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You start a new job or transfer to a different department and find that it's totally disorganised. Everyone does things differently and what was done one way Tuesday is done a different way on Friday.
It seems that nothing is organised. Nobody knows exactly how "things" are done and the place simply stumbles along with great inefficiency and plenty of frustration.
I've walked into these scenarios several times during my career and suspect it's a common challenge in numerous work places.
Fortunately, I was either a senior manager or had high autonomy and could rectify these inefficient situations. But, even if you are at the bottom of the hierarchy, you can still do something to improve your lot.
Nobody wants to go to work and become frustrated with dysfunctional systems. If your senior management won't address the issues, do it yourself.
How do you fix the problem?
Everything in business is related to processes and procedures.
A process describes a series of activities that lead to a particular result. A procedure is how you attain that result.
The process is the big picture - the overview of what happens and the procedures detail the way you make it happen.
So, to rectify organisations that are running like a dog with a broken hip, you have to identify what the processes are and then develop procedures that will get you there.
The benefit of procedures is that everyone can read how to do things the preferred way and eventually everyone begins singing to the same tune.
When new people start, they can be inducted using the procedures (standard operating procedures) of the department. Here's a case study from my own experience:
I worked as Head Lecturer at a Correctional Centre and part of my job was to purchase courses for prisoners from local training providers. (The process). When I arrived there were no standard procedures to follow to make this happen.
I set up a procedures manual for this and other activities which went something like this:
- Identify a suitable course provider (say for welding)
- Identify suitable prisoner students
- Obtain a quotation to run the course and details of the course content
- Accept the quotation and raise a purchase order to cover the cost of the course
- Purchase whatever equipment was required
- Decide on a date and time for the course
- Advise prisoners who were to attend of the date, time and duration of the course
- Get approval for the course presenters to enter the prison
- Provide a brief to the presenters about conduct requirements while in the prison and safety aspects
- Run the course
- Obtain the results from the presenters
- Authorise payment
- Issue certificates to prisoners
Because I organised numbers of courses at any time, this procedure leant itself to use of a single page checklist, the advantage of which was I could look at any of the checklists and know exactly what stage the process was at. All documentation related to the courses was clipped under the checklist.
If I was sick and someone else had to take over - which I never was - they could see at what stage of the process every course was at.
When all the admin for a course was completed, I filed the documents.
If you are faced with a similar experience, you can either go with the flow and bob around like a cork in the ocean or you can take control of the system and set up procedures to make your working life more interesting.
It's your choice.


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That's rights, one of the most important games in gaming history, one of the games that started the MOBA genre, one of the first popular real-time strategies games, StarCraft: Brood War, is completely free. No catch, no sketchy site, no backdoor downloads, right from the source, Blizzard. And it includes the original Brood War expansion to, just because.
Why would blizzard give away one of their most popular and titular titles for free? Well, it is likely that StarCraft: Brood War hasn't sold many copies in the last two decades, and Blizzard doesn't need a reason to be awesome. But, this specific freebie is promotional for Blizzard's upcoming remaster of StarCraft: Brood War, set to release sometime this summer. So, it's a win-win all around; we get a sweet free game, and it is easily one of the best advertising schemes Blizzard has come up with.
You can get the game here: https://starcraft.com/en-us/articles/20674424
As well, Blizzard in their infinite generosity has also given us some "quality of life updates" too! To give a brief summary, Blizzard has: created compatibility patches for all current Windows systems, improved reaction time in the interface, and they added a menagerie of online benefits like capture options and improved anti-cheat.
Since this came out, I won't lie, I've been playing the hell out of it. Not only is it an important staple in gaming history, but it is still fun even by today's standards. The graphics while dated threw me back into nostalgia land and give off that classic Blizzard charm. Simultaneously, I did feel the game's age on the UI and controls; nothing terrible just frustrating. But the game is nearly 20 years old, so it gets a pass.
While reading online blogs about the free release, I wondered, is it worth the download or should we just wait for the remaster? This question kept popping up all over the place, so I thought I'd give my take on the issue here.
Yes. Of course. It's free.
Overall, there is no reason not to grab it; unless you already have a copy. Regardless of your position on the remastered edition, playing this game is a blast. Be it nostalgia, education, or even a first step into the genre, this game is a must grab.
I can't deny this was a great idea on Blizzard's part; in what feels like the time of PR disasters, Blizzard casually takes the time to show us how building a great relationship with their player base is done.

subset: commoncrawl


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Irina Shayk, Cheryl Cole, & More Take the Runway in Paris!
Irina Shayk struts her stuff on the runway at the Le Defile L'Oreal Paris show as part of the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2018 on Sunday (October 1) in Paris, France.
Also walking the runway that day were singer Cheryl Cole, Doutzen Kroes, Barbara Palvin, Winnie Harlow, and Maria Borges. Naomi Campbell, Jasmine Sanders, and Cindy Bruna were seen showing their support in the crowd.
If you missed it, Helen Mirren and Jane Fonda also walked the runway at the show!
See photos from the fashion show below…


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Welcome to gradplus.com
<< back to previous page
Friday, 09 October 2009
Career Advice
Universities need to make sure their careers services are up to scratch if they are to help alumni into graduate jobs.That is according to CV consultancy the Write Stuff, which was responding to Higher Education Careers Services Unit figures revealing 63 per cent of former students did not use the facilities.With 42 per cent of graduate job hunters going to friends and family for career advice, the organisation said that universities have a responsibility to help them avoid unemployment.Peter Panayotou, senior consultant with the group, said: "Universities don't do enough - they may not consider it their responsibility to improve their career service but, really, it is. Lots of graduates that my company deal with feel that their university did not offer them enough career support."Association of Graduate Careers Advisory Services director Martin Pennington recently encouraged university leavers to remember that, while jobs are scarce, there are still many opportunities left for them.


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A few weeks ago my 7 week old little boy, my Mum and I boarded a 13 hr from Brisbane to Los Angeles. Before leaving I asked Boston's paediatrician if he had any tips for traveling long haul with babes. He advised me that I should book a first class ticket and an economy ticket for the baby. LOL. But seriously, he didn't follow it up with any real advice. So.. I thought it can't be too big a drama. Thankfully my Mum came with us for reinforcement and also just because we love her.
I knew I had to feed him on the way up and also on descent to save his little ears from hurting. Timing is everything. For any future newby Mum and babe travellers. I'd say start feeding during take-off. I started prematurely and he was a bit over it by the time we made it to altitude. The way down is a lot trickier... especially in my case... the plane was diving down then suddenly starting shooting back up again! Needless to say my poor little boy had to over indugle and did an epic vomit. I barely survived it. I couldn't run away because I was belted in and he was strapped to me! Another tip. Take plastic bags and spare clothes for yourself! (Which thankfully I did) He takes a dummy now so hopefully we won't have a repeat incident.
A fellow passenger gave Boston an A+ for his travelling skills. (I'd like to think it was my mothering prowess) He was a little champion on his first flight. Didn't sleep though, apart from a few cat naps.. but overall was a happy camper.. Hooray! Although he did create about 10 dirty nappies. A new personal best in 13 hours. Mum and I took two on, two off. It's best to use the disabled bathroom at the back of the plane so you don't go dropping everything into the loo like I almost did. I'm soooo lucky my Mumma was with me for my maiden voyage as a Mum! I would not give Boston an A+ for the days/nights following his first flight however. Never expect to hit the ground running with a jet setting babe! It took about a week (felt like two) for us to figure out day from night! I had a taste of what sleep deprivation is and understand why it's used as an army torture technique.
Hello world


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Thursday, January 17, 2008
Round Robin Tatting
Recently I was asked if there were any round robins currently going on and there aren't that I can find, but several people have expressed interest in doing a round robin. Others don't know what a round robin is. Just so that I don't keep repeating myself, this is how a round robin works.
A round robin is kind of like an exchange except that it has 3 or more participants. They may be making individual motives or they may be working on larger items like a doily. Before they start everyone is given a list of the likes and dislikes of the participants. For example one person might want fine thread and another only size 20. One might want beads included and another might want everything done in purple to match their decor. The names (real names) addresses both email and street addresses are shared among the participants. All of the participants agree on a project type like snowflakes, hearts, butterflies, bookmarks, doilies etc. All of the participants work within a specified time table.
These hearts were from a round robin I participated in some years ago and they have been appliqued onto a shirt so that I can see them and use them regularly. I wanted everything in pink or red and no beads because I expected to wear the shirt often.
Let's say for example that the round robin is for 3 inch snowflakes done in size 20 thread (or 40 Olympus, or 8 DMC perle, see my earlier post on thread sizes) and each snowflake is to be completed in one month. So if we have 5 participants, let's label them A, B, C, D, and E it works like this:
Each participant tats a 3 inch snowflake, it may be their original design or it might be a published design and before the one month deadline they mail it to the next person on the list.
A sends to B, B sends to C, C sends to D, D sends to E, E sends to A
When each participant receives their first package, they take a look at the snowflake and tat a second different snowflake and within a month send both snowflakes on to the next person on the list.
Each month the participants receive a package containing the snowflakes done by other participants, they look at what has already been done and tat another snowflake different from the ones in the package. They have the opportunity to see other people's handiwork and admire their skills and in turn they have the opportunity to have their own skills admired by others. After 6 months the participants will each get back their original package with the snowflake they tatted and 4 new ones, one each from the other participants. So they will tat and give 5 snowflakes and receive 5 different snowflakes (the starting snowflake they give to themselves).
A variation on this is a round robin for designing doilies where each participant starts a doily centre and then passes it on. Each participant designs and tats a round for the doily and passes it on so that A does the first row, B does the second row, C does the third row, D does the fourth row and E does the final row before returning it to A. This type of round robin gives each tatter the opportunity to practice designing and they only have to create one row at a time. Since doilies get larger with each row they often use a staggered schedule where the first row is forwarded in 2 weeks and the last row is given 2 or 3 months. Schedules also have to be adjusted when international robins are done to allow for increased shipping times. At the end, each participant has a new, one of a kind doily.
Others can enjoy the fun of these challenges vicariously when the pictures of the tatting are posted regularly. Each person takes a scan or digital picture and posts it on the internet for everyone to see. So as the snowflakes, hearts, bookmarks or rounds of the doilies are completed pictures are posted where everyone can enjoy them. Sometimes, where the patterns are original the designers may choose to provide the pattern as well.
If you would like to participate in a round robin email me at the address shown. If there is enough interest I will see about setting one up. Let me know at what skill level you consider yourself and whether or not you would be interested in an international round robin. Bear in mind that a round robin is a commitment of some time.
Note: The reason for the email address in the picture at the right, is so that people can email me. Contacting people through blogs is time consuming and when I match folks up with partners I'll need home addresses so that the round robin packages can be sent. So if you want to join the round robin, please contact me by email so that I can get back to you with your group of happy tatters and their addys. Please and thanks folks.
7 comments:
- Tattycat said...
Sharon, I like the snowflake or heart idea for a round robin. I don't think I have time for a doily one right now. I guess I'm intermediate skill level and wouldn't mind an international round robin.
- Lace-lovin' Librarian - Diane said...
Sharon, this sounds like a lot of fun, but it's not something I can commit to right now. If it doesn't start for a couple of months, I would love to participate.
- wickedtats said...
Hi Hi!. I would like to but I'm prob considered a beginner! =) I somehow can't send u an email =( it gets bounced !
- Mortaine said...
I'd love to practice my very-beginner skills in a round robin! Especially something flexible, like flowers or something! :D
Sharon, I would love to participate too!!! I have been tatting for 7 years. It doesn't matter what the theme is. I think a doily though would take to much time.
- Sharon said...
Sharon said...
Remember to send me an email with your information. A quick, "yes I'd like to join" comment doesn't give me the contact information necessary to add you to the Round Robin, and more detailed information left in "comments" puts too much personal info in a very public place.
I can't participate in this, but my idea of a round robin is for A to do the first round, B to do the second round, C to do the third round, etc..
For each of us to do a heart or whatever, sounds more like an exchange.......
Just my 2 cents with a wicked head cold.


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Held at knifepoint at building society robbery
20/02/2019 Anonymous
1979 Rule – How is that fair or just?
21/08/2018 Anonymous
You think you can trust family!
Welcome to the CCB criminal injury claims website. This service is managed by the Criminal Claims Bureau a trading name of MJN Marketing Ltd a business regulated by the Claims Management Regulator in respect of regulated claims management activities; its registration is recorded on the website www.gov.uk/moj/cmr.
In the UK there is a Government funded agency called the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) that has been set up specifically to administer a compensation scheme for victims of crime.
If your claim has been rejected by the CICA you may wish to speak to us about representation during any review or appeal. For those who suffer injury or harm in a crime abroad in an EU state we can also advise you on your right to obtain redress.
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We can help with claims involving a rape assault or historical sexual abuse. Our advisors are also specialists in handling Domestic violence compensation claims.


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Sunday, 25 November 2012
The perks (and quirks) of being a referee
The paper was submitted to a medical journal; the editor had sent it out for review to 3 referees, two of whom were, allegedly, statistical experts. I hadn't read the paper, nor the reviews, so I can't comment in great details. But from what I hear, the reviewers' comments were just wrong. In practice, they told off the authors for using wrong statistical methods, while it looks like they just didn't understand the valid statistical point.
For example, one of the referees had criticised the following: for some reasons (I can't remember the details), the authors had performed a regression model and then regressed the resulting linear predictor on the covariates, which obviously leads to $R^2=1$.
Now, you can certainly debate as to whether the methods used by the authors were the most appropriate for their purpose, but their point was not wrong $-$ you can easily check in R with the following commands
# Simulates some covariates
x1 <- rnorm(100,0,1)
x2 <- rpois(100,2)
x3 <- rbinom(100,1,.6)
#(Arbitrarily) sets the coefficients for each covariate
beta <- c(1.43,-.14,.97,1.1)
# Computes the "true" linear predictor
mu <- cbind(rep(1,100),x1,x2,x3)%*%beta
# (Arbitrarily) sets the population standard deviation
sigma <- 2.198
# Simulates the response
y <- rnorm(100,mu,sigma)
# Fits a linear regression & show the results
m <- lm(y~x1+x2+x3)
lm(formula = y ~ x1 + x2 + x3)
Min 1Q Median 3Q Max
-5.0186 -1.4885 -0.0434 1.4007 5.7971
Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)
(Intercept) 1.86280 0.50344 3.700 0.000359 ***
x1 -0.03908 0.24307 -0.161 0.872618
x2 1.05753 0.15927 6.640 1.88e-09 ***
x3 0.41025 0.45461 0.902 0.369090
Signif. codes: 0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1
Residual standard error: 2.244 on 96 degrees of freedom
Multiple R-squared: 0.3154, Adjusted R-squared: 0.294
F-statistic: 14.74 on 3 and 96 DF, p-value: 5.692e-08
Of course, because of sampling variability, the coefficients are estimated with error; in addition, the overall model fit (as measured by $R^2$) is not perfect, with only 32% of the total variability explained by the regression. If however we regress the fitted values on the same set of covariates:
m1 <- lm(m$fitted.values~x1+x2+x3)
lm(formula = m$fitted.values ~ x1 + x2 + x3)
Min 1Q Median 3Q Max
-1.560e-15 -2.553e-16 -1.035e-17 2.161e-16 2.699e-15
Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|)
(Intercept) 1.863e+00 1.193e-16 1.562e+16 <2e-16 ***
x1 -3.908e-02 5.758e-17 -6.786e+14 <2e-16 ***
x2 1.058e+00 3.773e-17 2.803e+16 <2e-16 ***
x3 4.103e-01 1.077e-16 3.809e+15 <2e-16 ***
Signif. codes: 0 '***' 0.001 '**' 0.01 '*' 0.05 '.' 0.1 ' ' 1
Residual standard error: 5.315e-16 on 96 degrees of freedom
Multiple R-squared: 1, Adjusted R-squared: 1
F-statistic: 2.627e+32 on 3 and 96 DF, p-value: < 2.2e-16
this now implies perfect fit $-$ but that just makes sense as the linear predictor is given by exactly that combination of covariates.
I'm not defending my friend's paper for the sake of it $-$ to reiterate, I haven't read it and I don't really know whether it should have got published. And maybe there were other issues that the reviewers rightly picked up. But certainly it is wrong that it was judged as statistically flawed, and I think I would probably write a response letter to the editor to argue my case.
Of course this is a very delicate issue, and people often voice their strong opinions about the state of peer-reviewing; Larry Wasserman even goes as far as to argue that we should completely dispense with them.
3 comments:
Thanks for that post, I'm going to look at the details of the stats later.ReplyDelete
I've got a very delicate question: is there somewhere on the web a place where we can collect strange views of reviewer considering statistics?
I've got some stories to tell (backed up with facts, that is =) ), as well as a lot of the peers I'm talking to.
I'm really not aware of such a thing $-$ I suppose this is quite a common thing, so many people may have stories to tell. But I just haven't encountered such a place.ReplyDelete
Hm, thanks anyway. It's rather strange, though, that obviously erroneous remarks of reviewers can decide the fate of your papers: it's difficult to respond if the editor decides to reject right away. We had this case recently in a cumulative dissertation - it prolonged the whole thing for nearly a year, as it happened four times in a row...ReplyDelete


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stations of the Niall #1
This is a very hastily scribbled 30th birthday doodle for Niall. On the day of his party, which I briefly attended in order to read the last rights to my medication destroyed liver with a sip of champagne (I kid you not - one or two sips and I've been doubled up ever since, me belly swollen like a paris lip), we scoured the bookshops in search of our preferred gift but it wasn't there and this was our last resort. When I first met Niall, he told me that his plan for the following day was to go slipper shopping with his housemate, hence this doodle.


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Summer has arrived in SE Qld. Even the shortest missions on bike and foot will cost you litres of sweat. Accept it.
The all day runs, rides and climbs become a little less appealing and going for a paddle or a surf or any activity that results in getting wet becomes more and more appealing. Which is great, spending time on (in) the sea makes for a nice contrast to the cooler months of the year spent mostly in the craggy, dry scrub further west.
For those that crave trails though, summer can still be fun season if you adjust the timing of your adventures and/or plan them around water. With a bit of creativity minimal time can be spent on the couch over the long, hot summer.
The trip I did last night with Jalal and Frances up to Tibro makes a great summer mini adventure. This is one of my after work favourites.
First, make a stop on the way to pick up a tasty snack to eat while you take a break before the descent, (cheese and veg pancake and sweet potato wedges from Kwan Yin are highly recommended). Next, drive to Tibro and park at the western carpark, from here its a short jog on the super highway around to the east side, take the climbers trail up to the east face. From here climb the Caves route - description - up to a perfect flat slab on the north east shoulder for dinner. Chill out for a minute in the cool breeze that usually blows up here before heading up to the summit and descending via the hikers route back to your car. Around one and a half hours total.
We had two snake encounters last night, the first was this beautifully marked Carpet snake, the next with a Brown snake. I've already seen several over the last couple of months, looks like it could be big snake season.


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Page content
Youth Organizations
Scouts, Clubs, and Park and Recreation Centers
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Scouts will come away with better understanding of the foundation of our government after touring the world's largest living history museum, Colonial Williamsburg. During the tour, your troop will:
- gain an understanding of what citizenship in the nation means and what it takes to be a good citizen of this country.
- Discuss the rights, duties, and obligations of a responsible and active American citizen.
To book your scout group, call 1-800-228-8878 or email [email protected]


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Preparing for the Worst
Helping military personnel prepare to support
civilian authorities in the event of disaster
CLIENT: U.S. Army North
PROJECT: Defense Support of Civil Authorities
In the event of a disaster, the U.S. military is the last backup. Before military aid is requested,
the disaster must overwhelm the capabilities of every local, state, and federal civilian agency. When DoD gets involved,
the situation is dire.
U.S. Army North was tasked with training military personnel on their roles in the event of such a serious disaster. In the wake of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the federal government had taken a hard look at its disaster response system. Changes had to be made.
Teleologic worked with U.S. Army North to develop a curriculum that would train military personnel and civilian responders on the evolving system for providing Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA).
The curriculum included:
- Online DSCA Overview course for military and civilian personnel.
- In-class DSCA courses developed by and taught by USARNORTH personnel. (Teleologic did not develop these in-class
courses, but fashioned the other elements of the curriculum so that they complemented the in-class courses.)
- Defense Coordinating Officer (DCO) course: Specialized training on the duties of DCOs, who are military officers
stationed in each FEMA region, primarily responsible for any military response within that region.
- Emergency Preparedness Liaison Officer (EPLO) course: Specialized training on the duties of EPLOs, who are military
officers in each branch of service tasked with DSCA responsibilities.
- CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force (CCMRF) course: Specialized training for military personnel assigned
to CCMRFs, which are specialized teams tasked with preparing for incidents involving chemical, biological,
radiological, nuclear, or high- yield explosive threats.
- CBRNE Consequence Management Response Force (CCMRF) handbook: A handbook introducing CCMRF personnel to their
duties in a DSCA operation.
- Decision-making Exercises: Three scenario-based training experiences that guided learners through possible
decisions that might have to be made in response to three disasters:
- Major hurricane
- Chemical incident
- Nuclear or radiological incident
- DSCA News Alert: Each learner received a weekly news update, created by Teleologic, to keep them updated on important
issues regarding DSCA.
Business Challenges
Teleologic's challenge was to clearly explain the complex DSCA process, a process that is always undertaken under significant stress. Learners needed to understand their own roles, plus the roles of othersfrom local, state, and federal organizations -- who would have to come together quickly as a team and work in unison to respond to a disaster. Military personnel also needed to understand the legal framework under which they were allowed -- or not allowed -- to respond.
Teleologic Solutions
The solution included attention to the following principles:
Purposeful: What is the client trying to achieve?
- Given the extensive nature of disasters and the range of responders -- both civilian and military -- USARNORTH needed a suite of training products that would provide both an overview of the system as a whole and specific training on the roles of particular military responders. The decision-making exercises were used as a capstone to expose the learner to relevant and realistic situations that might arise during the course of DSCA operations.
Learner-centric: How will the learners' needs be addressed?
- The learning in the DSCA curriculum is telescopic. It begins at a broad level, surveying the field. From there, it narrows down to specific duties of specific personnel, and finally to realistic scenarios. It is supplemented with written materials and weekly updates for additional learning. In-class instruction gives learners the chance to make personal connections.
Visually Meaningful: How does the graphic identity and supporting visual elements support the purpose?
- The images in the DSCA program are striking in that they depict real-life disasters faced by previous responders in the past. In the decision-making exercises, each scenario features video that dramatically depicts the catastrophe.
Technologically Appropriate: How can technology be used appropriately to achieve the client's outcomes?
- A combination of technologies was appropriate for the DSCA program. Online presentation was suitable for a broad overview of the topic, which allowed learners to arrive at the in-class sessions with a firm basic knowledge of DSCA. Specific, role- oriented learning was also accomplished online, with the scenario-based decision- making exercises serving as the capstone, instead of an in-class experience. Many learners have complimented the value of the weekly updates that arrive in their mailboxes."


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We believe happy, healthy pigs make the best bacon. That's why we use only the best bellies we can find in the south. The pigs are raised eating natural feed with out any antibiotics or added hormones of any kind, and are treated humanely. Our pork is dry cured, and hickory smoked to perfection. This is life changing bacon!
My cooking career has taken me all over this country where I've developed my barbeque and whole animal butchery skills. When we landed in Tennessee and started to cure and smoke meats for other chefs, friends, and family, we knew we had something special. Nicole and I have developed a product that we hope you will love as much as we love each other. For us, this bacon is a labor of love.


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The Star Wars Rip N Go BB-8 is an awesome toy inspired by the Force Awakens movie. The adorable little character is the spherical, loyal, Astromech Droid of the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron. Kids can build up some of Poe's bravery and resist the evil empire with this adorable companion.
The Star Wars Rip n Go BB-8 toy uses a rip cord system to propel the droid around the room. You simply insert the cord and rip it out quickly (like a BeyBlade) to send him rolling. While the little droid rolls, he makes authentic sounds from the movie for added fun.
Furthermore, kids can go beyond regular play and make videos with their toys using the Hasbro StudioFX app. In addition to filming and creating scenes, the app lets young directors add visual effects and more! This toy comes with a code to access the app, so players can download it on the App Store or Google Play.
Finally, the Rip n Go set includes BB-8, a rip cord, instructions, and an app code. It's for kids ages 6 and up, and requires 2 AAA batteries (available in store). He stands at just over 5 inches tall.
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Well, the camera never left the case so I don't have any pictures of where we were. Sorry. You'll have to make do with another installment of Businesses With Ballard In Their Names. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ballard Natural Gas Service Inc.!
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Even though I'm only sixteen years old and don't know much about life, I do know that the world is an amazing place with endless possibilities and opportunities. If I …
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Craft: Minbari Federation/Anla'Shok White Star Class Medium Cruiser
Type: Advanced medium cruiser
Scale: Capital
-Length: 475.6m
Skill: Capital ship piloting: White Star
Crew: 50
-Gunners: 6
-Troops: N/A
-Skeleton: 1/+0*
-Emergency Evac: 80/1 week
Crew Skill:
-Minbari Religious Cast: Astrogation 5D, Capital ship gunnery 4D, Capital ship piloting 4D+1, Sensors 3D+1
-Anla'Shok/Rangers: Astrogation 4D+1, Capital ship gunnery 5D+2, Capital ship piloting 5D+2, Sensors 4D+2
-Autopilot: 2D to all related skills
Passengers: 10 (luxurious)
Cargo Capacity: 4,000 metric tons
Consumables: 1 month
Cost: Not available for sale
Hyperspace Jump Engines: Yes
Nav Computer: Yes (+2D Astrogation)
Maneuverability: 1D+** (see below)
-Space: 2+** (see below)
-Atmosphere: 225; 650kmh** (see below)
Hull: 5D
-Bio Armor Hull:***
-Energy Dispersion: +1D
-Damage Adaptation: -1D
-Healing: +1D
-Minbari Stealth Device: (see below)****
-Shields: N/A
-Passive: 30/1D+1
-Scan: 60/2D+1
-Search: 120/3D+1
-Focus: 4/4D+1
-4 Nial Heavy Fighters
Light Fusion Beam
Location: Mounted in nose
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: 1 (bridge crew)
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 2D
-Space: 3-15/30/60
-Atmosphere: 6-30/60/120km
Damage: 7D
Rate Of Fire: 1 (continuous beam)
Special: Beam Weapon******
2 Neutron Cannons (fire-link optional)
Location: Mounted in forward hull
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: 1 (bridge crew)
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 3D
-Space: 1-10/20/40
-Atmosphere: 2-20/40/80km
Damage: 5D (6D*)
Rate Of Fire:
-Fire-Linked: 1
-Salvo: 2
2 Twin Light Neutron Cannons (fire-link optional)
Location: Mounted in side nacelles
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: 1 (bridge crew)
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 3D
-Space: 1-10/20/40
-Atmosphere: 2-20/40/80km
Damage: 4D (5D*)
Rate Of Fire:
-Fire-Linked: 1
-Salvo: 2
3 Gravitic Discharge Beams (fire-link optional*)
Location: Mounted along hull
Fire Arc: Turret
Crew: 1 (bridge crew)
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 4D
-Space: 1-5/15/30
-Atmosphere: 1-5/15/30km
Damage: 4D (5D+1*)
Rate Of Fire: 1
Minbari Stealth Device****
Location: Sensor array
Fire Arc: All
Crew: 1 (bridge crew)
Skill: Sensors
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 0D
-Space: 1-6/15/30
-Atmosphere: 100-600/1.5/3km
Damage: -2D from Fire Control
Rate Of Fire: N/A (Continuous)
*AUTOPILOT: A single crew member can fly the ship with only voice commands, even through Hyperspace, and the ship can even fire weapons in this manner. The single crew must use the Command skill to decide how many actions the ship can perform, much like commanding troops or NPCs.
**GRAVIMETRIC DRIVE: This form of propulsion differs from normal thrust propulsion in that it starts slow, but the ship builds up both speed and maneuverability as it propels itself. In time, as it increases in speed, a ship with a gravimetric drive can achieve greater speeds and maneuverability than it would using normal propulsion. In the case of the White Star cruisers, they start at Space Speed 2/Maneuverability +1D, and increase at +1 to both every round the ship flies to build up speed. The Safety Limit is Space Speed 8/Maneuverability +3D (+6/+2D). Normally, other capital ships with such drives take longer to build up speed/maneuverability (+1 per minute/10 rounds) and have a Safety Limit of Speed +4/Maneuverability +1D+1, but the White Stars were built somewhat like a mix of capital ship and space transport, and the highly advanced Vorlon tech helps a lot too. As with most ships with gravimetric drives, the ship CAN increase its Speed/Maneuverability past the Safety Limits. Any increase to Speed/Maneuverability beyond the Safety Limits (Space Speed 8/Maneuverability +3D) will incur Dex checks from the crew, starting at Moderate Difficulty at Space Speed 9/Maneuverability +3D+1 (failure results in 4D damage). For every Speed/Maneuverability increase of +1 past 8/2D+1, the Difficulty will increase by 1 level (+5), starting at Moderate, up to Heroic Difficulty at Space Speed 12/Maneuverability 4D+1, with the damage increasing by +1D at each Difficulty increase (8D at Space Speed 12!). Also, if the Speed entries above list Atmosphere, then the gravimetric drive can work in such an environment, though GMs may wish to incur penalties for operating a ship with this kind of drive within the gravity well of a planet.
***VORLON BIO-ARMOR: The hull can disperse the energy of ranged energy weapons to an extent, adapt to weapons it is struck by, and heal itself from incurred damage.
-Energy Dispersion: The hull counts as having energy shields on all firing arcs at the listed Dice code (1D).
-Damage Adaptation: Every time the hull is used in a battle against a specific kind of weapon and survives, it will reduce the damage of that weapon by -1 pip in the next engagement, for a maximum reduction of up to the listed Dice code (-1D). It still takes time for the hull to adapt, at least a day before the next battle against the specific weapon or weapon type.
-Healing: The ship counts as a character and heals as a character would, taking the same amounts of time to heal injuries depending on their severity. This can be affected by crew for enhanced effects or sped up, much like medical care, using skills like Repair Skills and Bioengineering (an advanced skill), and other similar skills.
-Notes: Energy Dispersion and Damage Adaptation both mention working acording to a dice code. It is easy for these two abilities to work on the same dice code, but they CAN have different dice codes listed. Healing does not list a dice code, but if GMs wish, the dice code can be a bonus for the ship's crew when using their skills to affect healing for the ship. Also, when making modifications to these abilities and their dice codes, it is left to GM discretion on wether the dice codes can all be enhanced together as a single ship system, or as three separate systems (hence why these abilities can have different dice codes). A good rule of thumb would be to have a standard Difficulty Level for enhancing the Bio-Armor dice code as a whole for all three abilities, and then reduce the Difficulty Level if only modifying one specific ability of the Bio-Armor.
****MINBARI STEALTH DEVICE: The Minbari employ a powerful stealth device that jams enemy targeting systems, making it difficult to get a target lock on their ships. This device reduces enemy Fire Control dice by the die code listed for the stealth device. In essence, it works exactly like the "Enemy Targeting Jammer" from a Star Wars A-Wing, using the Sensors skill for use, is part of the Sensor systems, but works at capital scale. This means starfighters will be affected by the 6D scale difference, and may effectively have 0D Fire Control on their weapons (the penalties to Fire Control will not go past a reduction of 0D).
*****SENSORS: The White Star's sensors, like much of the rest of the ship, are a mix of Minbari and Vorlon technologies. As such they are able to detect many things that other ships of the younger races would never be able to detect. For example, they can detect disturbances in Hyperspace created by Vorlon and Shadow technology that are artificially created to hide entire fleets with a method of Hyperspace stealth. Any other kind of ship created by the younger races, including Minbari vessels, would normally not be able to detect such anomalies. Also, as per the movie "In The Beginning" Minbari sensors are known to disable the ability of Earth Alliance/Earthforce ships to use Hyperspace Jump Engines to create jumpgates. Earthforce may have fixed this problem after the Earth-Minbari War (unknown) and it is also unknown if any other species starships were affected this way.
******BEAM WEAPONS: Beam weapons can fire a constant beam at a target and maintain the beam on a target after intitial firing. As long as the gunner makes an appropriate gunnery skill roll every round against the range difficulties for the weapon (usually Easy at close range, Moderate at medium range, and Difficult at long range), the beam stays on the target and automatically deals damage every round against the target. Using beam weapons in this way does not take into account movement of the target ships, such as the attacking ship flying towards a target and potentially flying past it, or other maneuvers. Also, if the target can maneuver out of the fire arc of the attacker's beam weapon without the attacker's fire arc being adjusted (if it can be), then the "beam weapon" effect is negated and the attacker would have to readjust to target and attack again. Beam weapons can also be used against a group of ships flying close together, like a squadron of starfighters or two close capital ships. If the attacker makes an attack roll at +1 Range Difficulty Level for the beam weapon, they can wave the beam across several ships as a single attack. Easy rule of thumb is that the targets must be in the same fire arc (GM discretion). For every Difficulty Level the attacker rolls above that needed to fire the weapon on a single target, increase damage per extra Difficulty Level, as the beam is being kept on the same target long enough to bore into it for maximum damage.
-ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY: The White Star is a mix of Minbari and Vorlon technology. Minbari technology is already far more advanced than the other younger races, with perhaps the Drakh being the closest in relative technology level. This alone would require a Technology skill roll to understand the technology involved, starting at Moderate or Difficult level. Vorlon technology, that of a First One race, is much more advanced beyond that of the Minbari and Drakh, equaled only by the Shadows and other First Ones. This would make any technology rolls for understanding the Tech no less than Very Difficult, and then only under the utmost best circumstances. Otherwise, these technology skill rolls will always be of Heroic Difficulty, perhaps even with a higher target number in mind. Also of note, due to the White Star having Vorlon technology included in its design, certain features that function like other spaceships may have a more expanded ability to perform their functions. For example, see "Sensors" above.
-MANEUVERABILITY: The White Star was designed with fighting both capital ships and starfighters in mind. As the ship is highly maneuverable, it has the potential to dodge starfighter attacks, though it still counts as capital scale when doing so (relying on built up speed and maneuverability from the gravimetric drive). However, the White Star's weapons are capable of targeting starfighter scale spacecraft and other such scaled objects without any difference in scale dice, and weapon damage stays capital scale.
-POWER TRANSFER: The crew can pull pips from any numbered stat that uses power (Space Speed, Maneuverability, Energy Shields, etc), and add these pips to the desired weapon's damage dice. These pips can be taken as much or as little as desired. After every power transfer and weapon attack, roll 1D: on a roll of 1, the ship loses power for 1 round per pip of power transferred. For every 3 pips transferred, roll +1D, and any roll of 1 on these extra dice has the same result. Power is replenished after this time has passed and the ship can then fly, maneuver and attack with weapons, as well as any other functions that require power to use. until then, the ship is dead in space and unable to move or fight. Power Transfer can be done with any ranged energy weapon, though of course it usually makes more sense to use the weapon with the most damage and/or range.
-Example: In one episode of Babylon 5 to attempt using telepaths against the Shadows, a White Star was used to destroy a Shadow vessel while it was telepathically stunned and immobile. The White Star had to transfer power from other systems to boost the damage of the Fusion Beam to kill the Shadow ship.
The White Star Class, was a class of advanced warships maintained by the Rangers and utilizing Minbari and Vorlon technology and served as the backbone of the Interstellar Alliance's fleet. They were manufactured at the Valen's Eye manufacturing point in the Minbari System.
The first White Star was developed in secret by the Anla'shok, under the supervision of Ulkesh Naranek and Chosen One Jenimer throughout 2259. By November the first batch of three prototypes were ready, though they were only scaled down fighter sized White Stars, they were essential in testing the viability of adapting Vorlon and Minbari technology. Their first real test flight was a mission to prevent the Shadows from using the Temporal Rift in Sector 14. The three fighters were piloted by the newly qualified Rangers Marcus Cole and Catherine Sakai with Entil'Zha Sinclair piloting the third. The mission was a success, though it came at the cost of Ranger Sakai, whose fighter fell into the time distortion. In January 2260, the first full scale ship was complete and presented secretly to Captain John Sheridan of Babylon 5, though due to problems with the Warrior Caste, the initial crew was almost entirely composed of the Religious Caste.
With the assistance of the Worker Caste, a massive round the clock effort was begun to put the White Star class into full production and by December of 2260 the rest of the White Star fleet had been completed, just in time to participate in the Battle of Sector 83.
Additional Technical Specifications
These are one of the newest class of Minbari attack ship whose duties have been delegated to the Rangers and the Interstellar Alliance. These were also the first non-Vorlon ship to be designed in cooperation with the Vorlon Empire, so they incorporate features such as Vorlon bio-armor that would normally only be found on Vorlon ships. These ships were built to be both maneuverable enough to engage fighters, and to have the punch to take on capital ships when operating in groups. They were used as the predominant weapons in the Shadow War between 2259 and 2261 and proved themselves to be formidable vessels, taking on vessels many times their size and winning.
This incredible performance is in part due to advanced Vorlon components found in the ship such as the bio-armoured hull which is capable of learning from experience and adapting itself to better protect the ship in new engagements; this hull design also gives the ship the ability to 'heal' itself after it has been damaged. These ships are also capable of creating their own jump point into hyperspace without using a jumpgate, giving these ships tremendous flexibility on the battlefield.
The White Star Fleet
After the White Star 1 proved a success, the Minbari began working around the clock to build a fleet of White Star ships, numbering around 100 - 150 hulls.
Behind the Scenes
The White Star was designed and built by Foundation Imaging Co-Founder Ron Thornton. Design of the ship was based on the pelican.
Status: Active (as of 2281)
Affiliation: Interstellar Alliance; Army of Light; Anla'Shok
Class: Medium Cruiser
Length: 475.6m
Crew: 50
Engines: Stalasha Gravimetric Engines
Jump Capable: Yes
Gravity: Yes
-2 Neutron Cannons (Primary)
-2 Twin Fusion Cannons (Secondary)
-Magnetic Discharge Beams
-Vorlon defense system
Auxiliary Craft: 4 Nial heavy fighters
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Download EBOOK Comprehensive Aphasia Test PDF for free
Category: Society & Social Sciences
The author of the book: Kate Swinburn
Format files: PDF, EPUB, TXT, DOCX
The size of the: 293 KB
Language: English
Edition: Psychology Press Ltd
Date of issue: 10 January 2005
Description of the book "Comprehensive Aphasia Test":The Comprehensive Aphasia Test (CAT) is a test for people who have acquired aphasia and can be completed over one or two assessment sessions. The battery contains a cognitive screen, a language battery and a disability questionnaire. The cognitive section assesses people's abilities across a range of task that can affect rehabilitation. Forming the main body of the test, the language battery provides a profile of performance across all modalities of language production and comprehension. An optional innovative disability questionnaire explores the impact of aphasia from the perspective of the person with aphasia. In addition the CAT helps PDF the therapist to track changes over the course of recovery, and provides a guide to likely outcomes on the basis of an early assessment. It is supported by normative data on people both with an without aphasia, and extensive data on reliability and clinical validity. The CAT allows users to: * Identify underlying impairments * Find where to focus assessments using PALPA and other batteries * Ascertain the practical, psychological and social impact of aphasia * Create a profile of strengths and weaknesses to guide therapy. Structured around fully up-to-date models of language processing from cognitive neuropsychology this test is an ePub indispensable resource for speech and language therapists and researchers. It provides as much information about people's language ability as possible in a relatively brief test designed to be completed in 90-120 minutes. The Scoring Software for the Comprehensive Aphasia Test is available at http://www.languagedisordersarena.com/9781848720640 .
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|That's just my game face. (Photo credit: Phil Keoghan)
In 2011 I won the title of Best Young Rider at this race, my first title on the American racing scene. This year, NOW and Novartis for MS came back for some more success. San Dimas is one of my favorite races, and the perfect event for the beginning part of the race season because it's not too long, and just tough enough... It makes for an excellent lead-up to Redlands Bicycle Classic as well, the first event on the National Race Calendar (NRC).
|A view of the hill-climb prologue road course. Not too shabby! (Photo: Lex Albrecht)
|Sneaking up the side to score full QOM points on this lap of the SDSR race. Photo credit: Phil Keoghan
On the first lap there was a major crash where race leader Mara Abbott went down hard with a whack of other girls. 2nd place GC rider Amber Neben made the call to neutralize the race and wait for Mara to get back on to the peloton. Taking advantage of a crash to win a race...just isn't cool. Luckily once she got back in the pack, she didn't look too mangled.
|First over the QOM line, and at the front of the pack going downhill. Photo credit: Phil Keoghan
|Warming up on the Kinetic trainer, for the SDSR criterium. Sporting the QOM polka dots. (photo: K. Stockton)
I wasn't on my A-game for this stage. Teammate Maura Kinsella was in several good moves, and Alexis Ryan scored extra sprint points but not enough to secure the jersey. It was a fun race...on the bright side of things...but not one of NOW's finest. Canadian Gillian Carleton won the stage.
Mara Abbott (Exergy-Twenty16) won the overall race, Tayler Wiles (Specialized-Lulu Lemon) was the Best Young Rider, Brianna Walle (Optum) the Best Sprinter, and I was proud to represent NOW and Novartis for MS in the Best Climber (Queen of the Mountains) polka dots.
NOW and Novartis for MS kept 4 riders in the top 10. I sat in 7th place overall.
|Lex Albrecht (QOM), Mara Abbott (Leader), Tayler Wiles (BYR), Brianna Wale (Sprinter) (Photo: R. Heal)
I'll hang out and train with Alexis Ryan in California for 1.5 weeks before heading to the next race: REDLANDS BICYCLE CLASSIC in Redlands, CA. And I'll make sure to go back to In-N-Out ;).


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Our Price: £83.28
DO88 Cobra Intake Hose - 102mm
Inner Diameter - 102mm
A custom design hose by do88, made to make it possible to deliver a great air flow when the space is so limited that a regular 90° hose takes too much space. In very tight places the narrow radius comes in handy and our special design of this hose delivers highly in terms of airflow. Have a look at the pictures with drawings that shows the narrow design of this hose!
To avoid collapse under vacuum it´s made with five layers of reinforcement in the most critical areas. A loss in airflow of not more than 10 % compared to a conventional 90° hose is hard to beat, given its slim design.
Intended use are air intake applications, air filter, turbo inlets, compressor inlets and more. The hose can also withstand lower positive pressures but might then not be able to keep its flat shape.
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PFS Parts Ltd. is registered for VAT in the United Kingdom, VAT no: GB809914994


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lawn mower Cub Cadet CC 949 Q
Photo Cub Cadet CC 949 Q click for zoom.
lawn mower Cub Cadet CC 949 Q Characteristics.
You can buy Cub Cadet CC 949 Q lawn mower in online stores.
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catalog of garden flowers and plants, conifer and deciduous ornamental trees and shrubs, indoor plants
findflower.info © 2018-2019. landscape design, seed (seedlings).


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Garbage collection in Hico is provided by Knox Waste Services (866) 691-5974.
(Depending on address or location)
The costs of the various trash collection services provided are listed in the Hico Rate and Fee Schedule .
Location: Utility Street
Hours of Operation: First and 3rd Saturday of each month 9 a.m. to noon. With advance scheduling, arrangements can be made to have the facility opened at the beginning of the work day or immediately after lunch.
|Household trash per bag
|Compactable trash per cu. Yard
|Appliances, each
|Mattresses, each
|Scrap metal
|No fee
The City operates "the North 40" where brush and leaves can be dumped. Arrangements can be made for a member of the city staff to meet someone with a load at the gate on regular work days, either first thing in the morning or immediately after lunch. The facility is located on the north side of town at the end of Mesquite Street. When CR 244 veers to the right in front of Truth Fellowship, Mesquite Street continues straight and dead ends into the gate to the North 40.
Arrangements can be made with the City to receive roll-off service from Knox Waste Services. Again, rates are available on the Hico Rate and Fee Schedule .
Should citizens wish to do their own hauling, the nearest facility regularly open to receive this type of debris is the City of Stephenville Landfill .
Outdoor burning is heavily regulated by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality under the State's Clean Air Act. Outdoor burning is prohibited in municipalities unless the municipality has adopted an Outdoor Burning Ordinance consistent with the Clean Air Act. For the convenience of its citizens, the City of Hico has adopted such an ordinance . Anyone wishing to conduct an outdoor burn must secure a permit , which is available at no cost and can be secured at City Hall or through this website. The permit spells out all the terms and conditions required by Hico's Ordinance. Anyone violating the provisions of the Ordinance may be subject to prosecution.


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OH! You Pretty Things
We figured out what we're doing for Halloween! Our friends Twig the Wonderkid and Michael T are putting together a wild stage and dance party production at (Le) Poisson Rouge on Sunday October 31st. From experience, these circumstances can only lead to good music, heavy drinking, and lots of gender-bending antics. Throw in a production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and you've got a serious Halloween Party.
…and the plot thickens.
Xris SMack!, Johanna Constantine, and DJ friends will be taking over one of the LPR rooms where we intend to be impressed by the variety of corsets and latex apparel; a very tasty treat when served up with some EBM, Dark Wave, and Industrial cuts.
Generously discounted tickets are available as late as October 30th via various facebook promotions. Just have a look for "Oh! You Pretty Things"
Ole Koretsky
RSVP: http://Going.com/RHPS


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Hercules Tyre Repair Kit
Easy to use 47-piece kit has everything needed to repair most types of tyre or valve damage – includes high visibility hard plastic case and many spare parts.
A tyre repair kit is an essential tool for any 4WDer. Imagine getting a tyre puncture out in the bush with no reception and inadequate gear to change to a spare. This little beauty gives you piece of mind knowing you have a quality tyre repair kit safely tucked away in your rig. Easy to use and store, you'd be crazy not to get one for your next adventure.
COMPREHENSIVE – 47 piece kit has everything needed to repair most types of tyre or valve damage
COMPACT – Packed in a protective case, the Tyre Repair Kit will fit easily under your 4WD's seats or in rear storage.
Hercules Tyre Repair Kit
Customer Reviews
Price Value Quality
Review by Wayne, VIC (Posted on 19/08/2018)
Price Value Quality
Review by Anthony, VIC (Posted on 19/07/2018)
Additional Information
|Manuals and Documentation


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1 (3 to 5 pound) pork loin1 can tomato soup1/3 cup chopped onion1/3 cup chopped celery1 clove garlic, minced2 tablespoons brown sugar2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce2 tablespoons lemon juice2 teaspoons prepared mustard4 drops Tabasco
To Search---First choose a Category from the drop-down list below,
enter an ingredient name or the name of a recipe your'e looking for in the
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|Mucor is a Scrabble word. Scrabble point value for mucor: 9 points.
|Mucor is a Words with Friends word. Words with Friends point value for mucor: 9 points.
Above are the results of unscrambling mucor. Using the word generator and word unscrambler for the letters M U C O R, we unscrambled the letters to create a list of all the words found in Scrabble, Words with Friends, and Text Twist. We found a total of 18 words by unscrambling the letters in mucor. Click these words to find out how many points they are worth, their definitions, and all the other words that can be made by unscrambling the letters from these words. If one or more words can be unscrambled with all the letters entered plus one new letter, then they will also be displayed.
1. any mold of the genus Mucor
|Words that start with mucor
|Words that end with mucor
|Words that contain mucor


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July 2, 2015
By now, other than low-information types, all are aware of Donald Trump's comments about Mexicans. There has been a rash of comments, some of which I have repeated here with Spectrum's opinion of the speaker's words.
Rick Perry said:
I don't think Donald Trump's remarks reflect the view of the Republican Party.
Spectrum says:
You are right which is too bad and one reason why the Republican party loses national elections its candidates should have won.
Marco Rubio said the next president:
needs to be someone who brings Americans together not someone who continues to divide.
Spectrum says:
We agree but most Mexicans are not Americans so we don't really care what they think so long as they return to their Holy Land of Mexico - and stay there. Mexico is a miserable place to live and that's why millions of Mexicans do almost anything to leave it. If you're a Mexican Willie Sutton, the reason is even more obvious which, of course, supports Trump's theory that we receive Mexican criminals in droves.
For some unspoken reason, these illegal alien supporters have no empathy for the millions around the world who are trying to immigrate to America, many of whom are brown or black. It is only the illegal alien Mexicans who command their sympathy and support. Invariably, these supporters are of Mexican heritage, cheap-labor business people or slime-ball politicians whose donors or wives are Mexican or have financial interests in cheap labor. They couldn't care less about a brown family from the Philippine Islands for example. Have you ever heard them support such immigrants? Or, perhaps, taking in poor Irish, Greeks or French? They don't even mention Canadians who abound, speak English better than we as a group and who live beyond of a border even longer than that between the USA and Mexico.
If you truly want diversity and multi-culturalism, why would you want to have 40 million Mexicans when we could have some representation of all the world's countries?
Spectrum says :
Because the illegal alien lovers have a different axe to grind from that which they show you. All their chatter about what illegal Mexicans bring to America is false. It is about what 40 million Mexicans bring to them.


text:
When you have aches and pains all over or even need a solution for pains residual pains from an injury or stress relief care, the massage therapy provider you choose can make a big difference. In any given area, there are usually hundreds of massage clinics but only by reviewing their work and requesting answers to the right questions will you be able to pick out the best one for you in the end. Whether you want a moment of relaxation, or are in need of relief from serious pain, these therapeutic massage providers can accommodate you and make sure you are happy with the service you get.
Do Some Research Into Their Service and Qualifications
Reliable massage therapy clinics must be licenced to practice on patients. Finding out about their qualifications is a great way to determine the quality of the work they do. You can also ask them about the kinds of results they get when they work on clients who come in with aches and pains like yours and if they get positive feedbacks afterwards. Ottawa Chiropractic and Sports injury Clinic can guarantee that you will get the exact relaxing results you want without paying a fortune for it. To find about their mode of operation and qualifications, you could ask questions about any of the following:
Share Your Concerns during Consultation Sessions
Massage therapy clinics are familiar with the need of prospective clients to ask a lot of questions. Typically, this is the best way for them to get an idea of how best to customise their services to suit the clients' needs. Massage experts can provide their services for whatever needs their clients present. If you visited a massage therapy clinic in the past and were immensely disappointed with your results, you can bring this up during the consultation stage to find out how your new experience will be better than the last. It is easy to forget the questions you need to ask while discussions are ongoing, so a list outlining your areas of concern will be handy to use.
Not all the massage clinics can give you what you need. It therefore seems like an overwhelming task to have to choose one to provide you a relaxing session or more. Following the tips above will help you further in making the right decision that will give you the kind of specific relief and relaxation you seek.
Views: 48


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Not-so-good Morning: Tea Fire Morning Update
Posted by ws1 on:
Lots of folks waking up to smoke and bad news today..The fire, though slowing, is still spreading.
Officials are urging Santa Barbara residents to conserve water as reservoir levels are running very low to sustain the firefighting effort. All this as the street-sweeping fleet went out with their giant water tanks today (which to me seems a little stupid for multiple reasons).
The Indy has reported that 2000-2500 acres have been burned (and counting).
Here is the Unofficial Evacuation Fire Map from Google. It's very helpful.
Best of luck to all of you who may be wondering about the status of your homes.
More updates very soon.


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With its 64-bit editions of Windows Vista, Microsoft introduced mandatory digital signatures for kernel modules. Essentially, the Redmond company aimed at delivering superior security and stability of the operating system via a mechanism designed to closely manage the code deployed in the core of the 64-bit editions of Vista and Windows Server 2008, formerly codenamed Longhorn. According to Microsoft, "kernel-mode software must have a digital signature before it will load on x64-based computer systems. Boot-start drivers should contain an embedded signature. And certain configurations of x86 systems require kernel-mode software to have digital signatures to access next-generation premium content depending on content protection policy."
But is Microsoft on the right track with code signing? The obvious downside to driver signing and the associated certificates is the fact that legacy drivers and any type of unsigned code for that matter, will not be able to load into the core of the operating system. Still, Russ Humphries, Microsoft senior product manager for Windows Vista security insisted that driver signing is not primarily a security feature. "Driver signing provides a method to better identify the author/creator of a piece of software or code so that the author/creator can be approached in the event a reliability issue, vulnerability, or malware is discovered. Signing is not designed to confirm the "intent" of signed code (i.e. good or bad), or whether exploitable bugs or malicious code is present. Malicious or exploitable kernel drivers can lead to system compromise beyond disabling of code signing controls, since kernel driver code has access to hardware as well as all programs running as the user," Humphries explained.
However, other members of the security industry claim that code signing is a simple and effective solution to delivering security, especially when the method is generalized to apply to executable files. "With digital signatures we can "detect" any kind of executable modifications, starting form the simplest and ending with those most complex, metamorphic EPO infectors as presented e.g. by Z0mbie. All we need to do (or more precisely the OS needs to do) is to verify the signature of an executable before executing it," revealed Joanna Rutkowska, CEO Invisible Things Lab.
Of course that digital signatures tied to executable files are not a silver bullet solution. There is in fact no panacea for security and x64 Windows Vista driver signing illustrated this point with the various workarounds that rendered the feature useless. "Does it mean we get a secure OS this way (with digital signatures for executable files)? Of course not! Digital signatures do not protect against malicious code execution, e.g. they can't stop an exploit from executing its shellcode. So why bother? Because certificates allow to verify that what we have is really what we should have (e.g. that nobody infected any of our executable files). It's the first step in ensuring integrity of an OS," Rutkowska added.
Rutkowska went even further to claim that polymorphic virus detection, heuristics and similar solutions are nothing but tricks and hacks, illustrative of how the security industry went on the wrong path instead of developing valid responses to the threat environment. "Security should not be built on tricks and hacks! Security should be built on simple and robust solutions. Oh, and we should always assume that the users are not stupid – building solutions to protect uneducated users will always fail," Rutkowska concluded.
Microsoft, Windows Vista, Vista x64, Digital Signatures, Driver Signing, 64-bit
Source:→ softpedia


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I want to start with a tweet by the famous particle physicist Lisa Randall that is two days old:
Cool! Fake Higgs boson news. (Or at least misleading headline.) https://t.co/RkVRwAoONB— Lisa Randall (@lirarandall) February 8, 2017
Through a digg tweet, she was referring to the article in Vice's Motherboard:
Why the Higgs Boson Found at the Large Hadron Collider Could Be an 'Impostor'by Farnia Fekri. All three key folks in this "story" are women: Lisa Randall, Farnia Fekri, and Usha Mallik, an Iowa experimental particle physicist who is the main heroine in Fekri's article. I need to emphasize it in order to be sure that the PC people won't accuse me of doing too little to promote the ties between science and the scientifically inferior gender. ;-)
Even though there were some other reactions among Lisa's followers – not really folks who follow particle physics in most cases – and I will discuss their reactions, my response was very similar to Lisa's. The title is fake news (and the body of the article contains some diluted solution of it). Well, it is a falsehood at least to the extent that the negation of the proposition is much more true – and it is a much more important truth, too. What's going on?
By late 2011, the LHC had already accumulated a sufficient number of collisions so that the folks could analyze those with two photons at the end rather finely and they found an excess of events with two photons that seem to arise from a decay of a new boson of mass \(125\GeV\). In other words, the invariant constructed from the two photons' four-momenta \(p^\mu,q^\mu\)\[
(p_\mu+q_\mu)(p^\mu+q^\mu) = m^2
\] was apparently equal to \((125\GeV)^2\) in many more cases than for other values of \(m\). Because a Higgs boson had to be discovered for the Standard Model to be experimentally completed as a consistent theory and this mass was consistent with everything else, I told you that a Higgs of this mass was a sure thing, although some people weren't this sane yet. ;-)
Yes, the formality occurred on the Independence Day in 2012: a sufficient number allowed both ATLAS and CMS to independently claim their 5-sigma discovery. (One detector had 4.8 or 4.9 but it's really an irrelevant historical coincidence now.) The Higgs was first discovered through the decays to \(\gamma\gamma\) i.e. two photons or \(ZZ\), two Z-bosons, heavier and equally neutral electroweak siblings of the photon.
Because the mass was determined and the final state included the pairs of spin-one bosons, people could be sure about a new particle, its mass, and its interactions with the pairs of spin-one bosons. For the particle to be a Higgs boson or "the Higgs boson", it needed to have many other interactions – including those with fermion pairs – equal to the theoretically predicted value.
As the experiments at the LHC continued, they have proven that many more interactions of the new particle are exactly as strong and have exactly the same properties, up to the error margins comparable to dozens of percent, as the Standard Model predicted. So doubts that it should be called a Higgs boson gradually evaporated.
So far it really looks like it is "the Higgs boson", i.e. a Higgs boson with the exact properties determined by the Standard Model that has no extensions, cousins, heavier or charged siblings, and other things. Experiments boldly yet humbly say that the world seems boring and the theorists are 50 years ahead of the experimenters because a flawless confirmation of theories written down 50 years ago is the best thing that the experimenters may do in the 2010s (naughty teenager decade or whatever is the right name for the teens) – while they will only be able to address some ideas we may already be sure about now around 2060. ;-)
This result, "everything seems compatible with the Standard Model", may be interpreted in various ways, i.e. as an argument against specific theories that try to replace the Higgs boson with something else or modify it heavily. Such "heavily alternative" theories that nevertheless want to be compatible with the \(125\GeV\) diphoton or \(ZZ\) signal are basically known the Higgs impostor models. A man is just making fun of us, is jumping inside the detectors, and pretends that he is Peter Higgs. ;-)
OK, I need to reverse this joke because 99% of the readers who also read the mainstream media would take it literally. No, dear brainwashed readers, the impostor isn't a man. It is a particle whose behavior resembles the behavior of the Higgs boson. It may have a wrong value of the spin or parity or be composite – but the properties may accidentally resemble the CP-even, spin-zero, elementary Higgs boson we assume that the new particle actually is.
I could give you links to numerous individual papers that analyzed the LHC collisions and determined that the Higgs impostor theories are basically dead. No one can emulate Higgs so accurately. So an important conclusion from the LHC experiments – that represent dozens of hours spent by hundreds of members of the ATLAS and CMS collaborations since 2011 or 2012 – is that
The Higgs Boson Found at the Large Hadron Collider Almost Certainly Cannot Be an 'Impostor'Now, look at the title in the Motherboard journal again:
Why the Higgs Boson Found at the Large Hadron Collider Could Be an 'Impostor'Haven't you seen it somewhere? Yes, this title is basically exactly the converse of an important truth. It is not just a falsehood. It is a falsehood that tries to push the readers away from a proposition that is not only true but also important, a proposition that actually represents the results of lots of work that has taken place at the LHC.
Is it OK to write such falsehoods? Why has it happened?
Dr Usha Mallik, the Iowa professor, is working on a sub-detector that should be inserted somewhere to the LHC by 2023. This sub-detector could increase the abilities to detect pairs of bottom quarks which is hard, as I will mention in a minute again. And if the measurements of these decays of the Higgs to bottom quark pairs deviates from the Standard Model, and it is a big if, it could be evidence in favor of an impostor theory. But again, even if she succeeds, it's rather likely that the data will be compatible with the Standard Model just like the data collected with the existing detectors so far.
The fake news title may be "justified" as a shortcut for a more honest title such as
a female experimenter in Iowa is working on some sub-detector that will almost certainly find nothing new even after 2023 when it's installed but the work is justified by the observation that if it could find some deviation from the Standard Model, it would be evidence in favor of a Higgs impostor theory, a type of theories that seem almost dead by now, however.In other words, a lady is doing some boring stuff that won't lead anywhere. This summary doesn't sound so sexy so they have improved it and basically claimed that the Higgs that has been discovered "could" be an impostor even though the actual evidence that has been collected seems to imply exactly the opposite – that it cannot be an impostor, at least not a generic one.
Let me mention that the Higgs boson is predicted to decay to\[
h \to b\bar b
\] the pair of the bottom quark and its antiparticle in a percentage of cases. However, pairs of bottom quarks are created not only from decaying Higgs bosons but also from the "unavoidable QCD mess" at the LHC – which collides protons i.e. hadrons, messy QCD bound states. You may read about this decay channel e.g. in this CERN Courier article. The observation of the direct decay to the bottom quark-antiquark pair is hard. However, there exists a more complicated process:
It's called the vector-boson fusion, or VBF.
Two quarks from the two colliding protons emit two massive electroweak gauge bosons (W-bosons or Z-bosons) that get merged into a Higgs boson, and that Higgs boson decays to the bottom quark-antiquark pair. What is nice about this Feynman diagram is that the final bottom quarks (the middle right part of the diagram) aren't directly connected to the quarks and gluons inside the LHC protons through quark and gluon (i.e. strongly interacting) propagators.
Instead, these bottom propagators are only connected to the quarks from protons by electroweak propagators – by the Higgs and the electroweak spin-one bosons. This fact makes the central portion of the Feynman diagram clean – liberated from the pollution by the messy QCD effect. Consequently, the complicated QCD effects don't contribute so much to the background and the signal may be rather easily separated from the background. And the data already collected at the LHC are already extensive enough to bring us statistically significant evidence that the process depicted by the diagram is taking place.
The result is almost the same: when the signal is found, the interaction of the Higgs boson to the two bottoms is demonstrated. I discussed VBF in order to show that even if Usha Mallik succeeded in measuring the bottom quark decays of the Higgs using a new sub-detector, it probably wouldn't be a qualitatively new discovery that would bring the theorists new information about an interaction between elementary particles. The \(hb\bar b\) interaction may be probed differently, without the sub-detectors.
Experimental particle physicists have a rather hard job. Even relatively modest, technical advances that almost certainly won't "shift the paradigm" require years of work and sometimes billions of dollars. Even if it were discovered that the Higgs found in 2012 is an impostor, it would be something that 99.9999% of the mankind doesn't care about. For particle physicists, it could be a revolution. But this revolution is very unlikely to take place and it is arguably even less likely to take place because of Usha Mallik's work.
I know that these summaries don't sound as attractive as overhyped titles and they may be a worse starting point for Usha Mallik to get new grants etc. However, what I say is far more true and honest than what the Motherboard wrote.
It has unfortunately become a standard policy to write falsehoods and lies as titles of article and even grant applications and it's not just the very nasty people known as the journalists who are responsible for that. The scientists sometimes encourage such falsehoods themselves – and they often benefit from these lies even more than the journalists do. The ethical standards have dropped sufficiently so that Usha Mallik and others think that "it's just OK to write any lie with keywords related to my research" when her work is being described by the media. Sorry but it is not fine.
I have already mentioned that most of Lisa's followers don't have a clue. But it was one physics PhD student whose cluelessness was more visible:
@lirarandall #fakenews? Crap, wait, we're scientists. We can't just use "fake news" as an argument, can we.....stupid ethics.....— Christopher Jantzi (@great_jantzitsu) February 8, 2017
He was clearly trying to chastise Lisa as if he were some moral authority. What the hell are you talking about, Christopher? Lisa hasn't tweeted any argument. She just made an observation that an article with a title that seems false to her – and to me and, more importantly, to most particle physicists, too – was published in a magazine.
The phrase "fake news" has been fashionable for several months. It's been used by the anti-Trump leftist media and it was often used inadequately. Many things labeled as "fake news" weren't fake at all – and on the contrary, it was many articles about "fake news" and especially about the origin of these alleged "fake news" (especially when the origin was claimed to be in Moscow) that were the actual "fake news".
One may say that the term "fake news" has backfired. It's been used against those who had used it for the first time. There have been various social processes like that. But at the end, "fake news" is just a currently fashionable synonym for an "untrue article in the media". There have always been untrue articles in the media and we always needed to use some words to describe "untrue articles in the media". The term "fake news" does a better job than others – it's catchy and concise enough – and it's plausible that its lifetime will be longer than we might think.
Even if she hasn't posted any long blog post substantiating her views, there is nothing "unethical" about Lisa's usage of the term "fake news" for something that she considers a falsehood published by the media. Christopher, if you think that "ethics" means the rules to avoid several phases that you have arbitrarily declared as taboos, such as the phrase "fake news", then your ethics isn't worth much.


text:
I can't believe I'm praising a bank
18 July 2004
(This is largely for Google's benefit:) Has anyone successfully used a First Direct Switch card (debit?) with the UK iTunes store? I can't get it to recognise my card. (I've used the same card on on-line shopping sites before.) I really want to buy some songs.
First Direct has been a pretty good bank to me so far–I recommend them. They're an internet bank, so they're no good if you like (or need) to go into branches. However, their phone support is excellent: you dial, and you get a person straight away–there's no number to type! (Actually, sometimes you get put on hold for a minute, but there's still no numbers to type.) Their staff, too, are actually helpful and know what they're talking about.


text:
Trading carrots for chocolate pudding since 2012.
I have always been force-fed all this animosity about politics and how you shouldn't talk about them because, well you know exactly why. Say you're sitting around watching the game and … Continue reading
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An ode to the Passive-aggressive Haters: Quit being bitches. Your bullshit needs to cease and desist. Bitches Be Trippin' — Writer's note As a twentysomething, and a non-omniscient one at … Continue reading
Try and imagine you had no idea who this man was. If I gave you the choices that he: A. Owned his own chain of steakhouses. B. Owned a car dealership. … Continue reading
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text:
On Iraq's Western border, the masked jihadists of ISIS have been quite literally bulldozing the frontier of a new Islamic state, merging the Iraqi areas they now control with rebel areas in Syria.
Governing a significant wedge of Iraq, the militants have created a document that lays out the law in the new Caliphate - including amputations of limbs for stealing, a ban on women leaving their homes, and crucifixion for criminals.
The aim of the militants, once deemed too extreme even for al Qaeda, is to create a new state reaching from western Syria across Iraq to the eastern border with Iran.
The Washington Post has translated the 'Contract of the City' issued to citizens in the northeast province of Ninevah. It describes the ISIS fighters as "soldiers of Islam who took on our responsibility to bring back glory of the Islamic Caliphate" and it includes the following decrees.
- Women are told they should not go outside unless necessary, because their place is to provide stability at home.
- They must wear full, wide Islamic dress
- Stealing or looting will result in the amputation of limbs
- Criminals can be crucified (this law quotes a verse from the Quran)
- Muslims must participate in group prayers at mosques 'on time'
- Muslims will be well-treated, unless they are allied with oppressors
- Drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes are banned
- Rival political or armed groups are also banned
- Police and military officers will be given the chance to repent
- Apostasy is punishable by death and carrying flags, except those of the Islamic state, is not allowed
- Graves and shrines are forbidden, and will be destroyed
For those who read Arabic, here original document of ISIS set of rules in #Nineveh. I've only translated main points. pic.twitter.com/gmj8rj4udV— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) June 12, 2014
Images from a jihadist's Twitter account show a truck driving through the berm between Iraq and Syria, under the title "Smashing the Sykes-Picot border" - a reference to the Anglo-French that carved up the Middle East after World War I. The militants standing around are seen cheering, and carrying the black ISIS flag.
MTs @jenanmoussa & @mutludc start of caliphate: ISIS militants physically erase (bulldoze) border between Syria&Iraq pic.twitter.com/XnqVUrdzKx— Conflict Antiquities (@conflictantiq) June 11, 2014
With the threat of Sunni radicals to its West, the Shia-led Iran is now reportedly providing support to the Iraqi government, putting the United States in the unique position of being allied with its long-time enemy on a common cause, should Obama decide to take military action.
To attack the Sunni strongholds in the north would be playing into the hands of ISIS, who have framed the conflict as a sectarian struggle against Shia prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. Civilian casualties could be crucial for ISIS to win the hearts of the people who have come under their rule.
US 'Will Not Rule Anything Out' On Iraq, As ISIS Takes Two Eastern Towns
14 Staggering Statistics That Show Just How Wrong Bush Was To Say 'Mission Accomplished'
Tales of brutality are merging from Mosul, Iraq's second city captured by the jihadists this week. With half a million people fleeing the city after Iraqi forces downed their weapons, ripped off their uniforms and beat a hasty retreat.
ISIS have announced that they executed 1,700 Shiite soldiers who surrendered in the occupied city of Tikrit, but pardoned 2,500 Sunni troops.
Unverified videos, set to lilting Islamic hym, show masked militants in northern Iraq show them knocking on the doors of a policeman's home, blindfolding him and binding his hands, then leading him away, and cutting his head off with a knife in his bedroom. Another video shows lines of terrified men and boys being marched to an unknown destiny, with their heads bowed.


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|You know, they gather around and drin.... , just kidding :)
The Budapest summit was one of the most important one from both users and the Canonical point of view, since this is the first time they've "gathered" after the release of Ubuntu Unity desktop module. Mark Shuttleworth was also there and had given some interesting keynotes which are well worth reading because it they may help to get a glimpse of the "Ubuntu future"... including Mark's usual "leadership" talks as well :).
For instance, quoting his own words...
'We're starting to see real leadership and innovation here in the Ubuntu community. My view on this, and it's just one view, is that we're [Ubuntu developers, are] in the crucible: We see what users experience; we're the conduit; we're the place where the software lands in users hands. This gives us a unique perspective and gives us responsibility to take some ownership in experience that users have.'....
"If you're stressed by decisions that have been taken then ask yourself: [are these] the people who should be taking the decisions?" :via OMGubuntu.
That Ubuntu Community is getting smaller and smaller, in a way :).
I actually kinda like Mark. Maybe he's too cunning or, in his own words, he's quite straight. When you know who you're dealing with, it adds a bit of a stability... don't you think?.
Anyhow, as I was saying... it'll take a lot of effort to summarize what happened in the UDS, luckily Randall Ross has posted a link in which we can find few of the videos of major individuals such as...
Mark Shuttleworth Key note
Jono Bacon Welcome (Ubuntu Community Manager)
Interview with Jane Silber (Canonical CEO)
Interview with Rick Spencer (Ubuntu Engineering Director)
Interview with Jason Warner (Ubuntu Desktop Manager)
Interview with Pete Graner (Ubuntu QA Manager)
And as time goes we'll be updated with other videos as well. You can watch them using this official UDS videos Youtube page.


text:
Title: Venus Rising
Series: Island Series Vol 1
Author: Ali Spooner
Publisher: *Not Listed
Cover Artist: Irish Dragon Designs
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Publication Date: 02/11/2016
Length: Novel (~ 50K-100K)
Genre: Contemporary, Lesbian, Lesbian Romance
Levi takes a summer job at Venus Rising, an exclusive lesbian resort in the islands. When she discovers Simone, a wealthy seductress and Vanessa, a romantic cruise ship Captain, a triangle is created when Levi falls in love with both women and begins an emotional roller coaster as their relationships grow and self-destruct. Soon to follow is the sequel Neptune's Ring.
My View:
Levi is fresh out of school and looking for a little fun before heading off to make her fortune on Wall Street. She gets hired on as a bartender at the lesbian resort Venus Rising. With her hot looks, dazzling charm and her signature drink she is a hit with the clientele and her friendly, sweet nature makes her a hit with the staff. Levi falls hard for the wrong woman and it breaks her heart. When the right woman comes along will she be willing to risk it or has she been burned too badly?
I really liked this book a great deal. There were some things I questioned, like when did Levi move all her things to the island and how quickly she fell in love but as Mama always says "If you can't be a true believer don't watch the show" or read the book in this case. If you're looking for deep and meaningful this is not the book for you. This is a sweet tale of a young woman's adventures in paradise. It is a classic romance with lots and lots of steamy spice! The writing is solid and the flow is good with no wishing it would go faster or slow down. Its just right.
I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, primary and secondary they all relate to each other like family and I found it heartwarming. Levi will quickly endear herself to you and you will be rooting for her the whole way. Simone and Vanessa are both love interests and many people wont understand how a person can love two people at the same time but I've dealt with this struggle and really adored a character I could relate to, at least in that manner. (I'll never be a hot and hip bartender but Im ok with that lol)
Anyway, I just really liked the book and for those of you who like sequels will be pleased to know there is a second in the series called Neptune's Ring that is available now. Another thing to love about the book is that there are so many characters to love that should she desire, there are at least four spin off books I can come up with and I REALLY hope Ms Spooner thinks so too!
Venus Rising on Goodreads
*Not Listed
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Amazon CA
I would like to thank the publisher for providing me with the eARC of this title in exchange for my honest opinion.
|Farewell Giveaway
I have a number of paperbacks, most of which are signed, to giveaway. Over the between now (11 Mar 2017) and 31 Mar 2017, every comment on the blog (this post and all other new posts), will be entered to win 1 of these paperbacks. There are also some misc swag items, so there will be a few packs of these to give away as well.
Thank you so much for your support over the last 4 years. Prism will be closing its doors on 1 April 2017. All content will remain available, but no new content will appear after 31 Mar 2017. As such all request forms have been turned off. Again Thank you,
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