text:
Does it Cost to be Virtuous? The Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Constraints
NBER Working Paper No. 11065
We study whether and how fiscal restrictions alter the business cycle features of macrovariables for a sample of 48 US states. We also examine the "typical" transmission properties of fiscal disturbances and the implied fiscal rules of states with different fiscal restrictions. Fiscal constraints are characterized with a number of indicators. There are similarities in second moments of macrovariables and in the transmission properties of fiscal shocks across states with different fiscal constraints. The cyclical response of expenditure differs in size and sometimes in sign, but heterogeneity within groups makes point estimates statistically insignificant. Creative budget accounting is responsible for the pattern. Implications for the design of fiscal rules and the reform of the Stability and Growth Pact are discussed.
Machine-readable bibliographic record - MARC, RIS, BibTeX
Document Object Identifier (DOI): 10.3386/w11065
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text:
Bin Hire
We are experienced in skip bin hire services, with an array of sizes to match different projects.
Bin Hire
We are experienced in skip bin hire services, with an array of sizes to match different projects.
Regardless of whether you are clearing out your garage area or demolishing a residence and need to shift a sizeable amount of particles, you can rely on us to offer bin hire services that will work for you.
We offer comprehensive skip bin features to make cleaning and clearing easier. We have only modern skip bins, each built to make garbage disposal simple.
Our skip bin hire operatives are there to support you effectively in providing skip bins and move away the filled bins for you. All you need to do is get in touch with one of our staff and book a bin.
Our skip bins are well known for their adaptability, helping more customers and businesses get the benefits they want. We are able to modify our services and create a plan to fit your specific requirements.
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Find out if we service your area
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Our Experience in Skip Bins
With over 40 years' experience in the liquid waste management sector, we have the equipment and the knowledge to assist you with your liquid waste needs. We have the capacity to provide liquid waste services throughout Southeast QLD for both domestic & commercial projects.
We work closely with customers to provide prompt, reliable & professional services and support. Enwaste is fully licensed & EHP Approved and has focused on keeping neighbourhoods and businesses clean and green by providing environmentally friendly liquid waste.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A comprehensive fitness program for 1-3 months can be great, where each day is planned for you. It ramps up your fitness, teaches you new workout styles and moves, and enforces schedule discipline if you stick with it.
I did P90X a few years ago, loved it, and greatly benefited. Nowadays, there are so many 30, 60, and 90-day programs. Challenge…transformation…shred…burn…blast. Etc.
But while short-term programs jump-start or accelerate you toward your goals, the most important day of an XX-day program is the day after you're done.
That's when you're at a crossroads between:
- Continuing with a new level of discipline, but also expanding and personalizing your fitness approach to make it long-term sustainable; OR
- Slipping back toward your status from the day before you started the program
I've taken each of these roads, brother. Based on that learning, here are suggestions for a successful transition from "XX-day" to "Decades-long."
Why not just keep doing the program? Well, if it worked and you liked it, of course do it again. Or maybe re-do it once a year.
But long-term, most guys won't do repetitive, scheduled things for months, years, decades. And shouldn't. Because we need:
To get outside. Most structured programs are all about being inside and following on-screen training. NOT offering benefits of being in nature and having reflective solitude we need.
A greater range of activities to sustain a mix of endurance, strength, flexibility and balance. And combat boredom. Mixing in running, cycling, swimming, yoga, outdoor adventure sports, self-guided strength work…these all help us be all-over fit, resilient vs. injury, and long-term engaged.
More schedule or logistics flexibility. Otherwise, there are dilemmas like: "I can't do six days this week…so do I skip a day of my program, or just stay on sequence but a day behind?" Or, "My hotel room has no space to set-up and exercise in front of a screen…and I feel weird being in the hotel gym following on-screen training."
To interact more with people as part of fitness activity. Like having running or cycling buddies, or people in a HiiT or yoga class. Feeling connected to like-minded people reinforces motivation and also leverages our fitness activities for the broader benefit of human relationships (the key ingredient to happiness, research says).
Just something different. For variety's sake, or to have a new challenge or adventure on the horizon to keep things fun and motivational.
So at some point – better sooner than later – you've got to make and start following a plan for what's next. Or by default, you'll be headed down the "backslide" path, dude.
Often, there are individual pieces of the program you'll want to bring into your "post-program" life.
Years later, I still use slightly-adjusted versions of these P90X pieces. Most of the items below are "standard" enough that any program has similar components.
- Simple warm-up routine to get blood flowing and do "dynamic" stretching. I use this before any strength or HiiT (interval) workout, and also before running.
- Core strength routine that takes 5- 10 minutes. I use this as part of "mini-strength" sessions I tack onto some endurance days, or as the core-work part of a dedicated strength day.
- Specific variations I liked on bodyweight and dumbbell exercises. These includes wrinkles on push-ups, biceps curls, bodyweight squats, and a few plyometric (jump training) moves.
- Yoga and kick-boxing. Not all programs have this much variety, but my strong belief in yoga as a guy's fitness staple came from the "Yoga X" day of P90X's weekly routine. There was also a kick-boxing-style workout that made me interested in that as an ongoing, occasional thing.
You'll have your own examples, I'm sure.
The common theme is this: don't just think of it as a "program," but also as a learning experience with a world-class trainer. You can get decades-long benefits if you adopt this orientation toward sustaining use of "best of" pieces.
OK, so you've stuck with your program, gotten fitter than you were XX days ago, and have various new tools in your toolbox of workout components.
To now move forward most successfully…
1. STAY IN A "SCHEDULE" MINDSET. This is incredibly important – to not let slip the feeling of "I have a schedule I've committed to." It doesn't need to be a highly-regimented schedule (i.e. do exactly this today, then exactly that tomorrow). Rather, it can be a high-level-goal-oriented one, like "get cardio three times this week (these days), strength twice (these other days), be sure to get outside, etc." OlderBeast Weekly Workouts make suggestions, to help you build the habit of scheduling yourself this way.
2. Add more variety. "Cross-training" is even more important for 40+ guys than for younger ones. It helps us keep fitness symmetrical across endurance, strength, flexibility and balance. And prevent (or recover from) injury, by reducing repetitive activities and offering "Plan B" ways to work out if we've had a setback. And finally, variety simply keeps it interesting and fun. Key attributes, man.
3. Find new challenges and fitness-motivating adventures. Use your newly-adopted variety to create new challenges. Example: "Yeah, I got the hang of P90X pretty well, but now I've circled a date on the calendar for a 5 or 10K road race, and I need to get in running shape". Adventure (a challenge with some "quest" and uncertain-outcome aspects to it) is even better.
4. Get, or stay, focused on NUTRITION. You can exercise all you want, but at 40+, you won't really get the results you want without reasonable discipline on what you eat and drink. Start here for simple but powerful suggestions on what's most important for nutrition.
The fact that you did (or are in the midst of, or about to start) a 30, 60 or 90-day intensive program is absolutely GREAT. You're ahead of the vast majority of guys our age. And more importantly, you're well-positioned to turn these XX days into a YY-year habit going forward.
But treat the end of your program as a time of high opportunity and also high risk. Make sure you head the right way tomorrow!
"Open your eyes and look at the day, you'll see things in a different way. Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow. Don't stop, it'll soon be here…" (Fleetwood Mac, Don't Stop—click to listen)
If you think this would be useful to others, please help spread the word about OlderBeast by sharing this post with the social media buttons below. THANKS, MAN.


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It can be difficult to give beauty-related gifts to men, simply because most men look like they don't care for these things. Fortunately, there's more than meets the eye when it comes to getting gifts for us. This gift guide would help demystify this gift-picking process for you by sussing out some great gifts for all the important guys in your life. And you can trust this guide because it's written by a bloke!
Fragrances for his lifestyle
The active, working guy needs a good fragrance to go with his lifestyle. BOSS The Scent (SGD107, 50ml) is great for guys in the office. With a base of Maninka fruit, and notes of leather and burnished leather, this fragrance will make him a sexy standout in that office.
If he enjoys hosting and is a home-body, consider the Crabtree & Evelyn's Windsor Forest Diffuser (SGD98). The ornately designed porcelain diffuser will infuse his home with the scent of fir needles, spruce, pine, holly and juniper berries for up to three months.
Help keep him youthful!
The Lab Series Starter Kit (SGD90) is great for helping him take care of his skin. The Expert Skincare set is a three-step routine that contains a Multi-Action Face Wash which exfoliates and nourishes the skin. It also has a hydrating Rescue Water Lotion that calms and balances skin, followed by the All-in-one Face Treatment that soothes, moisturises, repairs, and mattifies his skin.
Click here to find out where to buy it at!
Clinique Men Great Skin For Him (SGD85) is customised to meet the daily needs of normal to dry skin. That's why the moisture-focused three-step set also includes a Aloe gel to cushion beards and calm razor burns and even a hydrating anti-age moisturiser. It comes in a travel kit, so that he can easily upkeep his skin even when he travels.
Click here to find out where to buy it at!
If he's iffy on following a four-step routine, give him The Body Shop Modern Gents Maca Root Rescue Kit (SGD42) for a quick relief to his skin. The kit has a balancing face protector for quick cleanse and protection, and the eye rescue serum will hydrate and refresh the area around his eyes to give him that energetic look!
American Crew's Moisturizing Shave Cream (SGD29) is a herb-formulated shave cream that helps to moisturise skin while shaving. It also helps to soften dry and coarse beards as it nourishes the skin underneath. It's great for guys who want to maintain their facial hair!
Get him grooming gadgets
The Clinique For Men Sonic System Deep Cleansing Brush (SGD128) will go one step further to make his skin smooth and clean, just the way it should be. Dermatologist-developed for men's skin, its purifying brush head with charcoal grey bristles cleans more effectively than hand-washing alone. Add a subtle sonic action, and his skin will be energised for the entire day.
Clarisonic's Alpha FIT (SGD250) is specially designed for men's thicker, oilier skin. Their sonic cleansing technology oscillates at a frequency that produces over 300 movements per second to help loosen dirt and oil, while removing impurities from pores and getting skin ready for skin for a closer, smoother shave.
Braun Series 9 Wet and Dry Shaver (SGD499) is an amazing grooming gear, and it should be top on your list for his grooming needs. This shaver is one of the most versatile pieces of device, with a cordless design and a pivoting shaving head to get to all those nooks and crannies. The wireless shaver has power for 50 minutes on a full charge, so he can shave in the shower or at the sink. Either way, it's going to keep him looking neat and tidy.
If the shaver is going to keep his face neat and tidy, then the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Toothbrush (SGD319, but available at SGD269 from now till 31 December) will keep his breath fresh all day. It promises to remove seven times more plaque than a regular toothbrush and improve gum health in only two weeks, and even has a sensitive teeth and gums setting to make sure even the most sensitive of teeth get a good brush.


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The Office of Intellectual Property Rights (OIPR)
Department of the Commerce
Incentive: The Office of Intellectual Property Rights (OIPR) provides counseling, special programs and tools to help U.S. companies to protect their intellectual property (such as patents or trademarks or copyrights) abroad. In addition, the OIPR supports the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) in U.S. trade negotiations.
The OIPR helps companies overcome problems they face protecting and enforcing their intellectual property rights overseas. The office develops trade programs and tools to help U.S. businesses and citizens protect and enforce their IPR in foreign markets. The OIPR also coordinates activities relating to IPR trade policy, and conducts outreach to raise awareness.
OIPR works with Commerce Department country specialists, industry analyst Commerce Department Intellectual Property attaches, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the U.S. Office of Trade Representative, the Copyright Office, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department, industry and other private sector stakeholder advisors.
Eligibility: Any U.S. Business
Information: www.StopFakes.gov and STOP Hotline: The site allows businesses to file complaints about IPR-related trade problems, which are answered within ten days by a trade specialist from OIPR. The Department of Commerce also established the 1-866-999-HALT hotline answered by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) IPR experts, who work with the Office of Intellectual Property Rights to help businesses secure and enforce their IPR through international treaties.


text: Kst 1.2.0 Released The Kst development team is happy to announce the immediate availability of Kst 1.2.0, a major update of the real-time data viewing and plotting tool with data analysis functionality. Kst 1.2.0 consists of a KDE 3.1 based application and a set of data analysis and manipulation plugins. Kst ships complete with documentation, and is translated to over 25 languages. Kst, including all its plugins and documentation, is available for free under Open Source licenses. Kst can be obtained in source and numerous binary formats from http://download.kde.org/stable/apps/KDE3.x/scientific/. Release Highlights. - Introduction of extended annotation objects similar to vector graphics applications - Integration of KstScript, an ECMAScript based scripting language capable of interacting with and extending Kst in virtually every way - Support for several new data formats including HEALPix - Various additional display options for plots - Enhanced support for time input - Enhanced matrix and image support, including waterfall plots - Performance improvements to painting, flicker reduction - Extensive bug fixes Packaging Policies. Kst is distributed by the developers in source form only. Several individuals have provided third party binary packages for various Linux and UNIX operating systems and KDE combinations. These packages are available for free download from KDE's download servers at http://download.kde.org/stable/apps/KDE3.x/scientific/. These packages are provided for your convenience only, and are not supported by the Kst developers. Source Code. The complete source code for Kst 1.2.0 may be freely downloaded. Instructions on compiling and installing Kst 1.2.0 are available from the Kst homepage at http://kst.kde.org/. Trademark Notices. KDE and K Desktop Environment are trademarks of KDE e.V. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyrights referred to in this announcement are the property of their respective owners. General Inquiries: Please contact the Kst mailing list at kst at kde.org -- George Staikos KDE Developer http://www.kde.org/ Staikos Computing Services Inc. http://www.staiko s.net/


text:
Some Window XP tips and tricks time. This time it's just a simple display of how one can display the extension of a file in Windows XP. Well, why would one do that? Well, you can rename and hide your file by renaming the extensions and only you know how to open it.
Yes, if you don't believe me, you can rename your file from a .mp3 file into a .txt file. Instead of using the hard to do way of renaming the file in DOS or with any other third party software, why not learn an easy way to rename the file name in Windows.
Currently tested on Windows XP.
Open My Computer >> Tools >> Folder Options >> View
Now UnCheck the "Hide extensions for known file types"
As seen on the image above, unchecked the box mentioned (colored in red). By doing so, you are now able to view your file types and do the necessary amendmants.


text:
Chinese Vessels Reach Disputed Islands
China made the latest move in its territorial confrontation with Japan by sending surveillance vessels to the disputed islands, known as Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyu by China.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the ... a territorial dispute between Japan and China continues to escalate with Beijing it now standing surveillance vessels to the disputed islands known as think opted to Japan ... and Dow you to China ... I'm Deborah con you watching Asia Today and joined now by Brian Spegele reporter in Bejing okay bye and ... to the earlier announced its intention to actually purchase a couple of these islands ... so it's time now sending surveillance ... vessels in response to not leave this mail ... it seems to be with the response by which ... Chinese ... unto tried to send a message to the Japanese that Indy Beijing believes that the Senkaku islands which it which are first that the TRU ... up to be its sovereign territory ... OK and ... how big a move that is this on China's part actually said surveillance vessels I mean what are these vessels life do they have defense capability is on that or are they just really ... gets to keep an eye on the area ... I think it's a it's a bit of both these types of vessels which are from the ... China marine surveillance ... the civilian ... Marine maritime law enforcement agency ... are being increasingly used to mean China's territorial ... disputes with its neighbors in this are China State ... as those in the East China Sea ... um these vessels typically our arms cannot be sustained extent as a present when naval warship would be ... um was CMS ships have gone to TRU Islands previously the Senkaku Islands previously is not the first time they've done in ... the ... timing of this most recent of which ... does appear to be directly linked to to to to to the vets this week ... and as you guys ... really are about to ALM and the meeting between China and Japan on the sidelines ... of the APEC meeting which just wrapped up in Vladivostok ... today and it definitely me feels like the two countries are moving apart on the issue does that not ... but this seemed everybody to stand still actually China's she knows getting ready for ... its Party Congress which could come in the in the coming weeks or months from the four ... of the new year ... and the tools that ... China's of the that that that mattered paralysis at the moment ... I'm really not wanting to make too much of a commitment on on on on their positions that one way or the other ... I really just trying to maintain the status quo ... maintains stability and and not to allow ... the situation to deteriorate while the same time protecting what it'll be to be its sovereign interests ... the cayenne has Beijing directly responded to Japan ... I'm just openly saying that it's actually going to purchase a couple of these islands ... you know which one is that is the isthe pretence is so what what's messages been all along ... Chinese foreign ministry again reiterated it's it's it's it's position today that China holds sovereignty over this part of the East China Sea ... now in front of the Japanese embassy in Beijing there was a small protest ... a gathering of perhaps a couple of dozen ... of anti Japanese protesters ... oh you know I bought a protest was small there is ... widespread anti Japanese sentiment in China right now which is directly linked


text:
We've been busy labelling our new wine releases over the last couple of weekends. We have a very nifty little hand-held machine that helps us, although we stop and check that the levels are correct every dozen bottles or so. Quality control is important!
Here are some pictures of our production line.
I have to say, labelling our own product has made me think twice about every single jar, can and bottle out there that contains food and has to be labeled according to strict rules and regulations. We all want to make our product as appealing as possible too, especially since there seems to be an ever-increasing abundance of varied and interesting products. We've tried to do something a little different by adding a 'neck label' to all of our wine products. It doubles the time we spend labelling, but we like the effect.
Doing some rough mental arithmetic, let's say each bottle works out to be around about $1, the label is another $1, then the bottling process (with corks or Stelvin screw caps) around another $1. This doesn't include any of the vineyard work (cutting out, pruning, tying down, disbudding, spraying, tucking, wire lifting, irrigating, etc!), harvest, winemaking, barrel storing or even the fruit itself. Although there are definitely economies of scale, it makes me wonder how anyway can make a living out of selling wine for $5 a bottle.
Another interesting thing about wine labels is what people choose to put on them. Some bottles just tell you about the vineyard, others the winemaking. Some give a detailed tasting note, others tell a story that may or may not have anything to do with the wine or the winery itself. For instance, I've seen labels that give a foreign word that sounds mysterious on the front, with whimsical definition on the back. Something like: "Naruae: A tender breeze nurturing each vine with gentle song". Each to their own I guess… At least our new 'Wild' release means something about how this wine was created (wild ferment). The Tassy Devil on the front might be a bit of a stretch, but we think it looks great!


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There are those of us who clear when a week, and there are individuals of us who clear when the in-laws arrive to visit. The appeal of the robotic vacuum reaches each camps: Both way, the house is a bit much more spotless with minimum human input.
Currently's robotic vacuum cleaners are a far cry from the initially versions that you had to monitor down, stranded someplace in your house, by their melancholy, "I'm out of power" beeping. The most up-to-date solutions clear your property, recall the structure to rise efficiency, dump their own grime in a container and discover their way back to the loading sta so they can rejuice.
In this article, we'll discover concerning robotic vacuuming, do an in-depth examination of the iRobot Roomba Red and verify out some of the various vacuuming trading programs on the market.
Robotic Vacuum cleaner Basics
There are many types of robotic vacuum cleaners accessible today, and they variety in price from $50 all the way up to $1,800. These vacuuming automated trading programs are normally low-slung and compact, meaning they can get beneath furnishings that a normal upright vacuum scanner can't.
A lot producers will inform you that a robotic vacuum cleaner is designed to dietary supplement a standard, human-pushed vacuum cleaner scanner, not change it. They're meant to execute day-to-day or weekly touch-ups to retain your residence scanner in amongst normal vacuuming cycles. Nonetheless, if you're somebody who never ever vacuum cleaners in the initially place, a minor robotic helper can certainly get your ground cleaner than it is appropriate now, and you rarely have to lift a finger.
By far the a lot popular robotic vacuum in the Combined States is iRobot's Roomba, which will come in a variety of types which range from the base-model Roomba Red to the tremendous high-tech Roomba Scheduler. HowStuffWorks has a Roomba Red ($150 MSRP) that we're heading to try out and dissect for this article. Let's start by examining out which's under the hood.


text: Juan Jose Garcia-Ripoll writes: [on tag bits in the least-siginficant end of pointers] > 1) Is this supported by the garbage collector? Will the type tag "1" > or pointer displacement cause problems for detecting live conses? Yes, it is supported. For all the collector knows, you're treating your memory as an array of bytes and keeping a pointer into it, which is perfectly legal. > Does this work even without the option to detect interior pointers? I shouldn't think so. But you should be able to call GC_register_displacement(1) to make it work even if you set GC_all_interior_pointers to 0. > 2) The garbage collector reports 16 bytes being allocated for every > cons. Is there a way to reduce this? The reason 16 bytes is allocated by default is that the C standard guarantees that you can advance a pointer to one past the last element of an array and later step back into the array. Therefore the garbage collector adds one byte to each allocation, such that if it needs to trace a one-past-last-element pointer, it can still deduce which object to keep alive. This increases the 8 bytes you ask for to 9, which then gets rounded up to 16 because allocated blocks are 8-byte aligned on many platforms. If you know you're never using the one-past-last-element feature, you can turn it off by building the collector with DONT_ADD_BYTE_AT_END or setting GC_all_interior_pointers to 0. -- Henning Makholm OctoShape ApS


text:
Claudia J. Saffar
New York
Claudia Saffar advises clients in a variety of general corporate matters, concentrating her practice on the secondary loan trading markets and providing advice on the legal issues relating to the purchase and sale of distressed debt and claims trading.
Claudia has extensive experience in the preparation and negotiation of primary and secondary LSTA and LMA trading documentation and the review and analysis of credit documentation. In such context, Claudia has focused on the purchase and sale of distressed assets in emerging and established markets in the UK, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Sweden and Iceland.
Most recently, Claudia has been representing clients in connection with the trading of claims and loans of Landsbanki Islands hf., Kaupthing Bank hf., Tribune Company, Glitnir Bank hf., Exista hf., Mediannuaire Holding, Pages Jaunes Group SA, Thomson SA / Technicolor, ProSieben, Perstorp Holding AB and Cattles plc.
In December 2009, Claudia advised a group led by Carl C. Icahn in the initial purchase of the secured loans granted to Trump Entertainment Resorts from Beal Bank, resulting in Mr. Icahn's involvement in the reorganization plan for the casino operator.
In June 2010, Claudia advised PSW NYC, a special purpose joint venture between Pershing Square Capital Management and Winthrop Realty Trust, in connection with the purchase of a $300 million senior mezzanine position in Stuyvesant Town / Peter Cooper Village property.
Claudia has international experience, having worked at Clifford Chance in London and as a French "avocat" at Jeantet + Associes in Paris. It is at Jeantet + Associes in 1996 that she became involved in the drafting and negotiating of contracts for the purchase and sale of distressed debt relating to the Euro Disney and Eurotunnel credit facilities. She then joined Mandel, Katz, Manna & Brosnan in New York in 2002, where she represented major investment banks in distressed debt and par/near par transactions.
Claudia is fluent in French.
Bar Admissions
|Professional Affiliations
© 2020 Brown Rudnick LLP. Attorney Advertising


text:
Clarion Hotel Beachfront: 966 Hotel Reviews
- Mackinaw City Hotels
- Clarion Hotel Beachfront: Hotel Reviews
- Traveler Review #1422
Clarion Hotel Beachfront
Traveler reviews
115 rooms on property
Hotel Website
Clarion Hotel BeachfrontAAA rating
Traveler reviews
905 South Huron AveToll-Free: 800-517-0043
Mackinaw City, MI 49701
Mackinaw City, MI 49701
115 rooms on property
Hotel Website
FREE Wi-Fi
FREE Breakfast
FREE Indoor Waterpark
Make a Reservation Write a ReviewPrivate sandy beach! Adjacent to Mackinac Island Ferry Docks. Family stays free with one paying adult. Near shops & restaurants. Lakefront rooms with private balconies. High Speed internet access. Indoor heated pool & whirlpool, in-room jacuzzis. Microwaves, in-room coffee, hair dryers, irons & boards, refrigerators. Remote control cable color TV with HBO, ESPN, CNN. Excellent view of Mackinac Island & Mackinac Bridge!
- #3
- of Mackinaw City Hotels from Traveler Reviews
Experience the Victorian Elegance and Charm of the New Clarion Hotel in Mackinaw City! The Clarion Hotel Beachfront offers a fabulous view of Mackinac Island's natural beauty and the architectual wonder of the Mackinac Bridge. The three diamond AAA Clarion Hotel is conveniently located adjacent to Mackinac Island ferries, restaurants, and the downtown shopping area.
A favorite of our yearly visitors is our 1400 foot private sandy beach offering our guests the opportunity to swim and splash in the crystal clear waters of Lake Huron.
Clarion Hotel Beachfront is rated 4.5 out of 5 based on 966 user reviews.
Traveler Review
The Staff Was Accommodating in Getting a Handicap Access RoomTraveler Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Clarion Hotel BeachfrontClarion Hotel Beachfront #1422 stayed October 2010. Rosemary from Grand RapidsThe staff was accommodating in getting a handicap access room. Also manager let us park the car on the property while we left for 2 days to Mackinaw Island--not so busy at end of the season. The end of the season rate was fine Thanks
Reason for staying: visiting the area


text:
Application Notes
Case Studies
Condition Monitoring
- Compass 6000 detected a fault that avoided unnecessarily disassembling a pump in Europe's largest pumping station
- Monitoring case vibration with an accelerometer on low-speed hydro turbines
- High technology in monitoring and detection of rolling-element bearings at low rotational speeds of 3.5 RPM
- Vibration monitoring of tandem mills at the Arcelor Mittal Tilleur cold rolling mill
- Gas treatment plant replaces old protection system with VC-6000® but keeps condition monitoring system
- Huntly Power Station in NZ - Monitoring machines on flexible foundations
- VC-6000® Compact Monitor used for monitoring small hydroelectric generating units
Portables / off-line
- Effective off-line machine fault detection and diagnosis at the Tabriz Petrochemical Complex
- Off-line monitoring played an important role at the Ignalina nuclear power station
- Detecting, diagnosing and correcting for compressor surge at a petrochemical plant
- Dramatic economic benefits gained by machine condition monitoring at an aromatics plant
- Excessive vibrations on 250-MW turbo-generator bearings due to flexible steel foundations
- Mulcher rotor balancing using Brüel & Kjær Vibro's Data Collector
- Predictive maintenance and its contribution to physical asset management at CEMIG
- Integrated vibration, process monitoring at HPP Momina Klisura
- Machine condition monitoring strategy at the Zarnowiec pumped storage power station
- On-line monitoring strategy at a polyolefin plant gives fast results
- Remote monitoring used at Copesul and downstream plants
- Successful predictive maintenance at ICI Holland BV
- High technology and effective maintenance ensures high productivity
- Early fault detection of unique pump bearing faults at a major US refinery
Search Application by industry
Machinery Protection
Monitoring strategy
- Advanced condition and performance monitoring of piston reciprocating compressors
- Basic condition monitoring of piston reciprocating compressors
- Condition monitoring of centrifugal and axial compressors
- Condition Monitoring of Centrifugal Pumps – Horizontal, Large
- Condition monitoring of small centrifugal pumps
- Condition Monitoring of Jet Fans
- Detecting faulty rolling element bearings
- Diagnosing gearbox damage
- Early fault detection of air-cooled heat exchangersEffective cylinder leak detection using polytropic exponent function
- Gated vibration and rod position measurements for reciprocating compressors
- Monitoring centrifugal compressors
- Monitoring Gas Turbines
- Optimizing LNG gas turbine efficiency by performance monitoring
- Performance monitoring of pumps
- Protection and basic condition monitoring of reciprocating compressors
- Robust monitoring strategy for decanter centrifuges
- Runout compensation
- Valve temperature monitoring on reciprocating compressors
Technique description
- CPB measurements give early fault detection with minimal risk of false alarms
- Envelope analysis for effective rolling-element bearing fault detection, fact or fiction?
- Cepstrum Analysis - A powerful tool for simpler diagnosis of REB and gear vibration
- S1224323 Understanding SETPOINT® Waveform Collection and the i-value Algorithm Understanding Vector, Gap, and Waveform Data Compensation
- SETPOINT® Boost Mode
- Integration of SETPOINT® Condition Monitoring System into OSIsoft PI EcoSystem
- VIBROCONTROL 8000/SETPOINT® Condition Monitoring System Cybersecurity Considerations
- VIBROPORT 8000 Rotating & Reciprocating Equipment Vibration Analyzer
Get Support
We're reachable 16 hours each day via phone using the numbers below, or you can email us. Our average email response time is within one business day.
Technical Support
Hotline for support:
Hotline for Calibration & repairs:
Darmstadt, Denmark
Main switchboard: +49 (0) 6151 428 0
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Nærum, Denmark
Main switchboard: +45 77 41 25 00
Minden, Nevada
Main switchboard: +1 (775) 552 3110
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Bethenny Frankel is back for another season of The Real Housewives of New York. Bethenny had previously left the show to focus on her own spin-off show, her family and her marriage to Jason Hoppy, but once that fell apart, she decided that it might be the best to get back into her reality television world. She's been filming the show for the past year, even though she's still going through this emotional rollercoaster. And it sounds like this upcoming season won't be much different.
According to a new tweet, Bethenny Frankel is now teasing that season 8 of The Real Housewives of New York will be a crazy season. And the preview that was released by Bravo this week does reveal some issues that are unresolved. "Good Lord, buckle up for April 6: and make sure u have an air sick bag cuz there's gonna be turbulence #RHONY," Bethenny Frankel revealed on Twitter as the new season trailer was released.
Do blondes have more fun? #rhony @sarahlacharlotte @sonjatmorgan @ramonasinger pic.twitter.com/Nd0RCRc3NT
— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) March 2, 2016
Of course, for Bethenny herself, she's facing plenty of drama this season. Not only does she comment on Dorinda Medley's relationship with John, which leads to a crazy showdown, but she also shares that she has to have a serious surgery. She hasn't really opened up about the surgery, so fans will have to wait and see what the surgery is all about.
EXCLUSIVE: Watch the dramatic #RHONY season 8 trailer – and meet the new housewife! https://t.co/wDpxIzuoXI pic.twitter.com/x6J7FtEiFo
— People Magazine (@people) March 1, 2016
Plus, the ladies want to see what the deal is with Luann de Lesseps. Luann kept criticizing Carole Radziwill's decision to date her chef Adam, and she kept talking about his age. But both Bethenny and the other ladies will question her own behavior. Apparently, Luann has both slept with younger men and cheated.
What do you think of Bethenny Frankel's tweet about the upcoming season? Are you surprised that she will take on Luann de Lesseps and Dorinda Medley?
Photo Credits: © Jakes Van Der Watt / PR Photos, © Brett Kaffee/Thibault Monnier, PacificCoastNews


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The distinctive U-shape of the M Type's handlebar has been used on the Brompton from day one. It gives a fairly upright ride position and good control
Every bike is custom built by hand from scratch starting at £885.00 But yes we appreciate that this can lead to confusion choosing the correct version. That's where we come in here at C and N, as we hold stock of the most popular variations including demo models and this very bike, so why not pop in and see us. We will help you choose your perfect model, in the perfect colour, in the perfect specification; just for you.
If you would like any advice about choosing your Brompton prior to visiting us please do not hesitate to either telephone us on 01737 760857, or email by clicking on the following link, [email protected]


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I haven't got kids myself, but this parenting lark looks a walk in the park if dad-of-three Hugh Grant is anything to go by.
Only last week news broke of his third "love child" in less than two years – and he's not letting parenthood cramp his style.
Rather than spending time with his kids – or indeed either of their two mothers – last weekend he was at a swanky showbiz event in Austria with an assortment of supermodels draped across him – after a tough day watching the showjumping.
Doubtless an evening in the company of catwalk superstar Naomi Campbell and Wonderbra icon Eva Herzigova – with Tom Jones providing the soundtrack – beats changing nappies.
Hugh, 53, mounted a full-scale charm offensive on a string of attractive female guests.
It's all a far cry from the bumbling English gent he portrays in his movies, including Four Weddings and a Funeral, Music and Lyrics and Mickey Blue Eyes (no, me neither). Films which, by the way, he did promise to stop making in 2004, but hasn't been true to his word.
Also famous for such enigmatic roles as the nerdy bookseller in Notting Hill,
Hugh's romances off-screen are infinitely more interesting.
The latest revelation of his expanding brood was of a child born to 30-something Swedish TV producer Anna Eberstein in September 2012.
This new son is actually his second eldest, born between the two other children he has with Chinese actress Tinglan Hong, 32.
It was two years ago that chivalrous Hugh confirmed the arrival of his eldest, Tabitha, labelling the youngster the product of a "fleeting affair" with Tinglan.
I don't know whether the romance was rather more than "fleeting" or if they enjoyed a second and equally fleeting dalliance later, but in February last year he revealed they were welcoming a son, Felix Chang.
But despite his packed schedule with such cinema gems as The Pirates! on the go,
Hugh managed to squeeze in yet another fleeting romance, this time with Anna.
Both women now live near his West London home, and he reportedly picks up many of the bills – but neither appears to be lucky enough to have bagged an invite to Austria...


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This one small change will make your iPhone photos infinitely better
If you've ever wondered why the photo you took on your iPhone doesn't reflect the beauty of what you're staring at, it probably has something to do with the way you're holding your phone.
For most of us, it's a natural instinct to pull out our phones and take a picture while holding it vertically since that's the way we normally hold our phone when using it for anything else.
But more often than not, that doesn't make for great photos (unless you're using Snapchat, which requires users to take photos and video vertically).
Chances are, you'll get a much better photo if you hold your phone horizontally.
That's partly because of the simple fact that when you shoot a photo horizontally, you have the ability to capture much more of what you see. It gives you a wider canvas instead of forcing you to squeeze everything into the narrow confines of your vertical iPhone screen.
And then there's also the rule of thirds.
This basic principle of photography breaks an image down into nine different parts by separating it by thirds both horizontally and vertically.
The resulting grid becomes a framing device that gives photographers four points of interest where the lines intersect each other. The goal is to get the important parts of the photo to fall as close to these lines and intersection points as possible, because studies have shown that these points are where the eye is drawn to first when someone looks at a photo.
Placing the important parts of the photo at these points also provides for a more balanced photo. Sure, you can turn this grid to fit over a vertical photo, but chances are, you'll center the subject of your photo in the middle of your vertical screen, which means it will fall into the spaces between the grid lines, which isn't where you want it to be.
Apple makes it especially easy to use this grid while taking photos on your phone. All you have to do is go into Settings, scroll down to Photos & Camera, and then turn on the Rule of Thirds option.
Here are a few horizontal photos that successfully use the rule of thirds:
Here are what these photos would have looked like, had they been taken vertically:
There's a big difference. Yes, more skilled photographers can break the rule of thirds and capture stunning vertical photos, but amateurs should stick to horizontal. Plus, if you're set on a vertical shot, it's much easier to crop a horizontal photo into a vertical photo than it is to crop a vertical photo into a horizontal photo.
SEE ALSO: A travel photographer reveals how to get the best photos while traveling
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NOW WATCH: People were baffled by 50 sharks circling in shallow waters off the English coast


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AUSTIN - Plans are in the works for a mixed-use project on Congress St., south of downtown Austin, on several properties.
The project is planned for a 1.5-acre site encompassing five lots from 1011 South Congress Ave. to 1123 South Congress Ave.
The properties are valued at $7.6 million by the Travis Central Appraisal District.
The proposed project would have 130,740 sf office, retail, and restaurant space, along with a parking garage.
Plans call for four buildings with two levels of office space atop street-level retail space.
A four-story underground parking would have more than 400 spaces.
Lake said the proposed project could break ground late in spring 2017 and take two years to complete.
Check out Austin Retail Market Research. Also, take a look at Austin Office Market Research.
Our twice-weekly e-newsletter provides a quick overview of Texas real estate markets. Because your time is valuable.


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The Modern Antiquarian
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Standing Stone / Menhir
View all content for Kerloas
Kerloas, the field of sadness, grief or mourning, which ever meaning you take it is not a happy place.
But today it is a very happy place, I have the stone all to myself, but should we call it a stone ? it is made of stone, granted, but a tall thin mountain would be more like it.
Is this the tallest standing stone in the whole world ? excepting Egyptian obelisks, which to my mind don't count. If it isn't, ive yet to hear of a bigger one. Some say it is 9.5 meters high, which is exactly what they say of Champ Dolent menhir, so it is equal first place, but then Kerloas has been truncated, cut short by as much as two meters, the broken bits apparently carted away by local farmer.
As I walk around I cant help smiling at the incredulous hugeness of it, 350 tonnes, dragged over 3km and then stood upright. Blammo, is your mind intact, nowhere near.
The two bumps carved on its lower flanks are very intriguing, his and hers fertility rubbing points, tosh I'd say, I tried, I'm too short by nearly a foot. So I decided it was for medicinal purposes, I rubbed my back where I had my operation and I'm glad to say that it does not hurt at all, it could just be good doctormanship instead though.
Not far from the big car park, very easy to find, well, your not going to miss it are you.
I combined it with a trip to Oceanopolis, Brittany's biggest aquarium, the kids loved it.
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Terms & Conditions
Julian Cope presents Head Heritage
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Before a prescription drug can be placed on the pharmacy shelf, it must undergo a series of rigorous clinical trials. This process can last more than ten years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but it is necessary to fully evaluate a drug's safety and efficacy.
Once a compound has been identified as a potential drug, it must be thoroughly researched before it can be used in human trials. To gain an initial safety assessment, the molecule is tested in a laboratory setting (in vitro) or in animal models (in vivo). If the molecule demonstrates that it is safe to use in humans, the drug manufacturing process and phase 1 studies begin.
Phase 1 clinical trials primarily test the safety of the investigational drug and how it may interact in the human body on its own or in association with other common drugs that a patient may be using. These studies typically last two years and are conducted in approximately 20 to 100 healthy volunteers. At this point, the drug's dosage range will start to be determined. If phase 1 clinical trials show the potential drug is safe, phase 2 clinical trials can begin.
Phase 2 clinical trials begin testing for safety and efficacy in people who have the condition the drug is designed to treat. Unlike phase 1 trials, phase 2 trials can last several years and often include several hundred patients. The purpose of these trials is to begin to determine potential side effects and risks associated with the investigational drug and continue to determine the proper dose.
Phase 2 trials mark the beginning of controlled testing, in which the investigational drug is compared either to a standard treatment or a placebo (an inactive substance that looks identical to the drug being tested) to prevent bias. If phase 2 trials continue to show the drug is safe and effective, phase 3 clinical trials may begin.
As the largest, most rigorous, and most time-consuming portion of the clinical development process, phase 3 clinical trials are designed to provide definitive proof of safety and efficacy in patients who have the condition the drug is intended to treat. Phase 3 trials, which may last several years, also continue to determine the potential risks and benefits associated with the investigational drug and may determine the safety and efficacy of the drug in combination with other approved medicines. If the results from phase 3 trials demonstrate the drug is safe and effective, the potential drug may be submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for review and approval.
Upon the completion of phase 3 clinical trials, a pharmaceutical company must submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA that contains all information gained from the clinical trial process. According to the FDA website,1 the NDA must provide the FDA with enough information to help the FDA determine:
If the drug meets the set criteria, the FDA issues the pharmaceutical company a license to market the drug for its specific indication.
Even after a new drug has been approved and launched, the FDA may require phase 4 clinical trials to further test the new drug's safety and efficacy. These safety studies may look for rare and long-term adverse effects in broader populations that may not be observed during earlier clinical trials. The manufacturer of the drug may also institute more trials to explore new indications.
Reference: 1. US Food and Drug Administration. New Drug Application (NDA). http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/HowDrugsareDevelopedandApproved/ ApprovalApplications/NewDrugApplicationNDA/default.htm. Accessed February 24, 2017.


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Second Screen to TV: Can Facebook Catch Twitter? (Infographic)
What do Facebook users do on their "second screens" while watching television? Mostly chat with friends (48 percent), according to GlobalWebIndex.
What do Facebook users do on their "second screens" while watching television? Mostly chat with friends (48 percent), according to GlobalWebIndex.
GWI found that other second-screen behavior included:
- 44 percent check Facebook and other social networks.
- 36 percent read news.
- 33 percent play games.
- 31 percent read or write email.
- 28 percent search for products to buy.
- 23 percent look for information related to what they are watching.
- 12 percent share opinions on TV shows.
- 10 percent interact with TV shows' online content.
GWI said in an email to SocialTimes:
With new features like hashtag voting and polling for live events, this is a clear move to challenge Twitter as the go-to point for those who second-screen while watching TV.
A notable 86 percent of Facebookers second-screen at the moment, but Twitter scores the best figures for behaviors relating specifically to TV shows: One in five Twitter users shared their opinion of a TV show the last time they second-screened, compared with 12 percent of Facebookers.
What's more, Twitter users are 66 percent more likely than average to interact with the online content of a TV show, whereas Facebookers are just 6 percent more likely to do this.
Readers: How do your second-screen actions compare with GWI's findings?
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.


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Note that some links may require subscriptions.
Another patient with respiratory illness linked to vaping is dead, the sixth in 3 weeks. (NBC News)
Meanwhile, schools across the country are taking steps to prevent kids from vaping in and around their buildings. (Reuters)
A prefilled glucagon pen (Gvoke) for quick treatment of acute hypoglycemic episodes won FDA approval, manufacturer Xeris Pharmaceuticals said.
George Tyndall, MD, the former University of Southern California doctor accused of abusing hundreds of female patients, surrendered his medical license, the California Medical Board announced.
Physician in the Netherlands is acquitted of charges he improperly euthanized a patient with dementia. (Reuters)
Researchers are rethinking the way they attack Alzheimer's disease. (Associated Press via ABC News)
Chairmen of two House committees urged CMS to appeal a judge's decision allowing Hahnemann University Hospital to sell its residency program, calling the sale "a dangerous precedent."
North Dakota's only abortion clinic won a reprieve from a new state law ordering physicians to tell potential patients -- falsely -- that medical abortions are reversible. (CBS News)
And researchers found that Tennessee's law mandating a 48-hour waiting period to obtain an abortion delayed many but discouraged few. (National Bureau of Economic Research)
Air Force Lt. Col. Daniel Magruder said he should have seen the warning signs before his best friend, "the toughest guy I knew," died by suicide. (The New York Times)
The percentage of Americans without health insurance edged upward by 0.6 percentage points in 2018, the Census Bureau announced. It's the first increase since 2009, before the Affordable Care Act was passed.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) draft plan to address prescription drug costs would allow Medicare to negotiate prices for the 250 highest-cost drugs, require drugmakers to pay rebates to Medicare if their prices increase beyond the rate of inflation, and limit how much seniors would pay out of pocket. (ABC News)
Morning Break is a daily guide to what's new and interesting on the Web for healthcare professionals, powered by the MedPage Today community. Got a tip? Send it to us: firstname.lastname@example.com


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Hillsdale, NY
The beautiful cherry floors were already in and, on the tiled footprint an old wood stove was to be replaced. Southbay Quartzite was chosen as the facing stone because the tone of that veneer stone complemented both the floor and the kitchen floor tile. Marble cap stones keep the mass light feeling.
Working closely with the craftsmen owner, this custom design features see-through doors for viewing from both the living and dining rooms. One bypass damper allows for 4 season baking directly in the oven and for quick start-ups in the Fall and Spring. The second routes heat through the bench for maximum heat output. The design includes a bluestone niche, behind Dad and a woodstorage area beside him. Able help was provided by apprentice, Antoine Guerlain.
Leverett, Mass.
This ground floor heater features "clipped" corners, tinted mortar to match an arts center, where the owner works and a slope-backed heated bench which the owners used while cross country skiing at Notchview (see page 3 of our brochure)
This custom heater resides in an underground house and doubles as an oven and breakfast bar. You could also stretch out for a nap on the 3" thick soapstone top. There are stepped out bricks on either side of the firebox for warming soapstone slabs that can be carried to remote areas of the home as foot/bed warmers.
The focal point of this corner unit is faces the living room. We made special cuts to weave the 45 deg. angles, using a lovely used brick. We built in 2 cup shelves around the corner and the right side of the heated benches offers lovely views through a large slider.
Working with Erik Nilsen of Thermal Mass, Inc., we built this soapstone heater in January of '06, just in time to have the coldest part of the winter to follow! Behind it was a heatilator fireplace that was gutted to accommodate a chimney retro-fit for the project.
Using MHA plans we built this small contraflow heater in a timber frame addition for writer/poet owners in neighboring Windsor. The stone above the door was chosen for its likeness to the surrounding hills and features a large fossil imprint.
This double sided heater complex in an 19th century colonial restoration project in Southampton, MA has a brick dining room side and a river rock living room side with an 8' heated granite bench.
This owner builder wanted the option of woodstove heating. Note the radial arch enclosure behind. The chimney above features a flush herringbone panel.
These customers took advantage of a "2 look" option for their central hearth. From the living room the view is dramatic stone: a warm, traditional brick, oven side is in the kitchen. The interface between the brick and stone sides gave us some opportunity to be creative at the break-
This brick and soapstone heater has an enclosed wood waiter that brings up wood from the walk out basement. Arts and crafts style details reflect the details of this lovely Benson timber frame house. The soapstone bench back is sloped and the seat is shaped for comfort.
The owners wanted their stone fireplaces to be the centerpiece of their addition, so we hand picked the 1,300 pound lintel and 800 lb jamb stones for the ballroom fireplace at the quarry. We replicated this detail in the bedroom fireplace at 2/3 scale.
This project required 27 tons of granite. Joint size is no greater that 1/4".
Stamford, Vermont.
This fireplace is a Morrocan design for art conservator friends. We custom cut natural quartzite and used it as a thin veneer.
This fireplace is the centerpiece of the family room and incorporates antique brick, salvaged from the building and soapstone lintel and hearth. Its insulated Rumford firebox keeps the room toasty, as well as cheery.
The owners wanted an exterior fireplace until we explained the virtue of keeping the mass inside the building envelope, both aesthetically and functionally. This Rumford style fireplace uses stone from Skyline Quarry in CT. Local Ashfield stone was used for the lintel and hearth. Rock climbing, anyone?
The owners had a smoky fireplace they were unhappy with. We removed it and installed this one using principles derived from fluid dynamic experiments done by British physicist, Peter Rosin in the '30's. No more smoke. Just more heat.
We used local Goshen stone to build this private patio and steps, surrounded by a brook and Hemlocks.
Cummington, Massachusetts
MA Lic. 065922 MHA Cert. 003
See Our Brochure


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Platforms: PC (Reviewed), PS4, Xbox One
Long live couch gaming.
It's a phrase that kept popping into my head as my wife and I worked our way through A Way Out, a game that feels like Hazelight Studio's love song for long hours spent elbow to elbow playing games with your best friend. It was a time before online multiplayer, when snacks, smack talk, and jokes were best enjoyed side by side rather than through a mic and headset
Except A Way Out plays with cooperative gameplay in ways that no one ever has, pitting two players against puzzles and challenges that feel natural and satisfying to solve while constantly playing with camera angles and cinematic shots to change the way you play, while also feeding you a feast for the senses.
It's well executed, and although the story is only worth playing through once or twice at the most, it's the kind of game that's absolutely worth running through with a friend just for the experience.
Cooperative play
A Way Out's homerun swing is the way it handles cooperative play. You and a friend can play through the title either locally or online, but the split screen is there regardless, which is a good thing, because many of the puzzles are based on your ability to communicate and see what your friend is seeing so that you can pull off feats of teamwork that would normally be incredibly difficult with only a single perspective.
These feats can be as simple as knocking on a window to distract a guard with the right timing, or as complex as holding up a gas station while your buddy cracks a safe in the back room. If you're both looking in the wrong direction things can go horribly wrong, but the better you get at managing both perspectives at once the smoother the puzzles and challenges start to click into place.
Of course, the game itself is careful to guide your eyes as different events occur throughout the world. The camera is constantly redefining the borders of the splitscreen window, widening one character's perspective as they reach an important moment, while simultaneously narrowing the others. As a result, the game is constantly shifting your screens to focus the narrative, and give you a chance to see key details like guards around corners or crucial tools around a barricade. It's a cool effect that gets even cooler during certain scenarios where fight scenes and foot chases lead from one continuous shot to another like something out of a John Woo flick or the first season of Marvel's Daredevil.
It's an interesting touch that adds a lot to the game, even more so when Hazelight uses it to change up gameplay in a charming way that blurs the line between gaming genres. Most of the time you'll be moving around the map from a very standard third person over the shoulder perspective, but during a key chase scene at one point the game shifts smoothly to a top down perspective so that you and your partner can corner a suspect. A few levels later the game transitions to a 2D side-scrolling action game while one of the main characters busts his way through a bunch of police that are trying to hunt him down and cuff him.
It's a fine line between tacky and well-implemented when it comes to these camera angles and the occasional gameplay switcharoo, but A Way Out puts such a focus on character perspective that it feels intentional and endearing rather than like a gimmicky feature.
Story for Two
Gameplay aside, A Way Out's story is interesting, but isn't breaking any narrative boundaries. The use of camera aside, it plays like a classic revenge tale with a prison escape twist. The characters Vince and Leo are both well developed through dialogue, the occasional somewhat clichéd flashback, and via the objectives themselves. Both are likeable in their own way, and you can be either as dickish or friendly as you feel is necessary to complete your objectives, which gives you some layer of control over "your" Leo or Vince. Both characters feel very real, and their emotions and motives are often clearly laid out, which is nice because it helps move around a lot of the smaller plot holes you might normally find in this type of game.
The narrative itself is primarily a linear story, which cuts into the replay value in the long run, but there are a few moments where you can actively choose whether to do something based on the advice and personality of either character. Leo is the more impulsive, somewhat forceful alternative, while Vincent prefers to talk his way out of situation before throwing punches or pulling the trigger.
These moments create a small branch over the course of the chapter, but don't be confused, this isn't a Telltale game by any stretch of the imagination. Your choices are short lived, and the developers obviously have a specific story in mind they want to tell. That story isn't anything groundbreaking, but its likeable the way a 90's action flick is likeable, with a few twists and turns and characters that are relatable enough to get emotionally invested.
The real accomplishment in terms of narrative development is the way the cooperative experience affects gameplay. The way you work together greatly affects how easy the game progresses. Fortunately, the split screen style of play makes the puzzles and objectives flow smoothly, and I rarely found myself frustrated by any single task for more than one or two attempts. The game naturally rewards clever choices and going with the flow of opportunity when it comes knocking.
A Cinematic Ride
Of course, if A Way Out was marketed at the standard $60 price point an 8-10 campaign starts to sound like an extremely expensive movie ticket, but at the game's actual price of $30 it's much more manageable. Especially when you factor in the fact that once you purchase the game it gives you access to a "guest pass" that you can send to a friend, so they can join you on your adventure without purchasing the title for themselves. Of course, you can also just invite a buddy over for a round of good ol' fashioned couch gaming if you don't feel like dealing with the guest pass. Even on the PC local coop works flawlessly, so no matter your platform all you need is an extra controller and you're good to dive in.
All in all, A Way Out plays like an artistic blend between movie and video game, and although the 8-10 hour story isn't something that you would want to play through more than once or twice, it still creates a thrilling experience that's extremely satisfying to play with a friend.


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- 120 Film
- Infrared Film
- Single pack
Rollei Infrared is a hyper-panchromatic black and white film ideal for experimental photography, creative applications and scientific photography. We recommend this film for the experimental photography. Exposure is carried out using black filters and leads to results with an unusual tonal reproduction.
Image credits: Sovraskin


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"Childbirth is an experience in a woman's life that holds the power to transform her forever" - Suzanne Arms Over and over again, we have read, heard and have been told that no matter how you deliver your baby, it does not make you less of a mother. No body can oppose this statement. But… Continue reading April is International Caesarean Awareness Month. Are you aware?
Tag: social awareness
I am a MOM but… What have I left behind??
When you have the most adorable and loving kids and a dedicated husband, everybody thinks you have it all. But do we really?? Judge me all you want, but there are things that were once a part of me and now they aren't and I have no shame accepting that I miss them. It was… Continue reading I am a MOM but… What have I left behind??
I will always be a 'NEW MUM'
I set off on this crazy ride of Motherhood 7 years and 4 months back when the line turned pink. When I delivered brat no. One, I was known as a 'New Mum'. As she grew, the title changed to a 'First Time Mum' (FTM). She kept growing up and the titles kept changing till… Continue reading I will always be a 'NEW MUM'
Molestation as per convenience?? It's not OK!!
For the last couple of days, every news channel, media outlet, newspaper has been focusing on the incident that happened with a 17 year old girl onboard an aircraft. Read here For those of you who have been lucky to escape this news, here it goes - A 17 year old who belongs to the… Continue reading Molestation as per convenience?? It's not OK!!


text: Hi -- On Thu, 20 May 2004, Sean Russell wrote: > matz / ruby-lang.org (Yukihiro Matsumoto) wrote in message news:<1084872320.683534.4537.nullmailer / picachu.netlab.jp>... > > I buy the flexibility from dynamic typing at the cost of compile-time > > type check. I don't think I am going to change my mind. > > I want to make sure we're all on the same page. > > My proposed solution is to have Ruby do a duck-typing check as part of > the syntax checker ("-c"). This would be duck-type inferrence, so it > doesn't require the programmer to declare variables or give them > types. It would simply raise a warning if someone tries to call > "5.collect". That is, ruby will load the parse tree as it does with > -c, and then check to make sure that method calls are consistant with > expected duck types. I think "expected duck types" may be a contradiction in terms :-) Actually there's no reason not just to say: consistent with expected types, since "duck type" is essentially a description of how Ruby objects' types work. In other words, the question of whether or not a given object responds to a given message is (already, without 'duck') a question about its type. David -- David A. Black dblack / wobblini.net


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My Co-worker Nathan, with whom I share a desk and who is also a Jesuit and who is also a great help with the campus ministry retreats, wrote something while on Mardi Gras break, and Catholic Exchange picked it up today. I had no idea my co-worker even had a blog. Well, you learn something every day.
His article is worth the read. His article is titled "Jesuit Obedience and the Legionaries of Christ". The same article can be viewed at Catholic Exchange also. I know from my experience with LC/RC, as I did much with them in college for it was really the only place I could go to get any kind of Catholic formation that was not based on feelings and sharing, that he makes very valid points and sound observations. I will say that the RC/LC retreats that I went on were some of the best retreats I have ever attended thus far. The LC priest had a way of giving spirituality, prayer, and Catholicism a masculine appeal in a manner that was not against the world but for the world and for Christ. I often heard it said by this LC priest in my area that (and I do paraphrase here) we should be doing all things for Christ and for the love of Christ. No matter how big or small -- like St. Therese the Little Flower.
Since getting this little bit of spiritual advice that I have probably hear 100 time from parish priests but for whatever reason never stuck till this LC priest said it, I often find myself saying the phrase "For the Love of Christ" when I am faced with something I do not feel like or want to do. It certainly puts things back into perspective.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Jesuit Obedience and the Legionaries of Christ
Posted by Paul Cat at 9:00 PM
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Peak times each day to do tasks
Following your body clock helps maximize energy
Research shows paying attention to your body clock, or circadian rhythms, can help you figure out when to do specific tasks throughout the day.
Experts offer some tips.
Cognitive Work:
Late morning. Body temperature is rising and continues to rise through midday. Memory and concentration are at their peak. Alertness tends to decrease after lunch.
Optimum time to work out is between 3 and 6 p.m., when lung power and muscle strength are strongest.
Eat during hours of peak activity. Eating when sedentary raises the likelihood of increased cholesterol, blood sugar and weight,
Using Social Media
Send emails and tweets in the morning, when they are more likely to be read.
Re-tweets occur more often between 3 and 6 p.m.
Posts to Facebook get more "likes" after 8 p.m.
Creative Thinking
Surprisingly, creative thinking can flourish when we are fatigued. It allows our minds to wander and to think out of the box.
HubSpot web marketing, Albany Medical College, University of Southern California, "Thinking and Reasoning" Journal-2011


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What we offer for your pet
Surgery & pain management
Our state-of-art surgical suite allows us to perform a wide range of surgical procedures.
We perform all routine surgical procedures including Ovariohysterectomy (female spay) and Neuter (male). Many soft-tissue procedures are done such as cystotomy, mastectomy, and abdominal exploratory. We also perform a number of orthopedic procedures, e.g. ACL repair of knees, Fracture repair with pins or plates. For procedures requiring specialized equipment or an orthopedic specialist we are glad to refer our patients as needed.
To ensure that your pet has a safe surgery with minimal pain we will perform pre anesthetic blood tests for all pets. These tests will be more extensive for sick and senior patients. We will give pre-op sedation to reduce anxiety, especially helpful for a smoother recovery. Also, we will give pre-op and post-op pain medication. MOST IMPORTANT because our pets cannot always tell us when they hurt. Medical research has shown that it is very important to give pain medicine before a procedure to prevent the "wind up" of the mammalian pain response. It is important to use endotracheal tubes with oxygen flow and isoflurane or sevolfurane gas anesthesia for anesthesia maintenance in most procedures, as well as monitor depth of anesthesia and vital signs throughout surgery. Use anesthetic monitors, such as esophageal stethoscope, pulse oximeter and EKG. Have veterinary assistant monitor patient. Following surgery we monitor recovery closely, extubate, and give plenty of TLC!
Wellness exams & vaccinations
We recommend an annual physical exam for pets under 8 years. Senior pets are usually checked twice yearly.
Necessary vaccinations are usually scheduled at the same time. Obviously, pets age more rapidly than people so that their medical history is compressed into a shorter time frame. The average dog or cat reaches middle age by 5 years of age. Because they can't tell us when they are sick, it is particularly important to pick up early signs of illness, most importantly, with a thorough physical exam. In addition, wellness blood tests are sometimes recommended to look for hidden problems and determine a baseline for future evaluations.
Appropriate vaccinations are very important in keeping your pet healthy. Only necessary vaccinations and boosters should be given and only as often as is needed. It is important to consider infectious disease risks for your individual pet. Your veterinarian will consider many factors in determining the vaccine schedule, e.g. indoor/outdoor, boarding , frequently, travel, breed and age. After consultation with you, the owner, a plan will be developed which will incorporate various risk/benefit evaluations. This will be adjusted as medical science progresses with new findings.
Dentistry, diagnostics & imaging
Most dogs and cats eventually need a professional dental cleaning using an ultrasonic scaler such as your dentist might use.
All dental procedures are done with similar anesthesia and monitoring as with surgery. Dogs and cats will not sit still for effective scaling to be performed. Some dogs need their teeth scaled every year or two especially as they get older. We will help determine your pets dental needs at his or her annual checkup.
Many tests are run at Sugarloaf Animal Hospital, especially when rapid results are needed. These include: blood chemistries/electrolytes/CBC/heartworm testing/feline leukemia testing/fecal exams/urinalyses/bacterial and fungal cultures/skin scrape cytologies and more. Other tests are sent out to commercial labs. These include Antech and UGA diagnostic labs.
At Sugarloaf Animal Hospital, we also use imaging studies to noninvasively evaluate your pet. With X-Rays or an Ultrasound we can diagnose conditions with minimal stress or pain. X-rays are taken daily for a variety of problems such as a broken leg or evaluation of a possible disc rupture. Ultrasound helps with abdominal organ evaluation and heart murmurs in dogs and cats We use specialized flexible and rigid scopes as necessary to diagnose and treat a number of internal problems.
Other servicesNutritional Counseling
At Sugarloaf Animal Hospital we will discuss nutritional management at every wellness exam because of its critical importance in the management of our patients. Easy weight control is now possible.Senior care
We want to keep our pets healthy and happy for as long as possible. This can best be achieved by exercise, a healthy diet, and regular veterinary checkups. Annual Senior Blood/urine testing helps us find evidence of common old age problems in pets. These include: liver disease, kidney disease, diabetes, anemia, cancer, and hyperthyroidism in cats.Dog & Cat Boarding
Dogs are kept in a heated /air conditioned area and walked twice daily in a fenced outdoor area. Runs are provided for larger dogs. Smaller dogs are kept in runs when the kennel is not full. Cats are kept in a completely separate area. They can be boarded in 1 of 2 areas: 1) the single cat condo-a large cage with a shelf or 2) the luxury cat condo which is a 10 foot tall unit with 4 levels for your cats comfort.Grooming & bathing
Our veterinary assistants bathe pets after boarding or for a variety of medical problems. All baths and grooms include a nail trim and ear cleaning.
Information and Resources
Visit: Veterinary Partner for good information and resources on pets


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Latest News
A badger cull has begun today (Friday 4th September) in Dorset, for the first time, and has restarted in Gloucestershire and Somerset for the third year running.
Despite the evidence that the culls so far have been ineffective, as well as inhumane, the cull has been rolled out to Dorset.
An article on the Guardian's website quotes Claire Bass of Humane Society International: "For a third year running these supposedly protected animals will be subjected to a cruel and pointless death, scapegoats of the government's failed cattle TB policy. We will continue to campaign to end this inhumane and unscientific massacre."
Campaigners in Gloucestershire have already reported finding a badger with a gunshot wound, which died shortly afterwards.
You can read Damian Carrington's full story here.
The Badger Trust has today (3rd August) issued a press release detailing a new short film on YouTube in which Steve Backshall speaks out to oppose further culling.
"Stop ignoring science and killing badgers to keep certain lobbies happy, says naturalist and broadcaster Steve Backshall"As the government prepares to make a decision on the continuation and possible extension of its highly controversial badger culling policy, leading naturalist and broadcaster Steve Backshall has given his support to the Badger Trust in opposing any more killing of badgers. In a film exclusively produced for the Badger Trust Steve Backshall said: "Ignoring science and going back to the dark ages culling badgers to keep certain lobbies happy, is a terrible idea.
Science is how the modern world works , it's how our cars drive and how our smart phones work. Relying on the scientific method is what makes our world go round.
"The way the government is doing things at the moment, small scale badly organised badger culls, is making the problem of bovine TB worse, this has been proven by science.
"The only way you can really effectively contain bovine TB is not through badger culling, but by improved animal husbandry and through the development of a cattle vaccine."
Responding to the film the CEO of the Badger Trust said: "We are hugely grateful to Steve Backshall for using his expertise and influence to support our campaign to stop the badger cull, which has been a disastrous failure on scientific, economic and humaneness grounds.
"Two years of badger culling have cost the tax payer in the region of £15 million, the most expensive wildlife cull of its kind on record. However, the real scandal is that nearly all the badgers killed will not have had TB. Defra's own data suggests just 1.6% are capable of passing on the disease whilst 85% are likely to have been completely TB free*. The government's continued refusal to test the badgers for TB not only makes this a 'blind' cull but also means we will never be able to say whether it has worked.
"The pilot culls were set up to test the efficiency and humaneness of free shooting of badgers at night by trained marksmen. On this basis they have also been a failure, as free shooting has proved highly ineffective and has been found to be inhumane by both the government's own Independent Expert Panel and more recently the British Veterinary Association. "The only way to beat bovine TB is to stop playing the badger blame game and to follow the Welsh Government approach, by focusing on disease control in cattle. "The Chief Vet in Wales recently announced that new incidents of TB in cattle in Wales had fallen by 28% resulting in a 45% cut in the number of cattle being slaughtered for TB. This leaves 94% of the Welsh herd now free of TB, without the culling of any badgers."
The film can be viewed on this YouTube link.
Our vaccination programme this year has been a big success so far. With another eight badgers vaccinated against TB at a site just over one week ago, the total now stands at 34, and there is one more site to go.
Our team of qualified vaccinators has done the work free of charge to the farmers who signed up for the scheme. Shropshire Badger Group believes that our badger vaccination approach offers a positive response to a relatively limited problem, in place of the discredited government cull that has indiscriminately killed many perfectly healthy badgers that would otherwise have boosted overall immunity in the badger population to bovine TB.
As an entirely self-funding small local charity, we welcome any offers of financial or practical help from businesses and members of the public in order to further our objectives. For more information please leave a message on our helpline: 01743 271999, or use the contact form on our website.
1st May 2015
Building on the significant successes achieved last autumn in their project to vaccinate local badgers against bovine tuberculosis (bTB), Shropshire Badger Group are pleased to announce that they will shortly start the second round of annual badger vaccinations for the seven Shropshire farmers who last year seized the chance to have the badgers on their land vaccinated completely free of charge. The Group now have five fully qualified and licensed vaccinators and anticipate that a sixth will qualify shortly. This will enable them to operate as two teams, allowing more time at each location. Surveying begins this weekend, and the process will continue throughout the next couple of months.
Top scientists conclude that badgers play only a very minor part in the transmission of bovine TB, with a recent radio tracking experiment showing that badgers and cattle actually prefer to avoid each other. But vaccination as a disease control measure in both animals and human populations is a tried and tested procedure. Shropshire Badger Group therefore believe that their badger vaccination approach offers a positive and measured response to a relatively limited problem, in place of the now discredited government cull which has indiscriminately killed many perfectly healthy badgers that would otherwise have boosted overall immunity in the badger population to the cattle disease.
Recent comments by politicians and by a farmer and vet from Gloucestershire, claiming a 28% reduction in bTB in the culling areas, need to be considered alongside the same level of reduction across most of the rest of England, where there has been no culling but where new and improved cattle testing and cattle movement controls have been introduced, as they have in the culling trial areas. The Government chief scientist has himself said that the drop in infection levels could not be due to badger culling.
A spokesman for Shropshire Badger Group explained:
"Having got off to an encouraging start at the end of 2014, this will be the second phase of our 4-year vaccination scheme to protect Shropshire badgers from the threat of cattle TB. Since the vaccinated badgers will pass on the immunity to their cubs, we only need to vaccinate 50% of a badger family to achieve this scientifically proven clan immunity effect.
"We are also delighted that for 2015 a further two locations have been added to our list of free badger vaccination sites, making a total of nine sites.
"As an entirely self-funding small local charity, we welcome any offers of financial or practical help from businesses and members of the public in order to further our objectives. For more information please leave a message on our helpline: 01743 271999, or use the contact form on our website: www.shropshirebadgergroup.co.uk. "
Scientists have reported creating the first cattle resistant to TB using genetic engineering. Reported in the Guardian on 3rd March and on the Guardian website, the development could pave the way for farm animals that are genetically modified to be resistant to disease.
The cattle in the study, carried out in China, introduced a mouse gene known to protect against TB. The cattle carrying the protective gene, along with control cattle, were then housed with infected animals, and the GM cattle were much less likely to contract the disease.
The study is reported in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Obviously there is a long way to go before this might solve the bovine TB problem in Britain, but one promising feature of the research shows that the resistance is passed to offspring, suggesting that it could be introduced within one generation.
Professor Mike Coffey, a livestock expert at Scotland's Rural College, said: "This doesn't produce completely TB-resistant cows, but the aim is to raise the general resistance. This would slow down any spread of the disease and slowly reduce the national level in herds."
You can read the full story here.
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Ever wondered what the A-list does when they need to get away from it
Coppola Resorts BelizeBelize it or Not
Who: Francis Ford Coppola
Where: Blancaneaux Lodge, Belize
The scoop: Oscar-winning director, winemaker, and hotelier Francis Ford Coppola clearly knows how to enjoy the good things in life. After falling for Belize on a visit in the '80s, Coppola snatched up a parcel of land in the northwest corner of the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve. And there, in the middle of the rainforest, he erected Blancaneaux Lodge, which served as his private family home until it was converted to a hotel with 20 cabanas and villas overlooking natural waterfalls throughout the property. Coppola's 2-bedroom villa has its own private plunge pool, an open living room, and a Japanese tub. The resort's surroundings are rugged, unspoiled, and subject to the elements of Mother Nature, which can occasionally knock out power and wash away roads. The reward, though, is being completely in tune with nature, and enjoying jungle adventures like birdwatching – keep an eye out for the keel-billed toucan, Belize's national bird – and cave tubing. It's not hard to see why Coppola fell hard for Belize. In fact, he liked it so much that he acquired additional beach property to build sister resort Turtle Inn in 2001. After all, one good thing is never enough.
Blancaneaux Lodge & Turtle Inn, Belize, coppolaresorts.com


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by Mindy Schwartz, Outreach Coordinator
This past fall, I decided to launch a new version of our popular Little Naturalists classes. After recently having my first child last year, I knew there was a whole demographic of OC residents we weren't necessarily reaching with our programming – new parents. I attended several 'mommy & me' style classes when I was newly post-partum, and I really valued not only getting out of the house with my little one, but also getting to meet other parents of babies that were about the same age as my baby. So I thought to myself, "Why can't we offer our own version of a 'mommy & me' class at the ENC? The only thing better than just getting out of the house when you're a new parent is getting outdoors." And the outdoors is something we do really well here.
That's how the concept of Tiny Naturalists was born. My vision, however, was that this class be not just for new moms but for new dads as well. I was so disheartened by the lack of 'daddy & me' classes out there. When my husband was on paternity leave, he was so eager to have the same kind of new dad bonding experiences that I had been having, and sadly there aren't many organized opportunities for that here in Orange County. So to all you expectant fathers or new dads out there – keep us in mind for your upcoming paid family leave! We're offering this Tiny Naturalist series again in the spring.
Each week we hike out to a different habitat along our trails, set up a big blanket, and relax with our babies in the shade of the forest canopy. Parents get to know one another while the babies experience 'tummy time' and free play outdoors, and each session ends with story time and a song. We are now in the midst of the 2nd Tiny Naturalist series (each series is 6 weeks long), and I've learned a lot in the process. For people like me, who grew up climbing trees and catching fireflies, remembering to take my child outside is like second nature and already habit. But for many other people, cultivating an appreciation for nature is a skill that takes practice and effort. Looking at the faces of the babies and parents who have been coming to Tiny Naturalists reminds me that cementing that love of nature starts now, before our kids are even old enough to walk. I see the wonder in the babies' eyes as they stare up at the treetops in our Redwood Forest, and I also see the relief in the parents' faces for actually getting to be outside someplace beautiful for a change.
Hopefully our Tiny Naturalists program is one tiny way that we can inspire our community members to embed nature into their families' lives.