text:
A Little Something to Fight the Poison
Observations and opinions on politics and the media.
Eric Tam
Rick Robinson
Manu Rangachari
Prescribed Sources
Globe and Mail
New York Times
CBC News
BBC World Service
Washington Post
LA Times
Toronto Star
National Post
Jerusalem Post
La Presse
Le Monde
Hindustan Times
Second Opinions
The Atlantic
The Economist
American Prospect
The New Republic
National Review
Weekly Standard
Pundit Magazine
Daily Doses
Be-all | End-all
Facts & Arguments
Rotten Tomatoes
Flags of the World Given Letter Grades
Why They Hate Us
Urban Legends Reference Page
Get Your War On
Simpsons Blackboard Openings
Saturday, July 12, 2003
THINGS TO DO IN NEW HAVEN WHEN YOU'RE REALLY TIRED and when you've left the key to your apartment on your desk and the doorman's off duty and your flatmate and fiancee are who-knows-where or sleeping like bricks (for around the first 8 hours after midnight):
-Knock a lot. Leave message on flatmate's cellphone
-Have a very late dinner at the late night pizza/kabob joint.
-Knock some more
-Eat the remainder of your pita whilst staring whistfully at your balcony window only 14 ft. off of the ground (and probably unlocked sliding doors)
-Check out local dive bar for a barmaid you know. Convince doorman to let you in free and that backpack doesn't have weapons. Watch a couple songs by the tribute band with the last 2 dozen hardcore fans.
-Check out graduate school bar. Peer at bar's very last patron. Use bathroom.
-Knock even more. Kick. A bit. Bang head against terrible, terrible door. Curse at flatmate's immediate call waiting message for 35236th time.
-Try to talk to and befriend some post-bar undergrads at the local 24-hour convenience store, but fail because of you're second too slow-witted to catch an entry cue.
-Watch in despair as barmaid above pulls up to curb to drop off friends and looks through you without hint of recognition.
-Wander. Check out the fountain on cross-campus.
-Wander back to the 24-hour convenience store and convince counter guy to let you work in their upstairs seating area even though it's supposed to be closed for cleaning.
-Edit a paper you're trying to publish.
-Buy and consume some Red Bull-like energy drink.
-Start a short story and an op-ed.
-Practice your kata between the tables of the upstairs area.
-Edit some more and buy some ginseng/plum iced tea.
-Gaze at 6:15AM sunlight in wonder.
-Wander over to Starbucks. Try to convince opening shift ladies to let you in 10 minutes before they're supposed to open so you can use the bathroom.
-Search out early breakfast place to use the bathroom.
-Return to Starbucks slightly annoyed; buy cheap tea without tipping.
-Open up laptop, stare at it, realize it's too late to do anymore work, close it up.
-Chat up one nice Starbucks gal who would have let you in early, but was told not to by the other workers. Give her advice on grad school and the GREs.
-Go back to apartment and bang some more.
-Give up and find the morning doorman who's just arrived. Suck down paying $20 to let you into your apartment. Stare at roommate's closed door and wonder. Plug in Internet connection and blog in a daze.
Friday, July 11, 2003
DOESN'T THE SECRET SERVICE ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH TO DO? Condoleeza Rice dumps the dodgy Niger uranium claim made in Bush's State of the Union address all over the lap of George Tenet and the CIA:
"If CIA Director George Tenet had any misgivings about that sentence in the president's speech, 'he did not make them known' to Mr. Bush or his staff, said national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.If I were Dr. Rice, I'd be very cautious when I start my car tomorrow morning...
THE PERVERSITY OF THE UNIVERSE will be on full display if Blair loses his job but Bush doesn't for the no WMDs in Iraq mess. As Nic Kristof points out, Blair has been far more credible and reasonable in selling the war, but that may not save him because the British people and media are much less credulous, it seems, than their American counterparts.
Yeah, Blair might have earned what he gets for siding with the Bush gang, but it would still be a pity--and if there is a higher power, surely It wouldn't dump Blair and let Bush win '04, right?
Thursday, July 10, 2003
I WOULD HAVE BROUGHT SHOE POLISH: Mrs. Clinton's extreme grciousness in helping Tucker Carlson weasel out of his boastful bet to eat his shoes if her book sold well by presenting him with a cake in the shape of shoe on Crossfire would be really heartwarming, if I could set aside the amount of damage that people of Carlson's ilk has done to American political discourse.
An addendum to Eric's post on proper patriotism. There's an article in the Utne Reader that makes a compelling argument for why the Left should embrace patriotism. The upshot of the article is that the Left has to remind people what America truly stands for -- democracy, liberty, a haven for the down-trodden etc. The article also contains interesting historical tid-bits about some of America's patriotic touchstones, including the Oath of Allegiance and songs like "America the Beautiful" and "This Land is your Land". It turns out they weren't exactly written by Republicans....
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
MOST PEOPLE who read blogs probably already know about this, but here's the key Niger uranium links that have appeared over the past few days:
-"The Former Ambassador" Joseph Wilson's NYT article.
-Ari Fleischer's largely incoherent attempt to explain why the Bush Admin shouldn't be excoriated for this--rough last week on the job, huh, Ari? (posted by public-minded Josh Marshall)
-The NYT story on the White House's sort of mea culpa.
What really surprises me about all this is that it took the mainstream media this long to make a stink about it. I thought everyone was pretty sure that the reports were bogus months ago.
BEN FOLDS was amazing. Should have been quicker in mentioning the concert I went to on the 4th, but it's not like I've got a reputation for being timely. It was a bit odd, because when Toad's Place (New Haven's famous Yale-embedded dive bar) meant all ages, they really meant ALL ages. I'm talking a few grandmoms, as well as a bunch o' kids who were seriously pre-pre-teen. Like 11-years-old all ages. But he was amazing--not only did he make us sing the parts to many of his songs, but he made us actually almost sing well. And "Song for the Dumped" is still pretty funny in Japanese. Very cool.
NOT THAT IT MATTERS really, since I can't even vote or legally donate money to this cause, but I really, really, really like the idea of a Wesley Clark run. And Esquire's excellent profile didn't hurt one bit (via The Wesley Clark weblog). Parts of it almost moved me to tears, like this account of personal courage in Bosnia:
In August 1995, the general—three stars, working as J-5 for the Joint Chiefs—went to Bosnia as part of the negotiating team Ambassador Richard Holbrooke had put together to end the civil war that had resulted in the massacre of as many as eight thousand Muslim men and boys at the town of Srebrenica the month before. In Belgrade, Clark had met for the first time Serbian president Slobodan Milosevic, who was sponsoring the Bosnian Serbs. Now the team had to travel to Sarajevo. Told that the airport in Sarajevo was too dangerous to fly into, the team decided to drive and asked Milosevic to guarantee its safety on a road held by Bosnian Serbs. Milosevic did not, and so the team wound up taking a fortified Humvee and an armored personnel carrier on a pitched, narrow, winding mountain road notoriously vulnerable to Serb machine-gun fire. Clark and Holbrooke went in the Humvee, the rest in the APC. In his book, the general describes what happened this way: "At the end of the first week we had a tragic accident on Mount Igman, near Sarajevo. [Three members of the team] were killed when the French armored personnel carrier in which they were riding broke through the shoulder of the road and tumbled several hundred meters down a steep hillside."Clark-Dean is beginning to sound amazing. Dean-Clark would be great too. Heck, Clark-Kerry, Kerry-Clark, throw Graham in there somewhere, I don't care. All of those men (and a bunch of Democrat women, if they're interested) have better souls than Bush. I think about 98% of the world knows that. You Americans try to have the decency of recognizing that when you vote in 18 months, OK?
UPDATE: Wesley Clark's son popped up in The Daily Kos' comments (identity verified by Kos) and provided some valuable answers about his dad's intentions (scroll down, as he posted more than once). Cool.
Monday, July 07, 2003
SAVING GRACES: Sisyphus' 4th of July post almost makes me want to be an American:
"So you're here. Unless you're a cave sloth or a TRex, somebody with a lot of guts went to an awful lot of trouble to make that possible. They walked here from Asia, or they came over in a wooden boat or they survived being kidnapped and enslaved or they crammed the hold of a ship without any lifeboats or escaped any one of a few centuries of wars and privation in the rest of the world or maybe they studied as if their lives depended on it and stepped on a plane.Can't you Yanks elect more people who sincerely speak like this? Please?
Actually, some such similar stuff applies to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and is starting to become much more true of many other countries (my lame anecdotal empirics: I used to play cards with Eduardo, a half-Japanese kid from Brazil; and roomed in college with Azim, an Indian Muslim from Kenya; Manu is from some unknown planet [just kidding, pardner!]; and so on...). But the U.S. was there first, with the modern day liberal democracy thing, even if it's often been a rough ride that hasn't lived up to all of its ideals, and I will give it props for that.
ALSO, SOME THOUGHTS ON 'PROPER PATRIOTISM': if you scroll down from the original post, note the obstinate folks who insist that Sisyphus was wrong to post her message citing the good aspects of America's tradition without also citing the evil aspects:
"You might also remember that [Sisyphus'] country was built on the slaughter and deprivation of the native peoples, plus the slavery of millions of black people.People who believe something like the above (usually thoughtless radicals and fanatics) have overlooked the following:
(1) There is almost no country in the world about which some similar statement is untrue. The political history of humans society reveals a nearly unbroken chain of bloodshed and there is no moment where this violence is prominent and at the same time more hidden than at the moment of a society's founding. A history of the founding and world-historical events of the Earth's peoples would be in great part a history of genocide, fratricide, ethnic cleansing, and mass coercive dislocation.
So that's my bit in trying to be part of (ugh--Walzer, you're mostly great, but I despise this phrase, mainly because it contains such a lie) "the decent left." Have a happy post-Canada Day/Independence Day week, everyone.
(via Brett Marston)
Sunday, July 06, 2003
JUST WONDERING: Is there a German compound word for "the justified indignation one feels when involuntarily exposed to a public display of affection by an objectively unattractive couple in a coffee shop"? There should be. Brett, any help here?
UPDATE: Brett suggests something like Anstossendeleutekaffeekuschelnekel. Nice.


text:
Shopping Cart ×
There is nothing in your cart right now.
Sip your way through all the places that have made you fall in love with Barcelona with this Lovely Streets aluminum bottle.
It is very easy to carry around, white, made of metal and has lovely illustrations on it to help remind you of the city. Whenever you use it you will be able to taste a new experience.
You can use it as you head off in search of new experiences, new places and new people to meet in Barcelona. With this bottle in hand you will get wherever you want to go.
When are you going to start falling in love with your favorite city all over again?
- 100% BPA-free.
- Made from pure extruded aluminum.
- Complies with European FDA, HC and other regulations.
- Reusable and recyclable.
- Hermetic seal, even usable for carbonated drinks.
- Does not retain or transmit flavors.
- Very light.
Bottle size:
- 600 ml.
- 74 x 198 cm.
- Rim width: 33 cm.
- 122 g.
Usage and cleaning:
- Suitable for alcoholic beverages and citrus fruit juices.
- DO NOT wash in a dishwasher.
- DO NOT heat in a microwave.
- NOT a thermos container.
- DO NOT freeze.
Before first use and for daily cleaning, we recommend hand-washing with liquid soap in lukewarm water. Leave it to dry upside down so no water remains inside. Store without the top on after each use.
Designed and produced with lots of love in Spain.
Please wait...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Hello, I am a new Tixati user and have 2 problems – 1 major, and a minor niggle.
MAJOR: I realise that Tixati only allows 7 sites to be active at one time – 4 downloads maximum and the other three for seeding. Honestly I feel bad about just the 3 that I can seed (I sometimes remove files that I have just downloaded to allow a heavy seed to continue), and am thinking if I can raise that total without taking a hit on my download speed, which is much better than what I was used to. Can anyone please help, and able to guide me how to apply the changes?
MINOR: I am sure you have downloaded a file, only to see it stuck at 85 percent or some sort, and everyone else in the same boat as you are. With the program I used before, I was able to see the percentage of the file the sender had that I wanted to download. Is there anyway that I can see that kind of info with Tixati.
Please try to help me out, especially with the MAJOR one. Thanking in advance.
I recommend you to use uTorrent
Why not use the Tixati support page at http://support.tixati.com/Home . I saw a topic like Optimizing Tixati, probably may apply for you. Very good support page with lot of pictorial depictions. Hope this helps!!!


text:
Under the terms of the Versailles Treaty the number of rifles the German Army was limited to 84,000 Gew.98's and 18,000 Kar.98a's (later increased by 50,000 rifles to be used as a reserve). The German Military worked around these restrictions by assembling rifles from previously made parts and by hiding large numbers of rifles from the Versailles weapons commission.
The Modified Gew98 Rifle


text:
Template >> Flyer - Harvest Festival Church Flyer 78168 by loswl @ CreativeMarket
File Size: 179.28 MB; Requirements: Adobe CS1+; Layered: Yes; DPI: 300 DPI; Dimensions: 8.5 x 11 in4 x 6 in.
Harvest Festival Church Flyer Template can be used for your Church Harvest, Fall and Thanksgiving Events, etc, or for any other marketing projects. The file includes 2 High Resolution Flyers with several color options for easy editing. The file is print ready, just change the text, choose a color option, save and send to print. Add this template to your design tool box today.
- One 8.5x11 Flyer
- One 4x6 Flyer
- Five One-Click Color Options
- Organized Layers
- Color Coded
- CMYK / 300 Dpi /Bleed
Fonts Used
- Corki http://www.typedepot.com/corki
- Communist http://www.dafont.com/communist.font
- Great Lakes NF http://www.dafont.com/search.php?q=great+lakes+nf
- Steelfish http://www.dafont.com/search.php?q=steelfish
- Helvetica http://www.myfonts.com/fonts/adobe/helvetica/
Keywords: autumn, celebration, christian, church, colorful, contemporary, creative, designs, event, fall, festival, flyer, flyer artwork, flyer designs, green, harvest, layered, maple, picnic, thanksgiving.


text:
Sunrise Sunset
Fri., Sept. 26 6:32 6:32
Sat., Sept. 27 6:33 6:30
Sun., Sept. 28 6:34 6:29
Mon., Sept. 29 6:35 6:27
Tues., Sept. 30 6:36 6:25
Wed., Oct. 1 6:37 6:24
Thurs., Oct. 2 6:39 6:22
Fri., Oct. 3 6:40 6:20
A thin crescent moon appears close to the ringed planet Saturn low in the southeastern sky prior to sunrise tomorrow morning. Early morning risers will likely spot the two.
The early morning crowd at this time of year includes fishermen. Anglers become the best stargazers. They see shooting stars and become proficient at spotting other objects in the night sky. Catch a big bass; study the stars overhead.
The moon is out of view, in the new moon phase on Monday. It reappears in the southwestern evening sky on Wednesday morning right under the brilliant planet Venus. The two appear as an attractive pair. On Thursday evening it appears higher in the west and in the zodiacal constellation Libra.
Venus is becoming a better spectacle low in light of dusk. It will be seen by more people as it appears higher in the sky and sets later.
Jupiter, the easiest planet to spot, has shone all summer in the south. The large planet shines low in the southern sky hours after sunset. There is no mistaking this bright celestial object as it outshines all others stars and planets, save Venus and the Moon.


text:
This remote reserve in southern Tanzania has vast tracts of virgin bush and provides the more adventurous travelers with a taste of untouched Africa.
The Selous Game Reserve (54,490 km. sq.) is five times the size of the Serengeti, and with its mighty Rufiji River, forests, and rolling savannah is one of the strongholds for some of Africa's wildest elephants. Due to its remote location, being easily accessible only by small aircraft, the Selous Game Reserve has remained one of the untouched gems of Tanzania's wilderness areas, and offers visitors a chance to see a wild and expansive Africa far from paved roads and curio shops.
Being a game reserve, walking activities and canoeing on the Rufiji River are allowed. This can bring about close encounters with the elusive, endangered African wild dog.
With hundreds of huge baobabs scattered across this dry landscape, large herds of elephants pass through here in search of food. The Tarangire River provides the major lifeline for all the game. It then runs into huge swamps in the south. To the northwest, the lush Lake Manyara National Park with its prolific birdlife provides a forest home to thousands of monkeys and tree climbing lions.
Ruaha National Park is the second largest national park in Tanzania. It covers an area of about 12,950 km. sq. located in the middle of Tanzania, about 130 km. from Iringa. The park is part of a more extensive ecosystem which includes the Rungwa and Usangu Game Reserves.
This unspoiled wilderness derives its name from the Great Ruaha River, which flows along its south-eastern margin and is the focus for game viewing. Driving along the Ruaha River with its rocky gorges and deep pools provides a wonderful scenic backdrop to look for large cats, elephants, roan and sable antelope. Guests can stay in one of the six lodges and camps which are found here. The park can be reached by car via Iringa or there is an airstrip at Msembe park headquarters.
As you approach Lake Manyara National Park your first view is spectacular, regardless of direction. When you approach it from the east, the Rift Valley Escarpment looms on the horizon forming an impressive backdrop to the lake. Approaching from the west and viewing from the top of the escarpment, the park lies in a green strip below, the shallow alkaline lake reflecting the sunlight. Thousands of flamingoes and pelicans use this lake as one of the stopping off points on the Rift Valley's aerial highway. The large variety of mammals, reptiles and birds in the park, all within a small area, make Lake Manyara a diverse and particularly memorable place to visit en route to Ngorongoro and Serengeti.
Situated in the southwest corner of Rwanda extending for 1000 km. sq. is Nyungwe Forest, one of the largest montane forests in East and Central Africa. Dating back to before the ice age with its prehistoric atmosphere it's incredibly rich in biodiversity.
Nyungwe harbors 13 species of primates including chimpanzees, l'hoests, monkey, colobus and mangabeys.
With several endemic bird species the forest also supports 250 types of trees, shrubs and flowering plants including 100 species of orchid and giant lobelia standing like sentinels, as if extraterrestrial.
Queen Elizabeth National Park is Uganda's most popular game reserve for safaris and certainly one of the most scenic. Extending for nearly 2000 km. sq. it stretches from the crater dotted foothills of the Ruwenzori range in the north, along the shores of Lake Edward to the remote Ishasha River in the south. The region incorporates a wide variety of habitats that range from savanna and wetlands to gallery and lowland forest. This remarkable diversity is reflected in its bird list of over 550 species, the largest of any protected area in Africa. The park showcases its chimpanzees in the northern sector and the tree climbing lions of Ishasha Gorge.
Severin Safari Camp is hidden in the remote Kitani Wildlife area of Tsavo West National Park overlooking Mt. Kilimanjaro. The eco friendly luxury camp offers a unique combination of adventure, wellness and relaxation for the sophisticated traveler who loves romantic pampering and unique wildlife experiences. The Camp is a small haven with beautifully constructed tents, amazing dining, crystal clear pool and a pleasing spa.
visit website: http://www.severinsafaricamp.com/
Wake up in the coolness of the early morning and watch the first few rays of the sun hit the blue Mt. Kilimanjaro, Africa's greates mountain. Satao Elerai is an eco friendly luxury camp tucked away in the corner of the famous Amboseli Ecosystem, close to the famous Amboseli National Park.
visit website www.sataoelerai.com
Satao Camp takes you back to the classical Out of Africa safari with green canvas tents, bush style showers and personal and friendly service; evoking a feeling of the true 'Old African' experience. Our location is indisputably unique; nestled beneath the shade of the old Tamarind trees, just in front of a very favored water-hole, our guests are ensured breathtaking view to the many elephants coming daily for a drink and a refreshing wash.
visit website: www.sataocamp.com Take a Tour : Satao Camp Virtual Tour
Kenya has something to offer everyone. The diversity of the landscape is reflected in its ecology, the lives of its people and the various adventures available. Karisia offers unique, tailor-made journeys through this diverse and spectacular countryside. Specialising in walking safaris and photographic trips to the less travelled areas of this region, natural history is a major focus, with biologists, photographers and experienced safari guides providing the kind of safari to remember forever.
In Kiswahili 'Elewana' means 'Harmony', and this breathtaking air safari combines the game rich wilderness of Northern Tanzania with a luxurious aircraft and stylish accommodation. This journey, in an executive styled Cessna Caravan, takes you to some of Tanzania's best National Parks, offering a unique air safari in the region.


text:
A make-it-yourself computer and coding kit powered by the Raspberry Pi has reached its crowd funding target in just 18 hours.
The Kano is a kit aimed at anyone aged eight and upwards interesting in building their own computer and learning to code and includes a Raspberry Pi, a case, wireless keyboard with trackpad, cables, Wi-Fi dongle, and even a speaker and a simple instruction booklet to guide contruction.
The firm hit their $100,000 (£62,000) fundraising target earlier today, smashing their mid-December deadline with the amount continuing to climb, meaning they can can now start production of the kits.
The package also comes with Kano OS, a Debian Wheezy based operating system that guides users through assembling the machine, creating an account and loading up a graphical desktop, and Kano Blocks that allows users to assemble algorithms by dragging, dropping and clipping together blocks of logic to output code in Python or Javascript among other languages.
On their Kickstarter page, the firm says: "We often draw lines between things: art and science, code and design, STEM and the humanities. It makes 'digital literacy' seem like brussels sprouts – good for you, but hard to chew. It shouldn't be so hard to get started – to make, play and experiment right out of the box."
Kano Blocks runs six Kano Levels, software projects that guide users through the coding process of making Pong, Snake, Minecraft, videos, and music and the developers have promised more levels to come.
The firm released 200 early prototypes in May to allow school kids and technology fans to test them out. For a video of reactions to the kit, visit the E&T Magazine Facebook page.
For more information visit the Kano Kickstarter page.


text:
User talk:Carhireibiza
Car hire Ibiza - carhire-ibiza.com is a genuine car rental company. We have a large fleet of brand new cars for car hire Ibiza. We offer the best rates for car hire Ibiza coupled with professional service – no waiting time or nasty surprises when renting a car with us. We have a dedicated team of professionals waiting to make your car hire as smooth as possible. We deliver your rental car right to you at the Ibiza Airport as you leave your flight. About Ibiza - Ibiza car hire Ibiza Airport
The Mediterranean island of Ibiza (Ibiza to the locals) is located midway between the coast of mainland Spain and the largest island of Mallorca, about 100 kilometers from each. And its small neighbor Ibiza, Formentera, along with Mallorca and Menorca, a group of islands known as the Balearic Islands
In total Ibiza has 210 km, aprox. 131 miles, of coastline. Ibiza car hire to visit the many unspoilt beaches along the coast. Ibiza has stunning beaches, hidden coves and beautiful villages with typical narrow Spanish streets lined by whitewashed houses. Ibiza also enjoys a splendid cuisine. The most notable feature is without doubt its Mediterranean influence with a great emphasis placed on cereals, above all wheat, which when coupled with wine and olive oil makes up the typical Mediterranean trilogy.
Car Hire Ibiza, Ibiza Car Hire http://www.carhire-ibiza.com/


text:
Mondays to Thursdays: 11:00am–10:00pm
Fridays & Saturdays: 11:00am–10:00pm
Sundays & Holidays: 11:00am–10:00pm
Business Hours
Mondays to Thursdays: 11:00am–10:00pm
Call Us (508) 620-9354 or use the form below to book your reservation.
94 Union Ave – Framingham – MA 01702. USA
RESERVATIONBook your table
Experience our delicious Brazilian Dishes
We provide comfort, quality and refinement to our clientele.
Take Out Only: 30% off after 9:00 pm at Framingham – Union Unit.
Terra Brasilis Resturant
94 Union Ave, Framingham, MA 01702. USA
GET IN TOUCHContact Us
If you would like to contact us about your experience at one of our Terra Brasilis Restaurant locations, send a question, or just say hello – please complete the form below:
To reach one of our individual Terra Brasilis Restaurant locations with questions about hours, menus or other items, please contact the location directly at the number listed below.


text:
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 05: Katie McCabe of Arsenal before the match between Arsenal Women and Chelsea Ladies at Wembley Stadium on May 5, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Katie McCabe
Copyright © 2018 The Arsenal Football Club Plc
Watermarking and Website Address do not appear on finished products
Media ID 14804269
© Copyright Arsenal Football Club PLC. All Rights Reserved.


text:
How many prospects visit your website each day ready to make a purchase? It obviously depends on your industry; if you offer premium B2B services, that number could be as low as 27%. In some instances, as many as 95% of the visitors to a website could be there strictly for research prior to making a purchasing decision.
While we can create great landing pages for high conversions following landing page best practices, we can also help you cultivate those clients who take a little extra time in the decision-making process. This ensures you stay front-of-mind, and allows you to connect with potential customers multiple times so that they do not get lost in the sales process.
Pixelcarve helps you start by bringing clients to your website and positioning your brand in an attractive way. This establishes credibility and provides information needed during the buying process. However, it does not end there. We also help you capture data, including email addresses, phone numbers and other contact information.
You then gain the opportunity to establish further trust with these clients, monitoring their progress in the buying cycle and offering them additional data with which they can make a purchase. This also helps you start distinguishing true prospects from those who are unlikely to buy from you – giving you a chance to truly engage in lead nurturing with those who are most likely to receive the most benefit from your product.
Brands often have an ongoing dialogue with prospects, and it can take many forms throughout the nurturing cycle. We ensure you are covered on every level, from buyers who browse your site seeking fresh content, to those who look for credibility in the form of ads and ongoing email campaigns.
Nurturing is an ongoing process, and can often take several contacts before a prospect becomes a buyer. We help you develop an efficient and exceptional process that fits well with your brand and your mission and truly targets those buyers who are prepared to work with you.


text:
So, with the retirement of the Cat's Pajamas, I went looking for a new nightshirt. Nothing worked. Most of the jammies the local stores carried were just not right – the fabric was too cheap or the style was too, dare I say it, young?
Anyway, while trolling through the fabrics at Emma One Sock I came across this lovely, and knew I had found what I was looking for.
I would sew my nightshirt.
It's a digital print from the Netherlands, with the elephant on one side, and the zebra on the other. The fabric is a beefy cotton knit, with a touch of lycra to keep it stretchy.
One panel was just long enough to make a nightshirt – provided the binding and sleeves were cut from something else. There is plenty of white rayon knit in the stash that would work.
Using a regular t-shirt pattern would be too form-fitting to sleep comfortably.
Style Arc's Laura pattern then came to mind. The pattern has a yoke front and back, but I could easily merge those pieces, which I did. I omitted the center back seam too. No need to have a seam up my zebra!
I am unbelievably tickled with this sleepwear solution.
Cute, comfy jammies! Oh, did I mention I gave the goose a sparkly crown.


text:
2013 Hyundai Santa Fe: Navigation System Goof
August 9, 2013
Our twice-annual trip to the Oregon coast has a history of exposing navigation system flaws. Past systems have habitually sent us to either of two locked gates that led to dirt roads that crossed private property. None seemed to know of the correct route's existence even though it's been the only legal way to my folks' place for several decades.
The situation seemed to fix itself in new cars a couple of years ago when the correct route suddenly began appearing and the false shortcuts vanished. Google Maps and apps have consistently done the right thing in these parts for the last three or four years.
So, it was a bit of a surprise when our all-new 2013 Hyundai Santa Fe plotted a course that included a road I was pretty sure wouldn't go through. But we followed along anyway to see if some new route had opened up. If so, we'd have ourselves a shortcut that would save us a dozen miles.
No such luck. As expected, Whalehead Rd. (sic) is yet another private dirt road that doesn't actually connect. Though I must say it represents an entirely new and different bad route I haven't seen from any previous navigation system.
This isn't the result of a recent road status change. The Whaleshead RV resort and the private dirt road that goes through the place to private homes beyond have existed in their current forms for a couple of decades.
To my way of thinking this is a deal-breaker. The only place a navigation system has much worth to me is in the rural fringe areas that aren't covered by detailed paper maps, where my smartphone loses 3G and can't connect to Google Maps, where road signs are few and places to stop for directions are limited. If a navigation system isn't trustworthy out here I don't want it.
On the plus side, the Santa Fe's navi system did find and reroute us onto the correct roads once we left Whaleshead Rd behind and headed north on highway 101 once more.
Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 2,534 miles


text:
Monthly Archives: May 2011
What do I think about "BRINK"?
Thursday I picked up Bethesda's newest game entitled "Brink". I was hooked from the cut scenes and limited game play I viewed on the TV screen at the local Game Stop store. It looked pretty interesting as a first person shooter and I liked the style that the game allowed a person to move and jump over obstacles. So like everyone else I bought a copy and took it home to really get some game time in before the kids learned or became aware that I bought it.
One Player for Campaign Mode. On line Game Play can go from 2 to 16. You can On-Line Co-Op from 2 to 8 players.
Story Line: Basically the world's oceans have risen to a point where the land masses are no more. Prior to this tragic world event, a country built a large city in the ocean called "The Ark" and for a while it was capable of maintaining life. Now the area is run down and falling apart, to make matters worse there is a growing collection or heavily armed resistance fighters that are trying to destroy the Ark and seek the possibility of leaving the city in search of possible dry land. You have a choice to either play as a member of the resistance group or as the security forces ordered to maintain law and order in the chaos of a really bad situation.
Game: There are 8 different maps in campaign mode. Each map has at least 3 to 4 additional sub-missions one has to complete in order to move to the next mission. You can switch back and forth between playing as a resistance fighter or a military security officer. It just depends on you. Characters can be adjusted with specific emphasis on custom facial expressions, body type, scars, camo face paint, uniform, head-gear, etc. Weapons can also be customized depending on what you want and what type primary and secondary weapon you prefer.
Weapons: You start off with the basic automatic rifles and pistols with no frills. In order to obtain weapon rail systems, scopes, extended magazines, grenade launchers, etc. You have to complete specific game challenges in the "Challenge Section". There are four challenges that focus on different skill sets for the player. Like for instance, one challenge you are required to protect and defend a checkpoint from several waves of enemy soldiers at different locations and different amount of personnel. You are playing as a combat engineer and must repair any damaged equipment while fighting off the enemy soldiers who are sent to destroy or capture the checkpoint. If you win within a certain period of time you get various scope mounts which can be added to your primary and secondary weapons for campaign mode.
Class Types: You can either be a Soldier, Combat Medic, Operative, and Combat Engineer. As a Soldier you can carry additional ammunition and hand out ammunition to your fellow team members. You also can carry High Explosive charges. As a Combat Medic, you will maintain the health of your fellow team members and can hand out injection kits for your Soldiers if they are wounded. As an operative you can take the uniform of your enemy and attempt to infiltrate into a location to gain vital information. Combat Engineer can place land mines in possible foot paths of your enemy, repair damage equipment, and build auto-tracking machine gun turrets. As you progress your experience points will increase which will allow you to purchase additional skills.
Game Play: This game is built for the person who likes to "run and gun" through maps. You need to work as a collective fire team in order to maintain a better movement through the various maps. Hanging back in order to perform rear security will most likely leave you exposed and get out flanked by several more heavily armed individuals. I found myself getting frustrated with running at the edge of the battlefield only to get mowed down in an ambush or multi enemies appearing out from well fortified positions. Stay in the middle and let the other guys become cannon fodder. If you want to ramp up really quick then play as a medic. Saving your team mates lives will give you some serious XP.Moving with at least 2 medics, an engineer, and a few Soldiers will give you an edge. The computer AI during game play will change from difficult to plain obvious no clue. Some enemy Soldiers will move directly in the line of fire while others will race around your exposed flanks and roll up behind you. There are numerous routes you can take for most of the maps. The graphics are decent and the game is rated "Teen" so there is not much signs of blood. No graphic headshots, or anything like that. So if you are looking for destruction and death then this is not the game you would want to purchase. It is a pretty fun game to play so long as you don't mind moving from one position to the other. This is not one of those type games where you can camp all day and just wait it out with a sniper rifle and make shot after shot with no worries. The game will move further into the map as certain objectives are completed.
Is it worth $60.00 plus dollars? Answer is, "Yes and No".
Yes I like the game, it's very cool as far as the customization mode. The No part can be attributed to I personally think that they should have added several more maps and not place the challenge mode to pick up the additional weapons pieces. It should have allowed the player to purchase weapon upgrades through experience points or as one leveled up a new bracket of equipment could become available. I would say hold off on making it a now purchase and wait a few weeks and buy a used copy. There might be some up-coming downloadable content in the near future. More to follow.
Welcome to Games and Guns New Blog
"Let The Games Begin!"
Why are we here? First, let's take a moment to explain the reason for which we will be writing on this website. We are an entire family of gamers. Everyone in this house enjoys playing some form of video or PC games. I mean if we take an inventory of our current location there are two XBOX 360s, a PS3, a Wii, an original XBOX (which still works), and one functioning PS2 with a backup broken one for spare parts. Our gaming taste is as different as our personalities and I think we cover the whole spectrum of titles and styles. We are the gaming "Brady Bunch" so to speak, we are not paid consultants nor do we receive anything free from the gaming industry to test. We work normal jobs, with the same hectic everyday schedules that include the never-ending list of "Honey-Do's" and "children requirements". So we understand that if you have kids and you like to game, there is little time to relax. We have six kids altogether that frequently calls this place "home", three from my wife's previous marriage and my three from my previous marriage. But enough about that, we are here to discuss the topic at hand.
What is this? Well it is our intent to inform you about video games that we play or have played and attempt to give you some ideas on whether or not it's worth the 60 plus dollar purchase price. Are we gaming experts? Yes and No. No one here is a computer gaming tech and none of us have been employed by Sony or Microsoft, but we have bought enough of their products to know what we like and what we don't like. Like I said before all of us play video games and we would like to share our passion of "gaming" with you and if these blogs seem at all interesting then please let us know.
So what about the gun part? Well besides playing video games I like to go out and shoot at the firing range. Nothing too fancy just go and send some rounds down range. So my wife has allowed me (I said allowed honey….no harm intended) to add the gun piece to this blog site. Will this be an ongoing issue? I am not sure, I may discuss some stories or experiences at the range from time to time and if I can purchase a new weapon then I will let the audience know. If you have a weapon you would like to discuss or show off then that is also an option.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride, it should get pretty interesting. We ask for feedback as well. You play games as much as we do and we would certainly like to hear about games that were really good or just bypass at all costs. As the old and over used phrases goes, "let the games begin."


text:
Slowly but surely, the folks behind the new horror thriller Oculus, set to debut on April 11, have been treating horror fans to little glimpses (pun intended) of the upcoming film. Now, the full length trailer and a new poster have arrived.
Oculus tells the story of Tim and Kaylie Russell (played by Brenton Thwaites and Karen Gillan), a brother and sister whose parents were murdered when they were children. Tim was found guilty of the murders, but Kaylie always believed that supernatural forces were responsible.
It looks like the extended trailer backs up all of the positive praise for the film that came out of the Toronto International Film Festival last year. The more I see from the film, the more it's becoming one of my most anticipated horror releases of 2014.
Oculus hits theaters April 11, and for more spooky goodness from the cast, check out our most recent interview with star Katee Sackhoff.
Image: Relativity Media


text:
News and discussions about image sensors
The dual cameras inside iPhone plus may cost $40 becoming the most expensive components?
The 'zoomed in' camera has no OIS, has an f/2.8 lens, and a smaller sensor.Also, the $19.90 includes the selfie camera.
All comments are moderated to avoid spam and personal attacks.


text:
- Colleges
- Majors
- Intern
- Money
- Travel
- Shop
Rush hour traffic? Nope. Skyscrapers? Not here. Amusement parks? Does a farm count? Walla Walla, Washington, is a quaint agricultural community nestled deep within the rolling hills of southeast Washington. In an area known...
College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.
Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we're on the pulse of the college experience.
Copyright © 2015 College Magazine.


text:
Under a state law that took effect at the start of this year, California will impose new record-keeping and reporting requirements on companies that share or sell customer information with third parties.
The law dictates that if a company shares personal customer information with other parties for marketing purposes but lacks an opt-in or opt-out privacy policy, it must provide specific information-such as categories of personal information disclosed to third parties, as well as their contact information-to California customers who request it. The law also instructs businesses that deal with California consumers to have a contact point where customers can request information and opt out of the list.
"The purpose of this is to force people to share information only when it's opt in or opt out," said David Straus, legal counsel for American Business Media, "and to make those who don't have privacy policies yet to create one."
While that will not be a problem for most larger trade publishers, which already have privacy policies in place, the law may hit many smaller publishers that have yet to set up subscriber privacy rules.
Straus said ABM is developing generic privacy policies in 2005 to share with its members, and has strongly encouraged publishers in years past to have privacy policies.
"There's always been the overriding threat that the government will impose a privacy policy on us if we don't do it to ourselves," he said. "If they do it to us, it will be much worse than if we do it to ourselves."
Nick Cavnar, VP-circulation and data development at Hanley Wood, said, "Most companies are involved with multiple businesses, so if it's a magazine, it's easy to put the blurb in the magazine saying if you want out, call this number," he said. "But one of the complications is that if someone calls you and says take me off your list at the magazine, do you also need to take them off the lists of all the other businesses you own?"
The California law does stipulate that affiliated companies work the same as unaffiliated companies do, but doesn't define any criteria for different product lines within one company. "It's going to create a problem of tracking it through the different databases," Cavnar said.
Straus said other states may follow California's lead, which could lead to federal legislation. "It may work like the CAN-SPAM law did last year," he said, adding this would be a good thing. "At least then there would be one set of rules rather than a disparate set of rules." M


text:
Students may choose between the following Program Terms:
Business, International Relations & Liberal Arts - The American University of Rome
The summer program options at The American University of Rome (AUR) allow students with little or no experience in the Italian language to choose from a several courses taught in English in a wide variety of subjects, including Archeology, Arts, Business, Communication, History, Italian language, Management, Marketing, Political Science, Religion and more.
Academic Details:
Gap students, 18 years old and older, are also eligible for this program.
Back to Back Options


text:
|View Poll Results: Health/Energy?
|Speeeeeeeeed! (4/6)
|Standaaaaaaaaaard! (6/9)
|Voters: 51. You may not vote on this poll
|Thread Tools
Before anything happens, a random child in the crowd shouts out at the battle. It's complete and utter nonsense, something about Agility and Double Edge, making no sense considering one of the combatants is currently lying with his face in the dirt. The boy is silenced by some of his friends and promptly ignored by the trainers before they get back to business. The fallen Electivire is recalled, his large form vanishing into the bright beam of red, and his trainer, kingothestone, slinks dejected into the small crowd of newbies while the veterans celebrate their first knockout for the match. Resolute, the next of the newbies steps into the battler's box. It's none other than blazeVA, who, while having been around for a short while, did still qualify to be on the newbie team. Likely to be one of the biggest challenges for the veterans to face, it makes a bit of sense for him to try to gain an early lead for his team, and with a smirk it becomes obvious he intends to do just that as he tosses his Pokeball into the air. A bright flash takes form as a figure bursts into the sky to take flight. And quite the familiar figure it is, another Hydreigon flying smoothly a nice ways below the altitude Thrak finds himself at. This particular three headed beast goes by the name Trishula, and he's been trained and retyped to have his Dark type replaced with that of Ice, making him an excellent typespam cannon for the incoming mirror match dogfight.
Propelling himself quickly, the dragon of ice quickly reaches max speed and he goes to fly beneath the fell beast above. Corkscrewing in order to take aim at his foe, Trishula's eyes narrow as he gets Thrak into his sight. The dragon quickly puts to work his modified typing, opening the maw of his central head as a small sphere of cryogenic energy forms in front of his mouth. Quickly, the orb begins to arc, loosing a few thin streams of energy that dance around eachother in a rather jagged fashion to form an otherwise straight beam. Thrak has had plenty of time to prepare, however, thanks to the technique that his foe faced upon entry to the battlefield, and with a beat spirals sideways as he begins to fly in a downwards arc towards the new combatant. His body begins to glow with the bluegreen energy of his kind as he dives downwards, doing his best to avoid the attack his enemy has sent his way. Nonetheless, Thrak finds his wing clipped as the cryogenic blast lances across his right side, causing it to frost over nicely, restricting its movement nicely. Thanks to his movement being largely downward, however, he finds himself being able to right his trajectory, charging towards Trishula before slamming into his mirrored foe, causing both dragons to plummet. Thanks to Trishula's already low altitude, the dragon finds himself slammed into the ground by Thrak, who is thankful for the cushioned landing as he flaps and slithers off of the body of his foe, turning himself around after making it a couple feet away, unable to take back to the sky thanks to the icing his wing took.
Brushing himself off from the hefty blow, Trishula beats his wings a few times to regain a bit of height as he eyes his foe. Deciding to take his revenge as immediately as possible, the monsterous drake opens his mouths all at once as energy swirls between the three. A wave of pure energy, not unlike that which covered his foe mere moments ago, blasts through the short distance between the two. Thrak's reaction time is practically zero, and though he may try to slither out of the way of the blast, he's simply too tired and the assault too speedy for him to do so. Striking the beast with force in his side, Thrak is knocked over sideways and sent for a brief tumble. All three of Trishula's mouths grin, almost as widely as that of his trainer, as dust flies into the air while they crowd attempts to figure out the fate of the dark dragon. The dust settles, and though Thrak is clearly extremely battered, the dragon manages to rise to face his foe for now. Trishula's eyes widen in surprise at the sight, and it would appear that Thrak and Kush both have recognized this fight is not for them, as the grounded beast brings his two outer heads together as if they were arms, an orb of bright green energy slowly forming between them. With Trishula never having made an effort to get too high up, the ball is easily flung towards the dragon, finding its target in the left wing of the beast and causing it to do a quick spiraling turn in the air before righting itself from the somewhat small blow. The remaining green glow surrounds Thrak, quickly turning the form of the dragon into pure energy, before beginning to turn a bright red, not unlike that of the Electivire from the beginning of the round. Thrak is quickly sucked back into his ball, and Kush smirks before taking a single step back with only a single word. "Shadowshocker."
An odd man wearing a lab coat steps past the previous trainer and into the battler's box, the scientist grinning at the shock on the faces of the newbie team. Yes, it is none other than the Poison Gym Leader Shadowshocker whom Kush has chosen to take things from here, and the trainer holds out a rather oddly emblazoned Pokeball, entirely green with what appears to be a black hourglass on the top, before nodding to the ref and tossing it onto the field. With an equally odd flash of green and black, a slender form stands where the panting Hydreigon once was, green and white with blades for arms the figure strikes a heroic pose before shouting his name for all to hear. "XLR8!" The Gallade exclaims proudly, quickly taking a battle stance and eyeing the Hydreigon mere yards away.
Shadowshocker, your orders please.
Wild Future - FizzBy
Daisy wins at life for making this Battle Cut
used First Impression
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 6,015
"Mean Look into mid-charge Focus Blast."
The Cutest Tsarina
I thought about running, but FUCK RUNNING.
Plow into him with a Dragon Rush while he is busy trying to stare you down, then Fly into the air to avoid the Focus Blast.
It will be a honor fighting you again Shadowshocker. But this time, I will not fall as easily! You will see!
The representative from the newbie team eyes down the matchup that has been placed before him, his arm trembling heavily as he tightly grips the Pokeball of his Hydreigon. He is clearly suffering from severe doubts as to whether or not sticking in this fight will be a good idea, and the sight of it is enough to a brief smirk from the otherwise calm face of the scientist. The trembling stops as the newbie's eyes grow fierce, his position shifting into a confident battle pose as he shouts across the field. His declaration that's he's not backing down is enough to elicit a stare of amusement from his lab coat wearing opponent, cheers from his fellow team members, and general bewilderment from the onlookers as they chatter about type charts. Trishula's body almost naturally shifts in such a way that it mimics the confidence of his trainer, and XLR8's eyes narrow on his now prepared foe. The scientist calmly elicits orders to his Gallade, quickly followed by a barking of orders from the newbies, and the Pokemon simultaneously break their stances, signaling what is sure to be a spectacle of a matchup.
XLR8's already narrowed gaze becomes much more menacing suddenly, the Gallade shifting into a much more intimidating pose, raising his shoulders and bringing his arms and feet out. The corners of his lips creep quickly up his cheeks as his brow lowers to draw a couple of flattened lines above his normally round eyes. Trishula, seemingly knowing what is about to befall him, begins to glow, the very same blue-green glow that his previous foe had just last round, in fact, and with a beat of his wings takes charge at his standing opponent. Before the dragon can make contact with the slender knight, XLR8's eyes glow an eerie blue, and the energy surrounding Trishula quickly loses its greenish hue until it becomes a similar color. The dragon slams heavily into the Gallade almost immediately thereafter, the sizable weight difference between the two causing the humanoid to get absolutely floored in the process, knocked clean off his feet before going for a tumble on the grass for a nice number of yards. Trishula's momentum is largely unphased by the strike, carrying the beast past his foe by a distance not too different from where they had started. But his trainer has his concerns in other things, eyeing the Hydreigon's Pokeball. Sure enough, the sphere glows blue slightly, indicating an energy preventing proper linking between itself and the Pokemon now on the field.
While Trishula was, unfortunately for the newbie team, not fast enough to stop the main energy of the technique, his assault on his foe has at least spared him of any mind altering effects it would seem. But as his foe picks himself up from his unfortunate date with the dirt, Trishula's window of escape is closing fast. A few more beats of his wings cause the dragon to ascend rapidly as XLR8 manages to pick himself from the floor. The distance between the two growing quickly, the Gallade brings his hands together with a clap before slowly seperating them, a small orb glowing a dull orange beginning to form as he does so. With the orb not quite at the maximum power it is capable of reaching, the knight takes aim at his opponent as the dragon takes evasive action above. The sphere is chucked at the Hydreigon, whizzing through the sky at incredible speeds, but Trishula is too fast and too far away, managing to roll to its right as the sphere sails past, eventually fizzing out in the distance rather harmlessly. With typespam averted, Trishula turns his gaze on his grounded foe, and the eyes of the combatants lock across the yards as the round tapers off.
Trishula managed to avoid any damage this round, whilst still dishing out a nice blow to XLR8, though there is still a sizable gap between the states each of the Pokemon are in. As far as energy usage, neither Pokemon had particularly intensive rounds, and are still clearly well off, though Trishula might appreciate a breather sooner rather than later.
Blaze, next round orders please.
Wild Future - FizzBy
Daisy wins at life for making this Battle Cut
The Cutest Tsarina
Trish, use Fly to avoid any attacks for now. If you are grounded somehow, keep him at bay with a Hyper Voice.
used First Impression
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 6,015
"Taunt into a Focus Blast."
Sector Sketch
mfw no more mill rogue
Shadow's Datafile
The Ankhal Archive
Marc File #1
Uncomfortable with the idea of being so close to a highly physical Pokemon such as Gallade, Trishula decides to make to the sky. A swift beat of the wing causes her to ascend with tremendous speed, but she doesn't exactly get all that far before XLR8 catches the attention of the Hydreigon. The Gallade unleashes a swift flurry of insults so obscene that if I dared mention them here I'd quite possibly be out of a job. The remarks ring through the area, causing the crowd of children nearby to widen their eyes and drop their jaws in shock without a single chaperon around to protect them from the scene. The words are back up rather handily by some lewd gestures as XLR8 transitions into talking about the Hydreigon's personal life and what it must be like to have three heads. Now filled with more rage than Shadowshocker at the mention of Thunder Armor, Trishula quickly ceases her ascent and turns her attention back towards the Gallade below. The Hydreigon finds herself rather unsure of what to do next. Too angry to continue forward, but decidedly not grounded in any way, she finds herself without orders, and simply beats her wings steadily to remain in position a decent ways into the air. But she soon finds herself having other problems, the Gallade below brings his hands together in a combat pose closely resembling something clean out of Dragon Ball, and ironically enough forms a shining orange sphere between his palms. The orb grows to full size with relative speed, and once it's ready XLR8 takes aim at his foe a bit away before tossing the ball with a good bit of force. The sphere barrels through the space between the two with speed before coming to strike Trishula in the gut in what can only be called a bullseye. The dragon roars out in pain as the energy explodes around her, plummeting from her position considerably before spreading her wings to slow her fall, coming to a halt a few feet above the arena floor to stare at her foe with a fire burning in her eyes.
Trishula's health plummeted thanks to that nasty hit, and she's certainly not looking great at this point, while XLR8 managed to go entirely untouched this round. The dragon got a relatively good break and is feeling pretty well off in the energy department, while XLR8 used a sizable chunk of energy, though is still okay thanks to that Fighting typing for now.
Shadowshocker, orders please.
Wild Future - FizzBy
Daisy wins at life for making this Battle Cut
The Cutest Tsarina
Right, its been about a month, so I'm DQing you SS.
...I believe I put orders here or something. Will just in case.
Blizzard, followed by a Dragon Rush. Finish with a Giga Impact.
or something.
And lo, in true veteran fashion, the scientist takes properly forever to order, setting a truly wonderful example considering that this match is stickied. The young trainer begins to bark orders, frustrated, but the ref puts up a hand, signaling him to cease. A quick button push on the Ref-O-Matic later and XLR8 is sucked quickly back into his Pokeball, resulting in an instant knockout.
Shadowshocker has been disqualified! XLR8 is unable to battle!
Our next representative from the Vets with a 'mon and orders, please.
Wild Future - FizzBy
Daisy wins at life for making this Battle Cut
The Cutest Tsarina
All in good fun guys~
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 14,729
Ok we did decide what to do with this but no-one has dealt with it so I'll deal the killing blow. Given that this isn't a particularly good format and that several of the participants on our side don't have the time to actually engage with it, we're throwing in the towel. Sneezey, I think we're settled on giving 1 TP to each newbie as consolation.
Let us never speak of this again.
BlazeVA, Ger, Lanturn, kingothestone, Red Panda, Connor, Kyro12, EmeraldGoblin, Fallen Icarus, Tyoyo3131, Swampertforever, and swampert28 each get a full refund on any SP that they spent on this match in addition to 1 TP as a consolation prize. The veteran team receives only a refund, no free TP.
I get 1 SP for actually managing to ref a KO in this doomed match.
Mercutio, Shadowshocker, Jerichi, DaveTheFishGuy, Kuno, and Mozz get to hang their heads in collected shame.
Let this never be spoken of nor attempted ever again.
Wild Future - FizzBy
Daisy wins at life for making this Battle Cut
Last edited by Mercutio; 06-11-2014 at 03:11 PM.
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,762
*headshots hydriegon*
Thrak: I have three heads.
*rips EG asunder to general applause*
|Lower Navigation
|Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|Thread Tools


text:
Bombs of August
Obama has become George W. Bush. By asserting that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable and jockying with the Israelis we are being led by the nose into war. The Israelis are using fear on Iran as a bargaining chip over settlements in Palestine.
It's not—at least not yet—the guns or bombs of August, but there has been a rising crescendo of noise about an impending attack on Iran's nuclear program. It is hard to miss a cover on The Atlantic that proclaims "Israel is Getting Ready to Bomb Iran" that sends the reader to Jeffrey Goldberg's "Point of No Return" article that is based on extensive, but largely anonymous, interviews in Israel. While Goldberg's piece has gotten all the attention on the Web and in the press, one has to have considerable sympathy for Robert Kaplan. Kaplan authored the following article in the very same issue of the Atlantic entitled, "Living with a Nuclear Iran." Although Kaplan's piece is better argued and more tightly edited it has attracted almost no attention.
What accounts for the resonance of the Bomb the Iranians NOW arguments? In part it is no doubt that August is a slow news month when it takes a lot of hype to move Americans to pay any attention to news at all. And when they pay attention it is more likely to be to the latest teenage phenom signing a $8 billion bonus contract to play baseball or the $100 million lineman who cannot run across the football field.
But there are at least two more reasons that are much more important for this burst of interest in yet another war in the Middle East. The first is that the Obama administration has embraced the Bush-era policy on Iran's nuclear ambitions: Iran must not be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapons capability and economic sanctions will stop them. The brutal logic of this policy is that if you conclude—as have almost all experts who follow Iranian efforts have—that sanctions are not going to stop Iran's nuclear program and you insist on clinging to the belief that under no circumstance can Iran be allowed to cross the red line of nuclear weapons capability then bombing Iran seems to be the only logical outcome. The only interesting question then becomes will Israel do it or will the far more capable U.S. military execute the strike.
What is amazing to me is the way the Obama administration has embraced the Bush argument that Iran with a nuclear weapon of whatever reliability will have military and political power that cannot be tolerated. Remember it is the Obama administration that has staked U.S. strategic nuclear posture on the argument that nuclear weapons are not of paramount importance in military or political relationships and is actively devaluing nuclear weapons as an instrument of national power. But at the same time it is arguing that if Iran was even thought to have one or more untested nuclear devices deliverable by unreliable and not terribly accurate missiles it would change the entire balance of power in the Middle East.
Not only is the Obama administration policy beset with cognitive dissonance, it is seriously wrong and more likely to ensure the outcome it does not want—an Iran with a small number of nuclear devices and a devastating war in the Middle East. Rather than hyping the threat of a nuclear Iran, the U.S. should be speaking truth to Iran about the realities of nuclear weapons. A state with a small number of questionable nuclear weapons and limited delivery means, with no effective early warning capability, with no strategic depth to provide warning and recovery time and surrounded by the military capability of the mass and quality that the U.S. and Israel possess is a far greater threat to its own survival than it ever will be to anyone else's and any advantages that it thinks it would gain are really non-existent . More than economic sanctions and more than heated attack rhetoric in August, a change in Iran's policy is likely to result from a frank laying out of the uselessness of nuclear weapons as a political or military tool and the likely suicidal consequences of the course upon which Iran has embarked.
A second important reason that accounts for the drums of August, and it is clearly seen in Goldberg's article, is that Israel is engaged in psychological warfare with the Obama administration—and it only partly concerns Iran.
With regard Iran, Israel clearly understands that any unilateral military action it took against Iran without U.S. knowledge and support could have consequence of strategic importance for Israel and might even make an attack on Iran of limited benefit. Israel would much rather have the U.S. with it in an attack on Iran, or, even better, would be if the U.S. executed the attack entirely on its own.
But beyond Iran, of probably greater importance to the current Israeli government is avoiding the Obama administration pushing it into a choice between settlements and territorial arrangements with the Palestinians that it is unwilling to make and permanent damage to its relationship with the U.S. Hyping the Iranian nuclear program and the need for early military action is a nice bargaining counter. The U.S. certainly cannot join or lead an attack on Iran while pushing the Israeli government to the brink on settlements and concessions to the Palestinians. Or if the U.S. wants to avoid an imminent Israeli strike, it must make concessions to Israel on the Palestinian issues.


text: News Local/State Rose Weighs In On Bud Selig, Steroid Scandal Pete Rose talks about the many opponents and teammates who have made Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame. Rose addresses baseball's steroid scandal, noting he'd rather focus on the game's positives. Rose weighs in on expanded use of instant replay in the 2014 baseball season.


text:
Ubisoft announced today that it will develop and publish the video game based on Twentieth Century Fox's Avatar, the upcoming feature film written and directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmaker James Cameron, whose previous films include Titanic, True Lies, The Abyss, Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
Avatar is the story of an ex-Marine who finds himself thrust into hostilities on an alien planet filled with exotic life forms. As an Avatar, a human mind in an alien body, he finds himself torn between two worlds, in a desperate fight for his own survival and that of the indigenous people. More than ten years in the making, Avatar marks Cameron's return to feature directing since helming 1997's Titanic, the highest grossing film of all time and winner of eleven Oscars® including Best Picture. The Avatar cast includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver. Academy Award-winning visual effects house, WETA Digital, renowned for its work in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and King Kong, will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.
"Ubisoft is excited to partner with 20th Century Fox and James Cameron on this important project. 'Avatar's' rich scenario, onscreen action and special effects will provide a wealth of inspiration to create a unique interactive experience," said Yves Guillemot, chief executive officer of Ubisoft. "True to their reputation, Ubisoft's creative teams are looking forward to recreating Cameron's high definition 3D environment in a compelling game for film and game fans."
James Cameron commented: "For the movie 'Avatar' we are creating a world rich in character, detail, conflict and cultural depth. It has the raw material for a game that the more demanding gamers of today will want to get their hands on — one that is rich in visuals and ideas, and challenging in play. I told the Ubisoft team I wanted them to be free to do their very best work, and not think of this as a movie-based game. They responded with a fully realized presentation which captured the soul of the world and the characters, while promising to be a knockout game on its own terms. Their passion inspired my confidence that they are going to do something transcendental."
Elie Dekel, Executive Vice President of Fox Licensing and Merchandising added: "James Cameron's 'Avatar' will re-define the movie-going experience forever. Cameron's vision and innovative approach to film-making demand that we align this breakthrough project with the most talented and creative partners in the world. As we embark on the incredible journey that is 'Avatar,' we are thrilled to be collaborating with Ubisoft on the development of the video game. After an extensive review, it became clear the talented Ubisoft team is uniquely able to bring Cameron's vision into the interactive realm."
The game is expected to release in conjunction with the movie's planned opening in May 2009.


text:
Ohioans for Local Control is an education advocacy group. Through information and outreach, our goal is to generate policy that prohibits any state authority from adopting education programs, standards, or assessments that are national in nature, that infringe upon local district authority, or which may be used to coerce the development of local curricula or instruction. We seek this measure for the following reasons:
We believe that children, parents, teachers, and taxpayers are best served when education is locally controlled. We believe that officials of all political persuasions have facilitated the destruction of the local and parent-led education model by ceding control to special interest groups and central planners. We believe that restoring local control is the most proactive and productive path to improving academic achievement. We believe that only those who have been elected and who can therefore be held accountable to the citizens of Ohio should be involved in the education and assessment of Ohio's students. This is the bedrock of local control and representative governance.
We are not lobbyists, nor are we paid organizers. We are public, private and homeschool parents concerned about the future of our children's education. Parents, teachers, schools, and communities need a united, non-partisan voice that Ohio lawmakers recognize and heed; Ohioans for Local Control has established that voice. Please join us.
You can contact us at info@ohioansforlocalcontrol.


text:
Case Room 3
Level 0, Owen G Glenn Bldg
12 Grafton Rd
Auckland, 1010
New Zealand
Social workers play a vital role in advocating for social justice and helping people work through adversity to make positive changes in their lives. Discover how, with a Bachelor of Social Work, you could work in hospitals, the justice sector, youth services, government, mental health, schools, addiction services, the police force and community groups in New Zealand and overseas.
Please note: This is not a ticketed event, add to your calendar to plan your day.
Parents and whānau are welcome to attend lectures. If there is a high demand for this lecture we will ask parents to give their seat to a student. Your cooperation is appreciated.


text:
Getting a 1st tattoo, for a majority of people, is a life changing decision. Once you get ink in your skin there is no coming back from it. Thus, there are quite a few things you should know before that first prick of the needle, because not knowing can result in an unpleasant (if not a prolonged, expensive) experience.
For both new and experienced people who get tattoos, there are some questions you must ask to gauge the competency of the tattoo artist that is going to be working on you. In this blog, we are going to cover six of the most important questions you must ask a tattoo artist before you hire them to make a tattoo on you.
Ask About the Artist's Qualification
Whether you're getting something custom designed or a piece of flash, it is the artist's skill and experience that will ultimately determine the quality of your body art. It is always worth your while to compare artists, shops and pricing, but keep in mind that when it comes to tattoos, you get what you pay for! Keeping all this in mind, asking about an artist's skill level and experience are questions most people hesitate to ask because they fear the artist won't consider it a question, but rather a challenge. Realistically though, if an artist is reactive to this question, it could be a strong indicator that they are more than a little uncomfortable with their own quality of work and/or experience, even if their tone is one of authority. Don't be shy, this is for life- dig in and ask your artist for both their qualifications and work history. A good tattoo artist has great pride in their work, and when asked, they will confidently show you their qualifications as well as their experience in the field of tattoo artistry. Overcompensation is one thing, for sure, but if the artist responds in a sketchy way, it is a red flag. And you shouldn't ever JUST go by their sense of confidence (it can be faked), their actual tattoo work however cannot be…
Ask For Their Portfolio
If you want to gauge what a tattoo artist is capable off, you will need to see some of his past work for yourself. The best way to do so is to ask for the photo album of his work on customers. This portfolio will serve as a proof that the artist can deliver the level and quality of work you are expecting. And look carefully, making sure the images in their book are actual photographs. There've been plenty of sub-par tattooers out there busted cutting pictures out of magazines and stuffing their portfolios with work from other artists. (If you'd like some more tips on portfolios, read here- How to Examine Portfolios)
Ask Whether They Abuse Drugs At Work
This is a difficult question to ask a person you've only just met, but it is a legitimate one. You don't want the person that's tattooing you to be hopped up on drugs, increasing their chances of making a mistake on the only canvas you'll ever have. At the same time, don't fall in to the trap stereotyping- it is recommended that you to ask this question only when you witness something questionable in or around the vicinity of the studio or are aware of an artist's reputation around town. You want a sober artist, for sure.
Ask If They Sterilize Their Tattooing Equipment
Sterility should be you primary concern when you decide to get a tattoo for the first time or when changing tattoo artists. Ask and check to see if the artist takes proper measures to sterilize the equipment. If the studio happens to have an autoclave, it is no guarantee that it is operational. Ask to see their current (monthly) spore testing report, which verifies the proper effectiveness of each unit. These tests are inexpensive and mandatory practices for most states by the health departments who issue artists licenses, all to ensure your safety.
Ask If They Practice Proper Disposal Protocols
After sterility, your next focus needs be on hygiene. First, the artist should be using disposable items like latex gloves, barrier film, bags on all their machines and equipment, etc. Every single thing that comes into contact with blood or an artist's gloves should be covered for protection and disposed of after each tattoo. Nothing should ever go back into its original container; this includes the ink, water and ointment. After a tattoo, the needle bars should be immediately placed in a covered sharps container for pick up and incineration by an outside waste disposal organization. Look for the biohazard waste receptacles, too.
Ask About Aftercare
Aftercare is also important! You won't believe the number of tattoo studios in America that ignore this step all together, imagining that people already know how to care for a fresh tattoo. The artist should use proper first aid methods to clean your tattoo and provide proper bandaging along with some care instructions. If you don't know and you weren't told how that particular artist recommends you care for your new tattoo, here's a good article on the basics – How to care for your new tattoo.
For your own safety, remember to ask your tattoo artist the questions above. It will give you much needed peace of mind before you get on the table and allow them to work on you.[divider]
*To see MORE and learn about some of the MOST AMAZING tattoo artists of our age, check out these deals from Tattoo Artist Magazine! There's a reason tattooers themselves consider TAM the most informative and important tattoo magazine ever —
*Be sure to check out the digital issues of Tattoo Artist Magazine ON SALE NOW– JUST $2.99 – $7.99. TAM DIGITAL ISSUES
And look at our $.99 collection of TAM VIDEO Downloads available now!
Either way, See the BEST TATTOOS from the BEST ARTISTS in the world. Add to your collection today![divider]


text:
Calling All Pasta Dishes (Again)!
Hello readers! I wanted to announce that this Friday Chew On That will be hosting Presto Pasta Night #110! This will be our second time hosting Presto Pasta Night, last time we had such a blast! Presto Pasta Nights is simply a roundup of great pasta dishes made by food bloggers across the web. This blog event was created by Ruth of Once Upon A Feast over two years ago and has been hugely popular ever since! Who doesn't love a delicious heaping helping of pasta?
Details on how to submit your pasta dish after the jump!
To submit your pasta entry, e-mail chewonthatblog [at] gmail [dot] com with the following information:
Your Name
Blog Name (if you have one)
Blog URL (if you have one)
Name of Your Pasta Dish
Short description of your Pasta Dish
Link To Your Blog Post About Your Pasta Dish
Photo of Your Pasta Dish
As long as your dish has some kind of noodle, it's acceptable! Submit now!
Don't forget to link to Chew on That and Presto Pasta Nights if you intend to be included in the roundup this Friday! Thanks!
And for those of you just coming to drool over pasta dishes (like I do every week), come back early Friday! See you then!
Related Posts
Tags: pasta, pasta recipes, presto pasta nights


text:
- Home
- Editor's Desk
- Features
- Columns
- Arts & Culture
- Special Editions
- Advertising
Saturday October 20, 2018; 05:21 pm EDT
An ode to panache*
Cyrano, an original adaptation of Edmond Rostand's 1897 classic, is given a new staging by the Theatre at AACC. The set, costumes, incidental music and minimalist staging all covey timelessness to the well-known story. Guest director Patrick Elkins-Zeglarski adds strong moments and concepts.
Cyrano is a gifted poet, musician and swordsman. His brash confidence is overshadowed only by his large nose, which causes him to lose all confidence when it comes to expressing his love for the lady Roxane. When Roxane expresses her infatuation for a new soldier, Christian, instead of fighting for her or retreating, Cyrano brings the two together.
Christian, in turn, asks for Cyrano's help in expressing his feeling to Roxane, and Cyrano writes the love letters — thus expressing his love through Christian and placing himself in the middle of two lovers.
Cyrano is a production of the AACC Theatre Department, but program notes do not make clear how many of the 15 actors are students at the college. Community members take two of the lead roles, and theater coordinator Lars Tatom plays Cyrano. The mixed levels of skill make for an uneven production.
Overall, projection and diction are problematic, while the musical interludes are loud and startling.
The bare set works very well, most especially in the Arras battle scene where it gathers a universal gravitas that is unexpected and effective.
Tatom's Cyrano commands the stage he strides upon, yet his interpretation is vexing. His Cyrano shows neither anguish nor nobility over wooing his love on behalf of another. He just does it, and that robs the character of his internal beauty. His booming voice commands attention, unfortunately drawing even more attention to the slight voices of some of the other actors.
Jennette Nelligan, a Towson student, is miscast as Roxane, for she lacks presence to match either Cyrano or Christian.
As army Count DeGuiche, Jerry Vess projects appropriate despicableness. As Cyrano's friends, Erick W. Alexis as LeBret and Vincent Capuano as Ragueneau are strong and believable. As the handsome but inarticulate Christian, Rashad Ferguson brings charisma and strength.
The program for Cyrano notes that this is an original adaptation, but strangely the author is left uncredited. At the end, Cyrano takes credit for his letters. Would that this adaptation had done likewise because it ably condenses characters and action and updates the language without losing cleverness or verbal interplay for which the play is known.
Set and light designer: Rob Berry. Stage manager: Grace Canfield.
Playing Nov. 10-12 at 8pm Th-Sa; 2pm Su at Kauffman Theater, Anne Arundel Community College, Arnold. $15 w/discounts; rsvp: 410-777-2457.
*Rostand introduced the word panache into the English language.


text:
- 1 Project Description
- 2 Goals
- 3 Non-Goals
- 4 People
- 5 Designing the System
- 7 Project Timeline
- 7.1 Testing
- 7.2 Testing Round 2
- 7.3 Testing Round 3
- 7.4 Deployment
- 7.6 Post-Deployment
- 7.7 Component Descriptions and Implementation Notes
- 8 Notes
- 9 Deployment Coordination with IT
- 10 Setting up the staging masters
Project Description
This project will create and deploy a set of tools that will:
- grab patches from a bug in Bugzilla
- land patches on try (or other specified branch(es))
- poll for the results of automated pushes and depending on the branch specified:
- report back to the bug the results
- on success continue to push to another branch (eg: try, then mozilla-inbound)
- be able to automatically backout a push if failure detected
- A set of smaller tools that each have the ability to be part of a larger script that runs "autolanding" to try & other hg.m.o repos that do builds per checkin
- Tools that can be used in command line via API calls
- Tools to control the process - lots of toggles to go back to manual sheriffing (Global KillSwitch)
- Using our build/test resources wisely and not increasing the load so much that try is unusable for developers to work on their patches prior to automated/assisted landings
- Streamlining as much as possible the try server and trunk landing process without removing the human interaction with the build/test/perf results.
- Replacing humans in the landing process
- Handling performance regressions
- Providing the best possible UI
- Going to extreme lengths to support auto-landing patches which do not follow the rules which the tool requires
- Lukas Blakk
- Marc Jessome
Designing the System
A simple survey on try usage (survey, results) was created and advertised to find out how developers currently use try and what they think about the autolanding workflow. We got 52 responses. This helped catch some things we missed like paying attention to LDAP authentication before pushing something from Bugzilla, and it also provided new observations on try workflow. Many developers state that they would find landing to try via Bugzilla to be 'more work' than what is currently offered with push-to-try (using try syntax). We are taking that into account in our design and are adjusting the goal to be primarily for the purposes of landing to trunk and not just getting try results posted to the bug. That last part will be handled more through try syntax where if a bug is specified, you can post the results to the bug and turn off email notification if desired.
REST Interface
List of request methods, urls, and parameters:
GET /bugs/{bugID} -> get bug patchsets
GET /patchSets/{patchSetID} -> get patchset information
GET /branches/branchName -> get branch information
POST /bugs/{bugID} -> create empty patchset
POST /branches/{branchName} -> create a new branch
PUT /patchSets/{patchSetID}/{patchID} -> add patch to patchset
PUT /branches/{branchName} -> update branch
PUT /branches/{branchName}/threshold -> set branch threshold
PUT /branches/{branchName}/status -> set status enabled/disabled
DELETE /patchSets/{patchSetID} -> delete a patchset (if not processing)
DELETE /branches/{branchName} -> delete branch from db
Object Definitions
`id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, `bug_id` int(11) DEFAULT NULL, `patches` text, `revision` text, `branch` text, `try_run` int(11) DEFAULT NULL, `creation_time` timestamp NOT NULL DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, `push_time` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL, `completion_time` timestamp NULL DEFAULT NULL,
`id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, `name` text, `repo_url` text, `threshold` int(11) DEFAULT NULL, `status` text, `approval_required` text, `push_to_closed` text,
Project Timeline
- Tracking bug: bug 657828
|Component Name
|Assigned To
|Start Date (est.)
|Completion Date (est.)
|On Track
|bug 657832
|Monday May 23rd
|Friday Dec 30th (actual completion)
|bug 430942
|Monday May 23rd
|Friday Dec 30th (actual completion)
|bug 659167
|Monday June 20th
|Friday July 8th
|bug 659166
|Monday June 20th
|Friday July 22nd
|bug 659166
|Monday June 13th
|Friday July 22nd
|LDAP Tool
|bug 666860
|Monday July 11th
|Friday July 29th
|Complete to fill needs of this project
June 20th - July 22nd
- Set up on staging masters as per bug 661634 running the automation against the sandbox Bugzilla with autolanding/logging set to staging repos to test the individual components and watch for issues in the message queue and system.
Testing Round 2
Week of Dec 5 - 9
- Another round of testing the life cycle of a patch attached to sandbox bug using real push to try
What we need to ensure:
- Not losing every second message to mq
- No extraneous or unexpected postings to the bug from any modules
- Push to try should not require full headers on patches
- Whiteboard syntax either specifying attachment id or not - so [autoland-try] or [autoland-try,1234]
- Retrying oranges
- (feature I would like to have) Report back to bug if builds are canceled through self-serve
Week of Dec 12 - 16
Didn't get a full run going on autoland-staging last week, still working out kinks with schedulerdbpoller.
- bug post attempts to non-existent or blocked bugs needs to be handled so that the revision is kicked out of the queue and doesn't get re-posted
- working on 400 bad requests right now in test_bz_utils
Week of Dec 19 - 23
- working on thresholds, queue messages, setting up autoland-staging01 to run autoland_queue.py and hgpusher.py
- filed bug 712360 to address LDAP connection errors
- have both modules working and speaking to each other but new bugs:
- hgpusher.py has to be started before autoland_queue.py so that the first time we find an autoland tag the patchset msg succeeds
- need to not put in a time when a 'bad msg' is returned on attempt to hgpusher
- message from hgpusher to autoland is broken right now
- thresholds and the use of 'mozilla-central' as the branch for try are complicated and require review and updating
- hg clone error doesn't return a message to autoland_queue and doesn't retry
remote: Permission denied (publickey,gssapi-with-mic). abort: no suitable response from remote hg! [Clone] error cloning 'ssh://hg.mozilla.org/try' into clean repository: Command '['hg', 'clone', u'ssh://hg.mozilla.org/try', u'/root/autoland-env/tools/scripts/autoland/build/clean/try']' returned non-zero exit status 255 [HgPusher] Clone error...
- Why is hgpusher picking up stray autoland.db messages after a blowout error?
(autoland-env)[root@autoland-staging01 autoland]# python hgpusher.py [RabbitMQ] Established connection to localhost. [HgPusher] Erroneous message: {u'_meta': {u'queue': u'autoland', 'received_time': '2011-12-21 02:51:24.446963', u'sent_time': u'2011-12-21 02:46:26.146165', u'routing_key': [u'autoland.db'], u'exchange': u'autoland'}, u'payload': {u'action': u'patchset.apply', u'patchsetid': 66, u'type': u'error'}}
Week of Dec 26 - 30
- bug fixes
- reworking queues to simplify, use direct topic
- completed autoland_queue <-> hgpusher communication
- refactored to be able to do try as its own branch
- added in a couple more variables to the patchsets (author, retries) and removed to_branch
- thresholds fixed so that try and mozilla-central aren't conflicting with each other
- schedulerdbpoller and autoland_queue both push things out if timed out or can't post to bug
Still to do
- complete end-to-end test running schedulerdbpoller on autoland-staging01
- first attempt: message of completion from schedulerdbpoller got nabbed by hgpusher
- hgpusher still has to be started before autoland_queue (why???)
- more code clean up and review
- test on actual bugzilla bug (check on attachment name as custom syntax)
Testing Round 3
Weeks of Jan 9 - 13 && Jan 16 - 20
- review tests and try to get better coverage (80% or higher) on all modules
- confirm message queues working (Marc: Done)
Week of Jan 16th
Go live to a small subset of devs (ehsan plus one or two others), watch for issues using live data from actual pushes/db ===Week of Jan 23 Then go live to all with docs & usage info broadcast widely
- Monitor load & machine resources/wait times
- Confirm bugs hit from previous attempts are no longer reproducible
- Write up developer documentation on how to use the current system
- Write blog posts and promote the new functionality as well as explaining where this is heading (automated landing across release branches)
- Extend functionality to additional branches (with specific per-branch criteria)
Possible Bugs
These two bugs came up in previous staging runs and should be watched for specifically:
- Repeated bug posting
- Queue messages getting lost
Write and enable API to give sheriff access to the functionality of this system. Include Kill Switch, ability to override.
In order to get a lot of eyes (and users) we have a multi-step outreach process to inform developers of this system.
- Blog posts
- Tweeting
- Yammer posts
- Monday meeting lightning talk
- Brown Bag
- File a tracking bug for all bugs filed about any module issues
- Documentation in wiki.m.o (and possibly in MDN)
Component Descriptions and Implementation Notes
A polling script that will pull all bugs from bugzilla with whiteboard tags matching: [autoland-$branch] [autoland-$branch:$patchID:$patchID]
Default behaviour would be to take [autoland-$branch] and grab all non-obsolete, non r- patches and create a patchset db object that is then picked out of the queue to be sent to hgpusher for landing on $branch, results are returned from hgpusher to the AutolandQueue module and analyzed for further actions (like try->mozilla-{central,inbound}). To override or search for regressions the API will support directly inserting a patchset to create a custom autoland run.
Listens for messages that specify a branch push is requested. Accepts a branch, patch id(s) and can clone the branch, apply the patches and report back to the AutolandQueue via message the results of the push (success == revision or FAIL).
- Input(s): AutolandQueue Messages, command line
- Output(s): hg.mozilla.org, AutolandQueue Messages, stdout
Regularly polls the scheduler DB (cronjob) and checks for completed buildruns for any actively monitored branches. There should be a list to check against for what branches need to be watched. The incomplete runs from the last N units of time are kept by revision in a local cache file to check for completion. When an observed branch has a completed buildrun the SchedulerDBPoller can check two things:
- if a --post-to-bugzilla flag is present and a bug number is provided following that flag, then the revision will be kept in a local cache and watched until completion (or time out), when done a bug comment will be posted and a message sent out that this revision is complete in case AutolandQueue is interested in that revision
- Input(s): command line
- Output(s): AutolandQueue, stdout
Bugzilla Autolanding Extension
The plan is for a BMO Extension that will only be available to people with the correct LDAP permissions.
This is a util that manages the creation of message queues and routing used by the Autolanding system. It ensures that the right modules receive the right messages.
Keeps track of the state of an autoland-triggered push from start to finish.
Checks for hg permission level of submitter Compares bugzilla email to ldap email
- Set of tools which automate each step of this work and we can 'on-demand' turn off any of the tools
- Sheriff needs to be able to turn off the auto-landing altogether
- No limit in workflow -- sheriff should be able to override the queue to auto-land a priority patch
- can have oranges, but sheriff could 'force' the landing anyway
- We need to have stages:
- (TBD): how to deal with bugzilla
- HgPusher: deals with the hg stuff (merging patches, grabbing patches from bugs, what happens if any steps fail)
- SchedulerDB Poller: deals with a way of getting results from try/m-c to make sure we have the data on whether to proceed and/or leave comment in the bug regarding outcomes
- (fourth, optional/desired/future) how to monitor perf results and get an idea of when it's ok to push or flag on those results
- Be strict in accepting things from humans
- Rules for automated landings
- If they forget a rule, they get a comment - "Step X failed (reason)"
- For bugs with multiple patches - to land all together, look at non-obsolete patches which have been reviewed in alphabetical order
- Common for devs to name things "part 1", "part 2"
- Don't need to be lenient toward human mistakes
- Need correct descriptions, author information, header of patch -- if it doesn't include a header, try syntax
- Look at "checkin-needed" box, grab all non-obsolete, and if they have the right message then push all those - if all those steps succeed then you get the try push otherwise fail with comment -- clear "checkin-needed" from the bug
- Is the bug the right place? It's the public record for the issue, so yes - emailing the assignee takes the information away from the record
- Specialized tool for patch queues would be nice (not in the scope of this project!)
- Try syntax presence == try on try_repo but NEVER auto-land on trunk
- Developers will be encouraged to watch perf results on trunk, since try perf is not really useful information
- Bot has to watch m-c after it lands something there, results come back to the bug
- Merge tracking for commits (what was auto-landed and what was not)
- Merging between two auto-landed pushes
- We have to watch these to know when all the results are in, and what was successful/not (scheduler db has this information for us to get)
- Autoland Message Queue - consumes information from BugzillaScraper (pulse?) as event triggerer for HgPusher, BugCommenter
- Must ensure that the patch is attached by someone with L1 hg access, so that we are auto-landing patches from authors with the same level of security as current push-to-try
- Why L1? This is about pushing to mozilla-central, so I think we should check for L3 access.
- L1 to push to try, then reviewer should have L3 for autolanding to trunk
Deployment Coordination with IT
We want to have a production-level system here so what will that require?
- Set up an autoland-master01 (perhaps move autoland-staging02 to fill this role?) so we can keep autoland-staging01 as our staging environment
- Nagios alerts on the modules to ensure they are running
- Emails when there are failures that stop any part of the system
Setting up the staging masters
First run, August 2011
On autoland-staging01 I have done the following:
- sudo yum install hg
- checked out my tools repo
- Installed Python 2.6.7 from source
- ./configure, make (yum install zlib-devel, readline-devel, bzip2-devel), make install
- added /usr/local/bin to the PATH in .bashrc to use 2.6 as default Python
- Set up a virtualenv using these notes
- in the virtualenv installed:
- argparse
- simplejson
- sqlalchemy
- mysql-python
- Also required (but not currently installed):
- python-ldap for ldap utils
- pika for rabbitmq communication with python
- mock for tests
Second run Dec 2011
- Cloned a read-only of git://github.com/lsblakk/tools.git to /root/autoland-env on autoland-staging01
- copied in config.ini.prod values from /root/lsblakk-tools/scripts/autoland and made a backup of the config.ini, then did a symlink from config.ini.prod to config.ini
- pip install urllib3 (to get urllib2) - also had to add import urllib2 to autoland_queue.py
- rebooted autoland-staging01 to kill any stray processes of mq/rabbit
- start rabbit server:
su rabbitmq -s /bin/sh -c /usr/lib/rabbitmq/bin/rabbitmq-server
- JSON errors on request call for bz poller
- fixed calls to bz_utils __init__ in both autoland_queue and hg_pusher
- now I can start both and have their queues listening but autoland_queue is reading my bug as not having patches, trying to get it to work with :attachment_id in the tag and there's some patch list/splitting errors
- yum package of rabbitmq-server was 2.2 and to get rabbitmq-plugins I needed a newer version so did:
yum remove rabbitmq-server rpm -ivh http://www.rabbitmq.com/releases/rabbitmq-server/v2.7.1/rabbitmq-server-2.7.1-1.noarch.rpm
- thanks to newer rabbitmq-server, newer erlang needed as well so as per rabbit docs did:
wget -O /etc/yum.repos.d/epel-erlang.repo http://repos.fedorapeople.org/repos/peter/erlang/epel-erlang.repo yum install erlang
HG Update January 24 2012
- get latest release from http://pkgs.repoforge.org/mercurial/ (eg mercurial-1.9-1.el5.rf.x86_64.rpm)
- remove old mercurial version: yum remove mercurial
- install new version, eg: yum install --nogpgcheck mercurial-1.9-1.e15.rf.x86_64.rpm