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Take the 2-minute tour ×
When an object is moving in a circle, won't the frictional force oppose it's motion? And if the velocity is always tangential to the path, there is no component of it towards the center, so there is no component of friction towards the center (since the frictional force is antiparallel). So how can friction be a centripetal force, like in the case of a car rounding a corner?
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2 Answers 2
The frictional force is opposing the tendency for the car to slide off the road. Think of a merry go round: If it is really fast you will struggle to stay on. If it goes really fast you will grab on to the bar and your body will point radially outward from the center of rotation. Eventually you be able to hang on and you will fly off. This is the same idea as the car turning. If there were no friction the car would fly off the road (or just continue straight as the road bends). The car needs static friction to keep it on the road (that is turning) and hence cause the centripetal acceleration.
As for friction always opposing motion that is not necessarily true, for instance this case. Kinetic friction will always oppose direction of motion. Static can friction just opposes the tendency to move in a certain direction (i.e. the car tends to move outward (or off the road) but the friction keeps on the road and is radially pointing inwards because the car tends to radially fly outward.
See @NickStauner 's answer for a very nice picture of my description (and read his answer as well!)
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I probably wouldn't have bothered if your answer had been there before I started :) Glad the picture helps, and +1 from me! – Nick Stauner Mar 7 at 7:47
Frictional force opposes sliding motion, basically. Car tires produce centripetal force by changing their angle relative to the rest of the car's orientation. The tires do not slide in the direction of the tires' orientation: they roll. Friction in this direction rotates the tires, or if the engine is applying force to the wheels during the turn, friction prevents the tires from "burning rubber", and pushes the car in this direction.
Meanwhile, motion in the direction of the rest of the car's orientation is opposed by friction only to the extent that it is not motion in the direction of the tires' orientation. The velocity vector corresponding to the rest of the car's orientation can be understood in terms of these two orthogonal components. The component corresponding to the tires' orientation is basically not subject to friction for our purposes (ignoring whether one's foot is on the gas pedal). The component that does not correspond to that other component is orthogonal and opposed by centripetal friction.
Based on GIF by Droidmakr.
If tires' orientation $=$ rest of the car's orientation, basically no centripetal friction results.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99759
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
In experimental physics, we often make measurements of linear transfer functions; these are complex-valued functions of frequency. If the underlying system is causal, then the transfer function must be analytic, satisfying the Kramers-Kronig relations. Our measurements, however, are corrupted by random (and perhaps systematic) errors.
Is it possible to improve a measurement of a linear transfer function of a causal system in the presence of noise by applying some kind of constraints derived from the Kramers-Kronig relations?
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I'm sure the answer is "yes", but I'm very interested how you would actually make such an improvement. Good question +1 – Keenan Pepper Mar 10 '11 at 21:46
I wonder whether this would be equivalent to least-squares fitting an analytic model (trying various numbers of poles and zeroes) à la VECTFIT? – nibot Mar 10 '11 at 22:40
3 Answers 3
up vote 5 down vote accepted
The problem you describe is (mathematically) similar to blind deconvolution. Given a signal which is the result of blurring an image (a linear operation) and adding noise, blind deconvolution tries to estimate the blur and the image.
As described here, the blind deconvolution process consists roughly of:
1. Guess the blurring function (transfer function)
2. Construct an image consistent with your signal and your guess of the transfer function
3. Apply physically reasonable constraints to the constructed image. (For example, non-negativity).
4. Modify your guess of the blurring function to better satisfy these constraints
5. Goto 2.
It sounds like your idea would apply to step 3. I've never seen the K-K relations used this way, but I imagine they'd work just fine.
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Thanks for the link; that looks like a good lead! I like the idea of an iterative technique, but I wonder whether it is really so straight-forward to simply "apply" the K-K relations (i.e. integral relations on sampled data). – nibot Mar 10 '11 at 22:38
Possibly naive, but: Fourier transform your transfer function to give an impulse response. Truncate the part of the impulse response that is acausal, inverse transform, and you have your 'constrained' transfer function. – Andrew Mar 10 '11 at 22:41
Interesting! Sounds very much like the Fienup iterative phase retrieval algorithm. But I would also like to introduce some additional information: I have estimates of the standard error on each of the measurement points (via a coherence measurement). Unclear how to mix this in. – nibot Mar 10 '11 at 22:48
Maybe this iteration: 1. In time domain, truncate acausal portion; 2. In freq domain, nudge towards measured data, with nudging weighted by error estimate, 3. repeat. ? – nibot Mar 10 '11 at 22:51
Also brings up the problem of how to inverse fourier transform an irregularly sampled spectrum (Lomb-Scargle?). – nibot Mar 10 '11 at 22:52
In spectroscopy it is common to measure the real or imaginary part is the response function and use KK to infer the other. I must say however that I'm slightly horrified by some of the answers above as they relate to causality, which is easy to violate in Fourier domain by simple signal or image processing. You can also introduce unphysical artifacts. If you don't want to fall into this trap you might want to have a look at this tutorial:
Causality and linear response in classical electrodynamics. Alex J Yuffa and John A Scales. Eur. J. Phys. 33 no. 6, 1635 (2012).
These ideas apply to all linear response problems, not just EM.
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That is a great link; Toll's argument is beautiful. – Emilio Pisanty Aug 9 '13 at 12:11
I can think of a method that follows from a numerical Hilbert transformer I came up with for estimating the phase of Raman gains, a problem which is very like many handled in spectroscopy. I've never tried it quite in the way you want, so I can't give any guarantees. First, for background see:
see http://mathoverflow.net/a/69924/14510
In summary, this method maps a complex half plane onto the unit disk and so gets around the numerical headache of handling Cauchy principle values.
Your situation is slightly different. You want to find a function whose Laplace transform is holomorphic in the open right half plane: inverse Laplace transforms yield causal functions by definition and the holomorphicity in right half plane means they are stable (i.e. bounded for all time and either decay or boundedly oscillate as $t\rightarrow\infty$).
So, in your situation, what my method would do map $\mathbb{P} = \left\{\left. z \in \mathbb{C} \right|\; {\rm Re}(z) \geq 0\right\}$ to the closed unit disk $\mathbb{D} = \left\{\left. z \in \mathbb{C} \right|\; |z| \leq 1\right\}$ and the mapping you need is:
$M : \mathbb{P} \rightarrow \mathbb{D};\; M(s) =\frac{\omega_0 - s}{\omega_0 + s}$
what my method relies upon is that all functions holomorphic on the closed unit disk have a convergent Taylor series there, i.e. $f(z) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty f_n \,z^n$. So this is the general form of a function that you want. Transforming the domain of this Taylor series with the inverse Möbius transformation, we find that the general form of your function has Laplace transform:
$F(s) = \sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty f_n \,\left(\frac{\omega_0 - s}{\omega_0 + s}\right)^n$
i.e. your frequency response is of the form
$F(i\,\omega) = \sum\limits_{n=0}^\infty f_n \,\left(\frac{\omega_0 - i \omega}{\omega_0 + i \omega}\right)^n$
This is now in a form that you can least squares best fit to a dataset with linear regression: you assume a finite number of terms and then do a linear regression on the $f_n$.
You will need to experiment with this heaps! The "black art" of this numerical brew is to choose the real parameter $\omega_0$ so that the "interesting bits" of your function you want to transform happen on a "reasonable" portion of the unit circle. Suppose that your function can be thought of as having a compact support - some finite frequency interval centred on nought; within this compact support it does its interesting stuff and outside it is roughly nought. Then is is no good choosing $\omega_0$ so small that the image of this compact support is a few degrees of the unit circle centred on $z = 1$; likewise you might run into hardship if you choose $\omega_0$ too small and the compact support's complement is mapped to some tiny part of the unit circle centred around $z = -1$: if you make this mistake the algorithm may not recognise a zero at infinity.
Let's look at what this response would be like in the time domain. If you invert the Laplace transform above, we get a function of the form:
$f(t) = e^{-\omega_0\,t} \left(a_0 + a_1 t + a_2 t^2 + \cdots + a_n t^n\right) U(t)$
where $U$ is the Heaviside unit step function. So this is simply polynomial fitting, with the exponential function making things "behave well" as $t\rightarrow\infty$. Polynomial fitting can get numerically ill conditioned, especially if you have too many terms, so something else you might want to try is fitting a function of the form:
$f(t) = e^{-\omega_0\,t} \left(a_0 + a_1 T_1\left(\frac{t}{\tau_m}\right) + a_2 T_2\left(\frac{t}{\tau_m}\right) + \cdots + a_n T_n\left(\frac{t}{\tau_m}\right)\right) U(t)$
where now $T_n$ is the $n^{th}$ Tschebyschev polynomial and $\tau_m$ some cutoff time (after which the time response is effectively nought). So in the frequency domain you would fit:
$F(i\,\omega) = \sum\limits_{n=0}^N f_n \,\left.\mathcal{L}\left(U(t)\,e^{-\omega_0\,t} T_n\left(\frac{t}{\tau_m}\right)\right)\right|_{s = i \omega}$
More generally, Any rational function of frequency $F(i\,\omega)$ such that $F(s)$ has no poles in the right half plane will do (it will define a causal, stable function). This knowledge might get you a good fit - especially if your function has obvious resonances. However, fitting the co-efficients to your data is now going to be a nonlinear regression and moreover you will need to test that your poles are always in the left half plane. The linear regression of basis functions above doesn't have this problem - the poles of the fitted function do not shift.
As you are an experimental physicist, i.e. in my own definition someone who lives and breathes the concept of signal to noise ratio, I'm making this comment more for other readers: sometimes you can be too clever processing data and you need to tread with care. Methods like the above which seemingly should work by dint of some simple theory can worsen, not improve, the quality of your data, because they try to draw meaning from something that can be pure noise and really ought to be disregarded. This is true especially of any kind of deconvolution (mentioned in other answers), which boosts the noise power of signals where the system's response is weak and therefore (e.g. trying to offset a lowpass filtered by adding gain to high frequencies).
As for my original method: as far as I know is still used by a major commercial optical systems simulation package and hasn't had too many complaints.
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am trying to reconcile data that I have found in one publication (Allen 1969) with data that I found in another publication (George 2003) that synthesized this data. The data is root respiration rate, it was originally measured at $27\ ^\circ C$.
I am trying to convert a rate of oxygen consumed as volume per mass of root per time to carbon dioxide produced as mass per unit mass per time.
In the appendix table, George 2003 reports the range of root respiration rates, converted to $15\ ^\circ C$ and standard units:
$$[11.26, 22.52] \frac{\mathrm{nmol CO}_2}{\mathrm{g}\ \mathrm{s}}$$
In the original publication Allen (1969), root respiration was measured at $27\ ^\circ $C. The values can be found in table 3 and figure 2. The data include a minimum (Group 2 Brunswick, NJ plants) and a maximum (Group 3 Newbery, South Carolina), which I assume are the ones used by George 2003:
$$[27.2, 56.2] \frac{\mu\mathrm{L}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{10\mathrm{mg}\ \mathrm{h}}$$
Step 1
Transformed George 2003 measurements back to the measurement temperature using a rearrangement of equation 1 from George, the standardized temperature of $15\ ^\circ $C stated in the Georgeh table legend, and Q$_{10} = 2.075$ from George 2003, and the measurement temperature of $27\ ^\circ $C reported by Allen 1969:
$$R_T = R_{15}[\exp(\ln(Q_{10})(T- 15))/10]$$
$$[11.26, 22.52] * exp(log(2.075)*(27 - 15)/10)$$
Now we have the values that we would have expected to find in the Allen paper, except that the units need to be converted back to the original:
$$[27.03,54.07] \mathrm{nmol CO}_2\ \mathrm{g}^{-1}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$$
Step 2: convert the units
Required constants:
• inverse density of $\mathrm{O}_2$ at $27^\circ C$: $\frac{7.69 \times 10^5\ \mu\mathrm{L}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{\mathrm{g}\ \mathrm{O}_2}$ first assume that Allen converted to sea level pressure (101 kPa), although maybe they were measured at elevation (Allen may have worked at \~{} 900 kPa near Brevard, NC)
• molar mass of $\mathrm{O}_2$: $\frac{32\mathrm{g}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{\mathrm{mol}}$
• treat 10mg, which is in the unit of root mass used by Allen, as a unit of measurement for simplicity
Now convert $$[27.03,54.07] \mathrm{nmol CO}_2\ \mathrm{g}^{-1}\mathrm{s}^{-1}$$ to units of $\frac{\mu\mathrm{L}\ \textrm{O}_2}{10\mathrm{mg}\ \mathrm{root}\ \mathrm{h}}$. The expected result is the original values reported by Allen: $[27.2, 56.2] \frac{\mu\mathrm{L}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{10\mathrm{mg}\ \mathrm{h}}$
$$[27.03, 54.07]\ \frac{\mathrm{nmol}\ \mathrm{CO}_2}{\mathrm{g}\ \mathrm{root}\ \mathrm{s}} \times \frac{1\ \mathrm{g}}{100\times10\mathrm{mg}} \times \frac{3600\ \mathrm{s}}{\mathrm{h}} \times \frac{3.2 \times 10^{-8}\ \mathrm{g}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{\mathrm{nmol}\ \mathrm{O}_2}\times \frac{7.69\times10^5\ \mu\mathrm{L}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{\mathrm{g}\ \mathrm{O}_2}$$
$$[23.8, 47.8] \frac{\mu\mathrm{L}\ \textrm{O}_2}{10\mathrm{mg}\ \mathrm{h}}$$
These are the units reported in the Allen paper, but they appear to be underestimates . Since the ratio of observed:expected values are different, it is not likely that Q$_{10}$ or the atmospheric pressure at time of measurement would explain this error.
Am I doing something wrong?
• Reference 1: Allen, 1969, Racial variation in physiological characteristics of shortleaf pine roots., Silvics Genetics 18:40-43
• Reference 2: George et al 2003, Fine-Root Respiration in a Loblolly Pine and Sweetgum Forest Growing in Elevated CO2. New Phytologist, 160:511-522
Footnote 1: The values from reference 2 are adjusted from the $15^\circ C$ reference temperature to the $27^\circ C$ in reference 1 using the Ahhrenius equation, but I am off by an order of magnitude so I do not think that this is relevant:
$$[26.9, 54.0] = [11.2, 22.5] * exp(log(2.075)*(27 - 15)/10)$$
note: I have been updating the equation based errors pointed out by Mark and rcollyer, but the problem remains
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Parts of this don't make sense. The $1000g/g$ is probably a typo, but how could the final answer have grams divided by kilograms? – Mark Eichenlaub Apr 1 '11 at 6:41
@Mark the answer is grams of CO$_2$ respired per kg root per second. The 1000g/kg is a typo – David Apr 1 '11 at 14:14
where does "root" come from? – rcollyer Apr 3 '11 at 2:22
@rcollyer it is the plant root that is consuming O2 or producing the CO2. I put it in following Marks question above, but I will take it out since it seems to magically appear in the answer, and the answer can be found here. – David Apr 3 '11 at 15:43
3 Answers 3
As far as I can tell, you went wrong in a couple of places:
1. instead of converting from $\mathrm{g}$ to $\mathrm{mg}$ your converting to $\mathrm{kg}$ in your first term, and
2. in your fourth term, the units should be $\mathrm{g\, O_2}$ and $\mathrm{ nmol\, O_2}$, for consistency. This would've let you know that you've inverted your conversion from $\mathrm{ nmol\, CO_2}$ to $\mathrm{ nmol\, O_2}$ in your third term.
When I'm performing unit conversions, I do a couple of things to make my life easier. First, like it is displayed in your question, I write everything on two lines so that I can easily distinguish between the numerator and denominator, but I doubt that is at issue here. Second, like you, I tend to do them all at once, but occasionally, like this case, it may be worthwhile to do it piecemeal. Last, I convert systematically, working from left to right. For instance, in this case, I'd convert from $\mathrm{ nmol\, CO_2}$ to $\mathrm{\mu L\, O_2}$ first, and then add in the conversions from $\mathrm{g}$ to $\mathrm{mg}$ and $\mathrm{s}$ to $\mathrm{h}$ after that.
Edit: in your most recent revision, you've removed you conversion from $\mathrm{CO_2}$ to $\mathrm{O_2}$, so the units you get are
$$\frac{ \mu L\, \mathrm{CO_2}}{10 g h}$$
If I remember correctly, the conversion was a power of 2, so it will not fix the deviation between the two units.
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I didn't notice the answer below explaining the conversion from $\mathrm{CO_2}$ to $\mathrm{O_2}. For consistency sake, you may wish to explicitly include it. Not having read the papers, I'd have agree with Roy on the temperature conversion. – rcollyer Apr 8 '11 at 19:35
After making the corrections suggested by rcollyer, you were very close. Looking back to the original paper, note that the units were reported in the unexpcted units of $$\frac{\mu\mathrm{L}\ \mathrm{O}_2}{10\mathrm{mg}\ \mathrm{h}}$$
There is a 10 in the denominator, so multiply your answer by 10 and your calculations are pretty close. enter image description here
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There are a few problems with this formula and calculation. I shall present those that I have found below and hopefully this will help.
First we note that the intended conversion ratios from the data: old = [27.2,56.2]; new = [11.26,22.52] give a conversion factor between new/old = [0.414,0.401]. So perhaps because of rounding errors one is seeking a conversion factor between these two values, of perhaps around 0.41.
This conversion is done in two logically distinct steps: Unit Conversion (U say) - your step 2- and Temperature Conversion (R say) - your step 1. Both of these conversions contain issues.
Step 1 - Temperature Conversion.
The problem here is not so much the formula (as far as I know), but the assumption of $27^0$C. The Allen paper does do plant tests at $27^0$C and also $30^0$C, $35^0$C and $40^0$C. So which value to choose? The main issue for me however is figure 2 in that paper where the data (from table 3) are plotted against mean annual temperature in degrees Fahrenheit ie the true natural ground temperature. This range is $53^0$F to $67^0$F ie [11.6,19.4] Centrigrade range with median at $15.5^0$C. So it is possible that George has taken $15.5^0$C - which gives an R value of 1.04 or even just $15^0$C giving an R value of 1. If that were true it would largely cancel out the error you have found.
Step 2 - Unit Conversion.
There are some problems here however which complicates things.
First the density of $O_2$ would need to change to that at (say) $15^0$C. Now the figure quoted there is not the density but the inverse density (and there is a typo in the microunit). Using the ideal gas law the inverse density would change to 7.37 microunits from your value of 7.69 microunits - a decrease in this term.
Another problem are the errors in the "respiration" formula. This formula does not balance on the Oxygen: LHS=4, RHS=6. Furthermore the LHS chemical is Formaldehyde! So there must be at least a typo here - or perhaps the whole idea of using respiration formulae is wrong here? As this is just a unit conversion it may not rely on the details of plant respiration but just be based on atomic weights (8 mol $CO_2$ = 11 mol $O_2$)??
EDIT I have just seen what is wrong with this chemical formula: it is intended to be an "empirical formula" reducing from the glucose respiration formula (in Wikipedia). So it is 2$O_2$ on the LHS to balance. In that case it is 1 mol $O_2$ = 1 mol $CO_2$.
The George paper does not explain how the $O_2$ to $CO_2$ conversion works and so I dont know how to take this any further, but hopefully the above is helpful.
(Incidentally to "reverse engineer" the formula under such circumstances you might also check the conversion factor implied by the other cited papers in Appendix 1 where it was maybe clearer what was being converted.)
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Thank you for these pointers. I have updated my calculation to account for the 1:1 ratio of O$_2$:CO$_2$, and changed density to inverse density (but the calculation remains the same). The results of the experiment with T at $30,35,40$ are reported as response ratio, e.g. normalized to respiration at T=30 and reported as a percent. So that data can't be converted to a rate as far as I can see (without more assumptions). And it is not likely that he reports measuring a rate at 27C but then adjusts it to 15C without stating it (or the equation used) in the manuscript. – David Apr 7 '11 at 7:16
@David, I agree with the last sentence. The question (which I cannot answer) is whether George just took the results from figure 3 (presented as they were against actual ground temperatures of around 15C) as the basis of doing the conversion. – Roy Simpson Apr 12 '11 at 9:11
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The Dawn of the Tetraquark
May 22, 2014
On April 9, 2014, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider "unambiguously" observed a new particle dubbed Z(4430). This negatively charged particle is about 4.7 times more massive than a proton and deviates from the traditional quark model.1 But what is the traditional quark model, what does “unambiguously” mean, and what implications might this new particle have?
Particle Physics Timeline
Particle physics has a rich history tracing back to ancient Greek philosophers but has expanded greatly in the 20th and 21st centuries. The field describes the mechanisms of all the fundamental forces of nature as particles that transfer energy and momentum from one particle to another. These particles that mediate the forces on an atomic and subatomic level have become intertwined with the theories of the origin of our universe.
Before tackling the new “tetraquark,” we’ll begin with a timeline of particle physics and the fundamental physics behind the field as it stands today. The appendix to this article has a review of the history of particle physics.
Particle Physics Timeline
Image Credit: Heide Doss/Physics Central
Forces of Nature
By the 1930s it was clear to scientists that there were four fundamental forces in nature that could describe all observed interactions.
• The gravitational force in which mass attracts mass. The strength of this force increases as mass increases and decreases as distance between masses increases. This is the weakest of all forces.
• The electromagnetic force in which like charges repel and opposite charges attract, and moving charges create magnetic fields which can interact with moving charged particles and other magnetic fields. This force increases as charge increases and decreases as the distance between charges increases.
• The weak nuclear force or weak force responsible for radioactive decay and involved in fusion processes. This was later found to be connected to the electromagnetic force and are thought to be two different manifestations of the same force called the electroweak force.
• The strong nuclear force or strong force, which holds together the nucleus of atoms. This force is much stronger than the other forces and its strength is felt only over distances on the order of a quadrillionth of a meter, or less.
Fields vs. Particles
Now that we have some history under our belt, let’s focus on the physics behind particles and fields. For example, electric charges exert forces on each other proportional to the size of the charges and inversely proportional to the distance between them squared. This helped inspire Faraday to think about this force in a new way:
Rather than describing the force between two charged particles one could describe a force field that any given charged particle could create. The force field created by a charged particle is called the electric field. It describes the force per charge that the charged particle creating the field would exert on another charge if it were there.
Place the actual charge within the field, and it feels a force equal to its charge multiplied by the electric field. The field can be thought of as the mechanism that allows two distant objects to interact. One often thinks of these force fields that permeate space as affecting the space. This is field theory.
The interaction between charged particles can also be described as the absorption or emission of particles (packets of electromagnetic energy) called photons. Energy and momentum are transferred between charged particles by the absorption or emission of a photon. In this case, the photon is the carrier of the electromagnetic force and energy. This is particle theory.
Richard Feynman described this exchange with what is known as Feynman diagrams (shown below).
Feynman Diagram
The force between two electrons (e) can be viewed as the passing of a photon (y) between them.
These particles can be virtual, meaning they pop into and out of existence from the vacuum field (which permeates all space).
Einstein showed that mass is a form of energy, and that mass can be turned into pure energy and energy into mass. As an example, an electron and a positron can annihilate and create two photons.
Similarly photons can interact and become an electron-positron pair, as shown below. Note that in Feynman diagrams antiparticles are represented as going backwards in time.
Feynman Diagram
Feynman diagram of electron (e-) positron (e+) annihilation, producing two photons (y).
Image Credit: bitwise via Wikimedia Commons.
The Vacuum
With all of this talk of particles abounding in the universe, you’d think they’d fill up a lot of space, but most of space is empty.
Our everyday experiences are filled with what appears to be solid material to us, but atoms have 99.99% of all their matter in a sphere with a diameter on the order of 10-15 m (a quadrillionth of a meter), yet, with all their electrons, an average atom extends over a size of about 10-10 m (ten billionth of a meter).
This means that the mass of an atom only takes up about a thousandths quadrillionth of its entire spatial extent, most of it being empty. And beyond our world is a lot of empty space interspersed with planets, stars, and other extraterrestrial objects.
When you think of a vacuum you probably think of a volume of space that contains absolutely nothing. But quantum field theory posits that a vacuum field exists throughout all of space and it consists of constantly fluctuating fields that are zero on the average, but have a non-zero probability to become large.
As a side note, the Higgs field is part of the vacuum field. Particles with mass do so because of their interaction with the Higgs field, which permeates all space.
If a field becomes large at an instant then a pair of particles might pop into existence, which would soon annihilate. The vacuum can also be thought of as particles constantly being created and destroyed. This fits with Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle as well. If the lifetime of a particle is short, then its energy (and hence its mass) can be large.
Particle Types
In the 1950’s, scientists observed that there are particles that seem to be fundamental, meaning they are not made of anything else. An example of this is the electron, the muon, and neutrinos. These are called leptons, meaning light particles.
There were other particles found that had properties between those of leptons and protons, neutrons and other more massive particles. These are called mesons meaning middle particles. Examples of mesons are the pion and the rho meson. Mesons are important because they are involved in strong interactions (the type of interaction that holds the nucleus together).
In 1934 Hideki Yukawa theorized that the exchange of mesons was responsible for the strong nuclear force between nucleons, much like atoms absorb and emit electromagnetic energy, nucleons were believed to absorb and emit mesons. This is not true, however the idea that particles are exchanged during an interaction is the basis of quantum electrodynamics (QED) and quantum chromodynamics (QCD). QCD is quark theory.
Particles such as protons and neutrons are called baryons, or heavy particles. It was observed that there is a strong force, a manifestation of the strong interaction that holds the nucleus together.
Hadrons (strong particles) are particles that are involved in strong interactions and consist of mesons and baryons, but it was not understood why these particles were involved in strong interactions. Furthermore, there were some problems with symmetry and conservation rules that were not fitting with what scientists believed should happen. This is where the theory of quarks helped.
Flavorful Quarks
Because of issues of symmetry, it was thought that perhaps mesons and baryons were made up of smaller particles. In 1956 Murray Gell-Mann and George Zweig independently came up with a theory of these smaller particles. Gell-Mann named his particle the quark.
The quark was thought to make up mesons and baryons, and if it did exist, it would explain the observations made of baryons and mesons that seemed otherwise to contradict parts of their underlying theories.
It was also believed that gluons would be exchanged during strong force interactions in much the same way that photons are exchanged during electromagnetic interactions.
Assuming symmetrical relationships, gluons would be massless particles traveling at the speed of light that would be absorbed or emitted by quarks. These gluons would also (like photons) be involved in the creation of quarks and the annihilation of quarks.
With the introduction of quarks came a new set of fundamental particles that make up all that we know exists in matter. The table below lists all known elementary particles we know of.
The gauge bosons are the carries of the four fundamental forces of nature. The Z and W particles are exchanged in the electroweak interactions (they act like photons in electromagnetic interactions, however these have mass unlike all the other particles that at as carriers for the fundamental forces of nature).
The Higgs boson is still under scrutiny in the scientific community. The Higgs boson observed in 2013 has not yet been accepted as the one predicted by theory, but it has been accepted as a Higgs boson. Current theories suggest that the Higgs field and its corresponding particle (the Higgs boson) interact with W and Z particles, slowing them down and hence causing them to have mass.
The graviton (a massless particle theorized to be absorbed and emitted during gravitational interactions) has not yet been observed and is not listed below.
Quark Table
Table of quarks, leptons, and bosons.
Image Credit: Fermilab/DOE Office of Science Particle Data Group/PBS NOVA
Our everyday matter can now be described as:
Leptons (light particles) are fundamental particles that cannot be broken down further and do not contain quarks.
Mesons (middle particles) that consist of a quark and an antiquark. All particles have a “twin” particle or anti-particle. These are almost the same. The charge is always opposite in sign and some other characteristics are opposite.
Baryons (heavy particles) that are particles consisting of three quarks. For example the proton is made of two up quarks and a down quark and the neutron is made of an up quark and two down quarks. All baryons are made of three particles. The up and down quarks are the most stable and long-lived quarks found in nature.
Baryons and mesons make up a category of particles called hadrons. Hadrons (strong particles) are involved in strong interactions, which manifests the strong force. The strong force arises from the exchange of gluons.
Quarks have never been found isolated, i.e., just one quark on its own. If one were to try to get one quark on its own by having a high-energy collision, the energy involved to break apart a baryon or meson would be enough to also create sets of quark pairs, so one could not isolate a quark this way.
However, scattering experiments have provided enough evidence of all six types, or flavors, of quarks: up, down, charm, strange, top, and bottom. In the past, top and bottom were called truth and beauty and hence many particle physics groups have the word beauty associated with them.
Quarks also have a special type of charge besides electric charge. This new charge is called color charge, and not because it is associated with a color, but because there are three different types of this new charge and three types for the anti-charge, which lends itself well to the colors of light.
The primary charges are colored red, blue, and green (like the primary colors of light). The anti-colors, carried by anti-quarks, are: anti-blue which is yellow, because yellow light is made of red and green lights only; anti-red which is cyan, because blue and green lights make cyan; and anti-green which is magenta because blue and red lights make magenta.
Again, it is important here to stress that this color charge has nothing to do with light or color. It is some charge characteristic that quarks have that is not the electric charge, and it follows conservation rules like other charged particles.
Gluons also have color charge, and the strong force between quarks is called the color force. Quarks bound in groups always must be colorless, that is, their color charge must add up to make white, meaning there must be a red, green, and blue mixed together. The proton and neutron have this.
Mesons, which are only made of two quarks, then must be made of a quark and an anti-quark which carries an anti-color charge.
Below is a representation of the quarks, and their color charge, of a proton, neutron, and mesons.
Quark Diagrams
From left to right: proton, neutron, pion+ (pi+ meson), with the quark color charge shown. A line above the quark symbol indicates an anti-quark. The squiggly line represents the interchange of gluons.
Image credit: Arpad Horvath via Wikimedia Commons.
In Feynman diagrams we can show how a neutron may undergo beta decay and turn into a proton, emitting an electron and neutrino. In the decay process, a down quark decays into an up quark emitting a W particle. The W particle then decays into an electron and a neutrino.
Feynmann diagram of beta decay.
Image credit: Joel Holdsworth via Wikimedia Commons.
This is the traditional quark model, and what is now called the standard model. It has had plenty of evidence to back it up, although there are a few things that have suggested that perhaps particle physicists don’t have it all figured out yet.
For example, the current standard model works great for hadrons made of two and three quarks. More quarks in one particle was not believed to occur, and was never observed — that is until recently.
The Tetraquark Emerges
Particles that seemed to deviate from the traditional quark model, in that they contained four quarks, were first observed in 2003. But there’s been insufficient evidence to claim a tetraquark exists — at least until now.
There were other claims in 2008 from CERN’s Large Hadron Collidor (LHC) and Japan’s Belle that pointed toward a tetraquark, and even a possible pentaquark observation, but none was sufficient enough to pass the required scientific criteria. That is until work published in April 2014 by the Large Hadron Collider Beauty experiment (LHCb) collaboration.1,2
The LHCb colloboration reported “unambiguously” finding the Z(4430), a particle of mass 4430 MeV or 4.756 u = 7.897 kg, and a negative electric charge equal to that of an electron. But what does “unambiguously” mean? It means that they put an extremely high criteria on finding it, and that it was observed in many more instances than the criteria they placed.
Particle physicists often describe the statistical significance of their measurements in terms of the standard deviation. The standard deviation is a measure of the variation in the data. When scientists use standard deviations to describe the significance of their results it means they are describing the probability of their measurements versus seeing such measurements by chance or by some other anomaly.
In every day terms, 2 sigma (2σ) means, ± 2 standard deviations of a normal curve, which encompasses 95.4% of the data, as shown below, with 4.6% on the sides. In most instances if you have found something to within 5% it means you are 95% sure that your measurements are valid and true, and 5% might be a fluke. Overall you have pretty good statistics backing you up.
If you have 3σ (3 on each side of the center as shown below) then you are up to 99.6% certain of your measurements. Note also that this is a two sided curve, meaning that one considers the standard deviations symmetrically.
Image of the normal distribution showing 3 standard deviations on each side of the mean value.
Image credit: Mwtoews vs Wikimedia Commons
Particle physicists tend to put a lower limit of 5σ on their findings, and often they are one sided curves, meaning they just consider the probability of chance at one end of the curve because the other side can be ruled out.
For the Higgs Boson that was recently found, it was 5σ above the mean, which means they only need to look at the little amount on the right side of the curve as the chance part. The probability of the observation occurring by chance or some fluke is then 1 in 3.5 million, and the scientists are 99.99997% sure they have found a valid measurement of a particle.
If it were a two-sided normal curve, and they could not rule out one side of the curve, then it would have been a 1 in 1.75 million chance. If they can do better than 5σ, then it is even more likely that they have found what they say they have found.
This tetraquark was found to be within 13.9σ. Consequently, the scientists are all but certain that their measurements are real and not a fluke.
They were able to obtain such high levels of certainty because they were able to produce more than 180 million collisions, which resulted in 25,200 observable decays to analyze. With so much data, they were able to determine a lot about this particle.
This particle’s measured mass is about 4.72 times more massive than the proton. From observations of the decay chain the researchers could rule out certain quantum numbers describing the particle by conservation laws. From their measurements they determined this particle to have a spin-parity of 1+, meaning if it is made up of quarks it must be made up of an even number since quarks have spin ½.
They also determined that the smallest number of quarks, and type of quarks that can make this particle are four quarks: charm, anti-charm, down, and anti-up, or:
Moving Forward
This discovery has upended the traditional view that particles can’t be made of more than three quarks. Even though this particle was short-lived, it was clearly measured and clearly existed for some time. More than three quarks can combine to form a particle, and particle physicists will continue to try to understand the building blocks of all we know.
To see images of the data, click the link to the LHCb paper, or go to their website and review their 9 April 2014 post.
References and Resources
1. Large Hadron Collider Beauty Experiment webpage, April 9, 2014 posting
2. LHCb collaboraion: Aaij, R. et al. Observation of the resonant character of the Z(4430)− state, Submitted to Physical Review Letters April 2014
3. Nambu, Y. Quarks, Frontiers in Elementary Particle Physics, World Scientific, Philadelphia (1985)
4. Giancoli, Physics, Sixth Ed., Ch 32, Pearson (2005)
5. Lamb, E., 5 Sigma – What’s That?, Scientific American, Observations Blog, 17 July 2012
6. David, Higgs: Is it one-sided or two-sided, Understanding Uncertainty, 7 March 2012.
“Produced by the Winton programme for the public understanding of risk based in the Statistical Laboratory in the University of Cambridge.”
H.M. Doss
Appendix: Particle Physics Background History
Although the ancient Greeks didn’t have access to vast particle colliders, they were still very interested in the smallest building blocks of the material world. The Greek Philosopher Democritus (460-370 BCE) and his mentor Leucippus, theorized that all matter was made up indivisible and unchanging elements they called atoms. Before 1900, however, not much was known about the parts of the atom as we know it today.
The electron was discovered in 1897, and scientists believed that electrons and positively charged objects mixed together like plum pudding to form an atom. This “plum pudding” model, took precedence until around 1911 when evidence pointed to a centralized, dense, and positively charged part of the atom.
Evidence suggested that positively charged particles incident on a thin sheet of metal foil usually went through the foil, but sometimes they bounced back at large angles. The conservation of momentum requires that the sum of the momenta in each direction of all the particles involved in a collision must be the same before and after the collision.
The momentum of a particle is simply its mass multiplied by its velocity. Using the conservation of momentum, physicists found that the incoming charged particles must have collided or interacted with something massive, positively charged, and concentrated in a tiny space.
Ernest Rutherford believed this to be where all the protons in an atom were located, with the electrons orbiting this massive center, much like planets orbit the Sun. The nucleus of an atom was discovered around 1911, and the proton (a hydrogen nucleus) was discovered in 1918. The neutron wasn’t even theorized until 1920, when studies found that the same atomic element sometimes had a different mass.
With the photoelectric effect and early quantum theorems between 1900-1920 came the idea that light, and all electromagnetic waves, could act as a particle called a photon. A photon is a discrete packet of energy. One of the patterns we find in nature is that nature is symmetric.
Based on this, Louis de Broglie in 1923 theorized that if electromagnetic waves could act like particles, then particles could act like waves. This provided an explanation for some concerns at the time for the orbital model of the atom. It is also a key part of quantum mechanics. Because of this inherent wave nature of matter, there is a limit on how well we can simultaneously know certain quantities that describe a particle.
This limit is called Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, which puts a lower limit on how well we can simultaneously know a particle’s location and momentum, and also its energy at a given time.
In 1932, the neutron was discovered in experiments. Neutrons act as a buffer between protons. At this point, the core parts of the modern atom were finally known while elements, and their isotopes, were being discovered.
The nucleus does not fly apart, even though there are plenty of positively charged protons in it, and scientists had long-known that like charges repel (electromagnetic force). The neutrons in the nucleus were thought to be helpful in buffering the situation, but a new force was needed, and one that was significantly stronger than the electromagnetic force.
This new force was called the strong nuclear force. From observations, scientists determined that this force is extremely strong at distances on the order of 10-15 m (a femtometer) or a quadrillionth of a meter — roughly the size of the nucleus. At larger distances, the force is negligible.
Still more particles were being observed. In 1932, scientists also discovered the positron: a positively charged particle otherwise identical to the electron and the first “anti-matter” particle to be observed.
By 1933, much had been learned about radioactive decay, and Enrico Fermi introduced the idea that another force must be responsible for these decay processes and fusion processes. He called it the weak nuclear force. In 1968, it was theorized that the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force were both manifestations of a single force now called the electro-weak force.
In 1936 scientists discovered the muon, found in cosmic rays. Muons have all the same properties as electrons except their mass is about 206 times that of an electron. Next came neutrinos, theorized between 1930 and 1970, and discovered between 1956 and 2000. In 1950 the lambda baryon was discovered, and the sigma baryon was discovered. Particle accelerators were being built in the 1930s and the early description of particle theory was forming.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99774
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Patrick R. Michaud pmichaud at pobox.com
Thu Aug 17 09:25:13 CDT 2006
On Thu, Aug 17, 2006 at 05:43:57PM +1200, mike moller wrote:
> Having said that there is a real gap for newcomers, especially if they are
> having to climb a mixed learning curve of PmWiki, PHP and maybe a web
> server as well. We all experience difficulties with the "how do I do ...?"
> type questions when all that is needed is really a pretty trivial piece of
> basis usage info. One really glaring problem is the absence of a few pages
> of technical overview docs to relate the pieces of the jigsaw to each
> other at a pretty elementary level. eg
> a) the flow from pmwiki.php through the other distributed scripts?
I thought for certain that this information was in a page on pmwiki.org
somewhere, but now for the life of me I just cannot find it. I know
it's been discussed on this mailing list in the past, but you're
correct that it needs to be made more prominent. I'll try to find
it and re-post it soon.
> b) how do the .tmpl files get into the act?
> c) where do .css files fit in?
> d) how do all the above come together to generate a page of html?
At the moment the docs for these are in
but I admit they don't really answer the question of how it all works.
Essentially, a skin's template is loaded as part of the standard
configuration, and then when it's time to generate a page of html
the template is sent to the output with the skin directives
<!--HeaderText--> and <!--PageText--> replaced by the contents
of $HTMLHeaderFmt[] and the body of the page, respectively.
> e) what are the opportunities for personalised mods/extensions?
> f) how do these hang together with the standard distro bits?
> h) custom markups?
These are generally handled by defining custom markup rules or
actions. The documentation starts at
http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/LocalCustomizations and
http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/CustomMarkup .
Some of the best examples of how to do things are in the scripts/
directory itself -- each file in scripts/ can be thought of as
a customization that adds another piece of functionality to PmWiki,
and is in general written that way. (It's also written such that
someone could completely replace one of the components if desired.)
> g) the roles and limitations of config.php?
Config.php is the administrator's primary hook into customizing
PmWiki, most things can be overridden or customized from here.
I'm not aware of many limitations to it -- it really depends on
what is meant by "limitation".
> i) how to define variables and pass their values among the php scripts?
> j) how to expose and test those same variables within wiki page markups?
Internally, PmWiki does most of its value passing via global variables
of one sort or another. While I completely recognize that this is
frowned upon from a software maintenance perspective, from a
ease-of-configuration-and-understanding perspective it works well for
most administrators.
To expose variables within wiki page markups, you'll probably want to
look at page variables (http://www.pmwiki.org/wiki/PmWiki/PageVariables),
especially the section called "Custom page variables".
> Unfortunately the people who need this stuff haven't got the knowledge
> (yet :-) to write it. For instance anything I might try to put together on
> the basis of my present knowledge would likely be mistaken, confused and
> incomplete. ( strikeout likely and read certainly :-)
Yes, but an incorrect or incomplete description will tend to be
corrected much more quickly than trying to create a perfectly
correct one from scratch. Even if we just had a good outline
of topics to cover (your list above is excellent, btw) then it'll
be easier to fill things in.
I remember that many devices in the past would come with "Theory of
Operation" documents that attempted to describe how the device was
put together. Perhaps we could have a similar document for PmWiki,
or perhaps an "ArchitecturalRoadMap" of some sort in the Design
Long-time community members can tell you that I tend to respond best
to things posed as questions (as demonstrated above), so just asking
questions and then using my responses to build up documentation pages
may be a good way to go.
More information about the pmwiki-users mailing list
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99779
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Valerie Dohren
(13 January 1947 / Southport)
Watching in the mellowed light
Through the darkness, through the night
Eyes that pierce and eyes that burn
Eyes that twist and eyes that turn
Watching every move you make
Every single breath you take
Are they there to steal your soul
Glistening, and black as coal
Do they claw into your heart
Ripping every thought apart
Haunting yet your quiet mind
Do you heed them, are you blind
Can you see them, do you hide
Shall you mock them, shall you chide
Are your own eyes ….. open wide
Submitted: Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Edited: Wednesday, October 02, 2013
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Poet's Notes about The Poem
The devil within.....
Comments about this poem (Watching by Valerie Dohren )
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• * Sunprincess * (4/8/2014 8:17:00 AM)
........eyes are the most beautiful part of a human....some people's eyes seem to be mysterious, as my cousin has eyes of different is green and one is blue...wish mine was mysterious as this piece... (Report) Reply
• Hans Vr (4/30/2013 9:03:00 AM)
As I read the poem, I was forming my own interpretation, which virtually collapsed when I read the notes.
I tend to agree with thee uneasy magnetic feelings of Theodora and Hari and experienced something like that myself. Still the images linger in my mind. Very interesting poem (Report) Reply
• Shahzia Batool (4/29/2013 2:38:00 AM)
The devil within has a strong presence, he works even one's eyes are opened wide...the beats are perfect...your poems are the best stuff for loud recital! ! ! (Report) Reply
• Unwritten Soul (4/28/2013 3:08:00 AM)
The title is the simplest one compared to others of yours, but the whole poem is still huge and so beautiful, and it set the title again as the door before a poem reading..lovely! and true_Soul (Report) Reply
• Patricia Grantham (4/25/2013 10:44:00 PM)
An excellent piece of poetry in content and character.
Something or someone is watching us all the time. We have
to stay alert and not get tied up. A well penned write. Most appreciative. (Report) Reply
• Yasmeen Khan (4/25/2013 9:25:00 AM)
Ir starts like a romantic poem but surprisingly moves into some sensational feelings about the 'eye' black like coal' stealing our souls. well-written (Report) Reply
• Elena Sandu (4/23/2013 6:13:00 PM)
A great joy to read, loved this poem! I first thought was the conscience flash light but after reading the comments I realized that it fit better to the challenging technology that we are facing, growing and streghtening its chains around us day by day. Thank you! (Report) Reply
• Kevin Halls (4/22/2013 1:58:00 PM)
I had to read this a couple of times before I twigged on it was about CCTV cameras!
Another cracking poem Val. (Report) Reply
• Lyn Paul (4/21/2013 4:33:00 AM)
This is excellent and how far technology has come. Sadly it is needed and privacy barely exists. Thank You (Report) Reply
• Anthony Di''anno (4/20/2013 8:39:00 AM)
Brilliant. Scary, creepy and true. It's not just cctv and devils within though. Whenever you are watching television try and make a mental note of how many times you see a single eye. A shot of just one eye. They are everywhere. There's another creepy thought.
Really well written Val. Creepy, creepy, creepy. (Report) Reply
Read all 28 comments »
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99793
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Report created on Tue Jul 29 14:53:14 2014. back to main menu
Category: Portname:
Category/portname matching: exact wildcard
No port was found matching category 'devel' and portname 'versuch'.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99819
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A level English language (US grade 11-12)
Introduction to OED Online
The Oxford English Dictionary is the world’s leading authority on the history and development of the English language since 1150. It was first published in 10 volumes, which took 70 years to complete (1878-1928). A dictionary needs updating constantly because new words crop up in the language all the time. The Second Edition was published in 1989, by which time the original 10 volumes had doubled to 20.
Work on the Third Edition is currently underway. At this stage, in print, the OED would probably take up about 5 feet of space on your bookshelf. But fortunately, the world’s largest dictionary is available on CD-ROM, and also online.
Go to http://www.oed.com and log in.
Introduction – what is a dictionary?
What is a dictionary used for? What do you use one for?
Many people keep an English dictionary as a reference point for finding out what a word means or how a word is spelt. Some dictionaries are designed to be suitable for these basic purposes and the individual word entries are kept relatively minimal for ease and speed of use.
The OED is at the other end of the scale. Whereas the vast majority of English dictionaries have, of necessity, to carefully select a portion of the lexicon to include on their pages because there are just too many words in the language to have them all, the OED is the most fully comprehensive dictionary of the English language in the world.
Its objective is to give as accurate a picture as possible of the entire lexicon, so the number of entries it contains is vast, and the amount of information given for each lemma (i.e., entry word) allows a user to find out a great deal more than spellings and meanings.
Type dictionary in the Quick search box and click Go.
If you scroll down you will see that this entry has 3 branches labelled A, B, and C. Branch A, the noun, has 4 senses (numbered 1-4) and different uses within those senses (labelled a,b,c, etc.).
What does that mean?
Some words have multiple senses: “ball” can mean a spherical bouncy toy or a formal dancing assembly. “Dictionary” can refer to a book of the words of a language, or a person could be called a “dictionary” because s/he is a useful reference point on a given subject, but not because s/he is a book.
Branch C, you will see, lists some combinations of “dictionary” with other words to make another term in common usage.
The subdivisions (a,b,c) account for instances where the word is used for the same meaning, but in a different way such as metaphorically. According to sense 1.b., a dictionary can be a book of vocabulary for a different branch of knowledge (the Timber Press Dictionary of Birds Names).
How does the OED decide in what order to list its senses?
It is a historical dictionary, which means that the entries are listed in the order in which they are found to have occurred chronologically. According to sense 1.a., “Dictionary” was first used to mean a book of the words of a language.
To demonstrate this, the OED quotes from the earliest material that can be found featuring the word. In c. 1480 Medulla Grammatice published the oldest known instance of “dictionary” in the form dixionare.
Each entry in the OED has a list of quotations to illustrate the use of the word in published materials since the first known occurrence and for a range of dates thereafter.
What is so good about the online version of the Dictionary?
Here is one of the perks.
Do you sometimes get a memory blank when you know the word you want but you just can’t think of it? Say, the word for an assumed name that an author uses instead of his/her real name. A dictionary in book form cannot help in this situation – you can’t search for a word you can’t remember.
You can with OED Online, because you can search for words within definitions as well as for the entry words themselves. So,
Click on the link marked Advanced search underneath the Quick search box.
This search allows you to do more than the Quick search, with varying degrees of specificity. It is used to search for other things than the entry word itself, so is useful when you can’t think of the word you want but you know (at least something about) what it means.
Type assumed in the first (top left) box
Select definition from the scroll-down list to the right
Type name in the left-hand box on the next line down
Select definition again in the box to the right
Click on Add row
Type author in the left-hand box on the third line down
And select definition to the right again
Click the red Search button
Voilà! You will get a list of the few entries that match your search criteria and one of them is pseudonym! Phew. If you click on any of the results, you will go to the dictionary entry for the word given in red on the left.
The fact that the OED is a historical dictionary means that once a word is included in it, it can never be taken out again. This is not the case in all dictionaries – many aim to include all of the buzzwords of the day, words that may not be around a couple of years down the line.
The breadth of the OED allows us to look at the way language develops and changes over time.
Language development
Do a Quick search for naughty. It tells you there are 4 results.
What does “naughty” mean to you?
Click on the result for naughty adj and look at sense 1. Is this what you take “naughty” to mean?
In senses 1. and 2.a. the cross symbol † and Obs. (for obsolete) at the end tell us that the earliest senses of “naughty” are no longer in use today.
Several of the senses (eg, 2.a.) cross refer us to the entries for naught and noughty.
What is “naught?” Another word for “zero”?
“naught” is derived from “not aught” or “not anything” (similarly, “none” is from “not one”, “never” is from “not ever”)
So, “naughty” in its early uses meant ‘of nothing’. When Richard Benet was called “a nawghty man” in c.1460 (1st quotation for sense 2.a.) it was a very cutting disparagement – he was worth naught, worthless.
In the present day, if one called a man naughty, it would be fair to assume one was reprimanding him playfully, or was alluding to his behaviour being sexually suggestive.
The meaning of “naughty” has thus changed – quite subtly – over the centuries. Some words have developed even further to take on completely new significations.
Why not try looking up naughty in the Historical Thesaurus of the OED, by clicking on the link to the right of the definition. Are there any words which you recognise? Are there any unfamiliar or obsolete words?
You could look at: gay (merry ? homosexual) or nice (foolish ? pleasant).
Is it possible to see a transition through time from an early meaning to a later one? In other words, can you see how one sense is connected to another? Or in some cases do words coin new definitions that are apparently unrelated?
If when viewing an entry you choose Outline, you will see only the meanings and dates; if you choose Full Entry, you will be able to read the illustrative quotations.
Click on About this entry in the column to the right.
In order to get a better idea of the way different senses have occurred and developed over time, it can be helpful to use visual aid. About this entry gives a timeline for each sense and maps onto them the dates for the cited quotations, illustrating the timeframe for which a sense is/was in use. It also gives a summary of the entry, including a list of entries linked to and from it.
Etymology concerns itself with tracing out the meaning of a word and how it has been derived.
Do a Quick search for text, n.1 (ie, homonym 1 for the noun “text”).Near the top appears the beginning of the etymological information for “text”, with a click more option if you would like to see the full etymology. The word derives from the Latin (L.) word textus meaning “that which is woven”, from the verb tex-ereto weave.?This gives us the word “textile” for woven cloth.
How do you think this relates to “text” as in “book”?
A word may have entered the English language from any number of sources. For instance:
• Ancient languages – such as Latin, Ancient Greek, Old English
• Foreign languages – such as French and German, and varieties of English such as American and Australian
• Authors – from Shakespeare to J.K. Rowling
Click on the Advanced search link at the top of the screen. This search allows you to do more than the Quick search, with varying degrees of specificity. It is used to search for other things than the entry word (or headword) itself, so is useful when you can’t think of the word you want but you know (at least something about) what it means.
Type OE in the top left box, and select Etymology in the drop-down box to the right of it. In the boxes below the search box, select Case-sensitive. Click Search.
You have asked the database to find words with etymological roots in Old English. Are they all familiar to you? In order to find out that the OED uses OE to mean Old English, it is useful to know where to find a full list of abbreviations used in the Dictionary. These can be found here: http://public.oed.com/how-to-use-the-oed/abbreviations/.
Another Advanced search.
Type Shakespeare in the first (top left) box, and select first quotation in the drop-down box to the right. Click Search.
You have asked the database to find words for which the earliest recorded usage is amongst the works of Shakespeare. What are some of those words?
And another Advanced search.
Type the year of your birth (eg, 1987) in the first (top left) box, and select first quotation in the box to the right. Click Search.
What are some of the new words that came into common usage the year you were born?
Yet another Advanced search.
Type Hindi in the first (top left) box, and select language in the drop-down box to the right. Click Search.
”Bangle”, “guru”, and “yoga” are among the words in that have originated in the Hindi language but have entered common usage among English-speakers. How many words in total?
One more Advanced search
Type 1997 in the first (top left) box, and select first quotation in the drop-down box to the right. In the 2nd row down, type Rowling in the left-hand box, and select quotation author in the drop-down box to the right. Click Search.
You will get 1 hit in the results list! What is it?
Language growth
New words enter the English language all the time. In consequence, the OED Online is updated every 3 months.
Every day the editors at the OED consider a number of potential new entries and endeavour to determine whether or not each one has become a word in common usage that can go into the dictionary. There is no strict set of criteria that a word must fulfil in order to qualify – the job of sorting out which words make it and which do not is not an easy one.
Going back to the search for words that were first recorded in the year of your birth, did you notice how many new words entered the language (according to the OED) in that year?
Do a search for all the new words that entered the language in the last century. Select first quotation from the drop-down box. Then, in the box marked Date of entry, type 1900-1999. This gives a list of the words for which the first recorded use is in the twentieth century.
How many new words?
Let’s examine the rate of growth of the English lexicon over an arbitrary period of time. This will involve performing a series of searches similar to that above, because in order to get a thorough picture it is better to limit the date ranges to, say, a decade at a time.
• Let’s span 3 centuries this time: from the start of the 17th to the end of the 19th
• Start with 1600-1609 in the first box and choose first quotation from the drop-down box (keep that the same throughout this exercise).
• Repeat this for 1610-1619, then 1620-1629, 1630-1639 and so on to 1890-1899. Note all your results in a table.
Plot these results onto a graph. What do you notice? Does it appear to you that the 1700s were, in general, not fruitful years for language growth if we compare them with the early 1600s and 1800s?
Any ideas why?
It is interesting to investigate what kinds of sources have been instrumental in recording new words in English. It can give us an idea of influential media over different periods in history.
The definition of Muggle, n.4 begins “In the fiction of J. K. Rowling”. The definition of hobbit begins “In the tales of J. R. R. Tolkien”.
Do some Advanced searches for phrases such as the following occurring in definition
• in the novel/novels of
• in the story/stories of/by
• in the tales of
• in the fiction of
• in the works of
There will not be many results for each one, and some will include the phrase you searched for, but will not refer to a specific author or title as intended. Look at the dates as well: when your results list appears, click on the date link at the top of the list instructing it to list by entry date.
Language borrowing
The English Language has acquired vocabulary from all over the world throughout history. Some subjects, for example, food and drink, are more multicultural than others. Consider how often these days we see the words “spaghetti”, “pizza”, “tortilla”, “taramosalata”, “popadam”, “cappuccino”, “vodka”.
But the nationality of some words can be rather more surprising.
Do a Quick search for Blighty, n.Now look at the Etymology
Interestingly enough, our word “Blighty” was acquired by troops on foreign active service in the First World War. What language does the word derive from?
To get an idea of just how many words English had adopted from foreign tongues, try the following kinds of searches, bearing in mind the results list may contain words that will not be relevant:
• from India” in definition
• French name” in definition
• N.Y. Times” in first quotation (for some Americanisms)
• music” in definition AND Italian in etymology
It is interesting to refine your search with particular quotation authors that you know to have been influenced by foreign cultures.
Do an Advanced search for Shakespeare in first quotation and Italian in etymology and see how many results you get.
Try Kipling (Rudyard, author of The Jungle Book) as quotation author and Indian in etymology.
Patterns of word formation
A prefix is an element of a word, occurring at the beginning, which qualifies the meaning of the word as a whole. For example:
• un- in “untie”, “unkind”, and “undone” where un- expresses negation
• pre- in “prepared”, “pretext”, and “pre-empt” where pre- means ‘before’
A suffix is similar but it occurs at the end of a word. For example:
• ness- in “happiness”, “worthiness”, and “emptiness” where -ness makes the word into an abstract concept
• -less in “homeless”, “pointless”, and “endless” where -less means ‘without’
Let’s look at a suffix that is less common than these two and more recent.
• Type *aholic in the Quick search box. The asterisk is a wildcard operation that allows you to ask for all words that end in -aholic.?The results include shopaholic, workaholic, and rageaholic
Click on -aholic, which is the OED entry for the suffix itself.
• When did the trend of putting -aholicon the end of words to mean some kind of addict begin? What country started it?
• What sorts of words have -aholicappended to them? i.e., what part of speech is the original word? (nouns, verbs, adjectives, all different sorts, etc.).
• What part of speech are words ending in -aholic? i.e., what parts of speech are the finished words? You might also be interested in looking at words ending in -phobia, -philia, or -mania.
• What is a blend word? A word derived from a corruption of two other words. There are several that are so commonplace these days that the original blended components are forgotten.
• motor + hotel = motel
• breakfast + lunch = brunch
• Bombay + Hollywood = Bollywood
• Do an Advanced search for blend of occurring in etymology OR in definition.?There are well over 300 blend words in all, although some will be used in specialist areas such as the chemical names used in medicine.
What do you think of them? What makes one example cleverer than another? Which ones are a bit tenuous or clumsy?
Is it always obvious what the blend is derived from? If not, does that affect your liking for that word?
• Have a go at making up your own blend word. For example, think of a name for a group of people who go outside together for a cigarette break (fagarazzi?)
Information or instruction?
Does a dictionary tell us how the language is or how it ought to be?
The aim for the OED is to record the language as it is, as accurately as possible. It tries to be descriptive rather than prescriptive. The reason for including quotations is quite simply to illustrate how a word is used, because that is what its meaning depends on.
On the one hand, you expect a dictionary to tell you how to spell a word correctly, or how to use a word in its ‘proper’ sense. But on the other hand, language changes naturally all the time, and a formerly ‘incorrect’ usage will often merit a new sense entry in the OED because it has become part of common usage.
20 years ago, a stickler for good grammar would have been appalled to hear access being used as a transitive verb. You could gain access to something, but not until the advent of computer technology could you laconically access a file.
Definitions depend on usage, and usage depends on context.
Do a Quick search for china. There are surprisingly many senses for this word. Select china, n.1 and adj.The phrase “my old china” would probably mean different things in the idiosyncratic languages of each of the following:
• A person born in Beijing reminiscing fondly about the home country
• A person serving lunch on crockery they bought in the 70s rather than their new Wedgwood
• A person selecting which tea to have from a selection of Twinings boxes
• A cockney Londoner talking about his/her friend
Match each of the above with the sense of chinathat they are most likely to use.If it is pertinent to the definition of a word, the OED gives information relating to the contextual status in which it is commonly used.
Do an Advanced search for any/all of the following occurring either in full text or in definition:
• contemptuous
• derogatory
• dial. – dialectal
• literary
• slang
• offensive
• vulgar
Suggested discussion topics or essay questions:
1. “A dictionary has no right to say that the word ain’t[v2 in OED, meaning 'have not'] is vulgar. It’s not there to make social judgements”.”A dictionary has an obligation to point out that some words are taboo, because swear words are not part of polite conversation.” How far do you agree with these points of view?
2. A dictionary such as the OEDhas a duty to record uses of words which some people might find offensive on ethnic or religious grounds.How could the Dictionary handle this issue?
(A court case was once held on just such an issue, and found that the entry for the word should remain, because the word was proved to be in common usage and that is the sole basis for inclusion in the OED.)
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99827
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And in that moment our eyes met. Wonder filled his eyes of ocean blue like rivers flowing into each other. It wasn’t quite wonder, though. It might have been what wonder and the look a shocked animal would make combined, but here was definitely some wonder. He stared at me a moment before we exchanged any words or acknowledgement that each other are actual people standing there. It was if we had been in a John Hughes film, the moment seemed too scripted or something along those lines. Two people sharing a connection over a mutual interest, but yet it was different from classic eighties films. It might have been the mutual interest of a television show that lead to a conversation, but it was so much more that led to my increasing interest with the boy who would soon be the one that fills up my thoughts night and day. With every movement he made, I saw a bit more of him. The way his hand would graze through his hair of golden wheat on a summer’s day, making it lay perfectly. The way he would take a quick glance down at his feet every once and a while or let out a quaint chuckle when the moment allowed him to, but the thing that won over my interest wasn’t any of those things. It was his smile. This was a smile that could lighten anyone’s heart. A smile that makes my stomach flip and my heart pound with the rhythm and tempo of an African drum. A smile that I saw the moment our eyes met and words broke the surface. And though that moment can’t be repeated, it is that expression on his face I wish I could see again. It was so full of awe and wonder that would make any girl melt, but intimidation and shock demonstrated a fear of rejection and insecurity. It is an expression that is so vulnerable and inviting that I couldn’t turn down. I couldn’t turn away.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99829
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Videos of Jacob Burch, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0500500Cache rules everything around me<p>Description</p> Cache rules everything around me Presented by Jacob Burch, Noah Silas This talk aims to briefly introduce the core concepts of caching and covers the best practices of using Django’s cache backend. Jacob Burch,Noah Silas Gringo's Guide to Internationalization<p>Abstract</p> Coming from a speaker who escaped a notion to "why would we need to translate?" this talk aims to show what actually goes into translating a website or app using Django's Internationalization tools. Covered will be an overview of batteries included, best practices and anti-patterns in using them, and some third party tools to help make your life escaping the myth of a Lingua Franca easier. <p>Description</p> There's often a bubble in the English-speaking programming world that the entire internet runs on English. Our Top-level domains are shortened english words. Our programming languages--Python in particular--try to emulate English words and grammar. Firmly in place in this world for many years, my first attempt to translate a pre-existing site came with a high sticker shock of nuanced difficulty. This talk covers all the lessons I learned in taking a fully-fleshed web app with no translation (and a programmer with no translation experience) to being completely translated. # Talk Overview 1. Introduction to Translation 1. Overview of gettext 2. Brief history of a translation 1. Add gettext calls 2. ` makemessages` 3. Ship po file to translation service 4. Receive file back 5. Compile 6. Fin 3. gettext vs gettext_lazy 2. Batteries Included 1. gettext Python calls 2. Middleware 3. template tags 1. trans vs. blocktrans 4. Anti-patterns of the battery included use. 1. Heavy whitespace in blocktrans 2. Monster-sized translations 3. The best laid plans of mice and men... 1. Problems that get in the way of A history of a translation. 1. Realize half the site is still untranslated 2. Edit out the translations you already had translated to avoid re-curring costs 3. Have the product adjust so two words change 4. Realize common text that's in the database 5. Fin? 2. Patterns and tools to help 1. `` and the idea of a 'canonical' po file. 2. `dbgettext` 3. Wholly-translated template files (translate_include, trans_render) 4. Advanced Translation Technique 1. While undocumented, translation backend is pretty darn flexible and the source code is a treasure trove to make 'impossible' use cases not too bad. 2. Overview of how the translation service works behind the scenes 1. `_translation` thread local 2. Merged translations (root->app->default) 3. Sessions vs. Accept-Language 4. Middleware and Context processors 3. Example of advanced translation code: Multi-tenancy translation. 1. Translating some sites, not translating others 2. Translating Site A one way, Site B another 3. Using an English translation for duct-tape and profit. 5. Why Django's i18n sucks. 1. In the vein of the "Django Sucks" Key note. It doesn't really, but it could use some changes--from minor to major. 2. Why .po Files are archaic and limited. 3. What we can do to improve for 1.5 and beyond. Jacob BurchTue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0500 Rules Everything Around Me<p>Abstract</p> This talk aims to briefly introduce the core concepts of caching and covers the best practices of implementing them, using a small variety of python web frameworks (Flask, Django) for example code. Jacob Burch,Noah SilasSat, 10 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0600
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99837
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Which female celebrity are you??
Girls only, but if you're bored or curious, idc who takes it
Created by xobabbiigiirllxo on 11/30/1999
Take the Which female celebrity are you?? quiz.
Okay, for starters what is your hair style
Hair color??
People would describe you as...
Pcik your fav lyrics out of these...
Can you sing??
Are you considered 'popular' or in simpler terms, do people like to hang out with you??
Do people think you're funny??
Did you like this quiz? Make one of your own!
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It's FREE and FUN.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99838
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ch. 3 Organizational Culture and Environment: (prep)
73 terms by vince
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34. Which of the following represent the two views of managerial impact on the success or failure of the organization?
a. omnipotent and symbolic
35. The omnipotent view of management states that ________________.
b. managers are directly responsible for an organization's success or failure
36. The __________ view of management is consistent with the stereotypical picture of the take-charge business executive who can overcome any obstacle in carrying out the organization's objectives.
a. omnipotent
37. Which of the following most accurately reflects the symbolic view of management?
c. External forces are directly responsible for an organization's success or failure.
38. Internal constraints that restrict a manager's decision options _______________.
a. exist within every organization
39. The current dominant assumption in management theory suggests _______________.
c. an emphasis on the view that managers are omnipotent
40. According to the symbolic view, managers have a(n) _____________ effect on substantive organizational outcomes.
c. limited
41. Managers may be able to expand their areas of discretion by _______________.
b. changing and influencing their organization's culture and environment
42. The symbolic view of management is based upon the belief that managers symbolize _________.
a. control and influence
n reality, managers are most accurately viewed as _________.
b. neither helpless nor all powerful
44. The culture of an organization is analogous to the _____________ of an individual.
b. personality
45. All organizational cultures consist of each of the following except _________.
c. innovation
46. Organizational culture is concerned with how members perceive the organization, not whether they __________.
a. like the organization
47. Strong cultures _____________.
d. have a greater influence on employees than do weak cultures
48. Employees in organizations with strong cultures _______________.
a. are more committed to their organizations
49. Which of the following phrases is associated with the definition of organizational culture?
b. shared meaning
50. Which of the following is not considered to be a dimension of organizational culture?
c. purchasing policies
51. Which of the following dimensions of organizational culture is defined as the degree to which an organization's actions and decisions emphasize maintaining the status quo?
a. stability
52. A company whose managers focus on results, rather than how results are achieved, most likely possesses a high degree of which of the following?
a. outcome orientation
53. Sony Corporation's focus on product innovation is an example of which of the following dimensions of organizational culture?
c. outcome orientation
54. Which of the following most accurately reflects the difference between strong cultures and weak cultures?
d. Company values are more deeply held and widely shared in strong cultures than in weak cultures.
55. Corporate ___________ are repetitive sequences of activities that express and reinforce the values of an organization.
b. rituals
Which of the following represents the most significant ways through which corporate cultures are transmitted to employees?
c. stories, rituals, symbols, and language
57. When employees at Microsoft use terms such as work judo, eating your own dog food, and flat food, they are using organizational __________.
a. languages
58. Most organizations have ____________ cultures.
d. moderate to strong
59. The original source of an organization's culture usually ________________.
d. reflects the vision or mission of the organization's founder
60. Organizational _____________ typically contain narratives about significant events or people in the organization.
a. stories
61. All of the following are mentioned in the textbook as examples of material symbols except ____________.
c. availability of stock options
62. The link between organizational values and managerial behavior is _____________.
b. fairly straightforward
63. In learning an organization's specific language, members are displaying their _________________.
c. willingness to help preserve the culture of the organization
64. An organization's culture affects managers by ______________.
d. establishing what is appropriate and expected behavior
65. Which of the following is most likely to have a highly ethical organizational culture?
b. a company with high risk tolerance
66. To encourage ethical cultures, managers should _________________.
d. serve as visible role models
67. A company that primarily values a strong sense of purpose through meaningful work has a(n) _________________ organizational culture.
a. spiritual
68. Conscientious employees with good listening skills are highly valuable for building a(n) _________________ organizational culture.
c. customer-responsive
69. An innovative organizational culture is characterized by all of the following characteristics except _________________.
b. conformity
70. Workplace spirituality has become important in the contemporary workplace because it helps to _________________.
c. restore a sense of community
71. Which of the following is most characteristic of an organization with a strong spiritual culture?
a. Employees are encouraged to express themselves.
72. Which of the following best characterizes the relationship between spirituality and business profitability?
b. Limited evidence suggests that spirituality may be compatible with profitability.
73. External environment refers to _________________.
b. factors and forces outside the organization that affect the organization's performance
74. According to the textbook, the _______________ environment includes those constituencies that have a direct and immediate impact on managers' decisions and actions and are directly relevant to the achievement of the organization's goals.
b. specific
75. An organization's specific environment ________________.
a. is unique and changes with conditions
76. The main forces that make up an organization's specific environment are __________.
b. customers, suppliers, competitors, and pressure groups
77. Organizations exist to meet the needs of which of the following constituencies?
a. customers
78. When you think of an organization's suppliers, you ________________.
d. typically think in terms of organizations that provide materials and equipment
79. Managers seek to ensure a steady __________________.
b. flow of needed inputs at the lowest price available
80. Each of the following is considered an organizational supplier except providers of __________________.
d. political pressure
81. The Internet is having an impact on determining whom an organization's competitors are because it has _____________.
d. virtually eliminated geographic boundaries
82. For a company such as Walt Disney World in Florida, a bank would be an example of what kind of factor in their specific environment?
b. supplier
84. For organizations such as hospitals, which hire nurses, the labor union and the local labor market are examples of which of the following specific environmental factors?
c. both are examples of suppliers
85. Typically, the specific organizational environment includes which of the following?
d. competitors
86. United Parcel Service represents which of the following to the U.S. Postal Service?
a. competitor
87. The general environment factor of economic conditions consists of all of the following except _______________.
a. legislation recently passed by Congress
88. Sociocultural conditions consist of _______________.
d. changing expectations and values within society
89. To a national broadcast network such as NBC, your home DVD player is considered a _____________.
d. competitor
90. Groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) are examples of what factor in the specific external environment?
b. pressure groups
91. Typically, the general organizational environment includes which of the following?
a. political conditions
92. Compared to the specific environment, which of the following is an accurate statement about the general environment of an organization?
a. It has less impact on the organization's operations.
93. Which of the following is not a component of an organization's general environment?
d. industry conditions
94. Interest rates, inflation rates, and stock market fluctuations are all examples of what factor in an organization's general environment?
a. economic
95. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is an example of a __________.
b. political/legal condition
96. A decrease in contributions from the public to the United Way charity is most likely the result of which of the following general environmental factors?
d. economic
97. Which of the following groups includes individuals who were born between the years 1946-1964?
c. the baby boomers
98. The members of which of the following groups are behaving in fundamentally different ways that are likely to greatly impact organizations and managers?
d. Generation Y
99. Automation represents an example of a(n) __________ general environmental factor.
a. technological
100. Which of the following has been the most rapidly changing component in an organization's general environment?
d. technological
101. Which of the following best represents a global general environmental factor?
d. international markets
102. Which of the following are the two dimensions of environmental uncertainty?
a. degree of change and degree of complexity
103. If the components of an organization's environment change frequently, the organization is operating in a __________ environment.
c. dynamic
104. Managers try to minimize __________ because it threatens organizational effectiveness.
b. uncertainty
105. __________ are any constituencies in an organization's external environment that are affected by the organization's decisions and actions.
d. Stakeholders
106. Degree of _______________ refers to the number of components in an organization's environment and the extent of the knowledge that the organization has about those components.
c. complexity
107. The first step of managing external stakeholder relationships is to identify whom the stakeholders are. The second step is to _________________.
c. determine what particular interests or concerns these stakeholders might have
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99839
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6th Grade-Chapter 2 Electricity
22 terms by allsaintsscience
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potential difference
electric current
an increase in voltage causes a greater flow of
the greater this is, the less current there is for a given voltage.
parallel circuit
type of circuit where different parts of the circuit are on separate branches
circuit breaker
safety device that uses an electromagnet to shut off a circuit when the current becomes too great.
circuit is designed to carry electric currents from a short directly to Earth.
lightning rod
created by Ben Franklin to carry charge through a wire to the Earth during a storm.
causes the current to flow
battery & generator
2 examples of voltage sources
path of least resistance
an electric current will always travel on ________
series circuit
type of circuit where all of the bulbs will become dimmer as more bulbs are added
short circuit
a connection that allows the current to take an unintended path.
rubber-soled shoes
decrease the chance of serious injury if you become part of a circuit.
disadvantage is that they can only be used once.
stay low and dry
best way to protect yourself if outside during a lightning storm.
1 amp
effect on the body is to stop the heart and cause burns.
how houses are wired
parallel circuit
rate at which energy is transformed from one form to another
voltage X current
unit of power
power X time
unit of energy
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99846
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All about ISCSI
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There has been much discussion and a good dose of confusion about the term ISCSI. This relatively new protocol for storage technology offers many compelling benefits, including solid performance and the ability to inexpensively create a storage area network (SAN) using standard Ethernet components. But what exactly is ISCSI? It may be helpful to first define what ISCSI is not. It is not network-attached storage (NAS). It does not require SCSI disks. It is not a file-sharing protocol like those used by Mac and Windows servers. It is not IFCP, which is a protocol used to connect Fibre Channel SAN islands across long distances, nor is it Fibre Channel over IP (FCIP).
If you are already familiar with Fibre Channel, ISCSI can be loosely generalized as Fibre Channel over Ethernet.
By definition, ISCSI (Internet SCSI or SCSI over IP) is a storage networking standard that enables the transport of block I/O data over an IP network. ISCSI replaces SCSI's direct-attached cabling architecture with a network fabric. Essentially, the protocol works by encapsulating SCSI commands into packets and transporting them via TCP/IP. In other words, the Ethernet network has the potential to become a SAN. And as a direct result of this ubiquitous, standardized Ethernet infrastructure come many interesting features and benefits that would otherwise be impossible.
Figure 1. A typical ISCSI SAN.
Many would argue that simplicity is a key advantage of using ISCSI vs. Fibre Channel to deploy a SAN. The reason is that an ISCSI SAN doesn't require the specialized hardware knowledge that is perceived to be a prerequisite with Fibre Channel. There is already an inherent level of familiarity with the various Ethernet networking components. Therefore, a company lacking a dedicated staff of storage network technicians should feel more adept at maintaining and troubleshooting an ISCSI SAN.
Although ISCSI can be complementary to many other storage technologies, it is especially well suited for a large portion of the middle market. These users typically need considerably more throughput than NAS or client/server can provide, desire the benefits of a SAN, and have determined that Fibre Channel is somewhat excessive for their needs. An ISCSI SAN provides comparatively excellent throughput, delivers the benefits of consolidated storage and requires fewer resources overall vs. Fibre Channel in terms of people or cost.
Necessary bandwidth
The throughput levels achieved over a well-tuned Gigabit Ethernet ISCSI SAN are as much as two to three times greater than those of common file sharing protocols over a similar network. The client/server and NAS protocols used for basic file sharing rarely match the efficiency of a block-level protocol such as ISCSI or Fibre Channel. It is important to understand that those file level protocols are better for users or applications that need to access a particular file, whereas block level protocols are optimal for users or applications that constantly need the fastest access to data. In general, the protocol is a key reason pure wire speed is almost never achieved — the constraint is not the available bandwidth (1Gb/s in this case) — it is the overhead of the protocol being used. By using a more efficient protocol, one can more fully use the bandwidth of the pipe. Conversely, if the pipe is the bottleneck then a more efficient protocol won't help much.
Another benefit is that an ISCSI SAN is capable of natively spanning great distances. It is common for networked storage to be located a fair distance from its consumers. It could be located down the hall or locked away in a data center. ISCSI is certainly comfortable within the local network, but the task of securely extending storage — particularly SAN storage — can become complicated outside the immediate confines of a campus. ISCSI makes this much easier. A Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be used to securely extend an ISCSI SAN over a WAN, and ISCSI supports the Challenge/Handshake Authentication Protocol (CHAP). CHAP is an advanced authentication mechanism that can help ensure that a user or server has the valid credentials to connect to a particular resource on a SAN. VPN and CHAP can be used together or independently, depending on the desired level of security. A few applications for an ISCSI SWAN (Storage WAN) are:
• Remote mirroring
• Offsite archive/backup
• Disaster recovery
• Content delivery
Figure 2. Typical ISCSI Architecture.
ISCSI is compatible with existing software applications when it is presented to the operating system as though it is attached locally, rather than presenting it as a network share. When placing it at the block level, it is possible to use an operating system's native file system on those devices. Some applications simply will not run on storage that is presented as a network share.
Hardware requirements
At the basic hardware level there are no special networking components required. See Figure 1. However, it is doubtful that much will be gained by using anything less than high-quality gigabit Ethernet (GbE) components.
Beginning from within the computer itself and working toward the physical storage, the first component to consider is the network interface. The integrated GbE NIC found in most computers is usually sufficient for SAN connectivity. If performance becomes problematic, the NIC is a prime component to consider upgrading. There is a heated debate as to whether a TOE-enabled NIC/HBA is a necessity. A TOE (TCP/IP offload engine) reduces the possibility of the host's CPU becoming an I/O bottleneck as it deals with the additional TCP flow. One side favors the concept of the TOE; the other believes the cost of a TOE should simply be applied toward a faster CPU.
Special cabling is not required other than that which is necessary for Gigabit Ethernet. High-quality CAT-5e is recommended. Although it is usually more expensive, plenum-rated cable should be used when safety regulations or compliance codes dictate.
A managed Layer 3 Ethernet switch is sufficient for the majority of ISCSI SANs. The configuration of the switch itself is of paramount importance. There can be thousands of settings in a good gigabit switch. As with most things, reading the manual and learning the ins and outs of the device can be the difference between unparalleled success and miserable failure.
Figure 3. An ISCSI initiator setting up the first connection to an ISCSI target.
The ISCSI target follows the Ethernet switch. However, before examining this device it is better to take several steps back and explain the relationship between the ISCSI target and the ISCSI initiator.
ISCSI details
ISCSI works by encapsulating SCSI commands and transporting them via TCP/IP. On opposing ends of the network are the pillars of ISCSI: the initiator and the target. The initiator (which can be in the form of hardware or software) is installed on the host. The most basic responsibilities of the initiator are to establish a connection to an ISCSI target and start the transfer of information to and from it. See Figure 2.
Configuring the initiator so that it is capable of connecting to a given target is quite simple. (An example is shown in Figure 3.) Connection information can be made persistent so that the setup need only be done once per target. The ISCSI target's primary function is to respond to the requests started by the initiator. This task is accomplished by brokering the requests of the initiator to the physical storage. The ISCSI target most often takes the physical form of a storage appliance, although there are software-only products available as well. Regardless of the format, the ISCSI target acts as the bridge between the network and the disks — usually a RAID of Serial ATA drives.
A common question is whether a separate network should be implemented for the ISCSI traffic. The answer to this question requires close examination of the intended purpose and expected throughput of the ISCSI SAN. In small installations constrained by budget there often is no choice but to use the existing infrastructure. If this is the case, any IP-based system could possibly suffer due to the existing traffic on the network. Therefore, an ISCSI SAN will still perform better than the available alternatives because of the efficiency of the ISCSI protocol. To guarantee the highest performance and stability, implement a dedicated IP infrastructure for the ISCSI SAN. A compromise between these two approaches is to implement a VLAN (virtual LAN) to isolate the ISCSI traffic on an existing infrastructure.
Most stations probably already have an assortment of storage and networking technologies in place. When deployed correctly, ISCSI can complement these various storage/networking systems. ISCSI need not be viewed as an either/or solution. Nowhere is this truer than with Fibre Channel. Consider, for example, a Fibre Channel/ISCSI hybrid SAN. This opens the door to tiered storage networking, where it is possible to extend FC only to those that need the highest performance, while routing the Fibre Channel SAN over ISCSI to the remainder of users or servers. There are a number of bridging and routing devices available that are capable of extending ISCSI connectivity to various protocols.
The demand for ISCSI has been widely predicted to accelerate steadily over the next several years. It is hard to ignore the benefits of SAN, let alone one that is implemented on common network components. The resounding truth is that ISCSI is firmly situated on top of the two most ubiquitous network standards: TCP/IP and Ethernet. Its value proposition becomes even more apparent with the realization that Ethernet economics can now be applied to an organization's SAN strategy.
Some have even predicted that ISCSI signals the demise of Fibre Channel. The more likely outcome (near-term at least) is that ISCSI will find its way alongside many Fibre Channel implementations. But perhaps nothing stands to solidify the position of ISCSI more than the mass adoption of 10Gb Ethernet. With five times the bandwidth of most Fibre Channel products sold today, 10Gb currently sits quietly in the background — an inevitable giant in waiting.
Newbauer is the director of operations of Studio Network Solutions.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99851
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And you know why they made the new twenties?
Cause I got all the old ones
from Jadakiss – Why? Lyrics on Genius
In 1998 the fed redesigned the $20 bill in order to make counterfeiting more difficult
Jadakiss suggests that the real reason they needed new twenties was not to stymie counterfeiters, but rather because he had all the old ones
Also notice that this is the only “why” in the song that is phrased as an explanation (“and you know why”) rather than a question (“why…?”). The idea being that, though the world is a confusing place, one thing is clear: Jadakiss has a lot of money
Old twenty:
New twenty:
If you like the old ones, Jada is selling some of his vintage $20 bills for $25 on his website.
To help improve the quality of the lyrics, visit “Why?” by Jadakiss Lyrics and leave a suggestion at the bottom of the page
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99857
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Comments on: That Medlen Kid Fantasy Baseball Advice Tue, 29 Jul 2014 16:21:42 +0000 hourly 1 By: FrodoBobo Fri, 07 May 2010 21:30:22 +0000 Who should I drop for Medlen, if anyone?
Niemann, Romero, Alfredo Simon, Manny Corpas, Joba Chamberlain, Michael Gonzalez (DL), Miguel Montero (DL)
By: 3FingersBrown Fri, 07 May 2010 05:46:28 +0000 Catching up after missing my Razzball dose for a few days. Actually I’ve been on a bender since celebrating my birthday at Yankee Stadium last week. Or you can call it looking for bartending work…
Anywhooo. Just wanted to comment on what you said about The Jays staff. I was talking to a buddy about just that: They’re totally the bizarro hodgepadres… Funny. I told you I liked Morrow last Friday when he racked up those 10 K’s, but was afraid of blowing WHIP. Picked up Garland for Sunday, won WHIP/ERA and of course lost K’s by 1.
Jim Eisenreich joke was F’d up and hysterical.
By: Pat Thu, 06 May 2010 20:20:25 +0000 I think saying Zito has been ‘very lucky’ is misleading. As someone who has watched all of his starts so far I can almost argue he’s been unlucky. His location has been pin point, he’s pounded the strike zone, and his curve and off-speed pitches are creating very weak contact. Yesterday against the Marlins there was nary a hard hit out. In fact, the one run scored against Zito involved 2 infield singles and another that barely made it to the outfield. His other tough luck was Romo’s blown save to Manny after a brilliant Zito performance. His ground ball/fly ball rate may not be fantastic, but in there are numerous lazy flys or pop outs where the hitter really never had a chance. Zito will not be a 1.xx pitcher and he still won’t K like we all wish, but he’s looking very, very good. It’s easy to look at FIP and say ‘lucky’, but all contact is not equal.
2 cents inserted!
By: and1mcgee Thu, 06 May 2010 18:45:33 +0000 @Ari: drop Lincecum for him. (why even take the time to post a player like Lincecum? only post the players you are contemplating dropping for him) :]
By: Fletch Thu, 06 May 2010 18:41:13 +0000 just picked up Wade Davis off waivers for Ian Stewart…I already have Brandon Phillips at 2B and David Wright at 3B. Was this a decent move? Also, someone offered me Ethier and Garza for King Felix and Cargo…should I do it?
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 18:35:16 +0000 @funky buttluvin: Tulo’s much better than any closer. Trade a lesser player.
By: funky buttluvin Thu, 06 May 2010 18:30:04 +0000 @grey: Tulo for Rauch? I’ve got Jeter as a backup ss and zero closers. Who do you think’s worth Tulo in closerland?
By: crews Thu, 06 May 2010 18:12:02 +0000 Robin Roberts died today. Sad day for Philly fan and baseball.
By: Tom Emanski Thu, 06 May 2010 18:08:27 +0000 @Grey: Gah, I know. I had immediate regret after dropping Dotel. I’m gonna try to get him back because I don’t trust Capps. He could be traded to a team who won’t make him close.
By: ThePoonTycoon Thu, 06 May 2010 18:02:27 +0000 @Baron Von Vulturewins: i don’t think they’d get mlb ready impact bats either, but they could get a couple of minor league bats that might be ready sometime in 2011 for a trial run.
if arizona is leading the west but struggling in the pen, you don’t think they’d give up a good hitting prospect or 2 for paps? they aren’t gonna get mike stanton-type prospect for him, but they could get a nice hitter or 2 they could develop for a year or 2.
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 18:02:21 +0000 @Baron Von Vulturewins: I hope you’ve reverse jinxed Slowey, that would be sweet.
By: Baron Von Vulturewins Thu, 06 May 2010 17:54:57 +0000 @Grey: That’s bad news for me, because I just traded Slowey and his screwy wrists for Aramis “MMD Insurance” Ramirez.
Attn Slowey owners: He will now win 18 straight with a 2.25 ERA.
Actually, I like the trade because I had an extra SP and I needed a 3Bman. Aramis may be tailing off, but he’s not this bad. I still see 25+ donks/95 RBI in his future if he stays healthy most of the year.
There’s also a chance I can now turn around and include Aramis in a trade for Youk.
@ThePoonTycoon: The only problem with the Paps-trading plan is — who wants a closer at the deadline except a contender? Who, in turn, is unlikely to send back impact bats in return.
I agree the Sox future does not include Paps or Papi (or Pabst Blue Ribbon or pap smears — basically anything with “pap” in it). But the only way to reload at the deadline is to trade prospects to bottom-dwelling teams.
A more likely scenario, it seems to me, is trading Paps to some delusional, still-contending team with bullpen issue (say, Arizona) for a couple of useful young arms. But I doubt Paps brings back an MLB-ready bat.
I agree that they should avoid Berkman, who is one year/one-more-knee-operation away from becoming Papi 2: Pop-Up Boogaloo.
I could see Carlos Lee in Boston, though… he’d make for a nice DH over, say, the next three seasons.
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 17:48:56 +0000 @Tom Emanski: I wouldn’t drop a closer. The other moves are fine.
@Tony: Not a lot, but it’s two guys with issues for one guy who could win the MVP. With Bartlett, it’s fine.
@Ari: Holliday
By: Ari Thu, 06 May 2010 17:45:30 +0000 @Grey: Matt Holliday, Jayson Werth, or Ian Stewart?
By: Tony Thu, 06 May 2010 17:42:39 +0000 @Grey: u like that Reyes/grandy deal for miggy alot more because grandys issues and Miggys been a beast then? I’m just throwing a comparable deal out i could work, since i’ve actually been talking with a guy and he wants reyes.
what about if i got bartlett back with tex?
By: Tom Emanski Thu, 06 May 2010 17:42:04 +0000 Grey, do you approve of these recent moves. 18 team league
- Dropped Dotel Rwanda (already have K-Rod, Nunez, Capps) for Freese (already have Zimmerman). Freese was just too good to pass up even though he’ll share UTIL with Alcides (once he steals)
- Dropped Blanks, my 4th OF on the bench for Napoli – didn’t have a catcher at all
- Dropped Scherzer (he sucks, won’t win more than 10 going 5 IP max) for Carlos Lee to give me a 4th OF. Others are Werth, CarGo and Quentin.
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 17:40:45 +0000 @royce!: Don’t see who you can drop.
@Tony: Tex, but it’s a lot for Tex.
By: Tony Thu, 06 May 2010 17:38:37 +0000 @Grey: so what side of a REYES/CARGO for TEX deal do you like?
By: Mark Geoffriau Thu, 06 May 2010 17:32:16 +0000 @Rico: Is that offer on the table? If I owned Miggy, I’m not touching it.
By: Tom Emanski Thu, 06 May 2010 17:30:24 +0000 Halladay: 1
Pujols: 0
By: royce! Thu, 06 May 2010 17:29:27 +0000 Gavin Floyd and Aramis Ramirez were just dropped in my 10 team roto.
Can I drop any of these dudes for either of them?
2B- Stewart
3B- A Rod
MI- Beckham
CI- Adam Laroche
OF- J Guillen
OF-Adam Jones
OF- Holliday
OF- Krispie
UTIL- Vlad
DL- Granderson
SP- Nolasco
SP- Ubaldo
SP- Bills
SP- Slowey
SP- Vazquez
SP- Penny
RP- Bell
RP- Aardsma
RP- Nunez
RP- Capps
RP- Gregg.
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 17:28:59 +0000 @Rico: I’d take Miggy.
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 17:28:30 +0000 @Baron Von Vulturewins: Yes, the Russian judge left off the exclamation mark.
By: Rico Thu, 06 May 2010 17:28:12 +0000 Which side:
I give up Reyes + Grandy for Miguel Cabrera
I own Tejada so he’d be my SS replacement. My question is: jumping up and down for Miguel because of concerns for Reyes combined with Grandy groin injury (SBs issue for return) and battling tougher AL east pitching downgrading Grandy for rest of season? If I’m already doing well in the R/RBI/HR cats and project to do so, am I giving up too much SBs for basically a BA improvement?
By: ThePoonTycoon Thu, 06 May 2010 17:27:22 +0000 @Baron Von Vulturewins: obviously so, but my point was just that IF the sox wanna do something about this year, they should target an OF bat and a stud defensive C. another 1B just crowds things more with the CIs/DHs they already have. there are a lot of problem with the sox this year, hence me saying maybe they should think about moving paps for some hitting prospects at the deadline. i agree it’s time to cut the cord with papi and move on. they have a lot of work to do. i don’t think they make any noise this year, hence me saying that trading for berkman is pointless. if they can make a move for adgonz that makes sense, then go for it cause he can be their 1B and 4 hole guy for the next 6-8 years, but berkman would be a very short term fix.
depending on nick johnson, berkman would be a pretty sweet grab for the yanks to just DH him depending on what they’d have to give up. he could bat in the 2 spot and provide similar OBP to johnson with a hell of a lot more pop.
By: Bodymore Thu, 06 May 2010 17:25:07 +0000 @Baron true, I doubt anyone would have offered me anything though. ill never know…unless he isnt claimed on waivers and I can get him back.
Coglan on waivers…think he turns it around?
By: Baron Von Vulturewins Thu, 06 May 2010 17:23:40 +0000 @Grey: I lost the exclamation mark by screwing up the tags, didn’t I?
I feel like Mary Lou Retton not sticking a landing.
By: Grey Thu, 06 May 2010 17:19:24 +0000 @Baron Von Vulturewins: Ha
By: Baron Von Vulturewins Thu, 06 May 2010 17:18:49 +0000 @Baron Von Vulturewins: There was a “Grey” in between those coughs when I typed it. Stupid html tags!
My burn is totally ruined!
By: Baron Von Vulturewins Thu, 06 May 2010 17:16:21 +0000 @Bodymore: You could probably have traded him for a closer or something, given how thin 3B is this year. Don’t lose sleep over it, though. It’s not like you dropped Heyward or anything >coughcough<.
@Mark Geoffriau: Commence jabbing pins in Mariano voodoo doll now.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99861
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1. Money
How To Calculate Gross Operating Income (G0I)
Once we know the Gross Potential Income of a real estate investment property,we arrive at the Gross Operating Income by subtracting out the estimated annual losses due to non-payment or vacancies.
Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 5 minutes
Here's How:
1. Let's use our already calculated Gross Potential Income result of $54,000. This is if all units are full and all rents paid.
2. Based on experience, the current market and rental occupancies, we estimate that our losses due to vacancies and non-payment will be 5%.
3. $54,000 *.05 = $2700
4. $54,000 - $2700= $51,300 for our Gross Operating Income
What You Need
• Calculator
©2014 About.com. All rights reserved.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99879
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Melaleuca is like baby wipes - you never knew you needed it until you used it. However once you use either one - you will never go back and never have your house without.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
This is going to be the best team and group because everyone one of us is capable and wonderful. Remember to never be afraid for more than a minute because being afraid can get the job done faster than anything!!!!
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99882
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Jeudi 17 mai 4 17 /05 /Mai 06:11
I had this new hotel / gym in Walsall west through the center of the M6 just walk more than a year ago and from swimming almost every day working on the road to normal working hours in the hole and always willing to take a steam bath for 15 minutes. usually no redtub one and lie on the bench.. But this morning, my dreams were answered, and there was a thin brunette lying on a bench like me.. I saw her, redtub and though she was on the bench with a redtub knee to close their eyes and opened one eye and looked at me as I sat down frankoppermann site. clearly had a while back, when his body was shining and bekini was wet and clung to his body. I said : Hey, when I sat down and she answered with a greeting ! closed his eyes and I was stairing at its... is the roof of the small star shines the color change and the changing light of redtub their skin looked fantastic. I felt I was looking for and got his arm around her waist and rested his hand on the upper floors of their bekini. someThe hot steam from the roof began to drip onto his stomach and rubbed his eyes open, she looked at me and told me stairing no word, but withdrew his hand at the time when I saw bekini Skirts. I was now stirring in my semi -hard and knew that she and just want to play Simla and said... without a second request I moved and suddenly knelt on the ground to kiss her thighs... As it was now two fingers on the bottom bekini her nipples were hard and hard nipples as squeesed with your other hand. I pulled the bottom on one side and started redtub kissing and licking his lips pussy wet shaving arleady steam, but the taste was not sweat was as sweet as hunny she arched redtub her back and whispered rapidly as others here and now can be found in the pool, so your tongue wet pussy in increasingly hard clit button, as I lit it and statred so wet that water jet defenitly pray for all who drink for spring starterdall over my mouth, chin and face was so hot wow and my cock was a rock that I saw caught me in the eye and told and turn it into his mouth more than you ever fealt.. was so hard I could not even hold a full charge and burning everything in the neck, which he swallowed without losing a drop.. S soon as we sat at the door was opened to the steam bath and an old wine in a strange way he saw us, only winked and went to the showers, but it was gone when I left and never saw as more is the shame ! Therefore, if the hotel... perhaps a room next time to know, please !
Par redtubko
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Jeudi 17 mai 4 17 /05 /Mai 06:09
Bon blogging
L'équipe d'OverBlog
Par OverBlog
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99897
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Construction of Hyperelliptic Function Fields of High Three-Rank
Renate Scheidler, University of Calgary
A hyperelliptic function field is a field of the form k(x,y) where k is a finite field of odd characteristic and y2 = D(x) with D(x) a square-free polynomial with coefficients in k. If D has even degree, or if D has odd degree and the leading coefficient of D is a non-square in k, then the Jacobian of the hyperelliptic curve y2 = D(x) is essentially isomorphic to the ideal class group of the ring k[x,y]. This is the finite Abelian group of fractional ideals of k[x,y] modulo principal fractional ideals.
Although generically, the 3-Sylow subgroup of this ideal class group is small (and frequently trivial), it is possible to generate hyperelliptic function fields -- even infinite families of such fields -- whose 3-rank is unusually large. This talk presents several methods for explictly constructing hyperelliptic function fields of high 3-rank, and more generally, high l-rank for any prime l coprime to the characteristic of k. Some of these teachniques are adapted from constructions originally proposed for quadratic number fields by Shanks, Craig, and Diaz y Diaz, while others are specific to the function field setting. In particular, we explore how extending the field of constants k can lead to an increase in the 3-rank of the hyperelliptic function field.
This is joint work with Mark Bauer and Mike Jacobson, both of the University of Calgary, and Yoonjin Lee of Simon Fraser University.
PDF of slides
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99925
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Thursday Feb 09, 2012
HTML5 Microdata and
Worth a read and related to my Web Integration Patterns post on Embedded Properties in HTML:
Wednesday Jun 01, 2011
OSLC Core v2 specification now FINAL
I've been working on the OSLC Core specification for about 1.5 years now as workgroup lead, and OSLC fits squarely under the "open web technologies" and Web Integration Patterns topics of this blog, so I'm blogging this happy news.
Here's the announcement From the OSLC Core Workgroup mailing list:
From: Dave Johnson
To: oslc-core (a), community (a)
Subject: OSLC Core v2 specification now FINAL
Today [1], I'm very happy to announce that the OSLC Core v2
specification is FINAL.
The OSLC Core v2 specification [2] defines a set of REST and Linked
Data-based patterns, resources and protocols for integration of application
and product lifecycle resources (ALM and PLM). It's designed to be the
foundation for all other OSLC domain specifications and there are now
three final OSLC specifications that are based on the Core, those
being the OSLC Change Management (CM) [3], OSLC Quality Management
(QM) [4] and OSLC Requirements Management (RM) [5] specs.
I'd like to thank all of the members of the OSLC Core Workgroup and
community for their hard work, critical thinking and ability to work
together in such a productive and pleasant way. Also, special thanks
to those OSLC domain workgroups who rebased their work on the Core and
development teams that provided excellent feedback along the way.
- Dave
David M. Johnson
OSLC Core Workgroup Lead
IBM Rational Software
[1] Move to final was proposed last week, along with a small set of
changes which have since been applied to the specification.
[2] OslcCoreSpecification
[3] CmSpecificationV2
[4] QmSpecificationV2
[5] RmSpecificationV2
I really do have another Web Integration Patterns post on the way shortly, so stay tuned.
Monday Mar 21, 2011
WIP: Links
[Read More]
Friday Dec 03, 2010
re: RDF and OpenSocial
This is the closest thing to a blog post that I've written lately, a post to the OpenSocial specification group on aligning OpenSocial with RDF and Linked Data:
This is a topic of interest to me, so I'll try to elaborate.
First, I want to point out that RDF is not a representation, it's a way to model data and it's multiple ways to represent that data (in XML, JSON, etc.). I think the real question is: how do we enable OpenSocial to hook into the RDF-based web of "Linked Data" that is rapidly growing up around scientific data, government open data and the academic world. I'm not going to go into the benefits of Linked Data in this post, but I will disclose that I work for a company that uses RDF as a common data model to enable loosely coupled integration across our web application products (see also Jazz Integration Architecture [1] and OSLC [2]). We'd like to be able to integrate with OpenSocial services in the same ways.
I'll explain the basics of RDF. RDF is way to model web data and ways to represent that data in XML, JSON, Turtle, etc. The RDF data model is simple, we have resources identified by URIs and property values associated with those resources. Resources can have types, each type is identified by a URI. Property types have URIs too. Once you have defined your data model in terms of RDF types and properties, you can represent resources and their properties using RDF representations. There's RDF/XML for XML, there's RDFa for embedding properties in HTML. There's are JSON representations too, but not a standard for JSON yet.
So, to bring OpenSocial in-line with the world of Linked Data, we would define each class of OpenSocial objects as an RDF type, with a URI. We would define each OpenSocial property as an RDF property, with a URI. In some cases, we'll want to use existing properties, like the Dublin Core title, name, etc., and in some cases we'll want to define entirely new types and properties.
As a starting point, I think we would do the following:
* In OpenSocial v2, we would define all OpenSocial objects and properties as RDF types in the OpenSocial Specs. This means simply assigning a URI to every class and every property we define, using standard properties where appropriate and defining new ones as needed. Object and property names would rename the same and we'd have what is essentially an RDF mapping built into the spec. Existing OpenSocial representation formats would stay the same, but we'd add some new RDF representations.
* We'd introduce an optional new OpenSocial spec that services MAY implement: the OpenSocial RDF Specification. The specification would simply require that a service provide RDF representations of it's resources via content-negotiation. The service could offer RDF/XML or HTML with RDFa, JSON/RDF or all of the above.
That's a starting point and I think we could come up with some other ideas if we thought more about use cases. Anybody else interested in aligning the worlds of OpenSocial and Linked Data?
Link: RDF and OpenSocial
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99933
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RPM Community Forums
Mailing List Message of <rpm-users>
Re: Regarding RPM configure and setup
From: Jeffrey Johnson <[email protected]>
Date: Mon 24 Jun 2013 - 23:34:52 CEST
Message-id: <[email protected]>
On Jun 24, 2013, at 3:02 PM, Vinoth Sri wrote:
> Hi All,
> I'm newbie to this rpm area and need help in configuring and setup RPM.
> Could somebody help me to configure the rpm with --rcfile option.?
The --rcfile option was removed years ago and there is no reason
(that I am aware of) to resurrect --rcfile.
> I downloaded a copy of 5.1.6 and 5.1.9 source rpm from this site and run the configuration file then issued make command. I could see binary's (rpm and rpmbuild) created successfully but didnt see the --rcfile in provided help file (rpmbuild --help)
> Getting below option instead --rcfile:
> --rpmlua=<FILE:...> Read <FILE:...> instead of default RPM Lua
> file(s)
> --rpmpopt=<FILE:...> Read <FILE:...> instead of default POPT
> file(s)
> Tried to configure without LUA as well.
> Queries:
> - Do I need to enable / setup configuration expl for --rcfile option?
No usage case for --rcfile so nothing to enable. Replace rpmrc
functionality by:
1) use --macros to override compiled in macro paths
2) configure %optfllags (and other per-arch) macros directly instead
of the horendousl complexity of rpmrc
3) add patterns in /etc/rpm/platform if you simply MUST attempt arch
compatibility: imho its easier to invoke rpm/rpmbuild appropriately
than it is to figure out how to use rpmrc for the rare cases where
a new architecture is being added.
> - Do I need to install any separate package for the same.
Examine the output of configure carefully to tell whether you
have missing build pre-req's.
Not that the @rpm5.org configure can/will build a (totally useless)
version of rpm/rpmbuild without any database/compression support.
That is the chosen (by @rpm5.org members) behavior: I was out voted.
73 de Jeff
> Once thing I noticied in PopAll.c file had RC file macro which is no more available in 5.+ version , so wondering whether the command line is removed or replaced?
> Thanks in Advance.
> ______________________________________________________________________
> RPM Package Manager http://rpm5.org
> User Communication List [email protected]
Received on Tue Jun 25 00:35:17 2013
Driven by Jeff Johnson and the RPM project team.
Hosted by OpenPKG and Ralf S. Engelschall.
Powered by FreeBSD and OpenPKG.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99946
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Sacred Texts Bible Bible Commentary Index
Isaiah Index
Previous Next
Isaiah Chapter 66
isa 66:0
It is generally supposed that this chapter is a continuation of the subject of the foregoing (Lowth). The general design is to reprove the hypocritical portion of the nation, and to comfort the pious with the assurance of the favor of God, the accession of the Gentile world, and the destruction of the foes of the church. The Jews valued themselves much upon the pomp of their temple-worship and the splendor of their ritual; they supposed that that was to he perpetual; and they assumed great merit to themselves for the regular servives of their religion. Before the captivity in Babylon they were prone to fall into idolatry; afterward they were kept from it, and to the present time they have not been guilty of it - so effectual was that heavy judgment in correcting this national propensity. But after their captivity their national proneness to sin assumed another form. That love of form and strict ceremony; that dependence on mere rites and the external duties of religion; that heartless and pompous system of worship commenced, which ultimately terminated in Pharisaic pride, and which was scarcely less an object of abhorrence to God than gross idolatry. To that state of things the prophet probably looked forward; and his object in this chapter was to reprove that reliance on the mere forms of external worship, and the pride in their temple and its service which he saw would succeed the return from the exile in Babylon.
It is generally agreed that the reference here is to the state of things which would follow the return from Babylon. Lowth supposes that it refers to the time when Herod would be rebuilding the temple in the most magnificent manner, and when, notwithstanding the heavy judgment of God was hanging over their heads, the nation was formal in its worship, and proud and self-confident, as if it was the favorite of God. Vitringa supposes that it refers to the time of the introduction of the new economy, or the beginning of the times of the Messiah.
That it refers to times succeeding the captivity at Babylon, and is designed to be at once a prophetic description and a reproof of the sins which would prevail after their return, is apparent from the whole structure of the chapter, and particularly from the following considerations:
1. There is no one description, as in the former chapters, of the land as desolate, or the city of Jerusalem and the temple in ruins (see Isa 64:10-11).
2. There is no charge against them for being idolatrous, as there had been in the previous chapters (see especially Isa 65:3-4, Isa 65:11). The sin that is specified here is of a wholly different kind.
3. It is evidently addressed to them when they were either rebuilding the temple, or when they greatly prided themselves on its service (see Isa 66:1).
4. It is addressed to them when they were engaged in offering sacrifice with great formality, and with great reliance on the mere external services of religion; when sacrifice had degenerated into mere form, and when the spirit with which it was done was as abominable in the sight of God as the most odious of all crimes.
From these considerations, it seems to me that the chapter is designed to refer to a state of things that would succeed the return from the exile at Babylon, and be a general description of the spirit with which they would then engage in the worship of God. They would indeed rebuild the temple according to the promise; but they would manifest a spirit in regard to the temple which required the severe reproof of Yahweh. They would again offer sacrifice in the place where their fathers had done it; but though they would be effectually cured of their idolatrous tendencies, yet they would evince a spirit that was as hateful to God as the worst form of idolatry, or the most heinous crimes. A large portion, therefore, of the nation would still be the object of the divine abhorrence, and be subjected to punishment; but the truly pious would be preserved, and their number would be increased by the accession of the Gentile world.
As an additional consideration to show the correctness of this view of the time to which the chapter refers, we may remark, that a large part of the prophecies of Isaiah are employed in predicting the certain return from the exile, the re-establishment of religion in their own land, and the resumption of the worship of God there. It was natural, therefore, that the spirit of inspiration should glance at the character of the natron subsequent to the return, and that the prophet should give, in the conclusion of his book, a summary graphic description of what would occur in future times. This I take to be the design of the closing chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah. He states in general the character of the Jewish people after the return from the exile; condemns the sins with which they would then be chargeable; comforts the portion of the nation that would be disposed in sincerity to serve God; predicts the rapid and glorious increase of the church; declares that the enemies of God would be cut off; affirms that all the world would yet come at stated seasons to worship before God; and closes the whole book by saying that the people of God would go forth and see all their enemies slain. This general view may be more distinctly seen by the following analysis of the chapter:
I. Yahweh says that heaven was his throne, and the earth his footstool, and that no house which they could build for him would adequately express his glory; no external worship would suitably declare his majesty. He preferred the homage of an humble heart to the most magnificent external worship; the tribute of a sincere offering to the most costly outward devotion Isa 66:1-2.
II. He declares his sense of the evil of mere external worship, and threatens punishment to the hypocrites who should engage in this manner in his service Isa 66:3-4. In these verses it is implied that in the service of the temple after the return from the exile, there would be a spirit evinced in their public worship that would be as hateful to God as would lie murder or idolatry, or as would be the cutting off a dog's neck or the sacrifice of swine; that is, that the spirit of hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and pride, would be supremely odious in his sight. They were not therefore to infer that because they would be restored from the exile, therefore their worship would be pure and acceptable to God. The fact would be that it would become so utterly abominable in his sight that he would cut them off and bring all their fears upon them; that is, he would severely punish them.
III. Yet even then there would be a portion of the people that would hear the word of the Lord, and to whom he would send comfort and deliverance. He therefore promises to his true church great extension, and especially the accession of the Gentiles Isa 66:5-14.
1. A part of the nation would cast out, and persecute the other, under pretence of promoting the glory of God and doing his will Isa 66:5. Yet Yahweh would appear for the joy of the persecuted portion, and the persecutors would be confounded.
2. A sound is heard as of great agitation in the city; a voice indicating great and important revolutions Isa 66:6. This voice is designed to produce consolation to his people; dismay to his foes.
3. A promise is given of the great and sudden enlargement of Zion - an increase when conversions would be as sudden as if a child were born without the ordinary delay and pain of parturition; as great as if a nation were born in a day Isa 66:7-9.
4. All that love Zion are called on to rejoice with her, for the Gentile nations would come like a flowing stream, and the church would be comforted, as when a mother comforteth her child Isa 66:10-14.
IV. God would punish his foes. He would devote idolaters to destruction Isa 66:15-17.
V. He would send the message of salvation to those who were in distant parts of the world Isa 66:19-21.
VI. At that time, the worship of God would everywhere be regularly and publicly celebrated. From one new moon to another: and from one Sabbath to another, all flesh would come and worship before God Isa 66:23.
VII. The friends of God would be permitted to see the final and interminable ruin of all the transgressors against the Most High Isa 66:24. Their destruction would be complete; their worm would not die, and their fire would not be quenched and the whole scene of the work of redemption would be wound up in the complete and eternal salvation of all the true people of God, and in the complete and eternal ruin of all his foes. With this solemn truth - a truth relating to the final retribution of mankind, the prophecies of Isaiah appropriately close. Where more properly could be the winding up of the series of visions in this wonderful book, than in a view of the complete destruction of the enemies of God; how more sublimely than by representing the whole redeemed church as going forth together to look upon their destruction, as victors go forth to look upon a mighty army of foes slain and unburied on the battlefield?
Isaiah 66:1
isa 66:1
The heaven is my throne - (See the notes at Isa 57:15). Here he is represented as having his seat or throne there. He speaks as a king. heaven is the place where he holds his court; from where he dispenses his commands; and from where he surveys all his works (compare Ch2 6:18; Mat 5:34). The idea here is, that as God dwelt in the vast and distant heavens, no house that could be built on earth could be magnificent enough to be his abode.
The earth is my footstool - A footstool is that which is placed under the feet when we sit. The idea here is, that God was so glorious that even the earth itself could be regarded only as his footstool. It is probable that the Saviour had this passage in his eye in his declaration in the sermon on the mount, 'Swear not at all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool' Mat 5:34-35.
Where is the house that ye build unto me? - What house can you build that will be an appropriate dwelling for him who fills heaven and earth? The same idea, substantially, was expressed by Solomon when he dedicated the temple: 'But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven, and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded!' Kg1 8:27. Substantially the same thought is found in the address of Paul at Athens: 'God, that made the world, and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands' Act 17:24.
And where is the place of my rest? - It has already been intimated (in the analysis) that this refers probably to the time subsequent to the captivity. Lowth supposes that it refers to the time of the rebuilding of the temple by Herod. So also Vitringa understands it, and supposes that it refers to the pride and self-confidence of those who then imagined that they were rearing a structure that was worthy of being a dwelling-place of Yahweh. Grotius supposes that it refers to the time of the Maccabees, and that it was designed to give consolation to the pious of those times when they were about to witness the profanation of the temple by Antiochus, and the cessation of the sacrifices for three years and a half. 'God therefore shows,' says he, 'that there was no reason why they should be offended in this thing. The most acceptable temple to him was a pious mind; and from that the value of all sacrifices was to be estimated.' Abarbanel supposes that it refers to the times of redemption.
His words are these: 'I greatly wonder at the words of the learned interpreting this prophecy, when they say that the prophet in this accuses the people of his own time on account of sacrifices offered with impure hands, for lo! all these prophecies which the prophet utters in the end of his book have respect to future redemption.' See Vitringa. That it refers to some future time when the temple should be rebuilt seems to me to be evident. But what precise period it refers to - whether to times not far succeeding the captivity, or to the times of the Maccabees, or to the time of the rebuilding of the temple by Herod, it is difficult to find any data by which we can determine. From the whole strain of the prophecy, and particularly from Isa 66:3-5, it seems probable that it refers to the time when the temple which Herod had reared was finishing; when the nation was full of pride, self-righteousness, and hypocrisy; and when all sacrifices were about to be superseded by the one great sacrifice which the Messiah was to make for the sins of the world. At that time, God says that the spirit which would be evinced by the nation would be abominable in his sight; and to offer sacrifice then, and with the spirit which they would manifest, would be as offensive as murder or the sacrifice of a dog (see the notes at Isa 66:3).
Isaiah 66:2
isa 66:2
For all those things hath mine hand made - That is the heaven and the earth, and all that is in them. The sense is, 'I have founded for myself a far more magnificent and appropriate temple than you can make; I have formed the heavens as my dwelling-place, and I need not a dwelling reared by the hand of man.'
And all those things have been - That is, have been made by me, or for me. The Septuagint renders it, 'All those things are mine?' Jerome renders it, 'All those things were made;' implying that God claimed to be the Creator of them all, and that, therefore, they all belonged to him.
But to this man will I look - That is, 'I prefer a humble heart and a contrite spirit to the most magnificent earthly temple' (see the notes at Isa 57:15).
That is poor - Or rather 'humble.' The word rendered 'poor' (עני ‛ânı̂y), denotes not one who has no property, but one who is down-trodden, crushed, afflicted, oppressed; often, as here, with the accessory idea of pious feeling Exo 24:12; Psa 10:2, Psa 10:9. The Septuagint renders it, Ταπεινὸν Tapeinon - 'Humble;' not πτωχόν ptōchon (poor). The idea is, not that God looks with favor on a poor man merely because he is poor - which is not true, for his favors are not bestowed in view of external conditions in life - but that he regards with favor the man that is humble and subdued in spirit.
And of a contrite spirit - A spirit that is broken, crushed, or deeply affected by sin. It stands opposed to a spirit that is proud, haughty, self-confident, and self-righteous.
And that trembleth at my word - That fears me, or that reveres my commands.
Isaiah 66:3
isa 66:3
He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man - Lowth and Noyes render this, 'He that slayeth an ox, killeth a man.' This is a literal translation of the Hebrew. Jerome renders it, 'He who sacrifices an ox is as if (quasi) he slew a man.' The Septuagint, in a very free translation - such as is common in their version of Isaiah - render it, 'The wicked man who sacrifices a calf, is as he who kills a dog; and he who offers to me fine flour, it is as the blood of swine.' Lowth supposes the sense to be, that the most flagitious crimes were united with hypocrisy, and that they who were guilty of the most extreme acts of wickedness at the same time affected great strictness in the performance of all the external duties of religion. An instance of this, he says, is referred to by Ezekiel, where he says, 'When they had slain their children to their idols, then they came the same day into my sanctuary to profane it' Eze 23:39.
There can be no doubt that such offences were often committed by those who were very strict and zealous in their religious services (compare Isa 1:11-14, with Isa 66:21-23. But the generality of interpreters have supposed that a different sense was to be affixed to this passage. According to their views, the particles as if are to be supplied; and the sense is, not that the mere killing of an ox is as sinful in the sight of God as deliberate murder, but that he who did it in the circumstances, and with the spirit referred to, evinced a spirit as odious in his sight as though he had slain a man. So the Septuagint, Vulgate, Chaldee, Symmachus, and Theodotion, Junius, and Tremellius, Grotius, and Rosenmuller, understand it. There is probably an allusion to the fact that human victims were offered by the pagan; and the sense is, that the sacrifices here referred to were no more acceptable in the sight of God than they were.
The prophet here refers, probably, first, to the spirit with which this was done. Their sacrifices were offered with a temper of mind as offensive to God as if a man had been slain, and they had been guilty of murder. They were proud, vain, and hypocritical. 'They had forgotten the true nature and design of sacrifice, and such worship could not but be an abhorrence in the sight of God. Secondly, It may also be implied here, that the period was coming when all sacrifices would be unacceptable to God. When the Messiah should have come; when he should have made by one offering a sufficent atonement for the sins of the whole world; then all bloody sacrifices would be needless, and would be offensive in the sight of God. The sacrifice of an ox would be no more acceptable than the sacrifice of a man; and all offerings with a view to propitiate the divine favor, or that implied that there was a deficiency in the merit of the one great atoning sacrifice, would be odious to God.
He that sacrificeth a lamb - Margin, 'Kid' The Hebrew word (שׂה s'eh) may refer to one of a flock, either of sheep or goats Gen 22:7-8; Gen 30:32. Where the species is to be distinguished, it is usually specified, as, e. g., Deu 14:4, כשׂבים שׂה עזים ושׂה ves'ēh ‛ı̂zzym s'ēh kı̂s'âbı̂ym (one of the sheep and one of the goats). Both were used in sacrifice.
As if he cut off a dog's neck - That is, as if he had cut off a dog's neck for sacrifice. To offer a dog in sacrifice would have been abominable in the view of a Jew. Even the price for which he was sold was not permitted to be brought into the house of God for a vow (Deu 23:18; compare Sa1 17:43; Sa1 24:14). The dog was held in veneration by many of the pagan, and was even offered in sacrifice; and it was, doubtless, partly in view of this fact, and especially of the fact that such veneration was shown for it in Egypt, that it was an object of such detestation among the Jews. Thus Juvenal, Sat. xiv. says:
Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam.
'Every city worships the dog; none worship Diana.' Diodorus (B. i.) says, 'Certain animals the Egyptians greatly venerate (σέβονται sebontai), not only when alive, but when they are dead, as cats, ichneumons, mice, and dogs.' Herodotus says also of the Egyptians, 'In some cities, when a cat dies all the inhabitants cut off their eyebrows; when a dog dies, they shave the whole body and the head.' In Samothracia there was a cave in which dogs were sacrificed to Hecate. Plutarch says, that all the Greeks sacrificed the dog. The fact that dogs were offered in sacrifice by the pagan is abundantly proved by Bochart (Hieroz. i. 2. 56). No kind of sacrifice could have been regarded with higher detestation by a pious Jew. But God here says, that the spirit with which they sacrificed a goat or a lamb was as hateful in his sight as would be the sacrifice of a dog: or that the time would come when, the great sacrifice for sin having been made, and the necessity for all other sacrifice having ceased, the offering of a lamb or a goat for the expiation of sin would be as offensive to him as would be the sacrifice of a dog.
He that offereth an oblation - On the word rendered here 'oblation' (מנחה minchāh). See the notes at Isa 1:13.
As if he offered swine's blood - The sacrifice of a hog was an abomination in the sight of the Hebrews (see the notes at Isa 65:4). Yet here it is said that the offering of the מנחה minchāh, in the spirit in which they would do it, was as offensive to God as would be the pouring out of the blood of the swine on the altar, Nothing could more emphatically express the detestation of God for the spirit with which they would make their offerings, or the fact that the time would come when all such modes of worship would be offensive in his sight.
He that burneth incense - See the word 'incense' explained in the notes at Isa 1:13. The margin here is, 'Maketh a memorial of.' Such is the usual meaning of the word used here (זכר zâkar), meaning to remember, and in Hiphil to cause to remember, or to make a memorial. Such is its meaning here. incense was burned as a memorial or a remembrance-offering; that is, to keep up the remembrance of God on the earth by public worship (see the notes at Isa 62:6).
As if he blessed an idol - The spirit with which incense would be offered would be as offensive as idolatry. The sentiment in all this is, that the most regular and formal acts of worship where the heart is lacking, may be as offensive to God as the worst forms of crime, or the most gross and debasing idolatry. Such a spirit often characterized the Jewish people, and eminently prevailed at the time when the temple of Herod was nearly completed, and when the Saviour was about to appear.
Isaiah 66:4
isa 66:4
I also will choose their delusions - Margin, 'Devices.' The Hebrew word rendered here 'delusions' and 'devices' (תעלוּלים ta‛ălûlı̂ym) properly denotes petulance, sauciness; and then vexation, adverse destiny, from עלל ‛âlal, to do, to accomplish, to do evil, to maltreat. It is not used in the sense of delusions, or devices; and evidently here means the same as calamity or punishment. Compare the Hebrew in Lam 1:22. Lowth and Noyes render it, Calamities; though Jerome and the Septuagint understand it in the sense of illusions or delusions; the former rendering it, 'Illusiones, and the latter ἐμπαίγματα empaigmata - 'delusions.' The parallelism requires us to understand it of calamity, or something answering to 'fear,' or that which was dreaded; and the sense undoubtedly is, that God would choose out for them the kind of punishment which would be expressive of his sense of the evil of their conduct.
And will bring their fears upon them - That is, the punishment which they have so much dreaded, or which they had so much reason to apprehend.
Because when I called - (See the notes at Isa 65:12).
But they did evil before mine eyes - (See the notes at Isa 65:3).
Isaiah 66:5
isa 66:5
Hear the word of the Lord - This is an address to the pious and persecuted portion of the nation. It is designed for their consolation, and contains the assurance that Yahweh would appear in their behalf, and that they should be under his protecting care though they were cast out by their brethren. To whom this refers has been a question with expositors, and it is perhaps not possible to determine with certainty. Rosenmuller supposes that it refers to the pious whom the 'Jews and Benjaminites repelled from the worship of the temple.' Grotius supposes that it refers to those 'who favored Onias;' that is, in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes. Vitringa supposes that the address is to the apostles, disciples, and followers of the Lord Jesus; and that it refers to the persecution which would be excited against them by the Jewish people. This seems to me to be the most probable opinion:
1. Because the whole structure of the chapter (see the analysis) seems to refer to the period when the Messiah should appear.
2. Because the state of things described in this verse exactly accords with what occurred on the introduction of Christianity. They who embraced the Messiah were excommunicated and persecuted; and they who did it believed, or professed to believe, that they were doing it for the glory of God.
3. The promise that Yahweh would appear for their joy, and for the confusion of their foes, is one that had a clear fulfillment in his interposition in behalf of the persecuted church.
Your brethren that hated you - No hatred of others was ever more bitter than was that evinced by the Jews for those of their nation who embraced Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. If this refers to his time, then the language is plain. But to whatever time it refers, it describes a state of things where the pious part of the nation was persecuted and opposed by those who were their kinsmen according to the flesh.
That cast you out - The word used here is one that is commonly employed to denote excommunication or exclusion from the privileges connected with the public worship of God. It is language which will accurately describe the treatment which the apostles and the early diciples of the Redeemer received at the hand of the Jewish people (see Joh 16:2, and the Acts of the Apostles generally).
For my name's sake - This language closely resembles that which the Saviour used respecting his own disciples and the persecutions to which they would be exposed: 'But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me' (Joh 15:21; compare Mat 10:22; Mat 24:9). I have no doubt that this refers to that period, and to those scenes.
Said, Let the Lord be glorified - That is, they profess to do it to honor God; or because they suppose that he requires it. Or it means, that even while they were engaged in this cruel persecution, and these acts of excommunicating their brethren, they professed to be serving God, and manifested great zeal in his cause. This has commonly been the case with persecutors. The most malignant and cruel persecutions of the friends of God have been originated under the pretext of great zeal in his service, and with a professed desire to honor his name. So it was with the Jews when they crucified the Lord Jesus. So it is expressly said it would be when his disciples would be excommunicated and put to death Joh 16:2. So it was in fact in the persecutions excited by the Jews against the apostles and early Christians (see Act 6:13-14; Act 21:28-31). So it was in all the persecutions of the Waldenses by the Papists; in all the horrors of the Inquisition; in all the crimes of the Duke of Alva. So it was in the bloody reign of Mary; and so it has ever been in all ages and in all countries where Christians have been persecuted. The people of God have suffered most from those who have been conscientious persecutors; and the most malignant foes of the church have been found in the church, persecuting true Christians under great pretence of zeal for the purity of religion. It is no evidence of piety that a man is full of conscientious zeal against those whom he chooses to regard as heretics. And it should always be regarded as proof of a bad heart, and a bad cause, when a man endeavors to inflict pain and disgrace on others, on account of their religious opinions, under pretence of great regard for the honor of God.
But he shall appear to your joy - The sense is, that God would manifest himself to his people as their vindicator, and would ultimately rescue them from their persecuting foes. If this is applied to Christians, it means that the cause in which they were engaged would triumph. This has been the case in all persecutions. The effect has always been the permanent triumph and estalishment of the cause that was persecuted.
And they shall be ashamed - How true this has been of the Jews that persecuted the early Christians! How entirely were they confounded and overwhelmed! God established permanently the persecuted; he scattered the persecutors to the ends of the earth!
Isaiah 66:6
isa 66:6
A voice of noise from the city - That is, from the city of Jerusalem. The prophet sees in a vision a tumult in the city. He hears a voice that issues from the temple. His manner and language are rapid and hurried - such as a man would evince who should suddenly see a vast tumultuous assemblage, and hear a confused sound of many voices. There is also a remarkable abruptness in the whole description here. The preceding verse was calm and solemn. It was full of affectionate assurance of the divine favor to those whom the prophet saw to be persecuted. Here the scene suddenly changes. The vision passes to the agitating events which were occurring in the city and the temple, and to the great and sudden change which would be produced in the condition of the church of God. But to whom or what this refers has been a subject of considerable difference of opinion. Grotius understands it of the sound of triumph of Judas Maccabeus, and of his soldiers, rejoicing that the city was forsaken by Antiochus, and by the party of the Jews who adhered to him.
Rosenmuller understands it of the voice of God, who is seen by the prophet taking vengeance on his foes. There can be no doubt that the prophet, in vision, sees Yahweh taking recompence on his enemies - for that is expressly specified. Still it is not easy to determine the exact time referred to, or the exact scene which passes before the mind of the prophet. To me it seems probable that it is a scene that immediately preceded the rapid extension of the gospel, and the great and sudden increase of the church by the accession of the pagan world (see the following verses); and I would suggest, whether it is not a vision of the deeply affecting and agitating scenes when the temple and city were about to be destroyed by the Romans; when the voice of Yahweh would be heard in the city and at the temple, declaring the punishment which he would bring on those who had cast out and rejected the followers of the Messiah Isa 66:5; and when, as a result of this, the news of Salvation was to be rapidly spread throughout the pagan world.
This is the opinion, also, of Vitringa. The phrase rendered here 'a voice of noise' (שׁאון קול qôl shâ'ôn), means properly the voice of a tumultuous assemblage; the voice of a multitude. The word 'noise' (שׁאון shâ'ôn) is applied to a noise or roaring, as of waters Psa 65:8; or of a crowd or multitude of people Isa 5:14; Isa 42:4; Isa 24:8; and of war Amo 2:2; Hos 10:14. Here it seems probable that it refers to the confused clamor of war, the battle cry raised by soldiers attacking an army or a city; and the scene described is probably that when the Roman soldiers burst into the city, scaled the walls, and poured desolation through the capital.
A voice from the temple - That is, either the tumultous sound of war already having reached the temple; or the voice of Yahweh speaking from the temple, and commanding destruction on his foes. Vitringa supposes that it may mean the voice of Yahweh breaking forth from the temple, and commanding his foes to be slain. But to whichever it refers, it doubtless means that the sound of the tumult was not only around the city, but in it; not merely in the distant parts, but in the very midst, and even at the temple.
A voice of the Lord that rendereth recompence - Here we may observe:
1. That it is recompence taken on those who had cast out their brethren Isa 66:5.
2. It is vengeance taken within the city, and on the internal, not the external enemies.
3. It is vengeance taken in the midst of this tumult.
All this is a striking description of the scene when the city and temple were taken by the Roman armies. It was the vengeance taken on those who had cast out their brethren; it was the vengeance which was to precede the glorious triumph of truth and of the cause of the true religion.
Isaiah 66:7
isa 66:7
Before she travailed, she brought forth - That is, Zion. The idea here is, that there would be a great and sudden increase of her numbers. Zion is here represented, as it often is, as a female (see Isa 1:8), and as the mother of spiritual children (compare Isa 54:1; Isa 49:20-21). The particular idea here is, that the increase would be sudden - as if a child were born without the usual delay and pain of parturition. If the interpretation given of Isa 66:6 be correct, then this refers probably to the sudden increase of the church when the Messiah came, and to the great revivals of religion which attended the first preaching of the gospel. Three thousand were converted on a single day Acts 2, and the gospel was speedily propagated almost all over the known world. Vitringa supposes that it refers to the sudden conversion of the Gentiles, and their accession to the church.
She was delivered of a man child - Jerome understands this of the Messiah. who was descended from the Jewish church. Grotius supposes that the whole verse refers to Judas Maccabeus, and to the liberation of Judea under him before anyone could have hoped for it! Calvin (Commentary in loc.) supposes that the word male here, or manchild, denotes the manly or generous nature of those who should be converted to the church; that they would be vigorous and active, not effeminate and delicate (generosam prolem, non mollem aut effeminatam). Vitringa refers it to the character and rank of those who should be converted, and applies it particularly to Constantine, and to the illustrious philosophers, orators, and senators, who were early brought under the influence of the gospel. The Hebrew word probably denotes a male, or a man-child, and it seems to me that it is applied here to denote the character of the early converts to the Christian faith. They would not be feeble and effeminate; but vigorous, active, energetic. It may, perhaps, also be suggested, that, among the Orientals, the birth of a son was deemed of much more importance, and was regarded as much more a subject of congratulation than the birth of a female. If an allusion be had to that fact, then the idea is, that the increase of the church would be such as would be altogether a subject of exultation and joy.
Isaiah 66:8
isa 66:8
Who hath heard such a thing? - Of a birth so sudden. Usually in childbirth there are the pains of protracted parturition. The earth brings forth its productions gradually and slowly. Nations rise by degrees, and are long in coming to maturity. But here is such an event as if the earth should in a day be covered with a luxurious vegetation, or as if a nation should spring at once into being. The increase in the church would be as great and wonderful as if these changes were to occur in a moment.
Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? - That is, to produce its grass, and flowers, and fruit, and trees. The idea is, that it usually requires much longer time for it to mature its productions. The germ does not start forth at once; the flower, the fruit, the yellow harvest, and the lofty tree are not produced in a moment. Months and years are required before the earth would be covered with its luxuriant and beautiful productions But here would be an event as remarkable as if the earth should bring forth its productions in a single day.
Or shall a nation be born at once? - Such an event never has occurred. A nation is brought into existence by degrees. Its institutions are matured gradually, and usually by the long process of years. But here is an event as remarkable as if a whole nation should be born at once, and stand before the world, mature in its laws, its civil institutions, and in all that constitutes greatness. In looking for the fulfillment of this, we naturally turn the attention to the rapid progress of the gospel in the times of the apostles, when events occurred as sudden and as remarkable as if the earth, after the desolation of winter or of a drought, should be covered with rich luxuriance in a day, or as if a whole nation should start into existence, mature in all its institutions, in a moment. But there is no reason for limiting it to that time. Similar sudden changes are to be expected still on the earth; and I see no reason why this should not be applied to the spread of the gospel in pagan lands, and why we should not yet look for the rapid propagation of Christianity in a manner as surprising and wonderful as would be such an instantaneous change in the appearance of the earth, or such a sudden birth of a kingdom.
Isaiah 66:9
isa 66:9
Shall I bring to the birth? - The sense of this verse is plain. It is, that God would certainly accomplish what he had here predicted, and for which he had made ample arrangements and preparations. He would not commence the work, and then abandon it. The figure which is used here is obvious; but one which does not render very ample illustration proper. Jarchi has well expressed it: 'Num ego adducerem uxorem meam ad sellam partus, sc. ad partitudinem, et non aperirem uterum ejus, ut foetum suum in lucem produceret? Quasi diceret; an ego incipiam rem nec possim eam perficere?'
Shall I cause to bring forth? - Lowth and Noyes render this, 'Shall I, who begat, restrain the birth?' This accurately expresses the idea. The meaning of the whole is, that God designed the great and sudden increase of his church; that the plan was long laid; and that, having done this, he would not abandon it, but would certainly effect his designs.
Isaiah 66:10
isa 66:10
Rejoice ye with Jerusalem - The idea which is presented in this verse is, that it is the duty of all who love Zion to sympathize in her joys. It is one evidence of piety to rejoice in her joy; and they who have no true joy when God pours down his Spirit, and, in a revival of religion, produces changes as sudden and transforming as if the earth were suddenly to pass from the desolation of winter to the verdure and bloom of summer; or when the gospel makes rapid advances in the pagan world, have no true evidence that they love God or his cause. Such scenes awaken deep interest in the bosoms of angels, and in the bosom of God the Saviour; and they who love that God and Saviour will rejoice in such scenes, and will mingle their joys and thanksgivings with the joys and thanksgivings of those who are thus converted and saved.
All ye that mourn for her - That sympathize in her sorrows, and that mourn over her desolations.
Isaiah 66:11
isa 66:11
That ye may suck - The same figure occurs in Isa 60:16; and substantidally in Isa 49:23. See the note at those places.
That ye may milk out - The image is an obvious one. It means that they who sympathized with Zion would be nourished by the same truth, and comforted with the same sources of consolation.
And be delighted with the abundance of her glory - Margin, 'Brightness.' Lowth renders this, 'From her abundant stores.' Noyes, 'From the fullness of her glory.' Jerome (the Vulgate), 'And that you may abound with delights from every kind of her glory.' The Septuagint, 'That sucking ye may be nourished from the commencement' (Thompson); 'or the entrance of her glory' (ἀπὸ εἰσόδου δόξης αὐτῆς apo eisodou doxēs autēs). This variety of interpretation has arisen from the uncertain meaning of the word זיז zı̂yz, rendered 'abundance.' Gesenius supposes that it is derived from זוּז zûz, meaning:
1. To move;
2. To glance, to sparkle, to radiate, from the idea of rapid motion; hence, to flow out like rays, to spout like milk; and hence, the noun זיז zı̂yz, means a breast.
This derivation may be regarded as somewhat fanciful; but it will show why the word 'brightness' was inserted in the margin, since one of the usual significations of the verb relates to brightness, or to sparkling rays. Aquila renders it, Ἀπὸ παντοδαπίας Apo pantodapias - 'From every kind of abundance.' Symmachus, Ἀπὸ πλήθους Apo plēthou - 'From the multitude.' The word probably refers to the abundance of the consolations which Zion possessed. Lowth proposes to change the text; but without any authority. The Chaldee renders it, 'That ye may drink of the wine of her glory;' where they probably read יין yayin ("wine"), instead of the present reading.
Of her glory - The abundant favors or blessings conferred on Zion. The glory that should be manifested to her would be the knowledge of divine truth, and the provisions made for the salvation of people.
Isaiah 66:12
isa 66:12
For thus saith the Lord - This verse contains a promise of the conversion of the Gentiles, and the fact that what constituted their glory would be brought and consecrated to the church of God.
I will extend - The word rendered, I will extend ( נטה nâṭâh) means properly to stretch out, as the hand or a measure; then to spread out or expand, as a tent is spread out, to which it is often applied Gen 12:8; Gen 26:5; or to the heavens spread out over our heads like a tent or a curtain Isa 40:22. Here it may mean either that peace would be spread out over the country like the Nile or Euphrates spread out over a vast region in an inundation; or it may mean, as Gesenius supposes, 'I will turn peace upon her like a river; that is, as a stream is turned in its course.' To me it seems that the former is the correct interpretation; and that the idea is, that God would bring prosperity upon Zion like a broad majestic river overflowing all its banks, and producing abundant fertility.
Peace - A general word denoting prosperity of all kinds - a favorite word with Isaiah to describe the future happiness of the church of God (see Isa 9:6-7; Isa 26:12; Isa 32:17; Isa 45:7; Isa 48:18; Isa 52:7; Isa 54:13; Isa 55:12; Isa 57:19).
Like a river - That is, says Lowth like the Euphrates. So the Chaldee interprets it. But there is no evidence that the prophet refers particularly to the Euphrates. The image is that suggested above - of a river that flows full, and spreads over the banks - at once an image of sublimity, and a striking emblem of great prosperity. This same image occurs in Isa 48:18. See the note at that place.
And the glory of the Gentiles - (See the notes at Isa 60:5, Isa 60:11).
Like a flowing stream - Like the Nile, says Vitringa. But the word נחל nachal is not commonly applied to a river like the Nile; but to a torrent, a brook, a rivulet - either as flowing from a perennial fountain, or more commonly a stream running in a valley that is swelled often by rain, or by the melting of snows in the mountain (see Reland's Palestine, chapter xlv.) Such is the idea here. The peace or prosperity of Zion would be like such a swollen stream - a stream overflowing (שׁוטף shôṭēph) its banks.
Then shall ye suck - Isa 66:11.
Ye shall be borne upon her sides - See this phrase explained in the notes at Isa 60:4.
And be dandled upon her knees - As a child is by its nurse or mother. The idea is, that the tenderest care would be exercised for the church; the same care which an affectionate mother evinces for her children. The insertion of the word 'her' here by our translators weakens the sense. The meaning is, not that they should be borne upon the sides and dandled upon the knees of Zion or of the church; but that God would manifest to them the feelings of a parent, and treat them with the tenderness which a mother evinces for her children. As a mother nurses her children at her side (compare the notes at Isa 60:4), so would God tenderly provide for the church; as she affectionately dandles her children on her knees, so tenderly and affectionately would he regard Zion.
Isaiah 66:13
isa 66:13
As one whom his mother comforteth - See the notes at Isa 49:15, where the same image occurs.
Isaiah 66:14
isa 66:14
And when ye see this - This great accession to the church from the Gentile world.
Your bones shall flourish like an herb - This is an image which is often employed in the Scriptures. When the vigor of the body fails, or when it is much afflicted, the bones are said to be feeble or weakened, or to be dried Psa 6:2; Psa 51:8; Psa 22:14, Psa 22:17; Psa 38:3; Lam 1:13; Pro 14:30; Pro 17:22. like manner, prosperity, health, vigor, are denoted by making the bones fat (see the notes at Isa 58:11; Pro 15:20), or by imparting health, marrow, or strength to them Pro 3:8; Pro 16:24. The sense here is, that their vigor would be greatly increased.
The hand of the Lord shall be known - That is, it shall be seen that he is powerful to defend his people, and to punish their enemies.
Isaiah 66:15
isa 66:15
For behold, the Lord will come with fire - The Septuagint reads this 'As fire' (ὡς πύρ hōs pur). Fire is a common emblem to denote the coming of the Lord to judge and punish his enemies Psa 50:3 :
Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence;
A fire shall devour before him,
And it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
So Hab 2:5 :
Before him went the pestilence,
And burning coals went forth at his feet.
So Psa 97:3 :
A fire goeth before him,
And burneth up his enemies round about.
So it is said Th2 1:8, that the Lord Jesus will be revealed 'in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God' (compare Heb 10:27; Pe2 3:7). So Yahweh is said to breathe out fire when he comes to destroy his foes:
There went up a smoke out of his nostrils,
And fire out of his mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
Psa 18:8
Compare the notes at Isa 29:6; Isa 30:30. This is a general promise that God would defend his church, and destroy his foes. To what this particularly applies, it may not be possible to determine, and instead of attempting that, I am disposed to regard it as a promise of a general nature, that God, in those future times, would destroy his foes, and would thus extend protection to his people. So far as the language is concerned, it may be applied either to the destruction of Jerusalem, to any mighty overthrow of his enemies, or to the day of judgment. The single truth is, that all his enemies would be destroyed as if Yahweh should come amidst flames of fire. That truth is enough for his church to know; that truth should be sufficient to fill a wicked world with alarm.
And with his chariots like a whirlwind - The principal idea here is, that he would come with immense rapidity, like a chariot that was borne forward as on the whirlwind, to destroy his foes. God is often represented as coming in a chariot - a chariot of the clouds, or of a whirlwind. Psa 104:3 :
Who maketh the clouds his chariot,
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind.
Compare Psa 18:10; see the note at Isa 19:1. See also Jer 4:13 :
Behold, he shall come up as clouds,
And his chariots shall be as a whirlwind.
Chariots were commonly made with two wheels, though sometimes they had four wheels, to which two horses, fiery and impetuous, were attached; and the rapid movement, the swift revolving wheels, and the dust which they raised, had no slight resemblance to a whirlwind (compare the notes at Isa 21:7, Isa 21:9). They usually had strong and sharp iron scythes affixed to the extremities of their axles, and were driven into the midst of the army of an enemy, cutting down all before them. Warriors sometimes fought standing on them, or leaping from them on the enemy. The chariots in the army of Cyrus are said to have been capacious enough to permit twenty men to fight from them.
To render his anger with fury - Lowth renders this, 'To breathe forth his anger.' Jerome translates it, Reddere, that is, to render. The Septuagint, Ἀποδοῦναι Apodounai, to give, or to render. Lowth proposes, instead of the present text, as pointed by the Masorites, להשׁיב lehâshı̂yb, to read it להשׁיב lehashı̂yb, as if it were derived from נשׁב nâshab. But there is no necessity of a change. The idea is, that God would recompense his fury; or would cause his hand to turn upon them in fury.
With fury - Lowth renders this, 'In a burning heat.' The word used (חמה chēmâh) properly means "heat," then anger, wrath; and the Hebrew here might be properly rendered, 'heat of his anger;' that is, glowing or burning wrath, wrath that consumes like fire.
With flames of fire - His rebuke shall consume like fiery flames; or it shall be manifested amidst such flame.
Isaiah 66:16
isa 66:16
For by fire and by his sword - The sword is an instrument by which punishment is executed (see the notes at Isa 34:5; compare Rom 13:4).
Will he plead with all flesh - Or rather, he will judge (נשׁפט nı̂shephaṭ), that is, he will execute his purposes of vengeance on all the human race. Of course, only that part is intended who ought to be subject to punishment; that is, all his foes.
And the slain of the Lord shall be many - The number of those who shall be consigned to woe shall be immense - though in the winding up of the great drama at the close of the world, there is reason to hopethat a large proportion of the race, taken as a whole, will be saved. Of past generations, indeed, there is no just ground of such hope; of the present generation there is no such prospect. But brighter and happier times are to come. The true religion is to spread over all the world, and for a long period is to prevail; and the hope is, that during that long period the multitude of true converts will be so great as to leave the whole number who are lost, compared with those who are saved, much less than is commonly supposed. Still the aggregate of those who are lost, 'the slain of the Lord,' will be vast. This description I regard as having reference to the coming of the Lord to judgment (compare Th2 1:8); or if it refer to any other manifestation of Yahweh for judgment, like the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, it has a strong resemblance to the final judgment; and, like the description of that by the Saviour Matt. 24, the language is such as naturally to suggest, and to be applicable to, the final judgment of mankind.
Isaiah 66:17
isa 66:17
They that sanctify themselves - That is, who attempt to purify themselves by idolatrous rites, by ablutions, and lustrations. The design here is, to describe those who will be exposed to the wrath of God when he shall come to execute vengeance.
And purify themselves in the gardens - (See the notes at Isa 65:3).
Behind one tree in the midst - This passage has not a little exercised the ingenuity of commentators. It is quite evident that our translators were not able to satisfy themselves with regard to its meaning. In the margin they have rendered it, 'one after another,' supposing that it may mean that the idolaters engaged in their sacrifices in a solemn procession, walking one after another around their groves, their shrines, or their altars. In the translation in the text, they seem to have supposed that the religious rites referred to were celebrated behind one particular selected tree in the garden. Lowth renders it, 'After the rites of Achad.' Jerome renders it, In hortis post januam intrinsecus - 'In the gardens they sanctify themselves behind the gate within.' The Septuagint, 'Who consecrate and purify themselves (εἰς τοὺς κήπους, καὶ ἐν τοῖς προθύροις ἕσθοντες, κ.τ.λ. eis tous kēpous, kai en tois prothurois hesthontes, etc.) for the gardens, and they who, in the outer courts, eat swine's flesh,' etc. The Chaldee renders the phrase סיעא בחר סיעא siy‛ā' bāchar siy‛ā' - 'Multitude after multitude.' The vexed Hebrew phrase used here, אחד אחר 'achar 'achad, it is very difficult to explain. The word אחר 'achar means properly after; the after part; the extremity; behind - in the sense of following after, or going after anyone. The word אחד 'achad, means properly one; someone; anyone. Gesenius (Commentary at the place) says that the phrase may be used in one of the three following senses:
1. In the sense of one after another. So Sym. and Theo. render it - ὀπίσω ἀλλήλων opisō allēlōn. Luther renders it, Einer hier, der andere da - 'one here, another there.'
2. The word אחד 'achad, may be understood as the name of a god who was worshipped in Syria, by the name of Adad. This god is that described by Macrobius, Sat., i. 23: 'Understand what the Assyrians think about the power of the sun. For to the God whom they worship as Supreme they give the name Adad, and the signification of this name is One.' That the passage before us refers to this divinity is the opinion of Lowth, Grotius, Bochart, Vitringa, Dathe, and others. 'The image of Adad,' Macrobius adds, 'was designated by inclined rays, by which it was shown that the power of heaven was in the rays of the sun which were sent down to the earth.' The same god is referred to by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 71), where he mentions three gems which received their names from three parts of the body, and were called 'The veins of Adad, the eye of Adad, the finger of Adad;' and he adds, 'This god was worshipped by the Syrians.' There can be no doubt that such a god was worshipped; but it is by no means certain that this idol is here referred to. It is not improbable, Vitringa remarks, that the name Adad should be written for Achadh, for the ease of pronunciation - as a slight change in letters was common for the purpose of euphony. But it is still not quite clear that this refers to any particular idol.
3. The third opinion is that of Gesenius and accords substantially with that which our translators have expressed it the text. According to that, it should be rendered 'Those who sanctify and purify themselves in the (idol) groves after one in the midst;' that is, following and imitating the one priest who directed the sacred ceremonies. It may mean that a solemn procession was formed in the midst of the grove, which was led on by the priest, whom all followed; or it may mean that they imitated him in the sacred rites. It seems tome probable that this refers to some sacred procession in honor of an idol, where the idol or the altar was encompassed by the worshippers, and where they were led on by the officiating priest. Such processions we know were common in pagan worship.
In the midst - In the midst of the sacred grove; that is, in the darkest and obscurest recess. Groves were selected for such worship on account of the sacred awe which it was supposed their dark shades would produce and cherish. For the same reason, therefore, the darkest retreat - the very middle of the grove - would be selected as the place where their religious ceremonies would be performed. I see no evidence that there is any allusion to any tree here, as our translators seem to have supposed; still less, that there was, as Burder supposes, any allusion to the tree of life in the midst of the garden of Eden, and their attempts to cultivate and preserve the memory of it; but there is reason to believe that their religious rites would be performed in the center, or most shady part of the grove.
Eating swine's flesh - That is, in connection with their public worship (see the notes at Isa 65:4).
And the abomination - The thing which is held as abominable or detestable in the law of God. Thus the creeping thing and the reptile were regarded as abominations Lev 11:41-42. They were not to be eaten; still less were they to be offered in sacrifice (compare Exo 8:26; Deu 20:16; Deu 29:17; see the notes at Isa 65:3).
And the mouse - The Hebrew word used here means the dormouse - a small field-mouse. Jerome understands it as meaning the glis, a small mouse that was regarded as a great delicacy by the Romans. They were carefully kept and fattened for food (see Varro, De Rust., iii. 15). Bochart (Hieroz., i. 3, 34) supposes that the name used here is of Chaldaic origin, and that it denotes a field-mouse. Mice abounded in the East, and were often exceedingly destructive in Syria (see Bochart; compare Sa1 5:4). Strabo mentions that so vast a multitude of mice sometimes invaded Spain as to produce a pestilence; and in some parts of Italy, the number of field-mice was so great that the inhabitants were forced to abandon the country. It was partly on account of its destructive character that it was held in abomination by the Hebrews. Yet it would seem that it was eaten by idolaters; and was, perhaps, used either in their sacrifices or in their incantations (see the notes at Isa 65:4). Vitringa supposes that the description in this verse is applicable to the time of Herod, and that it refers to the number of pagan customs and institutions which were introduced under his auspices. But this is by no means certain. It may be possible that it is a general description of idolatry, and of idolaters as the enemies of God, and that the idea is, that God would come with vengeance to cut off all his foes.
Isaiah 66:18
isa 66:18
For I know their works - The word 'know,' says Lowth, is here evidently left out of the Hebrew text, leaving the sense quite imperfect. It is found in the Syriac; the Chaldee evidently had that word in the copy of the Hebrew which was used; and the Aldine and Complutensian editions of the Septuagint have the word. Its insertion is necessary in order to complete the sense; though the proof is not clear that the word was ever in the Hebrew text. The sense is, that though their abominable rites were celebrated in the deepest recesses of the groves, yet they were not concealed from God.
That I will gather all nations and tongues - They who speak all languages (compare Rev 7:9; Rev 10:11; Rev 11:9). The sense is, that the period would come when Yahweh would collect all nations to witness the execution of his vengeance on his foes.
And see my glory - That is, the manifestation of my perfections in the great events referred to here - the destruction of his enemies, and the deliverance of his people. To what particular period this refers has been a point on which expositors are by no means agreed. Grotius says it means, that such shall be the glory of the Jewish people that all nations shall desire to come and make a covenant with them. The Jewish interpreters, and among them Abarbanel (see Vitringa), suppose that it refers to a hostile and warlike assembling of all nations in the time of the Messiah, who, say they, shall attack Jerusalem with the Messiah in it, and shall be defeated. They mention particularly that the Turks and Christians shall make war on Jerusalem and on the true Messiah, but that they shall be overthrown. Vitringa supposes that it refers to the assembling of the nations when the gospel should be at first proclaimed, and when they should be called into the kingdom of God. Many of the fathers referred it to the final judgment. It is difficult to determine, amidst this variety of opinion, what is the true meaning. Opinions are easily given, and conjectures are easily made; and the opinions referred to above are entitled to little more than the appellation of conjecture. It seems to me, that there is involved here the idea of the judgment or punishment on the enemies of God, and at about the same time a collecting of the nations not only to witness the punishment, but also to become participants of his favor. In some future time, Yahweh would manifest himself as the punisher of his enemies, and all the nations also would be permitted to behold his glory, as if they were assembled together.
Isaiah 66:19
isa 66:19
And I will set a sign among them - (See the notes at Isa 11:12; Isa 18:3). On the meaning of the word 'sign' (אות 'ôth), see the notes at Isa 7:11. What is its meaning here is to be determined by the connection. That would seem to me to require some such interpretation as this: That when God should come Isa 66:17-18 to take vengeance on his foes, and to manifest his glory, he would establish some mark or memorial; would erect some standard, or give some signal, by which his true friends would escape, and that he would send them to distant nations to proclaim his truth and gather together those who had not seen his glory. What that sign should be, he does not here say. Whether a standard, a secret communication, or some intimation beforehand, by which they should know the approaching danger and make their escape, is not declared. It is by no means easy to determine with certainty on this passage; and it certainly becomes no one to speak dogmatically or very confidently.
But it seems to me that the whole passage may have been intended, by the Holy Spirit, to refer to the propagation of the gospel by the apostles. The heavy judgments referred to may have been the impending calamities over Jerusalem. The glory of God referred to, may have been the signal manifestation of his perfections at that period in the approaching destruction of the city, and in the wonders that attended the coming of the Messiah. The gathering of the nations Isa 66:18 may possibly refer to the collecting together of numerous people from all parts of the earth about that time; that is, either the assembled people at the time of the Saviour's death Act 2:8, Act 2:11, or the gathering of the armies of the Romans - a commingled multitude from all nations - to inflict punishment on the Jewish nation, and to behold the manifestation of the divine justice in the destruction of the guilty Jewish capital.
The 'sign' here referred to, may denote the intimations which the Redeemer gave to his disciples to discern these approaching calamities, and to secure their safety by flight when they should be about to appear Mat 24:15-18. By these warnings and previous intimations they were to be preserved. The sign was 'among them,' that is, in the very midst of the nation; and the object of the intimation was, to secure their safety, and the speedy propagation of the true religion among all nations. Deeply sensible that there is great danger of erring here, and that the above view may be viewed as mere conjecture, I cannot, however, help regarding it as the true exposition. If there is error in it, it may be pardoned, for it will probably be felt by most readers of these notes that there has not been a too frequent reference in the interpretation proposed to the times of the Christian dispensation.
And I will send those that escape of them - According to the interpretation suggested above, this refers to the portion of the Jewish nation that should escape from the tokens of the divine displeasure; that is, to the apostles and the early disciples of the Redeemer. The great mass of the nation would be abandoned and devoted to destruction. But a remnant would be saved (compare Isa 1:9; Isa 11:11, Isa 11:16). Of that remnant, God would send a portion to make his name known to those who had not heard it, and they would lead distant nations to the knowledge of his truth. The whole passage is so accurately descriptive of what occurred in the times when the gospel was first preached to the pagan world, that there can be little danger of error in referring it to those times. Compare Vitringa on the passage for a more full view of the reasons of this interpretation. The names of the places which follow are designed to specify the principal places where the message would be sent, and stand here as representatives of the whole pagan world.
To Tarshish - (See the notes at Isa 2:16; Isa 23:1; Isa 60:19). Tarshish was one of the most distant seaports known to the Hebrews; and whether it be regarded as situated in Spain, or in the East Indies, or south of Abyssinia (see the notes above) it equally denotes a distant place, and the passage means that the message would be borne to the most remote regions.
Pul - This is supposed to denote some region in Africa. Jerome renders it, 'Africa.' The Septuagint, Φοὺδ Foud - 'Phud.' Bochart, Phaleg. iv. 26, supposes that it means Philae, a large island in the Nile, between Egypt and Ethiopia; called by the Egyptians Pilak, i e., the border, or far country (see Champollion, l'Egypte, i. 158). There are still on that island remains of some very noble and extensive temples built by the ancient Egyptians.
And Lud - Jerome renders this, 'Lydia.' The Septuagint 'Lud.' There was a Lydia in Asia Minor - the kingdom of the celebrated Croesus; but it is generally supposed that this place was in Africa. Ludim was a son of Mizraim Gen 10:13, and the name Ludim, or Lybians, referring to a people, several times occurs in the Bible Jer 46:9; Eze 27:10; Eze 30:5. These African Lybians are commonly mentioned in connection with Pul, Ethiopia, and Phut. Bochart supposes that Abyssinia is intended, but it is by no means certain that this is the place referred to. Josephus affirms that the descendants of Ludim are long since extinct, having been destroyed in the Ethiopian wars. It is clear that some part of Egypt is intended, says Calmer, but it is not easy to show exactly where they dwelt.
That draw the bow - (קשׁת משׁכי moshekēy qeshet). The Septuagint here renders the Hebrew phrase simply by Μοσὸχ Mosoch,' understanding it of a place. Lowth supposes that the Hebrew phrase is a corruption of the word Moschi, the name of a nation situated between the Euxine and the Caspian seas. But there is no authority for supposing, as he does, that the word 'bow' has been interpolated. The Chaldee renders it, 'Drawing and smiting with the bow.' The idea is, that the nations here referred to were distinguished for the use of thw bow. The bow was in common use in wars; and it is by no means improbable that at that time they had acquired special fame in the use of this weapon.
To Tubal - Tubal was the fifth son of Japhet, and is here joined with Javan because they were among the settlers of Europe. The names before mentioned together relate to Africa, and the sense there is, that the message should be sent to Africa; here the idea is, that it should be sent to Europe. Tubal is commonly united with Meshech, and it is supposed that they populated countries bordering on each other. Bochart labors to prove that by Meshech and Tubal are intended the Muscovites and the Tibarenians. The Tibarenians of the Greeks were the people inhabiting the country south of the Caucasus, between the Black Sea and the Araxes. Josephus says, that 'Tubal obtained the Thobelians (Θωβήλους Thōbēlous) who are reckoned among the Iberians.' Jerome renders it, 'Italy.' It is not possible to determine with certainty the country that is referred to, though some part of Europe is doubtless intended.
And Javan - Jerome renders this, 'Greece.' So the Septuagint, Εἰς τήν Ἑλλάδα Eis tēn Hellada - 'To Greece.' Javan was the fourth son of Japhet, and was the father of the Ionians and the Greeks Gen 10:2-4. The word 'Ionia,' Greek Ἰων Iōn, Ἰωνία Iōnia, is evidently derived from the word rendered here 'Javan' (יון yâvân), and in the Scriptures the word comprehends all the countries inhabited by the descendants of Javan, as well in Greece as in Asia Minor. Ionia properly was the beautiful province on the western part of Asia Minor - a country much celebrated in the Greek classics for its fertility and the salubrity of its climate - but the word used here includes all of Greece. Thus Daniel Dan 11:2, speaking of Xerxes, says, 'He shall stir up all against the realm of Javan.' Alexander the Great is descried by the same prophet as 'king of Javan' Dan 8:21; Dan 10:20. The Hindus call the Greeks Yavanas - the ancient Hebrew appellation. It is needless to say, on the supposition that this refers to the propagation of the gospel by the apostles, that it was fulfilled. They went to Greece and to Asia Minor in the very commencement of their labors, and seme of the earliest and most flourishing churches were founded in the lands that were settled by the descendants of Javan.
To the isles afar off - (See the notes at Isa 41:1).
That have not heard my fame - Hebrew, 'Who have not heard my report,' that is, who were ignorant of the true God.
Neither have seen my glory - The glory which he had manifested to the Hebrews in giving his law, and in the various exhibitions of his character and perfections among them.
Isaiah 66:20
isa 66:20
And they shall bring all your brethren - That is, as great success shall attend them as if they should bring back all who had gone there when scattered abroad, and should present them as an offering to Yahweh. The image here is taken from the scene which would be presented, should the distant nations be seen bringing the scattered exiles in all lands on horses, and on palanquins, and on dromedaries, again to Jerusalem, and presenting them before Yahweh in the city where they formerly dwelt. It is the image of a vast caravan, conducted by the pagan world when they had become tributary to the people of God, and when they united to return them to their own land. The spiritual signification is, that all they who should be appropriately called, brethren,' all who should be the true friends of God, should be brought and offered to Yahweh; that is, there should be a great accession to the people of God from the pagan world.
For an offering unto the Lord. - Hebrew, מנחה minchāh - not a bloody offering or sacrifice: but an offering such as was made by flour, oil, etc. (see the notes at Isa 1:13.)
Out of all nations - The truth shall be proclaimed in all lands, and a vast accession shall be made from all parts of the world to the true church of God. To understand this description, we must form an idea of immense caravans proceeding from distant parts of the world to Jerusalem, bearing along the converts to the true religion to be dedicated to the service of Yahweh.
Upon horses - Horses were little used by the Hebrews (see the notes at Isa 2:7), but they are much used by the Arabs, and form an important part of the caravan that goes to distant places.
And in chariots - (Compare the notes at Isa 66:15). It is, however, by no means certain that the word used here refers to a wheeled vehicle, Such vehicles were not used in caravans. The editor of the Ruins of Palmyra tells us that the caravan they formed to go to that place, consisted of about two hundred persons, and about the same number of beasts of carriage, which were an odd mixture of horses, camels, mules, and asses; but there is no account of any vehicle drawn on wheels in that expedition, nor do we find an account of such things in other eastern journeys (Harmer). Coaches, Dr. Russel assures us, are not in use in Aleppo, nor are they commonly used in any of the countries of the East. The Hebrew word used here (רכב rekeb), means properly riding - riders, cavalry (see it explained in the notes at Isa 21:7); then any vehicle for riding - whether a wagon, chariot, or litter. Lowth renders it, 'In litters.' Pitts, in his account of the return from Mecca, describes a species of litter which was borne by two camels, one before and another behind, which was all covered over with searcloth, and that again with green broadcloth, and which was elegantly adorned. It is not improbable that some such vehicle is intended here, as it is certain that such things as wagons or chariots are not found in oriental caravans.
And in litters - Margin, 'Coaches.' But the word litters more properly expresses the idea. Lowth renders it, 'Counes.' Thevenot tells us that counes are hampers, or cradles, carried upon the backs of camels, one on each side, having a back, head, and sides, like great chairs. A covering is commonly laid over them to protect the rider from wind and rain. This is a common mode of traveling in the East. The coune, or hamper, is thrown across the back of the camel, somewhat in the manner of saddle-bags with us. Sometimes a person sits on each side, and they thus balance each other, and sometimes the end in which the person is placed is balanced by provisions, or articles of furniture in the other. 'At Aleppo,' says Dr. Russel, 'women of inferior condition in long journeys are commonly stowed, one on each side of a mule, in a sort of covered cradles.' The Hebrew word used here (צב tsab), means properly a litter, a sedan coach - what can be lightly or gently borne.
The Septuagint renders it, Ἐν λαμπήναις ἡμιόνων μετὰ σκιαδίων En lampēnais hēmionōn meta skiadiōn - 'In litters of mules, with shades or umbrellas.' Perhaps the following description of a scene in the khan at Acre, will afford an apt illustration of this passage. 'The bustle was increased this morning by the departure of the wives of the governor of Jaffa. They set off in two coaches of a curious description, common in this country. The body of the coach was raised on two parallel poles, somewhat similar to those used for sedan chairs only that in these the poles were attached to the lower par; of the coach - throwing consequently the center of gravity much higher, and apparently exposing the vehicle, with its veiled tenant, to an easy overthrow, or at least to a very active jolt. Between the poles strong mules were harnessed, one before and one behind; who, if they should prove capricious, or have very uneven or mountainous ground to pass, would render the situation of the ladies still more critical.' (Jowett's Christian Researches in Syria, pp. 115, 116, Amos Ed.)
And upon swift beasts - Dromedaries. So Lowth and Noyes render it; and so the word used here - כרכרות kirekârôt - properly denotes. The word is derived from כיר kārar, to dance; and the name is given to them for their bounding or dancing motion, their speed being also sometimes accelerated by musical instruments (Bochart, Hieroz. i. 2, 4). For a description of the dromedary, see the notes at Isa 60:6.
As the children of Israel - As the Jews bear an offering to Yahweh in a vessel that is pure, The utmost attention was paid to the cleanliness of their vessels in their public worship.
Isaiah 66:21
isa 66:21
And I will also take of them for priests - I will give to them an honorable place in my public service; that is, I will make them ministers of religion as if they were priests and Levites. This cannot be taken literally - because the priests and Levites among the Jews were determined by law, and by regular genealogical descent, and there was no provision for substituting any in their place. But it must mean that under the condition of things described here, those who should be brought from the distant pagan world would perform the same offices in the service of God which had been performed formerly by the priests and Levites that is, they would be ministers of religion. The services of God would no longer be performed by the descendants of Aaron, or be limited to them, but would be performed by others who should be called to this office from the pagan world.
Isaiah 66:22
isa 66:22
For as the new heavens and the new earth - (See the notes at Isa 65:17).
Shall remain before me - They shall not pass away and be succeeded by others. The idea is, that the state of things here described would be permanent and abiding.
So shall your seed and your name remain - (See the notes at Isa 65:15).
Isaiah 66:23
isa 66:23
And it shall come to pass - As the prophet closes the book and winds up his whole prophecy, he directs the attention to that future period which had occupied so much of his attention in vision, when the whole world should be acquainted with the true religion, and all nations should worship Yahweh. Of such a book there could be no more appropriate close; and such a contemplation especially became the last prophetic moments of the 'evangelical prophet' Isaiah.
From one new moon to another - Margin, 'New moon to his new moon.' The Hebrew literally is, 'As often as the month cometh in its month;' that is, in its time, every month, every new moon (Gesenius, Lexicon, on the word מדי midēy). The Hebrews held a festival on the return of each month, or at every new moon (see the notes at Isa 1:14). A similar prophecy occurs in Zac 14:16 : 'And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came up against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.' In regard to the meaning of this, it is evident that it cannot be taken literally. In the nature of things it would be impossible for all nations to go literally before Yahweh in Jerusalem once a month, or once a year, to worship. It must then be meant that at periodical seasons, all the human family would worship Yahweh. The festivals of the new moon, the feast of tabernacles, and the sabbaths, were the set time among the Hebrews for the worship of God; and the idea is, that on set times, or at regularly recurring intervals, the worship of God would yet be celebrated in all lands. I see no evidence, therefore, that this means that there should be established on the earth the habit of meeting for prayer, or for the worship of God once a month - anymore than the passage above quoted from Zechariah proves that a feast like that of tabernacles would be celebrated once a year. But the idea is clear, that the time would come when Yahweh would be worshipped regularly and periodically everywhere; that in all nations his worship would be established in a manner similar in some respects to that which prevailed among his people in ancient times.
And from one Sabbath to another - (Compare the notes at Isa 58:13-14). There can be no permanent worship of God, and no permanent religion on earth, without a Sabbath; and hence it was, that while the observance of the feasts of tabernacles, and of the Passover, and of the new moons, made a part of the ceremonial law, the law respecting the sabbaths was incorporated with the ten commandments as of moral and perpetual obligation; and it will be literally true that all the race shall yet be brought to worship God on the return of that holy day. It was instituted in paradise; and as one design of the plan of redemption is to bring man back to the state in which he was in paradise, so one effect of the true religion everywhere will be, and is, to make people reverence the Sabbath of the Lord. No man becomes truly pious who does not love the holy Sabbath. No nation ever has been, or ever can be converted which will not, and which does not, love and observe that day. Every successful effort to propagate the true religion is a successful effort to extend the practice of observing it; and just as certain as it is that Christianity will be spread around the world, so cerrain will it be that the Sabbath will be observed in all lands. The period is, therefore, yet to arrive when the delightful spectacle will be presented of all the nations of the earth bowing on the return of that day before the living God. The plans of this life will be suspended; toil and care will be laid aside; and the sun, as he rolls around the world, will rouse nation after nation to the worship of the true God; and the peace and order and loveliness of the Christian Sabbath will spread over all the hills and vales of the world. Who that loves the race will not desire that such a period may soon come? Who can wonder that Isaiah should have fixed his eye in the close of his prophetic labors on a scene so full of loveliness, and so replete with honor to God, and with goodwill to people?
Shall all flesh - All the human family, all nations - a most unequivocal promise that the true religion shall yet prevail around the world.
Come to worship before me - That is, they shall assemble for the worship of God in their respective places of devotion.
Isaiah 66:24
isa 66:24
And they shall go forth - The sense of this verse evidently is, that the pious and happy worshippers of God shall see the punishment which he will execute on his and their foes, or shall see them finally destroyed. It refers to the time when the kingdom of God shall be finally and perpetually established, and when all the mighty enemies of that kingdom shall be subdued and punished. The image is probably taken from a scene where a people whose lands have been desolated by mighty armies are permitted to go forth after a decisive battle to walk over the fields of the slain, and to see the dead and the putrifying bodies of their once formidable enemies.
And look upon the carcasses of the men - The dead bodies of the foes of God (see Isa 66:15-16).
For their worm shall not die - This image is evidently taken from the condition of unburied bodies, and especially on a battlefield. The Hebrew word (תולע tôlâ‛) properly refers to the worms which are generated in such corrupting bodies (see Exo 16:20; the notes at Isa 14:11). It is sometimes applied to the worm from which the crimson or deep scarlet color was obtained (the notes at Isa 1:18); but it more properly denotes that which is produced in putrid substances. This entire passage is applied by the Saviour to future punishment; and is the fearful image which he employs to denote the final suffering of the wicked in hell. My views on its meaning may be seen in the notes at Mar 9:44, Mar 9:46.
Neither shall their fire be quenched - The fire that shall consume them shall burn perpetually. This image is taken evidently from the fires kindled, especially in the valley of Hinnom, to consume puffed and decaying substances. That was a valley on the south side of Jerusalem, into which the filth of the city was thrown. It was the place where, formerly, an image of brass was raised to Moloch, and where children were offered in sacrifice Kg2 16:3; Ch2 28:3. See a description of this in the notes at Mat 5:22. This place was subsequently regarded as a place of special abomination by the Jews. The filth of the city was thrown there, and it became extremely offensive. The air was polluted and pestilential; the sight was terrific; and to preserve it in any manner pure, it was necessary to keep fires continually burning there. The extreme loathsomeness of the place, the filth and putrefaction, the corruption of the atmosphere, and the lurid fires blazing by day and by night, made it subsequently one of the most appalling and loathsome objects with which a Jew was acquainted.
It was called the gehenna of fire, and was the image which the Saviour often employed to denote the future punishment of the wicked. In that deep and loathsome vale it seems to have been the common expectation of the Jews that some great battle would be fought which would establish the supremacy of their nation over all others. Hence, the Chaldee renders this, 'They shall go forth, and shall look upon the dead bodies of the sinners who have rebelled against my word; because their souls shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished; and the wicked shall be judged in Gehenna (בגיהנם begēyhı̂nâm from גי gay and הנם hinnôm, hence coming down into Greek as γέεννα geenna), until the righteous shall say, We have seen enough.' It is, however, by no means certain that Isaiah refers here especially to the valley of Hinnom. The image in his mind is evidently that of a vast army slain, and left to putrify on the field unburied, and where fires would be kindled in part to consume the heaps of the slain, and in part to save the air from pestilential influences, All the enemies of God and his church would be like such a vast host strewed on the plains, and the perpetuity of his kingdom would be finally established.
And they shall be an abhorring - An object of loathing. So the Hebrew word דראון dêrâ'ôn, means. It is derived from דרא dârâ', an obsolete root, signifying, in Arabic, to thrust away, to repel. Jerome renders it, Ad satietatem visionis - understanding by it, that all flesh should look upon those dead bodies Until they were satisfied. The Septuagint, Εἰς ὅρασιν Eis horasin - 'For a vision;' or that all flesh might look upon them. It is evident that the Septuagint reads the word as if it were derived from the verb ראה râ'âh), "to see."
Unto all flesh - (See Isa 66:23). The sense is, that so entire would be their overthrow, and such objects of loathing would they become, that all the friends of God would turn from them in abhorrence. All the enemies of God would be destroyed; the pure religion would triumph, and the people of God would be secure.
It may be made a question, perhaps, to what period this refers. The Saviour Mar 9:44, Mar 9:46, applied the language to the future punishment of the wicked, and no one, I think, can doubt that in Isaiah it includes that consummation of worldly affairs. The radical and essential idea in the prophet is, as it seems to me, that such would be the entire overthrow and punishment of the enemies of God; so condign their punishment; so deep their sufferings; so loathsome and hateful would they be when visited with the divine vengeance for their sins, that they would be an object of loathing and abhorrence. They would be swept off as unworthy to live with God, and they would be consigned to punishment - loathsome like that of ever gnawing worms on the carcasses of the slain, and interminable and dreadful like everconsuming and extinguishable fires.
This is the consummation of the series of bright visions that passed before the mind of Isaiah, and is an appropriate termination of this succession of wonderful revelations. Where could it more appropriately close than in the final triumph of the true religion, and in the complete and final destruction of all the enemies of Gods. The vision stretches on to the judgment, and is closed by a contemplation of those scenes which commence there, but which never end. The church is triumphant. Its conflicts cease. Its foes are slain. Its Redeemer is revealed; and its everlasting happiness is founded on a basis which can never be shaken.
Here I close my labors in endeavoring to elucidate the visions of this wonderful prophet. I thank God - the source of every right feeling and every holy desire, and the suggester of every plan that will in any way elucidate his word or promote his glory - that he ever inclined my heart to these studies. I thank him for the preservation of my life, and the continuance of my health, until I am permitted to bring this work to a close. I record, with grateful emotions, my deep conviction, that if in any way I have been enabled to explain that which was before dark; to illustrate that which was obscure; or to present any views which have not before occurred to those who may peruse this work, it is owing to the gracious influences of his Holy Spirit. And I desire to render thanks to the Great Source of light and truth, if I have been enabled to throw any light on the prophecies recorded here more than 2500 years ago; or to confirm the faith of any in the truth of the inspiration of the Bible by tracing the evidences of the fulfillment of those predictions.
And I now commend the work to the blessing of God, and devote it to the glory of his name and to the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom, with a humble prayer that it may be useful to other minds; but with the deep conviction, that whatever may be its effect on other minds, I have been abundantly compensated for all my labor in the contemplation of the inimitable beauties, and the sublime visions of Isaiah. thanks to God for this book; thanks for all its beauties, its consolations, its promises, its views of the Messiah, its predictions of the certain triumph of truth, and its glowing descriptions of the future conquest of the church, when God shall extend to it 'peace like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream.' Come soon that blessed day, when 'the ransomed of the Lord shall return to Zion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads' Isa 35:10; when 'the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose' Isa 35:1; and when it shall be announced to the church, 'thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself, for Yahweh shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended' Isa 60:20.
May I be permitted to close my labors on this book in the beautiful language of Vitringa? 'These words Isa 66:23-24 express the final doom of the two opposite classes of people, the righteous and the wicked, when, after various preparatory judgments of God, the fates of all ages, and our own also, shall be determined; with which also this divine book of Isaiah itself is terminated.
Be it our lot, with those who are holy; with those who fear God and love the truth; with the humble, meek, and merciful, and with those who persevere in every good work to the end of life, from the gracious sentence of our great Lord, Saviour, and Judge, Jesus Christ, to obtain, by the will of the Father, the same portion with them. In which hope, I also, now deeply affected, and prostrate before his throne, give humble thanks to God the Father, and his Son Christ Jesus, through the Spirit, for the grace and light with which he has endowed me, his unworthy servant, in commencing and completing the commentary on this book; entreating, with earnest prayer, of his grace and mercy, that, pardoning those errors into which erroneously I may have fallen, he will employ this work, such as it is, to the glory of his name, the use of the church, and the consolation of his people; and to Him be the glory throughout all ages.'
Next: Jeremiah Introduction
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Sacred Texts Taoism Index
1st ed.
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If nations hate each other but are making a treaty of peace, there will always remain some seeds of hatred. How can it be considered as a settlement?
The perfect Sage is always willing to accept the debit side of an account, for then he does not have to enforce payment from another. Those who have teh make unwritten contracts of faith; those who have no teh, make written contracts and hold them as evidence.
The TAO of Heaven makes no written contracts, but always helps the good man.
Next: Chapter 80
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The Anthropology of Freedom, Part 3
“The time is now ripe for anthropologists to consider the concept of freedom and the empirical manifestations of freedom in culture. What more significant and urgent task is there for the anthropologist than that of launching a concerted inquiry into the nature of freedom and its place and basis in nature and the cultural process? Such an inquiry would provide in time a charter for belief in those values and principles indispensable to the process of advancing culture and to the ideal of a democratic world order dedicated to the development of human potentialities to their maximum perfection.” (preface to The Concept of Freedom in Anthropology ed. David Bidney, 1963 p. 6)
Freedom Hof-style
You and me both, pal.
Thus did David Bidney valiantly launch the investigation into freedom by anthropologists only to immediately then admit: “I realize that hard-headed, realistic anthropologists, including some of the participants in this symposium, would not find themselves in agreement with this anthropologic dream. There is danger, they will protest, that you are reifying Freedom into an absolute entity, just as culture once was. Freedom they will object is a non-scientific, political slogan which betrays its ethnocentric, Western and American origin…”
Freedom, as concept, still evokes this suspicion. That it is “nothing more” than a political slogan; or that it masks the reality of domination, oppression, slavery and power. As well it should given how promiscuously it is exploited.Or, as Edmund Leach so characteristically puts it in his contribution to the same volume: “To prate of Freedom as if it were a separable virtue is the luxurious pursuit of aristocrats and of the more comfortable members of modern affluent society. It has been so since the beginning.” (77)
What Leach expresses here, in part, is the descriptivist bias of anthropology of the time, and specifically of political anthropology: that the goal is comparative analysis without a priori reference to any normative political ideals. This, I think probably resonates with most anthropologists, who would be much less likely to be interested in Freedom as a concept that delimits a certain relationship between action and governance, more more likely to see it as a slogan that has been used as a warrant in colonial, imperial and global economic endeavors; as a tool used to transform existing arrangements in its own name (and secretly in the interests of a global elite). At a first cut this is undeniably so if one simply listens to the way the word is used in the news, and by politicians especially.
Indeed, it is my probably hasty opinion that the whole of “political anthropology” (at least in it’s 1930s-1970s form) shares this bias, despite the fact that it would seem to be this domain to which one would immediately turn for help in understanding the variations in the nature of Freedom. Instead, freedom is excluded from investigation insofar as it contaminates, confuses or otherwise confounds the exploration of objective political structures. Georges Balandier’s account of the development of political anthropology up to the mid 1960s (Political Anthropology) clearly shows how the questions of state formation, legitimacy and domination, kinship and power, status and power and so forth have been investigated. But he never mentions the word freedom. This is not so curious if freedom is understood as an outcome of a normative theory of the state, in favor of a descriptive, comparative science of political systems. Come to think of it, Weber never really talks about freedom either, and for similar reasons: the goal of a scientific sociology is not to articulate the ought of political systems but the is. It does not appear as a subject in Leach’s Political Systems of Highland Burma, nor in Meyer Fortes and EE Evans-Pritchard’s collection on African Political Systems.
What Bidney was proposing therefore, probably looked far too universalist in its appeal (as if Freedom were inevitably to be found in the struggles of people everywhere) and worse, potentially dangerous (insofar as it imposes a normative vision of freedom on those it seeks to understand). The properly anthropological way to think about “an anthropology of freedom”, therefore, would be to look at it from the perspective of the rest of the world and how it perceives the imposition of “freedom” on it.
There are probably a lot of attempts to do something like this. As I mentioned in a previous post, few of them tag these attempts explicitly with the word ‘freedom’–for whatever reasons. Two in particular that might be explored for this are Paul Reisman’s Freedom Among the Fulani and the great short piece by Caroline Humphrey, “Alternative Freedoms” (thanks again Morpheus!). Neither of these expresses allegiance to or appears similar to what we think of as “political anthropology.” Riesman, interestingly, was a student of Balandier (and the son of David Riesman of The Lonely Crowd fame), but he explicitly avers any deep engagement with political anthropology in his book, which is dedicated instead to Dorothy Lee.
Humphrey’s short piece does more or less does exactly what I was claiming no one in anthropology was doing. In it she outlines three concepts of freedom, starting from the closest linguistic analogues in play, in order to show why it might be that Russians today, hearing a speech of Bush or Blair of Obama crowing triumphantly about freedom, might view such promises with suspicion or fear. At the end of the article she puts it bluntly: “The three ideas of freedom have come to inhabit very different worlds of value. None of them is identical with Western ideas of freedom. But after all, Russians are far from alone in this. Much of the world is culturally different in this regard.” (9) [1]
The first idea is Svoboda, which contains elements of a version of freedom as access to a privileged sphere, a bit like Arendt’s account of the ancient Greeks and their distinction between a sphere of privation and slavery (the household) and a sphere of freedom and publicness, the polis. According to Humphrey, the root is svoi, (self, ours) and so shares some of the meaning of “our way of life” and leads to a particular sense of freedom as “our kind of freedom”–not universalist at all. Thus a hearer in Russian might not hear the word “freedom,” translated as svoboda, as a universal value. The second use is the peculiar Mir (like the spacecraft) which means universe, humanity, the world, but also, ‘peace’ (after the Soviet linguistic reforms). Mir has aspects of a “will of the people” sort–a “universalized community” and Humphrey says of her explanation “I hope this helps explain the deeply non-intuitive fact (to us) that there are Russian villagers today who identify freedom, precisely with Stalinism.” Finally there is Volya, which carries a meaning similar to “will” and expresses that aspect of freedom which is associated with volition and intention.
That there are three words for freedom is nothing new (English boasts Freedom and Liberty), and that the words have a variable semantic range is also unsurprising. Nonetheless, Humphrey is demonstrating how the concept looks different not only linguistically, but in terms of history and political structure. There is an extensive discussion about the tension produced by the transition to capitalism, and the ways in which freedom comes to be associated with lawlessness, banditry and the unconstrained exploitation of Russian resources by a few elites. But this is, in some ways, the same debate about liberty that has occupied political theory since at least the French, if not the English revolution. Liberty is always in tension with some other notion such as stability, tradition, security, etc.
Paul Riesman’s book is a different take on the problem of freedom or liberty. The book is probably better remembered for its experimental character. It is divided into two sections, the first of which cleaves very closely to a classic monographic form detailing aspects of Fulani life; the second is, arguably, one of the earliest experiments in “reflexive” ethnography in which “life as lived” and the encounter of Riesman with Fulani social life is organized through his own experience of coming to an understanding.
Because Riesman is avowedly uninterested in the political structure of Fulani society, the notion of Freedom he is interested in probably ends up looking much more like a question of “agency” (a term he does not use, though Paul Stoller and Lila Abu-Lughod count among his acolytes) than freedom in the political sense. In the first part, he attends at length to the problem of the terms Pulaaku and Semteende–words that circumscribe the experience of custom, obligation, honors, shame and sanction. In this sense, the kind of freedom Riesman is concerned with is in fact the relationship of structure and agency more than anything else. In the second part, Riesman explores more theological notions of freedom (Man’s freedom and Allah’s power) and the notion of freedom as “self-mastery,” which corresponds in a loose way to some of the questions often lumped under “autonomy” (and which has the delightful literal meaning of “He who possesses his own head” [226]). Riesman spends a good deal of the last part talking about how children come to be autonomous or free, a subject that clearly obsessed him, since his second book published posthumously (First find your child a good mother) is concerned with disproving the psychological and psychoanalytic claims that certain kinds of child-rearing practices affect the outcome of adult personhood.
Both Riesman and Humphrey are good examples, I think of the confusion that attends the concept of freedom for more than the simple reason that it is an ideological slogan. As a philosophical concept, the term denotes something that is both political (concerning the structure of governance, rights and the relation of people to each other) and psychological (denoting a relationship to will, autonomy or acting). Both accounts show (but in different ways) how the integration of these two aspects might differ in different settings.
None of this settles the question for me of why Freedom is particularly uninteresting to anthropologists, but it has opened up for me a set of related questions (Another Post! I am Unstoppable!) about two recent attempts to address something related to freedom: the anthropology of the will, and the anthropology of ethics. To be continued…
10 thoughts on “The Anthropology of Freedom, Part 3
1. There is some more interesting questions about freedom, the particular ways in which it is defined and understood, in David Graeber’s latest research on the debt. For example :
Faced with the potential for complete social breakdown, Sumerian and Babylonian kings periodically announced general amnesties. All outstanding consumer debt was declared null and void (commercial debts were not affected), all land was returned to its original owners, and debt peons were returned to their families. Before long, kings made a habit of declaring such amnesties upon assuming power. (The sovereign saw himself as literally re-creating human society, so he was in a fine position to relieve all previous moral obligations.) In Sumerian, these were called declarations of freedom. The Sumerian word amargi is the first recorded use of “freedom” in any language; it literally means “return to mother,” since this is what freed debt peons were allowed to do.
And here :
It is indeed hard to deny that “freedom” is often thought of as something that is literally owned, and can thus be sold “freely” (part or full time), just like any other piece of property. While for long periods of time, and in a lot of places, the fact that one could be bought was almost the definition of slavery.
2. @Jérémy Good stuff… this is very much the Nietzschean approach to freedom, which is part of The Anthropology of Freedom, part 1001, or at least a story intimately related to the geneaology of morals… but I love the notion of freedom meaning “return to mother”…
3. What is not really addressed fully here is how Anthropology engages with universality.
This is important because the appeal of “Freedom” is not inherent in the concept, but in the historical moment of American and French Revolution and it’s carry through into decolonisation. It came to be universalised for historically specific reasons.
As such, the Anthropological wish not to start with “freedom” is valid, it makes sense to situate it, but so must the discussion in these posts be situated within a wider debate on how Anthropology copes with univeralising.
In this sense Marxist and New-Marxist discussions of hegemony and universalising are relevant, from Laclau to Zizek to Badiou, as well as debates on Humanism in Marxism.
One of the core tensions in Anthropology is how it relates to its own universalising ideals. There is a certain type of liberalism written into the idea of the ironic Anthropological subject, something that has been promoted in a positive mode by writers such as Ernest Gellner.
I think this causes a certain amount of embarassment amongst Anthropologists, as the mode of Political Anthropology has been to treat beliefs as objects of study. So the ways in which the Anthropological subject is positioned in relation to particular ideas and histories of freedom becomes problematic.
Therefore a discussion of how Anthropologists relate to “Freedom” requires a discussion of the relationship between Anthropology and universalising ideals, both in terms of objects of study as well as how we construct, within the discipline, our analytical language and our academic subjecthood.
4. @Daniel. Really? Do we have to? I was kind of hoping to move on to engaging philosophers, political scientists and economists directly on the subject of freedom rather than undergoing a kind of psycho-analysis. Forgive me for being blunt, but I’m not convinced that understanding my “academic subjecthood” will contribute to this at all. It certainly won’t be interesting to anyone other than anthropologists, and probably not many of them.
What I’m trying to work out here is how one can approach freedom as universal in a very specific sense: in what “technical” sense does it possess coherence as a concept which is not conditioned by either its origins or its appearance in particular places. This does not mean that it is natural, inevitable or inherently good or bad. In many ways Weber accomplished the same thing with “economic rationalism”–to show how it had become universal, an iron cage whose origins in Protestantism are significant but not determining.
And if it possesses this limited form of universality, what difference would the empirical investigation of anthropologists make to a debate about it with philosophers?
5. I have suggested that treating social life as games, with rules that allow some moves, prohibit others, and may br subject to change might be one place to begin. Another is the history of concepts or policies that shed light on how people have thought about what we call freedom. It has long been a commonplace in studies of East Asian cultures, for example, to note the priority given to obligations over rights, with selfish being the primary meaning of terms used to translate “freedom” to native speakers if local languages. A third is too begin with the socialization of children, who must learn when it is or is not appropriate ti say “No” and how to say it politely.
6. @John I think what you are gesturing towards here is a facet of the ordinary meaning of freedom which has to do primarily with the questions of structure and agency, and within anthropology at least, is very much in the Durkheimian tradition. (I think Riesman’s book is in this domain as well). Insofar as social facts, such as customs, laws, languages money, etc, produce obligations and orient people towards those obligations by providing forms of sanction (Shame!), then freedom can be reduced to a problem of conformity and to the possibility of “agency” (at least in the proactive, practice theory sense of that term). Agency then might encompass something like “the capacity to change the rules of the game.” Or it might, as in the cases you mention, simply be marked as a negative (as I think it is in Humphrey’s case as well) in which the privileged value is conformity to the order and stability created by obligation, rather than the “selfish” freedom of the one with “agency.
I guess I am trying to figure out whether there is more to “freedom” than the question of agency. Such a focus strikes me as unquestioningly focused on a split between the individual and the collective, but perhaps that is all there is to it…
7. Chris, are you familiar with Robert Bellah, et al’s Habits of the Heart? The topic is American individualism. Given, however, that our current preoccupation with freedom begins with the Protestant Reformation and the individual’s right to read and interpret scripture for him or herself, it may be relevant. Bellah and his colleagues identify four strands of individualism. In two classic modes, the religious and political, individuals define themselves (and, thus, I suggest, the limits of their agency) in relation to what are perceived as external realities, God and the nation-state respectively. In the two more recent forms of individualism, the locus of self definition becomes internal, in the private purposes and values envisioned by theories of rational choice, the instrumental mode, or in the emotions, feelings, unique perceptions envisioned by romantic theorists, the therapeutic mode. Might be something to build on here.
8. Maybe the only way in which “freedom” ever makes sense is ultimately in “challenges to the prevailing ‘social order,’” or, the desire to exist in an altered social order.
And then, the only reasons “freedom” is an enduring concept in “modernity” is the extent to which, 1) “modernity” comes out of historical struggles to change a social order, struggles which used “freedom” as central to their being and thus embedded “freedom” deeply in the new social order as part of its raison d’etre; 2) the new social order is as oppressive as the former, leaving freedom paradoxically central to people’s hopes & dreams even as the social order insists they have it, or promises it to them eventually.
Which I guess means I’m still siding with Boas’ “harmony with culture.” But perhaps it lends a sort of ability to evaluate or analyze a culture based on how many consistently feel at odds with it? All the more difficult with a culture that incorporates “feeling at odds with society” as part of its own narratives of potential, acceptable ways to be in the world?
9. @ckelty No of course you don’t have to, but if you don’t examine your positioning, you are not really an Anthropologist, sorry to be blunt.
Well, sorry, ideas are not technical objects. They are far more often”cyborgs” in that they become a part of you over the longer term more often than not. You might want to look at the literature on Communities of Practice to understand how closely learning and becoming in terms of a sense of self in relation to group are connected.
This idea of a “toolkit” of ideas that one picks up and puts down avoids the very issue of longer term positioning and investments that you seem to be opting out of.
Now you could look at an apriori analysis of Freedom as an Idea to look at the logical possibilities of its consistent articulation, but of course logic is based on the articulations of logical units, words, idea concepts, which is where the ethnographic work enters such an apriori analysis. So a ‘technical’ approach to the idea will only yield you an abstract field of possibility, and one that cannot in itself determine practice. This is especially so with an idea that operates so clearly as a tendentially empty signifier like “freedom”. There is a reason, in terms of social practice, that it is hard to pin down, and that in many ways, the sets of institutions, social arrangements, political communication relations and histories, these material, historical and enacted things that exist at both large and small scales, they are more interesting than the apriori content in many ways, because they give rise to the emptiness and thus allow a fairly empty articulation of sameness.
So I sense that you are in danger of losing the woods for the trees by attempting to treat ideas as technical objects.
10. @Daniel. I’m pretty sure I don’t understand you. But that’s probably because I’m not an anthropologist :) So perhaps this can go nowhere. However, it seems to me that you are suggesting that there is in fact no content to the concept of freedom–that it is a “tendentially empty signifier.” This conflicts profoundly with my sense of it as one of the core problems of philosophy for at least the last 400 years. As I said, the library is filled with shelves and shelves of books about the problem, many of which are in general agreement about its content, even if they 1) argue about its particulars and 2) denounce its general ideological usage. So I guess I can’t go there, if that is what you are suggesting.
Would it help if I used the word “precise” instead of technical? I do think of concepts as objectified in that they have existence in the world, I am a realist about this. I do not believe that they exist only in people’s heads or only in the interaction of people, whether in communities or not, so if that further expels me from the camp of anthropology, I guess I’ll have to go back to the city. But this is a metaphysical problem.
Comments are closed.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99968
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The estimation of digitizing error and its propagation results in GIS and application to habitat mapping
Zhong-Zhong Chen, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
In order to identify and quantify sources of digitizing error, and to understand how error is carried through a map overlay, three experiments were performed. First, four operators repeatedly digitized eight randomly distributed points eight times. Data were analyzed using parametric statistics and by an error models so that average point digitizing error, the operator error (random error and bias), and the machine error (random error) were estimated; the operators' digitizing characteristics were statistically analyzed. In the second experiment I designed and created a standard coverage with the ARC/INFO GENERATE command. The coverage consists of a set of special geometric entities: a series of differently sized circles, differently shaped triangles and rectangles drawn by PC ARCPLOT. These figures were designed to test the effect of the original map polygons' characteristics on both machine error and operator error, such as area and perimeter, figure shape and geometric entities combination, line curvature, number of vertices selected for representing a line, position of a geometric entity on digitizing board. Several operators repeatedly digitized the coverage six or more times. The operator error (area error and perimeter error) were obtained by subtracting the standard coverage from a digitized coverage. The machine error (area error and perimeter error) were obtained by subtracting the theoretical true coverage from the standard coverage. The results were analyzed statistically. The causation of errors and the operators' digitizing characteristics were further discussed. The third experiment addressed how digitizing errors are propagated through map overlay. In this experiment the digitized coverages created in the second experiment by each operator were overlaid with the ARC/INFO UNION command. Area error, perimeter error, and the numbers of the spurious polygons were collected. The means, sums, maximum, minimum, and standard deviation of area error and perimeter error were obtained. The relationship between area error, perimeter error, and number of spurious polygons of the overlaid coverage were analyzed.^ This study: (1) focuses on position, as opposed to attribute, error; (2) examines errors in vector-based, not raster-based, GIS; and (3) examines errors caused during the digitizing process, and their propagation through map overlay. The digitizing method is point mode, not stream mode.^ Results were applied to error management and error reduction to: (1) create a theoretical model which can be used to check quality of the vector source coverages, and to lead users to correctly utilize the GIS data, to prevent them from making unnecessary mistakes; (2) identify some rules to properly use the ARC/INFO ELIMINATE command, and to set MMU (minimum mapping unit) for a particular project. ^
Subject Area
Geography|Agriculture, Forestry and Wildlife|Information Science
Recommended Citation
Zhong-Zhong Chen, "The estimation of digitizing error and its propagation results in GIS and application to habitat mapping" (January 1, 1995). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. Paper AAI9524686.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99973
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Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge
I likes my science, but Geez Louise!!
Man-o-manischewitz this is some hot sh*t.
Science is wonderous, intriguing, captivating, sublime, but as Frank Zappa said, Music is the best!
Check out VC about 7:05 in.
1. #1 Brian
January 5, 2007
Gadd is a consummate musician, and while his solos may not have been quite as technically demanding as Weckl or Colaiuta’s, they nevertheless were possessed of a musicality that allowed them to somehow fit with those of the other two. Every note is clear and purposeful, and nothing wasted.
That said, I have to add that Colaiuta is a monster. I’m a drummer myself, and I have no idea where his head’s at. Thing is, I don’t know whether I really WANT to know, ’cause that sh*t is crazy, yo.
2. #2 Bill from Dover
January 5, 2007
Not knowing a drummer’s head from a drum head, I liked the cowbell.
3. #3 gingerbaker
January 7, 2007
Agree with both of the folks above.
Gadd was the stand out for me, as I feel his contributions were the most rythmically creative. Vinnie and Dave ( I call them Vinnie and Dave because we are such close friends – not because I can’t spell their last names) are both monsters but might as well be clones, IMO.
And much more cowbell next time, guys, OK? :D
4. #4 Jim
January 8, 2007
Oh yeah? Well Bill Bruford and Joe Morello live in my basement.
Speaking of which, those two guys can do things that are mind boggling to even very good drummers, but which seem like nothing special to the average listener. I remember reading an interview with BB where he recalled playing some very complicated odd-meter poly-rhythmic thing and folks in the audience were shouting “Play something!” His thought: “What do you think I’m doing??”
It’s a sort of funny disconnect which is one reason why I find arguments about “world’s greatest guitarist” between non-musicians very entertaining. Almost as much fun as watching a “table beater” try to do a paradiddle for the first time.
5. #5 Chris
January 9, 2007
I’m exhausted just watching that. Unfortunately, I have no idea which drummer is which.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99994
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I have an ajax-ws web service (exposed via glassfish) that uses username authentication with a symmetric key to encrypt and authenticate clients(link).
How secure is this mechanism? Is this enough to protect against MITM attacks and data sniffing?
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How secure usually depends on who your threats are. Who do you expect to try to break it and what are their motives (profit, fun, etc..)? – this.josh Nov 29 '12 at 1:12
1 Answer 1
Looking at the linked article this looks very similar to standard web authentication in that the server has a certicate, the client uses username/password auth. to authenticate and then a shared key is used to encrypt communications.
So on that basis the answer to your question is similar to what it would be for standard web auth. Assuming that the client checks the validity of the servers certificate at runtime and that it posesses the means to check for things like certificate revocation it is reasonably likely to be protected against a MITM attack (unless the server certificate is compromised).
Data sniffing would be protected against the encryption of the data stream which appears from the docs to be done be symmetric encryption.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/99995
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I need to send some sensitive information to a client. I thought I would email a password protected zip file I created using Windows XP and then call them with the password. Presuming I pick a good password, how secure is this approach? Specifically, how difficult is it to decrypt a password protected zip file?
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migrated from serverfault.com Jul 19 '11 at 1:41
How can you create a password-protected ZIP file in Windows XP (or any other) pure shell? Send to a compressed ZIP file functionality (from context menu) does not offer entering password AFAIK. Can you create a password-protected file ZIP file at all using just pure Windows, without extra 3rd-party software like 7-Zip or WinZip? – trejder May 13 '13 at 8:05
6 Answers 6
up vote 16 down vote accepted
If you want an alternative to Windows zip, consider 7-Zip. It's open source, and uses AES-256 (which is very unlikely to be broken any time soon :) It can also compress to .zip format, so anyone can read it.
Note - I just double-checked, and Windows XP's built-in zip can not decrypt AES. However, it's possible to use 7-Zip to make a self-extracting .exe file, so your client doesn't need the actual software.
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If you go the 7z method, I believe you can combine the encryption with the self-extracting option. – Zoredache Jul 19 '11 at 0:30
@Zoredache, nice! I didn't realize it did that. Updated. – John C Jul 19 '11 at 1:26
Self-extracting .exe files are a terrible idea, from a security perspective (see my answer). – D.W. Jul 19 '11 at 20:47
To my knowledge, there has been no credible independent security review of 7zip's encryption algorithms, so I would be somewhat reluctant to place too much trust in them to be secure. – D.W. Jul 19 '11 at 20:48
@John, trust is not enough. Email is not authenticated. Just because the email purports to come from Dave Aaron Smith, doesn't mean it actually came from him. Moreover, if clients get used to the idea of running .exe's from people they "trust", then they will be vulnerable to targeted attacks (e.g., the equivalent of spear phishing) and other nasty attacks. This is not how we want to train users to behave. I realize it is more convenient, but I believe it is doing clients a disservice. – D.W. Jul 20 '11 at 3:16
When creating a password-protected Zip file (with the "compressed folder" utility integrated in the OS), Windows XP uses the "standard" encryption algorithm for Zip files. This is a homemade stream cipher, and it is weak. With 13 bytes of known plaintext, the complexity of the attack is about 238 operations, which is doable in a few hours on a PC. 13 bytes are relatively easy to obtain (e.g. if one of the files in the archive is an image, it will probably be uncompressed and begin with a known header). The result has even been improved, notably because the files in an archive are encrypted separately but without proper key diversification. Some years ago (quite a few now, tempus fugit), I have seen a password cracking software by Ivan Golubev which put this science to good use, and could crack Zip encryption in an hour.
The attack on Zip encryption is actually:
• a nice introduction to cryptanalysis;
• a good exercise in programming;
• a reminder that you should not roll your own crypto. Phil Katz was very good in his domain, but the best cryptographers in the world will tell you that it takes much more than one extremely good cryptographer to make a secure algorithm -- it takes many cryptographers who feverishly propose designs and try to break the designs of the others, for a few years, until a seemingly robust design emerges (where "robust" means "none could find the slightest argument to support the idea that they may, possibly, make a dent in it at some unspecified date").
Now, if you use a tool which supports the newer, AES-based encryption, things will look better, provided that the format and implementation were not botched, and the password has sufficient entropy. However, such Zip files will not be opened by the stock WinXP explorer.
If an external tool is required, you might as well rely on a tool which has been thoroughly analyzed for security, both in the format specification and the implementation; in other words, as @D.W. suggests: GnuPG.
As for self-decrypting archives, they are all wrong, since they rely on the user doing exactly what should never be done, i.e. launching an executable which he received by email. If he does open a self-decrypting archive you send him, then he will just, by this action, demonstrate that he is vulnerable to the myriad of virus/worms/whatevers which roam the wild Internet, and he is probably already infected with various malware, including keyloggers.
Nevertheless, there is a way, in your specific situation, to make a self-decrypting archive reasonable. It still needs your client to install a new piece of software, but at least it is straight from Microsoft: the File Checksum Integrity Verifier -- a pompous name for a tool which computes file hashes. Send the self-decrypting archive to your client, and have him save it as a file (without executing it, of course). Then, have him run FCIV on it, to get the SHA-1 hash of the file. Do the same on your side. Finally, compare the two hashes by phone (it is not hard to dictate 40 hexadecimal characters). If the two hashes match, then your client will know that the file was not modified during the transfer, and he will be able to execute it with confidence.
(That is, if your client trusts you, and trusts that your machine is not clock full with virus which could have infected the archive on its way out.)
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This should be the top answer. – Jeremy Stein Oct 24 '12 at 2:26
It isn't that hard to decrypt a password protected ZIP file. There's plenty of apps out there to either figure out the password or just remove the password.
Odds are that no one will be intercepting the email between you and them. Public email servers have a massive amount of data flowing between them. Putting a password on the email is probably good enough. If you need something more secure then look at encrypting the email that the attachment is sent through, or post the file to a secure drop location like drop box (yes I'm aware of the issue they had a couple weeks ago) and send them the link.
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In the light of recent events, I'd consider Dropbox only as cloud storage - convenient but without any actual protection (no matter what their marketing dept. says). Also, "send them the link" - that's every bit as good as sending the file unencrypted, as Dropbox public links need no authentication (thus "has link" == "has file"). – Piskvor Jul 19 '11 at 14:33
"Odds are that no one will be intercepting the email between you and them." - this is poor security posture. I don't think it's even true. All it takes is for someone to read their email over an open wireless network, or to mis-type the To: address and have autocomplete send it to the wrong person. If the data is very sensitive, I wouldn't recommend counting on email to be secure. – D.W. Jul 19 '11 at 20:49
For sensitive data, I'd be a little reluctant to use password-protected ZIP or 7ZIP archives. The current versions of encryption they use has not been well-studied or vetted by independent researchers. Older versions of the software had security weaknesses, which is mild cause for concern. The newer versions might be OK, but since they haven't been independently reviewed, I'm reluctant to place a lot of trust in them. Ideally, something like GPG or PGP is better.
Please be warned that encrypting with a password tends to be weak. Most people choose passwords that do not have enough entropy to be secure against offline search (e.g., dictionary attack, exhaustive search). Moreover, long and strong passwords are inconvenient to use, providing a further disincentive against them.
I recommend that you avoid sending people self-extracting .exe files. That is a security risk. When you send people self-extracting .exe files, you are training them to receive a .exe attachment by email and run it. That is very dangerous practice, from a security perspective. I think the fact that ZIP and 7ZIP encourage this practice is a sign of disregard for security.
If you must use password-based encryption, I recommend: Use GPG or PGP (e.g., gpg -c). The security of GPG's encryption has been well-studied and is strong. Use a long, strong password: e.g., use a utility to generate a cryptographically random password. You want a password that's about 14-16 random characters long, with no patterns whatsoever.
This is probably going to be the easiest option for your client to use, that also provides strong protection.
If you want extra security, store the encrypted data on a CD or DVD, and then send the CD or DVD by Fedex (rather than by email). That way, you get two layers of security: someone can steal the data only if they can get access to the CD or DVD, and if they have the password to decrypt it.
If your clients have trouble using PGP or GPG, you could use a recent version of ZIP or 7ZIP's password encryption. In that case, I would avoid a self-extracting .exe file and I would probably be more inclined to send the encrypted data through the mail (on a CD or DVD) rather than over the Internet.
Alternatively: If your client is technically savvy and you have frequent communications with them, another option is to have them use GPG or PGP to generate a random public keypair, send you their public key, and then you can encrypt data under their public key. This will provide stronger security, if they know how to use GPG or PGP. However, it is less intuitive and so probably not feasible for sending a piece of data to an average client.
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I have used password protected zip files as an ad-hoc encryption mechanism (although I prefer to use GPG when possible). Much is made of password recovery for zip files, but as long as you are using a current version, the only practical recovery mechansim is brute force. I believe both 7-zip and Winzip both support AES-256. If you client already has Winzip, I would use that (just make sure you use AES and not "Legacy" encryption).
The most important aspect of using this is your password (I would recommend a passphrase, at least 16 characters, throw in some special characters). The passphrase has the advantage that brute force is difficult, and you can exchange it over the phone with relative ease.
This is not a perfect mechanism by any means, but it could be good enough for your purposes (depending on the sensitivity of data).
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With dual GTX 295s a 4-char password can be recovered in under an hour.
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That seems like a pretty low rate, given that the possible permutations in their spec (62 chars ^ 4) is only 15 million combinations. Note also that the approach documented relied on human fallibility in the password generation process (they reduce the potential password list by discarding ones that are unlikely to be chosen by a human). EFF's cracker back in 1998 could make about 18,000,000,000 attempts per second against DES. – Chris Thorpe Jul 18 '11 at 21:56
They say why in the paper: "The major obstacle of this cryptanalysis method is that the computational complexity of the hash function is quite high." While a ZIP file can be encrypted with DES, the paper seems to be attacking AES-256, which is much more expensive to attack. – Jodie C Jul 18 '11 at 23:21
Fair point, but ops question wasn't specific. You can crack a 4-char zip password in seconds but, as you say, only if it's DES. – Chris Thorpe Jul 18 '11 at 23:50
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100001
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– a Settings Management solution for Windows.
Setman consists of two parts.
Who needs it?
The intended audience is system administrators who need a tool for implementing settings on multiple workstations in a documented, automated and robust fashion.
Systems administrators can:
To my knowledge no other solution exists. Microsoft's Group Policy and Local Security Policy are all fine and well, but they were designed for enforcing settings – not managing them in general. And they're a bit of a hazzle to customize and extend. And without an Active Directory installation in place, they're not really an option.
Suppose you just want to give users a nicely preconfigured desktop. Or maybe you'd like to move your setting to a new pc. And you want to define these settings once and for all - but still be able to find out exactly how you did it and be able to change them.
Update Nov-12 2003:
The project is now in alpha and a release can be downloaded here.
The documentation is available here and is included in the release.
A brief description of the design is here.
Morten Odgaard Logo
Setman project page on Sourceforge
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100002
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Vicki Welsh shares a downloadable tutorial for making her Show and Tell Tote. You can’t tell from this photo, but this is one big bag – 24″ wide x 20″ tall to be exact. Think of all the stuff you could carry in that! It’s fully lined, with a large pocket on the inside. And it has two sets of handles so you can carry it in your hands or over your shoulder. Brilliant!! Go to her blog to get the tutorial for making it.
[photo from Field Trips in Fiber]
By Anne Weaver
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Speak your mind, and then click submit comment
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100012
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
It would appear that the Client Object Model only retrieves user-defined content types as part of the ContentTypes property for a given web. I would like to create a new content type using Document as a base, but I can't seem to make that work:
ClientContext ctx = new ClientContext("http://server/sites/site/");
// load web object
Web web = ctx.Web;
// load ContentTypes
ContentTypeCollection types = web.ContentTypes;
ContentTypeCreationInformation info = new ContentTypeCreationInformation {
Name = "Custom Document",
Description = "Base type for all Custom docs",
Group = "Custom"
ContentType t = types.Add(info);
This is successful in creating the type, but it derives from Item - so I tried adding in the following for the ContentTypeCreationInformation but it gets effectively ignored... the content type still uses Item as the base. I am guessing it is because I never called Load() and ExecuteQuery() after types.GetById().
ParentContentType = types.GetById("0x0101")
Trying to load that content type by hand doesn't work either - I get a ServerException: Cannot invoke method or retrieve property from null object. Object returned by the following call stack is null. "GetByIdContentTypes"
ContentType doc = types.GetById("0x0101");
Is there a way to create a Content Type using the Client Object Model where I can actually use Document as the base type?
Update 1
I created a content type using the web interface (ctypenew.aspx) that correctly inherits from the Document type. The following code will actually work under this crazy scenario, though I don't love having to create it via the web interface first and look up the ID.
// retrieve stub type created through web interface and get parent type
ContentType doc = types.GetById("0x0101002A430B08213A894C9D23FA4FD6DB068E");
ContentType parent = doc.Parent;
// now create new type using the parent reference
ContentType newType = types.Add(new ContentTypeCreationInformation {
Name = "Custom Document",
Description = "Base type for all Custom types",
Group = "Custom",
ParentContentType = parent
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
up vote 2 down vote accepted
I just tried this code and it works as expected. After I run it I have a new content type named 'Test Document Content Type' that inherits from Document.
var clientContext = new ClientContext("http://win7virtualbox/sites/demo");
var web = clientContext.Web;
var contentTypes = web.ContentTypes;
var info = new ContentTypeCreationInformation();
info.Name = "Test Document Content Type";
info.ParentContentType = contentTypes.GetById("0x0101");
info.Group = "Pluralsight";
var newType = contentTypes.Add(info);
enter image description here
share|improve this answer
The above code doesn't work for me - I get a new Site Content Type named "Test Document Content Type" but the parent is still Item instead of Document. See image: i.imgur.com/8B1GB.png – Goyuix Feb 22 '12 at 16:51
The only think I can think of is that there is an issue with the content type id. Have you tried using the same code to create a content type that inherits from one of the other built-in content types (say Task) and see if that works? – Rob Windsor Feb 22 '12 at 18:24
I tried a few other types as well (Like Basic Page and Picture) without success - it still defaults back to the base of item. I am convinced this must be something peculiar to my environment. Also see Update 1 in my original question as the mystery has expanded. – Goyuix Feb 22 '12 at 20:03
Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100013
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm not incredibly experienced with sharepoint 2010 but I've never had a visual issue this drastic so far. My dropdown list is getting cut off.
Did I do something wrong or is this a known issue? The other thing I'm thinking is it's a case of Silverlight getting into a state that maybe a reboot would fix?
enter image description here
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it's all just HTML that you are seeing there. If the option with the longest name was the first to load that may force things to load correctly. – GavinB May 17 '12 at 4:25
3 Answers 3
The dropdown will expand for the longest option in there ("Resolve ccake/EOM...") - guess its not an option to cut that down a little?
In that case then you can fix the width of the dropdown (html select) using CSS.
You will have to use something like IE developer toolbar to figure out what css selector to use to target the dropdown - something like class or ID should do.
The standard way of adding CSS to an individual page is via the Content Editor Web Part (CEWP) - one example of how to do it -
How to edit list forms in SharePoint 2010
share|improve this answer
CSS should do the trick.
You should be looking for the class .ms-dlgFrameContainer and set it's overflow property to "auto"
.ms-dlgFrameContainer { overflow:auto; }
As the other poster mentioned above, you could just make the change using the CEWP, but I prefer to address the situation as a whole. If you are able to bind another CSS file to your master page then a global solution is the best way to go. If not, consider the option first specified.
share|improve this answer
nevermind... looks like I misread the question. My apologies. – COB May 23 '12 at 14:05
You originally posted this comment as a second answer, and I have changed it to a comment for you. But if your answer no longer applies please just delete your answer. Thanks. – SPDoctor May 24 '12 at 12:58
None of this is Silverlight, so it's definetely not a Silverlight issue.
You can see by the presence of the scroll bar at the bottom that the dropdown is fitting to the full width of the option value. What's happening is the fixed width/position of the dialog itself constraining how much of the form you can see (and demanding horizontal scrolling).
Your only option would be to make the dialog larger, though that would potentially affect all of the dialog boxes in the environment. Think of the dialog as a fancy styled iframe, which you'll see if you hunt through the DOM and look at the structure. The dialog is a specific width, and the iframe fills the dialog. Like any iframe, if the content within it is larger than the dimensions of the iframe, it will induce scrolling (which is what you're seeing here).
You won't be able to inject CSS to change the dialog size on the form, since the form page is inside the iframe, and you need to control the dialog itself (on the original page). You could implement a global solution to change all of the dialog boxes, but one would argue that using more practical (ie shorter) options on the dropdown is a far easier solution.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100014
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am creating Site Collection with Team Site Template. When I tried to create it shows me error that
Note : After I tried to create Custom Content Type which inherits Document Content Type I got this error.
share|improve this question
1 Answer 1
Please activate 'SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure' feature first, to activate the feature go to team site, site action -> site settings -> site collection feature (under Site Collection Administration group) and find 'SharePoint Server Publishing Infrastructure' activate it, please check and let me know if it worked
share|improve this answer
I said when I Create Team Site it is showing error. So how can I Activate Publishing Feature from Central Admin Site Creating Wizard? – Torque Nov 27 '12 at 6:56
Ok got it, but one thing is confusing me at what moment you are getting the error - at the time of site creation or at the time of content type creation? – Diptarag Nov 27 '12 at 7:14
Thanx Diptarag, I got the solution. I find that there was mistake in my code so that's why I was getting error. I changed the code and error was gone. – Torque Nov 27 '12 at 9:59
Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100033
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The Reverse Untrendy
how people crash
Choose to drive on public roads and you have to trust in her ability to multitask.
I love finding new internet things. I never cease to be amazed.
The Nigerian scams that try to trick you into sending money to collect a big prize? Internet to the rescue. A new form of entertainment is born called “scambaiting” where would-be victims turn the tables on the evil motherfuckers.
Scam baiting is a form of Internet vigilantism, where the vigilante poses as a potential victim to the scammer in order to waste their time and resources, gather information that will be of use to authorities, and publicly expose the scammer. It is, in essence, a form of social engineering that may have an altruistic motive or may be motivated by malice. It is primarily used to thwart the Advance-fee fraud scam and can be done out of a sense of civic duty, as a form of amusement, or both.
Source: Wikipedia
OMG! LOLZ! Sometimes I fucking love you, internets. Brilliant!
At the office, we get asshole marketing calls all the freakin’ time. Most turn out to be search engines and credit card processing companies. One of the latter is really bad. They get their jollies off by calling us every day. They act nice up front but as soon as you ask them for the umpteenth time to be taken off their call list, they get really nasty. They’ll snarl and hang up on you.
I get it. I hate my job, too.
The idiocy of this is mind-bogging, though. You think they’d like to make their operation more efficient by trimming their lists of people who hate their guts. Instead they call us every single day. Maybe this is a method of attempting to provoke a suicide. Good thing I don’t keep a gun in my desk.
Internets to the rescue.
I googled their phone number and found one of those “who called us” pages. Suddenly the irritating becomes hilarious. One commenter said, “They threatened to kill my employee.”
I guess that would be a sale that got away, eh? Hahaha!
And then came the comments about people who, driven to the brink of madness, decided to fight back. They feigned interest in the product, scheduled appointments, and then, when someone had the audacity to actually show up, they pointed and laughed at them. It almost gives me hope for the human race. So good!
This post is, of course, about none of that stuff. This post is about The Reverse Untrendy. Nice segue, eh?
Before writing a single word, I worked on the important part first. I went to Flickr and did a search for the word “trendy.” Sometimes the results from that sort of thing will provide a little boost of inspiration and add a bit of unexpected spice to my writing. It can take me places I didn’t originally intend to go.
Not so much this time, but it did eventually lead me to the image above, which I liked so much it gets included whether it really fits or not. It’s my blog. I make the rules. (Where else can I say that in this life?) So eat it.
Naturally this all led to the discovery of another one of those internet things. This time, it’s people taking pictures of people talking on phones while driving and posting them to the net. Wow, how much fun is that? For me it was love at first byte.
Sometimes it even goes beyond that. It can get a little proactive, I guess. Like writing on someone’s back window, “U cell phone drivers – Get a Life!” and posting a picture of that to the internet, too.
I deem that to be healthy vigilantism. And to think I used to settle for hockin’ a loogie on the driver’s side window and walking away. So much wasted opportunity.
Now I can’t help but wonder what else I’m missing. What other bits of internet goodness are out there just waiting for me to discover them? The journey awaits!
My topic seems lame and boring after all that setup (which it is) but here goes.
This week I caught myself doing the exact opposite of what I wanted. I realized what was going on and immediately dubbed it The Reverse Untrendy. Here’s how it works.
I could give a flying damn about what anyone thinks. I proactively put effort into being the opposite of trendy. That’s how I roll. I even have memories as far back as high school of accusing my friend on the football team of doing things for the sole purpose of being trendy. Things like his cowboy hat with the feather band (that often needed blocking), his sunglasses, the certain kind of jeans he had to wear, etc. We chose to disagree about such things. The point is, I’ve obviously been feeling this way for a long time. Trendiness offends me.
How far can you take this?
Sometimes I end up parked next to the boss in the parking lot. He always backs in. And not very well, either. Sometimes he ends up on the curb. He just shrugs and leaves it sloppy, like he does with everything in his life.
I prefer to back in, too. One of my shit duties is taking packages to the post office after the post office is closed because rules and deadlines don’t apply to the boss. And I prefer to load the packages from the driver’s side of the car so I can unload them the same way. So it makes sense for me to back in, too, so I can easily get to the driver’s side.
If I do this, though, both of our cars end up side by side and both backed in.
I was about to do this the other day, when a thought crossed my brain. I pulled away, turned my car around, and pulled in front first, even though this is the exact opposite of what I wanted.
Even though I normally don’t give a holy damn what people think, this time I suddenly cared. I didn’t want anyone to think I was emulating that asshole. Someone might think I was aping him out of some feeling of respect. And I can’t have that.
Doing the opposite of what you want just so people won’t think something untrue about you? I call that The Reverse Untrendy. At my current level of development, that’s what makes the most sense for me. I’d rather die than having anyone thinking I look up to that asshole.
Can you figure out a way to apply The Reverse Untrendy to your own life? Give it a try and let me know how it goes! I’m here to help.
12 responses
1. You’ve been stalking me for a long time, haven’t you? This is so my life…
I will do the exact opposite of something – even if I know it’s good for me – just because someone mentions I should do it, or bugs me about it, or even hints that I should think about it.
You know, normally they would call this Oppositional Disorder.
I prefer your terminology. Trendiness is for sheep. I’d rather be a purple alligator. Standing out in a crowd, and picking my teeth with the wool of my victims.
1. “Stalking” has such a negative connotation, doesn’t it? I prefer the phrase, “assertively follow.”
Just kidding. Stalking is fine! :)
Oppositional Disorder? You mean my observation already has a name? Damn you, Google!!!
I’m with you all the way, in a non-trendy sense, of course. We anti-trendy people have got to stick together!
2. So, isn’t the person holding the camera or taking a picture with a cell phone of the person using the cell phone just as dangerous, or am I missing something?
1. I so much enjoy the logic that you bring to the table. Well played.
I, of course, prefer to assume the very best about people. So I assume it’s something like a passenger who has the best photographic angle on the bad people.
Or, maybe we flip things and start a new genre of taking pictures of assholes who are in the act of taking pictures of assholes?
Yeah, I rather like that. I’ll be the one with the camera!
3. Reblogged this on Shouts from the Abyss and commented:
No special reason for this bit of regurgitation. It was selected by the WordPress “random post” feature. I think it reads as good today as when originally written. Yes, that’s meant as an insult.
4. I’d rather be comfortable than trendy, any day of the week, regardless of what anyone else is doing.
1. Always wear comfortable shoes. Anything else isn’t worth it.
5. I was going to comment about taking picture of assholes who are taking pictures of assholes in their cars who are talking on cellphones in their cars, when I discovered that you and Steve had already covered that topic. Instead, I’ll wonder why so much of the money we’ve donated to Sally Struthers to feed starving babies was spent on computers and internet access so that Nigerians could try to bilk my elderly parents out of my inheritance.
6. I love the idea of terrorizing these phone callers and giving them a taste of their own foul medicine. My brother has, once in a while, simply put the phone down and walked away, leaving them to talk to the air. Honestly, as far as untrendy, my photo is next to that word in the dictionary. I cannot keep up with trends because I either can’t afford to or I don’t care to. I’m an uncouth slob and have grown to find it comforting.
1. I curse the invention of phones that don’t require cords. It’s not a good thing.
Bringeth forth thy pith and vinegar
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100037
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Mr. Bean
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Mr. Bean is a British comedy television series. It is made up of fourteen 25-minute episodes. All of them were written by and star Rowan Atkinson as the main character. Different episodes were also written by Robin Driscoll, Richard Curtis and one by Ben Elton. The first episode was shown on ITV on 1 January 1990. The last television episode, "Goodnight Mr. Bean" broadcast on 31 October 1995. The final episode, "Hair by Mr. Bean of London", was a video released on 15 November 1995, but not shown in the United Kingdom until 2006.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100038
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Pelham Humfrey
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Pelham Humfrey (also: Humphrey) (born London 1647; died Windsor 14 July 1674) was an English composer in the Baroque period. Although he died at the age of 26 he had an important influence on English composers such as William Turner and Henry Purcell. He lived at the time of the Restoration, when England was ruled by a king once more after two decades of republican rule, during which music had not been allowed in churches.
Life[change | change source]
We do not know much detail about his early life. He seems to have been a choirboy in the Chapel Royal by 1660. During this time he was obviously becoming a very gifted composer. Other boys in the choir included John Blow and William Turner. As a young man he travelled to France where he heard music by French composers such as Lully and Italians such as Carissimi. This helped him to form his own style. He became a Gentleman of the Chapel Royal. He wrote some fine anthems, although the diarist Samuel Pepys thought that he was showing off. This may be because Pepys did not like the new kind of music. He married the daughter of his old choir master Henry Cooke. He became Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal. This meant that he was in charge of the children in the king's chapel choir. He was also a court composer.
He became ill and died at the age of 26. He was buried in the cloisters of Westminster Abbey.
His music[change | change source]
Humfrey composed a lot of music during his very short life. It helped to form the English Baroque style. He mostly wrote church music, but he also wrote some music for the theatre.
Humfrey liked to compose music which excited people's emotions. Some of his melodies jump around in unexpected ways. There is a lot of chromaticism. Some of his best anthems include: O Lord my God, By the waters of Babylon and Like as the hart. He wrote 27 songs. Five of them are religious songs, and they are some of the best songs of that time.
References[change | change source]
• The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie; 1980; ISBN 1561-59174-2
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100044
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Singletrack Forum » Topic: Nightjars. Bad year? en-US Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:55:05 +0000 <![CDATA[Search]]> q beagle on "Nightjars. Bad year?" Thu, 24 May 2012 22:54:50 +0000 beagle 3825661@ <p>Could be a stupid question. ...what time of day were you looking :-)?</p> <p>Assuming you've gone at dusk, I've found a direct correlation between their activity and the light being absent just enough so I can't get a good look at the blighters!!!! They seem to show later than I expect when I've gone searching.</p> <p>You may be onto something with the weather though? I'm no expert though. </p> <p>Keep us posted with any sightings! </p> billyboy on "Nightjars. Bad year?" Thu, 24 May 2012 20:59:37 +0000 billyboy 3825206@ <p>I've been out over the Ashdown Forest this week looking for Nightjars, but I didn't find any. Are the Nightjars as upset with the Ashdown Forest Conservators as we mountain bikers are? Or are there other forces at work here? Bad weather? was I just unlucky? </p>
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100053
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Forgot your password?
Comment: Re:Energy companies will fight this report (Score 3, Informative) 605
by ciclano (#42114801) Attached to: Seas Rising Faster Than Projected
Energy or oil? If to defeat the much less powerfull tobaco industry misinformation war took 50 years. Oil companies have much more money and resources.
We must demand that the oil companies collect the garbage generated by the product they sell just as happens with batteries and tires.
Comment: Please help me to understand (Score 1) 518
by ciclano (#42052803) Attached to: Climate Contrarians Seek Leadership of House Science Committee
Not sure I understand the debate of global warming. To me it looks like the following:
Evidence: the earth is warming, no one disagrees.
Hypothesis 1 - The cause is the emission of greenhouse gases generated by human activity such as fossil fuel burning and agriculture.
Hypothesis 2 - It is a natural cycle that has no known cause ...
Is that right?
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100063
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Generate CSExport to csv file
• hello,
i'am using a script that permits me to parse a CSExport Generated XML File Into A Scoped CSV.
I want only to get the users wich are connected to my connector space.
when i use $csObject.connector -eq "1", in the result csv file i have some users which are not connected and are not in the Metaverse ?
is there another attribut that permit me to export only connected users ?
vendredi 21 février 2014 13:56
Toutes les réponses
• Hello,
Normally this attribute works well.
Try to use this attribute in our export file :
<mv-link lineage-id="{ID}" lineage-type="provisioning-rules"
If you have a link between the CS and MV, you have a lineage-type ="provisioning-rules", ="projection-rules" or ="join-rules".
A disconnected object doesn't have any link.
vendredi 21 février 2014 14:22
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100066
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next up previous contents
Next: Agree Agenda and Up: Minutes of the Previous: Contents
Action Items SOHO SWT--23
Action 23-1: on PIs to respond immediately to Alan Title ([email protected]) regarding the NASA Senior Science Review proposal (with cc to Art). What Alan needs is:
Bernhard Fleck
Tue Jan 6 15:27:26 EST 1998
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100068
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The Common Good
Jim Wallis at ICIC12
Date: June 1, 2012
We were thrilled to have Jim Wallis as a featured keynote speaker at the Illinois Conference on Interfaith Collaboration back in April. Cameron and Greg were both involved in organizing the first-of-its-kind event. Jim’s keynote address was intended to be a conversation with IFYC founder Eboo Patel, but Eboo’s flight out of New York earlier that morning was delayed and he missed the connection to Champaign-Urbana. Enjoy what Jim Wallis has to say about interfaith collaboration.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100074
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Need a gift for a gifted musician?
Gift page
Juan Carlos Sanchez 10 Juan Carlos Castro Sanchez
• my favorites 2 tracks, 8.29 Juan Carlos Sanchez 10 on February 04, 2013 19:16
1. 1. Luz Verde (versión para descarga gratuita) by Madamerecamier 3.43 5916 plays
2. 2. Skrillex - Leaving by Skrillex 4.46 1931296 plays
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100086
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Shuttle-Mir Stories
Lucid picks a book out of her bookrack in the Spektr module.
Lucid on Books on Mir
For recreation onboard Mir, crewmembers watch movies, view the Earth, read books, and pursue other activities. In her Oral History, U.S. astronaut Shannon Lucid discusses the books Mir.
She says, "The Russians have a fairly extensive library up on Mir, because over the years, ... lots of Russian books ... have come up. Behind one panel, [it] was just full of books. There were even a few English in there. ... But I did bring the most English books up."
Regarding her Mir reading experience, Lucid says, "It brought home the power that authors have... Here I was .. reading 'David Copperfield' and 'Bleak House.' I thought, 'Wow, here was this guy [who] lived in a totally different era than we're living, and it had never ever crossed his mind that his book would be being read ... by an American, on a Russian space station.' I mean, that would have just absolutely blown his mind -- that the words that he penned way back there in England, I was reading [at this moment, on Mir]."
Lucid says she thought often, "about the power that authors have. And [about Dickens'] ideas and [how] his story was transcending the centuries, transcending culture..."
Related Links:
Life on Mir
Lucid Increment
Profile: Shannon Lucid
Shannon Lucid Oral History (PDF)
Text only version available
Other viewing suggestions.
NASA Web Policy
Curator: Kim Dismukes
Responsible NASA Official: John Ira Petty
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100104
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
Screenshot / Code Snippet
Alt text
I created this mostly for fun, with a little bit of learning thrown in. It's a super-simple implementation of a client for the Stack Exchange API written in Grails. It served as a quick means of exploring and learning about the API, and I hope others might use it to do the same.
Seeing as I've never released anything with a license before, I pick... the Apache licence.
Source download is available on GitHub at http://github.com/kellyrob99/stackoverflow-api-grails. The implementation is described on my blog in A Grails App Demoing the Stack Exchange API.
This should run on all platforms and has been tested in Tomcat.
Kelly Robinson. Please leave a comment on the blog if you need to contact me.
This is a Groovy and Grails (v1.3.1) applications written using IntelliJ IDEA and its excellent Grails integration. Code is available on GitHub, http://github.com/kellyrob99/stackoverflow-api-grails. Feel free to fork it and do with it what you will. Cheers.
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Browse other questions tagged .
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100106
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
Is it possible to access CouchDB 'directly' from Erlang, meaning use function calls from within Erlang? Furthermore, I'd like this not to be so much a 'wrapper' around the generic REST api, but a bona-fide 'direct linkage' if possible. In other words, I'd like to either have CouchDB 'embedded' in an Erlang app I'm writing, or perhaps the opposite ('embed' my app in CouchDB). In other words, I'd like to use CouchDB from within Erlang much as one can use Mnesia or anything else (just access a module or modules, fire up an Erlang application, whatever).
EDIT: CouchDB and my application in same Erlang VM, if possible.
I am currently in the (long, headache-inducing) process of evaluating a bunch of so-called 'no-sql' databases. I need to use such a database from Erlang, but as with most everything else Erlang, it's been a joke. I'll find a database that seems to fit my needs, then find out the only driver available is a 'joke' driver that someone posted on github which is old, not officially-supported, experimental, etc. Then I go back to the drawing board, only to stumble again. Most recently, I evaluated MongoDB and liked what I saw. Alas, the driver was some github-posted thing, and it failed to compile due to syntax errors. I 'hacked' the code to eliminate the syntax errors, but really had no idea what those faulty parts of the code did, therefore strongly suspect I didn't fix it to do what the developer intended (thus I'm sure I introduced bugs or logical errors). Thus, again, back to the drawing board.
The main problem is that Erlang isn't Python or Ruby or [insert other popular 'hot' language], thus it just isn't well-supported once you delve into anything that wasn't included within Erlang. This is forever a pain.
A few more notes:
Riak doesn't seem to do what I want (it has some 'eventual consistency' model where as I need something resembling ACID or transactions, at least partially, and at least for some things).
I did stumble upon some 'Hovercraft' thingy for CouchDB but wasn't able to ascertain if it does what I'm asking for in this post.
Mnesia is limited to 4GB tables or whatever, so that's out.
I'm really just trying to get a quick 'go/no-go' answer on whether to evaluate CouchDB more fully, or go back to the drawing board again.
You are also welcome to recommend whatever solution (i.e. database) you think fits with what I'm asking for.
share|improve this question
2 Answers 2
up vote 0 down vote accepted
Your best bet is a CouchDB plugin (sample plugin + brief plugin video)
Basically, you can write an Erlang application that's loaded directly in with CouchDB, so you have access to all the internals. Unfortunately, it's not well documented yet. However, this is the next major thing they are working on making really easy, so if you direct questions to the mailing list, (dev is probably your best bet) you'll likely get lots of help.
share|improve this answer
Yes, you can. There is hovercraft, but you might have to update it to match modern API. CouchDB's Erlang API is not something that guaranteed to be stable for now since primary communication interface is the REST API.
If you need something more, you may take a look on RCouch fork. This is static distribution of a bit enhanced CouchDB that uses rebar and could be embedded much more easily than original project.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100107
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
Can we have a body for the default constructor in C++?
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The morgue is that way -> – Crazy Eddie Feb 8 '11 at 20:29
4 Answers 4
up vote 11 down vote accepted
Yes, of course you can. Any constructor that doesn't require an argument is a default constructor.
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Yep, as simple as: class A { public: A() { /* your body here */ } }; – James Michael Hare Feb 8 '11 at 20:15
@James: I certainly do not want my body to be displayed in public! – FredOverflow Feb 8 '11 at 20:21
@FredOverflow: you say that as if there was such a thing as a programmer whose body should be displayed in public. I'm in shape -- "round" is a shape, isn't it? – Jerry Coffin Feb 8 '11 at 20:22
Yes the default constructor (ie. the one without any parameters) can have a body like any other constructor. This is a good place to put "default" initializing code. Set member variables to sensible values. Perhaps set pointers to null or allocate component objects.
Perhaps the word 'default' is the cause of confusion? It is a default in terms of being called without any specific parameters, not necessarily the default if there's no definition.
share|improve this answer
It is not required to explicitly specify a default constructor. However it is good practice to go ahead and explicitly implement one, this way you are not relying on the default behavior to be what you really want.
If you do implement a public default constructor it definitely should have a body, even if it is empty.
In some cases it is ok to have a protected or private ctor. If the ctor is private (refered to as a hidden constructor) ctor is private then it is ok if it does not have a function body because it can never be called.
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Constructor is used to initialize the members of a class. So, surely any constructor can have a body. By providing yourself a constructor, you are just over riding the default constructor.
class foo
int x ;
foo() // default constructor
x=10; // How ever you can achieve this with initializer lists too.
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Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100108
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
i am trying to implement the openid concept but failed. i have try different sample form internet and run them. when i run they ask me for authetication for provider. suppose i select google they redirect me to gmail site. i enter my email and password and submit it. but instead of redirect me to successful login page. it redirect me to login page and said login Failed case execute. one thing more when i open my gmail account it has opened. i dont know why status is failed. this bit of code one of sample i have tried.
using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web;
using System.Web.UI;
using System.Web.UI.WebControls;
using DotNetOpenAuth.OpenId;
using DotNetOpenAuth.OpenId.RelyingParty;
public partial class Login : System.Web.UI.Page
protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
OpenIdRelyingParty OIDRP = new OpenIdRelyingParty();
IAuthenticationResponse str = OIDRP.GetResponse();
if (str != null)
switch (str.Status)
case AuthenticationStatus.Authenticated:
NotLoggedIn.Visible = false;
Session["GoogleIdentifier"] = str.ClaimedIdentifier.ToString();
Response.Redirect("Home.aspx"); //redirect to main page of your website
case AuthenticationStatus.Canceled:
lblMessage.Text = "Cancelled.";
case AuthenticationStatus.Failed:
lblMessage.Text = "Login Failed.";
protected void OpenLogin_Click(object src, CommandEventArgs e)
string str = e.CommandArgument.ToString();
OpenIdRelyingParty openid = new OpenIdRelyingParty();
var b = new UriBuilder(Request.Url) { Query = "" };
IAuthenticationRequest req= openid.CreateRequest(str, b.Uri, b.Uri);
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1 Answer 1
I had this same problem. The time on my server was off by just a few minutes and the ticket was expiring.
See: DotNetOpenAuth Failing to work on Live Server
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Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100109
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
I've got a REST service set up to access information stored in a database.
I'd like to be able to access based on either an item's id or name.
So lets say I've got a record
name | id | description
mine | 65 | "my thing"
I'd like to be able to access this item through either:
I'm using Jersey (Java library). Is there a way I can define the PathParam to accept either an int or a String WITHOUT using object.typeOf()?
I'd like to avoid this:
public String getItem(@PathParam("identifier") Object identifier){
share|improve this question
Do you mean .class instead of .typeOf()? – Jeremy Heiler May 12 '11 at 19:10
I was just free forming the typeOf() bit. Mike's answer below shows the correct Java syntax for that. Good catch though. Thanks! – Tyler DeWitt May 12 '11 at 20:28
Jochen mentioned this below but it's worth emphasizing: This whole scheme is doomed to failure if it's possible to use "4711" as a name. So make sure that can't happen! :) – MatrixFrog May 26 '11 at 21:34
1 Answer 1
up vote 4 down vote accepted
If you're looking for a "clean" solution - I don't think there is one. But you could do this:
public String getItem(@PathParam("identifier") String identifier){
try {
return getByID( Long.parseLong(identifier) );
} catch (NumberFormatException ex) {
return getByName( identifier );
Also, this won't compile - there's no such method as typeOf():
I think you meant:
if (identifier instanceof String)
EDIT: And anyway, your original idea (setting the parameter type to Object, then checking for the exact instance type) won't work; the container has no way of knowing that the path element may be an integer, so it won't attempt to parse it as an integer, and it'll just give you a String every time.
share|improve this answer
+1 using string and parsing a long if needed is the cleanest way of doing it. – fmucar May 12 '11 at 19:30
Great idea on attempting to parse out a Long. Thanks! – Tyler DeWitt May 12 '11 at 20:26
Unless someone comes along and names an item 4711 ... – Jochen Bedersdorfer May 12 '11 at 21:59
Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100110
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
What is the fastest way (if there is any other) to convert a std::vector from one datatype to another (with the idea to save space)? For example:
std::vector<unsigned short> ----> std::vector<bool>
we obviously assume that the first vector only contains 0s and 1s. Copying element by element is highly inefficient in case of a really large vector.
Conditional question: If you think there is no way to do it faster, is there a complex datatype which actually allows fast conversion from one datatype to another?
share|improve this question
Er, you have to convert all elements of a vector, without converting all elements of a vector? There is a name for that: magic. – R. Martinho Fernandes Oct 26 '11 at 7:36
Why not just treat unsigned short as bool to avoid copying all together? – Nikolai N Fetissov Oct 26 '11 at 7:36
@NikolaiNFetissov: The OP wants to save memory. std::vector<bool> is specialized to be memory efficient. – Björn Pollex Oct 26 '11 at 7:39
@ R. Martinho Fernandes: You got it!!! I do want magic, unfortainatly std::do_magic() does not seem to exist. – inf.ig.sh Oct 26 '11 at 8:02
@Björn, vector<bool> is a disaster. Even STL authors admit it was a mistake. – Nikolai N Fetissov Oct 26 '11 at 18:41
6 Answers 6
up vote 9 down vote accepted
A std::vector<bool> is... not. std::vector has a specialization for the use of the type bool, which causes certain changes in the vector. Namely, it stops acting like a std::vector.
There are certain things that the standard guarantees you can do with a std::vector. And vector<bool> violates those guarantees. So you should be very careful about using them.
Anyway, I'm going to pretend you said vector<int> instead of vector<bool>, as the latter really complicates things.
Only if you do it wrong.
Vector casting of the type you want needs to be done carefully to be efficient. The biggest problem you'll have for simple types is not doing this:
std::vector<int> newVec(oldVec.size());
That's bad. That will allocate a buffer of the proper size, but it will also fill it with data. Namely, default-constructed ints (int()).
Instead, you should do this:
std::vector<int> newVec;
This reserves capacity equal to the original vector, but it also ensures that no default construction takes place. You can now push_back to your hearts content, knowing that you will never cause reallocation in your new vector.
From there, you can just loop over each entry in the old vector, doing the conversion as needed.
share|improve this answer
+1 for the vector-bool advice. Until I had a knock-down ... discussion ... here with someone a few days back, I didn't realise how ... questionable ... it was. The trick to get a full capacity vector without constructing any elements is also good. You just may want to consider using char as the underlying type rather than int (since int will be at least as wide as short). But assuming that's just an example showing how to copy efficiently, the answer's very good. – paxdiablo Oct 26 '11 at 7:46
Your answear ist pretty much exactly what i was looking for. Thanks. – inf.ig.sh Oct 26 '11 at 8:07
What was the -1 for? – Nicol Bolas Oct 26 '11 at 8:34
-1 for warning about vector<bool> instead of suggesting the best and most obvious solution, which is the constructor that takes two iterators. Kibitzing about the details of the example belongs in the comments or at the end of the answer, not as a replacement for the best solution... – Steve Jessop Oct 26 '11 at 8:49
@SteveJessop: Your suggestion requires not only ignoring the dangers inherent in using vector<bool>, but it also requires an implicit conversion between the types in question. Which, in this example may be a bool, but the OP certainly seemed to suggest went beyond just this example. Writing an implicit conversion is not something to be done for every type. – Nicol Bolas Oct 26 '11 at 9:15
You should be able to use assign like this:
vector<unsigned short> v;
vector<bool> u;
u.assign(v.begin(), v.end());
share|improve this answer
You can do this directly in the constructor: std::vector<bool> u(b.begin(), v.end());. – Björn Pollex Oct 26 '11 at 7:41
@BjörnPollex: that should be u(v.begin(), v.end()); I think? – Chap Dec 4 '13 at 2:23
@Chap: Yes, there is a typo there. The comment is to old to be edited though. Thanks for spotting that. – Björn Pollex Dec 4 '13 at 9:41
There's no way to avoid the copy, since a std::vector<T> is a distinct type from std::vector<U>, and there's no way for them to share the memory. Other than that, it depends on how the data is mapped. If the mapping corresponds to an implicit conversion (e.g. unsigned short to bool), then simply creating a new vector using the begin and end iterators from the old will do the trick:
std::vector<bool> newV( oldV.begin(), oldV.end() );
If the mapping isn't just an implicit conversion (and this includes cases where you want to verify things; e.g. that the unsigned short does contain only 0 or 1), then it gets more complicated. The obvious solution would be to use std::transform:
std::vector<TargetType> newV;
newV.reserve( oldV.size() ); // avoids unnecessary reallocations
std::transform( oldV.begin(), oldV.end(),
std::back_inserter( newV ),
TranformationObject() );
, where TranformationObject is a functional object which does the transformation, e.g.:
struct ToBool : public std::unary_function<unsigned short, bool>
bool operator()( unsigned short original ) const
if ( original != 0 && original != 1 )
throw Something();
return original != 0;
(Note that I'm just using this transformation function as an example. If the only thing which distinguishes the transformation function from an implicit conversion is the verification, it might be faster to verify all of the values in oldV first, using std::for_each, and then use the two iterator constructor above.)
Depending on the cost of default constructing the target type, it may be faster to create the new vector with the correct size, then overwrite it:
std::vector<TargetType> newV( oldV.size() );
TranformationObject() );
Finally, another possibility would be to use a boost::transform_iterator. Something like:
std::vector<TargetType> newV(
boost::make_transform_iterator( oldV.begin(), TranformationObject() ),
boost::make_transform_iterator( oldV.end(), TranformationObject() ) );
In many ways, this is the solution I prefer; depending on how boost::transform_iterator has been implemented, it could also be the fastest.
share|improve this answer
Thank you very much this was really informative. I wish i could also mark this answear as the right one. – inf.ig.sh Oct 26 '11 at 12:40
The fastest way to do it is to not do it. For example, if you know in advance that your items only need a byte for storage, use a byte-size vector to begin with. You'll find it difficult to find a faster way than that :-)
If that's not possible, then just absorb the cost of the conversion. Even if it's a little slow (and that's by no means certain, see Nicol's excellent answer for details), it's still necessary. If it wasn't, you would just leave it in the larger-type vector.
share|improve this answer
Of course it is better to use the proper datatype from the beginning. – inf.ig.sh Oct 26 '11 at 7:58
Copying element by element is not highly inefficient. std::vector provides constant access time to any of its elements, hence the operation will be O(n) overall. You will not notice it.
share|improve this answer
Just because an operation is O(n) doesn't mean its impact is not noticeable. Or are you using linear lists to store data for random access ? – FrankH. Oct 26 '11 at 8:39
First, a warning: Don't do what I'm about to suggest. It's dangerous and must never be done. That said, if you just have to squeeze out a tiny bit more performance No Matter What...
First, there are some caveats. If you don't meet these, you can't do this:
1. The vector must contain plain-old-data. If your type has pointers, or uses a destructor, or needs an operator = to copy correctly ... do not do this.
2. The sizeof() both vector's contained types must be the same. That is, vector< A > can copy from vector< B > only if sizeof(A) == sizeof(B).
Here is a fairly stable method:
vector< A > a;
vector< B > b;
a.resize( b.size() );
assert( sizeof(vector< A >::value_type) == sizeof(vector< B >::value_type) );
if( b.size() == 0 )
memcpy( &(*a.begin()), &(*b.begin()), b.size() * sizeof(B) );
This does a very fast, block copy of the memory contained in vector b, directly smashing whatever data you have in vector a. It doesn't call constructors, it doesn't do any safety checking, and it's much faster than any of the other methods given here. An optimizing compiler should be able to match the speed of this in theory, but unless you're using an unusually good one, it won't (I checked with Visual C++ a few years ago, and it wasn't even close).
Also, given these constraints, you could forcibly (via void *) cast one vector type to the other and swap them -- I had a code sample for that, but it started oozing ectoplasm on my screen, so I deleted it.
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Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100111
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
I'm trying to prepopulate the data in my django form based on some information, but NOT using ModelForm, so I can't just set the instance.
This seems like it should be really easy, but for some reason I can't find any documentation telling me how to do this. This is my form:
class MyForm(forms.Form):
charfield1 = forms.CharField(max_length=3)
charfield2 = forms.CharField(max_length=3)
choicefield = forms.ModelChoiceField(MyModel.objects.all())
I tried just doing:
form = MyForm()
form.charfield1 = "foo"
form.charfield2 = "bar"
# a model choice field
form.choicefield = MyModel.objects.get(id=3)
which does not work.
share|improve this question
3 Answers 3
up vote 49 down vote accepted
form = MyForm({'charfield1': 'foo', 'charfield2': 'bar'})
The constructor of Form objects can take a dictionary of field values. This creates a bound form, which can be used to validate the data and render the form as HTML with the data displayed. See the forms API documentation for more details.
For the sake of completeness, if you do not want to bind the form, and you just want to declare initial values for some fields, you can use the following instead:
form = MyForm(initial={'charfield1': 'foo', 'charfield2': 'bar'})
See the documentation of initial values for details.
share|improve this answer
thanks - this works. However, it doesn't work with the foreign key to a model. I tried passing in the model instance itself in the dictionary, which throws an exception, and i tried passing in the pk/id, which doesn't fail, but doesn't pre-load it correctly in my form UI. – Cory Jun 1 '09 at 20:02
Using the object id should work. I've just tested it with a ModelChoiceField. Could you please show us your form definition? – Ayman Hourieh Jun 1 '09 at 20:13
added the form definition in the edit. – Cory Jun 1 '09 at 20:26
I tested again. The following works (2 is an id of an object in the model): MyForm({'charfield1': 'foo', 'charfield2': 'bar', 'choicefield': '2'}). Are you sure you are using an id that exists in the database? I can't think of anything else that may cause this at the moment. – Ayman Hourieh Jun 1 '09 at 20:34
strange, i added another field and it just started working.... – Cory Jun 1 '09 at 21:19
There are two ways of populating a Django form.
The first is to pass a dictionary as the first argument when you instantiate it (or pass it as the data kwarg, which is the same thing). This is what you do when you want to use POST data to populate and validate the form.
data_dict = {'charfield1': 'data1', 'charfield2': 'data2', 'choicefield': 3}
form = MyForm(data_dict)
However, this will trigger validation on the form, so only works if you are actually passing in valid and complete data to begin with - otherwise you will start off with errors.
The other way to populate a form is to use the initial parameter (documented here). This gives initial values for the form fields, but does not trigger validation. It's therefore suitable if you're not filling in all values, for example.
form = MyForm(initial=data_dict)
To populate a choicefield via initial, use the pk value.
share|improve this answer
Based on the above how do you provide data to customer form fields? – Chris Oct 29 '11 at 23:03
@Chris, if you have a question and it's not covered by the above, please open a new question and ask it there, with full details. – Daniel Roseman Oct 30 '11 at 12:15
It was a side question related to this answer. – Chris Oct 30 '11 at 15:30
Does the initial value go away when the focus is brought to the filed? I ask because what if you wanted to prefill or initialize the field with data but allow the user to append to it when entering data? Or, better yet, in some cases, force user to append (since the initial value is required by the validation anyway)? – nicorellius Feb 26 at 0:16
You can use model_to_dict() to convert an instance to a dictionary, and then populate a form with that. Something like this should work:
from django.forms.models import model_to_dict
my_obj = MyModel.objects.get(abc=123)
form = MyForm(initial=model_to_dict(my_obj))
Note: I'm using django version 1.3
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Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100114
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Approximate Dynamic Programming via Iterated Bellman Inequalities
Y. Wang, B. O'Donoghue, and S. Boyd
To appear, International Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, 2014. Original manuscript posted June 2010.
In this paper we introduce new methods for finding functions that lower bound the value function of a stochastic control problem, using an iterated form of the Bellman inequality. Our method is based on solving linear or semidefinite programs, and produces both a bound on the optimal objective, as well as a suboptimal policy that appears to work very well. These results extend and improve bounds obtained in a previous paper using a single Bellman inequality condition. We describe the methods in a general setting, and show how they can be applied in specific cases including the finite state case, constrained linear quadratic control, switched affine control, and multi-period portfolio investment.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100150
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
I have a template set up in Snow Leopard's Terminal.app to create a new window or tab with my preferred emulation settings for a particular host that I use.
I'd like to assign a keyboard shortcut to that template so that I can quickly create a new window with those settings.
I tried using the Keyboard Shortcuts System Preference pane to do it. I can assign the shortcut key to the MyTemplate submenu, but it doesn't work when I try to use it. I suspect because the MyTemplate is listed in multiple submenus -- one for New Window and one for New Tab.
How can I assign a keyboard shortcut to my new fancy template?
PS. I do NOT wish to change my default (cmd-N) template.
share|improve this question
Follow-up question posted superuser.com/questions/177574/… – user31752 Aug 19 '10 at 2:35
If this is important to you, please file a bug report: developer.apple.com/bugreporter (If you don't already have one, it requires a developer account, but it's free.) – Chris Page Oct 12 '11 at 4:59
3 Answers 3
Open Automator, create a new Service with the following Run AppleScript action (no input):
tell application "Terminal"
activate # switch to Terminal, launch if necessary
tell application "System Events"
keystroke "t" using command down # open a new tab
end tell
set current settings of selected tab of front window to first settings set whose name is "MyTemplate" # switch settings to your template
end tell
The service will be accessible from the Services menu, and you can assign a shortcut in System Preferences » Keyboard » Keyboard Shortcuts » Services
Edited to add: You can specify whether you want this service to work globally by specifying any application or Terminal in Automator. Both work with this code, it just determined in which applications the service shows up.
share|improve this answer
If you can live with a new window instead of a new tab, you can bypass the whole System Events GUI scripting part and just use do script "" – Terminal will open a new window for scripts launched from AppleScript if no tab or window object is specified with an in clause. – kopischke Nov 10 '11 at 11:06
You could save a setup into .term file and then use a third party launcher (Quicksilver?) to start it from there.
share|improve this answer
Thanks mankoff. Not a bad idea, but I was hoping for something that wouldn't require a launcher – emmby Mar 26 '10 at 3:37
You could do it with Spotlight... Still uses a launcher but at least not 3rd party. Sorry I can't think of much else at this point... – user31752 Mar 29 '10 at 22:29
Hmm.. You could do it without a keyboard shortcut, using your mouse instead. Drag the .term file into the Dock, launch by clicking? I guess you can also use a keyboard shortcut to access the dock too. – user31752 Mar 29 '10 at 22:30
Any utility able to assign a hotkey to a specific file will do (I use Alfred with the PowerPack). One caveat: this will not reflect changes you make to the profile in Terminal.app unless you remember to export the profile every time. – kopischke Nov 10 '11 at 10:55
If you don’t want to use a launcher, OS X’s Automator services will do too (see @DanielBeck’s answer) – create an Automator service opening the .term file (you can do that entirely with the inbuilt actions – no AppleScript needed) and assign it a keyboard shortcut in System Preferences. Note however Automator services tend to react very slooooowly at first launch – a dedicated launcher would probably be much more reactive. – kopischke Nov 10 '11 at 11:10
I assume your suspicion is correct that the same item in multiple sub-menus is the problem. I've assigned keyboard shortcuts to submenu items without any problem when the string was unique.
Therefore, one approach would be to remove the "New Tab" menu item entirely. Try editing the user interface element that defines the menu.
Use plutil and the command line to make a compiled NIB editable, or there are some hints online about copying the compiled NIB into an application that uses uncompiled NIBS and then using Interface Builder.app.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer
|
global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100151
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
Is it possible to set default parameters for an application in Windows XP? (without using a shortcut) For example, I want Firefox to run with the parameters "-p username" when I run "firefox.exe".
share|improve this question
How do usually you start Firefox? Direct from the install directory or via shortcut or batch file? – Umber Ferrule Jul 27 '09 at 8:06
I start using a shortcut. An example problem here is that I can't associate ".htm" files with a shortcut, they can only be associated with an executable file. – swamplord Jul 27 '09 at 22:06
6 Answers 6
up vote 6 down vote accepted
Run regedit and take a look at the key:
`My Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML\shell\open\command`
Put -p username into the command string at the appropriate place.
I believe this affects all users on the machine, however.
You would also be wise to backup this part of the registry. In RegEdit, select the key:
`My Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\FirefoxHTML`
and choose File | Export.... Choose the Selected Branch option to backup this part of the registry before changing it.
share|improve this answer
1) Open notepad, paste this in, and save it as firefox.bat
@echo off
firefox-original.exe -p username %*
2) Using a batch file compiler (such as this one or this one which both seem to do what you need, but note that I have not personally tested either), compile firefox.bat to firefox.exe
3) Navigate to your Firefox install directory, and rename firefox.exe to firefox-original.exe
4) Copy and paste your compiled batch file, firefox.exe, to your Firefox install directory.
Now when firefox.exe is launched, either directly, by shortcut, or by associated file type, your compiled batch file will run firefox-original.exe with your custom parameters and with the parameters passed during launch.
share|improve this answer
I tried this and unfortunately it doesn't work when I try to open html files with the compiled firefox.exe. – swamplord Sep 10 '09 at 9:22
Also, it will break every time you update firefox? – Stefan Thyberg Sep 10 '09 at 10:20
I am not sure about that, because I think "firefox-original.exe" will be updated everytime. – swamplord Sep 10 '09 at 10:54
It probably will break, but this is a pretty wacky hack so it's not unexpected – Factor Mystic Sep 10 '09 at 17:07
You can specify default parameters for any file (for example HTML files). Just:
1. Open My Computer
2. From Tools select Folder Options
3. Go to File types tab
4. Find the file type you want (HTM or HTML or both!)
5. Click on Advanced button
6. Select open action from actions list
7. Click on Edit
8. Add any parameter you want in text-box labled Application used to perform action:
9. Click on OK and OK and then Close
Now when user opens a HTM or HTML file, firefox (or any application that is associated to HTM or HTML files) will run by the specified parameters and opens that file.
But as far as i know, there is no way to specify a default parameter for a particular EXE when user clicks on it.
share|improve this answer
You could just create a batch file that runs Firefox with the arguments, and always use this to run, by adding the Firefox directory to your PATH environmental variable and simply calling run.bat
share|improve this answer
That's what linux distributions do! That's why you see compiz.real as executable, for example. – LiraNuna Sep 9 '09 at 22:57
Always use the same shortcut for Firefox? It's not, to my knowledge, possible to set this on a per-application basis, just per-shortcut.
share|improve this answer
Will not work when opening HTML files, for example. – LiraNuna Sep 9 '09 at 22:57
That's completely correct. – Stefan Thyberg Sep 10 '09 at 10:18
An alternative to using a batch file compiler is to use an AutoIt script, which can be compiled into an exe file.
As has already been discussed here, you will have to rename the executable and replace it with the compiled script, which has its disadvantage when the executable is updated.
share|improve this answer
Your Answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100152
|
Take the 2-minute tour ×
I am trying to install a program on my Windows 7 machine and it says that I need to have .NET 2.0 or later installed. Since Windows 7 comes with .NET pre-installed, I called support and they told me to just re-install .NET since my .NET install is probably corrupted. The program I am trying to install is SNGWiz. I do not think its installer is borked.
However, when I install .NET 3.5 SP1 using the download from the Microsoft .NET web site, I get the following error:
I have gone to the Windows Features on/off panel and have turned 3.5 both on and off and have tried to re-install .NET 3.5 SP1 under both situations. But it has failed with the same error.
What can I do?
share|improve this question
What's the program you are trying to install? Perhaps its installer is borked. – Chris W. Rea Jan 17 '10 at 15:15
@BasicallyMoney I don't think the installer is borked. Program is www.sngwiz.com – user1413 Jan 17 '10 at 15:41
@user1423 Any update on this issue? – Troggy May 8 '10 at 20:15
No update troggy. – user1413 Jun 6 '10 at 4:08
4 Answers 4
up vote 2 down vote accepted
no i am with the origional poster, even just switching it on doesnt help, try and update the .net framework with it on or off gives no difference, try to install the software after switching it on achieves nothing to, this is a major flaw in the system,
share|improve this answer
I agree with this. I tried a bunch of things and nothing worked. – user1413 Aug 5 '10 at 2:38
No need to install. Just turn it "On".
The .NET Framework 3.5 is a built-in part of Windows in Windows 7. Turning the feature on is all that is necessary; the installers are built for previous versions of Windows.
share|improve this answer
That doesn't work. – user1413 Apr 6 '10 at 11:16
Is .NET 4.0 already installed? This might be a problem for their installer?
The registry version key changed with 4.0, and depending how they check for .NET this might break their installer - it did for us, and the message you get is one that we saw too.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP\<...>\<Version>
share|improve this answer
I see this:
and this:
I install .NET 3.5 SP1
You should think of .Net 3.5 as more of a "plus pack" for .Net 2.0, as 3.5 still relies on the same core runtime from the earlier 2.0 release. Adding and removing 3.5 won't help you fix something broken with your 2.0 installation. To really be sure you have a good .Net installation, actually remove and reinstall .Net 2.0, not 3.5.
share|improve this answer
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100154
|
How To GetGlyphOutline() Native Buffer Format
Article translations Article translations
Article ID: 87115 - View products that this article applies to.
This article was previously published under Q87115
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The GetGlyphOutline function provides a method for an application to retrieve the lowest-level information about a glyph in the TrueType environment. This article describes the format of the data the GetGlyphOutline function returns.
A glyph outline is a series of contours that describe the glyph. Each contour is defined by a TTPOLYGONHEADER data structure, which is followed by as many TTPOLYCURVE data structures as are required to describe the contour.
Each position is described by a POINTFX data structure, which represents an absolute position, not a relative position. The starting and ending point for the glyph is given by the pfxStart member of the TTPOLYGONHEADER data structure.
The TTPOLYCURVE data structures fall into two types: a TT_PRIM_LINE record or a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record. A TT_PRIM_LINE record is a series of points; lines drawn between the points describe the outline of the glyph. A TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record is a series of points defining the quadratic splines (q-splines) required to describe the outline of the character.
In TrueType, a q-spline is defined by three points (A, B, and C), where points A and C are on the curve and point B is off the curve. The equation for each q-spline is as follows (xA represents the x-coordinate of point A, yA represents the y-coordinate of point A, and so on)
x(t) = (xA-2xB+xC)*t^2 + (2xB-2xA)*t + xA
y(t) = (yA-2yB+yC)*t^2 + (2yB-2yA)*t + yA
where t varies from 0.0 to 1.0.
The format of a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record is as follows:
• Point A on the q-spline is the current position (either pfxStart in the TTPOLYGONHEADER, the starting point for the TTPOLYCURVE, or the ending point of the previous TTPOLYCURVE).
• Point B is the current point in the record.
• Point C is as follows:
• If the record has two or more points following point B, point C is the midpoint between point B and the next point in the record.
• Otherwise, point C is the point following point B.
The following code presents the algorithm used to process a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record. While this code demonstrates how to extract q-splines from a TT_PRIM_QSPLINE record, it is not appropriate for use in an application.
pfxA = pfxStart; // Starting point for this polygon
for (u = 0; u < cpfx - 1; u++) // Walk through points in spline
pfxB = apfx[u]; // B is always the current point
if (u < cpfx - 2) // If not on last spline, compute C
pfxC.x = (pfxB.x + apfx[u+1].x) / 2; // x midpoint
pfxC.y = (pfxB.y + apfx[u+1].y) / 2; // y midpoint
else // Else, next point is C
pfxC = apfx[u+1];
// Draw q-spline
DrawQSpline(hdc, pfxA, pfxB, pfxC);
pfxA = pfxC; // Update current point
The algorithm above manipulates points directly, using floating-point operators. However, points in q-spline records are stored in a FIXED data type. The following code demonstrates how to manipulate FIXED data items:
FIXED fx;
long *pl = (long *)&fx;
// Perform all arithmetic on *pl rather than on fx
*pl = *pl / 2;
The following function converts a floating-point number into the FIXED representation:
FIXED FixedFromDouble(double d)
long l;
l = (long) (d * 65536L);
return *(FIXED *)&l;
In a production application, rather than writing a DrawQSpline function to draw each q-spline individually, it is more efficient to calculate points on the q-spline and store them in an array of POINT data structures. When the calculations for a glyph are complete, pass the POINT array to the PolyPolygon function to draw and fill the glyph.
The following example presents the data returned by the GetGlyphOutline for the lowercase "j" glyph in the 24-point Arial font of the 8514/a (Small Fonts) video driver:
GetGlyphOutline GGO_NATIVE 'j'
dwrc = 208 // Total native buffer size in bytes
gmBlackBoxX, Y = 6, 29 // Dimensions of black part of glyph
gmptGlyphOrigin = -1, 23 // Lower-left corner of glyph
gmCellIncX, Y = 7, 0 // Vector to next glyph origin
TTPOLYGONHEADER #1 // Contour for dot on "j"
cb = 44 // Total size of dot polygon
dwType = 24 // TT_POLYGON_TYPE
pfxStart = 2.000, 20.000 // Start at lower-left corner of dot
wType = TT_PRIM_LINE
cpfx = 3
pfx[0] = 2.000, 23.000
pfx[1] = 5.000, 23.000
pfx[2] = 5.000, 20.000 // Automatically close to pfxStart
TTPOLYGONHEADER #2 // Contour for body of "j"
cb = 164 // Total size is 164 bytes
dwType = 24 // TT_POLYGON_TYPE
pfxStart = -1.469, -5.641
TTPOLYCURVE #1 // Finish flat bottom end of "j"
wType = TT_PRIM_LINE
cpfx = 1
pfx[0] = -0.828, -2.813
TTPOLYCURVE #2 // Make hook in "j" with spline
// Point A in spline is end of TTPOLYCURVE #1
wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE
cpfx = 2 // two points in spline -> one curve
pfx[0] = -0.047, -3.000 // This is point B in spline
pfx[1] = 0.406, -3.000 // Last point is always point C
TTPOLYCURVE #3 // Finish hook in "j"
// Point A in spline is end of TTPOLYCURVE #2
cpfx = 3 // Three points -> two splines
pfx[0] = 1.219, -3.000 // Point B for first spline
// Point C is (pfx[0] + pfx[1]) / 2
pfx[1] = 2.000, -1.906 // Point B for second spline
pfx[2] = 2.000, 0.281 // Point C for second spline
TTPOLYCURVE #4 // Majority of "j" outlined by this polyline
wType = TT_PRIM_LINE
cpfx = 3
pfx[0] = 2.000, 17.000
pfx[1] = 5.000, 17.000
pfx[2] = 5.000, -0.250
TTPOLYCURVE #5 // start of bottom of hook
wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE
cpfx = 2 // One spline in this polycurve
pfx[0] = 5.000, -3.266 // Point B for spline
pfx[1] = 4.188, -4.453 // Point C for spline
TTPOLYCURVE #6 // Middle of bottom of hook
wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE
cpfx = 2 // One spline in this polycurve
pfx[0] = 3.156, -6.000 // B for spline
pfx[1] = 0.766, -6.000 // C for spline
TTPOLYCURVE #7 // Finish bottom of hook and glyph
wType = TT_PRIM_QSPLINE
cpfx = 2 // One spline in this polycurve
pfx[0] = -0.391, -6.000 // B for spline
pfx[1] = -1.469, -5.641 // C for spline
Article ID: 87115 - Last Review: November 21, 2006 - Revision: 2.3
• Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit 3.1
• Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface
kbhowto KB87115
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100159
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Re: Translation question
From: Stefan Küng <tortoisesvn_at_gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 13 Apr 2011 21:16:18 +0200
On 13.04.2011 07:41, Lübbe Onken wrote:
> Hi folks,
> while translating into German I stumbled upon the following phrase:
> "Skipped no versioned parent".
> What does this really mean? If I would be confronted with such a message
> in the update dialog, I'd become all question marks. Literally
> TortoiseSVN "Skipped no versioned parent" while updating. What did it
> skip then if it's not a versioned parent? An unversioned parent? An
> elephant, a bus or a book page? This phrase doesn't really make sense to
> me :)
> Any help (and better wording) would be greatly appreciated.
That string is shown in the progress dialog during a merge, in case a
file would be added but the parent folder where it needs to be in is
oo // \\ "De Chelonian Mobile"
(_,\/ \_/ \ TortoiseSVN
/_/ \_\ http://tortoisesvn.net
Received on 2011-04-13 21:16:37 CEST
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100166
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Thursday, October 8, 2009
Symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst
Did you know what the symptoms of a busted avarian cyst?Did you prepared yourself for that symptoms?I think everyone shoud know about this symptoms to prepared ourself from to be a victims af that symptoms.For everyone information,an ovarian cyst is a fluid filled sac located near the ovaries. Cysts can occur anywhere in the body and are normally non-cancerous and not harmful when left to heal itself.However, a ruptured ovarian cyst symptoms can potentially be very harmful and can produce Life Threatening symptoms.There are different symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst on ovary depending on the type you have.It could either be functional cyst, polycystic ovaries, endometrial cysts, cytadenomas and dermoid cysts.If you are suffering from recurring back aches, you probably have ovarian cysts. Having this condition is not normal. You might have a cyst on ovary if you have lower back pain that seems to not go away.An ovarian cyst symptoms may mimic symptoms that occur when a woman is pregnant. Therefore, for it to be determined whether there really is an ovarian cyst present, a doctor has to conduct some tests.Below are e few symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst that you really need to know:-
1. The primary symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst come in the form of pain, originating in the area of the ovaries.Changes in the menstrual cycle or irregular cycles.
2. Irregular bleeding, either less or more than normal, different types of discharge, or unusual pain.
3. A condition known as dyspareunia, or abnormal pain during intercourse.
4. Backache, especially the lower back.
5. The symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst can cause painful urination.
6. Increased facial hair or body hair.
7. Weight gain.
8. Breast tenderness.
9. More frequent visits to the toilet due to large cysts putting pressure on the bowels or bladder.
10. General symptoms of ill health such as fainting, weakness, dizziness and fever.
11. Pain during sexual intercourse.
If you experience more than one of these symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst, it is advisable that you seek professional medical opinion in helping you diagnose your symptoms.Cyst are easily detected when you undergo routine pelvic examination by your doctor. Using the latest technology in ultrasound, your doctor can precisely measure the size of the cyst and immediately recommend appropriate treatment for your condition.A blood test will be carried out to find out if the Ovarian Cyst is cancerous. This test is recommended for women over the age of 35 and whose cyst has been found to be partially solid. Under 35's are less likely to have ovarian cancer.
Once a positive diagnosis for the symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst has been given by your doctor, ask him/her what your options are. Many doctors recommend medication and quite possibly surgery. There is also a very promising and proven way that you can cure ovarian cyst naturally.However,you still can cure your symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst if you know that you have the symptoms early.You no longer have to live with the pain, bloating and weight gain that comes with having an ovarian cyst. If it's impacting your life, it's time to make a change. There is help and it's all natural and effective. You can be rid of your busted ovarian cyst without surgery.
Symptoms of a busted ovarian cyst.
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Numbers Count For Nothing Power Tab
386 views 1 this week
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1 2 3 4 5
not so good
x 1
set tempo
B E A D F# B
15 Kb
lead guitar
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Wisconsin Chords
Whole song
More versions @911Tabs.com
15,289 views 18 this week
4 commentsread comments
1 2 3 4 5
worth learning
x 5
add to favorites launch autoscroll
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This tab is in C, obiviously (the song itself is in F). Not 100% on all the
chords. Not sure about the lyrics either.
C/G=x20033 (except for in "every place I go" where I think x2000x sounds better)
C G/B C
You ride in the park and you're peaking
F C
Piss pools in your seat
C G/B C F
She’s standing inside but you surely repeat
Am G/B C G/B
Oh God don’t leave me here
C F
I will freeze till the end
C G/B C
Love is loves reprieve
Winter is coming and you're stacking
All your summer sheets
Now when the wind blows you cover your teeth
Oh, in our tool shed where you trade in your blues
Love is loves sad news
F Am
That was Wisconsin that was yesterday
Dm C G/B C F
Now I have nothing that I can keep
C G/B C F
Cause every place I go I take another place with me
C G/B C
Love is loves mystique
You’re up on the bar and your shaking
With every grimy word
Who will love
What’s love when you’ve hurt
Wherever is your scene the snow kissed the curb
Love is loves return
That was Wisconsin that was yesterday
Now I have nothing that I can keep
Cause every place I go I take another place with me
Love is loves critique
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4 comments total. Showing first comments.
0 reply
dan-the-man278 wrote on October 30 2009, 06:13 am
Sorry, totally wrong- it's in F, not C. I will hopefully get round to posting my version soon.
0 reply
Klososo wrote on March 31 2010, 02:57 am
Yes, I'm, fully aware the song is not actually in C. When I write "This is in C" i mean that THIS TAB is in C, just for the sake of simplicity. If you wanna play it in F then:
G/C=C/E (xx2010)
0 reply
lui_gui wrote on May 27 2011, 06:20 pm
Also, stick a Capo on 5 and you'll get it in F. In terms of the chords, they're pretty good actually, perhaps not all perfect but I can work with them as a ground well. Good job :)
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100179
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Adam’s Rib Turned into an Action Figure..Huh?
I overheard my eight year old son explain the following to my twin daughters:
“So here’s what happened. God looked down and saw that Adam was very lonely. So He decided to get him a wife. So He made Adam become very sleepy. And when he fell asleep, God took out one of his ribs. Not one of the ribs up here [son points chest], but the bottom rib down hear [points to side].
“Then God took that rib and turned it into an action figure. And from that God made the first woman.”
I thought this was pretty humorous and wanted to pass it on to y’all.
Download My Book for Free
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• Andrew Preslar
Nice. I can see how it makes sense that way.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100191
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Customizing BLAF for ADF Faces – easier than Skins for influencing colors and fonts
One fairly common remark on ADF Faces applications is their Look and Feel. The default look and feel is the Oracle BLAF, and either you love it or you hate it or so it seems. I get people hardly looking at the functionality of the application, the wild richness of the UI widgets and the flashy Ajax style partial page refresh but immediately starting to complain about those vague greenish/brownish/blueish/Oracle-ish colors. Another frequently heard comment is that a BLAF interface has so little useful real estate, as the BLAF components take up so much space. A typical Oracle BLAF User Interface would be something like the following:
Oracle has some excellent articles on the internet that describe how you can define your own custom look and feel through the use of Skins. So if you do not like Oracle BLAF – skins are your solution. Custom skins take the Simple look and feel as starting point, that custom skins extend from or override.
However, creating a custom Skin can be a quite elaborate task. The Oracle BLAF has quite a number of cool features – such as dynamic button generation, a well thought out set of icons in tree, tree-table and other complex components, etc. – that can be quite cumbersome to recreate in a custom skin . Besides, not all ADF Faces components can be customized using a custom Skin, for example the Tree component’s icons can not be set.
If all you want to customize in the ADF Faces look and feel are Fonts and Colors and you would like to benefit from all other Oracle BLAF features, you do not need to take the long road of creating a custom skin. This article demonstrates how you can easily achieve an Oracle BLAF based UI with your own color-scheme and font selection. With minimal effort, we turned the above application into this one:
The Oracle BLAF – or any other Skin such as Minimal or Simple or any Skin you create yourself – is configured in the WEB-INF\adf-faces-config.xml file:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252"?><br /><adf-faces-config xmlns=";><br /> <skin-family>oracle</skin-family><br /></adf-faces-config> <br />
If we want to change the Skin, this is where to do it. However, we want to modify the Oracle skin itself but still use it as a starting point, so the setting shown above should not be changed. It turns out that ADF Faces has separate render classes for the three major skins – Minimal, Simple and Oracle. To benefit from for example the icons in the tree-component, we have no choice but to leverage the Oracle skin as only the render-classes associated with the that skin render these icons. I was surprised to find out how large distinction between the three skins is in terms of code. I naively had expected each Skin to basically consist of a set of configurations, icons and a stylesheet. But apparently there are many specific classes tied in with each specific core Skin. Note that any custom skin builds from Simple and therefore automatically leverages the "code fork" for Simple.
The Oracle skin can be configured to a certain extent from the file oracle-desktop.xss. This file can be found in the jar adf-faces-impl.jar.
The first step to customizing the Oracle skin is extracting oracle-desktop.xss from the jar-file. Save this file in a directory called WEB-INF\lib\META-INF\adf\styles, like this:
Now when you run your ADF Faces application, it will use this file to dynamically generate a CSS, at runtime. In this file, we can specify colors and fonts, thereby influencing the Oracle BLAF. Here is a fragment from the oracle-desktop.xss that we customized in order to give our application an AMIS look and feel:
Note: when you rerun the application, you should Clear the Browser Cache, as it is likely to retain the old CSS file based on the original Oracle BLAF configuration!
<p><?xml version="1.0"?><br /><br /><!-- <br /> The oracle-desktop.xss style sheet defines the styles that are <br /> specific to the desktop implementation of the Oracle Browser<br /> Skin. The styles defined here are automatically layered<br /> on top of the styles defined by simple-desktop.xss. As such, this<br /> style sheet should only contain new BLAF-specific styles that are not <br /> defined by base-desktop.xss, or BLAF-specific overrides of styles<br /> that are defined by base-desktop.xss.<br />--><br /><br /><styleSheetDocument xmlns=";<br /> version="2.0"><br /><br /><!-- The base style sheet for the Browser Look And Feel --><br /><styleSheet><br /><br /> <!-- <br /> Global Color Styles: oracle-desktop inherits most of the named<br /> color styles from base-desktop, but needs to override some of<br /> the styles to change the color ramps from green/grey to blue/tan.<br /> --><br /><br /> <!-- Change core color ramp to red --><br /> <style name="AFDarkBackground"><br /> <property name="background-color">#aa273d</property><br /> </style><br /><br /> <!-- Change the accent color ramp to yellow --><br /> <style name="AFDarkAccentBackground"><br /> <property name="background-color">#ffcc00</property><br /> </style><br /><br /> <!-- Change the extra accent color ramp to black --><br /> <style name="AFDarkExtraAccentBackground"><br /> <property name="background-color">#000000</property><br /> </style><br /><br /> <style name="AFMediumAccentBackground"><br /> <includeStyle name="AFDarkAccentBackground"/><br /> <property name="background-color">#fedb4d</property><br /> </style><br /><br /> <!-- Change the light accent offset. base-desktop uses<br /> "+#1D1C1C", we want "+#251f37". (2b2b4e was when the <br /> darkAccent was cccc99.) The absolute color we want is f7f7e7--><br /> <style name="AFLightAccentBackground"> <br /> <includeStyle name="AFDarkAccentBackground"/><br /> <property name="background-color">#feea9b</property><br /> </style><br />.... <br /></p>
About Author
1. Hello
How can I edit this file to change the icon of component?
for example the above code did not work
2. Manolis Nikiforakis on
Tried what the article says, without luck.
WORKING ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION FOUND: I returned the modified xss files in to the JAR (using winrar or winzip), restarted OC4J and it worked!
3. We have searched so long for exactly this. Finally i got. I tried this. But there is no change while executing the things.
I will listout what i have done.
1)I extract the adf-faces-impl.jar
2)i created a folder structre as you have mentiond (WEB-INF\lib\META-INF\adf\styles) and pasted the xss file here.
3) i made changes in xss file(oracle-desktop.xss)
4)I cleared the cache.
5)I excecuted the page.
But there is no change. Please help me out regardsing this.
Thanks & Regards,
4. Hmmm, just one follow-up issue … We occasionally get the Oracle BLAF images making a comeback, i.e finding their way into the browser cache to spoil the look of our customised version. I guess because the image file names are not changed, different customisations can’t coexist cleanly in the same browser instance with the original BLAF or with each other. The first version of an image that gets into the browser cache will dictate the look of that image until such time as the user clears the browser cache. Do you perhaps have a Cunning Plan to get around this? E.g. force bypassing of the cache, or somehow rename the image files, etc?
5. Lucas, you are THE MAN! We have searched so long for exactly this. I should have known to look at AMIS after the excellent Ajax tutorial. Thank you.
6. How is 4. above done? Is this same process also doable for the embedded oc4j? I am not getting any results from this exercise. 4. is not suggesting we change the adf-faces-impl.jar file, is it?
7. What I actually meant is I dont want to change the existing oracle.desktop file. So can i make the changes in a new file and use that instead of oracle.desktop.
8. Hi,can u tell me if i can make a new new-desktop.xss file and make the changes in that.If I can do that please tel me what to change in the config file.Should i set hte skin-family name to new instead of oracle?
9. Hi Lucas,
Interesting trick here. I’m having difficulty to set let’s say af:column, NoWrap and HeaderNoWrap property to true.
Anyone know how to do it?
2nd, How to have extra space (padding) on each column on left and right. Thus the table looks nice.
I couldn’t find extensive documentation on all these attributes.
10. Hi, I found a solution, I hope it’s not the best, in the jsp in #MyColor &
#0D3F96 in . Then, :), I modified adf-faces-impl-ea17\oracle\adfinternal\view\faces\ui\laf\oracle\desktop\cImages\cctts.gif with a paint-like to replace the transparent zone with #MyColor.
Then re-make the .jar, delete the (tomcat cache -> …/work), give a kick in the cat and you have a panel box with the good color. I realy hope there’s an other solution…
11. Hi, I have the same problem with englyn to define a color for the rounded top-left corner panelBox different from the AFDarkAccentBackground, if someone as the solution please email me.
12. There is a responsibility provided by Oracle ‘Custom Look and Feel’ using which we can change the appearance .i.e. define the custom fonts and colours etc. These changes are sotred in .xss files in the server.
Is this same as ‘skins’ or skins is a different technology?
13. Hi,
We are customisating the look n feel for oracle web module. Which methdod is the better and latest do achieve this? We can achieve this using ‘skins’ or we can also achieve using ‘Custom LAF’ responsibility provided by ORacle. Pls suggest
- mardy
14. Adrian, you’ll need to copy the styles you want from base-desktop.xss into oracle-desktop.xss and modify them there.
Santiago, you’ll want to do the same as Adrian, copying AFTableCellDataBackgroundColor and AFTableCellDataBandedBackgroundColor.
15. I have had some serious problems with this approach. It seems like some ADF components in the oracle skin don’t use the colours as you’d expect. Here are the ones I’ve found:
– panelBox has an image for the rounded top-left corner that seems to be generated from AFDarkAccentBackground plus #251f37 instead of from the background you specify for the panelBox. This is fine with the Oracle colours as it’s the same thing by default, but causes very undesirable results if you want to change the offset for AFLightAccentBackground.
– ‘messages’ panel seems to ignore the background set on its body completely and just use AFDarkAccentBackground.
16. This works great but I also want to override base-desktop.xss as well do that I can override base styles like AFFieldText
when I modify it there I see no change. Any suggestions ? what am I doing wrong?
17. Great Tips. Thank you all.
But does anyone knows, which colors are to change for the table-background in the banding rows of the table.
18. I just implemented the changes that was posted here and i cannot see the change that i made to the xss file. I cleared the cache. What do i have to do to see the changes
19. Hi,
I am using jsp not uix. Will this work with jsp? I have this confusion because I saw a line in oracle-desktop.css. Here is the line.
And while using this do I have to use the ‘Styleclass’ field in my jsp to specify the class that I use or it will be automaticallty done?
Please let me know.
20. hi!
i deploy my app in tomcat and the skin not charge.
the xss in the tomcat is in
—-> webapps\myapp\WEB-INF\lib\META-INF\adf\styles\oracle-desktop.xss.
it´s ok???
21. Yes you can. Please study the oracle-desktop.xss and base-desktop.xss to find the proper styles to override. Alternatively, look in the On Line Help for JDeveloper at “Selectors for Skinning ADF Faces Components” . You will find af:panel… selectors and af:table selectors that should help you get what you want.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100201
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100229
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Sunday, May 27, 2007
Teen Queen and War Pornographer Meet Ugly
In this morning's New York Times, Kirk Semple's "U.S. and British Airstrikes Hit Iraqi Militia" has some strong points and some weak ones. Supposedly Semple never gets called out by me -- the e-mailer hasn't read closely. But he can run with his professional jealousy (not of me) this morning because I'm tired and pissed and don't feel like taking it on Semple.
No need to worry, everyone's favorite punching bags show up: Gordo and Allisa J. Rubin. Though we're told one reported from DC and the other from the Green Zone, let's hope some form of protection was used when ultimate War Pornographer Michael Gordon met Teen Queen for "Chaos Is Seen in Iraq Exist, But Experts Split on Degree." DC hookers trot out their usual lie: Leaving means the end of Iraq!
Actually, Joe Biden's plan means the end of Iraq (partitioning the country). Leaving doesn't mean any such thing. The article peddles the myth that a US withdrawal means many things. For instance, our tea leaves readers (well, those probably aren't tea leaves in Gordo's hand) just know that mayhem and chaos will be the two shades if US forces leave. Violence and chaos is what you have now with US forces on the ground. Leaving very likely means the same, but it can't be stated for a fact that it means that. Gordo stumbles stepping over that one (difficult to walk with both hands down your pants?). Having pushed that lie, they then move on to the next one: talk of withdrawal doesn't really factor Iraqis into the equation. That's what's known as projecting.
The New York Times doesn't really factor Iraqis into the equation which is why they refuse to note polling that finds Iraqis want US troops out. It's why they're shocked, SHOCKED, that the Iraqi parliament wants to set a deadline for troop withdrawal.
In one of the more laughable moments, Gordo and Rubin (who've never written of polling on Iraqis conducted by reputable polling firms) offer: "To address the issue, The New York Times interviewed more than 40 Iraqi politicians and citizens and consulted recent surveys of public opinion in Iraq." They then go on to lie (and it's a lie, call it what it is) that most Iraqis want the US to stay. Now that's only true if they're going by their Group of 40 or some supposed polling org. That is not at all accurate if they're going by actual public opinion surveys. But they lie: "The somewhat surprising verdict was clear." We're not repeating the lie that follows.
Here's the reality. They spoke to "more than 40 Iraqi politicians and citizens." We know it was less than 45 or they would have typed "approximately 50." A8 offers some names and that really underscores the "politicians" aspect. They didn't go out in search of average citizens. Big surprise, a member of al-Maliki's cabinet wants the US to stay. If you had a job in the puppet government, you probably would as well. "Prominent sheik" Ahmed Rham Menshid al-Asi wants it too. Let's pretend he's "Average Joe." Hassan al-Sineid is billed as "a close associate of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki."
What do Iraqis want? US out!
40 Iraqis in a nation of over 20 million doesn't qualify for an appropriate polling size. (The CIA most recent estimate is off due to the fact that it's old -- pre-invasion -- and Iraq has such a huge refugee crisis -- internally and externally but I'm referring to the external.)
Gordo's been selling death in Iraq since before the illegal war started. What was his laughable lecture to Amy Goodman about journalism? You report and then you report again and then you report some more. Where in that process has Gordo ever been fact checked? At this point, he's more dangerous than Judith Miller because Miller was at least humiliated (and some say enraged) by the lack of WMDs. Gordo has no embarrassment over anything, not his false reporting on 'aluminum tubes,' not anything. He doesn't grasp at all what a joke he is and thinks if he keeps repeating falsehoods whispered to him, he's a reporter. The reality is, when your image is Gordo's, you're not even useful as a water carrier and his sources will take note of that and find a fresh face to feed.
Though they claim that someone (not them, of course, probably the unnamed Iraqis in the end credit) spoke to 40 Iraqis, they are far more interested in quoting everyone they can think of who supports perpetual war. (Carl Levin and John Murtha, briefly, are the only ones who argue against it -- deep into the article.) Here's their poll (their only poll), it's by the Center for Strategic and International Studies -- a motley crew who saw "commies" everywhere in Latin America during Reagan years. That would be the group that can 'boast' of having Henry Kissinger on its board (and not for dating Jill St. John), Lee Hamilton, Sam Nunsene and a host of other losers who apparently can't get it up without picturing some foreigner dying. Chief among them, the quoted Anthony H. Cordesman whom the Times fails to tell you was once the national security guru for Senator Crazy (aka John McCain).
The Third Estate Sunday Review has the following:
Truest statement of the week
A Note to Our Readers
Editorial: The Party of Stella Toddler
TV: Friendly faces aren't who we meet
Chrissy Explains It All (finally)
Still sad after all these months
And from the world of music . . .
Dennis Kucinich addresses Iraq's oil
If you read the TV commentary when it went up (some time ago, 90 minutes?) this was added:
We really didn't have time for that nonsense and I certainly didn't. (And Ava and I thought our friend at Mad TV was a whiner.) I'm not in the mood for the Times this morning. If Semple got an unfair pass, oh well, live with it. (That's aimed at one who continues to whine to the public account about how mean I am but how I always look the other way when it comes to Kirk Semple. Work on your reporting and worry less about Semple's, you'll probably have a happier life.)
RadioNation with Laura Flanders begins airing its one hour taped show today at one pm on Air America, XM satellite radio and online. The retooling supposedly means it will be Flanders chatting with The Nation crew for an hour. That's really not going to fly here. (And again "taped" for all those noting one guest in e-mails and thinking you can call in and ask the guest why anyone would want to be a peace resister.) We'll note her show each Sunday. We may not note in the guests. In terms of the 'biggie,' I believe Peter Rothberg is required in job description to announce that person's every move. I'm not. And I'm on the west coast and realizing the show's already aired. For those who missed it (and I obviously did) the archives are linked to on the left, near the top. Archived shows have been going up on Wednesdays; however, that was when they had to reduce a six hour program to one hour (I believe it was one hour they reduced it to). Since this should require far less editing, it may (or may not) be up sooner. And if I seem down, it's not on Flanders. It is on the entire premise for the show which, as I remember, didn't work out very well for Mother Jones when they tried it. Flanders needs to be live and she needs to be speak with a wide range of guests, not just people who've penned an article (usually a doodle) in that week's issue of The Nation magazine. It's like sentencing Flanders on a land-locked death cruise (which heads to Alaska shortly).
Oh, I'm tired, Kat just reminded me and said don't link. Kat has arranged a Monday schedule. I may or may not do a snapshot. I will do a morning entry and probably one other entry. Kat's latest CD review(s) (it's two CDs in one review) will go up on Monday as will Ruth's latest and Isaiah's newest comic. This morning (it's still morning in my time zone) we'll have a repeat of an Isaiah comic from March in an "everything old is new again" thanks to the Dems' actions last week. I will be doing the "And the war drags on" entry tonight.
The e-mail address for this site is
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Saturday, April 28, 2012
A salutary comparison . . .
1 comment:
liberal supporter said...
It is really just a coincidence? Same number of letters in the name, half of them the same letters. From "arp" to "itl", what's the diff?
Heil Harper!
But for some reason, we're not allowed to talk about the Northern Foundation Party.
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The Holy Java
Building the right thing, building it right, fast
Posted by Jakub Holý on September 7, 2011
Why You Are Going to Need It
A lot has been already said about the advantages of AOP – and thus code injection – so I will only concentrate on a few main points from the troubleshooting point of view.
The coolest thing is that it enables you to modify third party, closed-source classes and actually even JVM classes. Most of us work with legacy code and code for which we haven’t the source codes and inevitably we occasionally hit the limitations or bugs of these 3rd-party binaries and need very much to change some small thing in there or to gain more insight into the code’s behavior. Without code injection you have no way to modify the code or to add support for increased observability into it. Also you often need to deal with issues or collect information in the production environment where you can’t use a debugger and similar tools while you usually can at least manage somehow your application’s binaries and dependencies. Consider the following situations:
• You’re passing a collection of data to a closed-source library for processing and one method in the library fails for one of the elements but the exception provides no information about which element it was. You’d need to modify it to either log the offending argument or to include it in the exception. (And you can’t use a debugger because it only happens on the production application server.)
• You need to collect performance statistics of important methods in your application including some of its closed-source components under the typical production load. (In the production you of course cannot use a profiler and you want to incur the minimal overhead.)
• You use JDBC to send a lot of data to a database in batches and one of the batch updates fails. You would need some nice way to find out which batch it was and what data it contained.
I’ve in fact encountered these three cases (among others) and you will see possible implementations later.
You should keep the following advantages of code injection in your mind while reading this post:
• Code injection enables you to modify binary classes for which you haven’t the source codes
• The injected code can be used to collect various runtime information in environments where you cannot use the traditional development tools such as profilers and debuggers
• Don’t Repeat Yourself: When you need the same piece of logic at multiple places, you can define it once and inject it into all those places.
• With code injection you do not modify the original source files so it is great for (possibly large-scale) changes that you need only for a limited period of time, especially with tools that make it possible to easily switch the code injection on and off (such as AspectJ with its load-time weaving). A typical case is performance metrics collection and increased logging during troubleshooting
• You can inject the code either statically, at the build time, or dynamically, when the target classes are being loaded by the JVM
Mini Glossary
You might encounter the following terms in relation to code injection and AOP:
The code to be injected. Typically we talk about before, after, and around advices, which are executed before, after, or instead of a target method. It’s possible to make also other changes than injecting code into methods, e.g. adding fields or interfaces to a class.
AOP (Aspect Oriented Programming)
A programming paradigm claiming that “cross-cutting concerns” – the logic needed at many places, without a single class where to implement them – should be implemented once and injected into those places. Check Wikipedia for a better description.
A unit of modularity in AOP, corresponds roughly to a class – it can contain different advices and pointcuts.
Joint point
A particular point in a program that might be the target of code injection, e.g. a method call or method entry.
Roughly spoken, a pointcut is an expression which tells a code injection tool where to inject a particular piece of code, i.e. to which joint points to apply a particular advice. It could select only a single such point – e.g. execution of a single method – or many similar points – e.g. executions of all methods marked with a custom annotation such as @MyBusinessMethod.
The process of injecting code – advices – into the target places – joint points.
The Tools
There are many very different tools that can do the job so we will first have a look at the differences between them and then we will get acquainted with three prominent representatives of different evolution branches of code injection tools.
Basic Classification of Code Injection Tools
I. Level of Abstraction
How difficult is it to express the logic to be injected and to express the pointcuts where the logic should be inserted?
Regarding the “advice” code:
1. Direct bytecode manipulation (e.g. ASM) – to use these tools you need to understand the bytecode format of a class because they abstract very little from it, you work directly with opcodes, the operand stack and individual instructions. An ASM example:
methodVisitor.visitFieldInsn(Opcodes.GETSTATIC, "java/lang/System", "out", "Ljava/io/PrintStream;");
They are difficult to use due to being so low-level but are the most powerful. Usually they are used to implement higher-level tools and only few actually need to use them.
2. Intermediate level – code in strings, some abstraction of the classfile structure (Javassist)
3. Advices in Java (e.g. AspectJ) – the code to be injected is expressed as syntax-checked and statically compiled Java
Regarding the specification of where to inject the code:
1. Manual injection – you have to get somehow hold of the place where you want to inject the code (ASM, Javassist)
2. Primitive pointcuts – you have rather limited possibilities for expressing where to inject the code, for example to a particular method, to all public methods of a class or to all public methods of classes in a group (Java EE interceptors)
3. Pattern matching pointcut expressions – powerful expressions matching joint points based on a number of criteria with wildcards, awareness of the context (e.g. “called from a class in the package XY”) etc. (AspectJ)
II. When the Magic Happens
The code can be injected at different points in time:
• Manually at run-time – your code has to explicitly ask for the enhanced code, e.g. by manually instantiating a custom proxy wrapping the target object (this is arguably not true code injection)
• At load-time – the modification are performed when the target classes are being loaded by the JVM
• At build-time – you add an extra step to your build process to modify the compiled classes before packaging and deploying your application
Each of these modes of injection can be more suitable at different situations.
III. What It Can Do
The code injection tools vary pretty much in what they can or cannot do, some of the possibilities are:
• Add code before/after/instead of a method – only member-level methods or also the static ones?
• Add fields to a class
• Add a new method
• Make a class to implement an interface
• Modify an instruction within the body of a method (e.g. a method call)
• Modify generics, annotations, access modifiers, change constant values, …
• Remove method, field, etc.
Selected Code Injection Tools
The best-known code injection tools are:
1. Dynamic Java Proxy
2. The bytecode manipulation library ASM
3. JBoss Javassist
4. AspectJ
5. Spring AOP/proxies
6. Java EE interceptors
Practical Introduction to Java Proxy, Javassist and AspectJ
I’ve selected three rather different mature and popular code injection tools and will present them on real-world examples I’ve personally experienced.
The Omnipresent Dynamic Java Proxy
Java.lang.reflect.Proxy makes it possible to create dynamically a proxy for an interface, forwarding all calls to a target object. It is not a code injection tool for you cannot inject it anywhere, you must manually instantiate and use the proxy instead of the original object, and you can do this only for interfaces, but it can still be very useful as we will see.
• It’s a part of JVM and thus is available everywhere
• You can use the same proxy – more exactly an InvocationHandler – for incompatible objects and thus reuse the code more than you could normally
• You save effort because you can easily forward all calls to a target object and only modify the ones interesting for you. If you were to implement a proxy manually, you would need to implement all the methods of the interface in question
• You can create a dynamic proxy only for an interface, you can’t use it if your code expects a concrete class
• You have to instantiate and apply it manually, there is no magical auto-injection
• It’s little too verbose
• Its power is very limited, it can only execute some code before/after/around a method
There is no code injection step – you have to apply the proxy manually.
I was using JDBC PreparedStatement’s batch updates to modify a lot of data in a database and the processing was failing for one of the batch updates because of integrity constraint violation. The exception didn’t contain enough information to find out which data caused the failure and so I’ve created a dynamic proxy for the PreparedStatement that remembered values passed into each of the batch updates and in the case of a failure it automatically printed the batch number and the data. With this information I was able to fix the data and I kept the solution in place so that if a similar problems ever occurs again, I’ll be able to find its cause and resolve it quickly.
The crucial part of the code: – snippet 1
class LoggingStatementDecorator implements InvocationHandler {
private PreparedStatement target;
private LoggingStatementDecorator(PreparedStatement target) { = target; }
throws Throwable {
try {
Object result = method.invoke(target, args);
updateLog(method, args); // remember data, reset upon successful execution
return result;
} catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
Throwable cause = e.getTargetException();
throw cause;
private void tryLogFailure(Throwable cause) {
if (cause instanceof BatchUpdateException) {
int failedBatchNr = successfulBatchCounter + 1;
"THE INJECTED CODE SAYS: " +
"Batch update failed for batch# " + failedBatchNr +
" (counting from 1) with values: [" +
getValuesAsCsv() + "]. Cause: " + cause.getMessage());
• To create a proxy, you first need to implement an InvocationHandler and its invoke method, which is called whenever any of the interface’s methods is invoked on the proxy
• You can access the information about the call via the java.lang.reflect.* objects and for example delegate the call to the proxied object via method.invoke
We’ve also an utility method for creating a proxy instance for a Prepared statement: – snippet 2
public static PreparedStatement createProxy(PreparedStatement target) {
return (PreparedStatement) Proxy.newProxyInstance(
new Class[] { PreparedStatement.class },
new LoggingStatementDecorator(target));
• You can see that the newProxyInstance call takes a classloader, an array of interfaces that the proxy should implement, and the invocation handler that calls should be delegated to (the handler itself has to manage a reference to the proxied object, if it needs it)
It is then used like this:
PreparedStatement rawPrepStmt = connection.prepareStatement("...");
PreparedStatement loggingPrepStmt = LoggingStatementDecorator.createProxy(rawPrepStmt);
• You see that we have to manually wrap a raw object with the proxy and use the proxy further on
Alternative Solutions
This problem could be solved in different ways, for example by creating a non-dynamic proxy implementing PreparedStatement and forwarding all calls to the real statement while remembering batch data but it would be lot of boring typing for the interface has many methods. The caller could also manually keep track of the data it has send to the prepared statement but that would obscure its logic with an unrelated concern.
Using the dynamic Java proxy we get rather clean and easy to implement solution.
The Independent Javassist
JBoss Javassist is an intermediate code injection tool providing a higher-level abstraction than bytecode manipulation libraries and offering little limited but still very useful manipulation capabilities. The code to be injected is represented as strings and you have to manually get to the class-method where to inject it. Its main advantage is that the modified code has no new run-time dependencies, on Javassist or anything else. This may be the decisive factor if you are working for a large corporation where the deployment of additional open-source libraries (or just about any additional libraries) such as AspectJ is difficult for legal and other reasons.
• Code modified by Javassist doesn’t require any new run-time dependencies, the injection happens at the build time and the injected advice code itself doesn’t depend on any Javassist API
• Higher-level than bytecode manipulation libraries, the injected code is written in Java syntax, though enclosed in strings
• Can do most things that you may need such as “advising” method calls and method executions
• You can achieve both build-time injection (via Java code or a custom Ant task to do execution/call advising) and load-time injection (by implementing your own Java 5+ agent [thx to Anton])
• Still little too low-level and thus harder to use – you have to deal a little with structure of methods and the injected code is not syntax-checked
• Javassist has no tools to perform the injection and you thus have to implement your own injection code – including that there isn’t support for injecting the code automatically based on a pattern
(See GluonJ below for a solution without most of the disadvantages of Javassist.)
With Javassist you create a class, which uses the Javassist API to inject code int targets and run it as a part of your build process after the compilation, for example as I once did via a custom Ant task.
We needed to add some simple performance monitoring to our Java EE application and we were not allowed to deploy any non-approved open-source library (at least not without going through a time-consuming approval process). We’ve therefore used Javassist to inject the performance monitoring code to our important methods and to the places were important external methods were called.
The code injector:
public class JavassistInstrumenter {
public void insertTimingIntoMethod(String targetClass, String targetMethod) throws NotFoundException, CannotCompileException, IOException {
Logger logger = Logger.getLogger("Javassist");
final String targetFolder = "./target/javassist";
try {
final ClassPool pool = ClassPool.getDefault();
// Tell Javassist where to look for classes - into our ClassLoader
final CtClass compiledClass = pool.get(targetClass);
final CtMethod method = compiledClass.getDeclaredMethod(targetMethod);
// Add something to the beginning of the method:
method.addLocalVariable("startMs", CtClass.longType);
method.insertBefore("startMs = System.currentTimeMillis();");
// And also to its very end:
method.insertAfter("{final long endMs = System.currentTimeMillis();" +
"iterate.jz2011.codeinjection.javassist.PerformanceMonitor.logPerformance(\"" +
targetMethod + "\",(endMs-startMs));}");
// Enjoy the new $targetFolder/iterate/jz2011/codeinjection/javassist/TargetClass.class
+ "." + targetMethod +
" has been modified and saved under " + targetFolder);
} catch (NotFoundException e) {
logger.warning("Failed to find the target class to modify, " +
targetClass + ", verify that it ClassPool has been configured to look " +
"into the right location");
final String defaultTargetClass = "iterate.jz2011.codeinjection.javassist.TargetClass";
final String defaultTargetMethod = "myMethod";
final boolean targetProvided = args.length == 2;
new JavassistInstrumenter().insertTimingIntoMethod(
targetProvided? args[0] : defaultTargetClass
, targetProvided? args[1] : defaultTargetMethod
• You can see the “low-levelness” – you have to explicitly deal with objects like CtClass, CtMethod, explicitly add a local variable etc.
• Javassist is rather flexible in where it can look for the classes to modify – it can search the classpath, a particular folder, a JAR file, or a folder with JAR files
• You would compile this class and run its main during your build process
Javassist on Steroids: GluonJ
GluonJ is an AOP tool building on top of Javassist. It can use either a custom syntax or Java 5 annotations and it’s build around the concept of “revisers”. Reviser is a class – an aspect – that revises, i.e. modifies, a particular target class and overrides one or more of its methods (contrary to inheritance, the reviser’s code is physically imposed over the original code inside the target class).
• No run-time dependencies if build-time weaving used (load-time weaving requires the GluonJ agent library or gluonj.jar)
• Simple Java syntax using GlutonJ’s annotation – though the custom syntax is also trivial to understand and easy to use
• Easy, automatic weaving into the target classes with GlutonJ’s JAR tool, an Ant task or dynamically at the load-time
• Support for both build-time and load-time weaving
• An aspect can modify only a single class, you cannot inject the same piece of code to multiple classes/methods
• Limited power – only provides for field/method addition and execution of a code instead of/around a target method, either upon any of its executions or only if the execution happens in a particular context, i.e. when called from a particular class/method
If you don’t need to inject the same piece of code into multiple methods then GluonJ is easier and better choice than Javassist and if its simplicity isn’t a problem for you then it also might be a better choice than AspectJ just thanks to this simplicity.
The Almighty AspectJ
AspectJ is a full-blown AOP tool, it can do nearly anything you might want, including the modification of static methods, addition of new fields, addition of an interface to a class’ list of implemented interfaces etc.
The syntax of AspectJ advices comes in two flavours, one is a superset of Java syntax with additional keywords like aspect and pointcut, the other one – called @AspectJ – is standard Java 5 with annotations such as @Aspect, @Pointcut, @Around. The latter is perhaps easier to learn and use but also little less powerful as it isn’t as expressive as the custom AspectJ syntax.
With AspectJ you can define which joint points to advise with very powerful expressions but it may be little difficult to learn them and to get them right. There is a useful Eclipse plugin for AspectJ development – the AspectJ Development Tools (AJDT) – but the last time I’ve tried it it wasn’t as helpful as I’d have liked.
• Very powerful, can do nearly anything you might need
• Powerful pointcut expressions for defining where to inject an advice and when to activate it (including some run-time checks) – fully enables DRY, i.e. write once & inject many times
• Both build-time and load-time code injection (weaving)
• The modified code depends on the AspectJ runtime library
• The pointcut expressions are very powerful but it might be difficult to get them right and there isn’t much support for “debugging” them though the AJDT plugin is partially able to visualize their effects
• It will likely take some time to get started though the basic usage is pretty simple (using @Aspect, @Around, and a simple pointcut expression, as we will see in the example)
Once upon time I was writing a plugin for a closed-source LMS J2EE application having such dependencies that it wasn’t feasible to run it locally. During an API call, a method deep inside the application was failing but the exception didn’t contain enough information to track the cause of the problem. I therefore needed to change the method to log the value of its argument when it fails.
The AspectJ code is quite simple:
public class LoggingAspect {
@Around("execution(private void TooQuiet3rdPartyClass.failingMethod(..))")
public Object interceptAndLog(ProceedingJoinPoint invocation) throws Throwable {
try {
return invocation.proceed();
} catch (Exception e) {
"THE INJECTED CODE SAYS: the method " +
invocation.getSignature().getName() + " failed for the input '" +
invocation.getArgs()[0] + "'. Original exception: " + e);
throw e;
• The aspect is a normal Java class with the @Aspect annotation, which is just a marker for AspectJ
• The @Around annotation instructs AspectJ to execute the method instead of the one matched by the expression, i.e. instead of the failingMethod of the TooQuiet3rdPartyClass
• The around advice method needs to be public, return an Object, and take a special AspectJ object carrying information about the invocation – ProceedingJoinPoint – as its argument and it may have an arbitrary name (Actually this is the minimal form of the signature, it could be more complex.)
• We use the ProceedingJoinPoint to delegate the call to the original target (an instance of the TooQuiet3rdPartyClass) and, in the case of an exception, to get the argument’s value
• I’ve used an @Around advice though @AfterThrowing would be simpler and more appropriate but this shows better the capabilities of AspectJ and can be nicely compared to the dynamic java proxy example above
Since I hadn’t control over the application’s environment, I couldn’t enable the load-time weaving and thus had to use AspectJ’s Ant task to weave the code at the build time, re-package the affected JAR and re-deploy it to the server.
Alternative Solutions
Well, if you can’t use a debugger then your options are quite limited. The only alternative solution I could think of is to decompile the class (illegal!), add the logging into the method (provided that the decompilation succeeds), re-compile it and replace the original .class with the modified one.
The Dark Side
Code injection and Aspect Oriented Programming are very powerful and sometimes indispensable both for troubleshooting and as a regular part of application architecture, as we can see e.g. in the case of Java EE’s Enterprise Java Beans where the business concerns such as transaction management and security checks are injected into POJOs (though implementations actually more likely use proxies) or in Spring.
However there is a price to be paid in terms of possibly decreased understandability as the runtime behavior and structure are different from what you’d expect based on the source codes (unless you know to check also the aspects’ sources or unless the injection is made explicit by annotations on the target classes such as Java EE’s @Interceptors). Therefore you must carefully weight the benefits and drawbacks of code injection/AOP – though when used reasonably, they do not obscure the program flow more than interfaces, factories etc. The argument about obscuring code is perhaps often over-estimated.
If you want to see an example of AOP gone wild, check the source codes of Glassbox, a JavaEE performance monitoring tool (for that you might need a map not to get too lost).
Fancy Uses of Code Injection and AOP
The main field of application of code injection in the process of troubleshooting is logging, more exactly gaining visibility into what an application is doing by extracting and somehow communicating interesting runtime information about it. However AOP has many interesting uses beyond – simple or complex – logging, for example:
• Typical examples: Caching & et al (ex.: on AOP in JBoss Cache), transaction management, logging, enforcement of security, persistence, thread safety, error recovery, automatic implementation of methods (e.g. toString, equals, hashCode), remoting
• Implementation of role-based programming (e.g. OT/J, using BCEL) or the Data, Context, and Interaction architecture
• Testing
• Test coverage – inject code to record whether a line has been executed during test run or not
• Mutation testing (µJava, Jumble) – inject “random” mutation to the application and verify that the tests failed
• Pattern Testing – automatic verification that Architecture/Design/Best practices recommendations are implemented correctly in the code via AOP
• Simulate hardware/external failures by injecting the throwing of an exception
• Help to achieve zero turnaround for Java applications – JRebel uses an AOP-like approach for framework and server integration plugins – namely its plugins use Javassist for “binary patching”
• Solving though problems and avoiding monkey-coding with AOP patterns such as Worker Object Creation (turn direct calls into asynchronous with a Runnable and a ThreadPool/task queue) and Wormhole (make context information from a caller available to the callee without having to pass them through all the layers as parameters and without a ThreadLocal) – described in the book AspectJ in Action
• Dealing with legacy code – overriding the class instantiated on a call to a constructor (this and similar may be used to break tight-coupling with feasible amount of work), ensuring backwards-compatibility o , teaching components to react properly on environment changes
• Preserving backwards-compatibility of an API while not blocking its ability to evolve e.g. by adding backwards-compatible methods when return types have been narrowed/widened (Bridge Method Injector – uses ASM) or by re-adding old methods and implementing them in terms of the new API
• Turning POJOs into JMX beans
We’ve learned that code injection can be indispensable for troubleshooting, especially when dealing with closed-source libraries and complex deployment environments. We’ve seen three rather different code injection tools – dynamic Java proxies, Javassist, AspectJ – applied to real-world problems and discussed their advantages and disadvantages because different tools may be suitable for different cases. We’ve also mentioned that code injection/AOP shouldn’t be overused and looked at some examples of advanced applications of code injection/AOP.
I hope that you now understand how code injection can help you and know how to use these three tools.
Source Codes
You can get the fully-documented source codes of the examples from GitHub including not only the code to be injected but also the target code and support for easy building. The easiest may be:
git clone git://
cd JavaZone-Code-Injection/
mvn -P javaproxy test
mvn -P javassist test
mvn -P aspectj test
(It may take few minutes for Maven do download its dependencies, plugins, and the actual project’s dependencies.)
Additional Resources
I would like to thank all the people who helped me with this post and the presentation including my colleges, the JRebel folk, and GluonJ’s co-author prof. Shigeru Chiba.
9 Responses to “Practical Introduction into Code Injection with AspectJ, Javassist, and Java Proxy”
1. You have a small mistake about Javassist. It is not build-time only tool. The classes can be instrumented at load time, if you implement Java agent API and hook into classloading phase.
Thumbs up! :)
• A good remark, thanks a lot, Anton! Perhaps I should have written that it is mostly built-time – for us ordinary humans – and also run-time for the Java agent wizards :-)
2. Hi Jakub,
Amazing article! Thank you!
(It has been republished in Java Code Geeks by the way)
3. I’d be interested to know how long ago you last used AJDT, and what wasn’t ‘useful’ about it. It’s had a lot of development over the last few years and is heavily used by the Spring Roo tooling in Spring Tool Suite. I use it daily with projects where I have aspects for logging and transaction management, and just take it for granted nowadays.
• Hi Neale, thanks for sharing your positive experience! I used it about maybe 1.5 year ago and my problem was that with the @AspectJ annotation syntax it somehow haven’t managed to show correctly where aspects will be injected to. I know that in general this works, and certainly even beter nowadays, it might have been just some unfortunate combination of @AspectJ syntax, classpath config etc.
4. said…
[...]Practical Introduction into Code Injection with AspectJ, Javassist, and Java Proxy « The Holy Java[...]…
5. Anand said
I want to know whether AspectJ will cause application to slow down when we log lots of information about the application, in short is it working synchronous with the application code or asynchronous?
• Namaste, Anand!
Yes, AspectJ just injects code into your existing code so it is synchronous. However you could use it for example with Log4J and its AsyncAppender to perform the actual handling of the log asynchronously.
6. [...] it doesn’t introduce any new runtime dependencies to the modified artifact. (Read my recent introduction into Javassist if you feel the [...]
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November 28, 2010
The Last Exorcism (2010)
(aka Cotton)
Release Date: On Blu-ray & DVD now.
Country: USA, France.
Written by: Huck Botko and Andrew Gurland.
Directed by: Daniel Stamm.
Starring: Patrick Fabian, Ashley Bell, Iris Bahr, Louis Herthum and Caleb Landry Jones.
There are few sub-genre's in Horror Filmdom that are tougher to master than Possession/Exorcism. The Exorcist aside, try to think of some other great movies that involved someone being possessed and their subsequent exorcism, that didn't suck.
See what I mean? The truly good ones are truly few and far between.
Maybe The Exorcist set the bar too high? Maybe there's only so much you can do with that type of story. I don't know. Either way, The Last Exorcism manages to be one of the better efforts in that particular sub-genre, and it's really nice to see one that works rather well for a change.
*We do wish they had kept the original title of the film, Cotton, though. That just sounds really cool, doesn't it?
Don't fight it, baby.
Cotton Marcus is a preacher that doesn't believe in God, gives sermons about banana bread, and has one of the worst first names ever. He also lies and swindles people out of their money, in the name of the Holy Father, which is kinda underhanded since he doesn't actually believe that he exists. He is very charismatic though, so I guess I trust him.
Come on, he looks trustworthy!
After receiving a plea for exorcism help, Cotton and his film crew head to Asscrack, Arkansas or some place like that, to "exorcise" a "possessed" teen girl. He's obviously playing with fire here, because you don't mess around with the simple folk of the south, and here's why; they're God fearin', gun totin', and they don't like you. They're all very well mannered and polite, but if you weren't born in the holler, you taint welcome. Being that Cotton is definitely the kind of guy that overstays his welcome, you can imagine that things don't go so well...
"Go home, Yankee!"
After he performs an exorcism, which he fakes like most women fake the "big o", things get odd and creepy. He begins to wonder if Nell (the girl) is really possessed or if her dad is just crazy and wants to hurt her, or maybe even make sweet love to her. He also wonders if her brother is going to kill him or not. Also, he also wonders if human bodies were meant to contort in such as fashion as Nell wills hers to do also. I like the word also... it adds emphasis.
"The orgy hasn't even started yet, how can you be finished?!?"
Is Nell really possessed, or just bat-shit crazy? Will Cotton use the power of Jeebus to save her sweet little soul? Does she have daddy's bun in the oven? Does Cotton know how to take a hint and git while the gittin's good? I won't spoil what happens here, but suffice it to say that this picture just about says it all:
Yeah, so everyone is pretty much fucked.
As far as the Found Footage genre goes, this one was pretty good. It's was hard at first for us to say if we liked it or not, because we thought we did, but we're pretty sure we didn't. Confused? Us too.
Cotton being a charlatan was a great plot move, and Patrick Fabian played his swindling role well; we liked him for the fact that he had his own set of beliefs, and mostly did what he did for the betterment of the people in his flock. Still, you can't help but totally like him, snake oil salesman that he is, which might be why he was so interesting.
The movie got better as it went along, though it never really kicked into gear as far as scares go. Some of it was creepy, and there were moments of trepidation and held breath on our parts, but it almost seemed like it came too late and didn't really mess with out minds as we'd hoped it would. Had Nell spouted off in some crazy Demonic voice or something, it would have been better. We do understand why she didn't though.
It takes a brave kid to be openly gay in the South. Kudos to him.
The barn scene from Emily Rose, the ending camera work from Blair Witch, the main characters name stolen from the Scream series... this movie is one big thief! Maybe not, but the borrowed elements were pretty glaring.
The last 8 minutes or so of this movie have caused quite the backlash amongst moviegoers. I won't spoil it, because people who spoil twists are a-holes, but I do have to say that it was a decent idea, but came and went like a flash. The whole movie takes its sweet time about doing much of anything, builds a little, pretty much resolves itself, and then BAM! CRAZY TWIST ENDING! It did make me look back and appreciate some of the story elements differently, but they really needed to let it breathe a bit more. It all felt a bit too rushed.
There's some blood here and there throughout the movie, but most of it comes in the form of Sanskrit ramblings on walls and cave drawings, also on walls. Cotton does get a pretty nasty cut though, and one person gets beheaded. You don't really get to see that though.
Nope. This movie was shot in a Dry (as in sex dry) County... although creepy little Nell did try to seduce the camera chick. She wanted it too!
Preachers lie! Also, don't ever butt into people's family business, especially in the deep south. Those people don't cotton much to outsiders. Heh. Cotton.
This is a tough one for us, me in particular, to grade. On one hand, it was enjoyable and added a little twist to the found footage genre. On the other, it felt a bit tame and never really went to the places that I feel it could have gone to had they pushed it... The ending seemed to piss people off too, though I didn't hate it other than the fact that it felt rushed. I don't know. It's a decent little movie with a bunch of flaws. Maybe I need to watch it again and see how it settles with me. You, however, may just like it.
*Addendum- We found that this movie held up well on repeated viewings, and that we actually liked it more the second time around.
You know, she cleans up pretty well.
November 26, 2010
Before the review, a bit of win for us all...
Our review of The Last Exorcism is coming forthwith, but until then, please enjoy the hell out of this little piece of marketing genius, as we did. This is great. 'The Last Exorcism' Chat Roulette Gives Fellas Blue Balls - Watch more horror
Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
"Better than the first one, PA 2 will make you mess your pants!"
Sub-Genre- Um... Paranormal?
Cast Members of Note- Katie Featherston, Sprague Grayden, Molly Ephraim, Brian Boland, Michah Sloat, and Abby the Dog.
Did you see the first one? Same thing. Well, it's a bit different, but for the most part it's about a mean ghost being mean to people, and creeping the shit out of me in the process. And I have news for you, it's way creepier than the first one. And better too. Still, it's mostly the same, except that it's roughly 60 days before the events of the first Paranormal Activity, and this time we get to see Katie's step sister and her family walk around their house filming every aspect of their lives too. They must be exhibitionists by nature, because seriously, who films shit that much around the house?
Then again, I'd tape every last second of these two jamming things in their mouths too if I could.
Anywho... after coming home to find their house trashed, they assume it was a break in of some sort, and have the house rigged with a bunch of security cameras. Their Mexican nanny-maid knows better though, and warns the family that "something isn't right" with their new abode, which of course, the Gringo's ignore. Consuela tries to bless the house and chase away the evil spirits, which only serves to get her fired and deported. God, I hate white people.
This is an actual scene from the movie.
Creepy things start to happen to everyone in the house, including the dog! The baby knows something is up, but much like the maid and the constantly barking dog, no one listens to him either. So as things get worse, it becomes apparent that the thousands of dollars spent on the security gear and cameras was a waste of money, as mom and dad refuse to acknowledge what they see on the tapes.
WTF is going on with that kid and the mirror!?!
Will the family survive the spooky antics of the mean ghost? Will Consuela return and save the day? Will Katie show us her wonder puppies, or go in the completely opposite direction and just act creepy? No, kinda, and unfortunately, yes.
Mmm hmm. She sure likes kids...
Better than the first one, PA 2 nearly made me poop my pants. I don't get truly skeeved out very often, but this movie rattled me a few times, and literally made my pucker ring clench. I'm being serious. It clenched. Not fun.
The dynamic of an entire family being menaced opened things up in the sequel, and in my opinion gave the story more places to go, and allowed for more twists and turns to keep us on edge as an audience. Especially compelling are the scenes involving the baby; it doesn't get more helpless than a baby being moved around by an evil spirit, or wandering a house in the middle of the night by itself.
This movie has a serious creep factor going for it too, which I though was much more effective than it was in the first movie. If you thought seeing Katie Featherston being dragged down the hallway in the first movie was terrifying, you haven't seen anything yet. Oh, and there's a particular scare that happens in the kitchen, which I won't ruin, but it literally mad me jump, yell "Fuck" and pee myself a little bit.
Poor Sprague Grayden. Not only was she one of the stars of a doomed TV show Jericho (which I loved), that died an untimely death, but she died a painful and untimely death on another great show which I love, Sons of Anarchy, and it still hurts me to watch that show without her. Add to that the fact that in this movie she's haunted and abused at every turn by an evil spirit, which you know won't end well for her.. the poor girl just cant catch a break! Maybe throw her a romantic comedy or something, Hollywood. She's been through enough already, and deserves a nice break.
Or maybe she could star in a sexy, sweaty drama?
For the second time in as many movies, we the audience are robbed of the one simple thing that we want from these movies, but thus far have yet to receive: gratuitous, topless-ness from Katie Featherston. Pervy or not, you need to be honest and admit that her breasteses are things on wonder, even if they are mostly-hidden wonders. She's a fine actress, and she might even have a golden personality that would captivate me like cocaine captivates Lindsay Lohan, but make with the tits already, Katie. Stop being a prude!
Not so much on the gore, which was fine really.
Nope. We do get to see plenty of wonderful Katie cleavage, and Sprague Grayden in a bath tub, though.
Football? In the Tub? Spot me the ball on your dirty goal line and I'm in!
Don't screw over your step sister, as it will come back to bite you in the ass. Also, never dismiss the Mexican nanny-maid and her evil-fighting abilities!
This was one hell of a sequel, and if you liked the first PA, you will most likely dig this one even more. Sure, the Found Footage genre seems a little passe' by now, but it can still be done effectively, and is done so here. Catch it if you haven't already in theaters, or wait for it to hit DVD, which is really the best way to see a quiet, creepy flick like this one.
She really needs to do a nude scene. Maybe something with her taking a long, slow-motion shower, or involving sapphic love of some kind. Maybe she could be "The Breast Whisperer," where every time danger is near, her nipples tingle and she has to take her shirt off and caress herself for answers. If not that, then Porn.
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The Hunger Games Wiki
The 93rd Hunger Games
Hey everyone! I'm District1 Obsessed. I'm still fairly new to this wikia, so this will be my first Hunger Games. I've participated in plenty of Games, but this is my first time writing one, so if I'm doing something wrong, please let me know. I will be doing the reapings, training, and the Games. I will be leaving out the chariot rides and the interviews, because those take too long.
• Four tributes per user
• Reservations last 2 days
• Please no perfect tributes or they will die in the bloodbath
• Guys, you all have amazing tributes, but there's a pretty good chance they're going to die, so please don't get mad if they do!
• I will go to profiles
• Please use the tribute template ^_^
• Tributes with advice have a higher chance of survival.
• I only need the name, district, and age of your tribute, but I would like them to be detailed so that it could be easier for me to write them :)
Tribute Template
Interview Angle:
Bloodbath Strategy:
Games Strategy:
District Gender Name Age Weapon User
1 Male Dragon Lord 17 Katana, Spear Hybrid Shadow
1 Female Saffron Starr 16 Katana EHKnight
2 Male Mason Spartan 17 Wooden Staff Hybrid Shadow
2 Female Lily Moon 18 Dagger, knife Ducky35
3 Male Hybrid "The Shadow" Javeline 17 Catclaws, knives EHKnight
3 Female Kathrin Sandstone 17 Spear/trident, logic PolkaDottedLizard
4 Male Lime Verandi 14 Net, trident Obnoxious Blue Unicorns
4 Female Lemonade Verandi 14 Net, trident Obnoxious Blue Unicorns
5 Male Martin Meyers 16 Spear Ducky35
5 Female Eliza Garret 14 Sword, throwing knives FrostSnake
6 Male Connor Houck 13 Hammer, stone, and slingshot Obnoxious Blue Unicorns
6 Female Avala "Ava" Poppythorne 16 Mace, Throwing axes Blissfully Mine
7 Male Kota Jimslim 17 Hammer, axe, knives Katniss992710
7 Female Mary-Ann Hunter 15 Axe EHKnight
8 Male Nile Flame 15 Blowgun, throwing knives FrostSnake
8 Female Galina Kiltova 14 Archery, knives, axes Andy1854
9 Male Oliver Hemmingway 15 Traps, wire Obnoxious Blue Unicorns
9 Female Kassidy Feeks 16
Tomahawk/ axe, throwing knives
10 Male Maiko Fornis 13 Awl, bow & arrow ViniciusDeAssis1999
10 Female Holly Wintercrest 15 Throwing knives, machete FrostSnake
11 Male Scorch Flare 18 Sword, slingshot Hybrid Shadow
11 Female Violette Meadow 12 Slingshot, bow and arrow UniCandy
12 Male John McCall 15 Spear, axe Ducky35
12 Female Lillian Pumpkin 13 Bow and arrows EHKnight
Tribute Gallery
Careers: Dragon Lord (1), Saffron Star (1), Lily Moon (2), Lemonade Verandi (4), Lime Verandi (4)
Districts 2, 3, and 11 alliance: Mason Spartan (2), Hybrid Javeline (3), and Scorch Flare (11)
Districts 3, 6, 7, 8, and 12 alliance: Katharin Sandstone (3), Ava Poppythorne (6), Mary-Ann Hunter (7), Nile Flame (8), and Lillian Pumpkin (12)
Districts 7, 9, and 11 alliance: Kota Jimslim (7), Kassidy Feekes (9), and Violette Meadow (11)
Districts 5, 10, and 12 alliance: Martin Meyers (5), Maiko Fornis (10), and John McCall (12)
Districts 5 and 10 alliance: Eliza Garret (5) and Holly Wintercrest (10)
Loners: Galina Kiltova (8), Oliver Hemmingway (9), Connor Houck (6)
(Warning: There may be some cussing so please don't get mad at me ^_^)
District 1: Dragon Lord's POV
Creak. Creeeeaaaak. I curse under my breath as I slowly pull the door open. When did this person buy their house? 1840, or something? It's so dusty, and looks like it hasn't been cleaned in centuries. And it smells awful. I recognize the smell. It's the smell of death. My heart falls. I was really looking forward to killing the person that lives here. Yes, I know. I'm crazy. Insane. Go ahead and call me those words; they don't offend me. Death has always excited me - I don't know why. Ever since I killed my parents, I've felt like I have to go around killing people, like I'm required to or something. I go deeper into the house; the death smell grows stronger. Suddenly, I hear soft, quiet crying, coming from the house's bedroom. I open the bedroom door and walk in - the girl on the bed doesn't even notice me. She's hunched over a limp body, tears rolling down her cheeks. The body belongs to a boy around her age. I'm guessing it's her boyfriend, or maybe her brother. But who am I to care? This house isn't completely empty. No, there's still someone left. I reach for the knife on my belt and pull it off. I creep towards the girl, slowly raising my knife. I place the blade to the back of her neck. She screams as she feels the cold metal pressing against her skin. She starts to ask, "Who's there?" but I dig the knife into her flesh and she falls over, blood seeping from her neck. She stares up at me, eyes widened with fear, then her eyelids slowly begin to close. After a couple of minutes, the room stinks, and I know she's dead. Both of them are. I go over to the boy's body and inspect him. There's a long, jagged cut on his chest, but I can tell that wasn't the cause of death. It's partially scabbed over, so it must've formed a couple of days ago. There's a fresh wound on the side of his head, though, likely created by a knife or an icepick. I take both of the corpses and lay them on the bed, then pull the blankets over them as if I were tucking them in bed for the night. Then I walk away without a second glance and step out of the house, softly shutting the door behind me. I dust off my black suit and head down towards the central square, where the reapings would begin in about 10 minutes. This has become a normal routine for me. Every reaping day, I would kill someone random on the outskirts of District 1 before going to the reaping. Again, don't ask why I do this. I just like it.
A Peacekeeper pricks my finger, however I barely feel a thing. I stand in the 17 year old male's section and wait patiently. Eventually, the escort arrives and she takes her place up on the stage. She has bright green curls that fall to her shoulders and her silver skin glitters like diamonds. I chuckle half-heartedly to myself. Clever, I guess.
"Welcome, welcome," the escort says excitedly. "To the 93rd annual Hunger Games!" Her words are met with excited cheers, but I remain quiet, even though I'm probably the most excited person there. "Ladies first, shall we?" A bunch of girls start screaming. I can barely hear the name the escort reads from the slip of paper she pulls out over their screaming. One girl, who wasn't busy screaming at the top of her lungs, makes her way up to the stage. "I volunteer," she says. She is already up there when the screaming girls realize that the name was called. They yell at her but she just stands there, a smirk on her face. "And what is your name?" the escort asks her kindly, handing her the microphone.
"Saffron," the girl says. "Saffron Star."
The escort praises her, then goes over to the ball that holds thousands of boys' names. My eyes brighten and I wait, crossing my fingers behind my back. Please let it be me. Please let it be me...
"Dragon Lord."
I let out a sigh of relief, and begin to make my way towards the stage, when I hear someone yell, "I VOLUNTEER!" I turn around, watching as an 18 year old guy runs over to the stage. "You have next year, kid," he says to me. "This is my last year."
I shake my head. "Sorry, kid," I say, mocking him. "But I was reaped. This is my year." When he tries to retort, I wrap both my hands around his neck and twist it. I hear a loud SNAP! and let go. The boy falls to the ground, his head awkwardly turned to the side. Ask the Peacekeepers rush him to the hospital, I calmly make my way up to the stage, where I scan the audience. They're all staring up at me with horror. Without asking the escort for permission, I take the microphone from her and say, "Dragon Lord, your victor for this year." A few people clap, although they seem unsure. I grin. I'm intimidating; that's good. I turn to face Saffron and kindly hold out my hand for her to shake. She stares at me.
"Shake my hand," I say. She shakes her head, and I laugh. "What, are you scared of me?" I shake my head. "Some Career you are."
Saffron scowls and slams her foot against mine. I yelp loudly, but before I have time to hurt her back, she's already hurrying down the stage and towards the Justice Building. I smile a little. Man, these Games are going to be interesting.
District 2: Lily Moon's POV
Today's the day! I can barely contain my excitement. Ever since I was a little girl, the Hunger Games have been something I've always wanted to do. When I first started watching the Hunger Games, I thought the only way you could participate was if your name was called. I was never that lucky - take prize raffles, for example. I rarely ever win those. So put my name with thousands of other girls, from 12 to 18 years old. My name is only entered seven times. I have a very slight chance of getting picked.
Then my mother explained to me that you could volunteer for another tribute. The process was simple. If someone was reaped, you would simply raise your hand and yell, "I volunteer!" and then YOU would be the tribute for that year, not the person that was reaped. Ever since then, I promised myself that I would volunteer when I was 18.
I'm 18 years old right now. Today's the day.
But, I'm not just doing this because I want to. I mean, it would be great to win the Hunger Games and return home with a truckload of money. I would live in one of the nicest houses ever built, and everyone would respect me. Not that they don't respect me now - I am the most popular girl in school - but you know what I mean. Anyways, I'm also doing this for my deceased friend, Jenny. She was my best friend in the whole world when we were 11 years old. One afternoon, I went to her house to hang out with her, and I found her laying dead on the living room couch. Her parents had beaten her to death. I smiled to myself when they were executed by the Capitol; I know that's a cruel thing to do, but they killed their own daughter, for God's sake. And their daughter was my best friend. I'm going to volunteer for the Hunger Games this year in Jenny's memory, but also because, when I win, I'm going to give my parents some of the money I get to help them promote their foundation that deals with helping abused kids.
Everyone loved Jenny (except for her parents, obviously). She deserves some credit.
I'm standing in between two of my friends, and I talk excitedly with them. I wear a white flannel dress and my golden hair is curled and bounces so elegantly off of my shoulders. I wait for the reaping to begin in anticipation. I still try to make conversation with my friends, but it's getting harder and harder as I really just want the reapings to begin.
Finally, our escort makes it to the stage. Her name is Vixen. Every year, she dresses in an outfit that gives us a hint about the arena. Last year, she was wearing a sparkling blue dress and a snowflake crown - the arena turned out to be an icy tundra. This year, however, she was just wearing a plain yellow dress.
Huh. That's disappointing. I guess they wanted to keep the arena a huge secret this year.
After what seems like years of her going on and on about the Dark Days and how the Hunger Games came to be, she finally goes over to the girls' ball and selects a name. "H-" She barely gets a name out, when girls start yelling as loud as they possibly can, "I volunteer!" They scramble their way to the stage, and cat fights break out all around. But I'm smart. I slip through the crowd without bothering to fight anyone and I'm the first one at the stage.
"No, volunteer," I say. The girls below me stare up at me coldly, and I smile smugly. I say my name to the crowd, and then the escort selects the boy's name.
"Jason Black."
Right at that moment, a 17 year old boy calls out, "I volunteer." I watch as a boy with pale skin, black hair, and a scar on his cheek makes his way up to the stage. He would be normal, if not for the fact that he has no eyes. It freaks me out. I recognize him the moment he tells the escort his name. Mason Spartan. I don't let his lack of eyes creep me out too much; after all, I am going to kill him sooner or later. So I straighten my back, turn away from my district partner, and grin at the crowd. They applaud for me. Not him. Me. I let myself think that, and I assure myself that it's true.
The escort tells us to shake hands. I make a face, and laugh to myself when I know he can't see it. And if he can't see a funny face that I make, then he obviously won't be able to see a tribute coming at him with a weapon, which means he can't win the Hunger Games. Even if he does somehow make it past the bloodbath, he won't win. You know why?
Because I'm going to be the victor of the 93rd Hunger Games.
District 3: Hybrid "The Shadow" Javeline's POV
The Shadow. That's what they call me. It's what they've always called me - 'they' being the people of District 3. They've never told me why that's their nickname for me. Maybe it's because I'm very elegant, and I can hide easily among the shadows. Or maybe it's because I'm cold and dark. I'm practically evil, some would say. I try not to let that word get to me.
They're just jealous that they aren't as good as me.
I walk down to the town square, adjusting the blood red tie on my black suit. Thousands of citizens are filling in their required roped-off sections. I have my finger pricked by a Peacekeeper, before standing in my designated area with a bunch of other 17 year old boys. They all seem very anxious. I'm not, though. I'm calm. I've always been calm, during every single reaping I've been to since I turned 12. It's not likely that I'm going to be reaped. I've never taken tesserae. And even if I am reaped, I know that I definitely have what it takes to win.
The escort, Razor, who wears a bright, sparkly purple suit and silver chains walks up onto the stage. He tells us how the 13 original districts rebelled against the Capitol, then rebelled later on, 75 years later, and called their rebellion the Mockingjay Rebellion. Then he graciously shows us a video from President Snow III, explains the very few rules that you must follow when in the Hunger Games, then finally reaches his light blue hand into the gigantic diamond ball that contains thousands of female names. Razor pulls out a slip and reads it loudly, his voice clear, so that he makes sure everyone can hear. "Kathrin Sandstone," he says. I watch as a cute girl about my age with short brown hair and green eyes nervously makes her way up to the stage. Her cheeks are flushed, and I can see her hands shaking by her side.
"Now for the males, shall we?" Razor says, grinning at the crowd. The boys around me hunch over as they stand. I can see one kid with his fingers crossed behind his back. I, however, slump back in my seat, not the least bit worried.
"Hybrid Javeline," Razor calls out. I freeze in my spot., that can't be. My name is only in there six times. I've never taken tesserae. How did this happen? How...
"Hybrid Javeline?" Razor repeats. "Come on up; there's no need to be afraid."
I take a deep breath. He's right. There is no need to be afraid. I can win this. I've got what it takes. I can use catclaws. Knives. I'm strong, merciless, agile, and sneaky.
That's why they call me The Shadow.
I rise to my feet, ignoring the sympathetic looks that the other boys shoot me, and walk up to the stage. Obviously, there's still some fear inside of me, but some of it has washed away. I can do this. When Razor orders Kathrin and I to shake hands, she offers me her hand and I take it. I squeeze it so hard that her face turns red. And then, when she passes by me to get into the car that will take us to the Justice Building, I whisper in her ear, "Do you know who I am?"
She looks at me. "Yeah. You're Hybrid Javeline."
I shake my head. "No. That's not me at all."
She tilts her head, confused, and I smile darkly at her.
"I'm The Shadow."
District 4: Lemonade Verandi's POV
I'm running. Running as fast as I possibly can, the trees passing me in a blur. I try to catch up to him. My enemy. He holds a long knife, and he's chasing my brother. I take a deep breath and quicken my pace. I'm so close to reaching him, so close to being able to slice him open with my trident, when he tackles my brother to the ground. He holds him up and smiles at me, then presses the knife to his throat...
I jerk awake, sweat rolling down my forehead and cheeks. Sunlight pours in through the window, illuminating the room that my brother Lime and I share. It takes me a few moments to realize what day it is. Reaping day. Volunteering has always been something I wanted to do. I need the money for my family - we're not poor, but we're not exactly the wealthiest family in District 4, either. Plus, my mentor at the training center said that it would be a good idea to volunteer this year. So I am. I'm really excited, but I'm also kind of nervous.
I watch Lime as he wakes up and stretches his arms out above his head. He looks at me for a minute, then his eyes move to the clock above my head, and his eyes widen. "The reapings begin at 2:00, right?" he asks me.
I nod. "Yeah."
He jumps out of bed. "Crap. It's like, 1:05. Why'd we sleep so late?" He dashes into the closet, and comes out wearing a plain button-down and some faded jeans. I change in the bathroom and put on a knee-length turquoise dress and a pair of soft black slippers. I let my green hair hang loosely beneath my shoulders. We eat breakfast as a family; when I'm finished, I check the time again. 1:45. I have like, 15 minutes. I glance at Lime, who's shoveling bacon and eggs down his throat.
"Hey, piglet," I say to him. He looks up at me. "You ready to go?"
He nods and wipes his mouth. He starts out the door and I follow him. We walk together in silence until we reach the town square, then go our separate ways.
When everyone has arrived, the District 4 escort, Tanya Bahamas, struts up onto the stage, wearing a light orange dress that glimmers under the sunlight. She's very pretty, but underneath that fair, flawless skin is a mean old bitch that hates everything and everyone. To prove my point, she goes up to the microphone and says, "Screw this shit, I'm just going to draw the girl's name and get it over with. None of that history crap."
Yes, she's a bit rude, but hey, that's better. I don't have to wait too long. Actually, I just have to stand still for a couple more seconds then I can volunteer. I watch Tanya closely as she puts her hand in the ball and pulls out a slip of paper.
"Hannah Blake."
"I VOLUNTEER!" I yell. Nobody else made a move to hurry to the stage. That's different, but flattering. Everyone knew I was going to volunteer this year. And they wanted me to volunteer; I'm great, and they know I'll return home with the crown. I go up to the stage, and Tanya asks me what my name is.
Ew. I think she spit on me. Gross. But I answer her anyways. "Lemonade Verandi," I say proudly. I make myself appear determined and fearless, when really, every part of me is shaking and I feel like I'm about to pass out. It's not that I'm nervous; I've just never done really well in front of lots of people.
The boys were next. I can't wait to see who my competition is. Tanya draws a slip from the ball. "Christopher-" she begins. I am not surprised when I hear someone yell out, "I volunteer!" I turn my head to the crowd to see who it is, but I almost wish I hadn't.
The volunteer is my brother.
He comes up onto the stage and tells Tanya his name. "Ooh, sibling rivalry," she purrs. "Excellent! Shake hands, darlings."
Lime turns to me and takes my hand, avoiding my gaze. But I look at him closely. "Why'd you volunteer?" I whisper. "I don't want to kill you."
He sighs. "And I don't want you to die. I have to protect you, Lemon."
I scowl at him. "Idiot. I can protect myself." I slap him on the shoulder and then storm away. But I'm not angry. Just confused. And scared. I'm really, really scared.
I want to win. But I don't want to kill my own brother.
District 5: Martin Meyers' POV
"No, no, this will not do!"
I watch as my mother frantically digs through her closet, throwing dresses that she had designed herself onto the floor. I see a pretty green dress with a purple floral pattern laying on the floor of the closet that she seems to have missed. I go over to it and hold it up. "Mom," I say. She looks at me. "What about this one?"
My mom smiles a little. She takes the dress from me and hangs it back up in the closet. "Thanks for trying to help, Martin, but I don't think I should wear that dress. It probably doesn't fit me anymore; I made it when I was 16." She inspects me carefully. "Plus, you're more important than me right now. The reapings are in one hour and you still look like you just woke up!" She takes me to the bathroom and starts to brush my hair.
"Mom, I can brush my own hair," I tell her. She nods and goes back into her room to look for a dress to wear. I roll my eyes and comb my red hair. When I'm done with that, I quickly brush my teeth and then head into my room, where I find that my dad - also a fashion designer - has laid a fine black tuxedo on my bed for me to wear. I get dressed, then walk back to my mother's room to check up on her. "You find a dress yet?" I ask.
"Yeah. I think I'll wear this one." Mrs. Meyers holds up a slightly frilly sky blue dress. "Go eat breakfast while I get dressed, honey." I bow my head in response and obediently head downstairs and into the kitchen, where I find my 18 year old sister Lauren making toast and scrambled eggs. It takes her a moment to notice me, and when she does, she leaves the steaming food alone for a few minutes and hurries over to me.
"There's my handsome little brother," she says with a smile. She obviously can't help adjusting my tie real quick, then places a kiss on my forehead and goes back to fixing breakfast.
Around 10 minutes later, the food has been made and my mother has finally finished fixing her hair and painting her nails, and doing whatever else it is that women do. My family and I sit down at the table and eat in silence. My father often tries to bring up some new designs that he's been working on, but other than that, the house is quiet. Usually, every member of the family is quite chatty, but not today.
It isn't possible to be chatty on reaping day.
When everyone's stomachs are full, my dad puts the leftovers up, then checks the watch on his wrist. "Reapings start in 20 minutes," he says. "Let's get going." We leave the house together, and walk quietly down to the town square. After I have my finger pricked, I start to head over to the 16 year old boys' section, when Lauren pulls me to the side for a minute and wraps her arms around me.
"I love you," she says.
I sigh. "You're acting as if I've been reaped."
Lauren pulls away from me, and looks me in the eyes. "You might be," is all she says before she walks away. I watch her go, slightly confused, when I feel something slap me across the back. I turn around to see an angry looking Peacekeeper, glaring coldly down at me.
"Go to your damn section," she yells at me. I dip my head and shyly walk over to where the other 16 year olds stand, trying my best to ignore the snickers that I hear from the people that saw the incident. I try not to let them get to me. They wouldn't be laughing if they had been in my position. I stand still, looking downwards, when the District 5 escort, Ramen, finally makes his way up to the stage.
"Welcome to the 93rd Hunger Games," he says. The only sounds of cheering that her words are met with are from the Peacekeepers, and a few claps from the mayor. Everyone else remains silent, staring grimly up at the stage, although I continue to keep my eyes on the ground. Frankly, I don't care about Ramen's 5 foot tall orange hair and bright, cherry red skin. I just don't.
Ramen goes over the concept of the Games and the history of Panem. I'm hugging myself without noticing it, my entire body shaking with fear. Even after not being reaped for five years since I was eligible to compete in the Hunger Games, what Lauren said earlier worried me greatly.
"Ladies first, as always," Ramen says. He pulls out a slip of paper and reads the name in his head before saying it out loud. "Gracie Garret."
I look up when I hear someone cry out in shock. I watch as an 18 year old girl makes her way up to the stage. My eyes widen when I see a bump on her belly. Making a pregnant girl go into the Hunger Games? I think to myself. That's not right.
Just when she's about to reach the stage, I hear someone yell, "I volunteer!" Ramen has a look of surprise plastered on his face, since District 5 doesn't normally have volunteers. I watch as a girl younger than Gracie runs up the the stage. She throws her arms around Gracie and tells her to go find their mother and father. This girl is obviously her sister. But isn't the older sister usually the one that volunteers for the younger one?
"Well, that's quite a surprise," Ramen says cheerfully. He takes the girl's arm and helps her up onto the stage. "And what's your name, dear?"
"E-Eliza Garret," the girl says. She's shaking with fear and she looks like she's about to cry, but she straightens her back and attempts to smile a bit.
"That was your sister, I'm guessing?" Ramen asks. Eliza nods, and he chuckles. "Well, good thing you volunteered. A pregnant girl would be quite useless in the Games." Eliza glares coldly at him, and he hurries over to the other ball, afraid Eliza will twist his head off or something. He draws out a slip of paper with a boy's name printed on it. "Martin Meyers!"
Suddenly, I feel like the whole world freezes just then. I look up slowly, and every other person in the square turn their heads to stare at me. I can faintly hear my parents crying and begging for my life, but I barely pay them any mind. The person I focus on his Lauren. She's standing with the other 18 year olds, frozen in place. She's sobbing because she can't volunteer for me. I feel like crying, too.
I can't do this, I think. I CAN'T DO THIS!
Without realizing it, I leap out of my spot and try to run away. I know I'll get myself killed for this, but I can't go in the Hunger Games. I hear my mom screaming at the top of her lungs, telling me to stop running, but I ignore her. I shove past other kids who watch me run with widened eyes. That's when I feel a sharp, burning pain in my leg, and fall over. A Peacekeeper had shot me in the leg to get me to stop running. I feel tears roll down my cheeks and I try to get up on all fours and scramble away, but my leg hurts too much. The Peacekeeper drags me to the stage by the collar of my shirt. I recognize her as the mean lady that yelled at me earlier. She throws me onto the stage and I lay there, paralyzed with fear, before everything turns black.
District 6: Ava Poppythorne's POV
Fate and cruelty. They're like brothers. Twins, actually. Fate is cruel. It has always been cruel, and it always will be. For me, at least. Fate graciously decided that it would kill my parents several years ago. Fate also thought it would be cool to have me be captured by the Capitol and forced to go into the Games when I was 16. Fate has been an enemy of all human beings since the beginning of time. If it weren't for fate, there wouldn't even be a Hunger Games. Who agrees with me?
I'm sitting on the window-sill, staring out into the forest that lays beyond my small house that my sister and I live in. I'm playing with a small gold ring, twirling it and rubbing it in between my fingers. I hear a door open and close, and I watch as my little sister Herbert walks into the room. I've been taking care of Herbert ever since our parents died. She means the world to me, and if it weren't for the Capitol, I would definitely stay here with her and take good care of her. She's so young, so innocent. But I have to volunteer. And she's going to have to live in the foster home for a few weeks.
"I can't believe the Capitol is making you do this," she whispers to me. I sigh and hug her.
"Me neither." I frown. "Fate is cruel," I say grimly, using the phrase that people in the district have heard me say often. I sit with Herbert, hugging her for several long, minutes. The few moments of time that I can share with her in peace before I'll have to leave District 6, either for a few weeks or forever.
"Hey," I say quietly. I look down at Herbert and smile gently. "There's no need to worry. I'm going to come home, okay?"
Herbert just sniffles and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. "Promise?"
I nod. "I promise." I glance at the golden ring that is still in my hand, and I give it to her. "I want you to have this," I tell her. "It's one of the rings that I've found in the soil." Herbert is the only one that knows about the riches I discover when I explore the woods. She takes it gratefully and slips it on one of her chubby fingers.
"We should get going," I say quietly, after a few minutes of silence. Herbert nods, and I help her up out of her seat. We walk down to the town square together. Herbert is only 10, not yet old enough to be reaped, so she doesn't have to have her finger pricked. I place a kiss on her cheek, and assure her that I'll be fine. She hurries over to where the citizens not eligible to be reaped are told to stand. She goes to the front of the roped-off section so that she can see that stage better. A Peacekeeper takes my finger and pricks it. He inspects me carefully, then smiles slowly when he sees who I am. "Avala Poppythorne," he purrs. "Pleasure to have you here."
I shyly hurry away from him and over to the 16 year olds section, where I stand in between two nervous looking girls. I, of course, am nervous also, but I try not to let it show. Nervous people don't usually volunteer. Instead, I try to keep an emotionless expression as I gaze at the stage, waiting for the reapings to begin.
The District 6 escort comes up onto the stage. Her skin is dyed bubblegum pink (it was light blue last year) and she's wearing a neon green bikini. I don't wonder why. The citizens of the Capitol are very strange. The moment I say the word "Capitol" in my mind, my face slowly transforms into a small scowl.
They say the most colorful things are usually the darkest at heart. Well, maybe it's just me that says that, but still. It's true.
"Welcome, ladies and gentleman, to the 93rd annual Hunger Games!" says the escort, Bianca. Her voice is high and squeaky, and she's waaayy too excited. "As you all know, the Hunger Games is the outcome of the Dark Days, when the 13 districts rebelled against the Capitol..." Blah, blah, blah. I'm sure you know the rest. I wait impatiently, tapping my foot against the ground, when Bianca finally comes to a conclusion, and she says, "As always, ladies first!" She draws a slip of paper from a large glass ball. Whether that slip of paper reads my name or not, I still ready myself to jump out into the aisle and go on up to the stage.
"Tara Beatrix."
"I volunteer," I say shyly. Gasps rise from the crowd. Tara Beatrix is one of the most popular girls at my school, and everyone knows she doesn't have a sister that would volunteer for her. Maybe it's one of her friends, I'm sure they're wondering. I know I'm going to surprise them when I head up onto the stage, and the next set of gasps are even louder. Is that Ava Poppythorne? they're all thinking. The girl who's parents were executed by the Capitol?
Bianca smiles at me and puts an arm around my shoulder. "A volunteer! We don't get those everyday." She hands me the microphone. "And what might your name be, dear?"
"Avala Poppythorne," I say in response. I take a step back so that Bianca can pick the boy's name. While I wait, I anxiously bite my fingernails, barely realizing that I'm actually doing it. It's a bad habit of mine, but it helps me think.
"Connor Houck," Bianca says. I watch my new district partner closely as he makes his way up to the stage. He has muddy blonde hair and freckles that dot his face like sprinkles on a cake. He smiles even though he's obviously on his way to his death, and I can't help but presume he's idiotic and childish. When Bianca tells us to shake hands, he extends his hand towards me and grins, showing two rows of pearly white teeth. My hands don't budge from where they hang by my sides. I stare at Connor, inspecting him carefully. He looks a bit wimpy, but his legs are actually well built, giving the idea that he's pretty fast. He might be a good ally to have in the Games, but who's to say if he's trustworthy or not? And he might prove to be a distraction.
And I just can't take my eyes off his damn clown nose.
District 7: Kota Jimslim's POV
The girl is running, running as fast as she can, as buildings topple over behind her. The once fascinating city was now a mountain of rubble. She was breathing heavy, but she refused to stop running. There was one tribute left, but she wasn't focused on killing him right now. She just wanted to get out of the falling city - alive.
Just then, she flew through the air and hit the ground, the remaining tribute on top of her. He grinned at her and raised his sword. She begged for him to stop, but he deliberately ignored her pleas, and plunged the sword into her chest.
My girlfriend, Madyline, pries the TV remote out of my hand and turns off the re-runs of the 91st Hunger Games that I had been watching. She turns to face me, her hands on her hips. "You're obsessed," she says flatly.
I shake my head. "I'm just observing what the victors did in order to win," I tell her. "I could be reaped this year; you never know."
She sits down next to me and rests her head on my shoulder. "I hope you aren't," she says quietly. I sigh and pull her closer to me in a reassuring embrace.
"Yeah, let's hope I'm not," I say. I kiss her gently, although I part from her only a few seconds later when I hear my younger sister yell, "EWWW!" from the kitchen. I hear Madyline grumble something under her breath, something like, "Snobby little girl." I shoot her a glare, and she shrugs. "I know you love your sister, Kota, but you need to tell her not to interrupt our lovely, romantic moments, like the one we were just having."
"Fine." I storm into the kitchen and look down at Addie. "Can you not be so damn immature for once in your life?" I snap. "You're gonna wanna kiss boys later on, you know."
Addie sticks her tongue out. "No way! Boys are gross!" She shoves a handful of potato chips into her mouth.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for the reapings, anyways?" I ask, taking the bowl of chips from her. She reaches into the bowl and quickly takes another handful of chips before skipping down the hallway and into the room. I sigh and take the bowl back into the TV room, only to find one of the other kids that live in the group home, Derrick, flirting with Madyline. My girlfriend is looking at him with a disgusted look on her face, but I'm bothered by what I'm seeing nonetheless. I walk over to them and slap Derrick's shoulder.
"Go get your own girlfriend," I snarl. "And don't mess with mine."
"I was just asking her about the science homework that's due next week, sheesh," he says. Ha! Like I'd ever believe that. I spin around and look at Madyline. "Is that true?"
Madyline opens her mouth to reply, when the owner of the group home tells everyone to form a single file line. "The reapings are going to begin very soon," she announces. I shoot one last intimidating glare at Derrick, before taking Madyline's hand and stepping into the line with her. I don't even know where the fuck Addie is. "ADDIE!" I yell. "GET YOUR FACE OUT OF THOSE POTATO CHIPS!"
Addie barges out of her room, wearing a sunset orange dress. "I wasn't eating any freaking potato chips, gosh," she retorts, rolling her eyes. She slips into the line with her little group of friends and begins to chat with them.
"What do you think she's going to be like when she grows up?" I ask Madyline.
"Well, she did tell you she wasn't interested in boys," Madyline says with a giggle. "So maybe she's going to be a crazy cat lady or something." This statement cheers me up a bit. After everyone has gathered together, the owner of the group home takes us down to the town square. Once we're there, we all separate from each other to go off to our designated roped-off sections. I kiss Madyline quickly before hurrying to get my finger pricked. Who would've known that kiss would be our last?
"Ladies first," I hear the escort say, after she had finished rattling on and on about what the escorts are told to say to us before the legit reapings actually begin. She pulls a slip of paper out of a glass ball and reads it in her exotic Capitol accent. "Mary-Ann Hunter! Congratulations!"
Congratulations? Why would you say that? You've picked a tribute to be sent off to their death. A frail girl with wavy blonde hair and light blue eyes nervously makes her way up to the stage. Damn, she's hot. My eyes flicker over to where Madyline stands, and she's glaring at me. Oops. Guess she saw me staring at that Mary-Ann chick.
She won't be able to get in a huge fight with me though, because a very familiar name rings through the air. "Kota Jimslim!" the escort says. "Interesting surname, Kota!" Madyline's glare has turned into a look of shock and fear. Even Addie, who was screaming at me just ten minutes ago, is now sobbing into her friend's shoulder.
Crap. Wow, okay. Didn't expect this. And to make matters worse, I would've been able to get a new house next year. Well, either I return home and get an even better house in the Victor's Village, or I die in the Hunger Games. I'm not weak. I can do this. For Addie. For Madyline. For District 6, and for my parents that were turned into avoxes years ago.
...When did I get so soft?
I walk up to the stage, my arms and legs shivering with fear, but I keep a straight face and I grin proudly at the crowd. They look up at me, confused. The escort tells Mary-Ann and I to shake hands, and I do. I take her hand in mine and I wink at her. She blushes and looks away from me. My eyes then move to the crowd, where I see that Madyline is once again glaring. Just before we're taken off to the Justice Building, I yell, "I promise I'll win for you, Mady!" and she starts crying again. I had no idea my girlfriend was so damn moody.
District 8: Galina Kiltova's POV
I'm sure no one has felt pain as great as I. Plenty of people in Panem have lost a sibling or a friend to the shadows of the Hunger Games, I'm sure, but not one has witnessed betrayal and murder on a bright silver TV screen in the same way I have. As I stand among about a hundred other 14 year old girls, waiting patiently for the reapings to begin, the memory of Clefter's death comes flooding back to me.
. . .
"Congratulations to the final five of the 89th annual Hunger Games!" Head Gamemaker Rowanne Ambrose's voice boomed, her voice echoing throughout the entire arena. "The Games are coming to an end, but they're not over just yet. Please continue with the bloodshed and we absolutely can't wait to see the one that remains standing!" A clicking sound signaled that she was done speaking. The remaining Careers exchanged glances.
"Well," said Clefter. "I guess it's time our alliance splits up now." Her allies nodded in agreement. Clefter gathered her share of the supplies and bid farewell to the girl from 1 and the boy from 2. "Good luck, guys," she said, before heading off into the woods. The other two watched her go in silence. "Good luck, Clefter," the girl from 1 called.
Not too long after Clefter started to leave, 1 and 2 looked at each other, nodded, and grinned maliciously. The girl from 1 leaped into the air and tackled Clefter to the ground, while the boy from 2 wrapped both hands around her neck. "We're true Careers," he whispered in her ear. "We don't just let our allies go safely."
Clefter started wheezing. "You're going to hell," she rasped. The girl from 1 grinned.
"Well, I guess we'll see you there," she purred. She nodded to the other Career, and cleanly snapped her neck with a flick of his wrists.
. . .
A shiver runs down my spine as I remember how shocked I had been when Clefter died. Nobody knew we were related. We were both separated at a young age when our father got a job as a Peacekeeper and was moved to District 4. Clefter's death didn't only surprise me, but it left the entire continent of Panem in a state of shock. She was so strong, so powerful, and she was the Capitol's favorite to win. Her odds of winning were 3-1, and she received a whopping training score of 11. After I cried my eyes out for weeks straight, I suddenly felt angry. Like I wanted to personally storm the Career districts and kill each and every person living there. It's not fair that the girl from 1 stepped out of that arena victorious. It should've been Clefter. Ever since her death, I've wanted revenge on the Careers. And if I am to be reaped today, I'll make sure that the Careers stain the grass red beneath my axe.
The District 8 escort, Shiver, struts up to the stage, his nose pointing towards the sky as if he owns the place. He could've been born in some place other than the Capitol, as he has tanned skin and shoulder-length brown hair, however is pursed lips are an unusual white and he gazes at the crowd with blood red cat eyes. He smiles cheerfully at us. "Welcome, one and all, to the District 8 reapings of the 93rd Hunger Games!" he yells out in his thick Capitol accent. When his mouth opens, you can see two pointy, bloodstained fangs that stick out of his gums. Either he likes his steak rare, or that's fake blood. How should I know? People from the Capitol are freaks.
I don't seem to realize that I'm dozing off a bit until Shiver finishes his speech about the Dark Days and announces, "Time to pick the girl tribute!" I watch, interested in seeing who's going to be one of the District 8 representatives for this year. I'm not worried about getting reaped myself - I mean, I've never taken tesserae, and my name has only been entered 3 times. And there are thousands of other girls that are just my age in District 8. It's more likely to be Sandy Burlow from my school; she's 18, and she's taken the tesserae for her six younger sisters, so it can't-
"Galina Kiltova!" Shiver says. My eyes widen. Is it really...? No, I must be hearing things. It was someone else. Someone with a name similar to mine, and I just heard it wrong.
But by the way everyone turns their heads to look at me, I know I'm the one that's been reaped. I sigh. Well, there's nothing I can do about it, is there? Plus, this might actually be a good thing. This will be the only chance I have to avenge Clefter's death - even if it means dying while trying. I make my way up to the stage, putting on a proud, determined expression for the cameras. I stand beside Shiver, straightening my back, and watch him while he reaches his hand into a separate diamond bowl and pulls out a slip of paper that reads, "Nile Flame!"
I scan the audience, trying to find this Nile kid. He looks pretty average, and he blends in with the other boys his age, but I can easily tell he's the one that's been reaped because his thin body is shaking with fear and his face is beet red. He shyly makes his way up to the stage, his head facing towards the ground. When he's standing beside us, Shiver inspects us carefully, then says, "Please give a hand for this year's District 8 tributes!" A few people clap half-heartedly, while I can hear some soft crying near the back of the square, probably belonging to whoever Nile lives with or my mother. Shiver tells us to shake hands, and we do. Nile looks so shy, so helpless. I feel a bit sorry for him, but I instantly shove my sympathy for my new district partner out of my mind.
These Games are all about me. It's me that's going to return home, not Nile. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that happens.
District 9: Oliver Hemmingway's POV
"Who's Oliver Hemmingway?"
"He looks familiar, but my memory of him is very vague."
"Guys, remember? He's the guy that killed his own parents."
I feel like crying. Not only was I reaped for the Hunger Games, but everyone knew who I was and that I am the reason my parents were killed two years ago. I remember that I was the smartest kid in my class, and all of my teachers loved me. I promised them I would create the most amazing science fair project in history. Well, it was definitely amazing, and definitely one to be remembered, but it left the school in ruins, the burned corpses on my parents underneath...
. . . 2 hours earlier . . .
I'm wandering around the busy streets of District 9 - people are rushing around to get things done before the reapings begin, and the town square is very noisy and clustered. I decide to leave the square and walk down to the edge of District 9, where the grain fields are. The fields have always been the place where I can feel at peace. Normally, I'm stuck at the foster home, since my parents are...not around, I guess you could say, and I'm surrounded by loud, bossy other kids all day long.
Before I reach the grain fields, something else catches my eye. It's a ruined building that hasn't been paid attention to in ages. I go closer to it, and my heart breaks when I realize what it is. I see a metal plate sticking out of the ground that used to hang above the doorway. On it reads Jonathon H. Nine Middle School - the school that I used to attend. I drop to my knees and bury my face in my hands. This is where the accident happened. It's where I brought in my science fair project and started to show my teachers how it worked, how cool it was. But it shorted out... a fire started to spread, and my teachers frantically searched for a phone to call the Peacekeepers on, but the fire was spreading fast. I was able to jump out through a window along with some of the other students and a few teachers, but everyone else burned to death. I was thinking to myself, At least I'm safe, and my parents are safe... That's when I remembered that my parents had been watching me demonstrate my science project. I watched a group of Peacekeepers drag out of the bodies of the victims. I saw my dad first, and then my mom...
I had killed my own parents.
Nobody would ever understand what I went through. It's not everday an innocent young child kills his own parents by accident, and then he starts to become to shadow of District 9. The person that everyone avoids.
I lift my head out of my hands and wipe the tears from my eyes. Then I adjust the tie on my suit and make my way back down to the town square, where I walk around, lost in thought, until 15 minutes before the reapings begin. My finger is pricked and I sit down with the other 15 year old boys. The ones near me slowly scoot away. I'm slightly offended, but those actions are expected. I would also scoot away from a murderer if I were them.
The escort comes out, and she talks about the origin of the Hunger Games and excitedly shows us a video that was delivered from President Snow III. Then she reads the female tribute's name. "Kassidy Feekes."
I watch as a pale girl with brown hair and freckles, probably around 16 years old, nervously makes her way up to the stage. Once she's there, she stands very still as if she is a statue, her eyes wide.
"Now for the male tribute," the escort says, after giving Kassidy a reassuring pat on the back. She draws a slip of paper from the males' glass ball. "Oliver Hemmingway," she calls out.
It's as if the world stops spinning just then. The atmosphere is extremely quiet for a few moments, when I hear a few people speak up.
"Who's Oliver Hemmingway?" somebody asks. The boy on my right pushes me out into the aisle so that everyone can see me. I hear a few people gasp.
"He looks familiar," a girl replies. "But my memory of him is very vague."
"Guys, remember?" someone yells. "He's the guy that killed his own parents."
People start muttering thoughtfully about the fire that occured two years ago, as if I'm not even there. I quickly hurry on up to the stage and take my place beside Kassidy. When we're told to shake hands, she looks at me with a worried expression.
"I'm not who you think I am," I say to her. "I promise."
She just shakes her head in disgusts and walks away without bothering to take my hand and shake it. All I want to do is curl up in a ball and die. I didn't mean to kill my parents!
District 10: Holly Wintercrest's POV
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. I watch the clock intently, my foot tapping against the ground in anticipation. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Usually the sound of a ticking clock helps me think better. I don't know why - just having something else in the background, like a soft, rythmic noise, is better than complete silence.
The sounds of my house clock are interrupted when the tall clock standing in town square rings out loudly, signaling that it is a quarter before 2 o'clock. A quarter before the reapings. I sigh, and bring my knees up to my chest, then I begin to softly rock back and forth. I'm only 15 years old. Whenever my sister Seline, sees that I'm nervous, she points out that I'm very young and it's not likely for me to get picked. But she's much younger than I am, too young to understand. You all know what the tesserae is, I'm assuming? Seline just thinks it's something that the older kids do in order to get food for their family. But it's much more complicated than that. After I began taking the tesserae, I have had my name entered much more times than typical 15 year old girls. Sometimes I hate myself for taking the tesserae in the first place. I'm putting my life closer to danger, every single year. I mean, I'm very talented with throwing knives. Most of the food my family eats comes from the forest outside of our district anyways. The food that I catch. However, I found out that I was able to sneak into the forest after I took the tesserae.
My mom comes into my room, interrupting my thoughts. She smiles gently at me, and lays a mint green dress out on the bed for me to wear. I quickly bathe and then slip my skin into the soft, silky fabric. I head downstairs, where I find my parents and Seline, all waiting patiently for me.
"Let's go," my dad says. We start out the door and quietly walk together to the town square, where the reapings are going to be held. I hold Seline's hand so that she doesn't wander off. She's quite adventurous and outgoing, the opposite of me, and she'll talk to anyone, whether that person be someone from her school or a Peacekeeper.
To prove my point, when we pass by the train that came from the Capitol, Seline waves to the District 10 escort, Trinity, who's just stepped out. "Hi Trinity!" she yells. Trinity smiles at my sister but I can tell it's forced. One time, when Caesar Flickerman was interviewing Trinity on TV, she told him that she hated kids but her boss told her to put on a sweet act for the younger citizens of District 10. Around the tributes my age and older, she's snobby and mean, and she doesn't care about people's feelings.
I gently yank on Seline's arm. "Come on, Sel," I whisper to her. She starts bothering me, asking ever so dramatically why she can't say hi to other people and just live her life. All I do is roll my eyes and continue to walk. Over the years, I've learned how to ignore Seline. Not all the time, of coruse, but I ignore her when she's acting like a total drama queen.
My family and I finally reach the square, after a long walk from the outskirts of District 10 where we live to town, which is right in the middle. I wait in line to have my finger pricked. When I reach the front, the Peacekeeper roughly yanks my hand towards her and pricks my finger. "Next," she grumbles. I bring the now red area on my finger to my lips to keep it from throbbing. It hurts way less than a small paper cut, but this is only my fourth reaping and I still have to get used to it.
I shyly make my way over to my roped off section, where I stand in between two girls from my school. I watch as some of the girls meet up with their friends and stand by them, chatting to them before the reapings begin. I, however, have no one to talk to. I just stand there, playing with a loose piece of thread that's hanging off of my dress. I've always been a loner, mainly just because I prefer to keep to myself most of the time. My only friend is Drake, a 16 year old boy that I met while I was hunting in the woods. He's the only other person I know of that goes there. My eyes search for him, but I don't have much time to look because the reapings begin just a few seconds later. Trinity gleefully exclaims the line that all escorts are told to say: "Welcome, welcome, to the 93rd annual Hunger Games!" She flips her bubblegum-pink hair out of her face and beams at the crowd. "Don't you all just love the Hunger Games?" She giggles. She obviously knows that District 10 is more of a rebel district, and she understands that all of us (or most of us, at least) hate the idea of the Hunger Games with every fiber of our soul. But she talks about how interesting and inspiring they are anyway.
After a brief introduction, she gradually turns into her normal self. "Now," she says. "You all know how this begins and ends. 13 districts foolishly rebelled against the Capitol, the people that loved them and cared for them dearly. I mean, how can you guys be such idiots? Sure, you had to pay taxes and work hard to recieve food and supplies from the Capitol, but didn't you have to do that before they took over? Seriously. I'm sure you know what happens next. The districts - weaklings, you all were - fell to the wrath of the Capitol, or so you all say. We don't really have a wrath. We just care about training and fighting, because what if we're sucked into another war?" She puts her hands on her hips. "That's why I like the Career districts better than you guys. Seriously, I'm super jealous of Vixen and Tanya for getting to be the escorts of districts 2 and 4. They actually want to train for the Hunger Games. They're smart - they know they have a pretty fucking high chance of getting reaped and they're gonna want to know how to fight and protect themselves. I especially love the people who volunteer. It's good to want to bring honor to your district. Not like you, District 10. Don't you want that? Don't you want to be bathed in riches? I know I would. But nooo, you would just prefer to live the slobby life of working with noisy chickens and cow shit all day long. Disgusting."
I tune Trinity out as she continues to blab on and on and on. I begin listening again when I see her head over to a gigantic glass ball. Tiny slips of paper are filled to the top and are close to overflowing. So many slips. So many girls in District 10. I have a tiny chance of getting reaped. I keep telling myself this, and I feel a bit better. "And the girl tribute for this year is..." Trinity opens the small, folded piece of paper. "Holly Wintercrest."
Dizziness. That's the sensation I'm feeling when Trinity calls my name. Like I'm going to fall over and pass out. Me? How was it me? That's when I remember - I took the tesserae. I have a higher chance of getting reaped than all the 16 and 17 year olds combined. I take a deep breath in through my nose, and let it out through my mouth. I force myself to step out into the aisle and begin walking towards the stage.
"Holly, wait!"
I turn around, my eyes widening a bit when I see Drake running towards me. He grabs my shoulders and I tell him to go sit back down. I don't want him to get carried away by the Peacekeepers.
"Holly, just let me do this real fast," Drake says to me. Before I can ask what he wants to do, he kisses me. Gasps rise from the crowd, and my heart quickens. I'm so confused, yet excited and happy at the same time. But also sad. Did he really think it would be okay to kiss me, right before I'm sent off to my possible death? Now I'm going to miss him so badly while I'm in the arena. And it's not good to be distracted while-
My thoughts are interrupted when Drake pulls away from me and reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a silver locket, and opens it, showing a picture that him and I took together. He puts the locket around my neck and hugs me tightly. "I love you, Holly," he says quietly. "Win for me."
And just like that, he's gone, heading back into the guy's section. It's as if that was all just a dream.
People in the audience are staring at me. Some of the popular girls from my school are giggling. I blush madly and hurry up to the stage. Trinity looks at me and grins. "Well. That was...interesting." She chuckles a bit, then draws the boy's name. "Maiko Fornis," she says.
I watch as a young, dark-skinned boy steps out of the 13 year olds section. I recognize him. He's a total nerd at my school. I'm not like any popular girl, though, and I don't judge him. He nervously comes up to the stage, and I feel bad for him when I see tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He turns his body and faces the crowd. Then, for some reason, the audience starts to clap. Some people even cheer for him. Either they're excited that a nerd like him is going off to his death, or I haven't been paying attention much and he's greatly respected by the people of District 10 or something. Either way, it confuses me.
I shake Maiko's hand, giving the poor boy a reassuring squeeze. He looks at me and smiles a little, as if saying thanks for the small act of kindness that I showed. Then, Trinity leads us into the Justice Building.
District 11: Scorch Flare's POV
Everyone calls me a badass. When I was younger, I was considered a mistake, the kid my parents would be embarrassed to have. Those people were wrong. They're fucking idiots and they don't understand that my parents love me. Even though they love my brothers, Jimmy and Hontri better, they still love me. I have to remind myself that. Whenever I'm causing trouble in some way or another, I remind myself that my parents will still love me even if I get in big trouble some way or another. Little did I know that what I got into three hours before the reapings for the 93rd Hunger Games could possibly cost me my life.
I found a bomb. Don't ask me how I got it, because I'm not going to tell you. I took the bomb and I snuck it into the Peacekeepers' quarters. I'm such a badass. This is so damn scary for me but when I walk out of the quarters, the timer on the bomb slowly ticking down to zero, I can't help but feel super proud of myself. I might go to hell for doing this, but the Peacekeepers will be in hell first. They deserve to be blown up. Plus, you only live once, right?
I duck behind a tree and wait for the bomb to go off, counting down in my head. 5, 4, 3, 2... I cross my fingers behind my back, praying that the bomb will work, and it does. An explosion forms inside the quarters and a fire spreads throughout the inside and around the outside of it. I hurry back home, chuckling quietly to myself, then slip inside my house as if nothing is wrong. My mom sees how dirty my brand new suit is, and she sighs. "Scorch, I just bought that." She wipes off the dirt and holds me firmly in place. "I want you to stay right here until the reapings. Okay?"
"Okay," I respond. She nods and continues to make breakfast, when a loud crashing sound catches my attention. I spin around and watch as the Head Peacekeeper knocks down the door and storms into my house, angrily looking around.
"Where's the boy?!" he screams. He sees me, and I swear I can see steam coming out of his ears. He yanks me upwards by the collar of my shirt. "You," he hisses. "YOU BLEW UP MY HEADQUARTERS!"
"Oh," I say, calmly crossing my arms. "Those belonged to you?"
He seethes at me. "You're coming with me, boy." He takes me out of the house, ignoring my mother as she begs for him to put me down. The Peacekeeper slams the door of my house and tosses me into his car, where I black out.
. . .
My eyes open. I find myself in a dusty cell, laying on a dirty cot. I sit up, frowning when I see the Peacekeeper, staring coldly at me from the outside of the cell. "You're awake," he says.
"Yeah." I fold my arms over my chest. "What are you going to do with me? Kill me?"
The Peacekeeper laughs. "Oh, no. No, I'm going to do something much worse than that." He steps into the cell and pokes my chest. "Listen, boy, if you ever want to see your parents again, you're going to volunteer for the Hunger Games this afternoon. Understood?"
A shiver runs down my spine. "What if I refuse? Are you just going to keep me here?"
He laughs. "No. If you refuse to volunteer, I'm going to take you to hell." He grins at me. My eyes widen; I don't have to ask what he means by hell. I know. He means the prison in the Capitol. Where they torment your mind with tracker jacker juice and whip you and cut your skin open little by little...
Yeah, I'd rather volunteer for the Hunger Games.
The Peacekeeper leaves and I sit alone until a different Peacekeeper comes and gets me, telling me that the reapings are going to begin soon. I get in the car, and she drives us down to the town square. I get out, have my finger pricked, and stand in the 18 year old guy's section. I'm standing there for a long time - since I came with the Peacekeepers, I'm like, the first one in the square. Eventually, though, more people begin to fill in, and soon enough, everyone's here and the reapings begin. The escort jumps up and down on the stage, her icy blue pigtails bouncing in sync with her body. Man, she's excited. "Welcome, one and all, to the 93rd annual Hunger Games!" she chirps. She talks about the history of Panem that I've heard oh so many times, and finishes off with, "The Hunger Games are an event where a young man and woman are picked to represent their district in the honor of competiting in the annual Hunger Games, where they will fight against 22 other tributes from 11 other districts to the death until only one tribute remains and is crowned victorious. They are then bathed in riches and taken back home to their family and friends." She sticks her hand into a diamond ball. "Will one of District 11's tributes be this year's victor?" She pulls out a card and reads it. "Violette Meadow!"
A small girl steps out into the aisle, and all I want to do at that moment is reach up and snap our escort's head clean off. Violette is 12. 12 year olds should NOT be forced to go into the Hunger Games. They're so young, so innocent. It should be 15 to 18, if you ask me, not 12 to 18. Actually, it should be no Hunger Games at all. If you know what I mean.
I feel relieved for the little girl when someone yells out, "I volunteer!" A 17 year old makes her way up to the stage, but Violette steps to the side, blocking her path.
"Thanks," she says, "but no thanks. This is the only chance I'll have to get revenge on..." She trails off for a moment, then speaks up again. "Revenge on District 4." The 17 year old sits back down and Violette heads on up to the stage. When she turns and faces the crowd, I recognize her, but I can't tell where from.
"And now for the boys," the escort says. She pulls a slip of paper out of the second diamond ball. "Thomas Monk."
"....I volunteer." I ignore the surprised faces that turn my way. I just hurry up to the stage and face them, a proud, determined look on my face. I notice the Peacekeeper in the back, who nods at me and gives me a thumbs up. But I don't care about him. The people I focus mostly on are my family. My mother is crying and my dad looks shocked and angry. Shocked that I would volunteer, angry at the Peacekeepers for making me volunteer, I'm assuming. But I just stand there, staring at the crowd, not nervous at all. Well, maybe I am a bit nervous. But I know I can win. I've done dangerous things before, and if I want to return home to my family, I can win.
I can prove to that old ass Peacekeeper that I am not the one to be messed with. And when I come back, I'll kill him personally.
This makes me even more determined to return home.
When the escort tells us to shake hands, I turn to face Violette, and suddenly remember why she seems familiar. Her brother fought in a Hunger Games two years ago, but he died in the top three, killed by the two District 4 tributes. I guess that's why she said she was going to get revenge on District 4. Violette doesn't seem scared, however - not like most 12 year olds. She stares up at me with a fierce glow in her eyes, and there is an extremely confident expression on her face. I admire her determination, but I admire mine more.
I know this is cruel to say; I mean, she is only 12 years old. But District 11 is going to have a victor this year. And it's going to be me.
District 12: Lillian Pumpkin's POV
"Mommy, who is that strange man outside?" little Lillian asked her mother. Her mom peeked through the house window.
"I don't know, dear," she replied. "Don't say anything." She sat Lillian down on the couch and continued to look at the window, observing the strange man. He was walking closer and closer to the house. Once he reached the door, he stopped walking for a long time, just staring at the door. Then he pulled something out of his pocket and used it to pick the lock. Lillian's mother went up to him, picking up a glass bottle on her way there.
The man just roughly pushed past her, knocking her down on the ground. His eyes were focused on Lillian; she was the reason he came. He started taking off her clothes. Lillian was so scared, and she didn't know what to do, so she stayed still, frozen with terror.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Lillian's mother screeched. She ran at the man, the glass bottle in her hand. She hit him on the head with it, the same exact moment the man grabbed a nearby kitchen knife and stabbed her in the stomach. They both hit the floor at the same time. Lillian's mother dead, the man unconscious. Poor Lillian, whom was shaking with fear, did her best to push the heavy body of the man out of her house. She dragged him deep into the woods and pushed him down a water hole, where he fell and fell. Only when Lillian heard a soft thump deep in the earth, signaling that the man's body had hit the ground, did she run back to her house, only to find that her mother was still barely alive.
"Lillian," she rasped. "Don't leave this house. Ever. Don't even call the ambulance to come and take me away. The world is dangerous." Those were her last words. Lillian sat by her mother's corpse and cried and cried until there were no tears left within her. Then she buried her mother's body right outside her house, then went back inside and cried on her bed. She cried deep into the night, and tears poured out of her eyes even as she slept.
But she would obey her mother's words.
Ever since that night, I've never gone outside my little house in the middle of the forest. The last time I ventured into town was so long ago that I can't even remember. Not speaking for so long has turned me into a mute. But that's okay. Even with my mother gone, and with no other human beings around, I have plenty of company. Nature is my friend. I see plenty of animals every day. Although I have to kill some of them for meat, I'm friends with creatures such as birds and bunnies and foxes. They trust me. Ever since that strange man tried to rape me when I was seven and...killed my mom...I've been afraid of most humans. I've begun to understand why some animals aren't friendly around people. They're just afraid of them - they want to defend themselves. I guess you could relate me to an animal in some ways. I'm afraid of other human beings, I don't talk, I can survive on my own in the wilderness, and I've taught myself how to hunt and how to fight. I don't even know if I'm like a human - I haven't seen another one in so long.
I load my bow and go outside, and begin searching for lunch. I see a pigeon resting near the bottom of a tree, and I aim to shoot at it. Just when I'm about to release an arrow, I hear shouting in the distance. I freeze and spin around. A vehicle has been parked on the grass and four strange men come out of it. All of them are wearing white suits and helmets, and they're holding small weapons with triggers on them. All I can think to do is run. I turn around and start to run, but the men easily catch up to me. They tackle me to the ground and drag me back into the vehicle. Two of the men drive me away, while the other two raid my house. I'm so confused. What is going on?
I'm in the vehicle for about a half an hour. I have no idea where we're going. The men often try to ask me a bunch of questions, but I don't answer them. I can tell they're frustrated but they eventually realize that I'm mute. When I see buildings and more people come into sight, I duck beneath my seat. "What the hell is wrong with this chic?" one of them ask. I hug myself, my arms and legs shaking with fear. The vehicle parks, and one of the men yanks me out of it and takes me to a tall building, where they sit me down in a chair and talk to a man with a beard wearing a fancy suit.
"We found her in the forest, Mr. Mayor," the taller helmeted man says. "I've never seen her in town before."
"What's her name?"
"She won't say, sir. She's mute."
The mayor picks a folder off his desk and reads through a bunch of names, asking me which one is mine. When he says the name "Lillian Pumpkin", I nod slowly.
"She hasn't attended a single reaping," the mayor tells the two helmeted men with the weapons. "The only reason her name is on this list is because she was a student at the District 12 elementary school. She stopped going to school when she was seven years old and she hasn't been seen since."
The three humans talk for a few more minutes, then the men, who I learned are called "Peacekeepers", take both my arms and drag me down to a square. I cower in fear when I see the thousands of people that are gathering together. The Peacekeepers take me to another one of their kind, though this one is a woman. She puts something on my finger and I feel a sharp pain shoot through it, and I let out a tiny little scream, but it goes unheard. Even though I'm mute, I can still produce some noises, although they're really quiet.
The Peacekeepers then take me to an area that's roped-off. They tell me to stay here, and then they walk away. I try to keep up with we're they're headed to but they disappear among the crowd of people. I think about leaving this place, but I'm so scared and I believe it's best that I don't move. I stand still for what seems like hours, when suddenly, the entire square goes quiet. I watch as a lady with short orange hair and yellow skin walks up onto a big stage at the front of the square. She smiles at the crowd. "Welcome, one and all, to the 93rd annual Hunger Games!"
When she says the word "Hunger Games", I have a flashback.
Lillian was watching something on TV with her mother, who was out gathering nut and fruits for the winter. Lillian wasn't allowed to watch the small, old TV that they had in their house, but she did so anyway. When she turned it on, a large field with a golden horn in the middle appeared on the screen. Someone was counting down from 60 to 1, and then there was this loud noise and a bunch of people started running towards the horn. They grabbed dangerous-looking instruments and started slashing at each other, which caused a lot of blood and booming sounds. Her mother came in and slammed the TV off, asking her why she disobeyed her and turned it on. Lillian apologized, but she couldn't help asking what she was just watching. Her mother explained the Hunger Games, and that's why they lived in the forest. That's all she said.
I know understand why my mother told me the world was a dangerous place right before she died.
The weird orange-haired lady says some stuff that I don't really pay attention to. I do focus my eyes on her, however, when she walks over to a glass ball, her heels clicking against a stage. She pulls a small piece of paper out of the ball and reads my name off of it. "Lillian Pumpkin," she says.
I'm not quite sure what to do. I stand there, looking a bit confused. Then the Peacekeepers from earlier come over to me and lead me to the stage. I stare at the crowd, my eyes as wide as marbles, and I just want to hide my face. The orange-haired lady then goes over to a different glass ball and pulls out another slip of paper. "John McCall."
A boy with brown hair and glasses nervously makes his way up to the stage. I recognize him - I think he was in my class when I went to school several years ago. I don't know why, but I feel a bit more comfortable when I'm standing by him. I'm still scared, but for some reason, he seems like someone I can trust. The orange-haired lady tells us to shake hands, and we do. Then we get into the vehicle like the one I was in earlier and we drive towards the building I was just in.
I know the world is dangerous. But based on what I've heard, the Hunger Games arena is always worse than the real world.
Training Day 1
Saffron Star's (D1) POV
"In a few days, only one of you will be alive. 24 of you will be dead. In training today, you'll need to learn how to weild a weapon, however weapons aren't the main thing you need to focus on in the arena. Starvation or dehydration could be deadlier than a knife."
This statement that comes out of the head trainer's mouth sends a shiver down my spine. No doubt I'm going to practice using a katana, though I'm also going to do simple things, like running, climbing the fake trees, and swimming. There's no point in learning how to start a fire. Since we're Careers, we'll be able to overtake the Cornucopia when the Games begin and get matches. Seriously.
The head trainer ends her speech, and she tells us to go off and do our own thing. I find myself headed immediately towards the katana and swords station. I'm the first in line, and my allies gather together and watch me, as if looking to see whether I'm worthy of being a Career or not. I'll show them. I pull a katana off the rack and ask politely for someone the train with. A big burly man steps out, armed with his own katana. He asks me if I'm ready, and I say, "You wanna find out?" I grin at him. Obviously he thinks I'm distracted, and he swings his katana at me, however I easily dodge the attack. I slide low to the floor and press the blade of my weapon to his leg. I want to dig it into his leg but I know the tributes aren't allowed to cause any life-threatening physical harm to the trainers, so I pull my katana away and stand up. The trainer shakes my hand and tells me that I exceed in any performance with any kind of blade. This makes me feel good about myself. I walk over to the other Careers.
"Well?" I ask. I place one hand on my hip and swing the katana around using the other. "Did you enjoy the show?"
Lily looks at me and giggles. "Sure, Saffron. You're great. But I'm better." She gestures for us to follow her, and walks over to the throwing daggers station. The trainer hands her a dagger and she throws it. I watch as the tiny metal weapon flies through the air and lands on the bullseye of her target - right where a tribute's neck would be. Honestly, she's alright. What she did wasn't downright amazing, but it was good. After a few more throws, she returns to us and asks the same thing I did. We all just reply by nodding or muttering "Yeah". Lily rolls her eyes and walks off to the weight-lifting station. Lemonade and Lime both go to the swimming station, and I follow Dragon to the spear-throwing station. I don't particularly excel in spear-throwing, however my district partner asked me if I could watch him. And I quote: "You know you want to, Saffron. And even if you don't, you just have to observe my awesomeness."
On our way there, I decide to strike up a conversation. "What do you think of the other tributes?" I ask him. He unexpectedly lets out a loud, creepy-sounding laugh.
"I don't think any of them pose a threat, if that's what you're trying to get out of me," he says. "They're all weak and I could easily kill all of them in the bloodbath. However, I will compliment the girl from 10 on her skill with throwing knives and a machete, and male from 7 seems to have had some practice with using a hammer. However, he is extremely conceited, and self-centered people normally die first. And the girl from 12 is a weakling." He points to the red-eyed mute girl, who is at the bow and arrows station. The girl from 6 passes through the line waiting to try out the bow and arrow to get to the maces, and accidentally bumps into her. 12 lets out a loud shriek and ducks underneath a rack of weapons. Dragon chuckles and turns his attention back to me. "See what I mean, Saffron? She's afraid of humans. She won't last a day in the Hunger Games."
"What about our allies?" I ask him.
"Lily seems like the popular kind. A kind that I really don't like. She is, however, quite talented with the dagger. Lemonade and Lime seem like they are going to refuse to kill each other once the alliance splits up. I like Lemonade, she seems like a cool gal, but she needs to break her relationship with her brother. She could last longer in the arena if she takes her mind off of Lime and just focuses on winning."
What a jerk!
"Mason, oh my god," Dragon continues, rolling his eyes. "I know he's not a Career, but he should be. Even though he's blind and useless and will probably die at the Cornucopia, he shouldn't have gone off looking for another alliance like that. He needs us." He shakes his head in disgust. "And when that gong sounds, I will grab a spear or a katana and personally slice right through his neck." Wow, I swear, my district partner is the scariest person you'll ever meet. He's not afraid to kill. Well, I'm not either, but he could kill for hours and hours on end. However, acting like this will earn him some sponsors and intimidate the other tributes, giving him an advantage in the arena, so I admire him a bit for how he acts. But he still scares the heck out of me.
"What about me?" I question. Dragon looks at me blankly.
"Well, Saffron, I actually have faith in you." His voice is very emotionless, so I can't tell if he's being sarcastic or not. Before I can reply, he walks off, saying that he's wasted enough time and needs to get back to training immediately.
Mary-Ann Hunter's (D7) POV
Kota keeps staring at me. It's creeping me out a little. He winked at me at the reapings, but even worse than that, he told me I was hot on the train ride to the Capitol. And he has a girlfriend back in the district. I should know - everyone knows, really. Worse of all, I don't even like him. I know he's my district partner, and I know I'm not the killing type, but I'll gladly take him out if I have to. All he cares about is himself. It annoys the heck out of me.
Shaking the thought of my mind, I decide to see if I can find some allies for the Games. I go over to the axes station, and watch as the girl from 6 throws some, one after the other, each of them hitting her target either spot on or extremely close. When she's done, I gather up the courage to go over to her. I'm usually not super shy, but these people are tributes. They could say - or do - anything to you. "Hi," I say. She looks at me and smiles. "Oh...hi. Mary, right?"
"Mary-Ann," I correct her. I hold out my hand and she shakes it.
"I'm Ava." She points to the rack that hold a bunch of axes. "You good with those?"
I nod. "Pretty good." There's an awkward silence between us for a few moments, when remember the District 6 reapings that I saw on TV and say, "Hey, if this is too personal than you don't have to reply, but if I may ask, why did you volunteer? You didn't seem like you wanted to." I thought she would've gotten angry, but she didn't. She just looks at me plainly, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
"Too personal."
"Okay." I scan the training center, observing some of the other tributes, when my eyes come back to Ava and I'm finally confident enough to ask, "You wanna be allies?"
Ava looks a bit taken aback by the offer, but she offers me her usual little smile and nods. "That'd be great."
"Cool," I say. "You wanna go see if we can find any other allies?"
We walk around the training center together, discussing with each other who would make a formidable ally. We both wanted someone that was strong and talented, but not super violent, like the Careers. We also needed someone that wasn't useless, though trustworthy and reliable. Ava decides to ask Kathrin, the girl from 3. She's good with a spear, and she seems to know how to deal with surviving in the wild. She can build a fire and has a seemingly good plant knowledge, and that would prove to be useful. Kathrin accepts the offer to join our alliance. I ask her if she wanted to ask her district partner, but she quickly shook her head.
"No. Don't trust him," she tells us. "He's creepy, and I have a feeling he won't prove to be trustworthy in the arena." She tells us about how he seemed so calm and mysterious when he was reaped, and how he told her not to call him by his name, but to call him "The Shadow". The Shadow, huh? That's all I need to hear. We cross him off the list, and I ask the sly, cunning girl from District 8 if she wants to ally.
"Sorry," she says. "But I prefer to work alone." Without waiting to see our reactions, she jumps onto one of the fake trees and scrambles up nearly effortlessly.
Meanwhile, Ava had told us she wanted to practice the obstacle course stations while we searched for an ally. On her way there, she bumps into the boy from 8. "I'm sorry," he says shyly.
"It's fine," Ava assures him. She looks at us, and we nod, as if telling her to ask him if he would be willing to join our alliance. Ava does so, and after a few seconds, the boy from 8 (who we later learn is named Nile) nods his head in agreement. He and Ava complete the obstacle course a few times, then he tells her he's going to ask the mute girl from 12.
"I don't think you can," I tell him, butting in on the conversation. "She's pretty scared of other people."
"I'm going to ask her anyway," Nile says. He goes over to the silver-haired girl and says something to her. Ava, Kathrin and I can't hear what he's saying because he's too far away. Lillian (I think that's her name) seems scared out of her wits at first, but after pondering Nile's offer, it seems like she realizes that Nile is a person that can be trusted, even though she still keeps her distance from him. She nods, and Nile brings her over to us. "Lillian, this is Ava, Mary-Ann, and Kathrin. And I don't think I mentioned my name; I'm Nile."
Lillian nods shyly. She taps Nile's shoulder and points to the plant identification station, as if asking him if she can go over there. He nods, and she quickly hurries away.
I think I have some good allies. Let's just hope I don't have to kill them when the Games begin.
Kassidy Feekes' (D9) POV
Did it have to be me? Of all the girls in the district that could've been reaped, it just had to be me. I know that sounds cruel, but still. I shouldn't have to throw my life away. None of the tributes in here have to, not even the Careers. I know people like the deadly boy from 1 and the feisty-looking girl from 2 believe they can make it home, but all their life, they've been too focused on training and volunteering. Not like the outliner districts. We actually have some sense, and we know that it'll be hard to come home - and that it might not actually happen.
I'm going to try to, though. Before my family's house burned down, I had such a great life. I was rich and well-cared for, and I wasn't a snob when it came to how much money I had. I had so many friends, and I always believed things could never get any better. But then a fire started in our house and we lost it, our shelter and our food and all our money and precious valuables. My foolish father remarried a wealthy woman and left us to fend for ourselves. I hate him. I know he's my father, but I hate him with every single fiber of my body.
If I can win the Hunger Games, I can get my family's life back. And I know I have what it takes.
I go over to the tomahawks and axes station, where I wait in line for about five minutes before it's my turn. I watch as the girl from 6 teaches her knew allies how to throw an axe. They're taking forever, and I'm thinking about just leaving and going over to the fake trees to practice my climbing skills, when the trainer tells them that they're holding up the line. The boy from 7 goes, when finally, it's my turn. The trainer hands me a tomahawk and I throw it, aiming it for the heart of the dummy. Instead of going through the heart, however, it slices clean through the dummy's neck, and it's head topples off and onto the ground. I stare at it, wide-eyed, when I hear a few of the tributes begin to clap. I blush madly and give the tomahawk to the next person in line, then hurry off. I feel really good about myself now, but whenever you do something amazing and people applaud you, don't you get just a little bit embarrassed?
I climb the fake trees a couple of times, perfecting my ability to come up and down trees in an instant. After my fourth time, I decide to practice with the throwing knives a bit. On my way there, I bump into the boy from 7 that was at the axe station earlier. I fall down on my butt, and angrily stare up at him. He gasps and helps me up. "I'm sorry," he says. "Really, I am."
I giggle. "It's fine. Kassidy Feekes, District 9."
"Kota Jimslim, District 7." He holds up my hand and kisses it, and I blush. What a gentleman! We talk for a few minutes, when he asks me if I want to ally with him. I agree without any hesitation. I need someone with me during these Games if I want to come out alive. I wouldn't cope well alone.
Kota shows me his talent with a hammer and how strong he is at the weight-lifting station. While he's teaching me about the different edible plants and insects at the plant identifcation station, my eyes land on the small girl from 11. She's using a bow and arrow, and the arrow makes it right in the middle of the bullseye every two or three tries. She's really good, and if she wasn't as small as she was, I would've mistaken her for a 15 or 16 year old. She seems so fearless, so determined. But she's still a 12 year old, and I still feel sorry that she was reaped. I look at Kota and say, "Can Violette join our alliance?"
"The small one from 11? Sure."
I walk over to Violette when she's done with her bow. "Hi!" I say cheerfully. "Violette, right?"
She looks at me and smiles. "Yeah. And, um, Kassidy, right?"
"That's right," I say. "Hey, I was wondering - do you need an alliance? Because Kota and I are open for members."
Violette shrugs. "Sure, why not? I could use some allies." She points to a difficult-looking obstacle course. "You wanna try to do that with me? I tried a few minutes ago, and it's hard. Have you tried it?"
I shake my head. "Nope. I'll check it out." Violette and I run over to the obstacle course, while Kota just shakes his head and smiles and turns back to his plant indentifying.
Training Day 2
Lime Verandi's (D4) POV
I rose to the surface of the water that filled a gigantic pool in the training center. This is basically the only place I've been to, yesterday and today, aside from practicing my skill with a trident and tying nets a couple of times. I float by the edge of the pool, feeling as if I'm back home. My heart sinks when I realize I'll never be at home again. I only volunteered to protect Lemon, not to win. I actually want to die if it means allowing her to be the victor of the 93rd Hunger Games. And it will be. I'll do everything in my power to make sure it is.
I watch as Lemon walks away from the trident throwing station and dives into the pool, creating a loud splash. When she resurfaces, I swim over to her. "Hey."
She just glares at me. Ever since I volunteered, she's refused to speak to me. I don't think she's mad, I think it's just a lot to take in. You know, me volunteering unexpectedly. I've tried to explain to her, but she just keeps saying, "I don't need protection" or "I can take care of myself". And I know that - I just need to make sure she has enough protection to win the Hunger Games. More than enough is always better than none at all.
I try to get some words out of her. When she still refuses to speak to me, I tell her I'll see her later, and I swim away. I climb out of the pool, dry myself off with a soft white towel, then change into some warm, clean clothes. I then walk over to where Saffron is waiting in life for the plant identifying station. "Hi," I say. She looks at me and nods in acknowledgement. "Hey, Lime. What's up?"
"Nothing much." I point at the large screen in front of us where the boy from 10 is tapping icons with pictures of edible and non-edible plants and insects that I've never even heard before. A timer is counting down, but he looks like he's in good shape, his fingers easily sliding across the screen. It's obvious he's probably not going to die due to poisonus berries or something like that in the Hunger Games. "You good at plant recognition?" I ask Saffron.
"Yeah," she says to me. "I used to bake a lot back home, so I know about a lot of edible berries and plants that spices come from." That surprises me a little. It's not every day you meet a Career that likes to bake.
"What do you normally like to bake?" I ask, deciding to strike up a conversation while Saffron waits in line for her turn. Plus, it's good to learn more about your allies.
"Lots of things. Cake, bread, muffins, cookies. As long as we have the right ingredients, we can make our own food. Well, 'we' being my mother and I. My dad is usually out working."
"Do you have any siblings?"
Saffron stares at me. She doesn't say anything for a few moments, but I'm sure I know what she's thinking. She's thinking about Lemonade and I. It's a big deal, a brother and sister being in the Hunger Games together. After Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark, two victors have been absolutely forbidden. Few people have tried to die at the same time, but instead of making two victors, there are just no victor at all. This is why Lemon's going to have to let go of me in the arena and focus on winning. It's going to be hard, but if anyone deserves to win, it's her. Not me.
Back to the present. Saffron replied simply saying "No, I'm an only child", then it was her turn to identify some edible plants and insects. I said bye to her, then started walking away, when I accidentally bumped into the blind boy from 2. Mason. He's holding a wooden staff, I think to help him find his way around.
"Sorry..." he apologizes slowly. I don't think he knows exactly who he bumped into. He hurries past me and over to where his allies, the boy from 11 and the boy from 3, are watching the boy from 11 show them his skill with a sword. I sigh and head back to where the tridents are, passing the fake trees on my way. I don't even give them a second glance. I suck at climbing. No joke.
When I pick up a trident and prepare myself to throw it, I see Lemon sitting down on one of the benches, observing the other tributes as they train. I set the trident back down and go over to her. "You okay?"
She looks up to me, and I hear her speak for the first time since she yelled at me after the reapings. "No."
"What's wrong?"
I can tell she wants to slap me for asking that. "Everything, Lime. Okay? I'm ready. I don't need to train anymore. The Games are going to start soon and I'm ready." She stares at the ground. "I've wanted to do this my whole life. But ever since you volunteered for me, I've been thinking - do I really want this enough to kill my own brother?"
"You won't have to kill me," I say softly.
"Maybe not, but I don't want to watch you die."
I sigh. "You need this more than I do. I'm going to let you win this, Lemon. And when you do, just remember that I wanted you to be the one that returns home with the crown."
"That's the thing, Lime. I don't want to go back home if you're not coming with me."
She glances at me one last time, before getting up and walking away without giving me time to respond.
Eliza Garret's (D5) POV
Swish. Swish. Clink.
I swing my sword back and forth, all my attention focused on the trainer that I'm dueling with. Our blades often hit each other, but I'm determined to confuse him so that he won't be able to block my attack. I pretend to start to swing my sword, and he makes a move to strike back, when I point my sword down at the ground. He looks at me, confused. "Are you done?" he asks me. And just like that, I bring my sword up and poke the tip of the blade against his stomach faster than the speed of lightning. I thank the trainer for practicing with me, and put my sword back on the rack. The trainer tells me that I'm more than ready for the Games. I smile in thanks, but I don't believe him. A sword isn't the only thing that's going to help me survive. All the Capitol thinks is, "Oh, these people wanna win so they're gonna fight and it's gonna be so bloody and epic." I'm sure that's not exactly what they say, but I think it's something similar than that. Well, I'm not going to give them what they want. My new ally Holly and I are going to run away from the bloodbath right when the gong sounds, only grabbing the packs nearest to us. We have it all planned out. No fighting the other tributes - not unless we need to.
I spot Holly with the throwing knives, and I begin to make my way over to her, when the two Career girls from 1 and 2 step to the side, blocking my path. I fold my arms over my chest. "What do you guys want?" I ask them rudely. I ain't afraid of no Careers.
"That was quite a show you put on," the blondie from 1 says to me. "Your talent with a blade is applaudable."
"We were wondering if you'd like to join the Careers," the girl from 2 says suddenly, out of the blue.
"Um...okay," I say again. "Thanks, but no thanks. I have an ally."
"We know," says the blondie. "The girl from 10, right?"
"That's right."
"Well, it's either one ally, or us, a big group that will surely protect you at all costs." She offers me a smile that's sickening sweet, and I know she's just trying to put me under her spell. Well, it's not gonna work. I straighten my back so that it looks like I'm taller than her.
"I don't want to join the Careers," I say loudly. Several tributes turn to look at me; good, that's what I want. I need to stir up a little trouble around here - it's been too boring these past few days. Normally, I prefer to keep the peace, but these Careers seriously need to be put in their place. "All you guys want to do is kill, kill, kill. You don't even care about each other - and you're sooo overconfident. I mean, I'm confident I'll return home, too, but you guys just don't seem to notice that these Games are going to be tough to get through."
"I'm a Career," the girl from 2 snaps. "I totally have what it takes."
"Shut up, Lily," blondie growls at her. "Let the bitch say what she has to say." When she sees how irritated I look after she makes that comment, she grins at me and raises an eyebrow.
Ohhh, it's on.
By now, everyone in the training center is watching. I grab a nearby knife and throw it. Peacekeepers rush towards the scene, afraid I'm going to take out blondie before the Games. But I don't. I purposely made it miss. It whizzes past blondie's ear, taking out a couple strands of her hair, but that's it.
"I don't kill," I say to her, my voice mysterious. "Not for fun, anyway. But I will if I have to."
The girl from 1 gets up in my face. "I'm going to kill you first."
I smile. "Try me."
Maiko Fornis' (D10) POV
The Games are going to begin soon.
Ever since I came here, I've tried to make myself feel happy. That's how I've always gotten by my entire life - just being positive and knowing that the best is about to come no matter what. When all of my siblings died and I was nearly starving because my parents were unable to give food to me several years ago, I still thought to myself, "Hey, things could be worse." Now that I was reaped, I knew I was right - things can always get worse. But everything has a solution. For instance, when I was half-starved to death, I met a kind old lady in the woods who gave food and clothes to me. She was like my fairy godmother, or something like that. What I'm trying to say is, even though I'm in the Hunger Games, even though I might die, it's no use worrying and stressing my butt off. Because something good always happens, no matter where you are.
Unless fate isn't in my favor at this time.
I'm at the fake trees with my allies, Martin from District 5 and John from District 12. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but I know they're trustworthy. They needed someone to help them during the Games, and we were all here for each other. I refuse to call them my friends, however. I've never had friends, mainly because I'm the school nerd - I still don't understand why everyone clapped for me at the reapings - and I know meeting these knew people that respect who I am could be considered friends, but the thing is, I don't want them to be. I don't want to get attached to them and then possibly lose them later on. They're just allies - they're just people that I'm going to stay with in the arena. People that will help keep me alive.
Not friends.
My allies and I are discussing a plan for the Games. We have all decided that we are going to immediately make a run for it when the gong sounds. Well, they decided, and I agreed with them. But I'm going to do something that I won't tell them about.
I'm going make a trap right by the entrance of the Cornucopia.
I don't exactly know how I'm going to do it, but I will. Everyone seems to hate the Careers this year. Some of them are downright scary ("some" being that psychotic maniac from District 1), while the others are simply just way too overconfident. I'm going to make a trap to put them in their place. The girl from 5 attempted to do so, but she didn't seem to realize that pushing their buttons was only going to make her their first target.
Her mistake.
I sit down at the snare-building station and begin working, while my allies remain at the fake trees not too far from where I'm currently at. I'm focused completely on the snare that I'm building - while I create it, I think about the different arenas that we may be fighting in and the resources that I'll need to collect in order to build a trap by the Cornucopia entrance. If it's a forest, I could use sticks and weeds. If it's a rugged mountain terrain, I could put down a rock and tie a weapon on a stone lever to it, so that when one of the Careers accidentally step on the rock, the lever will shoot up and the weapon will dig into their flesh. But you never know where the Gamemakers are going to put us, so you can never be sure.
And with the way the Gamemakers are observing us while we train, by the looks on their faces I can tell that they have something totally unexpected in store for these Hunger Games.
Training Scores
District Name Gender Score
1 Dragon Lord Male 11
1 Saffron Star Female 10
2 Mason Spartan Male 7
2 Lily Moon Female 9
3 Hybrid Javeline Male 8
3 Kathrin Sandstone Female 7
4 Lime Verandi Male 8
4 Lemonade Verandi Female 10
5 Martin Meyers Male 6
5 Eliza Garret Female 8
6 Connor Houck Male 5
6 Avala "Ava" Poppythorne Female 9
7 Kota Jimslim Male 8
7 Mary-Ann Hunter Female 8
8 Nile Flame Male 8
8 Galina Kiltova Female 9
9 Oliver Hemmingway Male 4
9 Kassidy Feekes Female 7
10 Maiko Fornis Male 6
10 Holly Wintercrest Female 9
11 Scorch Flare Male 10
11 Violette Meadow Female 7
12 John McCall Male 6
12 Lillian Pumpkin Female 7
(All tributes start out with $500. Polls will be held throughout the Games and that will give you a chance to earn a free sponsor gift to give to either your tribute or your favorite tribute if yours are dead.)
Sword - $250
Katana - $200
Throwing Knives (3) - $130
Throwing Knives (6) - $210
Throwing Axes (3) - $200
Axe - $100
Tomahawk - $100
Spear - $150
Mace - $200
Hammer - $70
Box of crackers - $20
Beef strips - $30
Bread - $25
Berries (strawberries, blueberries, etc.) - $25
Soup - $30
Cheese - $10
Burn medicine - $70
Cut medicine (small container) - $30
Cut medicine (large container) - $45
Instant relief - $100
Painkillers - $30
Sleeping bag - $40
Rope - $15
Empty canteen - $10
Water - $50
Water purifier - $20
Jacket - $45
Body armor - $270
The Games!
Day 1 - The Bloodbath
This was it.
The several days the tributes had to cherish their live once more was gone now. It was time for destiny to put their lives in it's hand.
In one minute, the Games would begin.
Each of the 24 tributes rise up into the arena on their metal plates, one by one. They blink a few times to adjust their eyes to the light, and when they do, they are amazed by what they see. Some people expected a forest; maybe a river, mountains, or a ruined city. But what looms before them proves that the arena the Gamemakers have put them in is anything but.
A few yards away from the Cornucopia stands a ferris wheel. But this isn't no ordinary ferris wheel. It's so high - it must be over 100 feet - and it looks like it reaches the sky and beyond.
A little ways to the right of where the metal plates are is a tall hill that holds a nice view of the arena if you're at the top. To reach the Cornucopia, you'll have to climb up the hill. However, some supplies are scattered along the sides, and a few small packs lay on the ground below the hill. Behind the hill is a house of mirrors, and to the left of the metal plates is a carousel, with horses that represent each of the tributes. For example, there is a dark gray horse with blood stains on it's fur to represent the male from 1, and a small, brown horse with flowers woven into her mane to represent the girl from 11.
The atmosphere was strangely still and quiet. The tributes drop into a running position, their attention focused completely on either the few supplies near them or the large golden horn at the top of the hill.
Allies glance at each other and nod. The Careers look as ready and determined as ever.
Ready to kill, determined to win.
The first tribute off his plate is Dragon. He dashes up the hill nearly effortlessly, and snatches a katana off of the weapon rack inside the Cornucopia. The sly girl from 8 tries to sneak past him and get into the Cornucopia. Dragon sees her, though. He yanks her upwards by her throat and slams her against the Cornucopia. A loud snap! can be heard, most likely her back breaking, but she isn't dead yet. Dragon shoves the blade of his katana into her chest and twists, smirking as he hears the satisfying sound of her ribs snapping within her. She falls to the ground, dead. He runs off to search for more victims.
The boy from 9 runs halfway up the hill, grabs a backpack, and starts to head back down, but Lily from District 2 sees him and throws her dagger at him. It pierces him in the neck.
Kathrin, Mary-Ann, Nile, and Lillian start to run away from the bloodbath, when they see Ava engaged in battle with John from 12. "Ava!" Mary-Ann yells. "Don't fight anyone! We have to go!" Ava glares at her ally, at the same time bringing her mace to John's head. Then she picks up a knife and throws it at her allies, although not aiming it at them, just using it as a distraction so she has enough time to run away. When the knife has whizzed past her and her allies, Mary-Ann searches for Ava, and spots her already miles away, running off into the distance.
"It was all an act," she says sadly. "She was never really our ally."
"We have to go," Nile tells her. The remaining members of the alliance escape quickly, but not before seeing Dragon throw a spear at Kathrin's back while she tries to pick up a backpack.
Saffron glanced around for a victim, grinning when she saw Eliza in the Cornucopia, removing a sword from the weapon rack. She charged at the girl from 5 and tried to slash at her with her katana, but Eliza was quick enough to notice the Career and dodged out of the way. Holly handed her ally a knife and she threw it at the person nearest to her; Lime from District 4. The knife entered his chest, and he stood there for a few moments, eyes wide.
Lemon gasps when she sees her brother with a knife protruding out of his chest. She runs over to him, but he had already fallen down on the grass and closed his eyes before she reaches him.
Outraged, Lemon aims a trident at Eliza, but her hand is shaking so much due to fear and shock, and it misses by a lot. Eliza and Holly escape safely.
Lemon wails and crouches by Lime's side. She weeps into his chest, and starts begging to no one in particular, "Why? Why him?" Saffron puts a comforting hand on Lemon's shoulder.
"He's gone," she tells her ally. "Come on. We have to move out so the hovercraft can collect bodies."
Lemon kisses her dead brother's forehead, before reluctantly rising to her feet. As the Careers make their way down the hill, they listen to the cannons as they fire.
Five deaths.
Are the odds really in my favor? Lemon wonders.
Day 1 - Bloodbath Aftermath
Mason Spartan's (D2) POV
I heard five cannons fire just a couple minutes ago - I may be blind, however I know for sure none of those cannons belonged to my allies, for I can sense their presence as they run beside me, away from the bloodbath. Scorch has a tight grip on my arm, guiding me, while I hear Hybrid's footsteps about a yard ahead of us. I'm getting tired, but they haven't stopped running yet, so I won't either. Plus, it's best that we know for sure that we're a safe distance away from the Cornucopia.
After what seems like hours, we skid to a stop. I poke my wooden staff at the objects near me. It touches a rounded shape with a smoother back that I immediately identify as either the horse or the pony animal. I reach my hand out and feel it. It has a smooth, glassy texture, so it obviously isn't real. Soft carnival music can be heard, and my staff falls off of the fake horse as it slowly spins out of reach.
"It's a carousel," Scorch says, since he knows I can't see what it is. I nod and sit down on the concrete ground.
"Did you manage to get anything?" I ask him. I can hear a bag being zipped open and it's contents shuffling out of it as Scorch looks at what he was able to collect.
"Crackers, a sleeping bag, and an empty canteen," he says. "It sucks that I wasn't able to get a sword. Hopefully my mentor will send me one." I hear the nearly unnoticeable sound of him turning his head to look at someone or something. "Did you get anything, Hybrid?"
"Well, I guess the main thing we need to look for is water," I say.
"You're right," Scorch replies. "But the thing is, we're in an amusement park. Where do you find water in an amusement park?"
"I thought I saw a restaraunt while we were running," Hybrid says. "There could be some water in there."
I stand up. "Let's not waste time, then."
"Mason, sit down," Scorch tells me. "We ran so much, and I'm really tired. We need to rest a bit."
"Tributes could find us," I point out.
"I'm sure we're very far from the other tributes," Hybrid grumbles. "Plus, it's almost nighttime. We'll go look for water tomorrow. Now shut up and get some rest."
"Fine." My allies and I sit there for a few hours - I often hear the munching of crackers in Scorch's mouth, while Hybrid's presence is still and silent. I get really bored and I start drawing something in a patch of dirt with my wooden staff. Scorch looks at it.
"Why did you draw that?" he asks.
I rise my head so that I would be looking at him if I had eyes, and I tilt my head in confusion. "What did I draw?"
"A flame."
My face twists into a snarl when I remember what happened years ago.
Why my parents are dead.
Why I have no eyes.
"That's none of your business," I snap.
Sometimes I wonder; if that fire never happened, would my fate have changed? Would I not be participating in the Hunger Games if it weren't for that accident?
Or would destiny have been cruel to me either way?
It's not fair, why I'm the way I am. Why I'm sitting in an arena right at this moment, praying that I'll wake up tomorrow morning. And if I do wake up, I'll have to continue to fear this nightmare that I've been living.
At least I won't be able to see the amount of blood that is shed.
Martin Meyers' (D5) POV
I still can't believe I safely escaped the bloodbath. Despite being away from the Cornucopia for several hours, my heart continues to pound. I follow Maiko as we walk around the arena, observing our surroundings. I'm still pretty phased by John's death, though Maiko doesn't seem that upset. I decide to ask him why.
"He wasn't a friend," he tells me.
"No, but he was an ally," I say. "He cared for us, and we cared for him."
"I didn't," he says. "And I didn't want to. I don't want to get all depressed over the death of an ally if they die, because that will affect my chances of winning. I'm not saying I want you to die - I'm just saying I don't want to be sad if you die, and I don't want you to be sad if I die."
I blink. "Of course. I understand." We go back to silence as we continue to explore. Even though we're miles from the Cornucopia, we can still see the ferris wheel that had been near it, towering above everything in sight. I wonder if the Gamemakers intended for the wheel to have a purpose.
If I stay alive long enough, I guess I'll find out.
Maiko nudges me in the shoulder, and points to a large building with lots of windows. "I think that might be a hotel," he says.
"Why would there be a hotel in an amusement park?" I wonder.
"Well, it is on the very edge of the arena," he points out. I glance back at the tall hill which the Cornucopia rests on top of. I hadn't realized we were so far away until now. We might even be close to the force field that surrounds the arena. I guess the amusement park was only a section of the arena, although I can see a few games and rides scattered about several yards away in every direction from where we stand now.
"That might be a good shelter," I say. Maiko nods, and we step inside the hotel. I examine the interior, amazed. The floors are sparkly clean and velvety couches are set up against the walls. Maiko goes over to one of the elevators, but I stop him.
"It could be a trap set up by the Gamemakers," I warn him. "The elevator could fall, and we could break our necks."
"You're paranoid," he says.
"Maybe. But that's just because I don't want to die." I point to the couches. "Let's sleep here tonight until we're sure the elevators are safe."
"Okay, fine." Maiko lays down on one of the couches and gradually makes himself comfortable. I, however, poke my head out of one of the windows so that I can look at the sky, as the anthem begins to play and they are about to show the tributes that died.
First, the girl from 3 is shown, her spiky brunette hair falling down to her chin. Next, the face of the boy from 4 appears, smiling down calmly at the tributes below. I feel sorry for his sister - I wonder how she was able to cope with his death. Then, the sly girl from 8, which surprises me; I had expected her to live longer, since she appeared to be very clever and smart. The quiet boy from 9 is shown, then finally John. My chest tightens, but I refuse to cry.
It's like Maiko said. He wasn't a friend. Just an ally.
Day 2 - It's Kill or Be Killed
Ava Poppythorne's (D6) POV
When I wake up the next morning, the first thing I feel is relief - relief that I was able to live another day. The second thing I feel is thirst. I look through the backpack I managed to retrieve, hoping to find water, but of course there is none. Only an empty canteen and a purifier. I eat two dried beef strips in order to calm my stomach for at least a few hours. I decide to explore, so I rise to my feet and begin walking around, my hand tightly clutching the ebony leather handle of my mace, just in case anyone is to attack me out of nowhere.
After around a half and hour of walking, some guilt begins to build up inside me. I remember the bloodbath - of course I didn't expect myself to kill that boy from 10, but that's not why I feel regret. I feel guilty for abandoning my allies. They were so kind to me, and it seemed like they would honestly protect me until the very end. But I abandoned them. I didn't want to, but I feel like they should know that; however, I can't just waltz into wherever they're camping out unannounced.
I spot a hotel, and I quietly slip in through the doors. I nearly let out a scream when I see two boys sleeping on couches, but I'm able to keep my mouth shut as I sneakily creep up the stairs. I walk into one of the rooms and breathe a sigh of relief when I see a ballpoint pen and an index card sitting on a wooden desk. I grab the pen and scribble down a few words on the card.
"I didn't betray you guys. I didn't wanna leave you. It's because I have to. But one day, I promise to visit. Just so you can see that I didn't exactly leave you. I still think about it. I didn't just want to leave so I can win. I have to go now, though..." I decide to end the note there. They don't need to know why I have to 'go now'. I fold the note up and slip it in my pocket, then make my way down the stairs. I stop in my tracks when I see the two boys stretching and waking up. I quickly roll under the staircase and hide, listening to their conversation.
"Oh, you're awake. Good," the boy from 10 says grimly.
"What, you didn't think I'd be awake?"
"It's the Hunger Games, Martin," 10 says - I think his name is Maiko. "Anything can happen."
"You're right." A couple minutes of silence, then Martin speaks up again. "We need to look for water."
"You think?"
"Do you think there could be some in that restaraunt a few yards across from this hotel?"
I eye the two, large glass doors longingly. I need to get this note to my ex-allies. But I can't do that with two boys standing right in front of them, who'd notice me and possibly kill me.
I make my decision.
I leap up from my hiding place and bring my mace down on one of the boys' skulls - I don't really pay attention to which one. I hear them scream out in agony as I sprint out of the hotel. BOOM! A cannon fires, and I glance over my shoulder, wincing when I see Maiko dash out of the building and agrily come after me. He tackles me to the ground and tries to poke at my eyes with his awl, but I move my head out of the way and he ends up scratching my cheek with it. I roughly ram my knee into his stomach. He starts wheezing and loosens his grip on me, giving me the chance to push him onto the ground and run away. I hear a loud growl rise from his throat and try to come after me, but I'm too fast for him, so he eventually gives up and falls down on a patch of light green grass, burying his face in his knees.
I'm sorry, I think. I really am.
Once I've made it back to where I had slept last night near the carnival rides, I rest for a few minutes before getting up again. Being the great climber that I am, I'm able to climb up the side of the extremely tall ferris wheel that is facing away from where the Careers are. Once I'm around 20 feet off the ground (which isn't nearly halfway up), I'm able to locate Mary-Ann's blonde hair, Lillian's worried red eyes, and the glinting silver blade of one of Nile's throwing knives attached to his belt. They're near the carnival games. They look like they're pointing at the restaraunt Martin and Maiko were talking about at the hotel. Maybe they're going there to get water, too. Everyone is, it seems like. Once they're gone, I climb down from the ferris wheel and hurry over to the carnival games section, where I leave the index card on top of one of the game stands, before hurrying back to the carnival rides where I hide quietly, hugging my mace to my chest as the day continues to drag on.
Violette Meadow's (D11) POV
When I was reaped, I wasn't worried.
When someone volunteered for me so kindly and I rejected the offer, I wasn't worried.
When I presented my skills to the Gamemakers during private training, I still wasn't worried.
But the moment that gong rang out, my heart started to pound. Even after escaping safely with my two allies, I wasn't sure why I declined that kind, 18 year old girl's offer to volunteer in the first place. I'm only 12 years old. I can fight, I can use a bow; I can climb, and I know how to survive. I did this so that I could get revenge on District 4 for killing my brother a few years ago... but last night, before I went to sleep, I had doubted that I would find myself awakening the next morning.
Kassidy and I are currently eating a breakfast of bread and crackers, while Kota is searching the restaraunt for some sort of water source. After a few minutes, he returns to our hideout, a grin on his face.
"I found a sink," he says excitedly. "It might be tap water - not that fresh - but we can still drink it."
"That's good," Kassidy says. "But you do realize that the other tributes are probably coming here to look for water, too, right?"
"...Oh. Yeah, you're right."
"We can fight anyone that intrudes," I grumble, putting on my 'tough little girl' cover up once more. I rise to my feet and load my bow. "No one's going to be stealing our water, not while I'm around."
Kota smiles at me and nods; I'm sure he's smiling because he thinks that it's cute how I try to appear so tough. I couldn't care less, though. I dip my head towards him.
"Show me where the sink is," I demand. Kota nods and leads Kassidy and I into a room near the back of the restaraunt. Kota twists a dial and cold tap water pours out of the glowing silver fossit. Kassidy slips out of the room and comes back with three plastic cups that she found in the kitchen. We each fill up our own cup and sip the water. Kota was right; it isn't that fresh, but it's still water, and the cold liquid feels good as it slides down my throat.
I don't have much time to enjoy Kota's discovery, though, as I can suddenly hear the little ringing of the bell that is sometimes above the entrance doors to restaraunts, signaling the presence of more tributes. I turn to face my worried-looking allies, and I raise my weapon.
"Looks like we have customers," I say. Before my two allies can stop me, I walk out of the sink room and make my way back into the main lobby, where I spot an alliance of three; the girls from 7 and 12, and the boy from 8.
"Get out of here," I hiss.
"We're just looking for water," the boy from 8 assures me.
"Listen to the girl," I hear Kota growl as he walks up behind me. "We won't allow you to take our water."
"If there is water," the girl from 7 says. "Which there obviously is - we're going to have to fight for it."
Kota straightens his back and removes an axe from his belt. "So be it."
Just like that, the boy from 8 throws a knife at Kota. My ally dodges out of the way and pins the other boy against the ground. The boy from 8 takes another throwing knife and begins to repeatedly stab Kota in the shoulder. Despite the dark red blood that trickles down his arm, Kota is able to dig his nails into the boy from 8's shirt and fling him across the room. He slams against the wall and slides down to the floor. Nothing seems to be broken, but it's obvious that he's brouised around his stomach and arms after that hard impact. I fire an arrow at him. His eyes widen, but the mute girl from 12 bravely grabs his arm and pulls him out of the way so that my arrow digs into the wall instead of his flesh. She pulls an arrow from her own quiver and inserts it in the bow.
"Violette, watch out!" Kassidy screams, but it's too late. The girl from 12 fires the arrow and it lodges itself in between two of my ribs, puncturing my heart. The girl from 7 and the boy from 8 distract Kota and Kassidy by fighting them while the girl from 12 takes the arrows out of my quiver, and I can't do anything about it. The other alliance then leaves quickly, while Kassidy and Kota crouch down on either side of me and begin to weep.
"I'm so sorry, Violette," Kassidy cries. "I should've warned you earlier."
"It's not your fault," I assure her, my voice raspy and fading. My shirt is soaked with blood, and I can feel the tip of the arrow poking at my slowly dying heart.
"I'm sorry you couldn't get revenge on District 4," Kota says quietly. "I promise we'll get rid of the girl tribute for you."
I offer him a weak smile. "Thank you, Kota." He squeezes my hand and holds it while I die.
I may be hallucinating, but what I see at that moment calms me once more, and I no longer feel worried. My brother is reaching out to me, a smile on his face. I've missed you, Violette, he says. But now we can finally be together.
The smile on my face stretches wider, before my eyes close for the final time. BOOM!
Eliza Garret's (D5) POV
"This is all your fault," Holly snaps at me, as she paces back and forth.
"What is?"
"If only you hadn't challenged that girl from 1 during training," she says. "Then we wouldn't be one of the Careers' main targets."
"I don't know what you're talking about," I tell her. She shoots me a disbelieving look, and I smile innocently.
"Okay, so that must've been someone else that was almost taken out by a katana and a trident during the bloodbath," she says sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
I defensively fold my arms over my chest. "The thing is, I wasn't taken out by the katana or the trident. Saffron doesn't know who the hell she's up against."
"They're the Careers," Holly points out. "You might be strong, but no matter how much you believe that you're stronger than them, that's not true. Have you been training since you knew how to breathe?"
They haven't been training since their birth, I want to retort, but I just glance down at the ground and shake my head.
"And, you didn't cut off your parents' faces when you were seven, either."
"I get it, Holly." We sit in silence for several minutes, when Holly states that we should locate the other tributes. "I know we're very far from the Careers," she says. "But some of the other tributes could be huge threats, too, like the boy from 11 and the girl from 6, so we have to find out where they're at so we know we aren't close enough to them to be their targets."
"Okay. I need to get up and stretch my legs, anyways." I rise to my feet and begin walking, holding my sword by my side. Holly collects her six throwing knives before following me. This is the Hunger Games; wherever we go, we need to be armed.
We walked past the hotel, which seems quiet on the exterior, but there could be an entire alliance on the inside for all we know. A few yards later we come across a restaraunt, but there's no point in risking our lives by going inside there as we already have enough food and water supply. Later, we spot the girl from 6, crouching behind one of the carnival rides. She sees us and tightens her grip on her mace. Worried, we break into a run and quickly pass.
When we reach the carnival games section, we see the other tribute from 6, playing one of the games and laughing his head off. I don't think he realizes that he's in the Hunger Games, and if an alliance hears him laughing, they'll kill him immediately.
Suddenly, Holly and I stop in our tracks. Do the Gamemakers know how to read minds, or something? The moment I thought the words an alliance my ally and I spotted an alliance of three, camping out by the carousel. It's the boy from 11, the creepy "Shadow" from 3, and the blind kid from 2. The first two tributes I stated are the only threats, but it's still 2/3, so my first instinct is to raise my sword and take a step back.
"What do we do?" Holly whispers to me. "If we make a run for it, they'll hear us."
Just as I open my mouth to reply, I hear the sounds of excited chatter rise into the air. I turn my head, and my eyes widen as I see the Careers make their way towards the carousel. They haven't spotted the other alliance yet.
"We have to warn them," I tell Holly, who also sees the Careers.
"Eliza, wait," she says, but it's going to take a little bit more to stop me. I creep over to the alliance, my grip still tight on the handle of my sword. The boy from 11 sees me first, and he unsheaths his own sword.
"Stop!" I hiss. I point in the direction of the Careers. The boy from 3 starts to yell but I kick him in the shin, which silences him.
"Come on," I say to them. "Follow me and you'll be safe." After a few moments, the boy from 11 nods and reluctantly rises to his feet. He helps the blind one from 2 up, and then finally, the boy from 3 stands up as well.
"Why are you helping us?" he growls to me.
"Because no one deserves to die," I say simply. I turn and begin to head back to a worried-looking Holly, when out of nowhere, a cannon sounds. BOOM! I hear a scream and I spin around, eyes widening when I see the boy from 3 sprawled out on the ground, a knife sticking out of his neck. I see the girl from 2 grinning maliciously, as she walks over to us so that she can retrieve her knife.
"RUN!" I yell. I try to tear my gaze away from the boy from 3 and yank the other boys' arms. They seem to be in a daze after seeing one of their allies get killed, but once I get them to run they start going fast. When I reach Holly, they begin to stop but I shove both of them. "Run," I say. "Just keep on running!" They obey, and sprint towards the carnival rides, away from the pursuing Careers.
I turn back around. The Careers are close now. Saffron obviously believes this is her chance to kill me again, but I'm not going to back down so easily. When she tries to stab me with her katana, I jump into the air and out of the way. I yank her by her blonde ponytail and throw her onto the ground. The girl from 2 yanks her knife out of the boy from 3's neck and aims it at me, but Holly throws one of her own throwing knives at the same moment, and it hits the Career square in the forehead. BOOM!
I can tell Saffron is now enraged. She stands up and starts to come at me, but like last time, Holly and I dodge out of the way and are able to escape. Also similar to the bloodbath, Dragon throws his spear at me. It misses just barely and removes a few strands of my hair. "Fuck!" I hear him yell. I glance over my shoulder. Damn, I didn't realize Holly and I were such fast runners, as the remaining Careers are getting smaller in size by the moment as we run further and further away from them.
Once we return to our house of mirrors, we wait tensely for a few moments. When we hear how silent it is, we let our muscles relax a bit, and we sit down on the ground. When I look at Holly, I see that she is shaking all over.
"I-I....I killed someone...." she whispers. I sigh and give her a hug.
"Holly, with the position we're in, you would've had to eventually."
That night, we glance up at the sky when we hear the anthem playing. The faces that are shown in the sky are the girl from 2, the boy from 3, the ADHD boy from 5, and the small girl from 11. Man, we're already down to 15 tributes.
Who knows what the Gamemakers will have planned for tomorrow?
Day 3 - Expect the Unexpected
Dragon Lord's (D1) POV
After the anthem ends, I look at my remaining allies and tell them that I will be taking watch overnight. They seem extremely unsure, but they also know to obey me or else I will kill them on the spot, so they reluctantly tuck themselves into their sleeping bags. I sit down and wait until their breathing has slowed and their chests rise and fall rythmatically, signaling that they have fallen asleep. I pull my knees to my chest and glance up at the sky. I think about what happened today. Lily died, and we're already down to three Careers. Normally I'd be fine with that, except, a non-Career killed a Career. That means there are more threats in the arena then I had thought. I glance at the sleeping bodies of Saffron and Lemonade.
There's no need for allies anymore. 15 is still a large number, but tributes are dying off pretty fast. If I'm to return home, I need to make sure they're taken out even faster. It's time to betray the Careers so that they don't slow me down. I crawl over to our supplies and started filling up a backpack, when I think, What's the point of betraying them if I'm just going to kill them later?
I look at my allies again, and a smirk slowly stretches across my face. I grab my katana and stand up as I examine their bodies. I'll kill them both, I decide, and then we'll be down to only 13 tributes. I decide to kill Lemonade first. She's the weaker one, and at least Saffron won't cry day and night about how she lost her brother two days ago. I take the curved silver blade and bring it down into the girl's chest. Her eyelids fly open as pain shoots throughout her body. I was hoping she would remain silent, but she lets out a loud, ear-piercing scream. "Fuck," I whisper. Saffron is definitely going to awaken now. I push the katana deeper into Lemonade's chest. Her body grows tense for a few moments, before it falls limp and her eyes close once more. BOOM!
Her blood soaks through her sleeping bag. I dip a finger into the thick, maroon liquid and dab it against my tongue. I'm no cannibal that will eat the skin and muscle of my victims, but I do enjoy the salty taste of blood. I don't have much time to savor it, however, as I hear a shocked voice speak up.
"You're a monster."
I turn my head to look at Saffron, who's propped herself up on her elbows. She's staring at me with horror, and I can't help but grin.
"I just want to win," I say innocently. I reach for my spear and throw it at her, but she rolls out of the way. She wraps a hand around the handle of her katana and stands up. I rise to my feet as well. I know my district partner will definitely put up a fight, so I do what a coward would do. I grab two backpacks and sling them over both of my shoulders and pick up both my katana and my spear, and make a run for it.
"Come back here, you bastard!" Saffron screams. She throws her katana at me, and it's aimed for my head. I drop to the ground and roll in a panic, but I'm not able to dodge the blow completely. The blade of the katana cuts through my flesh, leaving a long wound stretching from my shoulder blade to the base of my neck. I swear under my breath, and I'm forced to shake one of the packs off my injured shoulder. I spin around just in time to see Saffron swing her katana at me. I block the blow with my own blade. She strikes again and the katana is knocked out of my hand.
In order to distract her, I bring up my fist and punch her square in the nose. I hear a cracking sound that tells me her nose is broken. Blood flies into her eyes, blinding her for a few moments. This gives me the advantage to retrieve my katana and escape with my two weapons and a single pack. The world around me dissolves into a blur as I sprint down and away from the hill. I hear Saffron shouting for me to come back, as well as taunting me, saying things like, "You're a coward! You won't stay and fight me!"
But the thing is, I'm not a coward. I'm just smart.
I'll get Saffron another time. And I'll make sure her death is as painful and grotesque as the ones my parents experienced years ago.
Kassidy Feekes' (D9) POV
Six hours later. . .
I'm awoken to the peaceful sound of birds chirping excitedly. It's almost as if I were back home in District 9 - but when I open my eyes and see the interior of the restaraunt, my eyebrows furrow in pain and I frown as I remember what has occured over the past few days. Violette's death flashes through my mind, and every time I remember her innocent little figure laying on the ground with an arrow sticking out of her chest, I feel broken and sad. She was only 12 years old, and her death made me realize that nobody, not even the Careers, deserve to be a part of these disgusting Games. We're all human beings.
I look up to see Kota, already awake and gazing out of the window. I stand up and go over to him. "What's wrong?" I ask.
"There was a cannon during the night," he says to me. "They didn't show the tribute's face in the sky because it was already a new day when it happened."
I sigh. "Who do you think it could've been?"
"I don't know. But I'm afraid. Even though I'm one step closer to coming home, I'm also one step closer to getting killed since the numbers in tributes are slowly decreasing."
"I'm afraid too, Kota, but you just have to have enough hope."
Kota looks at me. "You're right. But it's so hard to have any hope at all when you're in a situation like this."
I don't respond. Kota takes out some bread for us to eat, which is all we've been having since the start of the Games. I'm kind of sick of bread, but I'm thankful that I'm at least not starving to death. We refill our plastic cups with tap water. When my cup is filled halfway, a few drops of water fall before nothing comes out at all.
"Damnit," I mutter.
"What's wrong?" Kota asks me.
"There's no water left. We've used it all up."
Kota sighs. "We'll have to make do with what we have now. Just take a few sips every once in a while, and let's hope that our mentors send us some fresh water." I nod in agreement and take a tiny drink of water before setting it down on one of the marble counters in the bar section of the restaraunt. Then I tell Kota I want to stretch my legs a bit. He says he's going to come outside with me. I can't tell whether he tells me that because he also wants to get out of the restaraunt, or if he feels like he needs to protect his only ally. When he retrieves his axe, I know it's the latter.
We've only walked a few feet outside of the restaraunt when Kota hunches over in pain. His shoulder is still wounded - we haven't been set cut medicine yet. I glance up at the sky and mouth, "Cut medicine, please." I hope I'm on the screen right now so that Kota's mentor was able to catch that. I grab Kota's arm and help him over to a bench near the carnival games section, where he sits down to rest for a few moments.
"Are you bleeding out?" I question. He rolls up his sleeve, and my eyes widen at the gruesome sight. The wound is deep enough so that you can see some of the muscle, and lots of blood has dried around it while liquid blood continues to seep out.
"We need to get that fixed," I tell him. "I don't want you to die of blood loss."
"The only way to have it fixed is by getting cut medicine or instant relief," he says. "We don't have either of those things."
When Kota states that it hurts a little less, we stand up and begin to walk past the carnival games section.
"Wait, I left my axe on the bench," he says suddenly.
"I'll go get it for you," I offer. I head back to the bench where Kota's axe is placed. Once I'm there, I retrieve it and start back to where my ally stands, when the boy from 6 jumps out from behind one of the games and brings his hammer down against Kota's skull. Kota screams and falls to the ground. He thrashes a bit, but having a dented skull is an injury more serious than a deep wound, and he dies several moments later. BOOM!
"NO!" I yell. I stare at the boy from 6. He's laughing. He's staring at Kota's body and cracking up as if someone just told the most hilarious joke in the universe. I swing Kota's axe and it slices clean through his neck. His head topples over and onto the ground, a wide smile still on his face. BOOM! My head is spinning and I feel like I'm about to pass out. What the fuck just happened?
I crouch down beside Kota's body and hot tears roll down my face. He died with his eyes wide open with fear. I close his eyelids and kiss him on his cheek.
"I'm so sorry..." I whimper. "Kota, I'm so, so sorry...."
I look up and see that a hovercraft is waiting for me to move out of the way so it can collect the bodies. I let out a long, melancholy sigh, and attach the axe to my belt. I look at Kota's body one last time before turning away from him for good.
Scorch Flare's (D11) POV
When I hear two cannons fire in a row, I count up all the deaths that have occured since the start of the Games. 5 victims of the bloodbath; four yesterday (including Hybrid), and three so far today. We're down to 12 tributes. These Games are going by pretty fast, and soon I know I'll have to split up with Mason. I can tell he has that thought, too.
Mason and I sit in silence for hours and hours. He is perched with his back pressed up against a column near the carousel. He's drawing pictures in the dirt with his wooden staff as he often does. I, however, keep myself from dying of boredom by building my own slingshot. You can't exactly hunt with a blade. I explore the area around the carousel and find half of a strip of rubber buried in the grass near the ferris wheel, as well as a piece of string between a crack in the concrete. I actually like the Gamemakers for once - apparently, they have their favorite tributes, the ones they leave stuff scattered throughout the arena for. The second I feel honored by them I push the feeling out of the way. I'll always hate them, no matter what they do. Thanks for the supplies, I think crossly. I head back to the carousel and sit down across from Mason.
"Where were you?" he asks me.
"Just stretching my legs," I say. He crosses his arms and strictly tells me how I shouldn't be wandering around in the open unless I want to be killed. I ignore him. I've gotten used to his overprotectiveness, and even though I'm thankful for it, it can get a bit annoying at times.
I sit back down and start making my slingshot. I don't exactly know how I made it - really, I just experimented until I was able to shoot a rock out of it and it hit another column with a loud bang! A curious bird flew down from the sky and pecked at the ground. I grinned, grabbed another stone, and shot it at the bird. It dented it's tiny little skull and the animal flopped lifelessly to the ground.
"Mason, we have dinner," I announce proudly. I head over to the bird and carry it back to my ally.
"Now... how do you make a fire?"
. . .
The rest of the day is quite peaceful. No cannons can be heard, and at once I actually feel happy - despite the fact that, since I can't find any matches or sticks to make a fire, I have to eat the bird I caught raw. It's disgusting and I can only swallow a few mouthfuls. I throw it up a few minutes later and simply return to munching on crackers as I've been doing the past few days. Mason and I sit beside each other as we - well, I - watch the sun set slowly, when he says something I don't expect.
"We have to split up."
I glance at him. "What?"
"We're already down to 12 tributes," Mason says. "I don't want to get super close to you so that I wouldn't be able to kill you in order to come out of this arena alive."
I sigh. "Of course, Mason. I understand." I rise to my feet and pack up my share of supplies.
"You can leave tomorrow, though," he says. "If you want to sleep here one more night." I shake my head.
"No. I should go. Good luck, Mason."
"Good luck."
I bid him farewell, then I turn and walk away without sparing another glance at him. I swallow my tears. He was just an ally, I tell myself. Nothing about him is important.
I decide otherwise when I hear him scream. I know I should keep on walking since we aren't allies anymore, but I can help but spin around and head back to where I came from. BOOM! No, oh god no. I break into run, my fingers crossed. Please don't let it be him, oh god, PLEASE don't let it be him...
I skid to a stop once I reach the carousel, and so many different emotions mix together inside of me the moment I see Mason with a spear sticking out of his chest. Sadness, shock. I look up. Dragon towers above his body, bending down in order to retrieve his spear.
Sadness, shock, and anger.
Dragon yanks his spear out of Mason's flesh and grins when he sees me. He twirls his spear and my hand flies to the sword on my belt. But I don't unsheath it. Instead, I look at Mason's corpse, tears sparkling in my eyes, before taking my slingshot and firing a rock at Dragon's stomach. He hunches over, wheezing, giving me enough time to take Mason's pack and run away as fast as I can. I don't stop running until I've reached the entire other side of the arena. The hotel looks quiet and abandoned at first, but then I see a glimpse of a dark-skinned face through a window, so I dive into one of the bushes on the sidewalk near it. Everything happened so fast, and I'm weeping and fuming with anger at the same time. I hear the anthem play a little while later, and I glance up to see Lemonade from 4, Kota from 7, the crazy joker kid from 6, and...
And Mason.
I cry myself to sleep that night, and when I wake up the next morning, there is only a single thought in my head.
I need to win. Not only for my family back in District 11, but also for Mason. And I will do anything, anything at all, to make sure that happens.
Day 4 - Falling Fast
WARNING: Gruesome chapter! If you're uncomfortable with lots of gore and violence I suggest skipping this point of view.
Nile Flame's (D8) POV
The next morning I awaken and realize that only 11 tributes are still alive, including myself. I try to remember the tributes that are remaining. My allies, Mary-Ann and Lillian, the two tributes from District 1, Ava, the boy from 10, the girl from 9, and the two allies from 5 and 10. Mary-Ann wakes up and props herself on her elbows, and glances at me. Her expression is pretty emotionless and exhausted besides the sad glow in her eyes. She's made it so far, and I think, since she truly believes she has the ability to win, that she doesn't want to kill us in the process. I hate to admit it, but we're more than just allies. We're actually friends, and I don't know what I'd to if I had to put a knife to their throats. A shudder overtakes my body and I hug myself. No, Nile, don't think about that.
The day is pretty peaceful for a few hours. I keep a watchful eye on my allies. Mary-Ann stares off into the distance, lost in thought, while Lillian continues to sleep, her arms folded under her head and neck. I can't help but smile a little as I watch the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. When her deep, unusual red eyes open, something glows inside of me. I try to ignore the feeling but it eventually gets to my head. You can call me a hopeless romantic if you want, but it's true - I think I'm falling in love with her. Man, that sounded really cheesy, didn't it?
I think of the Second Rebellion that occured a little more than twenty years ago, led by that female tribute from District 12 that fell in love with her district partner. They managed to win together. Despite the new rule that the Capitol made - "If two or more try to win together by making a move that shows they're about to kill themselves at the same time, we'll just let them both die, and there will be no victors" - could I actually manage to escape this arena with Lillian, and hopefully Mary-Ann as well? I sigh when I realize that would never happen. And as much as I care for my allies, I'd still rather return home to District 7 than die.
That's when I realize - if I win, and my allies - my friends - are all dead, wouldn't I be haunted by the memory of their deaths forever?
The quiet calmness that has caused me to drift deeper into my mind for several hours is interrupted when I hear a soft growling in the distance. At first I think it's Lillian's snoring, because it's an extremely quiet and gentle sound. But over a timespan of just a couple minutes it grows louder until it resembles the growling of a large dog.
And that's exactly what it belongs to.
It's as if the growling is right behind me and I spin around, only to come face-to-face with a giant dog muttation. It has pointy brown ears and short ebony fur, and it wears a spiked collar around it's neck, giving it an intimidating, dangerous look. It's long claws point downwards and dig into the earth, and saliva drips off it's razor-sharp canines as it glares at me with a hungry look in it's eye. I shriek, causing Lillian to wake up. I stand up and back away. But it's only one dog, right? My allies and I can easily overtake it.
When the dog sees Mary-Ann reaching for her axe, it lifts it's muzzle and howls at the sky. A few moments later, three other dogs have joined it. And when I say these dogs are gigantic, they literally are huge. They're around seven to eight feet tall and they stare down at each of us as if we were mere prey. And that's what we're going to end up as, if we don't make a run for it.
The dogs slowly advance closer. Lillian jumps up and starts running as fast as she can in the other direction. Mary-Ann and I follow her lead and run after her. But the dog mutts are as fast as us, if not a bit more. After I've ran just a few yards, one of the dogs catches up to me and pounces, pinning me against the concrete. It's jaws are open wide and I'm staring right up at it's sharp, deadly white teeth. I'm thinking that this is the end, when the dog freezes and topples over, an arrow sticking out of the left side of it's head. Thank god for Lillian. I scramble to my feet and begin running again. There's one dog down, but three are still left.
I'm running so fast and I'm completely focused on losing these mutts that are chasing me, that I barely notice when Lillian trips over part of a carnival game and lands face-first of the ground. She tries to the stand up but the dog mutts don't allow it. Mary-Ann looks about ready to throw her axe, but one of the three dogs wacks her with it's tail. As I said before, these dogs are huge, which means it's tail has enough force to knock her backwards, giving them enough time to go back to Lillian. I reach for my throwing knives, when I painstakingly realize that I must've dropped them while I was running. Lillian is screaming her head off - I can't just let her lay there while the dogs tear at her skin. I sneak past the dog mutts and discover my throwing knives tangled in a patch of weeds. I remove them and hurry back to the dogs and Lillian, and where Mary-Ann lays unconscious several feet away from the scene.
What I see nearly causes me to pass out.
The dog mutts are feeding on Lillian like she's a simple hunk of meat. She's stopped screaming because I'm sure she simply doesn't have the energy left. She looks weak and torn apart - literally. I throw one of my knives at a dog mutt, and it digs into it's skull. One down, two to go. Mary-Ann has woken up, and when the final dog steps away from Lillian and slowly makes it's way over to me, she sees and throws her axe. It decapitates the dog mutt. While the final dog is staring at it's fallen comrad, I'm given enough time to jump onto it's back and stab my knife into it's neck.
When I'm sure all of the dog mutts have been killed, I immediately go over to Lillian and crouch down by her side. I can barely look at her. She's laying in a pool of blood, and her skin is no longer the simple olive color that it once was. It's all pink and red and... and gone. The only skin that remains is on her face, and she stares up at me with red eyes widened in shock.
And then, something happens - something that I'd never expect.
"Kill me, Nile."
I sit there, in shock that she would say that, and also because she said anything at all. The girl that's been mute ever since she was forced to live alone after her mother died years ago as spoken for the first time since then.
I bring myself back to reality. "I... I can't."
"End my pain, please," she begs.
I shake my head. "I can't do that, Lillian."
She looks me in the eye. "Please."
I stare at her for a few moments, then take a long, deep breath and tighten my grip on my knife. I raise it slowly.
"I'm so sorry, Lillian."
She smiles weakly. "I love you, Nile. Thanks... thanks for everything."
I love you, too, I want to say, but I don't have the guts to say it. Just wanting to get this over with, I bring my knife down as fast as I can and turn away when it hits her chest. A few seconds past before the most terrible sound can be heard.
I slowly pull my knife out of her corpse, still refraining from looking at it, and I rise to my feet. I look at Mary-Ann, who's a miserable wreck. Her and Lillian had become very good friends since we entered the arena. Tears are streaming down her cheeks, and she buries her face in her hand. I walk past her a few feet, before standing still and glaring up at the sky.
Fuck you, Capitol, I think. You'll pay for making her die.
Saffron Star's (D1) POV
That cannon that fired only minutes ago was like a sign. A sign that something was up. For some reason, I could feel that that cannon fired not simply because it belonged to a tribute that was killed by another tribute out of the ordinary. The sky had darkened and everything seemed still. Quiet. Something was up.
When I saw a gang of dog mutts come out of nowhere, I knew my thoughts were correct. There were definitely at least thirty of them. And their beady yellow eyes were staring at me, as if they wanted me and only me for their dinner this evening. My heart pounds and my breathing quickens, and I do the first thing that pops into my mind. I spin around and begin climbing up the over one hundred foot tall ferris wheel that looms before me. I'm adept in climbing - I can escape from these dogs, right? Thing is, I've never climbed a ferris wheel. It's made mostly of metal bars and nothing else. I'm used to climbing the fake trees and rock walls in the training center back in District 1.
I carefully begin to make my way up the ferris wheel, my arms and legs shaking with fear. The dogs sound as if they're growling right by my ear. They're close, I know it, but I refuse to look down. Before I know it I'm nealy 40 feet off the ground - although nowhere near the safest point of the wheel, which is the top. Around 30 more feet later I hook one of my legs over to the other side and hook my arms around one of the metal bars. Only when I feel as though I'm strapped in place do I glance down. The first thing I see is the dog mutts far down below, glaring up at me with hunger. But then I realize they're not looking at only me. The girl from 9, Kassidy, is making her way up as fast as she can. She looks like a spider monkey, more adept in climbing than I am. I cough loudly so that she realizes that I - a talented Career that will kill her in less than a second - is up here also. She glances upwards.
Big mistake, honey.
The sight of a Career causes her to get distracted. Lose focus. Her hand slips the tiniest bit. She tries to grab on once more but it's too late. She's already falling, down towards the ground. My heart is beating fast even though it's not me that's falling. It seems to be going in slow motion even though the ground is obviously coming closer and closer to her by the millisecond, until finally she slams against the concrete with a sickening thud. The dog mutts, frightened, jump backwards and examine the limp body. BOOM! One of the dogs noses her head and it flops uselessly to the side. Her neck must have broken. Some of the mutts sniff her and start chewing at her skin, but they obviously don't want to feed on someone that's already dead. They kick the cold corpse into the dust with their hind legs, shoot one last glance at me, before padding away.
I sit there, my head spinning in shock. I stay holding on to the metal bars for hours and hours on end, until the sun sets and the sky turns completely black. I slowly and carefully make my way back down until I'm able to safely place both feet on the concrete. The anthem plays and I gaze up at the starlit sky. Well, it's normally starlit, but tonight it's pitch black with not even a trace of light in the sky. The reason I can see where I'm going is due to the street lights in the amusement park. But it's so depressing and eerie... and when the sky shows the girl from 9 and the girl from 12, I realize with a pang of fear that there are only 9 of us left.
Dragon is one of those 9.
Day 5 - The Feast!
Mary-Ann Hunter's (D7) POV
I'm awoken by the sound of Claudius Templesmith's voice booming throughout the arena. I prop myself up on my elbows and glance around groggily as he makes his announcement.
"Congratulations to the final nine!" he says cheerfully. "Today there will be a feast, held at the Cornucopia. You are all expected to attend, for there will be a pack containing an item that each of you severely need."
I glance at Nile. His eyes still look red and sprinkled with tears, and my heart sinks. He had been crying all night after Lillian's death yesterday. I sigh quietly and listen as Claudius continues.
"Only nine of you are left," he says. "And I would prefer for this to be the last day. Keep on fighting, tributes! Attend the feast or not; the choice is yours. But just know that you're not entirely safe whether you go or not. Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"
"Are you going?" I ask Nile, once the announcement has been concluded. He shakes his head.
"No," he says quietly. "You shouldn't, either. We have enough supplies already, and neither of us are hurt. And I can't afford to lose someone else again." His voices is firm and strict. I dip my head and lay back down on the grass as I stare up at the sky. I know for sure the Gamemakers are watching us right now, and they're probably laughing, perhaps saying that we're cowards or that Nile is a total softie.
I'm not going to give them what they want, though. They can be bored for a few minutes in their life. But this doesn't mean I'm not going to put up a fight if I need to.
Maiko Fornis' (D10) POV
I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm actually attending the feast. I'm putting my life in danger. I'm going to get myself killed. I keep telling myself this, but at the same time I continue to walk away from my safe hotel and towards the Cornucopia hill. My heart is literally beating against my chest and I swear I can barely breathe.
Once I reach the hill, I sneak behind a bush that hides me well. I sit here for about an hour in complete silence. There must be other tributes around. I'm not the only one here, am I?
Only one way to find out.
I'm going to get myself killed.
I grab a nearby rock and hold it in the palm of my hand for several moments, unsure if I should actually do this or not. I suck in my breath and throw it as hard as I can. It's aimed for one of the District 1 packs. It doesn't hit the backpack, but it slams loudly against the golden metal of the Cornucopia near the pack. As expected, the District 1 female tribute leaps out of her hiding spot in one of the ferris wheel seats and runs as fast as she can up the hill. And I'm not lying when I say she's nearly as fast as lightning. I have to do this quick or I'll end up with a sword in my skull. I slip out from behind my bush and sneakily make my way over to the Cornucopia, where I grab the dark green backpack labeled District 10. I begin to run back down the hill when a spear whizzes past my ear. I spin around, my eyes widening when I see the maniac from District 1 that cut off his parent's faces run up to me. He removes his katana from his belt and slashes at me. I dodge out of the way and kick him in the.... you know, causing him to stumble backwards. This gives me enough time to throw my awl and it pierces him in the arm. He starts yelling very unkind words, but fascinatingly I'm able to escape.
I survived, but it's not over yet. Once I'm a safe distance away from the Cornucopia I crouch beside the ferris wheel and open my pack. My heart soars when I take out a bow and a quiver that holds twenty arrows. I hold the weapon close to my chest and glance up at the sky. "Thank you," I whisper. I rise to my feet and load my bow, glancing around the area warily before running off.
Ava Poppythorne's (D6) POV
I tried to arrive bright and early but I was held up because for some reason, the Gamemakers thought it would be a good idea to make all of the carnival rides fall over, which blocked my path to get here. When I arrive, I see the boy from 1 running across the hill to receive his spear, while the girl from 1 is reaching for her pack near the Cornucopia. I don't see anyone else. Gripping my mace, I slowly and carefully climb up the hill, making sure my footsteps are silent so that nobody sees me. I slip in behind a bush and wait in desperation for the right moment to go for my pack. The girl from 1 slings her backpack over her shoulder. She looks around, then reaches for my pack, as well.
No way, bitch.
I'm quite stealthy, so with my mace in hand, I'm able to sneak up behind her. I begin to raise my weapon. No one messes with the backpack that belongs to me and me only, and gets away with it.
"I'm going to kill you," I say calmly. As she begins to turn around I swing my mace, planning to decapitate her. Then, just like that, another tribute comes out of nowhere and rams into her, knocking her out of her way. I end up releasing my grip on my mace out of surprise, and it flies through the air.
"Dragon!" the girl from 1 gasps in shock, staring up at her savior. "Why did you just save my life?"
"Because I want to kill you personally," he says, winking at her. I can't exactly tell if that's a joke or a truth. Oh well; I can't focus on that now, because I have to get out of here. Just my luck, I think crossly. I run over to where the girl from 1 dropped my pack and sling it over my shoulder, before attempting to run back down the hill, but Dragon catches up to me.
"Nuh-uh," he says, shaking his head. He wraps his hands tightly around my throat and then throws me, and my back slams roughly into the Cornucopia. "I'm not letting you off that easily."
"Just kill me now and get it over with," I growl.
"Oh, no. I'm going to put on a show for the Capitol, dearie," he purrs. "Don't you have any logic?" He takes his katana and uses the edge of the blade to cut delicately through the skin on my face. It feels as if it is on fire.
"Stop, please," I beg. "I have a sister I need to return home to."
"Like I care," Dragon snorts, rolling his eyes. He suddenly sinks the katana deep into my stomach. I can feel the cold pierce through the muscle beneath, and blood pours out of the open wound. My eyes squeeze shut as I try to ignore the sticky maroon liquid that stains my shirt.
"Just kill me," I plead.
"You're no fun," Dragon complains. Nonetheless, however, he yanks the katana out of my stomach and brings his hands to my neck. I know what happens next. With a single flick of his wrists, I've sunken deep into an ocean of darkness, although I'm alive long enough in order to hear my own cannon fire. BOOM!
Saffron Star's (D1) POV
As I expected, Dragon is on a killing spree. I understand why he saved my life - he just wants to get rid of me himself. But I'm not a coward, not like he was the other day. I've been waiting for this. I'm going to put up a fight and make sure he's on the ground, laying in a pool of blood by the time I've finished.
Once he's done with the girl from 6, he comes over to me, a wide grin on his face. "Shall we dance, Saffron?"
"You're asking me," I say. Dragon chuckles evilly.
"Come at me, then."
Time for round 2, I think, as I swing my katana at him. He blocks the blade with his own katana. We swordfight for a couple of minutes and I can tell he's easily getting bored. The next time I strike he leaps backwards, thus dodging the attack. He runs at me and rams me into the Cornucopia with his shoulder. Once I'm pinned he presses the blade of his katana to my throat.
"This was too easy," he says calmly. "Any last words, darling?"
"Yeah." I headbutt him, and when he's released his grip, I swing the blade of my katana and it slices through his chest. "Fuck you."
Dragon takes a step back and clutches the long, jagged cut that stretches across his chest. He chuckles for some reason. "You actually have some fire, in you; that's good," he says. "But it's not enough." He drops his katana but I know he's not surrendering, for he also has his spear that he throws at me immediately. It's aimed for my head and I notice this at the last second. I duck quickly and the spear flies over my head.
"Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kiss me -" I pause. "Wait, no. Don't do that." I stand back up and punch him in the mouth. That's the hardest I've ever hit another person in hand-to-hand combat. I'm surprised when I see a couple of his teeth fall out. "That's for my nose," I hiss. Yeah, it's still broken, god damnit. My mentor hasn't sent me any instant relief yet.
"Maybe if you win, the Capitol can get it fixed for you," Dragon suggests.
"Maybe?" I laugh. "Dragon, we both know I'm definitely going to win."
"Shut the fuck up. You may be a great fighter but no matter how bad you injure me you aren't going to wi-" His words slowly transform to the sound of gurgling blood for I manage to pierce him in the throat with my katana unexpectedly. I let out a triumphant yell as he collapses to the ground.
"I did it!" I do a little victory dance. "I, Saffron Star, have killed the unbeatable Dragon Lord!" BOOM! The sound of a cannon proves that I am correct. I smile - I'm in a much better mood now. I grab my pack, Dragon's pack, and the girl from 6's pack, and escape the feast as fast as I can immediately. A tear slides down my cheek as I run. With the biggest threat in the arena gone, I actually have what it takes to return home.
Damn, I'm getting soft.
A few minutes and several yards later, something digs itself into my shoulder. I think it's a knife. I yank it out and pull out the instant relief that was in Dragon's pack. We have the same mentor, so I knew I was getting that. I take a sip and the wound in my back closes up immediately. Once I feel all better, I turn around and glare at my enemies. It's Eliza, and her ally, Holly.
"...Whoops," I hear Eliza say flatly. I grin and run up to them. As I move I decide in my head who I'm going to kill and who I'm going to take out later. I kick Holly in the stomach, sending her flying backwards. Even though she's the one that knifed me in the back, she wasn't the one that threatened me in the training center in the first place. I turn to glare at Eliza.
"I may have not gotten any kills before I got rid of Dragon," I say to her. "But you know what? Saffron Star is making a comeback!" With that, I swing my katana. She blocks the blow with her sword the first time, but the second time, I gradually manage to dig the blade into her chest. I roughly yank it out once her eyes glaze over and she falls over, limp, all while Holly is screaming her head off nine feet away.
"Any last words, darling?" I ask. I mentally facepalm when I realize I just used the line Dragon always spoke before he killed his victims.
"Yeah," Eliza says weakly, and uses the remaining amount of strength in her to smirk at me. "You better watch your back, darling." She closes her eyes and takes one last breath. I turn my head and see that Holly has regained her strength and is rising to her feet. BOOM! The moment Eliza's cannon fires, I immediately get the heck out of there.
Holly Wintercrest's (D10) POV
It would've had to arrive eventually. My heart aches greatly as I watch Eliza fall to the ground, her chest pierced by that katana. It was even more awful when I heard her cannon sound for I wasn't even able to share a few more moments with her. My only ally. My friend. I now know why lots of tributes don't tend to want allies. When you lose them it's like losing a part of yourself.
I stand by Eliza's side, unsure of what to do. Right at that moment I can help myself and I break down. I fall to my knees and bury my face in my hands. "Eliza... why did you have to leave me?"
I sniff and place her sword over her chest. I move her hands so that it looks like she's holding the sword in place there. Then I stand up and bid her farewell. "Rest in peace, Eliza." As I walk away from her corpse, I can't help but think how her older sister Gracie is going to take this. It's always the worse event when someone volunteers for a sibling or a best friend, and then they end up dying.
I decide that since Saffron - the only Career left - is gone, maybe it's safe enough to retrieve my pack from the Cornucopia, as well as Eliza's. I quietly walk up the hill and slowly towards the Cornucopia, when the boy from 11 comes from around the other side. He begins to reach for his own backpack when he sees me. Damnit. We stare at each other, eyes widened in fear. I take a step away from the packs. Surprisingly, though, he doesn't make any move to attack me. He just quickly grabs his own pack and sprints back down the hill. I let out a sigh of relief and shoulder both mine and Eliza's backpacks before leaving for our - my - house of mirrors that we used as shelter since the beginning of the Games.
Once I arrive, I feel like sobbing again. This area has the memory of Eliza smeared all over it. I see her backpack that she received during the bloodbath, and the picture of her and Gracie that she took to the arena as a token is beside it.
I can't stay here.
I gather the supplies Eliza and I had used to survive before the feast, as well as her token. If I win I'm sure she would want me to return it to her family. I slip it into my pocket and start heading somewhere. I don't know where, but somewhere away from the house of mirrors, and away from the Cornucopia as well.
Day 5 - Feast Aftermath
Nile Flame's (D8) POV
"I think the feast is over," I say quietly to Mary-Ann. From our little makeshift camp near the carnival games, we had been able to hear a lot of the fighting that had been going on during the feast on the Cornucopia hill. Screams, cries of agony, pleads, the whole deal. Around an hour after it began it stopped, and the arena was filled with quiet, still air. It was almost one of those comfortable silences, but I wouldn't be able to feel content until I escaped this arena.
"Yeah..." my one remaining ally replied. She offered me a handful of crackers, but I kindly rejected it, saying I wasn't that hungry and that I'd prefer to save the little food we had left for later. She nodded and slipped the crackers back into the box.
"You know, Lillian would expect for one of us to win," she said quietly. I grumble something inaudible under my breath. Why the hell would she bring up Lillian right now? The moment she mentions our deceased ally's name my eyes begin to shine with tears, and I glance down at the ground so Mary-Ann doesn't see them.
"Okay," I respond, my voice tired and sad. "Yeah, I know." I lay down on top of my sleeping bag and close my eyes. I picture Lillian, with her silver, almost-white hair and glowing red eyes. I remember how she was that shy, fearful mute girl at the beginning, but she slowly grew to be much more brave and adventurous. I can't help allowing a tear slip out of one of my eyes. It slowly rolls down my cheek and off of my chin. If Mary-Ann sees me crying, she doesn't say anything.
Like most of the previous days, today is slow and quiet for us. When boredom overcomes me I rise to my feet and keep my pack of throwing knives clutched closely to my side. "I think I'm going to go for a walk," I tell Mary-Ann.
"No, you're not," she replies sternly. She grabs my arm and yanks me back down. "You're not going to get yourself killed."
I let a sigh escape my lips and fold my arms over my chest. There's no arguing with Mary-Ann. She annoys the heck out of me sometimes but I feel thankful on the inside knowing that she just wants me protected and alive. I turn my head to look at her.
"So, top six," I say, attempting to start a friendly conversation with her. We haven't had one since we were at the training center back in the Capitol. "I honestly didn't think I would make it this far."
"Me neither," she agrees with a curt nod. "I really hope I make it out of here alive, but if not, I want it to be you..." She stops suddenly, her eyes widening. I cock my head to the side. "Mary-Ann? What's wrong?"
She ignores me and jumps to her feet. "Hand me a throwing knife," she demands.
"Nile, just do it!" She's screaming now. "Hand me a throwing knife! NILE!"
Out of the corner of my eye, I see an arrow flying through the air. I start to get up in order to run away but I'm too slow, and the arrow pierces me in the side of the head. Blood leaks out of the wound and flows down the side of my face as if it were a small, skinny maroon stream. My whole body goes numb and I limply collapse to the ground. Although my eyesight is blurry, I can see Mary-Ann throwing a knife at the smart, dark-skinned kid from District 10. He lets out a loud yell and jumps out of the way. He shoots another arrow that Mary-Ann gracefully dodges, before running off into the distance. I can see that the skin on Mary-Ann's face is soaked with tears, and she bends down beside me.
"Nile..." she whispers, her voice cracking. I hold her hand in mine.
"Win for me, Mary-Ann," I say firmly. "You can do this thing."
She nods and smiles sadly. "Say hi to Lillian for me, Nile."
I return the smile. "I will." I close my eyes and keep a grip on Mary-Ann's hand, wanting her presence to surround me as I die. I'm nearly inches away from death. Just a few more moments, I presume. I get to see Lillian again is the last thought in my head before my heart ends it's rhythmatic thumping and the cold hands of death drag me away to darkness. BOOM!
Scorch Flare's (D11) POV
I blink my eyes open and find myself staring up at the ebony night sky, dotted with thousands of tiny white stars. I hadn't realized I had been sleeping, when I remembered how I ran away from the girl from 10 as fast as I could after the feast. I had tripped over one of the fallen carnival rides and hit my head on the concrete. It had been covered with a patch of soft grass so it hadn't given me a concussion or anything, but it had knocked me out cold. I rubbed the bruise that had appeared on the side of my skull and crawled on my knees over to my pack that I had retrieved from the Cornucopia during the feast. I zipped it open and pulled out something that caused my eyes to burn with tears. They were three pictures of Mason, young and spirited, before he had lost his eyes. One of them was him wrapping an arm around a dog, one was a family picture with him standing in between his parents, and the final one was the last school picture that had been taken of him before he lost his eyes. I blinked away the tears that threatened to slip from my eyes and shoved the pictures back in the bag. Despite the depression that crawled through my insides and haunted my mind after my best friend's death, I was also motivated upon seeing those pictures. I had to win this thing, no matter what it took.
I heard a beeping noise near my ear, and I turned my head slightly, my gaze falling upon a silver parachute that was slowly falling from the sky. It landed on the ground in front of me, and I opened it. I pulled out a fresh steak, cooked medium rare. It also came with a fork and kitchen knife so that I wouldn't have to use my hands to eat it. I muttered a thanks to my mentor before taking a few bites. I ate about half of it before putting it away, deciding that I would leave the rest for lunch tomorrow. If I stayed alive that long. I scolded myself the moment that thought entered my mind. You'll make it that far, I tell myself. You'll do it for Mason.
I hear footsteps against the concrete which triggers my senses and makes them more than alert. Making sure I have a grip on the leather handle of my sword, I jump up to my feet and take a step backwards into the shadows of the night. I hear the footsteps coming closer. Thump, thump, thump, thump. I start to panic. I can't tell whether the footsteps are coming from behind me or in front of me. Nonetheless, I ready my sword and I do something risky that might get me killed. "Who are you?" I call out, surprised that my voice actually sounds as if it is laced with fear. "Show yourself."
Suddenly, I feel hands wrap themselves around my neck. I feel hot breath on my ear and the presence of another tribute surrounds me. I take my sword and ram the butt of the handle into the tribute's stomach. This causes them to stagger backwards, and I spin around on my heel in order to see who it is. It's the girl from 7. Mary-Ann, I think her name is. She lifts her head and snarls at me, her eyes insane with bloodlust. She used to be so sweet and kind. What happened to her?
"I have to kill you," she says, almost apologetically. "I have to do it for Lillian and Nile." Oh, so that's probably why she's turned into a psycho. She had to watch both her allies get murdered before her eyes and she probably promised to do whatever it takes to win for them. The same way I promised to win for Mason.
"I'll kill you first," I respond with an even tone. She growls at me, and brings her axe to my neck. I leap out of the way just as the blade is about to dig into my flesh. As I have much more physical strength than the frail girl, I'm able to pick her up my her waist and flip her over. She slams roughly against the ground and yelps in pain. I try to stab her in the stomach with my sword but she scrambles to her feet just in time and runs at me, this time attempting to slice open my chest with the axe. I dodge the blow, though not fully and the blade ends up digging into my shoulder. Pain shoots through my arm several times before it goes numb. Ugh, that can't be a good sign, I think. I try to lift my sword but my arm is now as limp as a leaf. Damnit. I try to wield my sword with my non-dominant hand. I can't fight as well but I will do anything in an attempt to protect myself. Of course, when I try to slash at Mary-Ann's skull she ducks. She brings up her boot and kicks me in the stomach, nearly knocking all the air out of me. I stagger backwards and she runs up to me, aiming to bring the axe down on my head. I close my eyes, showing her that I'm ready for the end.
But I'm not.
Just as the blade of the axe is about to puncture my skull, I raise my sword and slice clean through Mary-Ann's arm. The axe falls to the ground below my eyes, along with her hand. Mary-Ann lets out an agonized scream, and tears fill in her eyes. I feel a bit guilty for what I'm about to do, but I don't stop. Now that she can't attack me I'm able to shove her against the ground. I place the blade of my sword to her neck and she stares up at me, the tears rolling down her cheeks now. "Just kill me," she whispers. "Please."
A lump forms in my throat, and I nod. I stare up at the sky so that I don't have to watch myself kill this innocent tribute. As fast as I can, I draw a dark red line in her throat with my sword. Her body stiffens and she lets out one final scream, before she falls limp completely and her cannon fires. BOOM! I stand up weakly, my head spinning. I still refuse to lay my eyes on her corpse. I haven't had a kill yet in the Games whatsoever - since this is my first one, I feel extremely sick to my stomach. I stand there for a few moments, feeling as if I'm about to pass out, when I sheath my sword and hurry away from the 7 girl's cold body. I make my way back over to my makeshift camp that I kept near the carousel, even after Mason died. I sit down and take out his pictures again. As I stare at them a single tear slips down my cheek. Why am I torturing myself? I put the pictures back and lay down on top of my sleeping bag. Minutes later, the anthem plays and the faces of the dead tributes are projected into the sky. The first face I see is of Dragon Lord, one I didn't exactly expect but I'm glad that I see it in the sky. He killed Mason, and lots of other innocent humans - he deserved to die. The next tribute I see is the tought girl from 5, the one that challenged the Careers during training and wanted to prove to them that they weren't the leaders of the arena. She stuck by her promise until the very end, and I admired her for her cause. Ava Poppythorne's face is shown next, and I'm sorry that it's there. She was one of the strongest tributes in the arena, one of the biggest threats. Despite this she was also one of the kindest, and she was definitely one of the ones that didn't belong in this arena. Then I see Mary-Ann's, and my head feels as if it's spinning once more. The final face shown is the boy from 8's before the sky turns black once more. I curl up on top of my sleeping bag, not bothering to slip into it for it is quite warm and humid tonight. As I fall asleep I can't help but wonder - do I really have what it takes to win for Mason? I want to and I'm determined to step out of this arena alive, but there are only four tributes left. The reason the other three tributes and I are still here is because we are the strongest.
The final day is going to be tough, and I'm nervous.
Day 6 - Fate's Decision
Maiko Fornis' (D10) POV
The next morning I awaken and stretch my arms above my head. The first thing I notice is how hard the wind is blowing outside. I stick my head out of the little tent in the carnival games section I had been staying in, and my eyes narrow as a raindrop falls on my nose. I sigh and slip back into the tent. The Gamemakers must be ready to create a huge storm, maybe as a dramatic effect because they know today will be the last day. I sit down on the ground and pull my knees up to my chest, before gently rocking my body back and forth. I can literally feel my heart pounding against my chest. These Games went by so fast - it seems like only yesterday I was dressing myself for the reapings. I had seriously thought I would've died early. I'm not the best when it comes to killing other tributes and no one even knew who I was until I made it to the final eight. And now that I'm in the top four, I've finally managed to leave my mark on the world. But will it be able to stay there?
A gigantic gust of winds interrupts my thoughts as it almost knocks the tent over. When it moves violently, I hear a thump and jerk my head around, alarmed. Relief floods over me when I see that the only reason I heard that sound was because a strange glass object had fallen off one of the high shelves within the tent. I walk over to it and pick it up. It's a crystal ball, the instrument that fortune tellers use to show their clients what their future looks like. I stand up on my tippy-toes to put it back on the shelf, when the crystal ball starts to swirl with color. I stare at it, confused. The colors continue to swirl until they eventually slow down and gather together into the form of - well, me, actually. I see myself laying on the ground, my eyes widened. I almost fall over when the crystal ball shows a knife sticking out of my chest. I let out a little yelp and drop it, and it shatters into pieces. I take a step back, my heart pumping so fast I can barely keep up with how many times it beats in a second. That's just something the Gamemakers set up to scare me, I'm sure. It can't possibly be true; can it?
I pull the tent flaps open and step out into the rain. It's actually not the biggest storm at the moment, and even though the wind is pretty fierce it just kind of seems like a simple rainshower, although my clothes are soaked within minutes. I'm afraid to go back into that fortune teller's tent, though, after seeing that crystal ball. So I begin walking away from the carnival games section and towards the carnival rides.
Once I arrive in that area I sit down on one of those teacup rides. I sit in criss-cross position and simply stare out into the distance, watching the rain as it falls from the sky and splashes against the ground. I reach for my backpack to pull some of my dried fruit out of it because I'm hungry - only then I realize that I left my pack in the tent. Damnit. I had grabbed it on my way out, hadn't I? Guess I didn't. I stand up and begin to make my way back to the fortune telling tent, a bit warily because who knows what can happen in this arena? The Gamemakers can make the ground collapse underneath my feet; a huge mutt can jump out of nowhere and maul me. Eventually, though, I arrive to the tent and slip underneath the shelter of it's fabric roof. I unzip my pack that I find set up against a small wooden table and pull out my pack of dried fruit. Just as I'm about to eat a dried orange, a huge, and I mean huge blast of wind knocks the tent over. It happens so fast, and next thing I know I'm laying sprawled out on the ground, the tent on it's side. I stand up on wobbly feet and search for the opening flaps. They're gone! As I start throwing things out of the way in an attempt to find them, I discover that the wooden table is blocking the entrance. I try to move it, but it's way heavier than it looks, and it's as if it's glued in place.
Suddenly, I hear an odd sound. It kind of sounds like scissors or a knife cutting through fabric. I lean towards the sound - it sounds like it's coming from right behind my ear. I turn around, eyes widening to the size of marbles when I see another tribute attempting to cut through the wall of my tent. Once they've cut out a big hole they stick their head through it, and my heart stops. It's the girl from one, grinning at me wickedly, clutching a knfe in her hand. I run over to where the table is blocking the entrance and pull on one of its legs as hard as I can. It doesn't budge. I yell in frustration and turn to glance at the wall that had been cut through. The girl from 1 continues to slice through the dark red fabric, attempting to make a hole big enough for her to slip through. Panicking, I grab my awl and try to make my own full-sized hole that will help me escape through this side. But an awl is a smaller weapon, and by the time I have a hole as big as my hand, the girl from 1 has entered my tent. I'm sweating buckets and I slowly turn to face her.
"W-What are you going to do to me?" I stutter nervously. She doesn't reply - she simply continues to grin insanely as she slowly makes her way towards me, knife in hand. I slowly move backwards until my back has hit the wall and I can't move any further. "Please don't kill me," I beg, but I must be stupid if I think she's going to listen to that statement. She's a Career - a strong, blood-thirsty Career that is determined to win, and she isn't just going to spare my life. I can't help but think how the Gamemakers managed to create a crystal ball that was correct about my future as she places the tip of the knife to my chest.
"Any last words?" she whispers, just beside my ear. It causes a shiver to run down my spine.
"Y-Yes," I quietly tell her. Then I straighten my back and glare up at the sky, hoping the camera is on me just at this moment. I take a deep breath and say, "I might die today in the arena - no, I'm definitely going to die. But all of you back in District 10 -" A river of pain floods within me as the girl from 1 slowly sinks her knife into my flesh. "And the Capitol, and every one else in the country of Panem: I, Maiko Fornis, am one to be remembered." With those words said the girl from 1 decides to get this over with and quickly plunges the knife deep into my heart. Then she mercilessly yanks it out and I crumple to the ground, my eyes glued on the ceiling of the blood red tent as I'm much too weak to move my head. The world around me blurs and darkens until I can no longer see a thing, and I'm entirely sure that my life has been taken from this earth when I hear my own cannon fire. BOOM!
Saffron Star's (D1) POV
I step out of the tent and into the rain, cleaning the blade of my bloodstained knife with a small square I tore off of my sleeping bag. It doesn't really matter that I demolished it - this is going to be the last day, anyways. A grin spreads across my face when I think about what it's going to be like when I return home. I'm going to bring so much pride to my district and everyone is going to love me. They never cared about that psycho Dragon anyways. It was always about me. Now, I know that may sound a bit selfish, but it's the truth. It's been my destiny to win these Games ever since I volunteered - no, actually, ever since I was born. I can feel it - some invisible force that's slowly drawing me towards the crown.
I climb up one of carnival rides that had fallen over the other day. Some of them still remain standing, but I make my way to the top of a fallen rollercoaster. It's not that scary if it's down on its side, because then it's not far up into the sky and I don't have to worry about falling off. Once I reach the top I scan the fraction of the arena that I can see from up here, despite the pouring rain that blurs most of the view ten to twelve yards in the distance.
That's when I hear a soft splashing sound, like someone trying to be stealthy but they can't help the noise they make because their feet hitting the water that slightly floods the ground will create a sound no matter what. Suddenly alert, I move my gaze to where I believe the sound is coming from, and I watch intently. Eventually the girl from 10 steps out of the fog, her normally long, wavy ebony hair currently tied back in a ponytail. She doesn't notice me, sitting up here on the fallen rollercoaster. I smile. This could be the perfect chance for a surprise attack. All I have to do is quietly grab one of my throwing knives and aim it at her head - that simple. She'll be dead within moments and then all I'll have to do is get rid of Scorch. He would be the biggest competition left, but I can take him out easily. Can't I? I mentally slap myself for questioning my logic - of course I can!
The girl from 10 - Holly, I think her name is - pulls out a canteen. It's clear, kind of like a water bottle, and I can see that the water she had in it only fills a thin line at the bottom. She unscrews the cap and holds the canteen up over her head. I see what she's doing; she's catching rain drops as a water source. It must be a smart move, but it's also a stupid one. She's distracted upon doing this - this is the perfect chance!
I slowly unstrap a throwing knive from my belt, making sure that all of my movements are ghostly quiet. Once I have the small silver weapon clutched in my hand I narrow my eyes and picture an invisible target on Holly's forehead. I bring my knife back behind my ear, and then I chuck it, aiming it for where the bullseye would be. Just as it's about to hit her in the skull, a gust of wind blows through the air and pushes the knife out of the way. My weapon is simply carried with the wind before it's suddenly dropped and lands with a splash! in the water. Irritated, I turn my attention back to Holly, who stands there with a look of shock and horror plastered on her face. I snort and climb down from the rollercoaster. She sees me and starts to make a run for it, but she seems to have forgotten that water has risen to three inches above the ground and she slips, landing face-first on the concrete. She quickly rolls over on her side and props herself up on her elbows, but by now I've reached her and I'm holding the tip of my katana to the bottom of her chin.
"I'm going to kill you," I say matter-of-factly.
"Sure," Holly replies quietly. I can see water on her cheeks and beneath her eyes, though I can't tell if it's rain or tears. By the way I hear her sniffle a few moments after she speaks, I know it's the latter. I don't feel any guilt rise within me, however. I've learned to ignore tears and the pain of another human. I'll do whatever it takes to win.
Holly then rolls her eyes unexpectedly. "Sure you are," she says again. "But you aren't going to win."
I snicker. "Yeah? Listen, honey - do you think I'm unable to beat that pesky boy from 11? You've seen me kill the most talented, blood-thirsty boy in the arena; your ally - you've seen what I can do, but you don't think I can win?"
"I think you have what it takes," she responds simply. "I just don't think the odds are in your favor."
That's it, bitch, I think. My hands shaking with frustration, I yank my katana to the right, causing the edge of the blade to dig into the flesh on her throat. Blood pours out of the open wound and seeps into her shirt. I step away from her and let her fall backwards into the water. Her blood stains the water red, and she continues to glare up at me despite the fact that her life is quickly leaving her body. BOOM! I stand up and forcefully kick Holly's corpse in the side. As the water rises slowly she begins to drift downstream, until I see a hovercraft come and collect her body.
As I make my way back to the carnival rides, I can't seem to ignore the fear that wells up inside me. With three or four tributes left I really believed I would be able to win this. But now that it's just me and another tribute, I can't help thinking - was Holly right? Or was I correct the entire time, and I have everything that it takes to win?
Once again, I scold myself for thinking like that. Yes, Saffron. Yes you do. Determination lights up my eyes and I make my way around the fallen rollercoaster. "Good evening, Scorch," I say loudly. The boy several yards in front of me spins around and glares at me, before pushing his blonde hair out of his eyes.
"Good evening, Saffron," he replies darkly. He holds up his sword, and I raise mine.
Let the final showdown begin.
Scorch Flare's (D11) POV
Saffron lunges at me before I have any time to think about how I'm going to fight her. I jump out of the way the moment she's about to land on top of me, and she crashes against the ground. Just like that, however, she scrambles to her feet and runs at me again. She unsheaths her katana and tries to slash at me, but I block her blow with my sword. We fence for several minutes, the only sound in the intense atmosphere being the noise of clashing blades. Sparks come off the bright silver blades and dance through the air. Within minutes my face is soaked in sweat and my arms feel tired and limp from all this wielding I've been doing. But I'm afraid to stop.
Eventually, I manage to swing my sword towards Saffron without having it blocked by her katana. The edge of the blade hits her in the shoulder, and she staggers backwards, clutching the injury as blood seeps out of the wound and trickles down her arm. She glares at me, then kicks her foot into the air, bringing the sole of her boot into my eye. I feel blood gather around my eye and half of the world from my perspective is covered with a dark crimson color. But I can still see Saffron as she attacks, her katana slicing through the air. I dodge the attack, and when she strikes again I yank my sword towards her own weapon so forcefully that her weapon is simply knocked out of her hands. She looks at her sword, watching as it bounces down the concrete. By this point I've blinked all of the blood out of my eye. It slides down my face and lands in the rainwater that's on the ground.
Saffron turns away from her weapon and stares at me in horror. She starts to go get it, but obviously I won't let her. I bring my hands to her neck and squeeze as hard as I can. Her face starts to turn a bit purple. She starts wheezing, begging for me to let go. When I don't, she simply narrows her eyes and digs her nails into my side. Blood trickles down and I wince at the pain her sharp, neon green nails created. The pain causes me to release my grip ever so slightly, and this allows Saffron to grab one of my arms and twist it behind my back. I hiss in agony and roughly pry myself from my grip. I hear a disgusting cracking sound as my arm returns limply to my side. The girl from 1 grins at me when she realizes what she just did.
"At least the arm I wield my sword with wasn't broken," I say happily, and she frowns. In that one second of distraction I leap at her and throw her against the concrete. Then I stand over her, placing my feet on her legs so that she can't get up. She tries to squirm out of my grip - I pin her to the ground by pressing my hands against her shoulders just to make sure that she certainly can't.
"You can't do this," she hisses angrily at me. "I'm supposed to be the victor of the 93rd Hunger Games!"
I reach for my katana. As one of my hands leaves one of her shoulders she brings up her free hand and digs her nails into the side of my neck, but the moment I place the blade of my sword to her chest she freezes and her hand falls limply to the ground. Then, she does something I would've never expected.
Tears well in her eyes, and she blinks repeatedly as if refusing to let them fall. "I-I-I need to go back home," she whispers. "I can't die in the arena... please, Scorch, don't let me die here..." She gazes up at me with a saddened gaze. A lump forms in my throat.
"I have to," I say quietly.
"I know you do," she replies sadly. The tears are streaming down her face now. "Every tribute has their families and friends that they need to return home to. I didn't realize that until just now..." She sniffs. "But I just want to go home, so badly... I'll never get to see my family again..."
"I'm so sorry," I apologize. I squeeze my eyes shut as I bring my sword into her chest. A quiet gasp escapes her lips, and when I open my eyes I see that her own are dull and glassy. A few droplets of tears still remain on her cheeks. She seems so terrified, so upset - that's no way to die. BOOM! I sigh loudly and rise to my feet. My vision starts to blur and my head begins to spin. Blood forms in my eye again and I barely hear someone speak on the louderspeaker before I collapse and the whole world darkens around me.
. . .
Beep. Beep. Beeeeeep.
I open my eyes. Both of them are working perfectly, to my surprise. The last thing I remember before passing out was blood in my right eye. Why was it like that? I think. At that moment everything comes flooding back to me. I was punched in the eye by a sassy, violent girl with blonde hair. The punch was so forceful, the veins inside my eye must have busted. I move my hand towards the socket and place a finger on my eye. The new eyeball there isn't squishy and watery like most are; instead, it's made of glass.
A door opens. I turn my head. Three nurses walk into the room, two males and one female. The female sees that I have awoken and she comes over to me. Her hair is bright pink, her skin yellow. Capitol citizen. She smiles at me. "The damage to your eye was quite horrible," she tells me, seeing that I am confused about my glass eye. "The one we've replaced it with still looks like a normal eye, and it works just like one, as well - that's why you can see out of it."
See. That's why I can see out of it. Another memory enters my brain. Mason Spartan. My blind ally. My deceased friend. Where did I meet him? In the Hunger Games.
Was it all a dream, or...
"Congratulations, Scorch," says one of the male nurses, as if he can read my thoughts. "You indeed are the victor of the 93rd Hunger Games."
Victor's Interview
My stylist has designed a shimmering suit for me to wear. Whenever I walk, it looks as if flames are flickering on the clothing. An orange streak has been dyed on my hair where it partly covers my eye. I examine myself in the mirror. The nurses that spoke to me a few hours ago were correct. Despite one of my eyes being made out of glass, it still looked exactly like my other, real eye, and worked just the same. I sighed and turn to face my stylist. "Are you ready?" she asks eagerly.
I sigh. "Yeah. I'm ready."
She nods and kisses me on the cheek before gesturing towards the stage. I take a deep breath and slip through the red curtains, and the moment I step out onto that stage, thunderous screams and applause fill the stadium. Caesar Flickerman beams at me and invites me to take my place next to him. I do so obediently, while flashing a pearly white smile at the audience and waving to them.
"Citizens of Panem, I welcome you, the victor of the 93rd Hunger Games, Scorch Flare!" Caesar exclaims, holding up my arm. The screams and cheers that erupt from the audience get louder, although they eventually quiet down in order to hear the interview. Caesar smiles at me. "How does it feel to be a victor?" he asks.
I force a convincing smile. "Pretty good," I say.
Caesar laughs. "Pretty good? It must feel awesome!" The audience agrees. Then Caesar asks, "What are you going to like most about winning the Hunger Games?"
I think for a moment. "The pride I'll bring to my district," I lie.
"Not the money?"
"That, too."
Caesar chuckles. "Anyways, would you like to see your special moments during the Games?"
Not really. "Yeah!" I tell him. Suddenly, the TV above the stage comes on and I turn in my chair to face it. The stadium goes super quiet as everyone's attention is focused on the screen. First, I see me waiting impatiently on my metal plate, surrounded by 23 other tributes. Then the gong rings and I race towards a backpack. I see myself thinking about whether I should grab the nearby sword or not, but another tribute beats me to it. I then meet up with Hybrid - a lump forms in my throat - and Mason, and we run off. The screen changes to when we're sitting near the carousel, and the two allies Eliza and Holly come over to us and tell us to run because the Careers are gaining on us. We start to run, and I want to hide my eyes when I see a knife hit Hybrid in the throat, but I remember that I'm on live television and I simply stare at the TV with an emotionless expression. Then the scene changes once more, to when Mason and I are thinking about splitting up. Here it comes, I think, biting my lip and forcing myself not to cry. I walk away, then return when I hear a cannon. I see Mason's corpse and Dragon standing above him, a smirk on his wretched face. That's when I think - what was the point in winning if I have to live like this for the rest of my life, remembering my best friend's death and the way I killed two innocent human beings? The video ends and Caesar asks me if I'm proud of everything that I did.
"NO!" I burst out suddenly. The people in the stadium are taken aback. Caesar opens his mouth to question me, but I interrupt him. "You people are sick." I stare straight at the camera. "You think that just because I won that ruthless game of yours that I'm some type of god that should be proud of what I did. But I'm not! You know what I really am? I am fire. My mischeif causes annoyance and madness. Lying makes me unpredictable, you never know when I will start. I am the beginning and the end, a villian who is the hero. As the flames tire, I continue to loose what I love most in the world. My home, my friend, my innocence. You have taken that from me. Hear my plea as the restless flames blaze: You may have taken what I precious most in the world but this starts the flame, what keeps it going. Know this, I will have vengence for the lives you have taken and the fire you have started will live on for as long as I live. I live and I will not rest until the dying weeks of your lives have begun."
The room goes silent as everyone stares at me in shock. Then, I simply stand up and exit the stage.
That simple act of rebellion might get me killed. But not today.
Today, the flame lives on.
Death Chart
Placing District Name Killer District How
24th 8 Galina Kiltova Dragon Lord 1 Katana in chest
23rd 9 Oliver Hemmingway Lily Moon 2 Dagger in neck
22nd 12 John McCall Ava Poppythorne 6 Mace to head
21st 3 Kathrin Sandstone Dragon Lord 1 Spear in back
20th 4 Lime Verandi Eliza Garret 5 Knife in chest
19th 5 Martin Meyers Ava Poppythorne 6 Mace to head
18th 11 Violette Meadow Lillian Pumpkin 12 Arrow in heart
17th 3 Hybrid Javeline Lily Moon 2 Knife in neck
16th 2 Lily Moon Holly Wintercrest 10 Knife in head
15th 4 Lemonade Verandi Dragon Lord 1 Katana in chest
14th 7 Kota Jimslim Connor Houck 6 Hammer to head
13th 6 Connor Houck Kassidy Feekes 9 Decapitated by axe
12th 2 Mason Spartan Dragon Lord 1 Spear in chest
11th 12 Lillian Pumpkin Nile Flame 8 Knife in chest
10th 9 Kassidy Feekes None None Fell off of ferris wheel & broke neck
9th 6 Ava Poppythorne Dragon Lord 1 Neck snapped
8th 1 Dragon Lord Saffron Star 1 Katana in neck
7th 5 Eliza Garret Saffron Star 1 Katana in chest
6th 8 Nile Flame Maiko Fornis 10 Arrow in head
5th 7 Mary-Ann Hunter Scorch Flare 11 Throat slit with sword
4th 10 Maiko Fornis Saffron Star 1 Knife in chest
3rd 10 Holly Wintercrest Saffron Star 1 Throat slit with katana
2nd 1 Saffron Star Scorch Flare 11 Sword in chest
VICTOR! 11 Scorch Flare --- --- ---
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Transcript:I Second that Emotion
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Transcript for
I Second that Emotion
Written byPatric M. Verrone
Transcribed byThe Neutral Planet
Announcer: [voice-over] Futurama is brought to you by ... [The oval zooms back into a corner and is replaced by a monster that has eyes on stalks and large teeth.] ... Glagnar's Human Rinds. It's a buncha muncha cruncha human!
[The monster bites one from a packet.]
[Opening Credits. Caption: Made From Meat By-Products.]
[Scene: Planet Express: Kitchen. Leela picks up a large can of Kibbles 'n' Snouts and carries it over to a huge electric can opener on the wall.]
[Cut to: Planet Express: Balcony. Nibbler sleeps. His third eye perks up and looks around when he hears the can opener. He runs inside.]
[Cut to: Planet Express: Kitchen. Fry gets some coffee. Leela tips the can over and the meat slowly slides out from inside. Nibbler sits in his food dish and the meat falls on him and he scoffs it in a few bites.]
Leela: Aww! Somebody likes snouts.
Fry: Is it me?
[Bender wanders in humming to himself. The magnet on the can opener pulls him off the floor and starts cutting into him.]
Bender: [shouting] Ow, my head! My precious head! [Leela quickly turns the can opener off and Bender edges away from it.] [talking] Stupid can opener. You killed my father and now you've come back for me!
Fry: You alright, Bender?
[Bender rubs his head. The top half is cut like a half-open can.]
Bender: Yeah, I guess so. But I don't see why we keep this ticking time-bomb around just for that dumb animal.
Leela: Don't yell at Nibbler like that. [She picks him up.] You hurt his feelings. Come on, pet him and make up.
Bender: [turning away] No.
Leela: I said pet him.
Bender: I'll pet him. I'll pet him with both hands! [Nibbler leaps out of Leela's hands and bites Bender's shiny metal ass.] Ow! My ass! Get off!
[Nibbler lets go.]
Leela: Are you alright?
Bender: Ah, it's nothing a lawsuit won't cure.
[She carries Nibbler away and kisses and pets him.]
[Cut to: Planet Express: Meeting Room. Zoidberg puts a book down and stands up from the table.]
Zoidberg: [reluctant] Alright, I'm coming.
[Scene: Animal Clinic Waiting Room. A man sits stroking a cat, a cat sits stroking a man and Leela sits with Nibbler while Fry and Bender stand nearby. A door opens and a woman comes out with a two-headed dog, followed by the vet, Jeffery Grant.]
Jeffery: Remember, Rover gets the pill and Pepper gets the suppository. [The woman leaves.] Next.
[Scene: Animal Clinic Examination Room. Veterinary surgeries haven't changed much in a thousand years; there is a sink, a paper towel dispenser and an examination table in the middle of the room, which Nibbler sits on. Jeffery fetches a small hammer and taps Nibbler on the head with it, making him squeal. He looks in his mouth.]
Jeffery: It's just a simple broken fang, nothing serious.
Bender: What's that you say there, doctor? You're gonna have to put him down?
Jeffery: No-- What? Huh?
[He looks at Fry and Leela in confusion. Bender shakes his head.]
Bender: Terrible shame that. Shall I do the honours?
[He reaches up to a shelf and takes down a bottle with some pink liquid in it marked "Goose Laxative". He holds the bottle by it's neck, smashes it on a table and points it at Nibbler. Leela reaches across.]
Leela: No!
[She rips Bender's arm off and smacks it against the table until it lets go of the broken bottle.]
Bender: You about done?
Leela: Next time I'm keeping it.
[She tosses the arm over her shoulder and Bender reattaches it.]
Jeffery: OK, well I believe I have a replacement fang for your pet in the next room. [He walks through a door and doesn't close it. Fry, Leela and Bender step back in horror when they hear an animal growling. Jeffery struggles with the growling creature and glass breaks. He flails his legs around and runs back into the examination room. The door closes. His shirt is ripped and blooded and he has a bruised eye.] The jaguar didn't wanna cooperate but luckily he knocked one of my teeth out. [He chuckles.] Now then.
[He pulls out the broken crown of Nibbler's fang and sets it down on a table. Fry picks it up.]
Fry: Hey, what are these rings in Nibbler's fang?
[Jeffery attaches Nibbler's new tooth with a laser.]
Jeffery: Um, I'm still a little woozy from a gazelle kick this morning but if he's anything like the common tree, the rings might indicate his age.
[Fry laughs.]
Fry: Yeah, well, good luck. It'd take some kind of genius to count all those rings.
[Jeffery takes a look.]
Jeffery: He's five.
[Scene: Planet Express: Lounge. A "Happy 5th Birthday Nibbler" banner has been strung up on the wall.]
Farnsworth: Happy birthday, young Nibbler.
[Everyone is sat on the floor surrounded by opened presents. The room has been decorated with balloons and streamers and Fry sticks a picture to the wall. Nibbler scratches himself and runs around.]
Leela: Aww, look how cuddly he looks in his new cape!
Bender: [sarcastic] I'd be cuddly too if someone gave me a new cape.
Fry: Who's playing pin the tail on the moon maggot?
[Bender snatches a tail from his hand.]
Bender: Ooh, me! Everyone watch how good I am. [He closes his eyes and uses his cheating unit to pinpoint the exact place the tail should go. He pins it on, opens his eyes and cheers.] And the crowd goes wild! What prize do I get? Cash?
[He turns around. No one is interested.]
Amy: Hey, look at Nibbler!
[Nibbler is sat in a high-chair at the table and chews a spoon.]
Hermes: Aww, he's holding a spoon.
Zoidberg: He's so talented!
Bender: You call that talent? Gather round old Bender and get ready for the show of a lifetime. [He takes off his head, whistles Sweet Georgia Brown and spins his head like a Globetrotter then reattaches it.] Ta-da!
[He grumbles when no one watches. Leela puts a pointy party hat on Nibbler and his third eye pops out of the top. Hermes gasps.]
Hermes: Now he's wearing a hat!
Leela: Come on, let's all sing Happy Birthday!
[They do, all except Bender.]
All: [singing] What day is today?
It's Nibbler's birthday,
What a day for a birthday,
Let's all have some cake.
Fry: [singing] And you smell like one too!
[He giggles and they all applaud.]
Bender: Hey, what about this?
[He dances around and whistles Sweet Georgia Brown again.]
Bender: Fine, we'll have rack of Nibbler.
Bender: So it's a cake you want, is it? I'll make you a cake you'll never forget.
[Scene: Planet Express: Kitchen. Bender takes some rat poison out of a cupboard and laughs insanely as he tips it onto something. It turns out he is pouring it next to a hole in the bottom of the wall.]
Bender: That'll take care of those annoying rats. [He puts it back in the cupboard.] Now, to bake a cake so delicious they'll have no choice but to love and worship me.
[He whistles Sweet Georgia Brown as he walks to the fridge and takes two eggs out of a 12-pack of various grade bird eggs. He juggles them around, then rolls them across his shoulders and into a bowl. He tips in some flour, some Third & Third & Third and then uses his hand to whisk the mixture. He pours the mixture into a cake tin, puts the tin in his chest cabinet and switches it from "refrigerate" to "E-Z bake", closes the door and hums as it cooks.]
[Time Lapse. Bender ices the 5-tier birthday cake and puts a little Bender ornament on the top.]
Bender: There! This'll teach those filthy bastards who's lovable. Now all I have to do is spell check it and it's ready for my admiring public. [He turns around and washes his hands. While his back is turned Nibbler hops around the worktops and starts sniffing the cake. Bender turns around and sees.] No! Get away from there! [Nibbler gobbles up the cake and Bender screams. Nibbler burps.] That's it.
[Scene: Planet Express: Bathroom. Bender carries Nibbler in holding him by his eyestalk and lifts the toilet seat lid.]
Bender: Happy birthday!
[He drops Nibbler in and flushes the toilet. Nibbler starts turning. Enter Leela.]
Leela: Bender, what's going-- [She gasps when she sees Nibbler disappear.] [crying] No!
Bender: Hey! Can't you see I'm using the toilet?
[Scene: Planet Express: Meeting Room. Leela sits at the table crying with the rest of the staff gathered around her.]
Amy: Bender! How could you flush Nibbler down the toilet?
[Bender sits on a chair with his feet on the table smoking a cigar.]
Bender: Well, step one, I had to lift the seat. That was the first little annoyance. Am I right, men?
Leela: [crying] Aren't you upset at all? How would you feel if I flushed Fry down the toilet?
Bender: Only one way to find out.
Leela: [crying] You have no sympathy for anyone else's feelings.
Bender: Of course I do. Right now I feel sorry for you.
Leela: You do?
Bender: Yeah. I mean, one cantaloupe-sized bloodshot eye? You ain't winning no beauty pageants, lady.
[Leela cries some more.]
[Scene: Planet Express: Bathroom. Everyone except Bender stands around the toilet. Leela dabs her eyes with a tissue.]
Farnsworth: And so we say goodbye to our beloved pet, Nibbler, who's gone to a place where I too hope one day to go: The toilet.
[Leela sobs and Fry nods to Hermes, who places a lily into the toilet. He nods back to Fry and he flushes the lily away.]
Leela: [crying] I wouldn't feel so bad if Bender just understood the pain he caused me.
[They hear Bender laughing.]
[Cut to: Planet Express: Lounge. They peer around the door. Bender watches All My Circuits. Calculon is lying in a hospital bed.]
Calculon: [on TV] Give it to me straight, doctor, don't sugarcoat it.
Doctorbot: [on TV] Very well. Your entire family died when a plane piloted by your fiancée crashed into your uninsured home. And you have inoperable cancer.
[Bender laughs and kicks his legs.]
Bender: Bet you weren't expecting that one, Calculon!
[Cut to: Planet Express: Bathroom.]
Amy: It's like he doesn't understand simple humanoid emotion.
Leela: I wish just once Bender could feel exactly what I feel.
Farnsworth: Actually, through the miracle of science, that can be arranged.
Fry: Uh-oh. Is this gonna be another crazy experiment that crosses a line Man was not meant to cross?
[Farnsworth makes the "little bit" gesture.]
[Cut to: Planet Express: Lounge. Bender watches the news.]
Linda: [on TV] The official death toll in that tragic rocket crash has now been raised to 54,000.
[Bender sniggers and Fry, Hermes and Zoidberg grab him and pin him to the table. Farnsworth unscrews his head.]
Bender: Hey, what the hell are you doing with my head?
[Farnsworth carries him across the room.]
Farnsworth: I need to tinker in it.
Bender: Why don't you just use a potted plant like Fry?
Farnsworth: Quiet, you. I'm installing an empathy chip.
[He holds up a little green chip in a pair of pliers.]
Fry: And that'll allow Bender to feel other people's emotions?
Farnsworth: Yes. If by "allow" you mean "force".
[He screws Bender's head into a vice and starts hammering the chip into the side of it.]
Bender: Ooh! Ow! Son of a-- Careful with that! Ow...
Farnsworth: [hammering] Oh, dear. Oh, my. I got it. Once more.
Bender: Ow! Professor!
Farnsworth: [hammering] Steady now.
Bender: Ow!
Farnsworth: There we go. [He takes Bender's head out of the vice and rejoins it to his body.] Now I'll simply tune it to Leela's emotional frequency.
[He turns the chip with a screwdriver. It beeps.]
Bender: My God! I'm overcome with ... feelings. I'm experiencing a powerful yearning to ... to cram my gullet full of mackerel heads.
Zoidberg: That's me, baby!
Farnsworth: Hmm.
[He turns the chip again.]
Bender: Now I'm worried that I'm not as smart as Leela, but at the same time I feel relieved that I'm cuter than her.
Amy: Uh ... that's me.
[She raises her hand and Fry leans back.]
Fry: [whispering] Thanks for covering.
[Farnsworth turns the chip again.]
Bender: This time I miss Nibbler and I'm feeling nosy and opinionated.
Amy: Bingo!
Hermes: That's Leela!
Leela: Thank you, Professor. I'm happy that Bender can finally feel my pain.
[The chip beeps.]
Bender: Happy. I like this feeling. Just don't revert to your usual mopey self.
Leela: I'm not mopey. You shut up!
[The chip beeps.]
Bender: Anger, huh? How dare you make me feel anger, you one-eyed jerk with a dead pet!
[He laughs and Leela cries. The chip beeps and he cries too.]
[Scene: O'Zorgnax's Pub. Amy and Leela are on a girl's night out. Leela wears a blue dress and Amy wears a green top.]
Leela: Thanks for taking me out, Amy. I feel slightly less miserable already.
Amy: Hey, you know what'd cheer you up? You should get a puppy.
Leela: A puppy? Nibbler loved to eat puppies.
[She bursts into tears.]
[Scene: Fry's and Bender's Lounge. They sit watching TV and Bender suddenly cries.]
Fry: What's your problem?
Bender: [crying] I miss Nibbler.
Fry: You do?
Bender: Hell, no! It's Leela's stupid feelings. [He picks up a bottle of Olde Fortran.] Why can't she just drink herself happy like a normal person?
[He cries and drinks from the bottle.]
[Scene: O'Zorgnax's Pub. Amy and a Hispanic guy dance closely. Leela drums her fingers and growls.]
[Cut to: Fry's and Bender's Lounge. Bender's chip beeps.]
Bender: Uh-oh, jealousy. [He stands up and points at Fry.] [shouting] You think you're so hot!
Fry: What?
Bender: The only reason you get all the guys is because you dress like a tramp!
[He slaps Fry, making him drop his Slurm.]
Fry: [crying] They're just responding to my personality.
[Cut to: O'Zorgnax's Pub. Leela is still sat at the bar. The guy has his arm around Amy.]
Amy: Um, Leela? Armando and I are going to the back seat of his car for coffee. You gonna be alright here by yourself?
Leela: [theatrical happiness] Sure. I'm having a great time -- really. You two go enjoy yourselves.
[They leave.]
[Scene: Fry's and Bender's Lounge.]
Bender: [crying] I'm so lonely. I'm gonna go eat a bucket of ice cream. [He walks off.] [crying] A bucket of--
[He sobs.]
Fry: [shouting] The spoon's in the foot powder.
[Scene: Planet Express: Meeting Room. A tear streams down Leela's face as she looks at a photo of her and Nibbler in one of those things at a beach where the head is cut out. Bender and Fry watch from the doorway. Bender sighs.]
Bender: I'm at the end of my rope. I can't live another minute without poor, sweet Nibbler.
Fry: Too bad he wasn't an alligator. Y'know, when you flush those things, they stay alive in the sewers.
Bender: Really?
Fry: Yep. My friend's cousin's caseworker saw one once. It's a widely-believed fact.
Bender: Hmm, sewers. [He scratches his chin.] Thinking, thinking, thinking.
[Scene: Planet Express: Bathroom. He stands in the toilet.]
Bender: Hang on, Nibbler. Uncle Bender's coming to save you. [He flushes the toilet but doesn't go anywhere.] Damn, it's too small. [He climbs out of it.] What did those human design this for anyway? [He disconnects his left arm, drops it down the toilet and flushes it away.] Aha! Bender, one; toilet, zero! [He spins his head off and flushes it.] See you on the other side!
[His body waves goodbye. Someone knocks on the door.]
[Cut to: Planet Express: Lounge. Fry pounds on the door.]
Fry: Bender? Bender?
[Cut to: Planet Express: Bathroom. He forces the door open.]
Fry: Have you seen my sombrero?
[He gasps as Bender's right arm flushes itself away.]
[Scene: Planet Express: Meeting Room. The staff sit around the table.]
Leela: Now he's flushed himself down the toilet? Who's he gonna flush next?
Fry: Hey, it's your fault. He only flushed himself because your emotions made him feel bad.
Leela: You're right. I feel terrible.
Fry: Oh, great, now you're making him feel worse!
Leela: I guess we'd better go down into the sewers and look for him.
Amy: Are you crazy? There's mutants down there! They'll eat you alive.
Zoidberg: They're hideous!
[He screams and clacks his claws at her.]
Leela: There's no such thing as mutants. That's a ridiculous urban myth.
[Farnsworth spins around in his chair.]
Farnsworth: Oh, don't be so sure. Many scientists believe humans really could mutate down there. Uh, due to exposure to toxic waste and radioactive run-off and good old American faeces!
[Fry holds his hand to his heart.]
Fry: God bless America.
[Scene: New New York City Street. In the middle of the road outside the Planet Express building, Leela lifts a manhole cover with a picture of Thurgood Stubbs from The PJs engraved on it. Fry peers down the hole as she drags it away.]
Fry: Phew! Uh, ladies first.
[She pushes him down the hole and he screams before splashing into the sewer water below.]
[Cut to: New New York City Sewers. Leela peers down the hole and Fry splutters and spits.]
Fry: Oh, and the aftertaste!
[Time Lapse. Leela and Fry crawl through the pitch black tunnels. Fry lights a match and screams.]
Leela: What is it?
Fry: I burned my finger.
[Time Lapse. They float down the sewer river on an inflatable yellow raft pointing flashlights around.]
Leela: OK, check the guidebook.
[Fry shines his torch onto a page of "Let's Go Sewers".]
Fry: Looks like we're under Park Avenue. Ooh, ritzy! Just think: All this was probably once a charity luncheon for the Met.
[A noise comes from down the sewers.]
Leela: Wait, what's that?
[They shine their torches down the tunnels and see Bender at the other end trying to reattach his limbs. He has put his right arm in his right leg socket and his right leg to the right arm socket. He groans.]
Bender: I never should have thrown out the manual.
Leela: Bender, you didn't have to come down here.
Bender: I know. But I just missed Nibbler so much.
Leela: [crying] He was so cute.
[The chip beeps.]
Bender: [crying] He was so sweet.
[They hug.]
Fry: Eck! This emotional display is making me nauseous. [He points the torch at something in the water.] Or maybe it's whatever that is.
[Time Lapse. The trio sit in the raft as it carries on through the sewers. Bender's arms and legs are in the right place.]
Leela: [shouting] Nibbler?
Bender: [shouting] Nibbler?
[Leela sighs.]
Leela: It's no use. We'd better turn back. Which way, Fry?
Fry: Hmm. According to this map, the only way out is through ... that pipe. [He points his torch at an extremely thin pipe. Bender and Leela glare at him.] Don't worry. It gets wider after about a mile.
[Leela and Bender look at each other and the chip beeps.]
Leela: [simultaneous] Idiot.
Bender: [simultaneous] Idiot.
[Fry sighs.]
Fry: OK, OK, never mind. I'll just ask those people for directions.
[He points the torch at some hideous creatures who have extra bodily features such as arms, eyes, noses, hands. They growl.]
Leela: [shouting] Mutants!
[Fry screams, then Leela, then, after his chip has beeped, Bender.]
[Time Lapse. Leela, Fry and Bender stand in the sewer water staring at the mutants.]
Leela: Mutants! They're real!
[She and Bender flinch. Fry pushes them aside.]
Fry: I'll take care of this! [He sets the end of the guidebook alight and points it at the mutants.] Back! Back!
[One of the mutants, Vyolet, a hideous woman with green scaly skin, a snout and gills, steps forwards and uses the flaming guidebook to light her cigarette. She smokes it and smoke comes out of her gills.]
Vyolet: Thanks, handsome.
[A mutant, called Dwayne, with a huge forehead and two noses steps forward.]
Dwayne: Please, do not be frightened, we're harmless.
Raoul: I have three arms.
Dwayne: I said "harmless" not "armless".
Vyolet: Lay off him. You know he's only got one ear.
Fry: Hey, aren't you supposed to be eating our brains? You're mutants.
Dwayne: Mutants? Perhaps it is you who are the mutants.
Vyolet: Please, Dwayne, have you looked in a mirror lately?
[Scene: Mutant Village. The mutants lead Fry, Leela and Bender down the tunnels and into an open space with buildings and other mutants.]
Bender: You guys realise you live in a sewer, right?
Dwayne: Perhaps. But perhaps your civilisation is merely the sewer of an even greater society above you.
Leela: No, we're on the top.
Fry: Daylight and everything.
[Dwayne groans.]
Vyolet: It must be wonderful.
Bender: Eh.
[He makes the "middle-of-the-road" gesture.]
Leela: Listen. We actually came down here to find our pet, Nibbler. He got flushed down the toilet.
Raoul: Well if he got flushed down the toilet he probably came through here. Everything always does. Follow me. [He opens an umbrella and Fry, Leela and Bender follow him, covering themselves.] All that is ours was once flushed down your toilets. Over there is our aquarium. [He points at a fish tank with eight fish and a yellow bird floating dead on the top.] This is our library.
[The library is just a shelf. Bender looks at what is on offer.]
Bender: Nothing but crumpled porno and Ayn Rand.
[He holds up Atlas Shrugged.]
Raoul: And over here is our church.
[Cut to: Mutant Church. Fry opens the door and looks around. In front of the altar is a huge nuclear warhead.]
Fry: Wow. You guys worship an unexploded nuclear bomb?
[Cut to: Mutant Village.]
Vyolet: Yeah, but nobody's that observant. It's mainly a Christmas and Easter thing.
[Time Lapse. The group walk down a street and pass many dry cleaners.]
Leela: [shouting] Nibbler?
Bender: [shouting] Come to Daddy, sweetie-ookums.
Fry: So, is it true that alligators flushed down the toilet survive down here?
Vyolet: No. That's just an urban legend.
Bender: [pointing] Then what are those?
Vyolet: Crocodiles.
[She snorts.]
Raoul: We keep them as pets. Then, when they grow too large, we flush them down into the sub-sewer.
[He points to a huge toilet in the middle of the mutant town.]
Dwayne: Some say there's a freakish race of sub-mutants down there.
Vyolet: Please, that's just a sub-urban legend.
Dwayne: Oh? Then I suppose you also don't believe in ... [He snatches Fry's torch and shines it under his chin, emphasising his hideous-ness.] ... El Chupanibre.
[The other mutants gasp.]
Leela: El Chupanibre? What's that?
[Dwayne strums a guitar.]
Dwayne: Gather round, children, for the legend of El Chupanibre.
(singing) He creeps and crawls in the midnight hush,
Silent as a low-flow toilet flush,
Watch your step,
'Cause sooner or later,
He'll eat you whole,
And half your alligator.
Vyolet: Crocodile.
Dwayne: Whatever.
[Vyolet snorts.]
Leela: Wait. Our pet Nibbler loves fresh crocodile. It's his favourite treat. He must be El Chupanibre.
Bender: Hey, yeah!
Raoul: You unleashed the dreaded El Chupanibre upon us? Then you are our sworn enemies.
[The growling mutants surround them.]
Leela: You don't understand. He would never hurt people. Let us help you capture him.
Dwayne: Impossible. If the legend is true, our only hope is to offer him a snack-rifice.
Raoul: Yes. An unspoiled virgin.
Leela: [raising her hand] I volunteer.
[Bender laughs and Leela looks sad. Bender's chip beeps and he groans.]
Bender: Oh, I made myself feel bad.
Raoul: She'll have to do. Chain her to the post! [Dwayne padlocks the chains around Leela. She stands under a shaft of light and faces a long, wide sewer pipe.] And rip her shirt a little. [Dwayne tears it a little and walks away.] Behold. When El Chupanibre comes for the, uh, "virgin", he will be snared by this rope trap.
Dwayne: [quietly] Shh. El Chupanibre comes soon. It is nightfall.
Leela: Nightfall? How can you tell down here?
[Splashing noises echo around the village.]
Dwayne: The tide is coming in.
[Vyolet lies with her ear to the water.]
Vyolet: Quiet! The beast approaches.
[Loud bangs come from the pipe as El Chupanibre gets closer. The mutants, Fry and Bender scarper. Fry dives behind some boxes and Bender and Dwayne join him. Raoul runs into a building and draws the curtains across him. El Chupanibre's shadow appears and Leela gasps. The huge shadow gets smaller and it turns out to be Nibbler.]
Bender: Nibbler! Aw, come here, precious! [He picks up Nibbler.] Look, everyone, it's El Chupanibre.
Dwayne: That's not El Chupanibre.
Bender: Say what?
Dwayne: That's El Chupanibre.
[He points to a huge green monster standing in the pipe looking down on Bender. It has fangs and yellow bloodshot eyes. Bender looks round, screams, drops Nibbler and runs away.]
Fry: I'll take care of this.
[He steps into the rope trap and screams as it lifts him off the ground and leaves him dangling overhead. El Chupanibre gets closer to Nibbler. Leela screams, making Bender scream.]
Leela: Bender, do something.
Bender: I'm too scared.
Leela: I can't. I love every living creature.
Fry: Even me?
Leela: As a friend.
Fry: Damn.
[Leela cries.]
Bender: Listen to me, Leela: I'm an expert at not caring. The secret is to stop giving a rat's ass about anyone else and start thinking of the things that you want, that you deserve, that the world owes you.
[El Chupanibre edges closer to Nibbler.]
Leela: Well, I could use a new tank top.
Bender: Bigger! Bigger!
Leela: A fashionable tank top. And designer boots ... encrusted with jewels.
Bender: Don't stop now, you'll need some pants to go with that outfit.
Leela: Yeah. And I could afford it all if I didn't have to feed that stupid Nibbler.
[Bender's chip beeps.]
Bender: Bender is back. I'll save you, Nibbler.
[He kicks Nibbler out the way and rotates his arms. El Chupanibre grabs them and pulls them off. Bender groans. El Chupanibre grabs him and lifts him towards it's mouth.]
Fry: Bender's gonna be killed!
Leela: You know what else I could use? A weekend at one of those fancy spas. And a Toblerone.
[El Chupanibre prepares to eat Bender. Bender's detached arms tap it on the shoulder and it looks around. They punch it and it drops Bender. Bender charges at it and knocks it flying into the huge toilet. His arms flush the monster away and everyone cheers.]
Fry: [cheering] Yeah!
Leela: You did it!
Raoul: Let's have a tissue-tape parade!
Bender: No, thanks!
[Dwayne unties Leela and another mutant cuts Fry down. He falls into the water and splutters. Nibbler runs towards Leela and jumps into her arms and licks her. Dwayne sits on the toilet with his guitar.]
Dwayne: Gather round, children, to hear the legend of Bender.
[He strums the guitar.]
(singing) He came from above with a--
[A string snaps and he sighs.]
(talking) It's gonna be many a year before someone flushes another guitar string.
[Scene: Planet Express: Meeting Room. Fry, Leela and Bender are back and everyone is with them. Bender holds a cigar.]
Farnsworth: That was a disgusting story.
Leela: And it's all thanks to Bender. I love you, Bender.
Bender: I love you too. [He turns to Farnsworth.] Get that stupid chip out of me before I kill myself!
[Farnsworth prises the chip off with a screwdriver and looks at it.]
Farnsworth: Bender, you won't believe this, but the empathy chip burned out. The emotion you felt for Nibbler was actually your own.
Fry: Looks like Bender learned an important lesson about respecting other people's feelings afterall.
[Everyone else nods and murmurs in agreement.]
Farnsworth: No, I'm wrong. The empathy chip was running at triple capacity.
Bender: And I still barely felt anything. Goodnight, losers!
[He walks out.]
Leela: You know, Bender may not have learned anything from me, but I think I actually learned something from him. [She stands up and heads for the door.] [shouting] So long, jerkwads!
Farnsworth: [waving] So long!
[Closing Credits.]
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Monday, 5 September 2011
Taking MapGuide beyond the Server and Web right into your desktop
Previously, I briefly mentioned how the new Local Connection mode in the next release of Maestro was backed by a new desktop implementation of the MapGuide API. This (lengthy) post covers this
Let's start with a little personal backstory of mine.
Remember this software?
The MapGuide ActiveX viewer (source: Directions Magazine)
Now truth be told. I was not a major fan of Autodesk MapGuide 6.5. I guess that could be attributed to the following:
• I was just getting started not only with Autodesk products and technologies, but also on the basic concepts, practices and workflows of GIS systems. So for all intents and purposes, I was a total noob at the time.
• Windows only. Ewwwwww!
• The viewer is an ActiveX control that can only be embedded in Internet Explorer. Ewwwwwww!
Now the first time I got acquainted with MapGuide was in 2005 with the 6.5 version. It was also the time at my first ADN event when I heard about Autodesk's next version of MapGuide. Seeing the demos of this next version in action was quite a mind-blowing experience, given my not-so-positive experience with MapGuide 6.x.
The AJAX-based viewer, multi-platform support, purty looking maps, flexible data access through this mysterious (at the time, to me) FDO technology and the list goes on. It just ticked all the boxes of what a modern, open-ended web mapping system should be. But then came the biggest bomb-shell of them all: It will all be open source!* So then several months later, the very first version of MapGuide Open Source was released and the rest (as they say) was history.^
Now despite my less-than-flattering opinion about MapGuide 6.x. It did have some very unique qualities to it that has yet to be replicated in MGOS/AIMS. Its map viewer, due to being based on ActiveX meant it could be embedded into .net applications. The second quality was that MWF files can contain static layers. This combination meant that it was possible to build mobile and disconnected MapGuide applications in .net or any other windows technology that supports COM (Component Object Model)
And it is in this respect that MGOS/AIMS has nothing comparable in its technological offerings.
• Disconnected? Not a chance! Client applications must be connected at all times. No server connectivity = no maps for you! Even the latest mobile extension for AIMS still requires constant connectivity.
• Mobility? You could have a full blown MGOS/AIMS installation on localhost, which your windows application can communicate via an embedded Internet Explorer. A functional, but very inelegant configuration. Nothing approaches the simplicity of a windows application + static MWF + 3mb ActiveX control configuration that was possible with MapGuide 6.x
So while MGOS/AIMS does most things leaps and bounds better than MapGuide 6.x, there are some other things where it pales in comparison.
Enter the MapGuide Desktop API (hereby known as mg-desktop for the rest of this post). mg-desktop is a desktop implementation of the MapGuide Platform API allowing for the same feature data access, map rendering/stylization functionality as the MapGuide Server, but without needing a MapGuide Server installed on your machine!
The seeds of the MapGuide Desktop API were planted with this groundbreaking AU 2009 presentation. This presentation, for those unable to access that link showed how MapGuide Open Source actually has lots of shared components that can actually be re-used outside of the MapGuide Server and Web tiers.
The main example from that presentation was a simple snapshot application that can produce a rendered map image or DWF file from a list of named Layer Definition documents without ever needing to contact a MapGuide Server ever! The first thought I had after seeing that presentation, was simply: Can't we just use a Map Definition to drive all this?
The second thought was, that AutoCAD Map already proved that the MapGuide API can be taken in a different direction, away from the MapGuide Server/Web Tier to become a API inside AutoCAD Map
So couldn't we have another implementation that makes it a fully self-contained framework that is usable by any desktop application, taking the concepts proven feasible by that AU presentation to its logical conclusion? mg-desktop is my answer to that question.
mg-desktop is a desktop implementation of the Geospatial Platform API, with its own implementation of the core platform classes, as shown below:
Where the MapGuide API operates in the context of the MapGuide Server/Web Tier and the AutoCAD Map Platform API operates in the context of inside AutoCAD Map, mg-desktop operates in a standalone context, with no dependencies on any particular application. It provides a suitable foundation for creating your own desktop-based MapGuide application.
In addition to implementing the core classes and services of the Geospatial Platform API, it also includes some of the additional service APIs provided by the MapGuide API, such as:
• MgRenderingService
• MgDrawingService
• MgTileService
mg-desktop also supports loading of MapGuide Packages (*.mgp). So you can transfer data and resources from a MapGuide Server to an mg-desktop installation.
Key Differences from the MapGuide API
Because mg-desktop is a desktop implementation of the Geospatial Platform API, some concepts which were applicable in MapGuide and/or AutoCAD Map no longer apply in mg-desktop:
• There is no session expiry :D Session resources still exist as a way to have temporary resources
• There is no resource security model
• On the same subject, there is no authentication required for access to services.
• There is no need to open/save runtime map state. Everything operates off of the current state of the runtime map in memory.
The mg-desktop implementation of MgResourceService wraps a pre-defined directory on the file system. Folders and resources in the mg-desktop repository conceptually map to files and folders in the file system.
The mg-desktop implementation of MgFeatureService is a thin wrapper around FDO. Each service API maps to a corresponding FDO command. All FDO types that would be returned are wrapped up and/or converted to their corresponding Mg* counterparts.
Aside from these differences, it's the same MapGuide API that you've come to know all along.
Unique APIs
mg-desktop not only just implements the abstract classes in the Geospatial Platform API, but extends them with our own additional APIs to correct my perceived shortcomings of the current MapGuide APIs. Here's an overview of the unique APIs of mg-desktop.
MgdFeatureService is the desktop implementation of MgFeatureService and includes the following extra methods:
• RegisterProvider - Registers a new FDO provider into the provider registry by its library path
• UnregisterProvider - Removes a registered FDO provider from the provider registry by its provider name
• InsertFeatures - Allows for individual insertion of features into a feature class, instead of having to use the monolithic UpdateFeatures
• DeleteFeatures - Allows for individual deletion of features in a feature class, instead of having to use the monolithic UpdateFeatures
• UpdateFeatures - Although it unfortunately shares the same name as the monolithic method it's trying to replace, this allows for individual updates of features in a feature class.
• SelectFeaturesExtended - Almost identical to SelectFeatures, except this returns a scrollable feature reader that behaves similarly to the FDO scrollable feature reader
MgdLayer is the desktop implementation of MgLayerBase which adds extra convenience methods, allowing you to operate on the layer itself instead of needing to obtain an MgFeatureService reference and the layer's feature source id and class name:
• BeginTransaction - Convenience form of MgFeatureService.BeginTransaction
• SelectFeaturesExtended - Convenience form of MgdFeatureService.SelectFeaturesExtended
• InsertFeatures - Convenience form of MgdFeatureService.InsertFeatures
• DeleteFeatures - Convenience form of MgdFeatureService.DeleteFeatures
• UpdateFeatures - Convenience form of MgdFeatureService.UpdateFeatures
The Map Viewer Component
So having a reusable library to build your own geospatial applications is good and all, but is there something out-of-the-box like a map viewer that we can embed in a .net application? The answer is an emphatic yes. mg-desktop includes an embeddable map viewer component!
This is not some trick of embedding a web browser to use the AJAX viewer to talk to a local or remote MapGuide Server, this is all native .net WinForms controls and using the same self-contained MapGuide rendering and stylization services provided by the mg-desktop library and it does pretty much everything you can do in the AJAX/Fusion viewer.
What about more complex stuff like digitizing and redlining? No problem. It can do that too!
And all of this is functionality is contained in one single sub-100kb dll! (OSGeo.MapGuide.Viewer.dll). The next release of Maestro will be using this viewer component for previewing Feature Sources, Layer Defintions, Watermarks and Map Definitions in the new Local Connection mode
In Closing...
I have submitted a pending RFC to have this included in the official MapGuide source tree, which would greatly improve integration, code re-use and ability to receive fixes and enhancements to upstream components.
The source and binaries# for the mg-desktop library (and map viewer) are available from the Google Code project home page. Note that FDO that is included with the binaries is a partial distribution (because I lack the ability to build certain FDO providers). You will need a Mercurial client to checkout the source code.
If you want to build the source, you will need to do a full svn checkout of MapGuide Open Source and FDO trunk. Then you will need to build FDO and the MapGuide Oem components first before you can finally build mg-desktop. The hg clone needs to reside in a Desktop subdirectory under MgDev in your MapGuide svn working copy. There is currently no 64-bit or Linux targets yet, so feel free to submit any patches.
* Let's give credit where it's due here. mg-desktop, Maestro and FDO Toolbox would not exist if it weren't for Autodesk open sourcing the MapGuide product and FDO technology. Similarly, my knowledge of MapGuide and FDO wouldn't have reached encyclopedic levels that they are today if these technologies were not open sourced.
^ As most of us found out, v1.0.0 of MapGuide Open Source turned out to be pretty rough round the edges and performance of Feature Joins (which 6.x handled brilliantly) was absolutely woeful and buggy, which sadly is still applicable to this very day. But this is a known problem with a known workaround, which is to have all the data in a centralised, spatially-enabled RDBMS, which you should be already doing in the first place.
# To reduce download size, mg-desktop contains a reduced distribution of CS-Map. If there are problems due to missing coordinate systems, download the country-specific grid files here and drop them into the Dictionaries directory.
Georges said...
This is great and hopefully announces even greater things for MapGuide. Keep up the good work !!!
נמרוד כנען said...
Get my blessing of this blessed project, a great idea.
The requirement for embbeding of MapGuide with desktop apps is increasing. The architecture that you are viewing here, helping us to strengthen our relationships with software companies that develop desktop solutions in various fields, who need to add a map to their solutions to supply a better sulotion for thier customer.
Greate Job
נמרוד כנען said...
Can you please subbmit a step by step screen capture on how to show a map in the viewer ??
Jackie Ng said...
That'll be the topic of my next blog post. Stay tuned.
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It’s a funny thing that the Internet has managed to do.
Prior to becoming a mainstay in any modern economy, to be considered for a senior company role in most industries, by and large, you will have needed to be at least forty. Nowadays, in this new era of consumer technology, Internet and online media, it’s fascinating to notice not just an increase in young founders, CEO’s and billionaires but also the executives that work directly beneath them. Most, if not many, are forty or younger and there’s a reason for that.
To work in tech, online, or in any new media role, there’s an expectation that you should be young. If you’re older, perhaps 45+, you’ll face a similar uphill battle to what a 20-year-old in a more mature industry (banking, medicine etc.) would expect. And yes, perhaps it is discrimination.
There’s a notion, true or not, that only people of a certain age (or younger) will appreciate and understand this relatively new industry. Undoubtedly, there are exceptions. Just as you’ll find an exceptional doctor in his early thirties, you’ll still find “older” people who are incredibly skilled and knowledgeable about the Internet industry. But they are a rare breed and therefore supremely valuable. As you would expect, most work for the giants of the industry (e.g. Schmidt of Google, Cook of Apple) who can afford them.
What’s more interesting is that this is also likely to be an extremely rare period.
In 20 years, virtually everyone still working will be on an equal footing, the scales will be reset, and similar to many other industries, senior execs will match your grandparents expectations of how old someone should be to hold a senior role.
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Sunday, February 24, 2013
Paper Mache Bowls
Hi all! Today I am posting how I made these paper mache bowls. I have seen these on Etsy and thought I'd give it a try.
Materials I used:
- balloons
- strips of old newspaper or scratch paper
- paper mache adhesive (1:1 ratio of water and white glue), or mod podge
- white paint
- paint in your choice of color
- acrylic emulsion, or mod podge
First, inflate your balloons. I did these in different sizes.
Use a pen to guide you on how high or low you want your bowl to be. Next, cut strips of scratch paper or newspaper. Put them on your balloon one by one while brushing paper mache paste on each strip. To make the adhesive I just mixed one part glue with one part water. I have read on the internet that some people used Mod Podge because they say it's sturdier.
Let them dry for 24 hours. Try knocking on the bottom part of the bowl, you should hear a good audible knock if it's dry. If it's still wet, the knocking sound won't be that loud. Pop the balloon and remove the excess rubber. Trim the edge of the bowls to remove the uneven paper strips.
Prime the bowls using white paint. I used acrylic paint for this.
When the white paint has dried up, you can now paint them in whatever colors you want. I tried painting the inside portion into gold and the outer portion into black. Then I added a coat of acrylic emulsion for shine. Again, you can use Mod Podge to get that shiny effect.
This bowl is made of paper mache so I don't think you want to eat cereal with this. It's best for decorative purposes. You can place your keys, coins, or rings on these bowls.
- If I'm going to do this in the future, I'd probably use mod podge. They say it's better and it produces harder paper bowls.
- I'd also try using gold leaf on the inner portion instead of painting them with gold paint. I don't know how to use gold leaf though. I still need to learn more about it.
- I shouldn't have trimmed the edges again after painting the bowl. That made the white paper exposed as you can see in the photos.
Practice makes perfect! I think it's a pretty gift that you can make to friends so I'll try these again next time until I'm satisfied with the results.
1. Nice, I like the gold color you put it!
1. Thanks! I'll try other colors next time and see if they work :)
2. These are awesome! I actually really like the white edge. I'm gonna have to give this a try!
1. Wow, really? Thanks for your comment! I guess it's got a different character than the ones on Etsy :)
3. You can also use silicone sealant if you want a harder paper. :^) patsy
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Video Games on TV of the Day - Mortal Kombat 3 (1995)
This ad serves a dual purpose; it entices the viewer to buy a copy of Mortal Kombat 3 while gently implying swallowing the game will shred your bowels like a nacho cheese platter made of glass. At least making the jump to digital distribution will lessen the number of kids found dead with a copy of Mortal Kombat in their stomachs.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100298
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TWW Definitions
Our Glossary of Terms
The Prime Directive: This is the most important term on our blog. Violators of this directive will be looked upon as ideologues, pumping up their particular idol- be it theological or human. This directive states the following: All commenters must acknowledge the pain some people have experienced at the hand of pastors and churches which overemphasize a particular doctrine or which apply harsh and capricious discipline or cover up child abuse. TWW exists, in part, to provide understanding in this area. We are dead serious about this (even though it is based on a concept from Star Trek). We repeat this doctrine under Rules of the Road.
Calvinista: These are Calvinists gone wild. They are self-important, self-assured, and absolutely convinced that they know what the Bible says on every subject. They also believe anyone who doesn't agree with them is utterly wrong. They spend lots of time running around to conferences, getting together with other guys (women have no place in this discussion) who also agree with them 100%. In fact, they spend more time speaking at conferences than pastoring their churches.
Redneck Theology: These are the guys who confuse patriotism with Christianity and are convinced that even major religions are "cults". They call each other by their first names with brother inserted (e.g. Brother Bob). They come up with new Biblical mandates such as "God wants us to have a quiverfull." "Jesus created nonalcoholic wine." "It is heresy to believe the world is older than 6000 years".
Boutique Seminaries: These are started by pastors who want to be sure that their particular brand of theology is taught. In other words, they don't trust any other seminary to get it right.
BABES: An acronym for "Bible Answer Babes Explaining Scripture".
The Calvinista Politburo: SBTS which is in Louisville. Louis=Left
The Flintstone Doctrine
• The heavens and earth were created in 6 literal 24-hour days.
• Yom must only be interpreted as a literal, 24-hour day although it has around 58 meanings.
• The earth is 6,000 years old. (Radical Young Earthers may stretch the age of the earth to a whopping 10,000 years old!)
• Death of animals is a moral equivalent of death of men. Therefore, animals couldn’t die until Adam let sin enter the world.
• All dating methods are flawed and are off by billions of years.
• Satan probably planted the fossil evidence.
• God created the universe to look old. Despite the obvious, God is not trying to trick us.
• All science research done by YE (Young Earth) is true. All scientific research done by anyone else is part of a vast conspiracy to suppress the truth.
• Christians who are part of the scientific establishment are doing it for money and tenure and are sell-outs and cowards. They know that YE is true and are actively involved in deceiving their Christian community.
• Dinosaurs boarded Noah’s Ark two by two and survived the flood.
• Dinosaurs played with children while mom did the dishes (See example in creation museum)
• Prior to the fall, all carnivorous dinosaurs were herbivores, even though God created them with GYNORMOUS teeth.
• Wives are strictly “helpmeets” to their husbands. They must role model Mrs. Ham who is not only submissive, but very, very submissive. When dinosaurs roamed the earth (prior to their extinction) they may have been domesticated to help with household chores (aka the Dino theory).
• Men are not merely men but patriarchs.
• One is a heretic and most likely not a Christian unless all criteria above are met.
• All evolutionists are atheists. Therefore, Francis Collin is not a Christian no matter what he says.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100312
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Pick an apple!
Type Faster on an iPhone or iPod touch
Visit Take Control of Your iPhone
Rosetta Takes Center Stage at MacVoices
Send Article to a Friend
Following on from his TidBITS article about finding your PowerPC applications in case Lion won’t run them, Matt Neuburg talks to Chuck Joiner on MacVoices about the possible loss of Rosetta in its historical context, and what it might mean for users.favicon follow link
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100355
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South Africa is a diverse country located at the southern tip of the African continent. The country's natural beauty and diverse wildlife are two of the main draws among tourists and also act as the basis of several festivals during October and November. Because the country sits in the southern hemisphere, these months fall during South Africa's spring season, and the ensuing festivals are unlike those taking place in North America at the same time.
Hermanus Whale Festival
The Hermanus Whale Festival is an enviro-arts festival. During this early October festival, attention is focused not only on music and the arts, but also on the whales that are visible from the coast of Hermanus. The festival is spread out over 10 venues, with attractions to entertain music fans and whale watchers alike. Whales are not the only animals at the center of this festival. Starting with the 2011 festival, rhinoceros conservation also became a part of the five-day festival.
Aardklop National Arts Festival
Held during early October, the Aardklop National Arts Festival allows rising South African artists to perform alongside their more-seasoned counterparts. The festival has been held annually since 1998 and draws nearly 150,000 people to the northern city of Potchefstroom where it's based. Performances in this festival are geared toward everyone from children to drama lovers looking for something new. Among the roughly 70 different performances are opera, comedy and drama productions.
Rocking the Daisies
Rocking the Daisies is a large music and lifestyle festival in October that features everything from live music to comedy to burlesque. Along with those who just come for an afternoon of listening to good music and surveying the crafts tables, the festival also caters to those who don't want to miss anything. Space and facilities are provided for those festival-goers intending to camp on-site for the entire weekend. A playground and on-site babysitters are available so that mom and dad can fully enjoy the festival.
Ficksburg Cherry Festival
Ficksburg is South Africa's largest cherry producing area and has been the home of the Ficksburg Cherry Festival since 1968. The festival began as an attempt to draw attention to the local produce, and that goal remains for the festival. Even as the festival continues to grow in popularity, it retains a very small-town festival feel. Among the highlights of the festival are the Miss Cherry Blossom and the Miss Cherry Pip competitions. The festival coincides not only with November's cherry harvest, but also the asparagus harvest.
About the Author
Photo Credits
• A J James/Digital Vision/Getty Images
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Saturday, 24 March 2012
Drug Trafficking law in Trinidad and Tobago
Q: What is the sentence for drug trafficking in Trinidad and Tobago?
A: According to Section 5(5) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1991:
"...a person who commits the offence of trafficking in a dangerous drug or of being in possession of a dangerous drug for the purpose of trafficking is liable upon conviction on indictment to a fine of one hundred thousand dollars or, where there is evidence of the street value of the dangerous drug, three times the street value of the dangerous drug, whichever is greater, and to imprisonment for a term of twenty-five years to life."
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100371
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[Twisted-Python] Configuration: The Never Ending Story.
Moshe Zadka moshez at zadka.site.co.il
Fri May 11 09:53:15 EDT 2001
OK, let me first state some axioms:
1. Everything should be configurable the same way, from within twisted.
Glyph has mentioned that he's not familiar with what's in bin/ anymore:
he just mktelnetserver, and configures from within the telnet server
everything. This is what should happen, except not limited to the telnet
2. The configuration interface must not be ui specific.
This is obvious, right? Command line and web based aren't the only option.
No reason why we can't implement a special purpose client/server for configuring
3. It should be easy to optimize the configuration for a ui
This is like the last one -- since we might deal with very good UIs, we
need to give them enough information for using all their abilities to
help us.
4. It should be very easy to make an object configurable.
This is very important -- the harder it is, the less it will be easy
to add *good* code to twisted. This is what may be the single most idiotic
thing in Zope (and DC is aware of it! and thinking of how to fix it!). Let's
learn from their mistakes: the less methods, the better. The more the
learning curve is gradual (not needing to learn a class/method/interface
before you need the functionality), the better.
OK, so what do we need to do about it?
Here's a rough proposition:
people should inherit from, will contain the following methods:
.getQuestions() --> return a dictionary: name of question, Question object
.getAnswer(name, answer) --> notify the application that an answer has been
given to a particular question
It can throw an InvalidAnswer exception with
a string for a reason. This is for
application-level verification, and is discouraged.
.endAnswer() --> the "application" promises that no methods of the object
will be called between a series of .getAnswer()s and
.endAnswer(). So, this means that if the UI got a bunch
of answers, it will call .getAnswer() several times, and
then .endAnswer(). The UI will *check* for this method's
existance, and will not call it if it doesn't exist.
Question objects are meant to be open ended.
They can contain a default.
.hasAnswer() --> boolean, whether the Question already contains an
.getValue() --> will only work if .hasAnswer() is true, returns the answer
.setValue(val) --> make .hasAnswer() true
Objects which can be created by the UI should have an __init__ which
can be called without arguments. If there is any initialization which
requires arguments, it should be done in endAnswer(). The UI also promises
not to call .endAnswer() for an object if there any questions which have
not been answered and do not have a default (.hasAnswer is false.)
Well, my proposal would not be complete if I didn't say what questions are
available. Keep in mind, though, that the set of questions is *open ended*.
That does not violate the light-and-lean guidelines, since a specific
Question class will only be used if the functionality is needed.
Without further ado:
class BooleanQuestion:
class IntQuestion: (can have .min and .max)
class FloatQuestion:
class StringQuestion: (can have .maxlength)
class LongStringQuestion: (same as above -- it's a hint to the ui)
class InterfaceQuestion: (specify interface, valid answers are objects)
class ArrayQuestion: (an array of the same kind of question)
class DictQuestion: (a dictionary mapping strings -> same kind of question)
class Server: # note -- not inheriting from anything
name = port = None
def getQuestions(self):
name = StringQuestion()
if self.name is not None:
port = IntQuestion()
if self.port is not None:
def getAnswer(self, name, answer):
# note: no need to use int(answer)
setattr(self, name, answer)
Open questions:
* How do we connect classes to interfaces?
Suggestion: each class has an attribute __implements__ containig a list
of interfaces. Alternatively, an interface is really a list of
(callable, Questions) tuples, which are answered and passed to the callable.
Modules with relevant classes register with the correct interface.
* How do we let objects created inside another object who their parent are?
Suggestion: if an object from on Interface question has a method .setParent,
call it with the parent as argument. This should be done by the Question
object, so it knows how to call it for each object in a ListQuestion
* How do we let objects "title" a question?
Suggestion: a question has a string argument on __init__ titling it.
* How do we allow the object to signify groupings of questions?
Suggestion: this means the design is bad -- break down the object
into smaller objects
More information about the Twisted-Python mailing list
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100372
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Version 12 (modified by jonathanj, 2 years ago) (diff)
Clean up "More Information" section: removing links that are already in more prominent parts of the UI, rephrase "More Useful Pointers" items in a clearer way with more natural language.
list index out of range
Windows (32-bit)
Donate to Twisted
Donations are tax-deductible.
Twisted Sponsors
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Dyn, Inc.
What is Twisted?
Easy Custom Servers and Clients
from twisted.internet import protocol, reactor
class Echo(protocol.Protocol):
def dataReceived(self, data):
class EchoFactory(protocol.Factory):
def buildProtocol(self, addr):
return Echo()
reactor.listenTCP(1234, EchoFactory())
Event-Driven Web Applications
from twisted.web import server, resource
from twisted.internet import reactor
class HelloResource(resource.Resource):
isLeaf = True
numberRequests = 0
def render_GET(self, request):
self.numberRequests += 1
reactor.listenTCP(8080, server.Site(HelloResource()))
Learn more about web application development and Twisted's HTTP client.
And Other Protocols
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100388
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From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
edit I think it could've been funny...
But the word "dude" got obnoxious at the second paragraph. You made your point in the first one, beyond that's a little much. However, tons of people will disagree with me so w/e. 15:50, 19 February 2008 (UTC)
Personal tools
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100389
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Trinidad and Tobago
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Trinidad)
Jump to: navigation, search
Trinidad and _________
(Where the Heck did Tobago Run off to?)
Trinidad and Tobago
Capital Port-of-Spain
Largest city Super Bass City
Official language(s) Spanish, Dutch, Californian andTrigonometry
Government Triumvirate
His Mightiness Lionel Trilling
National Hero(es) Gustaf Trincomalee, Brent Brazer, Queen Elizebeth II, and that dude selling sunglasses down the street
of Independence
1962 from England who in turn took it from Spain and them from the Russian Federation
Currency Trinitrotoluene
Religion Tropism
Population 1 Trillion
Bloodshead Trillium
Were you looking for Tobago?
So is everyone else actually...
“Where's the sled?”
~ Eskimo lost in Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago is a tiny island nation off the coast of Cuba (even though most maps incorrectly place them of the coast off pitcairn islands, right next to the Southern Sandwich Isles, the reason for this is unclear) [1] and is surrounded on all sides by the Sovereign State of the Seven Seas making it a somewhat hard to reach place. Nonetheless it has been a former colony of Spain, England and except France for a well-known scientific fact: they're in the middle of nowhere.
edit History
85px-Wappen Deutsches Reich - Reichsadler Achtung! Approved Information
The information in this article has been approved by the Imperial German Education Ministry for distribution to English speaking subjugated nations. God Save the Kaiser!
Trinidad was first gazed upon by one, Nicki Minaj Columbus, who then moved on to Columbia without a second thought. The island was then found by some shipwrecked Dutchmen who then founded the Principality of Trinidade, a Military Despotism with bountiful fishing grounds. Not a single country noticed though, except Tobago who annexed it before the ink could dry on Trinidad's first taxation law because they wanted something to do. Later on the Trinidadians grew tired of the Tyranny of Tobago, those evil good for nothing scum who won't let us import molasses to make rum. So the Glorious Trinidadian Navy (Two fishing boats and a surfboard) paddled toward thy foul fiend, the only problem was that they couldn't find Tobago, and never have since. Then Trinidad (and more or less Tobago) changed hands between various countries, nations and corporations (the most prominent being Mecky Co.) until they were eventually forgotten by practically everybody and left to govern themselves. [2]
edit Geography
Trinidad and Tobago
Present-day map of Trinidad and Tobago. Tobago may have drifted north to New Jersey.
Now the nation of Trinidad and Tobago is mostly tropical with a slight westward breeze now and then and even sports a small mountain range and, wait just a second here Where is Tobago? It seems that half of Trinidad and Tobago is missing! (Or simply a third if you consider "and" relevant) Where the heck is Tobago? If you look at the map you can see Trinidad, but where is Tobago? Tobago is missing! It's called Trinidad and Tobago not Trinidad and Then More Trinidad! I've questioned the Secretary of Defense on this manner who remarked (after he glanced at the nearest map of his country) that Tobago is in fact, absent. Further investigation has shown me that no one knows where or what Tobago is or what it was or would or could have been Has anyone seen Tobago anywhere if ever? This question gets dumb remarks but it a major global crisis! Half of a country has gone missing and no one has noticed! Sure, most people don't care about what goes on outside of the Tri-State Area, but still! Half a Nation is Missing!
No one seems to have any answers at the present time, but Lionel Trilling, the current Royal Monarch and Despot of Trinidad and TOBAGO has put forth a $200,000 reward to whomever finds, gives information thereof and/or assists in finding the missing Tobago.
edit Innovation
The proposed new flag of Trinidad and Tobago (technically only Trinidad) to commemorate the missing, most likely kidnapped, Tobagon half of the country. Though some claim it never existed in the first place, and there may actually be some truth to this. (and then there is a famous German scholar are who claims that Tabogo is simply out to lunch)
The Trinidadians and Tobagons are among the most innovated people on the planet, they were the first to make half of their country vanish with no one knowing and cure cancer (just stop the cancer patient from eating and they won't die of cancer). But by far the greatest invention to come out of Trinidad (and more or less Tabago) was the the infamous Yellow Car Game, in which occupants of automobiles score points by slapping opponents when spotting a yellow automobile during a journey. The sport has a strong amateur and grass-roots base with an estimated 76% of all car occupants in many villages participating in the sport on some level. It is extremely popular among young peoples.
• The game is only ever between two participants.
• After a match-up is agreed, all participants must engage in a pre-match "Trash-Talk" session.
• The length of the match is only limited to the what the participants agree. This means that one Yellow Car Game can theoretically last a lifetime. In fact, there are three matches currently "Active" that have been active for over 17 years.
• When a Yellow Car is spotted, the participant must slap the other participant in a Backhand style. The first to slap their opponent scores a point. Punching is allowed only in the professional leagues.
• Vehicles that are excluded from the game include Argos lorries, JCBs, Emergency Vehicles and partially yellow vehicles i.e. Those vehicles that are not mostly yellow. It is also pertinent to note that "Gold" cars are not Yellow cars. Often violent altercations can arise from disputes regarding the "Yellowness" of a vehicle. This can usually be tempered by using a designated judge.
• If a participant effects a "False Hit", a point is taken from them. False hits are where a player perceives a Yellow Car and strikes an opponent when the car is not yellow, but in fact an Argos lorry, which are usually a kind of weird fluorescent blue.
• Breaking the Rules is against the Rules.
edit National Sport
The National Sport of Trinidad (and more or less Tobago) is remarkably, not the Yellow Car Game, but the Leaf Game. (Mostly because it allows for more then two players to play and plus with the rising price of oil people don't drive around as much as they used to)
The Leaf Game is a groovy little game that really kills time during boring school lessons. The premise is simple. You must leave the classroom undetected, go outside, get a leaf, come back (still undetected) and leave the leaf on your teacher's desk. That's pretty much all there is to it. The rules are basically very simple - if you get spotted, it doesn't count. But if you feel like playing seriously, or competing against your classmates, you can start using the points system explained below.
Three friends
Generations of schoolchildren have enjoyed this game, and almost half have gone on to live perfectly normal lives.
• Basic leaf run: 10 points
• Getting spotted by teacher at any time: Lose all points
• Leaving the room for a legitimate reason e.g. toilet: Lose all points
• Getting something other than a leaf: Lose all points
• Damaging school property in the process: Lose all points
• Making run while the lights are out: -4 points
• Making run during an experiment/demonstration: -2 points
• Arranging a diversion as cover for your run: -1 point
• Getting more than one leaf: No bonus
• Teacher does not notice leaf before end of lesson: +1 point
• Taking your school bag with you: +2 points
• Making more than one run in one lesson: +2 points for each additional run
• The leaf or leaves are still there the next day: +2 points
• Successful run from a room not on ground floor: +3 points
• If the teacher knows about the Leaf Game: +3 points
• If the teacher is on guard against the Leaf Game: +4 points
• Two people making runs simultaneously: +4 points for both people
• Going out the window: +4 points
• Going through a locked door or window: +5 points
• Taking more than five minutes: +5 points
If your school has few trees around, or it's not autumn, or you can't reach any of the leaves, anything will do. Pinecones are fine. Conkers, berries, small clean pebbles. However you must not get anything that is a) dirty, b) unsanitary or c) likely to make a mess of the teacher's desk. This is not a malicious game, the idea is not to annoy your teacher. Keep it clean.
Disclaimer: I accept no responsibility for disciplinary measures, damage to property or damage to grades incurred as a result of people playing this game... you alone are responsible for your actions, and you alone decided to play. The risk is a part of the game that you accepted when you began playing. And don't skip too much of your lessons, kids. You need to learn.[1]
edit Cities
Ship Island round mountain
The only known photograph of Tobago, probably faked.
The capital of this small but proud country is Port-of-Spain which is really odd for it is not in Spain, nor owned by Spain, nor has anything to do with Spain. Currently there are many theories on why Port-of-Spain is called Port-of-Spain but the most popular is that Port-of-Trinidad-and-Tobago was simply way too long to fit on a street sign.
The main city on Trinidad is Trincomalee, which was named after Gustaf Trincomalee (That famous guy). Gustaf was so famous that the city of Trincomalee was named after him if you'd like to know. Trincomalee also holds the record for the only city named after Gustaf Trincomalee. Gustaf Trincomalee was in turn named after his home town of Trincomalee, Ceylon not to be confused with Trincomalee, Trinidad the difference being that Gustaf was named after Trincomalee, Ceylon and the other Trincomalee was named after Gustaf Trincomalee who was named after the previous Trincomalee. To make this even simpler Trincomalee was named after Gustaf Trincomalee who was named after a different Trincomalee.
Following the zeroth law of thermodynamics: If A=B and B=C then therefore A=C, we can skip the middle man, in this case Gustaf Trincomalee. So therefore Trincomalee, Trinidad was named after Trincomalee, Ceylon. This means that Gustaf Trincomalee never did get a city named after him and is therefore not worth remembering anymore, even though he cured cancer or something.
There is also a city called Caracas, no wait, that's in Venezuela, my bad![3]
God is watching you, and boy did he have a laugh!
1. Perhaps it's because Americans don't know squat about geography.
2. Probably because America forgot where they even were.
3. Okay, now we know Americans suck at geography...
Countries and territories of North America
America: United States of America | Confederate States of America
Countries and territories of The World
Personal tools
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
I have a 5-disk Intel RAID 5 along with a 6th boot disk with /, /boot, and swap.
What I was planning to do was mount the Intel RAID partitions (which I've added with fdisk) so that the 6th disk /home, /var, /srv, etc. link to the RAID on the other 5 disks. So far, my attempts at doing this have failed (editing fstab, trying to mount the /dev/dm-* partitions manually, etc.) have failed.
Does anyone have experience in this and can point me in the right direction?
Edit: I have the RAID array partitioned so that I can mount each partition as a folder on the boot disk, i.e. RAID /dev/dm-0 -> bootdisk /home.
share|improve this question
migrated from serverfault.com Jul 19 '12 at 3:11
5 Answers 5
I boot from a software RAID partition, in a manner similar to yours. One thing I learnt the hard way was that /var needed to be on the same logical partition as /, and /usr/lib probably did, too.
My RAID is configured in the BIOS with Intel Matrix Storage Manager. The RAID device has two partitions; one NTFS and one ext4, for dual-booting into Windows and Linux. I try to access the Windows partition as little as possible when running Linux, and vice-versa. The only problem I've ever had with it was a BSOD in windows with an error message about ntfs.sys. Long story short, I had to rebuild one of the my hard drives and reinstall Windows...
Installing Ubuntu onto the partition initially was a bit of a problem, as I didn't have an Ubuntu installation CD which could recognise the RAID device without first installing extra software (dmraid). So I booted into a Live CD, installed dmraid,and then installed Ubuntu on to the RAID using the debootstrap / chroot method. It's been fine ever since (over 2 years now). I don't have LVM or mdm installed.
In hindsight, if I were to rebuild my system from scratch, with your number of hard drives and no need for Windows, I'd almost definitely use ZFS instead of Intel's RAID manager.
Rebuilding software RAID arrays is done in the OS, so in my case I had to get familiar with using dmraid on the command-line. It was a bit scary, to be frank.
share|improve this answer
If I understand you correctly, you have one boot/OS disk and a RAID5 array which has been partitioned, and each of those partitions has been formatted. You want to mount partitions of the array as /home, /var, and others.
If so, then:
1. Unless you're really attached to the Intel fakeraid then convert to linux software raid as suggested by psusi. mdadm really is much better than any of the fakeraid controllers (they're just software raid with BIOS and/or Windows driver support).
Alternatively, install zfsonlinux (pre-packaged for ubuntu) and set up one big raid-z zpool. zfs gives you all the benefits of raid+lvm plus a whole lot more without the hassles.
2. Reboot to single-user mode (you'll have data in existing /var, /home etc that needs to be moved to the array. it's best if that is done while noting else is using those files, and some of it MUST be done while nothing else is using them).
3. For each of the partitions that you want to mount:
3.1 format the partion if it's not already formatted.
3.2 mount the partiton as XXXX.new where XXXX is the name of the subdirectory you want to move to the array. e.g. var.new, home.new - you will need to make the directory if it doesn't already exist.
mkdir /var.new
mount /dev/dm-1 /var.new
3.3 rsync the original directory to the newly mounted directory, e.g. rsync -avx var var.new
3.4 move the old directory out of the way, and move the new directory into place. e.g.
mv var var.old ; mkdir /var
If you want to see what the final state will be like before you reboot, then you can remount the partition. e.g.
umount /var.new ; mount /dev/dm-1 /var ; rmdir var.new
3.5 edit /etc/fstab and add the new mountpoint. e.g. if /home is /dev/dm-0 and /var is /dev/dm-1, and both are formatted as ext4 then you'll want to add lines like this to /etc/fstab:
/dev/dm-0 /home ext4 defaults 0 2
/dev/dm-1 /var ext4 defaults 0 2
(you may want other mount options like relatime or nodiratime after "defaults")
4. After all that's done you can reboot, and you can delete the *.old directories at your leisure. same for any (empty) *.new directories if you didn't delete them in step 3.4.
If you use zfs then the procedure will be slightly different. You won't need to format or mount the partitions (just zfs create poolname/XXXX.new for each fs you need), and you wont have to edit /etc/fstab (just change the mountpoint property for each fs, e.g. zfs set mountpoint=/var poolname/var.new)
BTW, in case you don't know: some directories MUST be on the root filesystem. /bin, /sbin, and /etc. most modern linux distros don't cope well with /usr being on a separate fs either.
share|improve this answer
You have a fake hardware raid controller. In reality it is a pure software raid, that happens to have bios support. If you do not need to dual boot with Windows, then you are better off not using it, and instead using pure Linux software raid, which has far better support. To rebuild the system that way, first delete the raid array in the bios utility, then reinstall Ubuntu using the alternate or server installer and configure software raid. You don't even need a separate disk or /boot partition: you can just use all 6 disks in one big raid. As Hennes mentioned, you may also want to use LVM on top of the raid array so you can subdivide it into smaller volumes that can easily be expanded in the future if needed.
You might want to read:
share|improve this answer
Instead of symlinks, why not use LVM on your RAID array to divide it into multiple logical volumes, and just mount those volumes in the normal way?
Alternatively, you could just install your OS within the RAID array. No need to have it on a separate disk, where you risk losing it and having to reinstall the system if that disk dies. LVM lets you have as many logical volumes (essentially partitions) as you want, all on the RAID.
share|improve this answer
This seem trivial, which probably means I misunderstood it.
If I understand it correctly:
• One disk with /, /boot and swap.
• One disk on a RAID array with other directories, such as /var, /srv etc.
What prevents you from booting, mounting the disksand creating soft links from / to the folders on the RAID array? Or did you make separate partitions from /var etc. on the RAIDED drives?
If it is just one huge volume (e.g. mounted under /my_raid) then:
• Boot (optionally single user mode, but with things mounted RW)
• Copy files to the RAID (e.g. cp -r /srv /my_raid/ )
• Remove the original (e.g. mv /srv /srv.old )
• Make a softlink. (e.g. ln -s /my_raid/srv /srv )
If you try this with /var and /var is in use then you might need to boot in single user mode, or even from a liveCD.
If you made separate partitions on the RAID array then it gets a bit more complicated. In which case we need a bit more information in your post.
share|improve this answer
Sorry, I'm a bit of a novice at this. I have one disk with /, /boot, and swap. I have 5 disks as a single RAID5 array with /var,/srv, etc. I'm not exactly sure how to mount the Intel RAID onto disk. I've tried: sudo mount /dev/dm-1 /mnt/root/srv but that's given me an error saying there is no such mount point (I created folder /mnt/root). Also, I have the RAID array partitioned with each partition representing a folder on the boot disk (dm-0 -> /var, dm-1 ->/home, etc.). – BLaZuRE Jul 19 '12 at 0:19
Googling around on those it seems that you are using LVM logical "devices". That is something I never worked with. My experience with GNU/Linux was with plain old harddisks on SCSI cards, stable entries in /dev/ and simple filesystems on those. No LVM, no /dev/ that gets updated on labels etc. :( – Hennes Jul 19 '12 at 0:39
Question for moderators or people who used SF longer: Should I just delete my post since it does not contain the answer? – Hennes Jul 19 '12 at 0:42
Your Answer
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Archive for June, 2010
Scenes from iTunes Connect Mobile -
Saturday, June 26th, 2010
Developing with the UpLink Network
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Drop this routine in a convenient location in your Xcode project to add uplink.to/ URL shortening to your application.
CFStringRef legalStr = CFSTR("!@#$%^&()<>?{},;'[]");
NSString *escUrl = (NSString*)CFURLCreateStringByAddingPercentEscapes(kCFAllocatorDefault,
(CFStringRef)url, NULL, legalStr, kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
NSString *apiEndpoint = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"http://uplink.to/uplinkto.php?longurl=%@",escUrl];
NSError* error;
NSString* shortURL = [NSString stringWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL URLWithString:apiEndpoint]
encoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding error:&error];
if (shortURL)
return shortURL;
return [error localizedDescription];
Nice presentation!
Friday, June 25th, 2010
UpLinkTo toolbar for your Snow Leopard desktop
Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
It’s pretty primitive right now but it does give you desktop drag and drop URL shortening independently of your browser. Just drag the favicon at the left of the browser URL bar onto the window. It will be added to your clipboard also. Enjoy.
New PR!
Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
VideoUpLink 1.3 for Mac OS 10.5 adds iPhone WiFi uploading support
VideoUpLink for iPhone now available on the App Store!
Monday, June 7th, 2010
iTunes link
Monday, June 7th, 2010
#videouplink for #iPhone will be the perfect companion to #imovie #hd for #iphone
VideoUpLink for 1.3.4 Mac OS 10.5 posted
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
Adds URL shortening to the help page. Download
Awesome new testing service from Ray Barber
Friday, June 4th, 2010
MacDeveloper.net sign up to get free copies of my software!
Friday, June 4th, 2010
Here is the press release announcing the submission of VideoUpLink to the App Store!
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Slash Boxes
All the Perl that's Practical to Extract and Report
use Perl Log In
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gav (2710)
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AOL IM: flufflegavin (Add Buddy, Send Message)
Hacker in NYC.
Journal of gav (2710)
Monday August 05, 2002
10:57 AM
odd little thing
[ #6908 ]
I was tidying up a script for a client that was previously working fine and noticed it was really, really slow. Processing a 600k file was taking about 30 seconds. This seemed big odd as the module that was doing the grunt work was something I've used for several projects and handles 15meg files without complaint. I thought the best thing to do would be top copy it over to my linux box and attack it with Devel::DProf and see what's up.
The script was using Config::Ini which no longer seems to be on CPAN which is a bit confusing. I commented out the code that used that and hardcoded the values I wanted. The script ran in about 2 seconds.
I guess I'd better look at finding a new module to handle INI files :)
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11 Customizing Latex-Suite
11.1 General Settings
11.2 Place-Holder Customization
11.3 Macro Customization
11.4 Smart Key Customization
11.5 Latex Completion Customization
11.6 Compiler Customization
11.7 Viewer Customization
11.8 Menu Customization
11.9 Folding Customization
11.10 Package Handling Customization
Customizing Latex-Suite is done by defining certain global variables in $VIM/ftplugin/tex.vim, where $VIM corresponds to ~/.vim for *nix machines and ~/vimfiles for windows machines. This file is not part of the Latex-Suite distribution. You will need to create this file yourself (or modify it if it exists) if you need to change any default settings. Since this file is not included as part of the Latex-Suite distribution, it will not be over-written in subsequent updates.
The default settings in Latex-Suite are defined in $VIM/ftplugin/latex-suite/texrc. Please take a look at this file if you find this documentation incomplete or confusing. That file is also well documented.
This chapter describes the various settings which effect Latex-Suite and their default values. The settings are broken up into sections according to the behavior which they influence.
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Vest Advertising Plus
Louisville, KY
User Stats
Profile Images
User Bio
With 25 years under our belt as a full-service advertising agency, we've learned that great campaigns are built on knowing people.
We know people. We are people. People people. People people-people.
And as people people, we build great data-driven campaigns that are loved by people. People who love the brands, products, and services that make their lives better.
External Links
1. Dixon Keller - HUMANA
2. Camille Marotte
3. Damien Lovegrove
4. Michael Wilfong
5. Original Tomboy
6. Chris Turner
7. Nadus Films
9. Ryan Gielen (Believe, LTD)
10. Holly Ellis
11. Damon Westenhofer
12. Jonathan Klingenfus
13. Matthew Ooley
14. Andrea Kiefer
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header pic
header pic
header text
al-Muhaymin audio caligraphy
The Protector, The Bestower of Security, The Guardian, The Safeguarder
The One who ensures well-being. The One who extends wings of Love to cover and protect creation.
The One who is ever watchful. The One who protects and guards.
The One who offers peace and security. The One who proclaims the Truth.
From the root h-y-m-n which has the following classical Arabic connotations:
to watch over, oversee, protect, guard
to be a witness to
to offer security and peace
to determine what is true
to extend a wing (like a hen protecting her chicks)
This name is used in the Qur'ân. For example, see 59:23
According to E.W. Lane, the root of Muhaymin was originally â-m-n, the same root as al-Mu'min (remover of fear).
Related names:
Raqîb refers to the One who has the attribute of watchfulness.
Wakîl refers to the One who is the trusted administrator.
Hafîz refers to the One who protects and preserves.
Mâni' - the One who protects and defends against harmful situations.
Muhaymin refers to the One who is the ever-watchful guardian and protector.
Mu'min - The One who grants security and freedom from fear.
(Also written as al-muhaymin, al-muhaimin, the protector: ya muhaymin, ya muhaimin)
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SORE LOSER: Man Takes Axe to Slot Machines After Losing $6,500
July 19, 2013 AT 5:44 PM
Nure Bregu was in northern Italy gambling when he lost the equivalent of $6,500 at the slot machines. He lost his cool and decided to take an ax to the slot machines. No one was hurt, and after his rampage was over Bregu reportedly just calmly waited on the sidewalk for police to arrest him.
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On Air Now
Listen Live Now » 101.9 FM Central Wisconsin
Current Conditions(Wausau,WI 54403)
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Astronomers find mini-planet in solar system's backyard
By Irene Klotz
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Astronomers have found a dwarf planet far beyond the orbit of Pluto and can only guess how it got there.
The diminutive world, provisionally called "2012 VP 113" by the international Minor Planet Center, is estimated to be about 280 miles in diameter, less than half the size of a neighboring dwarf planet named Sedna discovered a decade ago.
The proverbial no-man's land extended from the outer edge of the Kuiper Belt, home to the dwarf planet Pluto and more than 1,000 other small icy bodies, to the comet-rich Oort Cloud, which orbits the sun some 10,000 times farther away than Earth.
"When Sedna was discovered 10 years ago it kind of redefined what we thought about the solar system," astronomer Scott Sheppard of the Carnegie Institution of Washington D.C. said in an interview.
Nothing in the appearance of the modern-day solar system can account for Sedna and VP 113's existence, say astronomers who published their findings on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
Sedna's 11,400-year orbit takes it only as close as 76 times the distance that Earth orbits the sun. VP 113's closest approach is 80 times as far as Earth's orbit of the sun - roughly twice as far as the Kuiper Belt.
"In the current architecture of the solar system, Sedna and 2012 VP113 should not be there," writes astronomer Megan Schwamb, of the Academia Sinica in Taipei, Taiwan, in a separate Nature article.
Computer simulations provide a few potential scenarios.
A third option is that the sun has a companion, something five- to 10 times the mass of Earth, whose gravity is pinning Sedna, VP 113 and potentially millions of other dwarf-like planets in unusual and distant orbits.
"With our discovery of one more object, we can't rule out one theory or another," Trujillo said.
Astronomers are working to confirm six other Sedna-like objects found last year. That requires imaging the mini-planets several times over a year or longer to measure how much they have moved relative to background stars.
"They're really hard to find," Trujillo said.
Astronomers suspect there may be 150 million Sedna-like dwarf planets measuring between 31 and 5,000 miles in diameter, a larger population than the Kuiper Belt objects.
(Editing by Kevin Gray and Matthew Lewis)
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Take the 2-minute tour ×
Possible Duplicate:
How to receive email notification on about new Facebook messages?
I used to get email notifications when I received private messages but for some reason I'm not getting the notifications any more. I went to Account Settings-->Notifications but I'm not finding any option to turn this on. So, how can I get email notifications when I get a private message? Thank you!!
share|improve this question
marked as duplicate by Mehper C. Palavuzlar, Eight Days of Malaise, Dez, ChrisF Dec 14 '12 at 14:12
1 Answer 1
You already found the correct page. In the section "All Notifications" click on "Facebook" (first entry in my case), it will unfold and contain several options, one of them "Sends you a message" - tick it and click on "Save Changes".
This link will bring you directly to the settings: https://www.facebook.com/settings?tab=notifications§ion=Facebook&view
Facebook thread discussing the issue asked for https://www.facebook.com/help/community/question/?id=10151356356883086
share|improve this answer
Thank you for your answer! The problem is that when I go to Notifications-->Facebook all I get is this message "You'll see every notification on Facebook, but you can turn off notifications about specific posts as you view them." and a button to Close. I have nothing to edit there. And when I go to Notifications-->Email I can edit several options but I have no one for private messages. – user30140 Dec 9 '12 at 22:56
I don't see this option either. Apparently some users have different options than others. You can read more in the comments on this response: webapps.stackexchange.com/a/22198/30406 – Michael Dec 14 '12 at 19:50
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Paleo Chicken Enchilada Bake
• Currently 4/5
from CFSCC Presents: Eat This!
1-2 small chipotle peppers, chopped (from a can of chipotles in adobo sauce), + 1-2 tsp adobo sauce
2-3 cloves garlic
2 tsp ground chili pepper
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
pinch sea salt (optional)
2 cup chicken broth, low sodium
3 cup (or 3 - 8 oz cans) tomato sauce, no salt added
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 head cauliflower, shredded w/ food processor until rice-like consistency
fresh cilantro, chopped
1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to low/simmer while you prepare everything else.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
4. Boil chicken breasts in water for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from water, and with two forks shred chicken into pieces. Set aside.
5. Heat olive oil in large skillet. Saute onion, until transparent, add garlic, bell pepper, and spices. Saute a little longer to combine flavors.
6. Add shredded chicken to skillet and mix together. Now add sauce to the chicken skillet - RESERVING 1/4 cup of sauce for cauliflower rice. Mix well.
7. Put cauliflower rice in the bottom of a baking dish.
8. Add 1/4 cup of sauce. Mix well. This is the bottom layer of your enchilada bake.
9. Now add the remaining chicken/sauce mixture over the cauliflower. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 minutes.
10. After 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with fresh chopped cilantro.
11. Serv eiwht avacado slices.
Laura Stiller
Member since Oct 2007
More recipes like this one...
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« Tech & Geek
BroForce Sneak Peek!
by Lucy Black
When evil threatens the world... the world calls upon BROFORCE! Don't let the name fool you, this game is fun, addicting... it's BRO-brilliance!
We downloaded the Brototype. Check out how this baby plays!
Sorry about the audio, it improves a few minutes in, but you get the idea. Broforce is a co-operative patriotism simulation. You play as 80's and 90's action heroes waging war against terror in almost entirely destructible settings. It's a BLAST! While the Brototype shows the kind of combat being developed, it's missing the content, narrative and depth that the full release will include (plus all kinds of other things they won't giveaway details on yet... trophies? bonus levels? unlockables?)
I would love to play this at a bar on one of those old Contra set-ups. Four screens, four seats and hours and hours of beer and gaming! Someone should make that happen.
In the meantime, you need to play this game when it comes out. Actually, screw that, play the Brototype to get a real feel for how FUN this game really is.
It's now available for pre-order (and totally worth it, we pre-ordered right after a few minutes of play). Check it out and get yourself a copy HERE!
Can't wait to play the full game!!
Follow @LUce_Wheel on Twitter
LUcy is a regular guest on gaming streams at www.twitch.tv/bobbychampagne
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Guild Wars Eye of the North
From Guild Wars Wiki
(Redirected from Eye of the North)
Jump to: navigation, search
Disambig icon.png This article is about the Guild Wars expansion. For the outpost in the Far Shiverpeaks, see Eye of the North (outpost).
Eye of the North Retail 3D Box.jpg
Concept art of the norn hero Jora by Kekai Kotaki.
Guild Wars Eye of the North, sometimes abbreviated to EotN or GW:EN, is the fourth purchasable installment in the original Guild Wars game. It is intended to tie the Guild Wars storyline with that of Guild Wars 2. Instead of using a campaign format used by Guild Wars Factions and Guild Wars Nightfall, Eye of the North is a traditional expansion on any of the existing campaigns, rather than a standalone game. Players cannot create characters based on the expansion; there is no tutorial area or additional professions. Eye of the North was released on August 31st, 2007.
The setting for the expansion is in part subterranean and spread through the continent of Tyria, which has already been introduced by the original campaign. Players may explore the homeland of the Charr, meet the Asura and Norn, and witness the birth of the Sylvari. The Charr, Norn, Asura and Sylvari are playable races in Guild Wars 2.
[edit] Story
The main story involves the Dwarves and introduces the Destroyers, Asura, the Norn and the Ebon Vanguard, and concludes with the battle against the Great Destroyer. Apart from the start of the journey and the ending battles, players will spend most of their time in the individual story arcs for the new Asura and Norn races as well as the Ebon Vanguard. These can be done in any order.
Eye of the North is rich in many side quests, mini missions or other activities not directly tied into the story. Foremost among these are the dungeons (some of which are visited by the main story, but most are not), which combine high end difficulty with precious rewards.
[edit] System requirements
Eye of the North
Depths of Tyria
The minimum system requirements for playing Guild Wars Eye of the North are:
• Windows XP/2000/Vista
• Intel Pentium III 1 GHz or equivalent
• 512 MB RAM
• DVD-ROM drive
• 3 GB available HDD space
• ATI Radeon 8500 or NVIDIA GeForce 3 series video card with 64 MB of VRAM
• 16-bit sound card
• Internet connection
• Keyboard and mouse
• DirectX 8
The recommended system requirements for playing Guild Wars Eye of the North are:
• Windows XP/2000/Vista
• Intel Pentium 4 2.0 GHz or equivalent
• 1 GB RAM
• DVD-ROM drive
• 4 GB available HDD space
• ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 series video card or above
• 16-bit sound card
• Internet connection
• Keyboard and mouse
• DirectX 9
[edit] Features
Map of Tyria including EotN areas
The expansion introduces:
Actions have more consequences. For example, if you lose NPCs that help you, you can choose to continue without them (and their help) instead of being forced to try again (although you may start over with a clean slate by going back to town). Similarly, if you rescue NPCs, they may join you and help you.
More than the previous campaigns, Eye of the North is full of easter eggs and "hidden" quests, which are not immediately accessible.
[edit] 4 new regions
Charr Homelands
The green homeland of the Charr, north of Ascalon and east to the Far Shiverpeaks.
Depths of Tyria
An immense interconnected underground complex of natural caves and excavated areas underneath Tyria.
Far Shiverpeaks
A desolate mountain range to the north of the Shiverpeak Mountains we know. It is home to the Norn and the Ebon Vanguard.
Tarnished Coast
An area of high magical energy, and home to the Asura.
[edit] Retail package
The retail version of Guild Wars Eye of the North contains the following items:
• Guild Wars Client DVD
• Access Key Booklet
• 16-page Mini Manual
• Map Poster (11 in x 17 in NA; 600 mm x 360 mm Europe)
Also available for new players is a Guild Wars Platinum Edition containing both the original Guild Wars Prophecies campaign and the Guild Wars Eye of the North expansion.
[edit] Pre-release
There was a preview pack for Eye of the North. This included access to the Sneak Peek Weekend that ran from August 24th–26th, 2007, three exclusive pre-order weapons (Glacial Blade, Hourglass Staff and Darksteel Longbow), and a 10 hour/ 14-day pass to the current trilogy.
[edit] Access
Access to Guild Wars Eye of the North is via quests that can be received by characters level 10 or higher from:
[edit] Gallery
[edit] Screenshots
[edit] Concept art
[edit] Wallpapers
[edit] Notes
[edit] Trivia
• Guild Wars Eye of the North can be abbreviated as GWEN, which is an assumed intentional allusion to the pre-Searing character Gwen.
• Parts of Eye of the North were originally in the planned fourth campaign named Guild Wars Utopia. The campaign idea was dropped in preference for Guild Wars 2 and this expansion was released in the interim to transition existing players into Guild Wars 2.
[edit] Related articles
[edit] External links
Guild Wars releases
Campaigns: PropheciesFactionsNightfallUtopia (cancelled)
Expansions: Eye of the North Others: Bonus Mission Pack
Upgrades: 2008 Upgrade1 Million Edition UpgradeGame of the Year UpgradeBeyond
Compilations: Platinum EditionFactions Platinum EditionGuild Wars TrilogyThe Complete Collection
Personal tools
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100510
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You can open a file or folder in Windows to perform a variety of tasks, such as editing the information in a file or making a copy of a file or folder.
To open a file, you must have a program that is associated with it. Typically, this is the same program that was used to create the file.
Here's how to open a file or folder in Windows:
1. Find the file or folder that you want to open.
2. Double-click the file or folder to open it.
• When you double-click a file, an associated program automatically opens if it's not already open. To open a file in a different program, right-click the file, point to Open with, and then click a compatible program in the list.
• When you double-click a folder, the folder opens in Windows Explorer. It doesn't open a different program.
• If you see a message that says Windows can't open a file, you probably need to install a program capable of opening files of that type. To do this, in the dialog box, click Use the Web service to find the correct program, and then click OK. If the service recognizes the file type, it will suggest a program for you to install.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100521
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Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!
10:21 am
Sat May 25, 2013
Now, panel, how will Apple repair its image? Mo Rocca.
MO ROCCA: The iPhone 6 will include a brand new feature. Whenever the user begins talking or texting in a theater, he will be electrocuted.
SAGAL: Faith Salie.
FAITH SALIE: For the Steve Jobs biopic, they're recasting Ashton Kutcher with a Care Bear.
SAGAL: And Adam Felber.
ADAM FELBER: They're going to own it, Peter. Next St. Patrick's Day, everyone can buy an iPad tax free.
BILL KURTIS: And if Apple does any of those things, we'll ask you about it on WAIT WAIT...DON'T TELL ME!
SAGAL: Thank you Bill Kurtis. Thanks also to Mo Rocca, Faith Salie, Adam Felber. Thanks to Tony (unintelligible) and everyone at Minnesota Public Radio. Thanks to our fantastic audience here in Minneapolis. You're great. You're so nice. And thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Sagal. We will see you next week.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100531
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Creating Your Website on Wolfweb
Wolfweb Access
You must have an account on the new web server, Wolfweb, to create or update a website. If you're not sure whether or not you have an account, call the Campus Computing Help Desk at 682-5000 for more information and to have an account created.
If you previously had a webpage on Equinox, your website has been copied to Wolfweb, but you will be unable to update it until your account is activated. Call the Help Desk to have your account created.
Uploading Information / Settings
SFTP Clients
You must use an SFTP client to connect to Wolfweb and update your website. An easy-to-use SFTP client for Windows is called FileZilla. More information on FileZilla, including download and installation information, and specific setup instructions, is located at the link below. You may use any client of your choice, as long as it supports the SFTP protocol. You will not be able to connect to Wolfweb using regular (insecure) FTP.
Instructions for connecting to WolfWeb can be found here
Website Address
Your website is stored in the /homepage directory, in a subdirectory of the same name as your username (NetID). Therefore, your full website URL can take any of the following forms:
While actual terminology may differ between SFTP clients, the settings you will need are:
• Host:
• Connection Type: Currently the only supported connection type is SFTP using SSH2.
• Port: 22 (SFTP over SSH2)
• Login Type: normal (not "anonymous" or "account")
• Username: your NetID
• Password: the password associated with your NetID
• Default Remote Directory: /homepage/username/
You must ensure that your client is properly configured, including the "default remote directory." If this is not configured correctly, your client will log you into your /home directory instead, and you won't be able to update your website here.
If you're not sure what your NetID or NetID password is, call the Help Desk to reset your password. You can then set your own password here.
Wolfweb Website Index
The Wolfweb site index is located at
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100538
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affective forecasting
pp. Predicting how one will feel should a particular event or outcome unfold.
affective forecast n.
affective forecaster n.
Example Citations:
—Jon Gertner, "The Futile Pursuit of Happiness," The New York Times, September 7, 2003
SUSAN FISKE: Can we become more accurate in affective forecasting?
DANIEL GILBERT: Probably, but first we should ask whether or not we want to. It's very easy to see somebody making a logical error and say, "Well, you ought not to have made it." But logical errors can serve an important purpose in human cognition. Imagine a world in which some people realize that external events have much less impact than others believe they do. Those who make that realization might not be particularly motivated to change the external events. But one of the reasons we protect our children, for example, is that we believe we would be devastated if they were harmed or killed. So these predictions may be very effective in motivating us to do the things we as a society need to do, even though they might be inaccurate on an individual level. Anyone who wanted to cure affective forecasters of their inferential ills would be wise to measure both the costs and benefits of forecasting errors.
—"Forecasting the future: why our inability to predict emotion may be beneficial," Psychology Today, November, 2002
Earliest Citation:
—Daniel T Gilbert et al., "Immune neglect: A source of durability bias in affective forecasting," Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, September 1, 1998
Related Words:
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100585
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1 Song Lyrics - Free lyrics website
Get Somethin' SONG LYRICS
Lil Wayne
Ringtones Ringtones: Send Get Somethin' Ringtones to your Cell
[Lil Wayne]
Yeah, we on cloud 20
That's high (high.. high)
Weezy F baby and the squad following the boy
[Chorus: Mannie Fresh]
Lexus, Benz, Impala's wit' the top down drivin' careless
Swervin' through from left to right, and I'm dressed so super tight
Baby girl shakin like Beyonce
I done forgot about fiance, blowin' smoke up in the air
Table dances by my chair
Get something now
[Lil Wayne]
I'm hot from New Orleans
Its Weezy F Baby
Way above ballin'
I Stay above yall and
I got da A and da K if y'all want it
I'm making way for my homies
Ya better not sleep, stay awake for the morning
It's young Carter come and get it in order oooh...hotter
You six feet in the six
Im snuffed in the Bentley
who shot her stop playin' wit' me
I'm da heart of the SQ mobbers
Mobbin' wit my black Madonna
Get my back momma
Got that Mac persona
I'm a P.I.M.P, I'm the uncrowned K.I.N.G
I'm from uptown never tempt me
It's like Nevada
I'll leave my desert empty uhh
Bezzle yellow is pee Yeah..
Ain't a fella hotter than me, ain't another better than me ooh.
[Lil Wayne]
Hole in the door fo' show ya boy rollin'
I'm cold wit' da' flow no boast but y'all boring
holdin my coast by myself never bowling
Throwing the squad up lettin' em know what Weezy
F toastin' floating
Notice the stroke in my motion, strollin'
Toke and a poke and a smoke got me loaded
Put a purple ocean in my soda make potion
Pull a rover over by some hoes in Magnolias
Roll ya body like a snake slow for all my boyz
Whistle hotter than ya hottest gat but so poised
Bodies flying in the air while I whip the Harley
I'm hardly seeing you playas you can't see me
I'm a gangsta I supposed to be on TV, really
And the rose gold bezzle show clearly
V where you at you gotta feel me Daddy
[Lil Wayne]
See I look to my side and Lil gutta say peel ya
Weezy F get familiar y'all boy's gonna get pecuiliar
I'ma's kii..kii ..kill ya
I'ma Kit Kat dealer
I'ma Maybach wheeler
I'ma get them millions
Like a slick big William hater
Big willy like I fuck's wit Jada
I ain't got nothin' but yaya man
Nothin' but flavors man
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Nothin' but paper
I'ma fuck it and tape it and show all of my homies
Drop 20's on the 'Rari
Scratch off at parties
I'ma make your hoe grab all her shorties up in the Escalade Suburban
Snatch off that laundry
I'ma make y'all boys back off the army
Put that hammer to your dome
Now come off that arm piece
And I like that chain
I'm feeling that hat
My papi's Ozzy Ozbourne
And I'm feeling like Jack
Gimme dat!
That's wazzup
Man, it's weezy F man
AND The F is for fly (flllyyy)
Birdman Jr.
Ringtones Ringtones: Send Get Somethin' Ringtones to your Cell
Lil Wayne - Get Somethin' Song Lyrics from "Other Songs".
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