fits adults who wear a size S, M or L shirt. Our "one size" carriers can be shared by multiple caregivers so no confusing size charts needed!
The fabric feels like a lightweight, silky swimsuit which keeps it light in the water & allows it to dry very quickly. Wear baby in the shower, at the beach, at the water-park or in the pool. This especially comes in handy for keeping your hands free to play with or help older children in the water! Works great as an out of water carrier as well!' #beachfrontbabywrap #beachfrontbabysling
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'Linen may just be the best sling fabric there is. Before cotton was widely cultivated, linen was the go-to fabric for just about everything -- daily wear, bedclothes, accessories... if it was sewn, it was made with linen. It's strong, supportive, long-wearing, and is especially terrific for hot climates, since the fibers tend to wick moisture away and allow it to evaporate, rather than holding it in place as cotton tends to do. Soft but slightly crisp when you first open the package, it gets softer with every wash cycle, so do wash before using it for the first time. Its reputation for wrinkles is deserved, but that rumpled look is, after all, quite sought-after these days, and it can be smoothed out with a quick ironing if you're so inclined. I find it quite supportive in a single layer. Recommended from newborn to around 30 pounds. The fabric will certainly hold up to at least 35 pounds, but becomes less comfortable for long periods of time with increasing weights. I have used one with my three-year-old, who weighed about 32 pounds at the time, and it was fine for periods of up to 30 minutes, which is generally all a toddler will want for that up-and-down stage. (Dominant shoulder doesn't matter since there's no directional element.)'
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Tekhni Wovens
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Introduction and Description of Position
As part of our expansion plans we are looking for a talented DevOps Automation Engineer to work in our Zagreb office.
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I just had a great conversation with my good friend Dr. Fermin Whittaker this morning about the topic of Social Networking. We talked about ministry effectiveness and the need for authenticity in all of our motives. Are we really after the numbers or is there another bench-mark that we should place our aim? We talked about community and how that word has become elemental in our culture. Questions began streaming as we talked, I'm asking myself: What am I doing to take what I do to the next level of impacting lives? How can I do a better job of communicating?
Dr. Whittaker is an out of the box thinker, which allows him to step into the thinking processes of young people and look at what's coming soon with excitement for change rather than dread. Speaking of change… (more…)
Archive for the 'Culture' Category
Re:action – too busy.
Posted in Culture, Spirituality, tagged nap, sabbath, tech on May 7, 2008| 1 Comment »
I left my phone at home today. I feel naked. There's no reason to have my phone today, so I shouldn't feel anxious. Like most days I will drive home later on and probably won't need to pull over and call someone for help. If I need to call someone regarding work, or even if I want to call home, I have my office phone right here on my desk. I have so many other ways to communicate it's ridiculous. My computer blips with a new email recieved every few minutes. I check facebook at work. shhh…don't tell anyone. On a normal day, I'm communicating electronically all day long. Whenever I do something it's almost as if something electronic told me to. I wonder what would happen if I unplugged for a day. Or what if I took a sabbath day. I think I would nap.
Re:action – The Bear
Posted in Culture, Real, Spirituality, tagged Bear, Camp, Christians, Mountains on April 23, 2008| 1 Comment »
The bear
While I was in college, I had the opportunity to be a lifeguard and summer staff leader at Pine Summit Christian Camp with my friends Thomas and Christal Castro. One of the best things about that summer was that I got to spend a lot of time hanging out and getting to know high school students. During one of those weeks of camp, a young man named Tony graced us with his attendance. Tony was in 8th grade and was too tall for his age making him just a bit uncoordinated. He wore the punk getup, with a sideways cap and baggy jeans perhaps to fit in or maybe to look dumb intentionally. This kid from the beginning had an easily identified M.O. He was there to impress the chics. Everything he did had the hidden or not-so-hidden agenda of scoring himself a camp girlfriend. (more…)
Re:action – Surprised? not really
Posted in Culture, Spirituality on August 10, 2007| Leave a Comment »
New Blogroll Link.
Hey friends, I haven't written in a while, a new train of thought is moving though and new posts are on the way. However, i have been reading and keeping up with one major study going on at the Lifeway research center; Ed Stetzer's new blog deals heavily with the issue of why students are leaving churches today. I want you to read the articles that have come out and will be coming out on this issue. Instead of even writing or commenting about it I turn you over to them. Click the edstetzer.com link on the blogroll now!
Re:action – 4,500 Contacts
Posted in Culture, Travel on April 19, 2007| 2 Comments »
4,500 Contacts
I have two more days in Oman and then I get on a plane and head back to the US. I have a feeling I'll be telling stories for a long time. I've learned a lot about the History of Oman since I've been here, I won't get into it now but oddly enough people would assume that since I have a degree in History, that means I know the history of every part of the world. Well, actually yes I do; It's called History according to Chris. As of right now, credibility is a small problem but I'm working on it. So anyway, I went to a Portuguese Fort today and really enjoyed walking around and discovering things that influenced the Omani culture that may still be intact today. A student of History doesn't necessarily know everything about a subject, he tries, but the goal is to realize contextual clues and critical catalysts that define or defined a society and its contribution to civilization. Intense huh. (more…)
Re:action – Sights, Smells, Tastes and Sounds.
Posted in Culture, Travel on April 16, 2007| 5 Comments »
Sights, Smells, Tastes and Sounds.
There is a shedding away of stereotypes and prejudices when someone views a culture from an intimate perspective and is willing to confront and challenge their previous understanding. This is why traditional academia and scholastic resources are only half of my education. I can only gather a subjective perspective from an expert on a subject and can only read one aspect at a time from an entire library of books. And I don't plan on reading every book written on a subject because I don't have that sort of time. So with traveling, though my experiences is still somewhat subjective, it adds the flavors, smells and life to my learning experience enough to broaden and deepen my grasp of culture. This happened a couple years ago after taking a semester course on Holocaust studies then following up with a two week trip to Eastern Europe to add the contextual spice of walking where the Jews walked, and visiting the places that so many books were describing. Granted, I will never know the smells, sights, tastes and sounds of the Holocaust, I can learn much more by going than I can by sitting and listening to what other people tell me is true about it. The same thing is happening here in Oman. No, I'm not in Iran hiding my bible under the sheets as I read, but being able to experience this culture is so beneficial to the stripping away of misguided understandings that are found everywhere in America of Arab nations as a whole. Actually, most people don't know this but the Iranians aren't even Arab, they're Persian. It's so easy to look at the Arab race as an inferior people and I won't rant about this but it's the media that insights us. We're so angry with these people and we don't have a clue why we feel the way we do. I don't know enough about Islam or any other religion for that matter other than Christianity, but if I were going to jump onto a bandwagon of bigotry I would need to know that not all Muslims belong the same schools of theology that Osama bin Ladin adheres to. It's not like that at all! In fact, something I learned this week was that the Omani Muslims practice a brand of Islam that is unique to the Middle Eastern Region called Ibadhism. Here's the deal, I could write and write until my fingers bleed and it wouldn't make a difference, the only way that light will be shed on a new understanding is if we take the time to check out what's around the bend. (more…)
Re:action – The Leaving Generation
Posted in Culture on February 13, 2007| 2 Comments »
The Leaving Generation
What this guy has to say about 18-34 year old Christians is right on. Jim Johnson, Director of Young Adult Ministry at Lifeway gives four important things that churches are struggling with in reaching young people. This discussion will help you get a grasp on what you may need to do to connect with "the Leaving Generation." The Inside Lifeway podcast is an excellent resource for thoughts on Ministry and Evangelism in the 21st century. Check it out:
The Leaving Generation: http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/988828
Index: http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podcasts/23279


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Sunday, October 29, 2006
Leeds 2 Southend 0: Leeds show their teeth
Duncan Castles at Elland Road
Leeds came into this match in relegation form, having shipped 18 goals while losing their last five matches. Logically they should possibly have lost Dennis Wise's first match in charge too, since it was against the same side who had beaten Leeds here during the week. But Wise relishes challenges and he rose to this one.
The win came from late goals in each half, from Ian Moore and Robbie Blake, large draughts of perspiration, and a fair degree of fortune in resisting Southend's second-half dominance. Wise, though, had been flown in to end a miserable run, and that he did. Never shy about making an impact, his first move at Elland Road had been to appoint Kevin Nicholls captain, principally because the midfielder was brave enough to give him a kicking last time they played each other.
"I want nastiness and togetherness," said Wise, who also wanted to send a message out to an ageing and lately truculent squad.
Having lost the captaincy to a man recovering from knee surgery, Paul Butler is one of a number of players on the cusp of losing their jobs. A new club has been sought for Sean Gregan, borrowed goalkeeper Tony Warner may return to his old one, while Steve Stone is to be paid off. The signals were there long before Wise agreed to leave League Two Swindon, chairman Ken Bates unfavourably comparing his playing staff to excrement after one recent reverse.
Wise has been too canny to comment publicly on that analysis, but there were changes to the Leeds team that had granted Southend progress to the fourth round of the League Cup for the first time in the club's history five days previously.
Graham Stack came in at goalkeeper, Eddie Lewis dropped to left-back to accommodate Adam Johnson, while Richard Cresswell was added as a second striker.
Soon Leeds were turning the screw with Johnson stretching his marker to send in crosses and a long-range drive that just failed to produce goals. On the other wing, Luke Moore was a persistent threat, one long, cross-field dribble almost teeing up David Healy. Southend's central defenders were working double shifts to keep the Northern Irishman and Cresswell at bay.
Less clever for Leeds was the right side of defence, where Gary Kelly insisted on tucking in so tight to the beefy Butler that Southend were left freedom to roam.
Freddy Eastwood gratefully accepted it and was a deft Matthew Kilgallon interception away from laying on a Luke Gutteridge opener. Instead the first goal came from Moore, courtesy of a 40-yard Lewis pass that set him free down the centre of the park. The converted forward strode on, drew Darryl Flahavan from his line, and calmly clipped over the goalkeeper.
The Lion Sleeps Tonight was Bates' curious choice of interval music, but his predators appeared to be rousing nicely as Cresswell nearly doubled Leeds' advantage after the restart.
Southend, though, were also awakening, with Peter Clarke placing one header over the bar and seeing another touched away by Stack.
With home fitness visibly fading, Eastwood almost caught the keeper out with a low drive, but it was Leeds who were to score again, Blake's spiralling free kick granting them a flattering margin of victory.
Star Man: Eddie Lewis (Leeds)
Player Ratings: Leeds: Stack 7, Kelly 6, Butler 6, Kilgallon 7, Lewis 7, Moore 7 (Richardson 61min, 71), Douglas 5, Derry 6, Johnson 6 (Westlake 87min, 6), Healy 6 (Blake 80min, 7), Cresswell 6.
Southend: Flahavan 6, Hunt 6, Sodje 7, Barrett 7, Hammell 7, Gutteridge 6 (Campbell-Rice 78min, 6), Clarke 6, Maher 6, Gower 6, Hooper 5 (Harrold 72min, 6), Eastwood 7
Blues strike £5m Leeds deal
Duncan Castles
Chelsea reach out-of-court settlement to avoid action over poaching
CHELSEA have avoided being found guilty of illegally approaching three Leeds United youth players by reportedly offering £5m in compensation for the two who ultimately moved to Stamford Bridge. Leeds had obtained mobile phone records of Chelsea communications with Daniel Rose, Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods last season while they were attached to the Leeds academy. Taiwo and Woods moved to Chelsea without transfer fees being agreed.
A joint Premier League and FA investigation into the affair ended on Friday when the bodies let Leeds withdraw their complaint. Last night, Chelsea denied that the compensation, which is understood to involved staged payments, was as much as £5m, and were keen to emphasise strongly that there had been no admission of liability.
A joint FA and League statement read: "Leeds has withdrawn their complaint and the Premier League has been advised by both clubs that any claims and litigation arising out of any alleged improper approach have been settled.
"Chelsea have undertaken to conduct an internal review of policies and procedures in relation to the recruitment of players, take steps to rectify any shortcomings . . . and develop their own code of conduct."
Leeds's phone evidence came from Chelsea scout Gary Worthington, who spent five years at Leeds before moving to his new job in July 2005. He is understood to have signed a severance agreement with Leeds in which he promised not to recruit any of his former charges for 18 months.
But it is believed he continued to use his Leeds mobile number, contacting Taiwo and Woods before they signed with Chelsea, who denied making an illegal approach and initially offered Leeds £200,000 each for the players. Leeds will use the compensation to fund an overhaul of their first-team squad in January.
Wise words not enough
Rob Hughes
Wise must do more than promise grit if he is to win the hearts and minds of Leeds fans
Whoever is writing the script for Dennis Wise and Ken Bates at Leeds United has a lot to learn about the club, the city, and the real meaning of what it would take to earn the respect, never mind the affection, of a one-club, one-eyed Yorkshire football community.
On Thursday, the official unveiling of the 15th manager appointed in the 32 years since Don Revie left the club, they walked Wise past the bronze statue of Billy Bremner. They presented him in the Bremner Suite, where black and white photographs of the former captain hang like old and faded memories.
And when Wise, the street-smart Londoner, was asked to set out his stall for the new Leeds United era, he took a direct line to the past. "I told the players I want them to be a bit like the Leeds of before who were . . ." He searched the walls for a word. One came. "Well, 'orrible. I want a bit of nastiness, like they used to have here."
Bates, the chairman who had employed Wise as the grit in his Chelsea teams, barely suppressed a smile. For Bates, now investing some of his Chelsea payoff in trying to exhume Leeds, the analogy Wise was trying to pull off is doubtless a real memory.
You have to be older than Wise's 39 years actually to recall wee Billy Bremner. You need to read Michael Parkinson's cutting phrase in this newspaper more than 40 years ago to picture Bremner, the fiery captain of the old Leeds, as "10st of barbed wire".
Ten stone was a bit on the generous side for Bremner, just as it would be for Wise. They were diminutive warriors of the field, the "poison dwarves" of combative football. Yet getting to know Bremner after his 16 years of sheer perseverance in Leeds's white was to discover a mellow man of almost secretive, charitable deeds.
He once went Awol from a Revie training session, took his punishment, and never explained to the boss that he had answered a knock on his door that morning and instinctively gone with a mother to visit her daughter, who was in a coma.
"It makes you seem so soft," he later confided, "and you didn't want to show that side to anybody in the game, did you?" The hope of the mother was that the voice of Bremner, already then synonymous with the coarse side of Leeds's football, would bring her daughter to life. It didn't, but he tried.
And the point is that, all these years on and long after Billy himself had passed away following a heart attack, identifying the new manager with the old skipper simply by alluding to "nastiness" will not begin to restore what Leeds have long lost.
Better men have perished in the process of trying. Brian Clough followed Revie in 1974, and lasted 44 days before a player rebellion got him the sack. Jock Stein came, saw, and retreated sharply back to Scotland. And like skittles, a succession of some of the British Isles's most capable managers walked the ghostly corridors of Elland Road. Not all of them failed. Howard Wilkinson, with his chairman Leslie Silver and his captain Gordon Strachan, revived the past and won the title back in 1992, with a team containing the likes of Gary McAllister, David Batty, Gary Speed, Lee Chapman and Eric Cantona. George Graham built up a tough platform from which David O'Leary briefly prospered until he and his gullible chairman Peter Ridsdale overdid the spending and took Leeds as close as any major club in modern times has come to liquidation.
It has floundered rudderless since, and it took a man as cantankerous and as dogged as Bates to dare to step in and try, for his own sake as much as for Leeds, to mend the broken club.
Irascible as ever as he closes in on 75 years of age, "Batesy", as Wise publicly called him on Thursday, chipped in with the line that if people don't like the new management "they can follow somebody else".
There's the rub. There is no other club the Leeds supporters can follow, and no other option but to get behind the new team and, as the signature song of Leeds United goes, "march on together".
When the superlatives were done on Thursday, Wise told the press that his first ruthless act had already taken place on the training ground at Thorpe Arch. He had relieved Paul Butler, the ageing centre back, of the captaincy, and given the armband to the former Luton and Wigan midfielder Kevin Nicholls, a man who, because of injuries, has yet to make any telling impression at Leeds following his arrival from Kenilworth Road in July. "Nicko's the type that I like," Wise enthused. "He's got a bit of bite about him. He's very aggressive, a leader. I played against him a couple of times and he booted me — and it hurt. He's a nice fella, he's what I want."
You mean, a journalist suggested, he's like you, a combative spirit? "Thank you," said Wise, flashing that cheeky-chappie Cockney smile. "The players will find I'm very honest, to the point. I'm not a ranter and raver.
"I suppose I've been a bit selfish (leaving Swindon Town after less than four months in charge there), and let down the players there, but I've told every one of them that this is a massive, wonderful challenge with a big club and I'd be stupid to turn it down."
He was asked if he will move the wife and family up to Yorkshire, and said he had discussed that with his family. The plan is that they stay in the south and he gives it as long as is required in Leeds — on a contract that neither Bates nor Wise will specify the length.
Some players, he said, will have to go, some new ones will come in, no different to every new manager at every club. Yet it was different, partly because of the legacy that was all around us in those sepia-toned pictures, partly because of Wise's own men sharing his inaugural platform. Bates, of course, was central to it. Gus Poyet, the former team-mate of Wise who was at home in Uruguay when he got a call "out of the blue" from Dennis last July asking if he fancied joining him as assistant manager and coach at Swindon. "And now, in just three months, we're here at this big club," said Poyet. "It's unbelievable."
Completing the platform quartet, and again a former Chelsea blue, was Gwyn Williams. After 27 years at the Bridge, working every job from scout to assistant to such first-time managers as Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli, and such imported managers as Claudio Ranieri, Williams had seen the entire Bates era from the reputed £1 purchase of the indebted Chelsea to the £17m Bates personally received when Roman Abramovich took over.
Bates took the money, but couldn't live a tax exile's tranquillity in Monaco without the angst of football. And it was Williams, the observer of all things at Chelsea, who in the summer left Stamford Bridge and shortly afterwards accepted the task of rebuilding the playing side, from apprentices to Bosman-type transfers, at Leeds.
"It is," he said on Thursday, "very much like Chelsea all over again." He had started there as youth development officer under Geoff Hurst in 1979, and one of his first tasks at Leeds is to try to help Bates recover compensation for youth players lured from Leeds to Chelski. Williams has observed every one of 11 managers' first days at Chelsea, from Hurst to Jose Mourinho, and helped foreigners from every part of the globe to settle into English football. So when he says that there was something impressively direct about Wise's first training session at Leeds, something he describes in a single word, "management", there speaks a man who knows what it takes to survive tough times in football, and harsh times under Bates.
After the chairman called time on the mass media conference, it was Williams who drove Wise to the hotel that will be his home from home. And it had been Williams, often the silent witness of all that has gone on at Chelsea's transformation, who mostly watched and listened as the hot air was dispensed from the top table on Thursday.
"He's a Rottweiler, that one," Williams said more than once afterwards, using the term to suggest that this club, with its antipathy to all things Chelsea and with its mistrust of outsiders, will need the most tenacious of wills to conquer.
Meanwhile, for the media, Bates was giving out the descriptive words he thinks sums up his newest team manager. "He's tough, a leader, a motivator, a winner," said Bates. "Need any more?" There is, though both men seek to play it down, an affinity between Wise and Bates — a closeness that might compare to the old Leeds days when Manny Cousins was chairman, Don Revie a first-time manager, and Billy Bremner the heart of a team that possessed far greater talents than are remotely available today.
"I don't think personal (friendship) comes into it," insisted Wise when asked if the fact that Bates was godfather to one of his children would spare him the sack. "I know that one day it will happen, but Batesy will still be godfather to my son. There's a working relationship, and I trust him. If I do the job right, I won't get the sack, if I don't, I will, simple as that."
Bates said nothing, but Poyet had an observation. "You ask if Dennis would have come for any other chairman," he said. "Do you think anyone else would offer him a job like this?"
Saturday, October 28, 2006
He's only 5 foot 4 . . . but Leeds fans should Wise up to his merits
By Giles Smith
THE dismay among fans surrounding the appointment of Dennis Wise as manager of Leeds United is perfectly understandable. Anyone who has taken an interest in the storied career of this crop-haired, modern-day maverick tends to develop firm opinions about him and is, accordingly, bound to wonder whether Leeds is a fit place for a person of Wise's sophistication and thoughtfulness.
You can see how the culture of the club has already unsettled the former Chelsea captain. At his inaugural press conference, conducted in a room threateningly hung with images of Norman Hunter and the late Billy Bremner, Wise spoke, with apparent relish, of the "horrible" Leeds sides of the past and pledged to bring back some of the "nastiness" that characterised the club in their long-gone heyday. He also appointed Kevin Nicholls as the new club captain — chiefly, as he explained it, on the grounds that Nicholls had once kicked Wise during a match, "and it hurt".
This grimly combative, almost quaintly old-fashioned message was so far from the nature of the silky playmaker and imperious, box-to-box midfield general who graced Stamford Bridge in the Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli eras that one had to assume it was merely part of a canny ploy to ingratiate himself with the locals. The alternative interpretation — that Wise was serving notice of a plan to sink to Leeds's level, rather than encourage Leeds to rise to his — was, for anyone who fondly appreciates Wise and what he has come to stand for, too disquieting to contemplate.
Unless he was in on the joke, Gustavo Poyet, who was Wise's team-mate at Chelsea, was latterly his assistant at Swindon Town and who now joins him at Leeds, must have been scratching his head in confusion at his partner's press conference performance. The former Uruguay international is an instinctively level-headed character who, in his career as a player, was sent off, for spitting, only once. It could only have surprised him to learn that he was now being invited to form a Kray-style double act in Yorkshire and play the Reggie to Wise's Ronnie.
Common sense suggests, though, that the "horrible" and "nasty" stuff was a sop to local feeling, and a decent bit of headline stealing on Wise's part. Certainly it hardly tallied with what one knows of the philosophy of the man who learnt his trade at Wimbledon under Dave Bassett and Bobby Gould, but then (and this is the important thing), had the intelligence to unlearn large portions of it under more sophisticated guidance at Chelsea. Thus did Wise smartly reinvent himself within the context of a game going rapidly forwards in the grip of the "foreign revolution", eventually leaving his mark around the club as a family man of sophisticated tastes with a mews house in Knightsbridge and a devilishly handsome smile.
Wise is still hymned at Chelsea as a lifter of trophies and as the scorer of a stunningly well-executed late goal against AC Milan under the hot lights of the San Siro in 1999. Fans also recall his firm belief in the importance of playfulness in football — perhaps best embodied in the friendly pinch he once gave to the inner thigh of Nicky Butt, of Manchester United. And if Butt happened to pick up the wrong end of the stick and end up lashing out at Wise and getting sent off, well, that only indicates how Wise's approach was poorly comprehended within the game at large. It is all too frequently the fate of the genuinely pioneering to be misunderstood.
Leeds fans, with their reputation for straight talking and their long years in the wilderness, were bound to bridle at the arrival at the club's helm of someone such as Wise, with his medals and his fancy ways. Even so, sometimes the levels of ingratitude to which the truly fortunate are capable of rising can only take one's breath away. "You can stick Dennis Wise up your a***," Leeds fans chanted last weekend. But you can' t, so let's end this sizeist nonsense directly, shall we? Wise is small, but he's not that small.
Let those disgruntled supporters also take comfort from Sir Alex Ferguson's famous, admiring, even slightly covetous, tribute to Wise – that he could "start a fight in an empty house". Only 10,449 watched Leeds lose 3-1 to Southend United in the Carling Cup this week. Clearly Elland Road isn't quite an empty house yet, but it's getting there, making Wise, by Ferguson's definition, even more obviously the man for the job.
For which all credit must go to the vision of Ken Bates, the Leeds chairman, who, let's face it, could simply have found the first troublemaker on his Rolodex to come in and rough everyone up a bit, but instead made a decision with football in mind. Who knows what fruits could yet be yielded by this dramatic reunion? Provided, that is, that Wise has the stubbornness and tenacity to resist local history and do things his own way. And provided that Leeds allow him to be his own man, as alien as that man may seem to the club at this time.
By Mark Walker, PA Sport
New Leeds manager Dennis Wise wasted no time in stamping his authority on the ailing Yorkshire club and told sceptical fans he was now one of them - whether they liked it or not.
The former Chelsea midfielder, a player the Leeds fans used to love to hate, insisted he can get the club back to the Barclays Premiership and said he was ready to start wielding the axe in pursuit of success.
The no-nonsense 39-year-old revealed at a press conference where he and assistant Gus Poyet were introduced to the media that his first task was to strip Paul Butler of the team captaincy and hand the role to Kevin Nicholls.
Wise stated it was clearly evident from the Carling Cup defeat to Southend in midweek that the dressing room was not harmonious.
But he was pleasantly surprised by the welcome he received from fans at Elland Road and insisted he had already put what had gone on in the past firmly behind him.
"I was expecting a couple of things to be launched at my head," Wise joked when asked about the crowd's reaction on Tuesday.
"But no, it was very nice of them to give me a clap and a cheer.
"No matter about the past. I'm here to try to do a job and achieve something for Leeds United Football Club and I'll give them as much as I can give them.
"I'm not very tall, but I'll give them everything I've got."
Wise, who guided Millwall to the FA Cup final in 2004 and steered Swindon to third place in the Coca-Cola League Two table when he answered Leeds chairman Ken Bates' SOS, said the players were in desperate need of a boost.
"They do need confidence, that's important and they need to be together, they need to be in it together - that's the most important part," said Wise.
"Having watched the last game they're not quite together as a bunch and are not organised.
"Looking at the (Southend) game you could see that some things were wrong and they need to change and we're here with different ideas and to do things we think are right and will get us out of trouble."
When asked if the players were in for a shock, Wise was interrupted by Bates who said: "I think they have had that already."
Wise added: "The players understand what they are getting and that is a bit of honesty.
"I don't pull my punches and I'm not afraid to tell them what's what and what they need to do.
"The important part is that you know what you want and I know what I want, and I have got to put that across to the players.
"They know that now I have made a couple of decisions early doors with regard the captaincy.
"It was important for me to make a younger up-and-coming player the captain. He (Nicholls) was captain at Luton and has a bit of bite about him and that's what I want."
The former member of the infamous Wimbledon Crazy Gang said he was ready to instil the side with bite and a winning mentality.
"I want them to be a bit like the Leeds of old - horrible," Wise added. "I want a bit of nastiness and togetherness.
"I have explained that to them. The fans get behind them, they are fantastic fans and the other night when we had lost 3-1 they were still singing.
"I said 'Come on lads, these fans are trying to help you and you just need to give a bit more'."
Assistant Poyet, a former Uruguayan international and Wise's former midfield partner at Chelsea, claimed it was a dream come true for the pair to be in charge of a big club.
He was in no doubt Wise would soon be immensely popular.
Poyet said: "If you think that five or six months ago I was at home in Uruguay, I then get a phone call from Dennis to come back and we go to Swindon and four months later we are here at this big club - we are dreaming.
"But it's very easy for me to understand Dennis. I know what he wants. We're quite happy to be together.
"We are very honest in the way we treat players and we know what we want.
"It's one thing knowing Dennis as a player, but when you know him personally it's a different matter and I'm sure the supporters here, they will love him."
Meet the new Dennis Wise - a thinking man's manager
Dominic Fifield
Thursday October 26, 2006
The Guardian
Dennis Wise has received a ringing endorsement from the man who hopes to replace him at Swindon Town, Ady Williams, as the new Leeds manager attempts to spark a similar revival at Elland Road to the one instigated at the County Ground.
Wise and his assistant, Gus Poyet, watched their new side capitulate to Southend United in the Carling Cup on Tuesday and will be unveiled this afternoon with Leeds a point from the foot of the Championship and reeling after five successive defeats. Yet Williams, who was signed by the 39-year-old in the summer with Swindon relegated to League Two, believes he could prove an inspirational appointment, having lifted Swindon to third place in his short spell in charge.
"Swindon needed to be picked up," said Williams, a Wales defender who briefly played alongside Wise at Coventry last season before playing his part in Swindon winning their opening six league games. "This club needed a personality, a name like Dennis to pick it up by the scruff of the neck in the summer and give it a kick up the backside. Presumably, that's what he's hoping to do at Leeds as well.
"But people shouldn't get the wrong impression of Dennis. First and foremost, he's the complete opposite as a manager from what most people would perceive him to be, certainly from the figure people recognise from his playing days. I've very rarely heard him rant and rave. He's never flung any teacups in the dressing room or used the hairdryer treatment, which is what most people would assume."
There has been public scepticism in West Yorkshire as to whether Wise and Poyet, with their Chelsea connection, are the men to arrest the club's slump. Despite reaching last season's play-off final under Kevin Blackwell, Leeds have conceded 18 goals in their past five games with the reserve team manager, Dave Geddis, put in temporary charge against Southend, admitting: "Anybody who comes to this club in the situation we are in, with the confidence so low, has got a massive job on their hands. Momentum has to pick up sometime because it can't get any worse."
Wise, who appointed Andrew Beasley as goalkeeping coach yesterday, steered Millwall to the 2004 FA Cup final and Williams is confident he can reverse Leeds' fortunes. "He's inspirational," said Swindon's 35-year-old caretaker manager. "When you think of the Chelsea days and, for someone of my age, the Crazy Gang winning the FA Cup final, he has that aura about him. As does Gus, who was a first-class player as well. People sit up and take notice when they talk because they've seen it and done it many times over.
"He and Gus work well as a team. They always think before speaking, it's all very organised and very thorough - they're very professional. He's very methodical, a thinking man's manager. No stone is left unturned and he's a big organiser. That's his forte. His lifestyle, I would imagine, is very similar. On a Monday morning he's very structured about what is going to be done in the week in the build-up to a game, and he sticks with it."
Swindon's players are adjusting to life without Wise, with the striker Christian Roberts admitting his departure was "devastating", though Williams hopes to maintain the momentum generated by his predecessor as he attempts to secure the position on a permanent basis. He appointed Barry Hunter as his assistant last night and will take charge for the first time against Lincoln on Saturday.
"I've been fortunate to have played for the likes of Mark McGhee, Alan Pardew, Mark Hughes with Wales, Peter Reid, Micky Adams and Steve Coppell," he said. "You can't help but learn from these people. I'll take something from all of them, including Dennis, and hope to mould my own style. This is something I've always wanted to do and I hope to grab this chance."
Managerial career
Millwall 89 36 24 29
Swindon Town 17 9 5 3
Monday, October 23, 2006
Caretaker manager John Carver has parted company with Leeds United.
John presided over five games as caretaker boss, following last month's departure of Kevin Blackwell.
He opened up with a win against Birmingham City on September 23, but United have lost their last four league games and are now 23rd in the Coca-Cola Championship.
The club would like to place on record its thanks to John for stepping into the breach as caretaker manager and also for all his hard work over the past 15 months as assistant manager.
David Geddis is expected to take control of Tuesday's Carling Cup tie against Southend United.
Leeds agree Wise compensation
Swindon manager and assistant Poyet to talk to Leeds
Staff and agencies
Monday October 23, 2006Guardian Unlimited
Leeds tonight announced they have agreed financial compensation with Swindon and have been given permission to discuss personal terms with Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet.
The Robins revealed this morning they had granted the Championship strugglers permission to open talks aimed at bringing the management duo to Elland Road.
But Swindon later claimed negotiations had been broken off after Leeds failed to meet the level of compensation required to prise them from the County Ground, as set out in their contracts.
But, in a statement tonight on their official website, Leeds said: "Leeds United have agreed financial compensation with Swindon Town and have now been granted permission to discuss personal terms with both Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet with a view to them filling the vacant managerial position at the club."
This latest release appears to bring to an end a day of confusion where each club released conflicting statements concerning negotiations for Wise and Poyet's services.
Managerless Leeds crashed to a 5-1 defeat at Luton on Saturday, their fourth defeat in five matches following the dismissal of Kevin Blackwell last month, and chairman Ken Bates seemed to have found a long-term replacement.
The original statement released by Swindon said: "It is with regret that the board of Swindon Town FC on Saturday evening granted permission for Leeds United to talk to Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet.
"The three-year contract that Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet signed with the club in May of this year provides Dennis and Gus with the option to speak with potentially-interested clubs from the Premiership and Coca-Cola Championship, and states that, should Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet resign from Swindon Town FC in order to move to such a club, Swindon Town FC will receive the value of one year of both employees' salary in compensation.
"It is on this basis that the club have reluctantly granted permission for such talks to take place. The board of Swindon Town FC have offered Dennis Wise an improvement to his contract at the club, combined with a share option package in order to secure his services. A further announcement will be made when these talks have been concluded."
Leeds later confirmed the approach, but Swindon apparently pulled the plug on the duo's switch to the Yorkshire club due to an inability to agree compensation.
"Regrettably, it has proven impossible for the clubs to agree a suitable financial package," a second Town statement read. "Earlier today, the club withdrew permission for Leeds to talk with or seek to appoint Dennis Wise and Gus Poyet. Dennis and Gus remain valued members of Swindon as both players and part of the management team."
But the League Two club then hinted a compromise could still be reached and that the deal was not dead.
The statement continued: "While discussions are ongoing between the two clubs, Dennis and Gus remain contracted until the end of June 2009 and are continuing to fulfil their duties; both they and the club are determined to ensure that the progress achieved to date continues.
"Both individuals have been offered significantly improved terms at the club and it is hoped that they will both remain with Swindon for the foreseeable future."
With United going on to claim talks between the two parties were very much alive before releasing the latest statement this evening, it seems likely Wise will rejoin his good friend Bates before the week is out.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
History sounds ominous note for troubled Leeds
Richard Sutcliffeat Elland Road
Leeds United 1Leicester City 2
THE MISERY surrounding Leeds United deepened last night with the latest in what is fast becoming an alarming series of defeats.Goals from Danny Tiatto and Iain Hume were enough to condemn United to their eighth reverse in just 12 Championship games and make this the club's joint worst start to a season of all time. Only three times in United's long history have they lost two-thirds of their opening dozen games and on each occasion it proved very difficult to turn their season round. Twice, in 1946-47 and 2003-04, the club were relegated, while in the 1936-37 campaign Leeds finished just one place above the drop zone in the old First Division.Whether such a fate awaits the current crop remains to be seen but the manner of the two most recent defeats has certainly set the alarm bells ringing at Elland Road.True, Leicester's one-goal triumph last night was nowhere near as bad as the humiliating rout suffered against a distinctly ordinary Stoke City outfit four days earlier with John Carver's side showing much more character and passion.The 10-man home side, Matthew Kilgallon being sent off just after the break for a professional foul, could even have rescued a point with Robbie Blake's 78th-minute header having crossed the line before being cleared by Richard Stearman, the linesman somehow adjudging the ball to have stayed out despite being in a perfect position.The sense of injustice was only deepened when Hume doubled the visitors' advantage just two minutes later with a cool finish, making Paul Butler's brave headed goal five minutes from time merely a consolation despite a late rally.Despite that welcome display of character, however, there was little doubt over the 90 minutes that the Foxes were full value for the victory with only a trio of outstanding saves by Neil Sullivan, Shaun Derry's clearance off the line and two efforts also hitting the woodwork preventing the winning margin being even more emphatic.The message from the United fans certainly rang out clear during the second half with chairman Ken Bates being told by a sizeable section of the 16,477 crowd to "sort it out, or clear off home".Action is clearly needed because Leeds are showing all the hallmarks of a club in limbo at the moment and it will take strong leadership both on and off the field to turn the tide on the current malaise.The opening goal of the night had come courtesy of a fortunate deflection when Gary Kelly's attempted clearance smashed into the face of Josh Low and across the United penalty area. There was no doubt about the quality of the finish, however, with Tiatto thrashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net from 15 yards. It was just what United did not need and within 60 seconds it had almost got a lot worse when a static home defence was badly exposed by a deft pass from Elvis Hammond that allowed Low to scamper through unchallenged.As Sullivan raced from his line, the midfielder seemed certain to score only to chip his shot over the advancing goalkeeper and wide of a post.It was a let-off for Leeds who were then grateful to see the Foxes waste two more golden chances either side of the break. The first came when unmarked Gareth McAuley planted a header against the crossbar, and the second two minutes after the break saw Derry hack a goalbound effort from Patrick Kisnorbo off the line after Sullivan had fumbled a cross.Leicester continued to dominate after Kilgallon was sent off when referee Colin Webster, who also booked five United players, adjudged the England Under-21 defender to have hauled the ever-dangerous Hammond to the floor after the pacy striker had been played through by Low.Bizarrely, this merely served to fire up the home side, who at least showed in the final quarter the battling qualities that will be needed to fight their way out of the bottom three.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Leeds United caretaker manager John Carver apologised to fans after Saturday's 4-0 Elland Road defeat at the hands of Stoke City.
United slipped to 22nd in the Championship after Stoke rammed in four goals without a reply to complete an unhappy afternoon for all at Elland Road.
The caretaker boss said: "The first thing I want to do is apologise to the supporters for that.
"It was a dreadful day and I can only say sorry to the fans.
"I pick the team and I prepare the team so the responsibility has to stop with me.
"I feel as low as I've ever felt after that. It's a lonely place when you are out there. It's a dreadful result for everyone connected with this club."
United are back in action again on Tuesday when the caretaker manager will attempt to pick up the pieces in readiness for a clash with Leicester City.
Striker Geoff Horsfield is a major doubt after suffering a hamstring injury against Stoke.
Sunday Times 15/10/06
Leeds 0 Stoke 4: Stoke pile on Leeds' misery
Rob Maul at Elland Road
ELEVEN league matches played, seven demoralising defeats, four of which have come at home — the statistics certainly make depressing reading for followers of Leeds United and, if yesterday's match was anything to judge, then perhaps the chances of caretaker manager John Carver securing the job on a full-time basis is in serious doubt, too.
The nights have barely begun to get shorter and yet Leeds's prospects of promotion this season is looking increasingly unlikely. Behind as early as the seventh minute, through Lee Hendrie's fantastic free kick, they were embarrassingly off the pace, conceding three times more, and losing to Stoke City at Elland Road for the first time since February 1981.
Stoke manager Tony Pulis, who returned to the club this summer for his second spell in charge, has not enjoyed the most satisfying of times recently either, experiencing just one victory this season before this match.
Two of his latest recruits, Salif Diao and Rory Delap — on loan from Liverpool and Sunderland respectively — started yesterday in midfield, although it was Hendrie who produced the most significant first-half contribution for the visitors.
Hendrie, on loan from Aston Villa for three months, initiated the move on six minutes, expertly feeding Vincent Pericard along the left-hand channel with the outside of his boot. Tussling for the ball with defender Matthew Kilgallon, the muscular striker tumbled to the ground, and referee Trevor Kettle, without hesitation, awarded a free kick 20 yards from the Leeds goal. Hendrie, cool and composed, curled the ball right-footed over the wall, and beyond the reach of goalkeeper Neil Sullivan.
A brilliant start for Stoke and an historical one too; it was the first goal they had scored at Elland Road in six matches, a record stretching back to August 1986. It was a dreadful start for Leeds., whose striker David Healy had gone close, forcing an exceptional reflex save from goalkeeper Steve Simonsen. Two goals in four second-half minutes finished off the match. Andy Griffin beat Sullivan at his near post with a powerful right-footed drive and then Danny Higginbotham rose above a static defence to head in a Hendrie corner. Just for good measure, Simonsen saved a poor 80th-minute penalty taken by substitute Robbie Blake, before Ricardo Fuller came off the bench, quite emphatically to score the fourth.
Star Man: Lee Hendrie (Stoke)
Player Ratings: Leeds United: Sullivan 4, Kelly 5, Butler 6, Kilgallon 6, Wright 6, Douglas 6, Derry 5, Westlake 5 (Stone 58min, 5), Lewis 5, Healy 6 (Blake 58min, 5), Horsfield 5 (Cresswell 26min, 6)
Stoke City: Simonsen 8, Hoefkens 7, Duberry 7, Higginbotham 8, Griffin 7, Diao 7 (Brammer 81min, 6), Delap 8, Russell 7, Hendrie 8 (Chadwick 84min, 6), Pericard 7 (Fuller 66min, 7), Sidibe 6
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Competition - Win a DVD - Leeds United - The Greatest Team Ever
Those very lovely and generous people at ILC Sport Direct have let me have three copies of the new DVD "Leeds United - The Greatest Team Ever" to give away in a competition exclusive to visitors to the MIGHTY MIGHTY WHITES WEBSITE.
Visit the site to take part
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Leeds seal loan deal for Wright
Leeds have signed veteran Sheffield United defender Alan Wright in a month-long loan deal.
The 35-year-old is caretaker manager John Carver's first signing and joins the squad for training on Thursday.
Carver told the club website: "Alan comes with a wealth of experience as he has made only 500 appearances mostly in the Premier League.
"He's got good energy and he will attack and go forward but primarily he is a defender." Wright, whose last appearance for Sheffield United was against Arsenal on 23 September, has played for a host of clubs including Blackpool, Blackburn and Middlesbrough as well as eight years at Aston Villa.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
McAllister enters Leeds frame
Former Leeds United favourite Gary McAllister is the latest name in the frame for the manager's job at Elland Road.
The Whites issued a statement this week playing down speculation talks with interested parties had taken place, while Alan Curbishley and caretaker boss John Carver have denied they have been offered the post.
However Glenn Hoddle, Brian Kerr and now McAllister have all emerged as potential candidates to succeed Kevin Blackwell who left Elland Road McAllister enjoyed a successful playing career with the Whites and cut his managerial teeth with Coventry before leaving the game to care for his sick wife.The former Scotland international is believed to be keen on returning to management and a return to Leeds could be on the cards.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
New pages uploaded at mightyleeds.co.uk
21 May 2006 - Leeds United 0 Watford 3
In the most valuable sporting event of all time, United took 40,000 fans to Cardiff - shame the team failed to turn up on and do them justice on a desperately disappointing day
Read the full story at


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"De Pamiri Handicrafts"
De Pamiri Handicraft was founded on April 2004 with the support of the Mountain Society Development Support Programme (MSDSP) the Aga Khan Foundation. The organization has been officially registered by the Regional Justice as an independent establishment under MSDSP the Aga Khan Foundation and became member of the Central Asian Crafts Support Association (CACSA). In 2008 the project was officially registered as independent non-commercial Public Unit "De Pamiri". Currently PU "De Pamiri" is working with more than 100 craftsmen from all the regions of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast (the Pamirs) Republic of Tajikistan.
The diversity of sub-cultures in the Pamirs varies with the Darvaz, Vanj, Yazgulam, Shugnano-Rushan, Ghoron, Ryn, Ishkashim and Kyrgyz distinctive cultures. This cultural diversity represents the variety of the region.
Khorog (GBAO, Tajikistan) Central park, Davronov Elchibek Str.
Tel: 00992 35 22 24829; Mob:91 926 2002
Site: www.depamiri.org


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Journal Article
Reconfigurable Assembly System Design Methodology: A Wing Assembly Case Study
Current assembly systems that deal with large, complex structures present a number of challenges with regard to improving operational performance. Specifically, aerospace assembly systems comprise a vast array of interrelated elements interacting in a myriad of ways, resulting in a deeply complex process that requires a multi-disciplined team of engineers. The current approach to ramp-up production rate involves building additional main assembly fixtures which require large investment and lead times up to 24 months. Within Airbus Operations Ltd there is a requirement to improve the capacity and flexibility of assembly systems, thereby reducing non-recurring costs and time-to-market. Recent trends to improve manufacturing agility advocate Reconfigurable Assembly Systems (RAS) as a viable solution. Yet, adding reconfigurability to assembly systems further increases both the operational and design complexity.


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- Member: Bakadeshi
- Studio: AuN Studios
- Title: Eternal SKY
- Premiered: 2004-09-26
- Categories:
- Akino Arai Time of gold flowing
- Anime:
- Participation:
Its times like this I wish there was a "Sentimental" Category. This video is not exactly a drama, nor is it exactly a character profile, nor is it exactly a romance, nor is it exactly a serious vid, but rather some elements of all of them combined. Its a Sentimental and maybe "Artistic" vid. This vid was entirely experimental, and I had no idea what to expect of it in the Pro contest. Apparantly people liked it though, as It was nominated to the finals in both sentimental and artistic categories.
The story of how this video came to be almost on accident:
This video was originally never ment to be. To be exact I had a totally diferent idea for Pro originally. I wanted to try and create a sureal scene of a bird flying through the clouds, and had planned various ways of trying to accomplish that using Angel Sanctuary footage to a Angsty concept, However about a month before the deadline, when I tried to obtain Angel Sanctuary from Blockbuster (where I had confirmed before had the DVD) they didn't have it. They had the case out on the shelves, but no DVD. Probably was damaged or something. Well there went my idea for Pro, unless I could track down this DVD in a local store which was unlikely. I was going out of town and wanted to take the Project with me on my laptop to edit on the trip. Therefore mail order was out of the question. Then I saw the Escaflowne Movie was there. I rented it kinda last minute despiration to see if I could come up with something to do instead. When i saw the scene of Vhan flying through the clouds, It hit me that I could accomplish my original sureal idea using this clip. So I went searching for a song that would match it. Somehow I got to searching Escaflowne Instrumentals, and accidentally obtained Time of gold flowing, which was incorrecly labeled as comming from the Escaflowne Sound track. I heard the song once, and immediately knew what I had to do with it. The song had a very surreal and dreamy feel to it. It would work perfectly for a dreamy nastolgic concept. So I ordered the Please save my earth Image soundtrack from cdjapan, and thus begain the editing of my accidental Pro entry ;p I barely got that cd just in time to replace the Mp3 I was working with for the Pro entry before the deadline too.
About the video:
This video was designed to generate a somewhat nostalgic feeling of the Escaflowne movie, and the time Hitomi and Van spent together. The Concept is that Hitomi is sleeping on the roof top of her school dreaming of the time she spent with Van in the world of Gaia and longing to return there. Hence most of the scenes in the AMV is in her "dream" so to speak. The title cards are her thought patterns as she is seeing this dream. Therefore, the AMV takes place AFTER she has spent that time with him and returned to her world.
Technical Notes:
Alot of the footage manipulation done in this video is to support this dreamy feel. And there is ALOT of subtle footage manipulation. quite a bit of masking and overlaying was done in this video to acheive this effect. I used as many as 12 tracks of footage at once to achive some of the effects. Especially the sureal cloud scene with van flying and the overlayed footage flying out towards the audence. ALOT more editing went into that than it might look like at first glance. The trick I was trying to accomplish is make it look like I realy didn't do much work, and it was like that from the source. Although I think I was pretty successfull at this, you may notice if you realy pay attention to it, that the clouds move a bit jerky... and this was something I realy couldn't get any smoother than it is since I was working with about 2 seconds of cloud footage there that I had to manipluate to repeat and create that 40 second segment, without looking like its repeating.
Also no use of After Effects were used in the making of this video. All image work was done with Gimp 2.0, asside from the text, which I used Photoshop for. Some of the custom effects were also created using Gimp, and sometimes in compination with masking techniques. This video was one giant learning experience for me in the area of masking. I learned quite a bit of interesting ways to use this technique to acheive interesting effects.
There is only 1 scene lipsynched in this video, that is the overlay of the girl at 02:34.
I did not enable the category since it is a minor synch and only 1 place in the video.
An interesting thing of note, there was so many tracks of footage overlayed with various manipulation being done on diferent opacity levels, that it took a total of 12 hours to export the final project on an AMD 2400+ with 512 megs of ram. And that is with no preprocessing done to the scripts besides the builtin preprocessor for mpeg2dec. no Deen or mftoon was used before export. It would have taken days to export then, and likely crash during it. This project was the most cpu and memory demanding of any of my projects to date.
Software used:
Adobe Primere Pro, Gimp 2.0, Photoshop 7 (text only), Avisynth 2.5, AMVApp 2.0
Enough about the video, give it a download and let me know what you think ^^
Contest update: Best Technical - Animania 2004
Finalist - AWA Pro 2004 in Artistic and Sentimental Categories.
Nominated for Best Sentimental for 2005 VCAs.
Opinions (18)
- Orig
- Visual
- Sound
- Synch
- Lip
- Effects
- Effort
- Re-View
- Overall
- 9.36
- 9.86
- 9.50
- 9.36
- 9.50
- 9.71
- 8.14
- 9.43
- Link Format Bitrate Codec Duration Filesize Link Check Information Comments
48.6 MiB
Local File AuN Studios - Escaflowne - Eternal Sky (640x360).avi Duration 308.92 seconds Video Track 1116.992 kb/s Xvid [DX50] 640 x 362 @ 24 fps Audio Track MP3 @ 192 kbps 44.1 kHz, stereophonic sound


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Below is the list of books that we have currently available with their updated links. This page is currently under construction, so please check back frequently to see what is new!
"Shattered Soul: An Angel Parent's Journey"
Kristina Widener
It isn't natural to bury your child, but life doesn't always follow the natural way. Shattered Soul: An Angel Parent's Journey is a story of every parent's worst nightmares, the death of a child. Kristina Widener shares her journey of grief after losing her youngest child to SIDS. Join her journey of her emotions, memories, and how she has coped with it all.
"Welcome to my journey.
This has been a road of pain, grief, discovery, loss, healing, joy, love, and so many other things that are hard to put a name on. This is my story, my version of the thoughts and feelings that I have experienced since losing my youngest child. That is a hard statement to say, to write, to read, but it is the cold fact of the matter. I will take you through the roller coaster ride I have lived, and am still living. I will tell you what I can remember, what I felt, and how I feel now at the time of writing this."
Join Kristina, if only for a brief moment, on her journey. Shattered Soul: An Angel Parent's Journey will take you down an unforgettable path. When you lose a child, you're still a parent, an Angel Parent. This is the story of one Angel Parent determined to break the silence of her grief.
More books to come, stay tuned!