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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100601
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Fast Text Compression with Neural Networks
Matthew V. Mahoney, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
Neural networks have the potential to extend data com-pression algorithms beyond the character level n-gram models now in use, but have usually been avoided because they are too slow to be practical. We introduce a model that produces better compression than popular Limpel-Ziv compressors (zip, gzip, compress), and is competitive in time, space, and compression ratio with PPM and Burrows-Wheeler algorithms, currently the best known. The compressor, a bit-level predictive arithmetic encoder is fast because only 4-5 connections are simultaneously active and because it uses a variable learning rate optimized for one-pass training.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100602
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Automated Generation of Tracking Plans for a Network of Communications Antennas
S. Chien, A. Govindjee, T. Estlin, X. Wang, R. Hill, Jr.
This paper describes the Deep Space Network Antenna Operations Planner (DPLAN) : a system that automatically generates antenna tracking plans for a set of highly sensitive radio science and telecommunications antennas. DPLAN accepts as input and equipment configuration and a set of requested antenna track services. The system then uses a knowledge base of antenna operations procedures to produce a plan of activities that will provide the requested services using the allocated equipment. DPLAN produces this plan using an integration of hierarchical task network (HTN) and operator-based planning. A prototype of the DPLAN system was successfully demonstrated in February 1995 at NASA’s experimental DSN station, DSS-13, on a series of Voyager tracks. Based on this successful demonstration, DPLAN will become operational as part of the larger Network Monitor and Control (NMC) upgrade underway projected to save NASA over $9 million per year in operations costs.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100648
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Reviewers > jayo > Brett Brando
jayo's Movie Reviews directed by Brett Brando
Showing 1 - 1 of 1 Reviews
Boxcover for Diary Of a MILF 3
Diary Of a MILF 3
Release date: 9/4/2006
Reviewed on: 11/5/2006
Starring: Devon Michaels, Kayla Kupcakes, Stephanie Wylde, Puma Swede, Demi Delia
Studio: Naughty America
Directed by: Brett Brando
Review brief: I like women over 30. Over 40. I think they're often very attractive, but you don't see too much of them in porn. Maybe because porn miles are often hard miles. But either way, I'm pre-disposed to like a DVD like this. So you can read some of this my bitter disappointment. It started with the chapters. Five girls, and each one is conveniently broken into the same categories: blow job, sex and cumshot. Already I'm bored. Blow-job, fuck, cumshot is the soup, chicken and ice cream dollop of the porn bleu-plate special, and I'm friggen sick of it. The only way you can really make this work is to have some real hotties in here. I generally avoid calling women ugly, because I realize what's my cup of tea isn't anothers, and someone I don't find attractive may be another man's dream. Fine. But this is pushing it for me, because I'm supposed to like this. This is supposed to be up my alley. First scene is Puma Swede, a blonde who looks like a fake-titted version of the blonde tamborine player from The Muppet Show (for suuuuuuurely).
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100679
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Contract Documents
Download a printable synopsis of major documents at right, and visit the Introduction to AIA Contract Documents video. The AIA website also contains expanded synopses, comparisons of 2007 and 1997 documents, and a Knowledge Base with FAQs and help selecting the right document for you.
Paper Documents
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Visit the Documents on Demand eShop for electronic access to the fourteen most popular contract documents, and print them for immediate use.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100680
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AikiWeb Aikido Forums
AikiWeb Aikido Forums (
- Announcements & Feedback (
- - Thread Ratings (
akiy 04-22-2001 05:45 PM
Hi folks,
You may have noticed a new column in the thread listings of each Forum called "Rating". This is another new feature that allows you, the readers of the Forum, to "rate" a thread from 1 to 5 with 5 being the best rating possible.
If you want to submit a thread rating, you'll need to be within the thread (so that you're looking at its available posts). At the bottom of that page, you'll see a "Rate Thread" drop-down box. Just change that to the rating you wish to give that particular thread and hit the "Go" button right next to it.
Please note that a thread will need to have more than a few votes for the ratings to show up -- so don't be dismayed if you rate a thread but don't see any indication of such immediately!
I hope people find this to be a useful feature...
-- Jun
akiy 05-01-2001 09:19 AM
-- Jun
cbrf4zr2 05-01-2001 07:06 PM
Great idea Jun
I love the new look and feel of the forums, keep up the good work.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100723
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for the Animals
13320 CR 450 West, Umatilla FL 32784, USA
- Stories -
May 17, 2001- Bindy-Sue arrived at New Hope do to a relocation from an extreme cruelty case in New York. She and a dozen other animal had suffered greatly at the hands of a horribly brutal man. Due to this person one horse died after being starved for days and then fed a beer can. Another was found after being hacked up with an ax and then burned. Several animals did die from starvation yet thankfully Bindy-Sue made it out alive although she initially weighed 260 pounds which is over 140 pounds less then the ideal weight for her age.
These days Bindy-Sue is happily enjoying her days in the pasture and evenings in the barn. She plays and wallows in her mud hole and will roll right over for a belly rub whenever you have a moment to give one. Due to her terrible experience she still seems amazed and grateful to be getting two square meals a day with snacks in between but we're hoping that with time those awful memories might begin to fade as the rest of her life will be spent getting lots of love on our farm.
Contact us at:
This site is hosted and maintained by:
The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
Thank you for visiting
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100762
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Ahmed Mukhtar
Oud Master, Composer and Teacher
What is a Maqam?
Maqam In Arabic music, a Maqam (plural Maqamat) is a set of notes with traditions that define relationships between them, habitual patterns, and their melodic development. Maqamat are best defined and understood in the context of the rich Arabic music repertoire. The nearest equivalent in Western classical music would be a mode (e.g. Major, Minor, etc.)
The Arabic scales which Maqamat are built from are not even-tempered, unlike the chromatic scale used in Western classical music. Instead, 5th notes are tuned based on the 3rd harmonic. The tuning of the remaining notes entirely depends on the Maqam. The reasons for this tuning are probably historically based on string instruments like the oud. A side effect of not having even-tempered tuning is that the same note (by name) may have a slightly different pitch depending on which Maqam it is played in.
What are Quarter Tones ?
Many maqamat include notes that can be approximated with quarter tones (depicted using the half-flat sign or the half-sharp sign), although they rarely are precise quarters falling exactly halfway between two semitones. Even notes depicted as semitones sometimes include microtonal subtleties depending on the maqam in which they are used. For this reason, when writing Arabic music using the Western notation system, there is an understanding that the exact tuning of each note might vary with each maqam and must be learned by ear.
Another peculiarity of maqamat is that the same note is not always played with the same exact pitch, the pitch may slightly vary depending on the melodic flow and what other notes are played before and after that note. The idea behind this effect is to round sharp corners in the melody by drawing the furthest notes nearer. This effect is sometimes called the law of attraction or gravity, and is common in other musical traditions (e.g. in Byzantine music).
Are maqamat transposable ?
When Arabic maqamat are taught and documented, each maqam is usually associated with the same starting note (tonic). For example, maqam Bayati is almost always shown as starting on D in reference textbooks.
In general maqamat are transposable, but only to a handful of other tonics. For example, maqam Bayati can also start on G and A. When transposing Arabic maqamat, musicians mention the tonic name after the maqam name for clarity (e.g. "Bayati on G" or "Bayati on A"). For this reason also, only a few quarter tones are exploited (with the understanding that the term quarter tone is approximate, and that many semitones include microtonal variations). The most frequently used quarter tones are: E, A and B.
How many maqamat are there ?
There are dozens of Arabic maqamat, too many to list, including many Persian and Turkish hybrids. It's difficult to find a definitive list of Arabic maqamat that all textbooks agree on, or a definitive reference on which maqamat are strictly Arabic and which are Turkish or Persian. There are also many local maqamat used only in some regions of the Arab world (e.g. Iraq and North Africa), and unknown in others. But the most widely used and known maqamat are about 30 to 40, and these are the ones covered in this web site
The Samai (plural Sama'iyyat)
The Samai is a composed genre comprised of four sections (khana, plural khanat), each followed by the refrain (taslim).
The samai composition demonstrates the 10/8 rhythmic mode (called samai thaqil) followed throughout the taslim and the first 3 khanat. The 4th khana, which precedes the last statement of the refrain, is typically composed in a 3/4 or 6/4 rhythm, called Samai Darij. Some contemporary composers display a 5/8, 7/8 or 9/8 rhythm in the 4th khana.
The first three khanat of the Samai consist of 4 to 6 measures. The last (4th) khana varies from 6 to 24 measures.
Generally the first khana in the Samai displays the selected maqam in a stepwise motion. It is usually played in the lower tetrachord (jins) of the maqam. The second khana shows a modulation to a related maqam. In the third khana the melodic range expands and reaches the higher tetrachord of the maqam.
The Taqsim (plural Taqasim)
The Taqsim is an instrumental improvisation, which could be metric or non-metric. The taqsim is usually performed solo, but could also be accompanied by a percussionist or an instrumentalist playing only a drone. the taqsim is an impromptu musical composition where the soloist extemporized a piece using the maqam as a vehicle while abiding by a certain set of rules particular to that maqam. A taqsim usually includes a number of modulations to other related maqamat.
What is Iraqi maqam
What is Iraqi maqam? The word maqam grossly means place or situation. In the context of music the word maqam may refer to two different aspects of musical form. One definition is common everywhere in the Arab world, the other is specifically in Iraq. Everywhere in the Arab world the word maqam refers to the specific Oriental tone scales, of which there is an enormous variety in Arabic music due to the vast range of different `microtones'.
At the same time in the classical musique savante of Iraq the word maqam refers to a special kind of `suite', consisting of improvisations based on certain standard rules or performance and aesthetics.
*As the leading recitalist of the Iraqi Maqam, Ahmed mukhtar perpetuates the centuries old traditional singing and playing.
The Iraqi Maqam follows a pattern of three main parts; the introduction and finale being interspersed with set musical and melodic passages performed alternatively by the vocalist and musicians.
The art of Iraqi maqam reached its ultimate refinement during the golden age of the Abbasid dynasty in Baghdad, a key city on the borders of the Arab, Turkish arid Persian worlds. Used by classical and popular musicians, it was not only favoured by the local aristocracy in their music rooms but also used at religious celebrations and Sufi ceremonies. All the composition and the contemporary compositions By Ahmed Mukhtar are based on the Iraqi Maqam, accompanied by the Iraqi Ensemble Qanaon , Joza Nay and many kind of percussion .
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100779
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Why do Asian girls love Doraemon so much?
Topic started by ronki23 on Sept. 28, 2013. Last post by UltimateHero0406 9 months, 3 weeks ago.
Post by takashichea (11,069 posts) See mini bio Level 25
You're lucky that you visited the temples. I wished I could travel. I only visited temples in my town. From my experiences, a lot of the Theravada temples have figurines that came from other religions like Daoism.
Do you think Doraemon's age makes him so popular compared to other cute things
Of course.
Post by UltimateHero0406 (5,030 posts) See mini bio Level 16
@ronki23: No, not that it's uncool. Most everybody likes Pokemon, even grown men if for nothing more than nostalgia.
But the thing is, unless your a serious Pokemon fan, chances are if your a 80s or 90s child, your not gonna know many Pokemon outside of Gen 1. And even within that, most people only remember Pikachu since it's THE Pokemon and maybe the starters. But if the person likes Doraemon more than Pikachu, that's that.
Post by ronki23 (85 posts) See mini bio Level 8
@UltimateHero0406: but if Pokemon's popular in China, surely they'd be into the modern ones. Anyway, if it was popular there i'm sure they'd be into other cute Pokemon from Gen 1.5 (let's be realistic here, Pokemon has been popular from it's anime and movies so there'd be Marril and Togepi as 'cute' gen II alongside Jigglypuff/Wigglytuff,Clefairy/Clefable,the starter Pokemon)
Not sure what Asian girls think of Pokemon but if a Western girl went around wearing Pokemon clothing/accessories, she'd be seen as a geek. It's more of a gaming thing in the West now
As for the ones I know, there are 4 girls into Doraemon but not other cute things. You can't think all like Doraemon more than other cute things?
Post by UltimateHero0406 (5,030 posts) See mini bio Level 16
@ronki23: People don't have to avidly follow a series for it to be popular. I know truck loads of people who make Goku and super saiyan references even though they've never seen more than a few episodes of DBZ when they were little. It's like that with the girls too. They may have been into Pokemon when they were little and possibly even tiptoed into gen 2 during their teenage years meaning they would know the memorable pokemon but still not a whole lot. They can remember the cute memorable pokemon. But if you put those guys into a ratio next to the rest of that pokemon generation that they don't remember, its kinda like knowing almost none. And then, even if they remember them, it's not like their automatically going to adore them forever. If they only kinda remember those pokemon, there kinda just there in the back of their minds and that's where they'll stay until a conversation about poke nostalgia comes up. After that, it's back to the mind dungeon with them.
As for modern gens, like I said, if your talking about 80s/90s kids, unless they have been seriously following the series up until now, chances are that there not gonna know any pokemans past gen 2. Gen 3 at best. The girls your talking about are 5 years old, watching the pokemon cartoons now on saturday mornings and will 10 years from now be remembering them. So they'll pretty much be in the same situation that we are in.
As for the merchandise, I think your a little off about that. Girls, nowadays, can pretty much wear what they like within certain boundaries without being seen as a geek. If a girl went around with a pikachu t shirt or , nobody would mind since girls wear stuff with cartoon characters all the time. Even popular girls wear stuff like Spongebob socks and their friends are like "oh, thats cute" and pay it no mind. Now if she way wearing yugioh or naruto stuff, that might be a little different. It's because pokemon is pretty much a household name and is known to almost everybody that it ceases to become nerdy in moderation.
And finally, all girls like different things for the most part. This is because they all grew up a different way. If they watched Doraemon more than Pokemon, they will lean towards Doraemon. If they were introduced to Doraemon more recently and thought it was cute, then pokemon would kinda get pushed to the back of their mind while doraemon becomes somewhat of a trend. However the best way to know would be to ask them directly since the only 100% accurate answer you can get will come from them.
And then another thing to remember is that even though they are of a certain race, these girls are still girls and see many things exactly the same way as girls from other backgrounds see them so there probably won't be some huge mysterious answer if you ask them that you wouldn't get from a girl of a different race.
Post by ronki23 (85 posts) See mini bio Level 8
@UltimateHero0406: these girls are 22-24 year old Chinese grad students (who themselves are very cute-well, most of them anyway)
Going off-topic but the ones that try too hard to act cute are annoying. It's called Aegyo I believe-the pretty ones are normally quiet and are only loud when they get into conversations (which is naturally more frequent when they speak in Mandarin to other Chinese.
Post by UltimateHero0406 (5,030 posts) See mini bio Level 16
@ronki23: Then yeah, they are 90s kids.
And very cool. You should try and get a date if your not already in a relationship lol
Do you speak Mandarin as well?
Post by ronki23 (85 posts) See mini bio Level 8
@UltimateHero0406:I tried with both the date and Mandarin but both to bad extent
Not only the Asian girls but the Asian boys stopped talking to me. We are on a Postgrad course and our last assignment was 6th September. The one before that was 2nd August and 4 of us went to lunch, then after the 4th August ALL of them stopped talking to me for an unknown reason. On the 15th July another 4 of us went to lunch too.
But I found out that 4-5 of them went travelling in the UK without me, even after I suggested it
8 went to the theme (Chinese,Thai and Malaysian) park 3 days after I suggested it
and 2 of them are couples and spend 100% of their time together. One of the guys was my best friends (Taiwanese) and never replies anymore-saying his girlfriend wants this or that, she's unwell,blah blah
my best friend out of these Asians (more than 10) stopped replying to me
and a girl I found cute who I went to lunch with left the country on 16th August. I asked my friend for her WeChat ID so no reply. I facebooked her a friend request and asked her what her WeChat was/I gave mine but all I saw was a "read" sign
and that was going on facebook after 2 months. I then find a Chinese friend (unrelated to these ones) unfriended me even though he's nothing to do with these ones
So I have had bad experiences with quite a lot of East Asians. Unfortunately, I am an Indian but I never got along with the Indians either :( It seems Asians don't like me for reasons unknown
Post by UltimateHero0406 (5,030 posts) See mini bio Level 16
@ronki23: Dang dude. That's crazy. Something like that happened to me a couple times so I know the feeling.
My theory is that they originally all saw you as just a friend. But when you tried to ask one if the girls out, you were going past the friend mark which kinda wierded them out so they kinda just tried to phase you out of the group to keep it from getting awkward.
Imo it would have been better to wait until one of them showed interest in you and then ask. With seemingly tight knit groups, it's better to let them come to you then try to manually make your way in. And if they don't show interest, then it probably wasn't going to work out anyway. And then, some people just aren't interested in dating outside of their immediate group so it may not have been you at all.
So I don't think that they didn't like you as a person but you may have just tried to move too fast in the friendship. That goes for any social group you try to enter.
Also, you can also take comfort in the fact that even with all the stuff that's going on with you, my college life is still complete crap compared to yours. The fact that you even have the option to travel and do all sorts of stuff with friends is awesome.
Post by ronki23 (85 posts) See mini bio Level 8
@UltimateHero0406:I guess but some of them don't even know each other so it can't have been to do with that-especially when several groups did things without me
Post by UltimateHero0406 (5,030 posts) See mini bio Level 16
@ronki23: Hmm, yeah that is odd. It's possible that after hearing from a distance of what happened, the other groups wanted to prevent a similar happening. Word traveling through acquaintances is just as good as word traveling within a friend group.
Post by UltimateHero0406 (5,030 posts) See mini bio Level 16
@ronki23: But imo, I wouldn't really want to be friends with people who would just up and exclude me so easily. If they don't see you as a good friend even after all this time, then you shouldn't care about how they feel about you dude :)
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100780
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Yayoi Neko
is an anime/manga person
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Author of Incubus.
General Information Edit
Full Name: Yayoi Neko
Japanese Name: やよい猫
Gender: Female
Birthday: n/a
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Country: USA
Website: http://yayoineko.com
Email Address: [email protected]
Aliases Thundertori
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100790
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Color categories make the world easier to live in. Granny Smith (green) and Red Delicious (red) apples belong in different bins; so do violets (blue) and roses (red).
To most of us, those categories seem natural, but in many other languages the categories differ. Some African languages have five primary color words or fewer; Russian has as many as English, plus an additional kind of blue. Often the boundaries between two colors shift as one moves from one language community to another.
Now, a new study by researchers at the University of Surrey suggests that the process of learning new color categories produces subtle but significant changes in how people actually perceive those colors.
The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General (Vol. 131, No. 4), support the linguistic relativity hypothesis--the idea that the language one speaks can affect the way one thinks about and perceives the world.
"The main conclusions of the study are basic: that color perception is not as rigid and inflexible as was thought before," says the study's lead author, Emre Ozgen, PhD. "This is the first time that it's been shown that a new perceptual color category boundary can actually be induced through laboratory training."
The experiment
Previous studies have shown that people find it easier to distinguish between similar hues that belong to different color categories than between hues that fall within a single color category. A bluish green and a greenish blue, for example, are easier to tell apart than a bluish green and a yellowish green.
The central question of the current study was whether these improvements in performance at the boundaries of color categories--an effect known as "categorical perception"--are fixed or changeable. Can training enhance the effect, making people more sensitive to color differences across boundaries? Can new boundaries be created, even ones that lie right in the middle of conventional color categories?
In their first experiment, Ozgen and Ian Davies, PhD, sought to answer the more basic question: whether training could improve participants' ability to distinguish between similar hues of a single color. The answer was yes: Participants became increasingly accurate over the course of three days of training.
Ozgen and Davies then moved to the second, critical question: whether novel categorical perception effects could be acquired in the laboratory. Participants were trained to divide a basic color category, blue or green, into two new categories. The boundaries of the new categories lay at the focal points of the old categories--the greenest greens, for example, now lay at the boundary between a category of yellowish greens and a category of bluish greens.
After three days of training, participants were better able to distinguish between hues that fell on either side of the novel color boundaries than between hues within a single category, even when the absolute difference between the two hues was the same--a classic categorical perception effect. At the same time, participants effectively unlearned their pre-existing color categories: They stopped showing categorical perception effects at "natural" boundaries that lay within the range of hues on which they had trained.
A follow-up experiment showed that the change in categorical perception could be produced after a single training session of 500 trials, though the improved performance was not evident until the next day--perhaps, the researchers speculate, because improvement at the end of the first session was masked by fatigue.
In their final experiment, Ozgen and Davies explored whether participants would learn new categories based on differences in lightness, just as participants in the previous experiments had learned categories based on differences in hue. They found that lightness training produced the same kinds of categorical perception effects that hue training did, but they also found an interesting asymmetry: Participants who trained on hue-based categories showed no new categorical perception effects when later tested on lightness, whereas participants trained on lightness-based categories showed categorical perception effects for hue. The results suggest that lightness can be ignored when it is irrelevant to a task, but hue is processed automatically.
"People have shown categorical perception effects for color before, but there's been a large number of people who've argued that these are innate color categories," says Robert Goldstone, PhD, a professor of psychology at Indiana University. "What the current study shows is that you can get acquired categorical perception."
Linguistic relativity
The study also offers a new spin on the work of University of California, Berkeley, psychologist Eleanor Rosch, PhD, who suggested in the 1970s that linguistic differences have little effect on how people actually perceive colors. She reported that speakers of a New Guinean language with only two color words--one for cold, dark colors and one for warm, light colors--learned and remembered colors more easily when they were prototypical examples of colors identified in English, such as red, green and blue, than when they were not. The results were a blow to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which suggests that cognition is shaped by the languages people speak.
In recent years, however, University of Essex psychologist Debi Roberson, PhD, and others have tried to replicate Rosch's work among other tribes with few color words, and have found results that appear to contradict hers. Their findings suggest that there are differences--small but nonetheless significant--in the color perception of speakers of different languages.
"These kinds of categorical perception effects seem to be language-dependent," says Davies, who has collaborated with Roberson on some of those studies. "If an African language doesn't mark a blue-green boundary, then adult speakers don't seem to show categorical perception across that boundary, whereas English speakers do."
The current study is partly motivated by the cross-cultural research. But as MIT psychologist Lera Boroditsky, PhD, points out, unlike the cross-cultural studies, it does not directly address the linguistic relativity hypothesis. It does not, for instance, provide evidence that learning a new linguistic distinction can produce a new categorical perception effect.
What the study does provide, says Ozgen, is evidence that categorical perception can change quickly as well as a plausible mechanism for how it changes. It is a small leap from there to being able to show how a distinction that starts off as merely linguistic--this sort of color goes in category A; that sort goes in category B--can become deeply ingrained in perception.
"Linguistic relativity may work with similar principles, in that as a child grows up, he or she will have to continually learn a category boundary just as our subjects learn in the lab," says Ozgen. But he cautions, "neither the linguistic relativity nor the universal hypotheses would hold if we were to take an extreme position. To say that language completely shapes thought would be as extreme as saying that thought is entirely hardwired."
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100814
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Quote Originally Posted by BrianShaw View Post
Aren't these your words in post #11, "(unless he's dishonest)"? "He's" being the seller. I also made a generic statement and never pointed a finger at you.
What I said in fact is this: "I'll keep the lens and shutter if he'll rebate the cost of the repair, which I imagine he'll do given that (unless he's dishonest) he can't sell the thing in its current condition except as non-working, which will get him little." So in context, it's quite apparent that I was assuming the seller is honest, thus "which I imagine he'll do." By pulling the words you quote out of the sentence I wrote you gave the impression that I said just the opposite of what I did say. Nice work.
As for your making a "generic statement," and pointing no fingers, please don't insult my intelligence. You said quite cleary that if you were asked to comment on my "tactic" you would use "harsh language." Perhaps you have difficulty understanding the plain meaning of the written word, but I don't.
Maybe your experience with a returned camera convinces you that I broke the shutter and am seeking a refund nonetheless. If you look at my original post, you'll see that I knew perfectly well how to operate the shutter (confirmed by the responses I received). But I thought that perhaps I was mistaken and that my ignorance, if any, might explain the behavior I observed (or thought I observed). Turned out, I did not misunderstand, but the shutter simply did not work properly as shipped, something for which, as I said, the seller has apologized and offered a refund. He did not even suggest that it was tested and working properly when shipped, but only that he was unaware it was not working properly, a statement I have no reason to doubt.
Again, the only one in this story who has exhibited any lack of good will is you, and if you think your last post was an apology, you are again mistaken. But, I take you at your word in wishing me luck, and I wish you the same.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/100821
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In SAP, Currencies are configured for the company’s legal way and standard of payment handling. In SAP configuration, currency plays an important role. In SAP, all currencies are maintained according to ISO Standard. We can configure currencies as per the rules of the country defined in the company code. SAP provides currencies of every country and we can also define our own currency if we require.
In SAP, when we define Company/company code, currency is a basic data which should be maintained.
In SAP, we can maintain one base currency and two parallel currencies, it means three currencies. In FI documents, we can take four currencies including the transaction currency. With this function we can take reports in multiple currencies as per the management reporting requirements.
In SAP IMG, we can check currency as per the ISO standard. In this we can check and add currency entries as per our requirement.
SAP IMG –> SAP NetWeaver –> General Settings –> Currencies –> Check Currency Codes
sap currency overview Currency Types And Configuration Process In SAP Introduction
Click on ‘New entries’ to define additional currency, e.g.
sap currency detail Currency Types And Configuration Process In SAP Introduction
We can maintain parallel currencies in one company code. Generally, we use parallel currency for company having more than one subsidiary in different geographic location around the world. We can maintain not only one but more than one parallel currencies in our system. The parallel currency functionality has remained basically unaffected in the New G/L.
Additional Local Currency for company code – OB22
sap local currency Currency Types And Configuration Process In SAP Introduction
for further information, refer my blog on Parallel Currencies and Currency Exchange Rate.
By Sreedhar Babu. (on behalf of SAP Consulting Team)
SAP :: Streamlined
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SIGN UP for Dr Judy's
monthly 5 Minute Motivation
There are a number of ways to explain the concept of Guidance. Please choose the one that appeals to you.
Option 1: The Big Three
Option 2: The Bicycle
Option 3: Intuition
Option 4: The Conductor
Option 6: The Computer
Option 1 – The Big Three
Guidance acts as your Compass, Geiger Counter and Prompt - the big three!
The Compass:
Guidance acts to show us the direction of our true ‘north’ - that which aligns perfectly with The Divine Plan and moves us in the direction where we have fun, learn joyfully, and discover the freedom to say, do, have, be and experience our highest potential.
The Geiger Counter:
Have you ever played the game ‘hot and cold’ where someone hides an object and you have to find it? As you get closer to the object, the facilitator calls out ‘hot’, ‘hotter’, ‘boiling’ or ‘cold’, ‘colder’, ‘freezing’. Guidance is your facilitator, the meter that indicates whether you are on track and how close or far you are from your desired goal.
The Prompt:
Shakespeare wasn't kidding when he said - "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players".
We are all here play-acting, just as children do, in order to experience ourselves in physical form. Guidance is the Prompt, here to give us cues when we forget our lines and/or moves (exactly like a stage production).
Each of us are connected to the one and only Guidance system to ensure that we are safe, secure, co-ordinated, synchronized, synergised and thus well looked after as we gain in Wisdom and Understanding.
Option 2 – The Bicycle
I would like you to consider Guidance to be like a bicycle.
1. All of you have one and are expert riders.
2. Some of you have forgotten that you own this bike.
3. Some of you know its there somewhere, but have forgotten where you put it.
4. The rest of you know it's there, but forget to get on and pedal. Or you get on and pedal so infrequently you have lost confidence and trust in your expertise. In other words, you forget to ask, ignore and/or don't trust the answers you receive, because you are out of practice and/or do not take the time and space to observe the ‘proof’ that sustains and supports your belief and confidence.
In all cases, it’s time to re-connect and remind yourselves of your superb bike-riding skills, get some regular practice, and before you know it you are right back on top again, the expert!
Option 3 - Intuition
Guidance is often known as intuition, which can be understood as your ‘inner tuition’. You need not look any further. It is your guru, your ultimate teacher and your sure-fire insurance policy for success. It is there to serve as the instruction manual. It shows you how to be a pro in the game of life you are presently playing.
If your life feels more like a nightmare than a game, I suggest that it is definitely time for you to re-connect to this ‘inner tuition’. Pick up the instruction booklet and follow the rules exactly, all clearly outlined there.
Please note:
a) You have this Guidance function as your standard operating tool that comes with every game you choose to play. Everyone owns one & is connected to it.
b) Take the time and space to bring your attention to it and ‘read’ it.
c) Follow the directions exactly. You will soon discover that you easily, gracefully and joyfully stay on track, on time, and on target.
You can’t enjoy, play or ‘win’ the game if you are not on the board, merely an observer. It’s time to get off the side lines, back into the game of life and learn how to play it like the expert you were born to be.
Those who are dis-eased (or believe at this time that they are) and spend their time wishing to be well, doing nothing or very little about it, are choosing to be a spectator in the health and well-being game. As such, nothing much is likely to change.
‘You’ve got to be in it to win it’
Similarly, if you do choose to get into the game and get help e.g. consult with your doctor, healer, appropriate ‘specialist’ in any personal or professional field… they always give you a specific prescription to help you get what you most desire.
The prescription clearly indicates that you take, do, follow the instructions … times a day, at … dosage/strength, for … days/weeks/.... Now, imagine what might happen if you choose not to follow the instructions exactly. Would you be surprised if the results were less than perfect? Get it, Got it, Good!
Option 4 - The Conductor
We exist in a Universe of our own making. In every instant therein, we seek a state of balance and harmony. In musical terms Guidance is the conductor of the orchestra of our physical body, and by extension all other bodies, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and etheric. In the most general terms, a conductor's job is to shape a musical interpretation; to form ideas about the most compelling way to perform a piece and to lead a group of musicians in such a way that those ideas are realized aka you achieve your goals = your dreams come true. Imagine for a moment that every cell, organ and system in your physical body is a musician, and that every fuel resource is an instrument, that allows each musician to play their Divine Notes in the Divine Symphony in perfect harmony and magical synchrony in every moment.
You might call Guidance the orchestrating principle of your body. Certainly each cell, organ and system can play/function without its assistance, however more often than not you may find parts of yourself and your life out of sync/out of flow with the whole when you do. If you feel that you have forgotten the conductor even exists, or chosen to ignore its guidance, yet recognise that your life is other than continuously joyful, perhaps its time to tune back in and pay attention. Time to feel the rhythm of your body, head the soft whispering inner voice of your breath, watch the images playing like a movie in your mind's eye, and sense your feelings pulsing with every heart beat. Each one signalled by your conductor to keep you on track to the performance of your life.
Option 5: The Computer
There are four principle levels of consciousness:
The conscious mind = the window open on your computer screen - obvious and recognised information.
The subconscious mind = the window minimised on your computer screen - obvious and recognised information, which you no longer need to keep at the forefront of your conscious mind
The unconscious mind = Google search = information which you have never bought to conscious mind, which you can easily access.
The super-conscious mind = the 'knowing' that guides you as to which website to open and what information there is relevant to you at the time
The first three, namely conscious, subconscious, and unconscious minds are subject to 'illusion' = other than 'true self' influence; for example - society, religion, culture etc - and therefore while helpful, not always reliable.
The last, the super-conscious mind remains pure and accurate at all times and is uninfluenced by anything or anyone and therefore entirely reliable = your true self.
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You’re a mami’s boy if: You get what you want when you want it, or else. If someone turns you down, you huff and puff and throw a mantrum -- not cool, dude. It’s OK to not always get what you want. Move on to the next one, or go cool off in the corner and think about your actions.
What a gentleman does: You approach the target of your interest with confidence and respect, and should it not go your way, you take the rejection like a man. In a relationship? Treat your partner the way you’d want any man to treat your mother.
This article is sponsored in part by Chivas.
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Measuring the Weight of Ancient Air
Credit: R. Buick
Atmospheric pressure is a key characteristic of the climate on Earth and on other planets. Mars, for example, is dry and cold partly because of its very thin atmosphere – the low air pressure means the planet is unable to trap heat or retain water vapor. Air pressure also can affect the chemical reactions that life depends upon. "The pressure is just as important as the temperature," says Roger Buick of the University of Washington.
To help remedy this, Buick has been awarded a grant from the NASA’s Astrobiology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program to conduct paleobarometry studies on rocks that formed during the Archean period when the Earth was less than half the age it is now. The goal is to determine the air pressure back then to within an accuracy of 0.1 bar (the current atmospheric pressure is approximately equal to 1 bar ).
Archean conditions
On a rock outcropping in South Africa, this meerkat "guards" fossilized raindrop craters that formed 2.7 billion years ago
Credit: Wladyslaw Altermann of Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich
The Archean period lasted from 3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago. Liquid water was present, as were single-celled organisms like bacteria and archaea. These life forms were likely anaerobic (not breathing oxygen) because — as many scientists contend — the atmosphere did not become oxygen-rich until a few hundred million years after the Archean. However, a small minority of researchers believe oxygen levels rose much earlier, Buick says.
Another uncertainty concerns how the Archean Earth remained warm despite the fact that the sun was 25 to 30 percent weaker back then. "The big problem with Archean climate is the so-called faint young sun problem," says geoscientist Jim Kasting of Penn State University. A bigger greenhouse effect on Earth must have compensated for the weaker sun, otherwise the global temperature would have dropped below freezing. However, data from ancient soils (paleosols) indicate the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide back then was limited. "It is difficult to keep Earth warm without requiring more CO2 than is permitted by the paleosol data," Kasting says.
The solution may be methane gas. One molecule of methane has the same greenhouse effect as 25 molecules of carbon dioxide. But just what mixture of methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases provided the Archean "heat blanket" is anybody’s guess. "You can assume almost anything you like," Buick says. That’s why he and his colleagues have devised two techniques for putting solid constraints on what constituted Earth’s ancient air.
Lava bubbles
This technique has been used before as a paleoaltimeter for younger rocks, indicating at what altitudes the rocks formed. Buick’s team, including Sanjoy Som and David Catling, also of the University of Washington, will try to measure the cavities in some of the oldest rocks that are known. "Archean rocks are very rare, and well-preserved ones even more so," Buick says. Luckily, he and his colleagues have located several samples of 2.7-billion-year-old basalt with near-perfect cavities from northwest Australia. The holes have subsequently filled in with other minerals, so to measure the original cavity sizes the researchers will use a CAT scan operated by Whitey Hagadorn of Amherst College.
Rain craters
When a raindrop lands in mud, the impact can create a tiny crater. Buick is studying fossilized raindrop imprints in mud that dried and hardened into rock billions of years ago.
Obviously, there are no raindrops surviving from the Archean, but last year Buick and his colleague Jelte Harnmeijer discovered rocks in South Africa that formed out of rain-soaked mud around 2.7 billion years ago. When the mud dried and hardened to rock, it retained craters that were the fossilized imprints of raindrops. "They look like little meteor impacts, a few millimeters across," Buick says. But he’s confident that rain, not micrometeorites or hail, made these craters because there are no signs of bouncing or rolling as one would expect from a solid projectile. Moreover, the location of some of the little holes inside the rock rules out simple erosion. He has taken rubber casts of the craters and now plans to determine their volume using a laser scanner. From the largest in the sample, he and his collaborators should be able to estimate the atmospheric pressure when the rain storm broke.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Related Web Sites
A Warm Breath of Carbon Dioxide
Oceans Gasping for Breath
A Question of Climate
Earth’s Early Temperature
Greenhouse Earth
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Hot Windy Nights
An artist’s conception shows a gas-giant planet orbiting very close to its parent star, creating searingly hot conditions on the planet’s surface. New research suggests that for three such planets lying from 50 to 150 light-years from Earth, strong winds thousands of miles per hour mix the atmosphere so that the temperature is relatively uniform from the permanently light side to the permanently dark side. This illustration represents an infrared view of a planetary system, in which brightness indicates warmer temperatures. For example, the bright band around the equator of the planet denotes warmer temperatures on both the dark and sunlit sides. The planet’s poles, shown in darker colors, would be cooler.
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt
Credit: Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., 2003
Credit: NASA
To date no Earth-sized planets have been reported orbiting other stars like our Sun. However, the processes that affect the planetary environments of extrasolar gas giants can still help astrobiologists understand what makes a planet habitable (or inhabitable), and to better define what is known as the ‘habitable zone’ around distant stars.
Related Web Pages
Planets as Brake Pads
Birthing Gas Giants
Bloated Star Births
Nearby Planet Nursery
Handful of Habstars
Fire and Ice
Whirlpool Haven for Planetary Birth
Astrobiology Top 10: Icy Super Earth
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Answer a question Ask a question
3 month old fighting naps
My 3 month old will sleep through the night but fights naps. He eats every 2 hours, around an hour later he starts to get cranky, yawns and has red eyes. I put him in his crib with his soother and he struggles, sometimes screams. I have tried rocking him and it will sometimes work. Most times the only way to get him to sleep is to nurse which I hate to do because he does it for 5 minutes and then falls dead asleep...I don't want to promote this habit but nothing else consoles him. What should I be doing?
Posted: 08/27/2007 by kddunn
Mom Answers
I was having the same problem, and I decided that I wouldn't push naps since my son was sleeping through the night. He sleeps well in his crib at night, falling asleep on his own, but will not fall asleep in there in the day. Now he falls asleep when he's tired - in the car, stroller, baby wrap, nursing or even sometimes just lying on his own. If he falls asleep nursing, I move him to the crib, but if he is in his seat, I leave him there. On the ocassional day when he doesn't nap and is cranky, I put him in his crib and he plays quietly. He is happy and healthy, so it seems to be working! It has stopped my stress about naps and he seems to be fine with the arrangement. Good luck!
posted 10/01/2007 by supermandy99
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To the one asking... I am not sure how to teach him how to self-soothing by himself, do I have to let him cry? There are many opinions about this, but I believe they need to be taught how to self soothe. We soothe them, over and over, so that eventually they will be able to self-soothe. And we will know, because we watch them do it. If a baby is left alone to cry, I believe their eventual "quietness" isn't because they are self-soothing, as some "experts" say, but because they disassociate, from stress, because no one responded. They don't know you're just in the other room, only you do. And repeatedly disassociating must be psychologically toxic! Think of how many adults you know that have anxiety and abandonment issues. I feel we only have one chance on the first crucial few years, why not give them all the love and attention we can! You can't regret that. But, do what feels right to you. That's most important. This is just my own opinion.
posted 11/28/2010 by a BabyCenter Member
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13 out of 15 found this helpful
My 3 month old is working on this too. I am watching his sleep signals carefully and realize for him, almost exactly an hour after a feeding he is ready for a nap. at this point (starts rubbing eyes, yawning,ect) I hold him and pat his bag for a few minutes to relax him further, and then lay him down drowsy but awake. He usually will go right to sleep, if not, then I give him his pacifier and it works like a charm. My big problem is that he always wakes up early. I usually check to make sure he doesn't have a dirty diaper or need anything, then I pat him in his crib for a few minutes and/or give him his pacifier again and he goes back to sleep. You know the nap is long enough if they wake up happy, not cranky. If they are waking up cranky, probably the nap is too short.
posted 12/27/2009 by jidjid17
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12 out of 14 found this helpful
I also have a 3 month old who sleep Wonderful at night but fights naps during the day. I hate to use a crutch to help him but here are the things that work for us. 1. Swing- love it- we can usually place him in it when he is almost asleep or already asleep- we have it in our living room and he loves to watch the tv and fall asleep- he also takes his longest naps in the swing. Note- make sure the swing is in the recline position 2. holding him snug against you. my husband does this well- walk and bounce him and hold his head still with his head facing out. he may fight it for a second but usually passes out if tired. it is kind of like swaddling but for his head 3. Swaddling- we only use it at night- we found that he wakes himself up at night by streching and hiting himself in the head. we love the swaddler and the halo sac is great too 4. Bouncy seat- we had to bounce it until he was in deep sleep which can be annoying. we really had to bounce it too. Hope this helps!
posted 12/02/2009 by a BabyCenter Member
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6 out of 6 found this helpful
I have to take my 5 month old's arms out of her sleeves so that they are under her clothes. Tonight is the first time I've been able to get her to sleep for more than a couple hours. She can't get her suckie out and it just seems she is more comfortable.
posted 01/18/2008 by katie1983_2003
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8 out of 10 found this helpful
My baby began crying at when I brought her to her crib for bedtime at about one month old. It got worse until at 3 months, I had to wrestle her, swaddled and screaming to get her to sleep at night and for naps. Then I found a discussion online, where someone suggested the baby was crying before bed because they were hungry. My baby does not look hungry, and has always gained weight well, but I think I wasn't keeping a good schedule of feedings. After I started making sure she ate every 2.5-3 hours, without any delays she started to go to sleep easier. Also the discussion described possible bad associations with going to sleep, so I started more of a routine with reading together (even if she's just looking around), so that going to her room/crib, didn't just mean sleep but time together and then she would go to sleep much easier. It's still a screaming match if I don't get her started early enough (before being too tired), but it's much better than the earlier months. Good luck!
posted 10/14/2010 by a BabyCenter Member
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4 out of 4 found this helpful
Like some have said, maybe you're putting him down too early or too late. Or if you have noticed that he wakes up exactly 1 hour later it could be his sleep cycle is ending and he can't get back to sleep. That was the case with my 6 month old..she would wake up exactly 45 mins into her nap and couldn't get back to sleep. Once I helped her get past that, she now only stirs and sleeps for another hour, and wakes up happy and rested. You may want to consider that also! Babies aren't mature enough to get themselves to sleep when they're young and need help until they can master it.
posted 05/15/2010 by a BabyCenter Member
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5 out of 6 found this helpful
I have had the same problem. I was lax about it for a while and he would take little cat naps all day long...not good if you want to have any kind of life of your own. Recently, I tried staying in the room with him until he fell asleep. I think he would fight the crib because he was missing out on what was going on. As long as he knew I was there, he fell asleep pretty well. Once he was asleep, I would leave the room.
posted 11/28/2007 by reba1978
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5 out of 6 found this helpful
I was stressing about this same issue for quite a while. My now 4-month old was only napping in his swing and hated napping in his crib. I knew he'd be starting daycare soon and wouldn't have a swing there to nap, but I hated the fight of only get 30 minute naps from him in his crib. He is now starting to learn to VERY SLOWLY put himself back to sleep when he wakes up. It takes him a good 20 minutes of looking around his room, sucking his thumb/fingers, and a little fussing to get back to sleep. I've learned that when I put him in his room, I leave him in there for 2 hours and will only go to him if he's screaming crying. That way I make sure I've given him enough time to get good sleep. As far as the swaddling goes, I thought I'd never get him out of a swaddle, but I started with one arm, then both, and then I switched to the Sleep Sacks which we still use. The self-soothing is definitely a maturity level skill. My guy wasn't ready for it at 3 months but is better now! Good luck
posted 08/16/2010 by kickercooper
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4 out of 4 found this helpful
Same problem far he's hit or miss as far as naps. He sleeps well at night, when we get him to sleep, but he usually fights pretty good and I end up giving in and nursing him to sleep. A couple of times I let him cry for no more than 5 minutes and only sometimes does that work. It's been hard starting a "routine" because of the way he naps and nurses. Sometimes I take a nap with him, that seems to be the best way, but I'm also in that does not leave a lot of study time. Wish I could help more. Hang in there.
posted 12/21/2009 by Angelicarenee
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Film: Feature Films
Production: 'Becoming Jody' (See all 6 roles)
Thug (Day Player)
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Production Details
Casting "Becoming Jody," an ultra low budget experimental type, narrative film which will be shot in black in white 16x9. Phlegm and Amy's daughter, Jody went over to the neighbors...more
Male, ages 30-64, All Ethnicities
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Thug: (Day Player) a gangster type, a thug.
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Reference > The Bible > The King James Version > Amos > 7
Amos 6 Amos 8
The Holy Bible: King James Version. 2000.
Three Visions of Destruction
1 Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
4 ¶ Thus hath the Lord GOD showed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
9 and the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jerobo'am with the sword.
Amos and Amaziah
10 ¶ Then Amazi'ah the priest of Beth–el sent to Jerobo'am king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words.
11 For thus Amos saith, Jerobo'am shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land.
13 but prophesy not again any more at Beth–el: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
14 ¶ Then answered Amos, and said to Amazi'ah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit:
Published by The American Bible Society
Amos 6 Amos 8
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The Holy Well
By John Fletcher (1579–1625)
FROM 1 thy forehead thus I take
These herbs, and charge thee not awake
Till in yonder holy well
Thrice, with powerful magic spell,
Filled with many a baleful word, 5
Thou hast been dipped. Thus, with my cord
Of blasted hemp, by moonlight twined,
I do thy sleepy body bind.
I turn thy head unto the east,
And thy feet unto the west, 10
Thy left arm to the south put forth,
And thy right unto the north,
I take thy body from the ground,
In this deep and deadly swound,
And into this holy spring 15
I let thee slide down by my string.
Take this maid, thou holy pit,
To thy bottom; nearer yet;
In thy water pure and sweet,
By thy leave I dip her feet; 20
Thus I let her lower yet,
That her ankles may be wet;
Yet down lower, let her knee
In thy waters washèd be.
There stop. Fly away, 25
Everything that loves the day!
Truth, that hath but one face,
Thus I charm thee from this place.
Snakes that cast your coats for new,
Chameleons that alter hue, 30
Hares that yearly sexes change,
Proteus altering oft and strange,
Hecate with shapes three,
Let this maiden changèd be,
With this holy water wet, 35
To the shape of Amoret!
Cynthia, work thou with my charm!
Thus I draw thee free from harm,
Up out of this blessèd lake:
Rise both like her and awake! 40
Note 1. From The Faithful Shepherdess, 1609–10, act iii. sc. 1. [back]
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Your guide to Chesaeake Country's freshest produce and more!
KIDS Homeschool Day at CMM
Event Date:
April 24, 2013 - 10:30am
Students experiment with prisms to discover how a lighthouse lens works, learn how to send a message with signal flags, build a wooden toy boat and more. 30-minute programs repeated thruout the day. Starting at 10:30am at Calvert Marine Museum, Solomons. $7 admission w/discounts: 410-326-2042;
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Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life
Faith in Boston: How Congregations Confront the Changing Urban Structure
Event Recap
Days after the Boston Archdiocese announced its process to choose which churches would be closed, the Boisi Center hosted Professor Lowell Livezey, a visiting professor at the Harvard Divinity School, who spoke about his ongoing research on urban congregations in Boston and Chicago. Focusing on the Boston congregations in this presentation, Livezey discussed the patterns of demographic shift in the Boston area. He described the more recent emergence of large commuter churches and compared these to the features of neighborhood churches. The commuter church follows an entrepreneurial model of church building that seeks to draw members from a broad geographic area. These are “niche” churches that appeal to a common cultural ideal which might be a particular kind of demographic emphasis, i.e. well educated, suburban, environmentalists. Their members tend to be more homogeneous in terms of race, social background, lifestyle and interests and, because of this, members are more likely to form more personal bonds with one another. To address the intimacy challenges which these large mega churches encounter, they are also more likely to form small personal fellowship groups based on shared interests, i.e. young mothers with toddlers, fathers who fish, etc.
The neighborhood church tends to be smaller, is more likely to be racially mixed, and because ties are based on a geographic sense of place, members are less likely to have the kinds of strong intimate social ties that emerge from shared interests and background. On the other hand, these relationships are more likely to be layered because they are tied to place rather than interest. For example, one might know a fellow member from the playground, see them at the grocery store, and say hello to them at church. Their membership at church is more likely to be ascribed and habitual rather than chosen. Members of neighborhood churches are also more likely to focus on social action targets within their neighborhood, and are more closely tied to their local community in a number of ways. While he did not endorse one model over another, Livezey‘s presentation clearly showed the different qualities that are present in each of the ideal types.
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Ordain; Ordination
or-dan', or-di-na-shun (Latin ordinare, "to set in order" "to arrange"; in post-Augustan Latin "to appoint to office"; from ordo, gen. ordinis, "order," "arrangement"):
In the King James Version the verb "to ordain" renders as many as 35 different words (11 Hebrew words in the Old Testament, 21 Greek words in Apocrypha and the New Testament, and 3 Latin words in Apocrypha). This is due to the fact that the English word has many shades of meaning (especially as used in the time the King James Version was made), of which the following are the chief:
(1) To set in order, arrange, prepare:
"All things that we ordained festival,
Turn from their office to black funeral."
--Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, IV, v, 84.
This meaning is now obsolete. It is found in the King James Version of Psalms 132:17; Isaiah 30:33; Hebrews 9:6 (in each of which cases the Revised Version (British and American) or margin substitutes "prepare"); 1 Chronicles 17:9 (the Revised Version (British and American) "appoint"); Psalms 7:13 (the Revised Version (British and American) "maketh"); Habakkuk 1:12 (also the Revised Version (British and American)).
(2) To establish, institute, bring into being:
"When first this order (i.e. the Garter) was ordained, my Lord" (Shakespeare). So in 1 Kings 12:32, "Jeroboam ordained a feast in the 8th month" (12:33); Numbers 28:6; Psalms 8:2,3; Isaiah 26:12; 2 Esdras 6:49 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "preserve"); Sirach 7:15; Galatians 3:19.
(3) To decree, give orders, prescribe:
"And doth the power that man adores
Ordain their doom " --Byron.
So Esther 9:27, "The Jews ordained .... that they would keep these two days according to the writing thereof"; 1 Esdras 6:34; 2 Esdras 7:17; 8:14 the King James Version; Tobit 1:6; 8:7 the King James Version (the Revised Version (British and American) "command"); Additions to Esther 14:9; 1 Macc 4:59; 7:49; Acts 16:4; Romans 7:10 the King James Version; 1 Corinthians 2:7; 7:17; 9:14; Ephesians 2:10 the King James Version.
(4) To set apart for an office or duty, appoint, destine:
"Being ordained his special governor" (Shakespeare). Frequent in EV. When the King James Version has "ordain" in this sense, the Revised Version (British and American) generally substitutes "appoint"; e.g. "He (Jesus) appointed (the King James Version "ordained") twelve, that they might be with him" (Mark 3:14). So 2 Chronicles 11:15; Jeremiah 1:5; Daniel 2:24; 1 Esdras 8:49; 1Ma 3:55; 10:20; John 15:16; Acts 14:23; 1 Timothy 2:7; Titus 1:5; Hebrews 5:1; 8:3. The Revised Version (British and American) substitutes "formedst" in The Wisdom of Solomon 9:2, "recorded" in Sirach 48:10, "become" in Acts 1:22, "written of" (margin "set forth") in Jude 1:4, but retains "ordain" in the sense of "appoint," "set apart," in 2 Kings 23:5; 1 Chronicles 9:22; 1 Esdras 8:23; Additions to Esther 13:6; Acts 10:42; 13:48; 17:31; Romans 13:1.
(5) To appoint ceremonially to the ministerial or priestly office, to confer holy orders on. This later technical or ecclesiastical sense is never found in English Versions of the Bible. The nearest approach is (4) above, but the idea of formal or ceremonial setting-apart to office (prominent in its modern usage) is never implied in the word.
The act of arranging in regular order, especially the act of investing with ministerial or sacerdotal rank (ordo), the setting-apart for an office in the Christian ministry. The word does not occur in English Version of the Bible. The New Testament throws but little light on the origin of the later ecclesiastical rite of ordination. The 12 disciples were not set apart by any formal act on the part of Jesus. In Mark 3:14; John 15:16, the King James Version rendering "ordain" is, in view of its modern usage, misleading; nothing more is implied than an appointment or election. In John 20:21-23, we have indeed a symbolic act of consecration ("He breathed on them"), but "the act is described as one and not repeated. The gift was once for all, not to individuals but to the abiding body" (Westcott, at the place). In the Apostolic age there is no trace of the doctrine of an outward rite conferring inward grace, though we have instances of the formal appointment or recognition of those who had already given proof of their spiritual qualification.
(1) The Seven were chosen by the brethren as men already "full of the Spirit and of wisdom," and were then "appointed" by the Twelve, who prayed and laid their hands upon them (Acts 6:1-6).
(2) The call of Barnabas and Saul came direct from God (Acts 13:2, "the work whereunto I have called them"; Acts 13:4, they were "sent forth by the Holy Spirit"). Yet certain prophets and teachers were instructed by the Holy Spirit to "separate" them (i.e. publicly) for their work, which they did by fasting and praying and laying on of hands (Acts 13:3). But it was utterly foreign to Paul's point of view to regard the church's act as constituting him an apostle (compare Galatians 1:1).
(3) Barnabas and Paul are said to have "ordained," the Revised Version (British and American) "appointed" (cheirotonesantes, "elect," "appoint," without indicating the particular mode of appointment), elders or presbyters in every city with prayers and fasting (Acts 14:23). So Titus was instructed by Paul to "appoint elders in every city" in Crete (Titus 1:5).
(4) The gift of Timothy for evangelistic work seems to have been formally recognized in two ways:
(a) by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery (1 Timothy 4:14),
(b) by the laying on of the hands of Paul himself (2 Timothy 1:6). The words "Lay hands hastily on no man" (1 Timothy 5:22) do not refer to an act of ordination, but probably to the restoration of the penitent. The reference in Hebrews 6:2 is not exclusively to ordination, but to all occasions of laying on of hands (see HANDS, IMPOSITION OF). From the few instances mentioned above (the only ones found in the New Testament), we infer that it was regarded as advisable that persons holding high office in the church should be publicly recognized in some way, as by laying on of hands, fasting, and public prayer. But no great emphasis was laid on this rite, hence, "it can hardly be likely that any essential principle was held to be involved in it" (Hort, The Christian Ecclesia, 216). It was regarded as an outward act of approval, a symbolic offering of intercessory prayer, and an emblem of the solidarity of the Christian community, rather than an indispensable channel of grace for the work of the ministry. (For the later ecclesiastical doctrine and rite see Edwin Hatch's valuable article on "Ordination" in the Dictionary of Christian Antiquity)
D. Miall Edwards
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'ORDAIN; ORDINATION'". "International Standard Bible Encyclopedia". 1915.
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2 Chronicles 7 (New King James Version)
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1 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house. 3 When all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed their faces to the ground on the pavement, and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying: "For He is good, For His mercy endures forever." a 4 Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. 5 King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 6 And the priests attended to their services; the Levites also with instruments of the music of the Lord, which King David had made to praise the Lord, saying, "For His mercy endures forever," b whenever David offered praise by their ministry. The priests sounded trumpets opposite them, while all Israel stood. 7 Furthermore Solomon consecrated the middle of the court that was in front of the house of the Lord; for there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the peace offerings, because the bronze altar which Solomon had made was not able to receive the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat. 8 At that time Solomon kept the feast seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the Brook of Egypt. c 9 And on the eighth day they held a sacred assembly, for they observed the dedication of the altar seven days, and the feast seven days. 10 On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for the good that the Lord had done for David, for Solomon, and for His people Israel. 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king's house; and Solomon successfully accomplished all that came into his heart to make in the house of the Lord and in his own house. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: "I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, 14 if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 15 Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to prayer made in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and sanctified this house, that My name may be there forever; and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and My judgments, 18 then I will establish the throne of your kingdom, as I covenanted with David your father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man as ruler in Israel.' 19 "But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, 'Why has the Lord done thus to this land and this house?' 22 Then they will answer, 'Because they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and embraced other gods, and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this calamity on them.' "
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Biology Articles » Botany » Aspects of Plant Intelligence » Communication to construct intelligent networks
Communication to construct intelligent networks
- Aspects of Plant Intelligence
Intelligence requires a network of elements capable of adaptively variable information flow to underpin intelligent behaviour. In animals, nerve cells are specifically adapted by structure to enable rapid phenotypic adjustments and computation. But, critically, a network requires communication between the elements.
Communication in neural systems
Much early work in the last century hinged on the notion that communication across nerve synapses and throughout the brain was purely electrical. Action potentials jumped across the synaptic divide propagating further action potentials downstream. A contrasting view suggested that communication between nerve cells was performed solely by chemicals, although these in turn would generate action potentials down the long axon. Neurotransmitters were released by fusion of secretory vesicles with the plasma membrane. Specific neurotransmitter receptors across the synapse induced a new action potential by modifying ligand-operated ion channel function. The chemical messenger theory is correct: 99 % of all communication in the brain is chemical (Greengard, 2001). Action potentials are used primarily to speed communication down the long nerve cell axons.
Two kinds of chemical transmission are recognized. Fast transmission, completed in milliseconds, uses the neurotransmitter glutamate and glutamate receptors; fast inhibition uses {gamma}-aminobutyric acid (GABA). Slow transmission can take many minutes and is enormously more complex, involving at least 100 different chemicals falling into four classes: biogenic amines, peptides, amino acids and nitric oxide (Greengard, 2001). Quite remarkably, glutamate has recently been found to influence cytosolic [Ca2+]i in plant cells and nitric oxide is a recognized second messenger in plant cells (Dennison and Spalding, 2000).
Communication between and within plant tissues
That the various parts of plants communicate with each other has been established by many experiments. Various surgical treatments (such as removal of root or shoot or leaves, mimicking predation or other damage), resource stress (lack of light or water or minerals) or exposure of one part of a plant to varying resource levels, give rise to specific changes in growth and development elsewhere in the plant, indicating communication of the stimulus. Such phenomena have been called correlations. In these above cases, development is usually adjusted to try and recover a balance between root and shoot or to ensure a better balance of basic resources. [Note, again, the presence of a goal (set point) and an error-correcting (learning) mechanism.] Flowering, tuberization, bud break, enhanced root growth and branching can follow selective exposure of leaves to particular light periods. Signals are thus transmitted from the leaf to other tissues (Trewavas, 1986b).
Shortage of specific resources leads to accelerated growth of the tissue (either as elongation, weight or branching) that normally collects the resource. In contrast, abundance of all resources leads to increased branching or, if the resource is localized, often local branching. When shaded, shade-intolerant species show substantial elongation of the primary stem (at the expense of lateral stem growth), increased leaf area and a disproportionate reduction in the growth of fine roots (Bloom et al., 1985). Shortage of water leads to enhanced root growth and particular proliferation when an abundance of resources is located. Lake et al. (2001) observed that high CO2 levels reduce stomatal frequencies, but the CO2 signals are sensed by mature leaves and the information conveyed to developing leaves which cannot respond to high CO2. Communication of aphid attack between plants has recently been shown to involve other volatiles (Petterson et al., 1999).
By use of a microbeam of red light, Nick et al. (1993) provided convincing evidence for cell-to-cell communication between cotyledon cells with long-range inhibition of gene expression in un-irradiated cotyledon cells at some distance from the irradiated patch. Moreover, the cell regions responding were, in turn, specifically determined by the region irradiated, suggesting selective communication only between certain cells in the cotyledon.
The information that is being communicated between tissues and cells is now known to be extraordinarily complex. Communication involves nucleic acids, oligonucleotides, proteins and peptides, minerals, oxidative signals, gases, hydraulic and other mechanical signals, electrical signals, lipids, wall fragments (oligosaccharides), growth regulators, some amino acids, secondary products of many kinds, minerals and simple sugars (Bose, 1924; Gilroy and Trewavas 1990, 2001; Jorgensen et al., 1998; Sheen et al., 1999; Mott and Buckley, 2000; Sessions et al., 2000; Kim et al., 2001; Nakajima et al., 2001; Brownlee, 2002; Haywood et al., 2002; Takayama and Sakagami, 2002; Voinnet, 2002; references on growth regulators in Quatrano et al., 2002). Transcripts can even move between graft unions (Kim et al., 2001). From the current rate of progress, it looks as though plant communication is likely to be as complex as that within a brain. The demonstration of macromolecule movement between cells is of considerable significance because it enables substantial amounts of information to be built into the signal if needed; thus complex information can be encoded in the signal.
Plasmodesmata controlling information flow
Plasmodesmatal connections enable movement of proteins and nucleic acids as well as smaller molecules between plant cells (Zambryski and Crawford, 2000). Movement of transcription factors and nucleic acids has the potential to activate or repress genes in cells remote from the source by activation of DNA methylation or by mRNA translation; oligonucleotides with specific sequences can silence genes. To create a complex, cellular network capable of computation also requires particular cellular locales for specific receptors remote from the source of the signal. Alternatively, substantive variation in sensitivity to the same signal between individual cells might achieve the same end.
Furthermore, just as synaptic connections (dendrites) can be increased to amplify particular pathways of communication during learning, individual cells can modulate the extent of plasmodesmatal transport. Physiological alterations of plasmodesmatal transport result from anaerobic and osmotic stress, or changes in [Ca2+]i or inositol phosphates (Ding et al., 1999). I expect this list to increase. Even slight changes in growing conditions have been observed to modify signal transmission (Zambryski and Crawford, 2000). Quantitative and qualitative changes in plasmodesmatal number occur during development, and secondary plasmodesmata can be formed in the absence of cell division and can even branch rather like the synthesis of new dendrites.
Plasmodesmatal connections seem to be limited to adjacent cells. Whether plasmodesmatal strength, analogous to synaptic strength, could be increased is not clear but, intriguingly, one of the proteins that binds plasmodesmatal proteins is pectin methylesterase (Jackson, 2000). Such observations might imply that connections between plasmodesmata and the wall can be altered and that mechanical constraints alter plasmodesmatal function leading to a modified flux of information. In this case wall interactions could control the ability of plasmodesmata to act like an information valve, changing flux rates according to mechanical stresses imposed either by the environment or resulting from mechanical stresses induced by growth.
Communication within cells
Communication within cells is equally complex, and stable and transient transduction complexes are known to be used to interpret new information (Gilroy and Trewavas, 2001). Cytosolic Ca2+, [Ca2+]i, in particular, seems to act as a cellular second messenger with ubiquitous roles in signal transduction and intracellular communication. [Ca2+]i has very limited cytoplasmic mobility, and enhanced entry through channels following signalling activates Ca2+-binding proteins within the microdomain in which channels are clustered (Trewavas, 2002a). Localized intracellular distributions and particular control properties of channels and ATPases that pump Ca2+ back into subcellular compartments or walls result in Ca2+ waves and oscillations (Mahlo et al., 1998; Schroeder et al., 2001), a rich source of information and specific communication. Rapidly moving Ca2+ waves have been observed in a number of cell types and thus can act to coordinate parts of the recipient cell towards a behavioural objective (Sanders et al., 2002). The wave moves on the surface of cellular membranes, most probably the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and inner plasma membrane surface. The wave itself is a movement of Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release and not a physical transmission of Ca2+ ions. Topological similarities between Ca2+ waves and simple neural circuits enabling aspects of computation to be understood have already been drawn (Trewavas, 1999).
Many different environmental signals (e.g. touch, wind, cold, disease, gravity, etc.) modify [Ca2+]i and are responsible for generating phenotypic plasticity. How can a single ion mediate such response variety? The reality is that [Ca2+]i is just one of a large number of signals that operate in signal transduction, but one that acts as a nodal point in a robust transduction network. Complexity in [Ca2+]i signalling is increased by contributions from various organelles, such as the nucleus, ER or chloroplast (Van der Luit et al., 1999). The nucleus is thought to have its own Ca2+ mobilizing system, and mitochondria and chloroplasts have internal Ca2+ control. The ER and the vacuole modify cytoplasmic signals (Sanders et al., 2002). Different closing signals in guard cells elicit Ca2+ responses from different compartments (Gilroy and Trewavas, 2001). The amplitude and kinetics of the Ca2+ transient (wave) and different regions of the transient can also initiate discrete transduction sequences. Changes in [Ca2+]i can be extremely rapid (within the 100 ms range) and can initiate selective changes in gene expression. Changes in [Ca2+]i are also essential to communication and learning within nerve cells (Greengard, 2001).
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Elorac, Inc. Announces Orphan Drug Designation for Novel Topical Treatment for Pruritus in Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma (CTCL)
11/30/2010 9:11:54 AM
VERNON HILLS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Elorac, Inc., a rapidly growing specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of dermatological disorders announced that it has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its naloxone lotion for the topical treatment of pruritus accompanying cutaneous t-cell lymphoma (CTCL, also known as mycosis fungoides).
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Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Half-Life 2 wrote:
(I have changed my character in to a vampire.)
Chaos turned to the other vampire and jumped to him. The other vampire quickly turned around and round housed kicked Chaos in the jaw.
"Now i under stand the power of the amulet. It turns you into a complete bad a-"
Chaos was cut off by the vampire with another hit to the jaw. Chaos copied his exact movements as if his own, he was able to snatch the amulet and knock the vampire out. The amulet began to glow and shoved itself into the opening in his chest. Sorry, you cant change the race of your character after all thats happened. Also, you cant take the centerpoint of this rpg, and change it so that its now YOUR rpg. You clearly have not read what is going on in this rpg, you consulted no one when you decided to take the amulet and put it in your characters chest, which has NOTHING to do with the plot of this rpg. I admire your spirit, but you clearly do not know what you are doing my friend. And you dont seem to care.
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
**I'm sorry Half-Life 2, but Val is right. As RPG author I permit your character as fair game to other players...**
Emeline looked over the gathering of beings, generally she did not share her knowledge of the Amulet of Delkath nor of Ansgar the Destroyer, but times were dire and right now she could use all the help she could get.
“We don’t have much time, so I’ll keep this short. The Amulet of Delkath, the amulet that seems to be so popular today, is actually a key.” Emeline started.
“A key to what exactly?” Fen snapped.
“If you’d let me finish I’ll tell you. The amulet is the key to Ansgar the Destroyer’s tomb. Ansgar is a vampire and a mage. Worse he’s a necromancer, meaning he controls the dead. As you can imagine, he loves power, therefore he wants everything dead. He was sealed in his tomb centuries ago, the only item able to release him is the Amulet of Delkath.” Emeline told.
“Can we destroy the amulet to stop its use?” Avlynn asked.
“No, to destroy it would also release Ansgar.” Emeline told. She was about to continue when they heard fighting. “It’s here, kill the bearer if you must as their only desire is to take the amulet to Ansgar’s tomb.”
Avlynn shifted to Fen’s side. “Let’s hunt together, my friend. Like old times...”
BFFC Moderator
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
The team of seven marched into the cemetary and the fog enveloped them. They immediatly began losing track of one another and had to stay close. This was was...surreal. It muffled sound and masked scent.
"Alright, lets split up and look for the bearer." Dan suggested.
"Isn't that what's said right before everyone is picked off one by one?" Avlynn said cocking her eyebrow
"Yes, but we arent half naked irresponsible teens. We're monsters and monster slayers." Dan said as he took three large flares from a pouch and cracked them open. He jammed them into the twisted bark of a tree next to him in such a way that it was visible from all sides.
"Ok, after 10 minutes meet back here and report. We want the amulet, but we also need to know where the crypt is for Ansgar." Dan said to everyone. It was the best way to cover ground, so no one seemed to opposed. Three squads broke apart, the slayers Dan and Lev, the old friends Fen and Avlynn, and the two vampires with the newcomer. Each squad disappeared into the fog.
After a few minutes and quietly trodding through row after row of ominous gravestones, Lev called for a halt.
"...hear it?" He asked.
"Yes....50-60 yards...that way." Dan said pointing his G36c in a direction of 'thud's and voices. The two slayers broke into a jog and with military precision tracked down the source.
Dan and Lev ducked behind a large family grave stone and peered over the edge when close enough. What greeted then was a large, purple and black monstrosity. Their warding stones told them it was a vampire. It had wings, and a freakish purple helmet. In its hand was the amulet of Delkath.
The previous bearer, the vampire in the fedora and suit, was sitting against the wall of a large mausoleum entrance, attempting to overcome the shock from being possessed by the amulet and also being attacked by the purple monstrosity.
Dan began to relay ambush commands with hand signals, and Lev responded as well: Swing around to the left, behind him. Encircle, position, fire, move in for the kill. Covering fire.
Dan sprung up and quietly ran around through the fog to get behind him and Lev leaned over the gravestone and began unloading with his .44 magnum and express revolver. Several bullets wizzed by, but then began to pepper his body and the creature dropped the amulet to the floor.
As the creature howled in rage and annoyance it spun around and fired a large pistol at Lev, which missed.
Lev blew apart the creatures knee and its leg flew off. It fell to the ground and Lev stood up and emptied his pistols at him, blowing his left arm off with the powerful pistols. He ducked behind the grave stone to reload and the creature took flight, hissing in pain.
At this point, Dan was behind the creature and when full auto on his ***. He fell from the sky like a dying bat, screaming in anger as his wings were littered with holes. It fell to the ground with a thud and Dan walked up to it. It was still alive, but healing fast and would soon be able to fight again.
"Its healing." Dan called to Lev. Dan locked eyes with the creature as it breathed heavily. It could not speak becase a bullet had shattered his jaw, and teeth were scattered across the ground. His tongue hung from his head, the lower jaw no longer present to keep his loud mouth shut.
"FINISH HIM!!!" Lev called as he finished reloading.
Dan looked at Lev, and then met eyes with the creature once more and he watched the jaw begin to reform. Dan withdrew his long katana.
"...Death, is only the beginning. This fatality will simply-." The creature was cut off by the katana slicing through the air, seemingly dragging wind with it, and severing his head from his body. It fell to the ground with a mushy thump, and the body went limp. Dan swung the katana swiftly to the side, the blood on the blade flying off.
".................Flawless Victory."
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Emeline, Ronson and Morgan arrived on the scene as the slayers took the final blow against the amulet’s bearer. Emeline immediately removed a cloth from her pocket and picked up the amulet by its chain.
“Put it down before it possesses you,” Ronson advised.
Emeline shook her head, “This cloth is blessed by the Oracle, it counters the amulet’s curse.”
“Nifty, can I have one of those?” Dan asked.
“I have a different job for you,” Emeline informed the slayer. “Burn the beast you slay. It may be without head but it’s always best to be sure.”
Dan smiled, “What the lady wants, the lady gets.”
“Good,” Emeline turned to Morgan, “You are more than you let on. Your sense of smell can tell us much. Please scent the amulet and track down Ansgar’s tomb.”
Morgan looked disgusted. “I’m not a hound dog.”
Avlynn and Fen arrived at that moment. “You want a hound dog?” Avlynn asked, “Fen’s your man.”
“Excellent,” Emeline said as she held forth the amulet, “Do not touch it, whatever you do.”
Both Fen and Avlynn scented the amulet. “We’ll see what we can do,” Avlynn told.
Emeline turned back to the others. “Okay, now we need to get this amulet as far away from here...” looking up Emeline spotted more of the Brotherhood materialise. “I knew it was only a matter of time.” She quickly wrapped the amulet in the sacred cloth and place it in her pocked as she reached for her weapon.
If it bleeds, we can kill it.
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
A cross wind had muddled both Avlynn and Fen’s sense of smell. The pair had walked in silence as both had scented the air in search of the amulet bearer.
Surprisingly Fen broke the silence, “I don’t understand you, Avlynn. You say you want to be normal, yet I come across you and within 24 hours you’re teaming up with slayers and vampires.”
Avlynn gave a weak smile, “This isn’t a normal day for me, Fen. This Amulet of Delkath seems to be the reason for the sudden turn in my normally dull life.”
“I don’t get it,” Fen said with snarl, “why do you want dull and boring? Why don’t you live like you’re supposed to?”
Avlynn sighed, “Once I reached maturity I seemed to become a failure in the eyes of the pack. Hell, you just about bit my head off when I suggested going to university.”
“The university you wanted to go to was two hours away from the pack,” Fen growled.
“It was the closest that offer the course I wanted to do,” Avlynn explained, “Besides you thought me mad for wanting a job.”
“We have the wealth of the pack. Crispin has his crew who play the stock market so we’ve always got cash.” Fen pointed out.
“Call it pride but I wanted to earn my own way,” Avlynn told.
“It’s taken you 23 years to save up for university? Man you must be a crap waitress.” Fen replied scathingly.
Avlynn grabbed Fen by the shirt front, “Take that back!”
“Make me,” Fen said as he drew closer, taunting her.
Before she could make a move the sound of fighting erupted, “Saved by the scream,” Avlynn told as she released Fen.
They arrived to find it all over and Emeline requiring a hound dog. Scenting the amulet the pair started off but then the Brotherhood freaks appeared. “Looks like it’s fighting time again,” Avlynn said and waited for Fen’s taunting reply.
BFFC Moderator
131 (edited by BFFC-Mel Friday, September 18, 2009 3:14 pm)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
First im new hear
Second i didn't take over
Im f#$king tired of all your complaining so go get a god damn life
and f@#k your permit to
**Edited for swearing - in the rules you agreed to when becoming a member**
[color=orange]Give me my [b]Crowbar!!![/b][/color]
132 (edited by Adeptus_Astartes Saturday, September 12, 2009 11:06 am)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Half-Life 2 wrote:
First im new here**
Second i didn't take over
and **** your permit to
**Edited spelling.
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Half-Life 2 wrote:
First im new hear
Second i didn't take over
Im _____ tired of all your complaining so go get a god damn life
and ____your permit to
Dry your tears and close the door on your way out.
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
134 (edited by Valthonin Saturday, September 12, 2009 1:51 pm)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Just as the tide had turned and the party had gained possession of the amulet, the evil mages reappeared, completely encircling the party.
The pressence of magic made everyone's skin tingle, and colors began to fly as the minions began casting spells.
"SPREAD OUT!!" Dan yelled and opened fire. Everyone began shooting while Morgan and Fen rushed one side with their melee weapons and cut a swath in the circle of minions.
"Move NOW!" Ronsom called and everyone ran through the opening. Purple Magic Missles chased after them and a fireball erupted in the spot they were just standing in. Dan and Emeline were tossed away and tumbled to the floor, Dan crushing a gravestone.
"ROLL, ROLL!" Someone called to Dan as we recovered from the shock.
"YOU ARE ON FIRE!!" Dan could tell it was Emeline now, she began to pat him down, but her vampire strength just ended up feeling like hammers. He rolled away and continued to roll until he didn't feel the heat anymore.
"Are you alright?" Emeline asked him, putting her hand on his ribs. She could sense he had pain there.
"My gun cut into me as I rolled. I may be bleeding." Dan said wincing. Emeline reached into her pocket and withdrew a little silver tin. She opened it and applied a white salve onto her hand and returned the tin to her pocket. She slipped her hand in under Dan's shirt faster than he could react, and Dan felt the cool salve cover his wound and he immediatly felt better.
Emeline watched her actions, but Dan watched Emeline. Her emerald eyes were a stark contrast to her red hair. Her hand was soft, and cold, against his chest. Emeline finally noticed Dan looking, and looked back through her bangs at him. It was now evident that the salve was fully applied, and yet Emeline continued to slowly caress Dan's chest.
The sound of chanting brought the two out of their stupor, and Emeline stood, pretending nothing happened. Dan followed suit. The two could see the battle had progressed several yards away, but thats not where this different chanting was coming from...
"Where..." Emeline asked, almost to herself. Dan raised his gun and looked through the fog to their left, where the moonlight reveiled a mauseum complex, and a lone figure standing amongst it.
(figure in the picture isnt really him)
The dark man's face was covered by a cowl, and the chanting emanating from him made Dan's ears ring.
"No...NO!" Emeline shouted, which notified Dan of the evil intent in this man. Dan opened fire, but the bullets dissintigrated without the figure even raising a finger. Emeline leapt at him, but a minion exploded into existence with green fire behind the man and launched an impact spell at her.
She tumbled to the ground at Dan's feet.
"Stop, him..." She said as she recovered from the fall. Dan lowered his gun and withdrew the katana, an odd wind swept through the cemetery. He charged, but it was too late.
From the figure's outstretched hands shot out bright green electricity the jumped into the ground and took the feeling from Dan's legs. He crumbled to the ground and yelled in pain as the green electricy began to course in and out of the ground, encircling grave stones and dead trees. The lightning flew through the entire cemetery with increadible speed.
When it stopped, an eerie silence took over the grave yard, and Dan turned back to the mausoleum to see both the dark figure and his minion gone. The sound of battle had ceased, and the rest of the party stood in shock some ways away at what had just occured.
Dan and Emeline helped one another up, and all stood in waiting.
Dan felt something at his feet, pulling his boot. He looked down. It was a grey, decaying hand coming out of the ground.
"...ZOMBIEEEEES!" Dan yelled to the party
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
The moment Emeline had realised Mar was on the scene, she knew things were about to get very bad. The right hand man... well thing, of Ansgar had woken the dead. She hadn’t had the time to try and counter his spell and now they were deep in the cemetery and the dead were rising.
She knew that the spell would only be temporary, only Ansgar could keep the dead going until they disintegrated. Unfortunately Mar’s power was much more potent than the Brotherhood minions. Chances were these zombies could last up to a week. “Take off their heads! They’ll only die if you destroy the brain!” she shouted to the others.
She immediately brought her Belgian Crossbow Gun (BCG) to hand and loaded it up with small arrows. The BCG was fast and had a fair punch, enough to penetrate the skull of an undead creature.
Emeline knew the most effective way to stop the spell was to kill the caster, unfortunately Mar seem more slippery than an eel. She tried to manoeuvre her way through the newly sprouting zombies but their grey flesh torn hands kept grabbing at her ankles. She stomped on the free hand that lashed out to grab her right leg and ignored the sickening crunch of bones snapping into decayed flesh.
“Where’s a flame thrower when I need it...” Emeline muttered then had an idea. “Anyone with a blade, don’t freak out at what I’m about to do.” She called as she began to chant.
Suddenly every sword and dagger in the hands of its owner set alight.
“What the hell?” Dan cried as he almost dropped his sword.
“It won’t burn the welder of the blade, only the object of the attack, if you get my meaning.” Emeline told then demonstrated with her own stolen sword. Its flaming blade sliced easily through a zombie arm and the flames immediately travelled over the walking corpse and ignited it in fire.
If it bleeds, we can kill it.
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Avlynn and Fen had started their search for Ansgar’s tomb when they heard a distinct rumble and then the ground seemed to shake in protest. “What was that?” Avlynn asked.
“How the hell should I know?” Fen replied.
Avlynn looked around then her nose was touched by the scent of death. “Do you smell that?”
Fen hissed and let out a breath through his mouth, “Decay and death. But we are in a graveyard.”
“It’s very strong though,” Avlynn started then screeched as something grabbed her leg.
Fen grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her away from the bony hand with yellowing flesh peeling away. “Zombies,” he growled.
Avlynn quickly patted her pockets and found a pair of sheaths, each with a dagger. “Here,” Avlynn said as she handed one to Fen. “I assume you’d rather not bite the undead.”
Before Fen could comment their blades suddenly caught fire.
BFFC Moderator
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Fen yelped in surprise as flames suddenly sprang up the dagger in his hands. He dropped it on the ground where it extinguished itself. He realized he had his scimitars strapped on his back. He pulled one of them out and it ignited as well. He watched as the female vampire sliced a zombie with her sword and it caught on fire, moaning and flailing while it burned. Finally it fell to the ground dead...deader than it was before. Fen tossed Avlynn's dagger back to her. He pulled out his second scimitar and gave her that as well.
"Here. Take my other blade. Yours don't exactly give you a reach advantage." Fen slashed out at the zombie coming up behind him. The head fell to the ground and they body fell as well.
Lev laughed. "Just like my old boxing coach used to tell me. Where the head goes the body will follow."
Fen glided his blade from one target to the next. The dead flesh parted and immediately caught flame. Fen took the time to survey the scene. Undead were everywhere and still coming out of the ground.
"There are a lot of them." Avlynn cut one from shoulder to groin.
"We're in a graveyard. What do you expect."
Fen grunted and continued cutting two undead in one stroke. This might take awhile.
138 (edited by Adeptus_Astartes Monday, September 14, 2009 1:46 am)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
**Actually Adeptus, Emeline has the amulet now...**
BFFC Moderator
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Ronsom's butterfly swords erupted. The spell placed on the swords amplified the fire. But the smaller blade length didn't give him much advantage in that regard. He sweeped, cut, stabbed, chopped his way As he moved through the head of the latest zombie, blood hit him in the side of the head. He turned toward it. A headless zombie falling to the ground.
He didn't question it, forced to keep himself moving. Making a curved path back toward Emeline. He made it nearly unscathed. Making a few near misses, each time saved by an unknown ally nearby.
"Tired..." Ronsom kept close.
"Yeah, I had to eat too." He almost cut Santiago's head off, he looked terrible. Covered in bite marks and lacerations.
"Fighting the good fight are we?" Iago hefted a pump-action shotgun.
I'll abdicate at the drop of a hat
(BFFC Moderator)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
(Hey Maltese, just some clarification. I thought Iago was gone, and hes reappered. From what I understand he left to feed and he came back right? or am i not getting it...)
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
(I wasn't sure what to do with the post and never really killed the character. But the idea is he managed to find a meal soon enough not to die. Not sure, I'll probably officially kill him pretty soon.)
I'll abdicate at the drop of a hat
(BFFC Moderator)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Now he'd seen everything. Werewolves had been hard enough to believe at first, and he inevitably ran into vampires, which also introduced him to magic. But he never thought he'd see the day where he was in a graveyard, being attacked by zombies.
"Fantastic." He regretted having butted into the group's conversation when he'd first arrived, but his frustration had gotten the better of him. As it stood first impressions didn't really count for much when one was assaulted by the hungry dead.
He drew Fate and Destiny, and barely managed to choke back his yelp of surprise. The blades were on fire. But they weren't melting. That was good... he guessed. There was no more time to think. On the bright side, he didn't have to worry much about missing his targets; there were plenty of zombies to go around.
His gunblades sang through the air, leaving blazing arcs behind them as he slashed and stabbed at the hordes of zombies, losing himself in the fight. it was simple action and reaction, no thought... everything was run by instinct. And he could feel the beast inside trying to get out with every moment that passed. As if he didn't have enough problems already.
The zombies had managed to cut him off from the others now, and were driving him into a very large gravestone, carved in the shape of a robed and hooded angel. He slashed at the two nearest, not killing them, but slowing them down, and igniting their rotting flesh. There were too many. Black jumped back, planting the soles of his feet against the statue, and springing off, arcing over the crowd of zombies. He landed on the shoulders of one of the undead, and sprung off, slashing at the groping hands of the unfortunate landing pad's companions. He used this method of undead-leapfrogging to get past the crowd, and closer to the group of people who weren't trying to kill him.
"So. Anyone got some great plan for taking out the hordes of undead? As fun as it is to slash their limbs off like some video game or another, aren't we wasting a bit too much time on 'em?" Anything further to be said was cut off as a zombie landed a hefty blow as Black came up from rolling away from another zombie's attack. He landed on his back and slid a good distance coming to rest in front of a pack of rotting corpses.
The zombies closed in.
144 (edited by Valthonin Sunday, September 13, 2009 7:40 pm)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
(If no one objects, I would like to retcon my character to this. If you do object feel free to voice your opinion. The uniform that is in my original picture stays the same though.)
"He's right, we're not going anywhere. We have to pull back." Dan said as he blew apart the head of a zombie. He was dual weilding his Desert Eagle and his flaming katana, but was having a hard time because of the katana's unusual weight.
"On my way here, I saw an open mausoleum or crypt. We should make our way there and barricade ourself in." Iago said after joining the party once more.
"It would be stupid to corner ourselves." Emeline said and launched a bolt into the eye of a zombie.
"Its our only hope, were not going to get out of the graveyard when we're this over-run." Black said
"What ever we do, we've got to do it NOW!" Lev said, pistol whipping the face of a zombie and shattering it.
"Iago, point the way." Ronsom said
The party began to slowly but surely fight their way through the horde. The stench was making Dan gag. Eventually everyone resorted to using their melee weapons because they didnt have opportunities to reload. After a moment of running and fighting, they came upon the mausoleum Iago had spoken of.
"GO GO GO!" Dan shouted. Him and Lev were in the rear, their human stamina had caught up with them.
Dan noticed Emeline hesitate. She was having a bad feeling about this particular crypt...
Est Sularus Oth Mithas
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Emeline had just finished chopping through a particularly rotten zombie’s head which had sliced like an overripe pumpkin. Unfortunately it didn’t smell nearly appealing, especially when roasted with her stolen blade.
She didn’t like the idea of being holed up to avoid the zombies, but the horde was only increasing in numbers and frankly it was only a matter of time before the group was overwhelmed.
The other problem lay in how long they were to be in the mausoleum. It was hours until dawn but a vampire had to remember such a key element. They were almost inside when Emeline stopped to wait for the slayers. A whisper of chilly wind wisped from the crypt. The hairs on the back of Emeline’s neck rose.
Already the others were inside. “What’s the problem?” Lev asked.
“Do you get the feeling we’re being herded here?” Emeline said quietly.
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Lev replied.
“This could be Ansgar’s tomb,” Emeline whispered.
“You are the guardian of the amulet and yet you don’t know which tomb is his?” Dan asked.
“The graveyard has changed a lot. When Aldrick and his covern locked Ansgar away, the graveyard was not in existence. It was built around the tomb.” Emeline replied but her explanation was cut short as more zombies ambled in.
“Let’s get inside for now,” Emeline said hesitantly.
The trio were the last inside. Avlynn and Fen pushed closed the stone doors with their superior werewolf strength. The doors were almost sealed when Emeline realised that Morgan was missing. “Wait, we’re down a man.”
“As Captain Jack says: he who falls behind gets left behind,” Lev taunted.
“No one deserves to be consumed by zombies,” Emeline stated as she pushed her way back outside. The zombies were already within the perimeter of the tomb. Emeline climbed her way up a pillar to its outcropping and leapt to the next pillar. It was slow going but at least the zombies couldn’t reach her.
As soon as there was a clearing she leapt to the ground. She heard the grunts and shouted curses coming from Morgan and ran towards them. Zombies were surrounding him and attempting to bite him repeatedly. Somehow he’d managed to avoid them so far.
Emeline hacked her way into the backs of the zombies which in turn brought about the attention of about half of the group. They opened their mouths and moaned with hunger. “Run!” Emeline shouted to Morgan as the horde split into two.
She backed away as the zombies stumbled forward. She circled her way around and grabbed Morgan by his sleeve. “We’ve found a crypt to shelter in.”
“What kind of safety do you think we’ll get there? There’s probably more zombies in the damn crypt.” Morgan pointed out.
“Well at least we’ll be limited to how many,” Emeline replied. Thankfully the zombies around the crypt had thinned enough for the pair to make their way to the door. “Let us in!” Emeline shouted and hoped that the others could hear them.
If it bleeds, we can kill it.
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
147 (edited by darksilvania Wednesday, September 16, 2009 3:54 am)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
**Is this ok?**
Name:Ozzy Weintraut
Species:Half Vampire
Appearance:Looks 27
with scratches at his finger tips and pale blue skin.
Weapons:His half vampire powers give him a upper advantage and his custom M4.
Personality/History:Opportunist at heart. He was turned into a half vampire by his uncle that filled up half of him with vampire blood thus making him a hybrid. After that day he swore he would hunt down his uncle and any other vampire.
Ozzy walked out from his apartment, he could smell the scent of werewolves and vampires as they past threw the alleys and streets. He went down the fire escape ladders and put up his backpack. He headed to the graveyard at intense speed trying to keep up with the trail.
I linger in the post, even though no one knows me.
148 (edited by Lord Revan Tuesday, September 15, 2009 11:53 pm)
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
"Come on guys, though the passage...!" Lev fumbled the loading gate open on the Zeliska, ejecting five massive empty cases and stuck them in his pocket for reloading later. He quickly shoved one back in the cylinder and rotated it into firing position. "You know you want to!"
"That's it..." Lev raised the massive pistol, aiming it down the stone stairwell passage. Dan was directly behind him, reloading the G36. "I'd cover my ears if I were you."
The bullet ripped from the muzzle, leaving a near-visible shockwave as it went downrange. It penetrated through eleven zombies, turning them into chunky piles of deteriorated flesh.
"I ought to get me one of those." Dan said nodding slightly.
"Not sure you'll like the pricetag." Lev reloaded yet again, saving the brass.
"Can't be all that much." Dan decapitated two zombies that had gotten within arm's reach.
"Sixteen Grand, my friend."
"I don't even know what to say to that."
The two moved further into the crypt, barely keeping up with the others. The room opened up into a large sanctuary littered with rubble. It oddly reminded him of Austria...
Mountains of Arlburg, Austria 2 Months Ago
"-alright, thanks Sam. What's a few wolves right?" Lev screwed on the suppressor to his Colt M1911 .45 loaded with silver hollowpoint bullets.
"It's pretty straightforward, just kill the pack leader and whoever else you run into."
"Yep, I'll give you a sitrep every fifteen minutes."
"Over and out."
Lev pulled the handle of the steel door, it creaked open, protesting the icy wind. He moved in, scanning the room for occupants. It looked very much like he had expected, bunker like. The walls were a flaked white, grey concrete showing through several spots. It was brightly lit by old metal light fixtures, WWII era by the looks of them. Lev continued down the hallway, which led to a hub of several hallways. Something felt wrong, the navigational signs read: 'Sanitarium', 'Laboratory', 'Morgue' and 'Subject Testing'. Something was very wrong.
"Sam," Lev spoke into his combat mic. "where the hell did you send me?"
"Sam? Sam?!" The lights suddenly went out. The only thing visible was the laser sight of his pistol on the wall. "****."
"HEhehAhaha..." An eerie voice echoed through the darkness.
Lev turned, raising the pistol and firing three times in the direction he thought the sound had come from.
"Wrong." The voice whispered behind him.
Bright light, it was all Lev could see until his eyes adjusted. He was strapped to a table, wearing nothing but his shorts. He looked around as best he could, his head was also secured by the leather straps. There were surgical tools and viles of various colored liquids layed out on a table in front of him, beyond that were blood spattered walls. A tall thin man wearing a pristine long vintage-looking white laboratory coat and tight black gloves walked up to him. His face was aged and gaunt, sporting slicked white hair.
"Haha, you are zeh purfect subject I must tell you."
"Subject..! Let me outta here! What the hell is going on?!"
"You my fhrend, are in my Labooratory. Forgive me for not intrhohdusing myself, I am Hanz Gruber, bhrilliant bio-chemist." He flicked a large vile of amber-colored syrup, observing it in the light.
"You're crazy if you think you're gonna put that **** in me."
"Ha! Hahhahaa... But my fhriend...I already have! HahaHahAHa!"
"Uhh..ugh.." Lev tilted his head down slightly, looking at his arm. The veins were protruding, and they were black. Lev did nothing short of panic. He jerked and squirmed trying to get loose, but the belts that held him down were firmly secured. A warm tingly sensation moved from Lev's arm to his chest, then throughout his whole body. "What...What hell have you done to me!! Aghk!"
"Oh, my fhriend it is my crohwn jewl, my life's worhk. It vas designed around zeh genetic patturn vich you fit: noticably blonde hair and blue eyhes. Only prohblem vas none I have tested ver like you. I have a ghood feelingh it will worhk.
"Egh! it out! Ahhhhgh!"
"HmmmHmmhahahaAHHAhAHa!" Hanz laughed maniacally. "It is worhking! MUaHAhAHahA!"
Lev shakily tightened his fist, suddenly gaining a new level of strength he had never felt before. He snapped the belt holding his wrist, then his arm. He was quickly free of the table, but staring down the barrel of his very own 1911 pistol.
"I am sohrry, but I can no long let you live, my creahtion." Gruber shot Lev a single time, dead center of his chest.
Pliskin stumbled backwards, watching in horror as a black liquid ran out the hole in his chest. He coughed, the same black substance filled his mouth, then dropped to the floor.
"Pity." Hanz turned around, about to walk out.
"Isn'" Lev somehow was standing up, arm around the scientist's head. He tightened his grip until a wet crack was heard. The body fell limp to the floor, blood dripping from the eyesockets and mouth.
Lev stumbled to the table, grabbing the white insulated jacket and munitions belt he had worn in. He then picked up the 1911 pistol and sprinted down the corridor, carelessly throwing C4 packs on the ground behind him.
He shoulder charged the thick door he had come in, knocking it off the hinges. Lev hit the detonator, blowing the bunker entrance to rubble. The shockwave reached out through the walls, knocking him over. A Chinook helicopter appeared above him, Sam standing on the ramp motioning for him to get up and run to the chopper. Lev stumbled to his feet, trying to keep his balance. The helicopter touched down a few meters in front of him, kicking up a fine spray of powdery snow.
"What the f#&% happened in there Jimbo? Where are your pants?"
"Hell if I know. Let's just get away from here and back to the lodge. We'll talk about it over a...long drink."
"I don't like the looks of this place, Jimbo."
"Neither do I."
"This IS my signature."
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
Re: RPG: Supernatural II: Rise of the Vampire Mage
**Hi darksilvania, your character sounds good glad to have you on board**
With Emeline’s hasty departure, Avlynn and Fen finally closed the heavy stone doors to the crypt. Darkness followed, only the glow of the flaming blades gave any illumination. The slayers had been creaming the existing zombies within the tomb.
Fen grumbled something about being caged with vampires and slayers as he wandered off to search.
Both Dan and Lev were grumbling about the heat coming off their stones. Whatever that meant, Avlynn thought to herself.
With the illumination they had Avlynn was able to see that they were in a medium sized chamber. There were no obvious coffins in the room, so at least there was no immediate threat from zombies.
“So what now?” Ronsom asked to no one in particular.
“We find another exit?” Avlynn suggested.
“I don’t see any shovels, Avlynn.” Fen grumbled.
She rolled her eyes at Fen, he was ever the optimist... not.
Iago spoke up. “There’s a pathway down here. It looks like it forks in three different directions.”
“I don’t like the idea of splitting up,” Avlynn told, “but I guess it’s the quickest way to find an exit.”
Fen had moved to Avlynn’s side. “I suggest we ditch the leeches and the slayers and get out of here.”
“Right now there’s safety in numbers,” Avlynn replied quietly.
Fen snorted, “Says the chick who won’t live with her pack.”
Dan spoke up, “Perhaps someone should stay here in case Emeline returns.”
“She’s zombie chowder, man.” Fen sneered.
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The Elements of Geology eBook
Rate of folding. All the facts known with regard to rock deformation agree that it is a secular process, taking place so slowly that, like the deepening of valleys by erosion, it escapes the notice of the inhabitants of the region. It is only under stresses slowly applied that rocks bend without breaking. The folds of some of the highest mountains have risen so gradually that strong, well-intrenched rivers which had the right of way across the region were able to hold to their courses, and as a circular saw cuts its way through the log which is steadily driven against it, so these rivers sawed their gorges through the fold as fast as it rose beneath them. Streams which thus maintain the course which they had antecedent to a deformation of the region are known as antecedent streams. Examples of such are the Sutlej and other rivers of India, whose valleys trench the outer ranges of the Himalayas and whose earlier river deposits have been upturned by the rising ridges. On the other hand, mountain crests are usually divides, parting the head waters of different drainage systems. In these cases the original streams of the region have been broken or destroyed by the uplift of the mountain mass across their paths.
On the whole, which have worked more rapidly, processes of deformation or of denudation?
As folding goes on so slowly, it is never left to form surface features unmodified by the action of other agencies. An anticlinal fold is attacked by erosion as soon as it begins to rise above the original level, and the higher it is uplifted, and the stronger are its slopes, the faster is it worn away. Even while rising, a young upfold is often thus unroofed, and instead of appearing as a long, Smooth, boat-shaped ridge, it commonly has had opened along the rocks of the axis, when these are weak, a valley which is overlooked by the infacing escarpments of the hard layers of the sides of the fold. Under long-continued erosion, anticlines may be degraded to valleys, while the synclines of the same system may be left in relief as ridges.
Folded mountains. The vastness of the forces which wrinkle the crust is best realized in the presence of some lofty mountain range. All mountains, indeed, are not the result of folding. Some, as we shall see, are due to upwarps or to fractures of the crust; some are piles of volcanic material; some are swellings caused by the intrusion of molten matter beneath the surface; some are the relicts left after the long denudation of high plateaus.
But most of the mountain ranges of the earth, and some of the greatest, such as the Alps and the Himalayas, were originally mountains of folding. The earth’s crust has wrinkled into a fold; or into a series of folds, forming a series of parallel ridges and intervening valleys; or a number of folds have been mashed together into a vast upswelling of the crust, in which the layers have been so crumpled and twisted, overturned and crushed, that it is exceedingly difficult to make out the original structure.
Project Gutenberg
The Elements of Geology from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
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The King Must Die Quiz | Lesson Plans Four Week Quiz A
Buy The King Must Die Lesson Plans
Four Week Quiz A
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Book 1: Chapter 5-6; Book 2: Chapter 1-2.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. How does Theseus make the people in the camp feel?
(a) Safe.
(b) Nervous.
(c) Angry.
(d) Envious.
2. What is the relationship of Diokles and Theseus?
(a) Grandfather and grandson.
(b) Brothers.
(c) Uncle and nephew.
(d) Father and son.
3. Why does Simo make fun of Theseus?
(a) He's skinny.
(b) He's large.
(c) He's slow.
(d) He's small.
4. What does Theseus ask the king of the town just before taking his life?
(a) To beg for mercy.
(b) To please stop crying.
(c) To tell him the secrets of the town.
(d) To forgive him any sin for taking his life.
5. Who is the ruler of the neighboring kingdom?
(a) Nisos.
(b) Pylas.
(c) Megara.
(d) Eleusis.
Short Answer Questions
1. What do the people of the town pick someone to do every year?
2. How is Theseus' grandfather feeling when Theseus comes to visit him?
3. After a quarrel, what does Theseus offer to do for the queen?
4. What items does Theseus find under the rock?
(see the answer key)
This section contains 221 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Test | Lesson Plans Final Test - Medium
Buy the Their Eyes Were Watching God Lesson Plans
Final Test - Medium
Name: _________________________ Period: ___________________
Multiple Choice Questions
1. When does Janie want to marry Tea Cake?
(a) At dawn.
(b) As soon as she can sell the store.
(c) Once she has a baby.
(d) As soon as Tea Cake gets a job.
2. What is Tea Cake's job?
(a) Cleaning floors.
(b) Picking beans.
(c) Herding cattle.
(d) Baling hay.
3. How does Tea Cake intend to win Janie's money back?
(a) By working all month.
(b) By robbing a bank.
(c) By gambling.
(d) By selling everything he has.
4. Why don't the police make many arrests when the workers get drunk in town?
(a) They can't find anyone to arrest.
(b) They are too lazy.
(c) There isn't enough jail space.
(d) They are afraid of the blacks.
5. What does Tea Cake do when he returns to the store that melts Janie's decided coldness toward him?
(a) He brings her flowers.
(b) He asks her to marry him.
(c) He plays an imaginary guitar.
(d) He buys all the sodas she has in the store.
Short Answer Questions
1. How do the other men feel about Tea Cake's beating Janie?
2. Who does Janie think of as a warning about what Tea Cake might do to her?
3. Who sends Pheoby to have a talk with Janie about Tea Cake?
4. Tea Cake tells Janie she is enough to make a man forget to _________. (Fill in the blank)
5. Why does Tea Cake want to stay on the muck?
(see the answer keys)
This section contains 292 words
(approx. 1 page at 300 words per page)
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Comments on: Liberals suffer from a complete failure of imagination when it comes to true evil Conservatives deal with facts and reach conclusions; liberals have conclusions and sell them as facts. Tue, 29 Jul 2014 14:21:42 +0000 hourly 1 By: Charles Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:33:40 +0000 (#11) said:
“If it is feasible in your situation, you might start to make inquiries into the availability and quality of other pediatricians. A doctor who becomes verbally judgemental about career decisions of his patients indicates a lack of self-control: he might also lose control and slip up in treatment situations.”
You and I have the exact same thought. The nerve of this doctor to made such a idiotic judgement about a young person’s dreams. I, too, would look for another doctor for my kids.
By: Al Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:29:54 +0000 Hi BW,
I have to respond to this. On only one cup of coffee the day after a very long day in my own pediatric practice.
First, BW, you’ve got the iron self control of a Buckingham Palace Guard.
Second, as the excellent parent you are, you taught your daughter about good and evil, strength and weakness, long before this delusional piece of professional protoplasm attempted to insult his own patient. That teaching allowed her to realize he did not know what he was talking about.
Third, my perception of most of my colleagues is that they are quite left of center. Hence, they believe they know better than their patients or their patients’ parents. I would be interested to know how he deals with parents who want to debate the topic of vaccinations.
I am sure that if your daughter does become a physician in the Navy, her patients will have the best care of their lives.
By: Ymarsakar Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:57:02 +0000 Danny, sounds like sepia and unclean sanitation procedures.
Hospitals are already full of sick people with damaged immune systems. It doesn’t take much additional disease vectors to knock em into the red.
By: Ymarsakar Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:38:19 +0000 The normal defense against accusations that the military killed X, Y, or Z is saying that there were mitigating circumstances, that the situation was incomprehensible except to those actually in the fight, and things like forth. Those sound like nothing but excuses to those that have no idea of what war, battle, or life or death struggles are.
I choose not to adopt such a defensive posture. I choose the offense. Break down the attacker and you will stop the attacks at their source, rather than at the target.
When people are chasing you down, you don’t run away, you run towards them and run them over. If you want to inflict more psychological trauma, you can run into a blind and narrow alley, wait for them to get close, then pop out and break their wind pipe as a initial gift for a whole symphony of carnage and human entertainment: if entertainment you mean the Scream Theater.
By: Ymarsakar Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:33:39 +0000 The reason why people portray the inferiority of foreign others via prejudice and bigotry is because they are inherently certain in their own culture/group superiority. Break that superiority down and you can re-program their world view.
After all, isn’t that what the Left told us. That we are homophobic, Islamophobic, scared and afraid, using fear tactics, to stoke up rage and hate and security measures against foreigners and those that don’t speak English? That, in order to be more sensitive, we got to listen and take care of root causes?
I turn the gun back on the user and fire it point blank, against their wishes or intent. When they ask me how come I killed them with their own gun, I reply that they had given me a labor saving tool and I would be impolite to waste such a gift. The Left doesn’t want to take their own advice because they know how pernicious it is to morale and group unity and cult loyalty. They know they are as vulnerable to social engineering and human prejudices as we are. They just don’t care. Well, I do. I care to make them admit and recognize their vulnerability. By demonstrating it to them.
By: Danny Lemieux Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:00:15 +0000 Hmmm, interesting point, Ymar: I read somewhere that Doctors kill about 200,000 people a year through “mistakes”.
I don’t think that our military can claim such an annual body count even in the midst of two hot wars. I know there’s a pony somewhere in those statistics: you might want to ask you pediatrician how this could be, Book? It just may bring him back to earth.
By: SADIE Sat, 10 Oct 2009 01:03:15 +0000 Must agree with Ymar… Book’s control is impressive. I’ve taken a cue from her and when ‘frothing’ at the mouth at some responses from time to time, I have been careful to remain in control and limit myself to a quiet reprimand.
Of course, once I am away from the computer……….I am trying, I am trying.
By: Ymarsakar Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:06:58 +0000 I would probably have asked the doctor to step outside the examination room, closed the door so my kid wouldn’t hear,and then ripped him a new one.
I like Book’s style. She is open and honest, within the requirements of etiquette.
I would have engaged in a more open discussion with the doctor, but would have preferred off duty hours, and would also prefer that everybody involved be seen as equals. If it is two adults speaking and one child, the child will be suppressed in terms of actual influence and consideration. The adults will also have their attitudes modified for the good and the bad because of that perception.
Regardless, it’s always a good thing to bring up topics people are unaware of. If the doctor believes his field is virtuous and superior to the military’s because the military concentrates on killing, what would the doctor say to AQ’s plethora of medical degrees? If he is unaware, why is unaware? Are they not part of the same profession? Are soldiers unaware of Abu Ghraib? If they are not, why should any doctor be unaware of medical abuses?
By: rockdalian Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:59:30 +0000 From an Australian singer by the name of Beccy Cole.
Poster Girl
A touching tribute to Australian diggers.
Australian and New Zealand slang term for a soldier.
By: Gringo Fri, 09 Oct 2009 22:14:12 +0000 Better said, “vicious thugs” instead of “violent thugs.”
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Brain Pickings
Three Primary Colors: OK Go and Sesame Street Explain Basic Color Theory in Stop-Motion
In my nearly six years of writing and editing Brain Pickings, I’ve used the word “awesome” as an adjective exactly once. Today, this is about to change — because Three Primary Colors, a new collaboration between OK Go and Sesame Street explaining the basics of color theory in stop-motion, is nothing short of awesome. In fact, it might just be the finest treat for budding designers since Geometry of Circles, the fantastic 1979 Sesame Street animation with original music by Philip Glass.
UPDATE: Reader Jesse Jarnow points out the video was conceived and directed by his father, the legendary PBS stop-motion animator Al Jarnow of Celestial Navigations fame, and is his first PBS animation in a quarter century.
There’s also a companion OK Go color game for your edutainment. For another color-lovers treat, don’t forget the excellent PANTONE: The Twentieth Century in Color.
via PopTech
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Article Free Pass
zhu, Wade-Giles romanization chu, ancient Chinese struck half-tube zither, now obsolete. Early forms had five strings that appear to have been struck with a bamboo stick. The instrument was narrow and slightly convex on top, and the strings were passed over bridges (possibly movable) at both ends. Surviving examples range in length from about 93 cm to about 118 cm (36 to 46 inches). It was one of several zithers used in ancient China; others included the qin, se, and zheng, all of which have remained in use.
The zhu first appeared no later than the Warring States period (475–221 bc). It seems to have been used for entertainment, both as a solo instrument and in ensembles. Later variations had a wider body and more strings (at least 13), but there is no evidence that the instrument was in use after the Tang dynasty (ad 618–907). Twentieth-century excavations have brought to light several zhu, among many other musical instruments. Burial objects (small or unplayable models) were found in the well-known tomb of Zenghouyi (Marquis Yi of Zeng; dated 433 bc) in Hubei province; in the Yuyang tomb, in Changsha, Hunan province (dated from the 3rd century bc; actual instruments were also found); and in a tomb at Mawang Dui, Hunan province (dated 168 bc).
The word zhu, sounding the same but written differently in Chinese, appears in connection with an idiophone. This instrument was shaped like a box with outward-sloping sides and an open top. It was struck on the inside with a bamboo beater. Examples survive from the Qing dynasty (ad 1644–1911/12).
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Friends Service Council
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Friends Service Council, (FSC), Quaker organization founded in Great Britain in 1927 and committed to foreign work. It shared the 1947 Nobel Prize for Peace with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), an organization founded by the Society of Friends (Quakers) in the United States in 1917, initially to provide work overseas for conscientious objectors. Both committees are devoted to peace and humanitarian activities.
The pacificism of the two organizations is directly connected with their religion. Friends believe that every person has a “Christ Within” or an “Inward Light” that is expressed outwardly by a life of love and kindness. War is incompatible with this Inward Light, and, as a result, many Friends are conscientious objectors during war; this prompted the founding of the AFSC at the time of World War I. The organization found alternative work for objectors in such places as hospitals and forestry camps. Services of the AFSC and the FSC then expanded to include relief work, food and clothing distribution, and medical care in war-torn or underprivileged areas. Assistance was often offered to both sides, and every effort was made to allow aid recipients to help themselves and preserve their self-respect.
The emblem of the Friends organizations is a red and black eight-pointed star.
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pinene, either of two colourless liquid hydrocarbons, α-pinene and β-pinene, occurring as major components of the essential oil of pine trees and used as a chemical raw material. Both compounds belong to the isoprenoid series and have the molecular formula C10H16. They often occur together and are separated by fractional distillation.
The principal source of α-pinene is turpentine obtained in the sulfate process for making paper. The commercial product is 90–95 percent pure. Large amounts of α-pinene are converted to synthetic pine oil or to camphene, which is chlorinated to toxaphene, an insecticide, or treated with acetic acid to form isobornyl acetate, a perfume with a pine-needle aroma and an intermediate in synthetic camphor manufacture.
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Valentinian II
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Valentinian II, Latin in full Flavius Valentinianus (born 371, Treveri, Belgica [modern Trier, Germany]—died May 15, 392, Vienna, Viennensis [modern Vienne, France]), Roman emperor from 375 to 392.
Valentinian was the son of the emperor Valentinian I and his second wife, Justina. On November 22, 375, five days after the death of his father, the four-year-old Valentinian was proclaimed emperor at Aquincum (modern Budapest). The declaration was made without the knowledge or consent of the two reigning emperors, Valens and Gratian, but they later accepted Valentinian and allowed him (through his mother) to rule Italy, Africa, and Illyricum. In 383 Gratian was put to death by the usurper Magnus Maximus. In 384 Valentinian ruled in favour of Ambrose of Milan and against Symmachus, the great pagan orator (and the prefect of the city Rome), in the controversial issue of restoring the Altar of Victory to the Roman Senate House. In 387 Maximus invaded Italy. Valentinian and his mother fled to Thessalonica, Greece, to the dominions of the new Eastern emperor, Theodosius I. After the overthrow of Maximus by Theodosius in 388, Valentinian was restored to his rule. He ruled from Vienna (modern Vienne) in Gaul, which was under the control of Theodosius’s former general (now comes [Latin: “count”] and regent) Arbogast. In 392 the young emperor was found dead in his palace at Vienna, perhaps murdered by agents of Arbogast, whom he had sought to dismiss from the regency of Gaul.
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The Weald
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The Weald, ancient raised tract of forest nearly 40 miles (64 km) wide in southeastern England, separating the London basin from the English Channel coast. The Weald (Saxon: Andredsweald) is developed on an eroded dome of varied rock strata, and the chalk Downs (both North and South) compose a horseshoe-shaped rim around the area. Rivers drain both north and south through the rim, reflecting that the general drainage pattern predates the erosion of the Wealden dome. Much forest has been cleared, but the area remains one of the most heavily wooded parts of England.
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Blagoveshchensk, also spelled Blagoveščensk, city and administrative centre, Amur oblast (province), far eastern Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Amur and Zeya rivers. Founded in 1856 as a fort, Blagoveshchensk has become a major centre of the Russian Far East. Although remotely located, the city has good communications by the navigable Amur River, a connection to the Trans-Siberian Railroad, and several motor roads. The city’s industries include food processing; timber working; the making of gold-mining machinery, electrical apparatus, and woolens; and the building and repair of rivercraft. Blagoveshchensk is home to a number of ornate 19th-century buildings, many of which were restored in the late 1990s. Pop. (2006 est.) 212,183.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101178
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Beta RGB
There are many RGB working spaces in existence. Some have derived from color television and video standards. Others have come about by tedious trial-and-error efforts or even by accident. It can be difficult choosing the "best" working space for any given application. In fact, it is not at all obvious what working space attributes are even desirable.
One important characteristic would be that the working space is suffiently large that it can properly encode (or contain) all colors that are important to an application. This implies "larger is better."
Another attribute, which conflicts with the above, is that the working space should be as small as possible, so that quantization errors may be minimized. This implies "smaller is better."
Since working space definitions are normally derived from theoretical monitor mathematical models, there is a small set of numbers that fully defines them. However, because of this, the gamut has a characteristic "shape" which cannot be arbitrarily formed. Therefore, a good working space would have a gamut shape that minimizes wasted space. This has to do with shape, not size.
In an effort to quantify and evaluate the various existing working spaces, I performed many types of calculations and gamut comparisons, summarized on the RGB Working Space Information page. As part of this exercise, I chose various color sets of possibly important colors, such as different film types, color charts and printing gamuts. After doing this, it was a natural progression to turn this problem around and define the optimal working space for the combined sets of colors. Thus, Beta RGB was born.
Choice of a Reference White
Since Adobe Photoshop and the ICC profile specifications both use D50 as a reference white, this was the logical choice. If instead, a non-D50 white was chosen, then both the creation of, and the use of the working space would require adaptation, which opens the door just a crack for mistakes to be made. Specifying the working space directly in D50 avoids this possibility for error.
The reference white of Beta RGB is:
Reference White = D50
Choice of Reference Primaries
For this part, I mathematically found the optimally sized and shaped working space that contained all of the colors in my reference set. So the gamut is large enough to encode the colors, but no larger. Here is a chromaticity diagram showing the color set along with the working space:
Beta RGB
I have intentionally excluded the FOGRA colors from this illustration because none is a defining color, and there are so many of them (1856) that they would obscure many of the more interesting colors.
The chromaticity coordinates of the Beta RGB primaries are:
Red = (0.6888, 0.3112)
Green = (0.1986, 0.7551)
Blue = (0.1265, 0.0352)
Choice of Gamma
Gamma does not affect the size or shape of the gamut. It does affect the distribution of RGB points within the gamut. Therefore, it is an important consideration for controlling quantization. I have previously analyzed the optimal gamma for the grayscale only (you can see this analysis here). This result was about 2.2 (actually either 2.1723 or 2.3243 depending upon the error metric used).
For Beta RGB, I additionally performed a three-dimensional analysis, where I looked at the ΔE produced by tiny perturbations in RGB space, measured at each of the locations in the color set. For each color, the RGB value was perturbed a distance of one-percent in each of 20 different directions (I used the centers of the 20 faces of an icosahedron to evenly distribute the directions in three-space). Minimizing the RMS ΔE resulted in a gamma of 2.12. This was sufficiently close to 2.2 that I did not feel a deviation from a "standard" 2.2 value was warranted.
The gamma of Beta RGB is:
Gamma = 2.2
Download Beta RGB
I have incorporated Beta RGB into various calculators and data tables found on this site. You may download the Beta RGB ICC profile in either zip or sit format.
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If he were from Sweden instead of Norway, perhaps Johan Harstad, author of the weird and wonderful "Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?" would be considered the Next Big Swede.
After all, Swedish literature is capital-B-big, and getting bigger. But Harstad's Norway is quite different from the milieu of Stieg Larsson, Wallander series creator Henning Mankell, and Jo Nesbo, whose creepy novel "The Snowman" is making waves on both sides of the Atlantic.
Larsson, Mankell and Nesbo would be unlikely to center a novel around a modest early-30s gardener who idolizes Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon. They would probably not title the book's four sections after albums by the Cardigans either.
The gardener is Mattias, and he's a young person living happily outside the spotlight: "Not everybody wants to be head of a corporation. Not everybody wants to be among the top sports personalities of their country, to sit on various committees -- Some people want to be cogs."
That's Mattias, and his place in the world is his garden. When told he has a singing voice that must be heard, he says, "No." Period.
So perhaps it's unsurprising, then, that our narrator would be obsessed with Buzz Aldrin -- not Neil Armstrong, or Chuck Yeager, or even Laika the space-dog.
"Where were you when the second person ventured out of the Eagle in the sea of tranquility at 0415 hours?" he asks the reader. "Had you switched off the TV? Gone to bed? Then you missed Buzz Aldrin walking on the moon."
It's a wondrous metaphor for Mattias, "the kid in your class in elementary school, in high school, in college, whose name you can't remember when you take out the class photo 10 years later." But this doesn't make for a boring protagonist. It makes for a reticent one. And a frustrating one, too.
When Mattias' girlfriend Helle leaves him for a courier named Mats, her explanation, sadly, rings true: "Mats went out more, Mats wasn't frightened of the world, Mats wanted to be seen in the world."
His response, as expected, is to acquiesce. Mattias is not a fighter, and one must accept that this is the character in order to stick with his journey.
And a long journey it is. If it seems that Mattias' story meanders, it does. If it seems overlong, it is -- almost 500 pages. But the characters are written with such offbeat charm that the novel is never dull, and always compelling, even when its narrative is downright confounding.
Part of what makes Mattias' journey so memorable to an American reader is the sense that he's living on alien soil. Never is this more evident than his time in the Faroe Islands -- not to be confused with Sweden's Faro, the island Ingmar Bergman called home -- whose landscape seems utterly foreign.
It's worth noting that the plot is secondary here. What intrigues is Harstad's skill at characterization and mood.
He has a keen sense of pop culture and its often life-altering impact, and never is this more evident than in his use of the Cardigans. Those who only know the Swedish alt-poppers for their worldwide hit "Lovefool" might find the author's use of the band head-scratching, but the group is wildly popular in Scandinavia, and their use here makes for a smart, sensible framing device.
The pop-suffused "Buzz Aldrin" was a smash in Norway, already adapted into a TV series, and Harstad is a rising star. We can expect great things from him, I think. Why? Because there's no telling where he'll go next, just like Mattias.
The character helps make this a breath-of-fresh-air novel, and a reminder that there is more to Scandinavian literature than mystery and murder.
Christopher Schobert is an associate editor of Buffalo Spree Magazine and a freelance Buffalo writer and critic.
Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion?
By Johan Harstad
Seven Stories Press
480 pages, $30
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Recent Comments by
10 Things You Need To Know This Morning
Wednesday, June 5, 2013..... Night of the Watcher.... we are in Type 3, Round 2, Week 14 so let's watch......
Amanda Bynes Attacks Model Chrissy Teigen On Twitter — Here's Today's Buzz
Yael Cohen should be ashamed of herself using such a derogatory word to sponge up money in the cancer cure scam.
Insane Gridlock Photos Go Viral In China
Forming the everlasting swastika.
The hidden Mystery lasts forever and ever.
PayPal Founder Launches A Startup To Revolutionize The Way Women Get Pregnant
They just want more information about you. Please, give them more information so they can influence you and sell things to you. This whole mobile phone/computing thing is becoming silly and dangerous.
People Are Worried Microsoft's New Xbox Will Be Able To Spy On You
It is time for the consumer to say NO.
But I can already see the minorities lining up to buy this with cash benefit cards.
McDonald's Has Created Its Highest Calorie Menu Item Ever
All these ''McDonald's bad, mkay'' pseudo news presentations are ridiculous.
There is nothing wrong with burgers and fries.
Eat whatever you want.
Why are there so many fit people in McDonald's and so many chubby slouches at Whole Foods?
Sergey Brin's Complete Vision For How Self-Driving Cars Could Make Everything So Much Better
You net Chi-Com Boxcar. You meet at curb. Take you anywhere.
Maybe door open. Maybe not.
He is simply trying to sell you on the idea of giving your life over to him and his company forever, thus creating a never ending stream of payments as you beeble bobble along your merry way.
And don't forget the power he derives from it all. If the public could understand this they would push back against all of these individual power restricting instrusions into their daily lives.
Across The Country, Renters Are Getting Crushed By Housing Costs
It is not the Federal Reserve driving up rent.
It is the socialist money given like allowance to the childlike zombies.
Rental vouchers, food stamps, cash benefit cards, Obama phones, etc.
These Democrat freeloaders are flush with expendable income... and from minimum wage jobs at that. If you worked at McDonald's, had one baby mama and two seeds, you could get thousands of free money. You could drive a luxury car and drive up rents all over town.
The New $100 Bill Has Awesome Security Features
When a satellite sweeps scanlines across the surface of the Earth, do these new bills show up? New money does not stop counterfeiting of old money when the old money is still accepted. So why make this new money?
Three days?!
Come on.
I just now found out about Owl and Cat, and that is the best thing I've seen all year.
A 'Deep Web' Guide To The Secret Tunnels Under Virginia Tech
Freaks in the tunnels.
If you run into Lil Bomba down there make sure to disarm him.
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Chuck Recap, "Chuck vs. the Frosted Tips"
Chuck Challenge: Chuck vs. the Frosted Tips
Morgan's attitude spirals out of control on Chuck this week, as he abandons his BFF to start working for Gertrude Verbanski. Luckily, Chuck's not ready to give up on his buddy just yet, and Sarah helps him find a way to bring the old Morgan back. Take the quiz to see if you caught everything that went down.
Photo courtesy of NBC
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Who Should Win the Emmy For Best Lead Actor in a Drama?
The Emmys are approaching and though we can try and predict who will win, we've also still got our personal favorites. Who are you pulling for in the Lead Actor in a Drama Series category? Who do you find most deserving this year?
Cranston, Hamm photos courtesy of AMC; Laurie photo courtesy of Fox; Hall photo courtesy of Showtime; Baker photo courtesy of CBS and Byrne photo source
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Killer hacks to enhance WordPress editor
by Jean. 28 Comments -
When you’re a blogger, the editor is indeed something very important because it is the tool used to write your posts. In this article, I’m going to show you some hacks and tips to enhance WordPress editor. Enjoy!
Allow more HTML tags in the editor
By default, WordPress editor don’t allow html tags wich aren’t compliant with the XHTML 1.0 standard. For example, iframes will be stripped out by the editor. If for some reason you have to insert an iframe into a post or page, this can be very frustrating.
The code below will force the editor to accept more tags. Just paste it into your theme functions.php file, save it, and you’re done.
function fb_change_mce_options($initArray) {
} else {
$initArray['extended_valid_elements'] = $ext;
return $initArray;
add_filter('tiny_mce_before_init', 'fb_change_mce_options');
» Source:
Set HTML editor as the default
I know a lot of tech-savvy persons who don’t really like WordPress “visual” editor. Personally, I don’t use it because I’m used to writing HTML, and also because WYSIWYG editors are more likely to produce bad, not valid or dirty code.
If you prefer using the HTML editor, then what about making it your blog default? Just paste the line below into your theme functions.php file, and you’re done.
» Source:
Set default content in WordPress editor
Do you always insert the same text on all your posts, for exemple to tell people to subscribe to your rss feed? If yes, you should definitely set up WP to have it automatically inserted in the editor.
add_filter( 'default_content', 'my_editor_content' );
function my_editor_content( $content ) {
return $content;
» Source:
Add your language to spell check
By default, WordPress have an English spellchecker so you can check mistakes in your posts (Too bad it doesn’t work with grammar!). But, what if you blog in another language than English?
If you want to add another language to WordPress spellcheck, that’s actually quite easy to do. Paste the following into functions.php to add French to the spellchecker.
function fb_mce_external_languages($initArray){
$initArray['spellchecker_languages'] = '+French=fr, English=en';
return $initArray;
add_filter('tiny_mce_before_init', 'fb_mce_external_languages');
» Source:
Add buttons to WordPress editor
TinyMCE (The name of the WYSIWYG editor used by WordPress) have some buttons that allow you to make some text bold, insert paragraphs, and so on.
Want to insert a custom button? It’s not so hard at all. The following code show how you can do it easily. Just paste it to your functions.php file and a “Youtube” button will be displayed into your editor. Please note that this code add a button to the editor, but do not trigger any action. If you’d like to get more info about custom buttons, have a look at the source site.
function add_youtube_button() {
add_filter('mce_external_plugins', 'add_youtube_tinymce_plugin');
add_filter('mce_buttons', 'register_youtube_button');
add_action('init', 'add_youtube_button');
function register_youtube_button($buttons) {
array_push($buttons, "|", "brettsyoutube");
return $buttons;
function add_youtube_tinymce_plugin($plugin_array) {
$plugin_array['brettsyoutube'] = get_bloginfo('template_url').'/custom/editor_plugin.js';
return $plugin_array;
» Source:
Set different editor stylesheets for different post types
Cutom post types are definitely one of the best new things added to WordPress last year. Now, you probably created some post types to display your portfolio or some code snippets. So, what about using a different stylesheet for your editor, depending on the type of the post you’re currently writing?
Just paste the following code into your functions.php file. You’ll have to adapt it a bit, depending on your post types. Don’t forget to change the stylesheets names as well.
function my_editor_style() {
global $current_screen;
switch ($current_screen->post_type) {
case 'post':
case 'page':
case 'portfolio':
add_action( 'admin_head', 'my_editor_style' );
» Source:
Display hidden buttons in TinyMCE
By default, the TinyMCE editor have buttons for most common tasks such as bold text, italic, titles, etc. But you may need other text formatting options, like, for example, horizontal rules.
To reveal hidden buttons, simply add this code to your functions.php file:
function enable_more_buttons($buttons) {
$buttons[] = 'hr';
$buttons[] = 'fontselect';
$buttons[] = 'sup';
// etc, etc...
return $buttons;
add_filter("mce_buttons", "enable_more_buttons");
The available buttons are: bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, justifyleft, justifycenter, justifyright, justifyfull, bullist, numlist, outdent, indent, cut, copy, paste, undo, redo, link, unlink, image, cleanup, help, code, hr, removeformat, formatselect, fontselect, fontsizeselect, styleselect, sub, sup, forecolor, backcolor, charmap, visualaid, anchor, newdocument, and separator.
» Source:
• Vivek Parmar
that’s a superb post.
For Editor, disable visual editor only when you know HTML coding otherwise never disable visual editor.
For HTML editor we can use it after disabling visual editor and i was in search of different stylesheets. thanks for sharing here
• quicoto
I liked the Set default content in WordPress editor, can be very helpful for newbie users.
• Johan
Very nice hacks…
Was wondering if there were a nice way to add buttons in the HTML editor…
I also made a plugin that let’s you edit in HTML editor mode in fullscreen:
• Tony
The only bit of “tweaking” I’ve done with my WordPress editor is to increase the text box size and disable HTML view. Whoot!
• Todd G
All I want to know is how to make wordpress stop rewriting my code entirely. I want an editor, not a rewriter.
• Chief Alchemist
Wow! Thanks!!
Any idea how to add a class to the dropdown when using the Add Link? I thought I knew but it seems to disappear with every WP update.
• Webby Rob
Great stuff!
Have been trying to allow more html tags in the editor for ages and have always had to manually edit posts in the DB which gets very annoyijng, very fast :)
• Jesper
I am totally new to the WordPress universe. I’m about to put a blog up, but there are many things I need to learn, I can see. So it’s really good with your input, thanks
• Patty
Great post! It never even dawned on me about adding back hidden buttons from TinyMCE. Thanks for bringing this to my attention!
• Mark “Chief Alchemist” Simchock
Nuttin’?!? Nobody has anything on adding classes in the drop of the add link button? :(
• Pingback: L’Hebdo WordPress : Akismet – Hacks – Bataille |
• Brad Proctor
Good tips. Some of these things seem like they should be built into WordPress already. Like the different style sheets and the extra TinyMCE buttons.
• David
“Set HTML editor as the default” why add a line of code to the functions.php, when you could just do the exact same thing under “settings” in your backend?
• Greg Lam
Do you guys know of anyway to make the input/edit box bigger? I find it sometimes too small to work with and I end up copy and pasting the code into a text editor so I can have more room.
• janet
@Greg: Go to your Dashboard and click Settings, then Writing. Right at the top of that page you can increase the size of the post box with as many lines as you want.
• Greg Lam
Thanks Janet! That worked.
• Kevin Thomson
Love this blog and will be checking out some of the tips to enhance WP editor!
• Jason McArtor
The “Add buttons to WordPress editor” function causes the entire TinyMCE toolbar to disappear. Is there a known fix for this? I’m in WP3.1 and did not apply this in any previous version of WP.
• Mike
Anyone know a way to stop WordPress removing and tags without disabling formatting entirely.
I Tried the TinyMCE advanced plugin which has this a s feature, but it results in other bugs (unexpectedly adds breaks and paragraphs into content).
Any help would be really appreciated!
• David V
Nice post, thanks.
I never use the visual editor simply because of the bad coding it puts out, and the extra bloat it adds. There’s one problem with disabling it if you use any plugins that hook into it. (such as a shortcode plugin, etc..), they almost all add a button to the visual and not the html. Also the majority of custom premium themes have shortcodes built in and they also add the button to the visual editor, I personally hate this practice, but that’s just me. Do you know the best way to hook into the editor so a button will function/show in both visual and html mode? This would keep both parties (visual/html) happy!
It’s frustrating to be working on a page and have to switch to visual mode to grab a shortcode.
• Peter
I have exactly the same problem.
I have a premium theme installed that created a button in visual mode. I tend to not use visual mode at all. I can find the spot where the button gets created but I currently can’t find the part where the html tab gets created.
I will look into it further and try to copy the button / js call over to the html tab.
If someone knows how to do it or even already did it I would appreciate a tip.
• John
Thanks for non-English spell check solution! Is there any way to install not only spell check, but also grammar and thesaurus module? I found online service like this one but I still need to copy and paste text.
• Mark Spolsky
Thanks for posting how to add another language to WordPress spellcheck. My first language is not English so I use both English and my native language on my blogs. I am going to try the spellchecker with your code and hope it will work fine.
• tina
Was feeling totally tortured by issues with my editors trashing pages with the visual editor (all pages use the Google Calender iframe code) until a search found your tip for function.php. Thank you, thank you, thank you – I bow to your supreme kitty wisdom.
• Ruthik
How would one assign the editor to a variable to be displayed later?? I use functions and classes for my UI’s. For instance:
function showEditor(){
$content = wp_editor();
return $content;
(In another file)
$text = “header here”;
$text .= showEditor();
$text .= “footer here”;
Doing this right now throws the editor to the top of the page above the header. :(
• Maurine
Hi is there a way to fix the theme editor or plugin editor. The plugin editor and the theme editor adds some unecessary codes at the bottom when i try to edit
• Andrew Meredith
Excellent post. I’m writing a plugin to generate some shortcodes within a post, and I am adding a button to the WordPress editor to trigger the shortcode generator.
• K4c
To see full list of buttons You can add to editor go to:
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CS2500 — Lab 1
Pair Programming [1 min]
You will be working in pairs during labs. Pairs consist of a pilot and a co-pilot. The pilot types at the keyboard while the co-pilot looks over the pilot's shoulder. Remember if the plane goes down, you are both in trouble.
Choose a Partner
Finger exercises
Start DrRacket. Make sure that the language level is set to "Beginning Student" (Note: if you change the language level, it will not take effect until you hit the "Run" button).
Exercise 1: Experiment using DrRacket's Interactions Window as a calculator. See what operations you can use to calculate. Make sure to try big numbers and fractions. [3 min]
Exercise 2: Design a function that when given an integer that represents distance in miles will return the time (in hours) it takes to travel that distance when going 60 MPH. Write your function in the Definition Window, click Run, then use the Interactions Window to test your function. [5 mins]
Exercise 3: Design a function that given an integer representing time (in minutes) will return the distance traveled when going 70 MPH, rounding up to whole miles. [15 mins]
Hint: DrRacket comes with a help system called Help Desk. Open the Help Desk and click "How to Design Programs Languages", then click "Beginning Student". You will get a reference for the Beginning Student language. You can also highlight the name of a function and press F1, this will search Help Desk for the highlighted text.
Exercise 4: There are three kinds of errors you can make when writing a program in DrRacket. Come up with examples of each and try them out. Examine any error messages you get back. [5 mins]
1. syntax error
2. run-time error
3. logical error
Partner Switch [1 min]
Pilots stand up and switch with your co-pilots.
Images and Scenes [50 mins]
Access the 2nd edition HTDP "universe" and "image" libraries in DrRacket. Put the following magic text at the top of your definitions window:
(require 2htdp/image)
(require 2htdp/universe)
Libraries come with documentation. In the Help Desk, search for "universe". Also have a look at the documentation of the image library titled "2htdp/image".
Exercise 5: Download an image off the web and insert it into your Definition window. Use define to give it a descriptive name. Examples: cars, boats, planes etc.
Exercise 6: Use place-image and empty-scene to create scenes with your image.
Exercise 7: Create rectangles with the following dimensions
1. 10x25
2. 20x50
3. 30x75
4. 40x100
5. 50x125
6. 60x150
Exercise 8: Design the function rec-sequence that given an index will return the corresponding rectangle, e.g., (rec-sequence 2) returns a rectangle of size 20 by 50.
Using the "universe" module we can create animations. The module allows you to model a world. Every time the clock ticks, the module uses one of your functions to update or create a new world, which becomes the current world. The module can use another of your functions to create an image of your world.
1. Our "world" will represent the number of ticks passed,
;; World is a positive number (current time)
2. Create a function that will calculate the next world
;; World -> World
;; calculates the next world (increments the time)
(define (next-world w)
(add1 w))
3. Create a function that will create an image snapshot from a world
;; World -> Image
;; draw the image for snapshot time w in the middle
;; of a 200x200 scene
(define (world-draw w)
(place-image (circle w "solid" "black")
100 100
(empty-scene 200 200)))
Switch Partners
4. Genesis (lookup big-bang in Help Desk).
;; We start at time 1, use next-world to update the world at each
;; tick, and use world-draw to render the world as a scene:
(big-bang 1
(on-tick next-world)
(on-draw world-draw))
Exercise 9: Change the animation above so that instead of growing larger, the disk moves across the canvas. Try left to right (x), top to bottom (y) and diagonal (both x and y).
Exercise 10: Read the documentation of the "image" module and create an image of a car using circles and rectangles.
Exercise 11: Use the car image from Exercise 10 and create an animation with the car moving across the canvas.
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From Latvian Surname Project
Revision as of 18:14, 4 November 2012 by Antra (Talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
Map of attested locations
Surname: Gurķis
Origin: Latvian
Meaning: Cucumber
Old Spellings: Gurķķe, Gurķķis
Cyrillic Spelling: Гуркис, Гуркьис
Handwritten Cyrillic: To be added
Variations and Alternate Spellings: Gurķe
Related Surnames: Unknown
Possible place name borrowing? Yes
Attested Locations: Lielauce, Pampaļi
Famous individuals with this surname: Unknown
Personal tools
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101343
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Cheat Codes Club
Search Results for Root Beer Tapper Cheat Codes
Results 1 - 25 of 200 and 201 with extras. Completed in 0.002 seconds.
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If you have difficulty using any of the cheats found on these sites, we recommend discussing Root Beer Tapper cheat codes on Game Score's Game Forums.
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101364
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Would Moving the Capital to Chicago Make Illinois Less Corrupt?
It might help—state governments can sometimes be more corrupt when the capital is far away from the major cities.
Illinois capitol
photo: E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune
Given that Chicago politics is code for pretty much anything anyone thinks is corrupt or even impolitely aggressive, it might sound like a counterintuitive notion. But a working paper from the National Bureau of Economic research finds a correlation between corrupt state politics and capital cities that are far removed from the center of population.
This info comes via Brad Plumer. The paper has been floating around awhile, long enough for seasoned observers like Rich Miller and James Krohe, Jr. to note its counter-intuitiveness. Krohe’s argument? Illinois is corrupt because it’s Southern.
It’s an interesting paper, and the authors offer some compelling evidence that having the state’s political center far from its population centers results in less news coverage of state politics than it would otherwise get. The consequence can also and reduce overall voting.
It’s an idea worth throwing in the mix, if not as much for Illinois as states generally, but I don’t know how far I’d take it. Illinois has a lot of political and cultural structures underlying its Chicago-centric corruption (like notoriously weak campaign-finance laws) which Shane Tritsch detailed in 2010.
1 year ago
Posted by Tiburon Eric
This may be "correlation without causation". It's common knowledge that amoral politicians like having the capitol a distance away because it makes it easier to keep a girlfriend, avoid running into constituents, etc. So, the capitol didn't follow the population north to Chicago like it did to Springfield from Vandalia -- because corruption (and relatively easy train travel) was already established.
10 months ago
Posted by Frich
Trust me moving it would not help, now being a southern Illinoian, making Chicago it's own state and making southern Illinois it's own too would be the best as of right now.
Submit your comment
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101381
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eToCache5 = ""; ?> Banda Limon guitar chords, guitar tabs and lyrics - chordie
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eToCache5 = ""; ?> Bronislaw Kaper guitar chords, guitar tabs and lyrics - chordie
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Never miss Christian news that matters to you. facebookLike twitterFollow
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Iranian President Repeats Holocaust Denial, 9/11 Allegations in UN Speech
Sign Up for Free eNewsletter ››
By Ivana Kvesic, Christian Post Reporter
September 22, 2011|4:55 pm
On the eve of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s address to the United Nations, the controversial leader declared his country to be "a new model for life to the world," and warned of the United States high jacking the Arab Spring uprisings. Thus, the Iranian leaders comments on the state of the world and the West at the United Nations Thursday came as no surprise to many onlookers.
In Thursday's address to the United Nations General Assembly, the Iranian leader blamed the United States, Israel, and Europe for the global economic recession and insisted that some of the most prevalent global ills, such as poverty and denial of basic rights, are a result of "greed for materialism in the United States and Europe."
He also expressed skepticism on the killing of Osama bin Laden earlier this year, arguing against the sudden killing of bin Laden without hiring a fact-finding team to investigate "hidden elements involved in September 11."
In prior years, countries such as the United States, Australia, and Canada have been present for Ahmadinejad's annual speech but have walked out when the Iranian leader began with statements that were anti-Western and anti-Israel.
This year, the representatives for Canada and Israel boycotted Ahmadinejad's speech altogether and were not alone in their action, as man heads of state walked out of the General Assembly hall during his speech.
Delegates began to leave when Ahmadinejad began to discuss the Holocaust and 9/11, topics the Iranian leader has addressed in previous statements that have stirred a lot of controversy.
Follow us Get CP eNewsletter ››
In a 2010 U.N. address, Ahmadinejad suggested that the United States orchestrated the 9/11 attacks so as to insure the survival of Israel.
In 2009, Ahmadinejad suggested that the Holocaust did not happen, but rather was only believed by those who wanted to create a pretext for occupying Palestinian lands.
In 2006, Ahmadinejad questioned America's nuclear arsenal saying, "What (does the U.S.) need these weapons for? Is the development and stockpiling of these deadly weapons designed to promote peace and democracy?"
In today;s address, Ahmadinejad built upon his 2006, sentiments arguing that if the U.S. and its allies in NATO cut half of their military expenditures, perhaps Western countries would not be witnessing the economic calamity that is pervasive across the Western world.
Ahmadinejad continued by asking, "What is the justification for the presence of hundreds of U.S. military and intelligence bases in different parts of the world."
He went on to list the locations and numbers of military bases and asked, "Does this mean anything other than military occupation?"
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Food & Drink
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BEST SEAFOOD ENTRÉE Minneapolis 2008 - Alaska Eatery and Glacier Bar - CLOSED
Alaska Eatery and Glacier Bar
Alaska Eatery and Glacier Bar
6501 Wayzata Blvd.
St. Louis Park, MN 55426
Map & Details>>
The newly opened Alaska Eatery puts a lot of stock in its grilling operation, which dominates the restaurant's foyer and crowds up much of the menu. This is both wise and fitting. The restaurant has figured out a remarkably savory way to prepare food, and is squeezing it for all it's worth, letting smoky undertones creep artfully beneath the surface of many varieties of fish and meat. The bull's-eye, however, is the fire-grilled, window-cut king crab legs. At $30.95 a pound, the legs are not meant to be a daily or weekly...or, for that matter, monthly indulgence. But when you need to celebrate something important, few meals can match this particular seafood entrée in terms of screaming "Woo-hoo!" The meat is startlingly fresh and sweet, as scrumptious as newly caught Maine lobster but even more delicate in texture, practically melting in your mouth as you chew. The window-cutting of the legs—they're sliced in half, lengthwise, by a band saw—means that eating the meat is a simple matter of inserting a fork, (optionally) dipping your piece in the provided drawn butter, and then stuffing the crab into your mouth. If you're the kind of seafood fan who enjoys having your pleasure synapses busted open by the gastronomic equivalent of an ax-wielding maniac, get to Alaska Eatery, on the double.
My Voice Nation Help
Sort: Newest | Oldest
The Fire Grilled Alaska King Crab Legs must surely rank among the best seafood entrees sold in the state of Minnesota. Absolutely worth a try, for seafood lovers and unconverted skeptics alike.
Best of Award Graphics
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In “eminent domain,” a government can seize property for public use, as long as it compensates the owner. In “imminent domain,” it stands to reason, the government wants to do it NOW.
Except that there is no such thing as “imminent domain.” It’s a mistake—a common one, but a mistake nonetheless.
The only thing “eminent” and “imminent” have in common is that they sound alike.
“Eminent” means “projecting, distinguished, unimpeachable.” A cardinal in the Catholic Church is called “His Eminence,” a person of prominence may be called “an eminent journalist,” and the government is the “eminent authority” for purposes of seizing land.
“Imminent” means “impending, approaching, certain.” It often has a dark connotation, of bad things about to happen, but not always. Dark clouds and lighting mean a storm is “imminent”; white smoke means the announcement of a new pope is “imminent.”
It’s easy to see how someone could confuse the two, especially if the someone is the person whose property is being seized. For that person, the loss of the property—their domain—is “imminent.” Unless, of course, there’s a lawsuit involved.
A few times, the seizure has been called “emanate domain.” That’s a clear mistake: “emanate” means “emit, give off, send out.” But there’s more etymological support for this mistake: The earliest uses of “emanate” related to laws and principles that “emanated” from “eminent” institutions, like churches, governments, and courts. Their roots though, are different: “Eminent” is from the Latin “eminere,” to stand out, while “emanate” is from the Latin “emanare,” to flow.
But wait! There’s more!
Throw into the mix “immanent.” That’s not a misspelling of “imminent.” It means “inherent, innate, indwelling.” Though it’s relatively rare and is primarily used philosophically or theologically (“the immanent goodness of human nature”), it does occasionally creep in where “imminent” or “eminent” is intended.
Garner’s Modern American Usage says the incorrect substitution of “imminent” when “eminent” is meant is the most common of the errors. It lists the mistaken use of “imminent” for “eminent” and vice versa both at Stage 2 of the five-stage Language-Change Index. That makes it a capital sin, not a mortal one, though misusing “immanent” for “imminent” is at that level, being at Stage 1.
If Nexis is any guide (and it’s an anecdotal one), “imminent domain” is indeed imminent: It appears in more than 1,000 articles, while “eminent domain” barely breaks the 900 mark. To be fair, a few of the “imminent domain” entries are intended as plays on words, but nearly all are speaking of the land-grabbing right.
The idea that a government or other legal authority can just take property goes back at least to the Old Testament, when Ahab, the king of Israel, wanted Naboth’s vineyard and offered compensation for it. Naboth refused and Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, plotted the death of Naboth, so they could seize the vineyard. The prophet Elijah condemned Ahab for this double injustice, but more recent adjudications are usually in favor of the sovereignty’s right to seize.
Hmm. Does that make “eminent domain” less “imminent” if a representative of the “immanent” deity is involved?
More in Language Corner
Space age
Read More »
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Literary Journalism on Trial: Masson v. New Yorker and The First Amendment
By Kathy Roberts Forde
University of Massachusetts Press
304 pages, $28.95
The Masson case was, like so many other libel cases of the last third of the last century, protracted and clouded. At its core was the question of whether Janet Malcolm, a New Yorker writer, had attributed words to an interviewee, the Freud scholar Jeffrey Masson, that falsely portrayed him as a braggart and a fool. In the wake of Malcolm’s 1983 article, Masson filed suit, denying the accuracy of quotations that had him characterizing himself as (among other things) “an intellectual gigolo.” After a considerable interval of legal wrangling, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a false quotation could indeed be libelous. But in the final trial, in 1994, Masson lost—hence, a standoff. Kathy Roberts Forde, a professor at the University of Minnesota, leads the way with surprising clarity through the tortuous proceedings. She also describes significant dramas playing out behind Masson. First, she shows that the case inflicted another in a series of blows to the freedom of discussion guaranteed in the groundbreaking case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), which placed libel law under the protective wing of the First Amendment. Second, she sees the legal battle as one more symptom of the tension between traditional reporting and the freer-form modes that came to be known as the New Journalism. Malcolm, although more a conventional New Yorker writer than an innovator, was widely attacked as representative of the purported carelessness and irresponsibility of the New Journalists. Forde’s discussion of these matters is consistently engaging. And for good measure, she throws in an amusing chapter on earlier libel cases involving The New Yorker, including the magazine’s effort to deal with the delusionary Cat Woman, who was devoted to ridding the city of its strays—a dispute that lasted from 1938 to 1943, and was ultimately settled for the sum of $25.
The Scripps Newspapers Go to War, 1914–18
By Dale E. Zacher
University of Illinois Press
304 pages, $45
There are few more combustible combinations than a father, a son, and a newspaper chain. By 1914, the news organization created by the crusty E. W. Scripps (1854–1926) included twenty-two newspapers, the United Press wire service, and the feature-oriented Newspaper Enterprise Association, the whole comprising an entity that insiders called the Concern. The Scripps empire was progressive in orientation, supporting Wilson twice for president and attempting to maintain neutrality in the early days of World War I. But ultimately the Concern was swept into the war fever of 1917 and succumbed to jingoism and sensationalism, supporting Wilson’s drastic war measures. However, the real drama at the Concern was behind the scenes and strictly Oedipal—the story of the aging founder seeming to give power to his two sons, then seizing it back whenever they showed flutters of independence. The most embarrassing moment in this family drama came when E. W., after noisily supporting the draft in his newspapers, sought dubious exemptions for his boys. In the end, the fallout from this intra-family struggle was the breakup of the chain, with the dissident West Coast papers, under elder son Jim, seceding. The story is told effectively by Dale E. Zacher of the University of Arkansas and is an excellent addition to the flourishing Illinois “History of Communication” series.
Submersion Journalism: Reporting in the Radical First Person from Harper’s Magazine
Edited by Bill Wasik
The New Press
336 pages, $26.95
James Boylan is CJR’s founding editor.
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To Kill a Mockingbird By Harper Lee Character Analysis Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie Atkinson
Aunt Alexandra and Miss Maudie are roughly the same age and grew up as neighbors at Finch's Landing. But for all the background these women share, they couldn't be more opposite. Lee uses the contrasts between these two characters to further delineate the theme of tolerance in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Aunt Alexandra is very conscious of Maycomb's social mores, chooses to live within its constrictions, and "given the slightest chance she would exercise her royal prerogative: she would arrange, advise, caution, and warn." Even her clothing is tight and restrictive. Miss Maudie, on the other hand, sets herself toward the outside of Maycomb's conventionality. Like Atticus, she stays within bounds, but follows her own code.
Although Miss Maudie is quick to welcome Aunt Alexandra as her new neighbor, she's also quick to take her to task. When Aunt Alexandra states, "'I can't say I approve of everything he does, Maudie, but he's my brother,'" Miss Maudie reminds her that Atticus is doing a wonderful thing and that many in the town support him, even if that support is quiet. Aunt Alexandra is also extremely critical of Atticus' parenting style, while Miss Maudie is much more sympathetic. But then, Miss Maudie has a delightful sense of humor, a trait Aunt Alexandra does not possess.
Aunt Alexandra works hard at being feminine, but Miss Maudie doesn't seem to care about those things. She wears men's overalls when she works in the garden, but is equally comfortable in more traditional garb. Aunt Alexandra has a personal quest to make Scout "behave like a sunbeam," but Miss Maudie accepts her as she is. Consequently, Scout finds in Miss Maudie a kindred spirit who helps her make sense of being female and, with Atticus, helps Scout develop tolerance. Miss Maudie treats the children in an adult manner, much like Atticus does. She never laughs at Scout's mistakes and she trusts the children to play in her yard within the boundaries she's set for them. Aunt Alexandra is "analogous to Mount Everest: . . . cold and there" while Miss Maudie is warm enough to pop out her dentures for Scout to see.
Miss Maudie has a quiet spirituality that shows itself only when taunted by "'the foot-washers [who] think women are a sin by definition.'" Aunt Alexandra displays her beliefs much more publicly. She's active in the Missionary Society, which appears to be as much a social club as a religious organization. Tolerance isn't a big part of the Missionary Society meetings, either. The ladies' lamentations over the living conditions of the Mrunas, an African tribe, leads to a discussion about how ungrateful the women believe Maycomb's African American community to be. Miss Maudie is the person who ends that line of conversation with two sentences. Aunt Alexandra may not always agree with the course of discussion, but she refuses to be confrontational outside of her own family.
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Take the Quiz
By the end of the novel, Scout realizes that
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Old-school handheld audio
Taking a look at some handheld audio (of sorts) from the '80s: the Fisher-Price Talk-To-Me Player.
Jeff Sparkman/CNET Networks
Somewhere in between the old-school book-and-record sets (where you turned the page at the sound of the tone) and audiobooks, there was the mighty Fisher-Price Talk-To-Me Player.
I dusted mine off recently after finding it in one of the many boxes of toys I have yet to divest myself of and gave it a closer look.
Yeah, it looks kind of like a mouse, but it's essentially an upside-down, battery-powered handheld record player. You used the player with Talk-To-Me books, which had a 2-inch plastic record laminated on the bottom corner of each page. You line up the player with the record and pressed play. After a mechanical KA-CHUNK, the record would start playing.
Unless you totally sucked at lining the player up with the record or had a little brother who put a wicked scratch in your favorite part of one of the books.
But I digress.
If you ever come across these at garage sales or on eBay, chances are that it will come with Ghost Chasers, an adaptation of the 1937 Disney cartoon, Lonesome Ghosts. That book came with the player, so it's the most common.
However, it wasn't only Disney getting in on the fun; the Looney Tunes characters had a few books, as did the Sesame Street Muppets, Dr. Seuss, and Richard Scarry.
I wanted to play them for my 5-year-old son, but my player has seen better days. The best I could do was pop it open and MacGyver the motor with a rubber band. Then, I put my computer mic next to the player's speaker, recorded it, and ran it through Audacity, where I sped it up by about 15 percent. After that, it sounded just like I remembered. Simple.
However, you might just want to find somewhere that offers repair services if your player is kaput.
Lest you think this was a cheesy toy, I should point out that not only did it earn a Toy of the Year award, but also it was invented by the "father of the disc drive," Reynold B. Johnson, after he retired from IBM.
And on top of that, it was safer than lawn darts. What more could you ask for?
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101460
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Member Since: July 7, 2006
Last Logged In: August 30, 2007
A little about me
Flag Profile
Short Bio: I launched and now maintain, a listing of BPM rated songs for music-paced running with links to iTunes and Rhapsody. I also have a podcast (The JogTunesIndie Podcast) which is available on iTunes. It's a "run-to" podcast featuring indie songs with BPM and other commentary.
Machine: MacBook Pro - 15 inch - 2 GB RAM - 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101475
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Tell a friend about the 1937 motorola 6t page on Collectors Weekly
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The The Reach wiki last edited by MartianManhunterIsBetterThanCyborg on 07/27/14 01:37PM View full history
The Reach made themselves known to the newest Blue Beetle, Jamie Reyes.They are an alien race that travels from world to world, injecting various schemes to take them over. They attempted to seem friendly, but Jamie saw past that.
The group recently tried to gain the favor of Sinestro by combining one of his rings with one of their own scarabs in Peacemaker to create the Infiltrator, but the creation was dismantled by Blue Beetle and a Green Lantern.
Another ploy that was recently uncovered by Jamie involved a large number of volcanic cities called World-Ripper Stations. These Stations where located in N-Space, a kind of negative space that runs parallel to New Earth.
Early on in the series, Jamie and Guy Gardner caught the Reach putting something into the Antarctic. The ice eventually melted, and a villain named Typhoon discreetly mixed the substance into the air and water while pretending to simply destroy things.
The Reach is scheduled to appear in an upcoming episode of the Batman: Brave and the Bold tv show.
Young Justice (Animated Series)
Reach Technology is seen in Young Justice with Blue Beetle's suit because it is Reach technology.
Throughout Young Justice the following teenagers were captured by The Reach:
All were freed (and currently under psychotherapy from Black Canary by "The Team".
This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:
Comment and Save
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It's not entirely clear what's going on in How to Dress Well's new video for "& It Was U," but that doesn't mean it's not worth your time. Of course, the track makes the clip enjoyable on its own. But watching a teenage maybe-super hero make his way through town on a Segway only to end up at a holiday party is nothing short of entertaining. Check it out above. How to Dress Well's Total Loss is out now.
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This Article
Bibliographic References
Add to:
Partial-Duplicate Image Retrieval via Saliency-Guided Visual Matching
July-Sept. 2013 (vol. 20 no. 3)
pp. 13-23
Liang Li, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shuqiang Jiang, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Zheng-Jun Zha, National University of Singapore
Zhipeng Wu, University of Tokyo
Qingming Huang, Chinese Academy of Sciences
This article proposes a novel partial-duplicate image-retrieval scheme based on saliency-guided visual matching, where the localization of duplicates is done simultaneously. The image is abstracted by visually salient and rich regions (VSRRs), which are of visual saliency and contain rich visual content. Furthermore, to refine the retrieval, a relative saliency ordering constraint is constructed that captures the robust relative saliency layout of the VSRRs. The authors propose an efficient algorithm to embed this constraint into the index system so as to speed up retrieval. Comparison experiments with state-of-the-art methods on five databases show the efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Index Terms:
Multimedia communication,Image representation,Information retrieval,Information analysis,Media,visually salient and rich regions,VSRR,multimedia,image representation,saliency analysis,relative constraint,partial-duplicate image retrieval
Liang Li, Shuqiang Jiang, Zheng-Jun Zha, Zhipeng Wu, Qingming Huang, "Partial-Duplicate Image Retrieval via Saliency-Guided Visual Matching," IEEE Multimedia, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 13-23, July-Sept. 2013, doi:10.1109/MMUL.2013.15
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This Article
Bibliographic References
Add to:
Experiments with a Density Router for PC Cards
March 1979 (vol. 28 no. 3)
pp. 262-267
P. Agrawal, Bell Laboratories
In this correspondence a new routing cost function is defined which is a function of local blockage density in addition to path length. A parameter a specifies the degree to which density is to influence the cost. The use of such a cost function results in what we refer to as a density router. The classical Lee router is a special case of the density router with a equal to 0. We present four performance measures (two of which are based on the density of blockages) for comparing the performance of the classical Lee router with that of the density router. It is experimentally determined that a value of a of about 1.25 optimizes our cost function for the density router when evaluated according to each of the four performance measures and for the board model assumed.
Index Terms:
routing, Blockages, density router, graph theory, heuristic search, Lee router, printed circuit board
P. Agrawal, M.A. Breuer, "Experiments with a Density Router for PC Cards," IEEE Transactions on Computers, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 262-267, March 1979, doi:10.1109/TC.1979.1675333
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Alternative Rock
From Conservapedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Alternative Rock is a musical genre that emerged from the underground culture in the 80's and became popular in the 90's. While it is usually considered as a sub-style of rock, the style finds some influences from folkloric music, reggae, electro, jazz and many other styles.
Personal tools
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Get by with a little help from a support group
Consumer Reports News: February 24, 2011 02:18 PM
Some people hate talking about themselves in front of strangers, and others can’t share enough. Which of these types you fit into will probably affect how you feel about self-help groups. These groups are very popular for some medical conditions— Alcoholics Anonymous is one of the best known treatments for alcoholism, despite there not being much evidence that it works. But you might not associate the idea of a self-help group with depression.
A new study, however, suggests that joining a self-help group could be a positive step for people suffering from depression. In the study, people who joined a self-help group did better than people who just got the usual care from a doctor, and just as well as people who had cognitive behavioral therapy in a group.
The researchers analyzed seven previous studies comparing self-help groups with usual care. The studies included 849 people in total. People who joined a support group as well as getting usual care had fewer symptoms of depression, judging by questionnaires designed to measure their symptoms.
The researchers also looked at seven studies comparing support groups with group therapy run by a trained therapist (some of these studies overlapped with those looking at usual care). The studies included 301 people. There didn't seem to be much difference between a self-help group and group therapy.
The research isn’t perfect though. Most of the studies looked mainly at women, and some of the individual studies looked at specific groups, such as women with postpartum depression, depressed men with HIV, and depressed people who were caring for someone with a serious mental illness. This makes it harder to say whether the results apply to everyone with depression. Another problem is that the better-quality studies tended to show a smaller benefit.
But if you’re struggling to cope with depression, the study suggests that joining a support group could be worth a try. And it’s likely to be a cheaper option than some of the alternatives.
The studies looked at how well self-help groups worked on top of usual care from a doctor, so they shouldn't replace any treatments you're already having. You can get unpleasant withdrawal symptoms if you stop taking antidepressants suddenly.
What you need to know. Treatments such as talking therapy can help with depression. Antidepressants seem to work for severe depression, but don’t do much for milder forms. Joining a support group might help you feel less isolated, reduce stress, and give you access to health advice from people in a similar situation.
For more on depression, read about the causes and treatments (available to subscribers).
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NAME Kwim - Know What I Mean?! DESCRIPTION Kwim is a plain text markup language that converts to many formats: * HTML * Rich - Lots of classes and annotations * Sparse - Just the tags and content * Custom - HTML the way you want it * Manpage * DocBook * MarkDown * GitHub Flavored * Pod * AsciiDoc * MediaWiki The Kwim framework is easily extensible, so adding new outputs is easy. What Makes Kwim Different There are already a lot of text-to-html languages in the world. How is Kwim different? Here are a few points: * Very rich capabilities: Kwim aims to be a feature superset of the other markups since it converts to all of them. Most of the other markups don't support things like multiple paragraphs in a bullet point (like you are reading right now!). * Simple, consistent markup: Even though Kwim intends to be very rich, it will use a simple set of syntax idioms to accomplish its tasks. One of my favorite sayings comes from Larry Wall of Perl fame: "Make simple things simple and hard things possible". Kwim does just that (hopefully without looking too much like Perl ;). * Extensible: Kwim is easy to extend at many levels. You can add new backend formats. You can also define your own markup syntaxes. You can even define sections that parse using a different syntax grammar. For instance, you could inline a markdown section like this: .markdown This is [Markdown]( text. :markdown * Multiple Implementations: Kwim is written using the Pegex parser framework. This provides 2 very powerful concepts. Firstly, that Kwim language is defined in a very simple PEG topdown grammar. That means it is easy to grok, maintain and extend. Second, Pegex parsers work in many languages. That means that you can use Pegex natively in languages like Ruby, JavaScript, Perl, Python and many others. * Comments and blank lines: Most markups don't support comments and eat extra blank lines. These things are useful. Kwim not only supports comments, they are part of the data model. ie They get rendered as HTML (or comments in other target languages that support comments). Kwim also support throwaway comments, for times when you want to hide part of a document. Syntax Concepts Before diving into the actual markup syntax, let's discuss the concepts that drive the decisions that Kwim makes. Most documents are just plain language using letters and numbers and a few punctuation chars like comma, dash, apostrophe, parentheses and colon. Also endings: period, exclamation point and question mark. We leave those alone (at least in the normal prose context). This leaves a bunch of punctuation characters that we can do special things with. Namely: "@#$%^&*=+|/~[]<>{}". Sometimes context matters. For instance it is very rare for a prose line to start with a period, so we can use that as a markup. The important thing in all this is that we be able to reverse the meaning for edge cases. ie We need a way to make markup characters be viewed as regular characters. Kwim uses a backslash before a character to make it not be seen as markup. For instance this text "*not bold*" is not bold because it was written like this: "\*not bold\*". Kwim has a document model that views things as blocks and phrases. This is very similar to HTML's DIV and SPAN concepts. Kwim views a document as a sequence of top level blocks. Blocks are further subdivided into either a sequence of blocks or a sequence of phrases. Phrases can only be subdivided into more phrases. Consider this example document: A paragraph *is* a block. It gets divided into phrases like 'pure text' and bold text. A bold phrase can be divided: *all bold /some italic/*. * Lists are blocks. * Each item is a block. + A sublist is a block. + The text within in contains *phrases*. Common blocks and phrases have an implicit (DWIM) syntax, that reads very natural. For instance a paragraph is just left justified text that is terminated by a blank line. There is also an explicit syntax for blocks and phrases. Every implicit syntax can be written explicitly. For instance, here is an implicit syntax example followed by its explicit equivalent: A paragraph with some *bold text* in it. .para A paragraph with some {bold: bold text} in it. :para Two Space Indent Kwim uses a 2 space indentation and it is very instrumental to its design. It allows for a very nice and natural embedding of blocks within blocks. Consider this list: * Point one has text on 2 lines + Subpoint a * Point two A paragraph for point 2 followed by some preformatted text: # Code example * Point three As you can see, 2 space indent is very natural here and allows for putting blocks inside blocks in a way that is not available in most markups. Kwim Syntax There are 4 sets of syntax to define: block * implicit, phrase * implicit, block * explicit and phrase * explicit. There are also escaping mechanisms. Block / Implicit Syntaxes A paragraph is a set of contiguous set of plain text lines. It is terminated by a blank line or by another block syntax at that level. .side-by-side (pre Kwim) This is a paragraph of a few lines. As you can see, the newlines are not considered hard in HTML. Another paragraph. (kwim HTML) This is a paragraph of a few lines. As you can see, the newlines are not considered hard in HTML. Another paragraph. :side-by-side
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How to Use the Images
Inquiry Question
Historical Context
Drawing 1
Photo 3
Photo 4
Photo 5
Table of
Visual Evidence
Photo 1 - Aerial view of New Philadelphia, 2005
[Photo 1] with link to larger version of photo.(Aerial photo by Tommy Hailey using powered parachute funded by The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, National Park Service)
Photo 2 - 1836 layout overlaid on aerial view
[Photo 2] with link to larger version of photo.(1998 aerial photograph from U. S. Geological Survey; overlay by Christopher Fennell)
Questions for Photos 1 and 2
1. Describe what you see in each of these photos. How are they alike? How are they different?
2. The white line in both photos represents a recently resurfaced road. Why do you think it makes two sharp turns in the middle of an open field? Does that suggest anything about the age of the road?
* The small images on this screen will print poorly. You can obtain larger versions of Photo 1 and Photo 2, but be aware that the files will take as long as 60 seconds to load with a 28.8K modem.
Comments or Questions
National Park Service arrowhead with link to NPS website.
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THE ABYSS (1989)
[Get the Poster]
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Ed Harris
Michael Biehn
Leo Burmester
Todd Graff
John Bedford Lloyd
J.C. Quinn
Kimberly Scott
James Cameron
Time: 146 mins.
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Action/Science Fiction
Won Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Nominated for Best Art Direction, Best Sound and Best Cinematography.
BOTTOM LINE: There's not much to recommend Cameron's first foray into love and adventure on the high seas. At least with TITANIC, the main back drop to the romance was already written. Here, he tries to create an undersea epic full of danger and magic and only half succeeds. The film's main problem is that it has too much going on. What begins as a discovery of unimaginable proportions, becomes an atrocious mess of intrigue and world destruction. Like most sci-fi films, the fate of the human race depends on the actions of a small group of unlikely heroes. Unfortunately, the message was one all to familiar and done better elsewhere. Cameron bites off more than he can chew in this epic, waterlogged tale.
The first hour or so is quite enjoyable. The film takes place on an underwater oil derrick filled with the same unusual cast of characters. Only this time around, they are forced to use their equipment to rescue a Soviet submarine in trouble. Bud (Harris) is not exactly happy about this assignment, especially since it brings the US military, as well as his ex-wife Lindsay (Mastrantonio), onto the station. There's no love lost between her and the crew, but since she's the most qualified when it comes to the rig, they can't argue about her presence. What they don't know, is the nature of the recovery mission the Navy SEALS are planning. The submarine is believed to be carrying nuclear warheads aimed for the United States. The SEALS, led by Lt. Coffey (Biehn), mean to retrieve them, leaving any Russian survivors behind to die.
Conflict of interests between the crew and the SEALS leads to some great drama and exciting action sequences. Harris and Mastrantonio spar convincingly as a couple who has not fully resolved their feelings about each other. Then the aliens appear. Made of water. They contact Lindsay, who finds them extraordinary and beautiful. Lt. Coffey doesn't agree. He believes it's some trick of the Russians, forcing his addled mind to take action that places the lives of the crew, not to mention everyone on the planet in the gravest of danger. It seems the aliens are tired of our brutal, murderous ways. It's up to Bud to save the world, to stop Coffey and convince the aliens humans deserve a second chance. Didn't see that coming, did you?
What begins as a Cold War drama, full of interesting characters, complicated relationships and amazing underwater battles, becomes just another diatribe about the evil nature of man. The aliens are more a mysterious presence than an intigral part of the story, at least until the last half hour when their true intentions take center stage. This sudden shift in idealogy is quite disconcerting, especially in the original theatrical version, which basically cuts out all the reasons behind their decision to destroy the human race. At least in the Director's Cut, this part of the story is fleshed out. Whether that's a good thing or not, will be up to you. Having seen both, I wasn't satisfied with either ending, since I believe both belonged on a different movie altogether. Plus, it draws out a film that has, by this time, become tiresome.
"When you're hanging on by your fingernails, you can't go waving your arms around!"
The conflicting genres ruin the flow of the picture and diminish the importance of the message. I don't agree with what Cameron was trying to say, but he could have come to the conclusion a lot simpler if he had just chosen a direction. Despite the fact that this is directed by Cameron, it is not your typical action movie. It does have some spectacular special effects sequences, but they're more about heightening the drama than just a fight to show off the latest toys. Granted they do show off the latest toys, but he manages to work them into the story quite well. I just wish the film was about the derrick workers discovery of these undersea aliens. All the main plot points and sequences could have stayed in, except for the military crap which was vastly overplayed. The aliens were the best part. Sure, Spielberg does it better in CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, but Cameron really captures something cool in those scenes, which never becomes fully realized.
The best thing about this film, besides the underwater photography (which is stunning), was the acting between Mastrantonio and Harris. They had real grit and some amazingly powerful scenes together. All I can say is I hope to someday meet a man who loves me as much as his character loved hers. First rate stuff. The rest of the cast suffers by comparison. Michael Biehn is downright awful. It's not his fault. His character starts at over-the-top and quickly proceeds to criminally insane. He's way better than this. Despite all the issues, THE ABYSS has to be Cameron's most adult work. It's a film that takes it's time to unfold, allowing you to really get to know the characters...before all hell breaks loose. It's about people and what it takes to overcome the impossible, not the latest, coolest effects, which, for all you sci-fi buffs, it has plenty of. I just wish he had stopped while he was ahead and kept his focus on the human drama, not the otherworldly one.
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Crime Library: Criminal Minds and Methods
Martha Stewart Prison Living
Stewart pulled up in this sport-utility vehicle at approximately 6:15 a.m. to Alderson Federal Prison Camp. New inmates are typically fingerprinted, photographed, given a medical examination, and strip-searched. They are also ordered to give a specimen sample and to cough to make sure they are not hiding drugs. Prisoners are also assigned jobs; they earn between 12 and 40 cents an hour.
We're Following
Slender Man stabbing, Waukesha, Wisconsin
Gilberto Valle 'Cannibal Cop'
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What we see as failure may actually be progress.
Thomas Edison was an inquisitive child at an early age. He attended school for only three months where the teacher labeled him a "too stupid to learn anything" quite possibly because of his early hearing problems. His mother removed him from school and decided to teach him at home. She encouraged him to read and he quickly developed a great interest in science, especially chemistry. At 10, he set up a small laboratory in the basement of the family home. At the age of 20, Edison set up a laboratory in Menlo Park, New Jersey where he spent his time as a full-time inventor.
Within two years, he had 40 different projects going and was applying for over 400 patents a year. In 1878, he boldly announced to the world that he would invent an inexpensive electric light that would replace the gas light. Often ridiculed, Edison tried over ten thousand different experiments before he finally demonstrated the first working light bulb on October 21, 1879. When a reporter asked, "How did it feel to fail 10,000 times?’ Edison replied, "I didn’t fail 10,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 10,000 steps."
Who could ever imagine where we might be today if Thomas Edison had not persevered after ten thousand failures? It’s OK to fail. From every failure comes the seed of an even greater possible success. Robert Schuller compares this process to a high jumper approaching the bar. If he/she always clears the bar, we really don’t know how high that person can jump. It’s only when they trip the bar that we have a true measure of their success. Without failure, we can never grow to our full potential. Rick Patino, the great basketball coach says, "Failure is the fertilizer for success." Embrace failure as a legitimate step in the right direction.
"Restlessness and discontent are the first necessities of progress."
16 years ago I got to taste some of that fertilizer for myself. I owned a 4,000 member health club, an auto accessories business and was very involved in our community and church. Then some banking procedures were changed and I found myself in a frightening situation. My businesses were sold at a fraction of their value, and I was left with seemingly insurmountable IRS tax bills and supplier invoices. Although advised to declare bankruptcy, I found it impossible to walk away from even my verbal promises. Yes, the return to any real success took much longer than I ever expected. But I am convinced that the journey through that was the training ground for my success today.
From the Bible:
"A man’s steps are established by the Lord, and He takes pleasure in his way. Though he falls, he will not be overwhelmed, because the Lord holds his hand." Psalms 37:24 (HCSB)
Direction for Today:
Describe a time when you persevered through many attempts to ultimate success in that challenge.
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Driving tip: If you rear-end a car of the freeway, your first move should be to hang up on the cell phone.
Insurance is a lot like wearing a hospital gown. You're never covered as much as you think you are.
I frequently go to the opera whether I need to sleep or not.
I sing in a small Quartet: there are only three of us.
Next time you pass my house, I'd appreciate it.
As a child I had a room so small the furniture was painted on the walls.
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Interval Methods
Global optimization methods that use interval techniques provide rigorous guarantees that a global minimizer is found. Interval techniques are used to compute global information about functions over large regions (box-shaped), e.g., strict bounds on function values, Lipschitz constants, higher derivatives. Most global optimization methods using interval techniques employ a branch and bound strategy. These algorithms decompose the search domain into a collection of boxes for which the lower bound on the objective function is calculated by an interval technique.
Application Domains
Interval methods require that the objective function be formulated by an analytic expression that is provided to the algorithm; this expression is used by an interval technique to compute the bounds. The basic design for interval methods does not require the calculation of the derivative information, though the efficiency of these algorithms can be improved if the derivative or Hessians are available. The application of interval methods to high dimensional problems remains an open problem. Present techniques are practically limited to problems with several hundreds of variables.
Interval methods have been applied to a variety of challenging optimization problems. Recent conferences on interval methods describe a variety of successful applications.
Several global optimization packages using interval methods are listed here.
Eldon Hansen, Global Optimization Using Interval Analysis. Dekker, New York 1992.
A good introduction to interval techniques for the solution of global optimization problems and of nonlinear systems of equations with several solutions.
A bibliography of interval methods for global optimization is maintained by Baker Kearfott.
Reliable Computing (formerly Interval Computations) contains a variety of articles relating the application of interval methods to global optimization.
Miscellaneous Links
The web page on interval computations provides a comprehensive collection of pointers to interval methods.
Some online introductions to interval methods are given here
Global Optimization Survey - Main Page
Sandia National Laboratories
This page maintained by
Last modified: March 10, 1997
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No bill surprises with unlimited nationwide text messaging because you'll always pay one flat rate per month!
There is a one-time activation fee of $5.00 when adding this feature unless it's included in your plan or you subscribe to the Web (for Mobile Phones) feature.
Check your phone's user manual for details on how to send and receive text messages on your phone.
Text Messaging requires a voice plan, compatible equipment, and is subject to coverage limitations present on C Spire's and its wireless partners' networks. Participation in third-party text messaging contests or promotions, and the purchase of third-party content may result in additional charges on your bill above and beyond standard messaging rates.
1. Per Month: $9.99
2. Activation Fee: $0.00
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Army Associates
Crazy Stuff
Fuzzy Friends
Guest Contributions
Hong Kah Honkies
Kinetic Kids
Polytechnic People
Wollongong Wollies
Rooting iNO One, and experiments!
This amazing device from iNO Mobile apparently is faster than my current Xperia Ray, and apparently it has a lot of problems associated with it as well. Here’s my documentation and journey into rooting (and experimenting on) this phone.
UPDATE 4 Dec 2012: Firmware v1.0.4 is out! Changelog is on iNO Mobile’s Facebook post. Indications for fixes in v1.0.4 marked in red. Added link to MT6575 ADB drivers.
UPDATE 13 Nov 2012: Added CWM Recovery section, and full ROM dump section. Added alternate fix for location-based apps crashing.
UPDATE 29 Oct 2012: Added section on fixing missing dictionary words.
UPDATE 28 Oct 2012: Added section on silent boot and shutdown sounds.
1. Download the MT6575 ADB drivers from this link (scroll down, just above the comments box).
2. Download the MT6575 Root Tool from this link. Don’t let the title scare you, as the Root Tool is for phones based on the MT6575 CPU.
3. Make sure your iNO ONE is in USB Debugging mode (in Settings -> Developer Options), and turn on MTP mode:
4. Extract the MT6575 Root Tool into a folder on your computer.
5. (Optional) – Remove the Chinese-language root filesystem explorer by deleting RootExplorer.apk, or replacing it with your choice.
6. Run TPSparkyRoot.bat.
Apps Using Google Maps Crash Fix
Prerequisite: You will need root access to fix this (see above to obtain root access), and also BusyBox installed (Note: not only downloaded via Google Play Store, but also by running the app and pressing the “Install” button!). You will also need adb.exe from either the MT6575 Root Tool or official Android SDK from Google.
1. Download Google Apps ZIP file from (
2. Extract system/framework/, and place it in the folder containing adb.exe.
3. Access a command prompt and browse to your folder containing adb.exe.
4. We’re going to use adb to copy the JAR file to the internal SD Card using the command:
adb push /mnt/sdcard
5. Now, all we need to do is move the file into /system/framework on the phone:
6. After that’s done, exit out from the shell twice and into your normal command line. From there, type adb reboot, and voila! Working apps!
UPDATE 13 Nov 2012: Alternatively, you can just copy everything in /system/frameworks and move them to /system/framework/.
Silent boot and shutdown sounds
Using adb shell, navigate to /system/media and rename bootaudio.mp3 and shutaudio.mp3 to bootaudio.old and shutaudio.old respectively using mv or cp (and then deleting the MP3 files accordingly):
mount -o,remount -t ext4 emmc@android /system
cd /system/media
mv bootaudio.mp3 bootaudio.old
mv shutaudio.mp3 shutaudio.old
Dictionary Fix
1. Download LatinIME.apk from XDA-Developers.
2. Copy the file to the internal SD Card:adb push LatinIME.apk /mnt/sdcard
3. Overwrite /system/app/LatinIME.apk with the one you downloaded using adb shell:
rm /system/app/LatinIME.apk
cp /mnt/sdcard/LatinIME.apk /system/app/LatinIME.apk
4. Reboot the phone, and you should have lesser red lines under words ;)
Full ROM Dump (Nandroid Backup)
Credit goes to Forum.China-iPhone.Ru.
Basically, follow that guide (Google Translate helps!). I used BakUpTool_MT6575 _4.0_v2d_4GB_sdcard2.rar to dump my ROM, as it backs up the ROM data in the external SD card.
Experimental ClockWorkMod (CWM) Recovery
This is experimental, and thus, it is not recommended for non-technical people! This recovery is also useless without having a full ROM dump of your phone (detailed above). Nevertheless, its useful if you need to restore your phone!
1. Download my iNO One CWM Recovery image file.
2. Download MobileUncle Tools.
3. Extract and copy the recovery.img and place it in your external SD Card (/mnt/sdcard2).
4. Run MobileUncle Tools. Select “Recovery Update“, and then select the recovery.img file. It should prompt you to reboot. It might take a while to flash the recovery, and multiple tries as well (your phone can boot back into normal mode fine, just that the recovery mode is fried, so you can try flashing CWM again), so YMMV!
5. If you need to roll back, here’s the iNO One Original Recovery file.
Sidenote: This took quite a while to research and cook up a CWM Recovery ROM! But further research is abound, once CWM is installed!
14 comments to Rooting iNO One, and experiments!
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101645
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Comment: Why am I wrong? It's my call
(See in situ)
In reply to comment: WRONG.... http://kingworldnew (see in situ)
Why am I wrong? It's my call
Why am I wrong? It's my call through my analysis. I use technicals--i.e., I block out all noise in the news.
Now if Sinclair is right, then this would be another anomaly and, yes, the price would skyrocket and my analysis would get smashed. But for now it's just noise, and I'm sticking to my call.
And another thing, you people act like I'm anti-gold... Well I'm NOT!!! Hear that you little Alex Jones Conspiracy CREEPS! I own probably more than you, and I have bought some at high prices, but I don't let it cloud my judgement or my analysis.
Go crawl in a hole with your storable food and generators and cry yourself to sleep because I said the price should drop more....
This site has gone way down hill, the people that come hear now belong in a mental facility.....
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From Husband To Castrated Sissy
Written by Kimmie Holland & Meeah Mackenzie / Jun 4, 2009
FROM HUSBAND TO CASTRATED SISSY By kimmie holland & meeah mackenzie
???Oh my god!???
My wife looked up over the muscular shoulder of the huge black guy nailing her on our bed. Her long tanned legs wrapped around v-shaped torso. ???Hi honey. What are you doing home early???? ???Kelli what the fuck???s going on here?!???
At that, the black guy turned and shot me a nasty glance. ???What???s it look like we doing, genius? I???m dicking your old lady. Now get out of here fuckshit I ain???t finished.???
???Better go downstairs dear,??? Kelli said, smiling. ???I???ll be down later to explain.???
Of course I was shocked, but what else could I do? I went downstairs poured myself a drink and then another. I was already half plastered by the time she came down. She was wrapped in her bathrobe. Behind her was the black guy wrapped in mine.
???Kelli,??? I stood up too quickly. The room swayed. I sat back down with a plop, nearly missing the couch entirely. I wiped my nose with the back of my hand and sniffed hard. It was no use trying to disguise the fact that I???d been crying. ???What is the meaning of this???? ???It???s simple Kenny,??? my wife said. ???Carlos and I are lovers.???
???How long?????? I choked up.
???Is that really important????
???How long???? I demanded, starting to feel angry.
???A year and a half.???
???A year and a half!??? I couldn???t believe what I was hearing. My wife was fucking another man for a year and a half and I hadn???t suspected a thing! ???Why? Why Kelli, don???t you love me????
The black guy rolled his eyes and muttered something about me being a lameshit faggot but I ignored him for the time being. I???d get to him later. He poured himself a drink and made himself comfortable in my easy chair. He turned on the TV. ???Kelli, I want an answer!???
???Oh Kenny, what do you expect me to say? Of course, I love you. You???re like???I don???t know, my best friend or something.??? ???Your best friend?! Kelli, I???m your husband! Your lover!??? ???No more asswipe,??? Carlos said from the easy chair. He???d pushed it back, his feet up. ???Tell him to leave,??? I demanded of my wife. ???Tell him you want him to go. Now.???
???I can???t do that, sweetie,??? my wife said.
???Why not????
???Because I don???t want him to leave.???
Carlos chuckled at that. ???She don???t want me to leave, you hear that sweetie????
???Well I???m telling you. Get out. Get out now, you son of a bitch!??? I shrieked. I was practically hysterical.
???Just shut the fuck up,??? the black man said, sounding almost bored.
???You???re ruining my good mood. I started towards the man in my chair, dressed in my robe, who???d just had his cock in my wife. Kelli laid a hand on my arm. ???Honey, don???t.???
???Like hell I won???t.???
The black man sighed, put his drink down on the table, and calmly pushed the chair down to get to his feet. Behind me, I heard Kelli say, ???Be careful Carlos. Don???t hurt him too much.???
I???d like to think I could blame the booze I???d drunk, but the fact is even if I???d been cold sober and he???d been drunk, I don???t think the results would have been any different. He was huge and strong, and it couldn???t have taken any more than one blow, although I don???t even clearly remember that. What I do remember is that he slapped me upside the head with his open palm and it was all over for me. My knees buckled and I crumpled to the floor in a heap. Carlos sat back down in the easy chair, picked up his drink, and continued watching television. Kelli was kneeling beside me, asking me something, but I couldn???t hear her voice. Everything sounded like I was underwater. Then I passed out.
When I came to, Kelli was still kneeling next to me, but I was no longer in the living room. I was in the basement lying on one of the beach lounge chairs that we put out on the deck in the summer. My wife was undoing my pants and pulling them down. She had already removed my shoes and socks. I was still pretty groggy so it took me a while to realize that my shirt had also been removed. I was naked from the waist up and my arms were raised over my head, my wrists tied to the bar running along the top of the chair. By the time I managed to make sense of what was going on, Kelli had tied my ankles to the bottom of the lounge chair.
???I really wish you hadn???t provoked Carlos like that. But I guess it would have come to this anyway.???
???What are you talking about? Kelli what???s going on? What???s happening????
I tried to keep the panic out of my voice, but it was impossible. The sympathetic look on Kelli???s face scared me more than anything else. ???It won???t be so bad once it???s over. You???ll see. It???ll help you adjust to???umm, things.???
???What things? Kelli talk to me, please.???
???Your attitude honey. It???s too bad you had that little outburst. Carlos wants to make sure it doesn???t happen again.???
???Kelli, I don???t understand.???
My wife gave me a little kiss on the forehead. ???You will sweetie. Soon.???
Then, to my surprise, she began to attach a small bullet vibrator to my penis with a few elastic bands, and turned the control onto high. She giggled when, in spite of myself, I became almost erect. I felt myself blush because just then Carlos came down the cellar stairs and stood over the chair where I was lying.
???Is the bitch ready????
???All ready,??? my wife said, standing.
The black man sneered when he saw my erection. ???Is that it? That???s all there is to him,??? he laughed.
My humiliation deepened, but I???d learned my lesson. I wasn???t about to antagonize Carlos any further, especially not as helpless and exposed as I was.
???Fraid so,??? Kelli grinned. ???Not very big is he????
I couldn???t believe what was happening to me, nor could I stop it. The vibrator attached to my cock was having its predictable effect. I strained against the plastic ties binding my wrists and ankles. It was no use resisting. I gasped as my cock spurted onto my belly. ???And not much lasting power either,??? my wife concluded, shaking her head disapprovingly.
???Well we???ll be fixing that problem.??? Kelli snickered.
I had no idea what they were talking about, but my mind was still cloudy, not just from the beating I???d taken, but now also from the vibrator, which continued to buzz away, and had already begun to revive my spent cock. The black man squatted down on one side of the lounge chair and my wife on the other side. While Kelli held my balls up in her soft palm, Carlos slipped a small leather noose over the sac, right at the base of my cock shaft. Was this some sort of kinky sex game? Were they going to try to prevent me from cumming? Between the vibrator and Kelli???s hand, but also the black man???s manipulation with the leather noose, I was half-erect.
???Wait,??? I gasped, ???that???s???ugh???that???s too tight.???
???Not yet it aint, princess,??? Carlos laughed.
He had pulled the leather lasso closed so tightly that it already looked like my balls were detached from my body. They looked like a couple of bright pink plums ready to burst.
I groaned as the breath went out of me and felt nauseous. ???What???what are you doing???? I cried, when I was able to catch my breath. I was panicking, and not even trying to control it this time. ???Sshh,??? my wife said, smoothing my hair back like a mother comforting a child. ???Enjoy it. While you can.???
Before they turned off the light and left me there, my wife and her lover stood by the side of the chair where I lay and looked down at my quivering, bound body. Unbelievably, I was shivering to another orgasm, but this one much weaker than the first, and with hardly any expulsion of cum. My tied off balls were already aching.
???How long,??? Kelli asked.
???By tomorrow morning,??? Carlos said. ???It???ll already be way too late.???
I saw a wicked gleam in Kelli???s eyes I???d never seen before. She was looking down at me as she kissed her lover deep and full on the mouth, his hands exploring her ass. It was then I knew that she wasn???t the least bit regretful of what her boyfriend was doing to me. That, just the opposite, she wanted it as much, if not more, than he did.
I guess I hardly need explain that it was the worst night of my life. My wife was upstairs fucking another man in our bed while I lay in the basement waiting for my balls to die. Because now I understood that???s what they had planned for me. I struggled against my bondage but it was no use. I was too weak, too exhausted, too defeated. I lay back on the lounge chair and tried to concentrate on the pleasurable feelings the vibrator was still milking from my cock and to ignore the fatal throbbing of the tight ligature that was strangling the life from my testicles.
I came again, but so weakly it hardly resembled an orgasm at all, just a spreading tickling-itching warmth deep inside my tummy. If I spurted at all, it was little more than a few tiny clear droplets. By now, I???d even stopped crying. It was time to face the facts. I had lost my woman to a superior male and nothing could change that. Kelli preferred Carlos and his big cock. I was expendable. The only hope I had to stay with her was to find some innocuous role in her and her new man???s life.
So I was relatively calm when Kelli came down to check on me sometime in the middle of the night. I was touched that she???d thought of me. She checked my testicles and gave me a long knowing glance. But this time it wasn???t wicked, but full of tenderness and sympathy. I knew what she???d seen. The last time I dared to look between my legs I saw that my tied off scrotum had turned an alarming and unnatural muddy purple color.
???They???ve already begun to die,??? Kelli said, matter-of-factly.
???There???s no going back now.?????
I felt one last tear roll down the side of my face.??
She lifted my head and gave me a few sips of water. Then she explained how things would be from now on. She knew I still loved her and she admitted she still had tender feelings for me, too. She just didn???t feel sexual to me anymore, and hadn???t for a long time. She had talked Carlos into letting me live with them but I had to know my place. I was to be, more or less, their servant, but, of course, I???d always be free to go if that???s what I chose. They wouldn???t keep me against my will. She didn???t think I???d cause any trouble, since she doubted that I???d want everyone to know I wasn???t a man anymore, but even if I did, she and Carlos would swear that I???d castrated myself in despair when I discovered she was leaving me for another man. Then again, she added pointedly, if I made too much of a nuisance of myself, Carlos could always simply revert to his original plan, which had been to make me disappear. Permanently.
???But I really don???t think that will be necessary, will it sweetie????
???No,??? I whispered, stunned at how close I???d come to ending up a murder victim.
Kelli smiled, patted my head, and ask if she could get me anything else before she went back to bed. I asked her for a blanket. It was cold in the cellar and, besides being naked, I found losing my balls and Kelli???s recent revelations to be particularly. She pulled out an old quilt stored on a shelf in the pantry and covered me. Then she bid me a good night and returned to her lover???s arms, leaving me to mourn the death of my manhood alone.
By morning, Carlos examined my ball sac, stood up, and with a self-satisfied smirk announced that it was done: I was officially a eunuch. Kelli said, ???Congratulations honey,??? and that was that. I was given instructions not to try to remove the leather cord from my blackened testicles so as to avoid infection; instead, the dead flesh that my balls had become would dry up and fall off by themselves, ???like a pair of rotten grapes,??? Kelli laughed. And that???s just what happened. At first, the smell was pretty bad and I was the butt of a lot of Carlos???s jokes. Kelli had me use her perfume to scent the panties I now wore all the time and that helped.
Eventually, though, the flesh dried up and no longer smelled and sort of began flaking away. One night I took off my panties and found the remains of what used to be my scrotum and testicles at the bottom. I???d had a while to get used to the idea of being a feminized eunuch by then. I felt a little down, but what was done was done. I took like a lot easier now. As the saying goes, I just didn???t sweat the small stuff anymore.
Three years later and Kelli and I are still together. We???re still married, at last legally, but naturally I don???t have any conjugal rights any more. I don???t miss the sex so much as I miss the intimacy I used to share with my beautiful wife. Nowadays I???ll often do her hair or nails, usually at the salon where I now work part time, but the closest I come to real physical intimacy is when I???m occasionally asked to give her a totally platonic massage. I took a short course in therapeutic massage since Carlos enjoys a relaxing massage at the end of the day.
Carlos moved into the house shortly after I was castrated. Needless to say, he shares Kelli???s bed. I???ve made up a small room in what used to be a storage area under the stairs. There are no windows but I???ve decorated it bright and cozy.
Along with the massage course, I also took enough cosmetology courses to do some hairstyling at the salon. Between my part-time work at the salon and my full-time job as a homemaker for Kelli and Carlos, I???m kept pretty much on my painted toes.
Yes, I keep my toes polished, as well as my fingers. My body is always waxed smooth and while I can???t quite be mistaken for a girl, my personal appearance makes it quite obvious that I???ve been feminized. With each change, Kelli assured me that Carlos would lose a little more of the hostility he still had for me even as a former male. And I was happy to discover that my wife was right. As I started adopting more and more feminine traits, Carlos stopped seeing me even as a former male, and more like the subordinate femme sissy that I???ve become. The latest change???a pair of 36-inch breast implants???were the most successful.
Now Carlos no longer even refers to me as ???he??? and ???him.??? It???s strictly ???she,??? ???her,??? or what has become my girl name, ???Kimmie.??? Sometimes, when Kelli is having her period or just isn???t feeling well or not into it, Carlos will have me kneel down and blow him. I???ve gotten to be pretty good at it and I have to admit it does give me a nice sexy feeling to have him shoot his huge load into my mouth and to swallow the same hot cum that he shoots into my wife???s cunt.
As for my sex life, that???s pretty much it. I don???t have a lot of desires in that department, which I guess is pretty lucky since I don???t have much means of satisfying them. Mr. Richard, that???s the owner of the salon where I work, has taken a liking to me and we???ve gone on a few dates over the last three months. I???ve gone down on him, too, and he???s even taken me in what he calls my boi-pussy. That actually feels the best of all now that I???m stretched out and it no longer hurts. Mr. Richard is gay so he likes me in-between girl and boy and doesn???t want Kelli and Carlos to have my penis removed. He likes to play around with it while he???s fucking me in the boi-pussy, even though I cant really get hard anymore or cum, even with the testosterone pills he sometimes feeds me.
Well, luckily for him, Kelli and Carlos don???t want my clittie removed either. Not now, anyway. They say they like it to be a reminder of my status as a neutered femme sissy. So everyone is happy with the way things are, even me, I guess. I don???t think about it too much anymore. I???ve gotten used to my life the way it is. I find it almost impossible to imagine what it was like before.
For more stuff by us???pictures, art, vidclips, real-life experiences, & assorted nonsense, please visit: http://thefreakbox.blogspot.com/ http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fStoreID=336055&fMode=edit
Please visit our new video site at slutwives.com!
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Homily - Holy Thursday The Mass of the Lord's Supper
Homily (Sermon)
The Easter Triduum - Thursday
The Readings for Holy Thursday The Mass of the Lords Supper:
Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14
Psalm 115
1 Corinthians 11:23-26
John 13:1-15
[These readings can be found at www.universalis.com for the next few weeks, remember to scroll down a little as this link also contains the readings for the Chrism Mass.]
The Passover meal is one of the biggest feasts of the year for the Jewish people. It is a time for the people of Israel to give thanks for their salvation. To remember the night they were saved from slaver. To remember how the Lord went through Egypt and passed over their houses. How the Lord struck down the first born of every Egyptian family and animal.
There is a pattern here you might notice. We tonight gather to celebrate a meal, another Passover meal but not the original Passover meal celebrated by the Jewish people, but the Lord’s Supper, the last meal our Lord ate.
Christ was celebrating with his friends, the disciples, the saving act of God in freeing His people from slavery under the Egyptians, as we here, are celebrating the saving act of God freeing us from slavery to sin.
The nation of Israel was saved by the death of the first born sons of Egypt. We are all saved through the death of God’s first and only son, Jesus.
Every time we take part in the Mass, every time we receive Christ’s body and blood, every time we join our heart to His during communion we also take a seat at Christ’s table at the last supper.
We witness Jesus our Lord and Master wash the feet of his disciples. We see a powerful demonstration of the call to serve, the foundation of the priesthood, the foundation of our ministries and our service.
The washing of feet was a servants job. It was also the act of welcome into a house. As Christ washed their feet he showed them they were servants, he also welcomed them into his house, into his fathers house.
In a few moments you will witness Fr Kevin wash the feet of some of you. We are all disciples of Christ and as we watch this beautiful and touching at of service we must hear and take into our hearts Christ’s words. “I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you.”
Will you take this image away with you and let it lead you to serve others? The disciples founded our church, what will you do? Who will you be welcoming into God’s house with your service?
This Easter, this Triduum, open your heart to Christ. Stay and pray with Him tonight. Stand at the foot of His cross tomorrow. Joyously offer praise and glory to Him as His light returns to the World on Easter Sunday.
Take Christ as your example, you are His disciples, you are His royal Priesthood, You are now the servant He is sending to a world that very much needs you to wash it’s feet.
Homily Index
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Tenth Annual Southern California Linux Expo
When: January 20th - 22nd
Where: Los Angeles, USA
More Info: http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/scale10x/
The annual Southern California Linux Expo (or SCALE for short) is a conference about Free Software in general, trying to bring academic institutions, business and the GNU/Linux Community together. There will be an exhibition and a conference track.
Debian Involvement
Debian will have a booth at SCALE 10x where you can meet Debian users and developers from the Southern California area (and those who have flown in for SCALE).
Through the special promotional code DBIAN Users and/or Developers will get you a 50% discount off a full access pass to the show.
Main Coordinator: Don Armstrong
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Definitions for i ching
This page provides all possible meanings and translations of the word i ching
Random House Webster's College Dictionary
I Chingˈi ˈdʒɪŋ(n.)
Category: Eastern Religions
1. I Ching(ProperNoun)
A Chinese classic text describing an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy which is at the heart of traditional Chinese cultural beliefs.
2. Origin: From Chinese 易經 (simplified: 易经), Yì Jīng
1. I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng", also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes or Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. The book contains a divination system comparable to Western geomancy or the West African Ifá system; in Western cultures and modern East Asia, it is still widely used for this purpose. Traditionally, the I Ching and its hexagrams were thought to pre-date recorded history, and based on traditional Chinese accounts, its origins trace back to the 3rd to the 2nd millennium BC. Modern scholarship suggests that the earliest layers of the text may date from the end of the 2nd millennium BC, but place doubts on the mythological aspects in the traditional accounts. Some consider the I Ching the oldest extant book of divination, dating from 1,000 BC and before. The oldest manuscript that has been found, albeit incomplete, dates back to the Warring States Period. During the Warring States Period, the text was re-interpreted as a system of cosmology and philosophy that subsequently became intrinsic to Chinese culture. It centered on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change.
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Community Discussion: Blog by Healed1337 | Big Bad Ben's game review - Bomberman: Act ZeroDestructoid
Big Bad Ben's game review - Bomberman: Act Zero - Destructoid
I've been gaming since I was six (23 now.) I wouldn't necessarily call myself ultra-hardcore, but I'm certainly not a casual gamer. I've been collecting since July of 2009 and I'm quickly running out of room.
Beyond that, I'm starting a college journalism program in the fall and I work at a grocery store.
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This is my review for Bomberman Act Zero for the Xbox 360. I first wrote this on facebook for my friends, but I figured I should post it here too.
Act Zero throws away Bomberman's cuteness factor and turns it into a hardcore game. You pick either an awesome looking dude or a tough chick, choose their armor color, and then you begin.
The single-player campaign has two available views. Either the classic top view, or an absolutely genius 3rd person view that follows your bomberman. This view is awesome because it makes you feel like your in the action. Whenever you complete a stage, you automatically go to the next, and you actually get to keep all the power-ups you found. Each stage is progressively harder with either more enemies, or your enemies being more powerful. Oh, and the best feature...a total lack of continues!
Uh...yeah, as you've probably figured by now, this game isn't really all that great. In fact, it's horrible. When this game came out, that's all you got...for $60. A slowed down, stupefied version of a game that's existed since before the 80s. That's right, the whole thing feels slow, even though bomberman is supposed to feel fast. Worse yet, the loading times. Every single time you reach a new stage, it loads. Loads what? The background is EXACTLY THE SAME! Nothing changes from stage to stage, apart from your enemies starting with more power-ups. And when I said the models looked awesome, I lied. They look stupid, STUPID!
Another stupid thing is that you can find bonuses within the stages. One bonus I found unlocked an option in the main menu. Huh? Worse yet, it unlocked the ability to look at my achievements. Why you wouldn't include that in the first place is beyond me. Also, you can look at the achievements THROUGH THE XBOX'S GUIDE. YOU DON'T HAVE AN OPTION LIKE THAT AS AN UNLOCKABLE, it's either in the menu, or it's not. Another stupid thing is that it won't save any data whatsoever if your not signed into Xbox live...as if you actually want anyone to know you've played this piece of junk. The 3rd person view is impossible, just impossible. You can't see nearly enough of the stage while using it, and even if you see a bomb that's about to blow you up, you'll just end up running into another explosion. Oh right, and the worst part is that if you die, it goes straight to the main menu without giving you the option to try again. I thought those games died out in the NES days, but I guess not.
For this current generation of games, this game is amazingly bad. This kind of die once and start over doesn't pass for good gameplay. It was the worst offense back in the NES days, but until now I thought a total lack of continues was A THING OF THE VERY DISTANT PAST. Seriously, I usually find bad games entertaining for maybe a few minutes before I've had enough, but this game makes me angry, and I don't get angry.
My two word review: DESTROY IT!
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UX, or user experience, is a measure of the ease and pleasure users enjoy when navigating a site. In the following slideshow Digital Arts interviewees discuss the sites they believe display some of the best examples of good UX around - sites you should use and learn from. For more on UX best practice, read UX secrets revealed
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In the Kitchen
In the Kitchen
Recipes, food & wine
Fire up the grill
When I talked to Joel Riley of 610 WTVN this morning, he pointed out that our Web site has no grilling recipes currently posted. Mea culpa -- but I was afraid to anger the weather gods and bring snow down on what's supposed to be our first real warm weekend.
But since we've uttered the words "sunshine" and "grilling," I think I'm safe to proceed with our first grilled recipe of the season.
I offer up grilled salmon, which is more a technique than an actual recipe. It's simple and delicious and virtually foolproof. The key is putting down a piece of oiled foil on the grate of a preheated grill. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the foil. Close the lid and cook until the fish is opaque throughout (or a little more rare, if you prefer). Then use a thin metal spatula to slide between the skin and the foil, releasing the salmon in one piece.
Another trick, if you're using skinless fish: Make little beds for each fillet on the foil. Arrange thin slices of lemons and a few fresh herb sprigs (try rosemary, thyme or parsley). Place the fish atop the little beds -- then there's no worry of it sticking
Makes 4 servings
If you want to get fancy, make a mixture of soy sauce, lime juice and brown sugar. Place the fish, skin side up, in the marinade at room temperature for 30 minutes. Then proceed with the recipe below.
4 salmon fillets with skin, about 6 ounces each
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus additional for foil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Prepare the grill for medium-high heat. Rub a piece of foil slightly smaller than the grill grate with additional oil. Poke a few holes in it. Place on grill.
Drizzle salmon with olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pepper. Place skin-side down on foil on grill. Close cover. Grill to desired doneness, about 8 to 10 minutes for medium-well.
Use a thin metal spatula to separate the fish from the foil, leaving the skin behind.
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dLife feature photo
Enter keyword(s) or ingredient(s)
Enter a food:
Pizza Burgers
Source: dLife
Turkey burgers with Mozzarella and tomato.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Nutrition Facts
Makes 6 servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 264.5
Total Carbs 28.1 g
Dietary Fiber 3.7 g
Sugars 5.8 g
Total Fat 8.5 g
Saturated Fat 2.7 g
Unsaturated Fat 0.4 g
Potassium 156.9 mg
Protein 23.1 g
Sodium 381.9 mg
Dietary Exchanges
See the Detailed Nutritional Analysis
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WG4 The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1e)
Watermarked PDF
This special adventure is a combined wilderness and dungeon adventure scenario. It contains background information referee's notes, encounter keys, outdoor and dungeon level maps, and new monsters and treasures.
While it is designed to interface with "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth," this adventure is capable of standing alone. Likewise, while it is placed within the Greyhawk Campaign, it can easily be adapted for play in any individual campaign that employs the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game system.
Product History
WG4: The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun (1982), by Gary Gygax, was the first (!) adventure in the World of Greyhawk series.
A Return to Greyhawk. In the early 80s, Gary Gygax tried to revive and expand Greyhawk, hoping to make it into the sort of better-defined campaign world that would become common in the 80s (but which was all but unknown in the 70s). He brought two people back to TSR to help him in this: Rob Kuntz and Eric Shook. Kuntz showed up in late 1981 and helped to polish and finish up S4: "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" (1982), while Eric Shook got his start doing the maps for "Temple."
This team would later put together three more major releases: EX1: "Dungeonland" (1983), EX2: "The Land Beyond the Magic Mirror" (1983), and WG5: "Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure" (1983).
The five publications (from "S4" to "WG5") fall within what's known as the "first wave" of Greyhawk publication, which extended from the setting's first adventures in 1978 through the last Gygax adventures reprints in 1987. However, what Gygax, Kuntz, and Shook started in 1982 really constituted a serious expansion of the setting. Before then, Greyhawk had been only lightly detailed through adventures like the infamous "GDQ" series and others, but starting with S4, TSR was now producing adventures that considerably expanded the setting's mythology and lore. So, let's call the period beginning with the publication of S4 the "one-and-a-halfth wave" of Greyhawk publication (or perhaps just a brief expansive interlude).
Sadly, though, this period ended very quickly, leaving behind numerous manuscripts that the Gygax/Kuntz/Shook team didn't complete for TSR, including "Wasp Nest: The City State of Stoink," "Maze of Zaene," "The Temple of Elemental Evil," and Steve Marsh's "Starstrands" planar setting. The sudden end to the revival was due to the Gygax/Kuntz/Shook team falling apart sometime in late 1982 or early 83. The last reference to the group can be found in Dragon #71 (March 1983); afterward, Greyhawk production tailed off for a few years.
Most likely, this was all related to Gygax's "exile" to the west coast in 1982.
A Quick Production. "Temple of Tharizdun" was reportedly produced very quickly by Gygax himself, rather than the company's design department. Much of the work was done by Gygax's new Greyhawk cadre. Thus Eric Shook drew the maps, while Shook's mother, Karen Nelson, drew the evocative artwork. Gygax later said that he choose Nelson's artwork to highlight the "melodrama and pathos" of the adventure.
An adventure being done by someone other than the design department was very unusual by 1982, as was having a single artist illustrate an adventure - that is, rather than the usual teamwork illustration done by TSR's art department.
A First Setting. Gygax's Greyhawk revival resulted in "Tharizdun" being the first adventure that TSR put out specifically to support a setting - unless you count X1: "The Isle of Dread" (1981), which kicked off TSR's Known World support, but that was a lower-key sort of thing until the much-later "GAZ" series (1987-91).
What About WG1-3!? Though "Tharizdun" was labeled as WG4, there were no previous "WG" adventures (and never would be). In the Glossography for the World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983), TSR indicated that T1: "The Village of Hommlet" (1979) was meant to be WG1 and that S4: "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth" was meant to be WG3. Meanwhile, in Dragon #71 (March 1983), Gygax revealed that the adventure formerly known as T2: "The Temple of Elemental Evil" was to be WG2 - but he now said it was to be published in two parts.
As it happens, Temple of Elemental Evil would be delayed a few years more and eventually published as the T1-4 supermodule (1985).
In the forward to Dungeons of Dread (2013), Lawrence Schick further underlined the continuity between the modules intended to be WG1-3, writing, "there's evidence that Gary considered Tsojcanth part of a longer Greyhawk campaign, placing the adventure between T1-T4: The Temple of Elemental Evil and WG4: 'The Forgotten Temple oF Tharizdun'." When seen in that light, the four modules do form a nice adventuring continuity: T1 is "introductory to novice level"; T1-4 carries that up as high as level 8 (and possiblly higher); S4 runs levels 6-8; and WG4 goes from levels 8-10.
In his "Greyhawk Grognard" blog, Joseph Bloch suggests that Iuz might have been the lynchpin holding the arc together, since he's involved with the Temple of Elemental Evil and is also the son of Iggwilv from "Caverns."
However, when TSR organized their own Greyhawk "adventure path" in 1985-86, starting from T1-4, they didn't use the arc that Schick suggested. Instead, they continued from T1-4 into A1-4, then the GDQ series. The result has even looser connections, as well as some chronological problems related to Lolth.
A Sort of Sequel. "Tharizdun" is connected at least geographically to S4: "The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth"; Gnome Valley, a location that players encounter in "Caverns," is raided by norkers in WG4. This raid gets the PCs on the road to Tharizdun's Temple, where the norkers lair.
This connection puts the two adventures in extremely close proximity, both set in the Yatil Mountains near Perrenland. Unfortunately, the spatial proximity of the two adventures isn't supported that well by the adventures' production styles, which include wilderness maps in dramatically different scales.
In a much later interview, Gygax indicated that the mage Tsojocanth (who originally created the caverns from S4) defeated the cult of Tharizdun and acted as a conduit of power for the good deities to imprison Tharizdun itself. That's exactly the sort of detail that could have really tied the two adventures together -- but it's unfortunately absent from the adventures themselves (but now you know and can run the adventures yourself accordingly!).
Adventure Origins. When writing of the origins of "Tharizdun," Gygax said, "The [original] adventurers discovered Gnome Vale in the course of seeking the 'Caverns'. Later, they returned for rest and recuperation after suffering severe damage exploring the latter place. Only three or four of the original party actually journeyed to the 'Temple', because, as is usual with any group, some of its number were not on hand when it was time to adventure."
Based on the playtester lists, the players in common were Luke Gygax, David Kuntz, Richard Kuntz, and Sonny Savage. Because "Caverns" was originally playtested prior to the WinterCon V (1976) tournament, we can guess that "Tharizdun" has a similar pedigree, and thus might have been six years old by the time it was actually published as WG4.
Dungeons & Wilderness. WG4 starts off with wilderness adventuring, something somewhat uncommon in AD&D adventures in the early 80s. To be specific, it starts with a hexcrawl, but much like the hexcrawl in "Caverns," this one is oriented around a specific hex - that containing the eponymous Forgotten Temple. Unlike in "Caverns," the adventurers in this adventure don't have clever riddles to follow, just norkers to track.
The rest of the adventure focuses a dungeon, something much more common in adventures of the 70s and early 80s. However, it's a "double dungeon" with humanoid-ruled levels above (containing the raiding norkers) and the mysterious dungeons of Tharizdun below. Many a GM has said that their players have defeated the norkers and ignored the most mysterious levels entirely.
Expanding Greyhawk. Although WG4 adds a bit more detail to the area of the Yatil Mountains than appeared in S4, it's much more important in that it introduces the forgotten and imprisoned god Tharizdun. Tharizdun was originally Clark Ashton Smith's Lord of the Seven Hells, "Thasaidon," who appeared in "The Dark Eidolon" (1935). Rob Kuntz adapted him as "Tharzduun" for his own Kalibruhn campaign. Gygax then borrowed him to create Greyhawk's "Tharizdun."
In his earliest forms, Tharizdun was probably more of an uncaring, Lovecraftian god, but by the time Gygax was writing him, he'd instead become a god of entropy who doesn't appear to have originated in alien spheres.
Future History. Tharizdun wasn't used much by TSR following Gygax's introduction of him in WG4. He's mentioned in a few major releases like From the Ashes (1992), Night Below (1995), and the Greyhawk Players Guide (1998), but none of these included notable expansions or discussions of his role. Gygax actually made more (unofficial) use of Tharizdun in his "Gord the Rogue" books form New Infinities (1987-88), where Tharizdun is released and actually destroys Greyhawk.
Tharizdun got a bit more "official" attention later, at Wizards of the Coast, where he plays a major role in Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (2001). There, Monte Cook revealed that the Elder Elemental God (another of Gygax's deities) was actually a facade for Tharizdun - which some Greyhawk fans greatly disagreed with, as did Gary Gygax:
"The Elder Elemental Eye is actually an aspect of dread Tharizdun."
-Monte Cook, Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil (2001)
"I meant no relationship between the two. The Elder Elemental God I saw as a dark creative deity, one that spun form out of chaos in his portion of one universe, then lost control of his creation... Tharizdun is a larger and more pervasive force that is multiversal but not omnipresent."
-Gary Gygax, The Oerth Journal #12 (2002)
About the Creators. "The Forgotten Temple of Tharizdun" was prepared for publication by Gary Gygax during a period of great creativity in 1982. Around the same time he put together three other Greyhawk adventures and drafted much of the material that would become Monster Manual II (1983) and Unearthed Arcana (1985).
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Youth Anglers Trolling for Rockfish
Type: Tidal
Region: Eastern
Location: Choptank River
Attached are pictures of Fisher Stafford, Seth Markowitz and Aiden Markowitz (from left to right). They all had a great time trolling for rockfish on the Choptank River.
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C++ Builder Examples Collection 5.0
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Embarcadero HTML5 Builder, Actually, Quite Interesting
Embarcadero has announced HTML5 Builder for the visual design of standalone mobile or end-to-end web applications. Somewhat clouded by the firm's usual generous use of descriptive adjectives and superlatives, this new offering actually supports multiple operating systems and is impressively deployable to both web servers and app stores.
While perhaps not the "development revolution" that Embarcadero's marketing department would have it be, the firm is clearly cognizant of the current enterprise struggle to "mobile-enable" corporate websites and create apps for all key platforms.
With HTML5 Builder, developers can create an end-to-end web or mobile application once using a single codebase of standard web technologies and target multiple mobile operating systems (web, iOS, Android, Blackberry Windows Phone), theoretically reducing the time for multi-platform development.
"HTML5 Builder is a complete development solution designed to support all popular devices, browsers, and servers using standard web technologies, enabling developers to build web and mobile applications with a single effort," said Michael Swindell, senior vice president of marketing and product management at Embarcadero.
The Fastest Path To The Mobile World
Swindell goes on to emphasize that "the fastest path to the mobile world" is using common, standards-based web technology (HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript), which is embraced across all OS and platform vendors.
Unlike standalone frameworks or basic HTML editors, HTML5 Builder is a complete, visual Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to build web and mobile apps. For industrial strength dynamic content, HTML5 Builder includes integrated support for PHP server side methods and all popular database servers.
"With HTML5 Builder, developers create visually spectacular apps using a single HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript codebase. They more rapidly build better looking apps with jQuery mobile theming, User Interface styles, Visual CSS3 animation tools, and drag-and-drop components such as Canvas, Geolocation, and Audio/Video," said the company.
HTML5 Builder is available as a standalone web and mobile solution or bundled in the new RAD Studio XE3.
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Eszopiclone Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Warnings
Eszopiclone is also known as: Lunesta
Eszopiclone Pregnancy Warnings
Animal studies have reported decreased fertility thought to be due to effects in both males and females. No females became pregnant when both males and females where treated with the highest doses. Other effects have been reported to include preimplantation loss, abnormal estrus cycles, decreases in sperm number and motility, and increases in morphologically abnormal sperm.
Eszopiclone has been assigned to pregnancy category C by the FDA. Animal studies have revealed evidence of slight reductions in fetal weight and evidence of developmental delay at maternally toxic doses. Increased postimplantation loss, decreased postnatal pup weights and survival, and increased pup startle response were reported to occur at all doses. Eszopiclone has no established use in labor and delivery. There are no controlled data in human pregnancy. Eszopiclone should only be given during pregnancy when benefits outweigh risks.
Eszopiclone Breastfeeding Warnings
There are no data on the excretion of eszopiclone into human milk. Because many drugs are excreted into human milk caution is recommended if eszopiclone is administered to a nursing woman.
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Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt
Paramount // Unrated // $14.98 // February 18, 2014
Review by Randy Miller III | posted March 20, 2014
Rent It
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Graphical Version
Originally released back in 2003, Dora's Egg Hunt serves up four episodes that originally aired during the series' first two seasons. The eponymous episode is the star of the show, in which Dora and Boots set off on a little Easter adventure to find 12 prize-filled eggs. Not surprisingly, this follows the same formula as pretty much every Dora episode ever conceived: you've got three destinations, interference from el zorro Swiper, a few bilingual vocab words, that annoying Map, etc., yet it's still a cute enough episode that most kids will enjoy. "El Dia de las Madres" is another Spring-centric episode that, likewise, follows Dora and Boots as they hunt for ingredients to make a special Mother's Day cake.
Short and simple, these two episodes are the main reason why this re-release of the exact same disc (which itself has been reissued at least twice, in 2004 and 2009) is part of the studio's "Essentially Spring" line of DVDs...but at this point, you'd think some sort of remaster or new extras would be included. Nope, it's the same exact product with a new slipcover disguise, for better or worse. Two Bonus Episodes are also included, and since they're not really Spring-related it's completely understandable. "Pablo's Flute" follows the duo as they search for a missing instrument, while "Dora, La Musica" finds our heroes leading a parade in protest of the nasty, music-hating Senor Shush. Like both main episodes, these music-themed adventures are enjoyable enough even if they don't exactly follow the main theme of this disc.
So yes, it's 2014 and Dora is still a popular series, so you'd think a broader Spring-themed collection would be offered instead of a recycled relic from 11 years ago. That's the main reason it's hard to recommend titles like Dora's Egg Hunt, even if the material itself would probably be enjoyed by most preschool kids. But let's take a closer look, shall we?
Quality Control Department
Video & Audio Quality
Nothing remarkable, though I'd imagine ten years ago this disc would've gotten an easy pass. All four episodes are presented in their original tube TV-friendly 1.33:1 aspect ratio and, more often than not, show their age. Image detail definitely runs a little on the soft side, while mild interlacing and motion blur could also be spotted on many occasions. Colors are relatively bold and bright, although the warmer colors are prone to bleeding. It's still a perfectly watchable presentation overall, at least enough so that most single-digit Dora fans won't find anything to complain about.
The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and sounds fairly good under the circumstances. Voices and music are relatively crisp and clear without fighting for attention, while a modest amount of channel separation gives many of the song-driven moments a little bit of punch. Optional Closed Captions have been included during the main feature only.
Menu Design, Presentation & Packaging
Seen above, the menu interface is basic, colorful and easy to navigate. As expected, several chapter breaks and a sea of recycled 2003 ads and warning screens are also part of the presentation. This single-disc release is housed in a silly eco-friendly keepcase; also wrapped snugly around the outside is a not-so-eco-friendly "Essential Spring" slipcover.
Bonus Features
Three extras have been recycled from the previous version(s) of Egg Hunt, including an on-screen Egg Adventure Game and two "Linny the Guinea Pig" Episodes (she of Wonder Pets fame), which run for less than three minutes apiece.
Final Thoughts
Not too much to say about this one. Dora's Egg Hunt has been released on DVD at least three or four times now...and since it's the same 2003 disc, you won't be getting any new extras or even a particularly strong A/V presentation. The episodes themselves are cute and harmless enough, but at this point only the newest of parents and their kids will be unfamiliar with what's on board here. Rent It or just buy one of the older (identical) editions for pennies on the dollar.
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Case Number 18912
Sentai Filmworks // 2004 // 105 Minutes // Rated R
Reviewed by Judge Adam Arseneau (Retired) // May 17th, 2010
The Charge
The Third World War is over...but the battle to save mankind has just begun!
Opening Statement
Adapted from the manga series by Masamune Shirow (Ghost in the Shell) and directed by Shinji Aramaki, the ambitious CGI production blends the stylistic elements of anime into an entirely computer-generated world, a digital animation in the most pejorative sense of the phrase. The film was a disappointment stylistically and thematically, but its high-octane action sequences were second-to-none.
Now finally available on Blu-Ray, has Appleseed improved with time and 1080p resolution?
Facts of the Case
Deunan Knute is a soldier on the front line, fighting endless hordes of robotic enemies. After being subdued, she wakes up in a hospital ward, panicked and alarmed, but soon discovers the war ended months ago -- she had continued fighting because no one had told her to stop. Now she finds herself in utopian Olympus, with a population that's half-human and half-bioroids, cloned and genetically engineered organisms. The transition from endless war to paradise is a traumatic shift, made more complicated by Briareos, a former lover now turned cyborg, back in her life.
Now part of ES.W.A.T, a tactical response team and city protector, Deunan tries to adapt to the new reality of her life, but conflict soon brews in Olympus. Dark forces are on the rise, threatening the tranquil peace and serenity -- and it's up to Deunan to save the day.
The Evidence
Appleseed is excessive in every measurable sense; a CGI playground of endless battles, explosions, and absurdly choreographed fight sequences that thrills the sense while simultaneously killing the heart and soul with eerily artificial character designs and nonsensical plot. The computer animation lends itself fantastically to over-the-top The Matrix-style battle sequences, but the stiff, awkward movements and wooden facial expressions break the illusion, too artificial. The plot, an end-of-the-world collision between humanity and technology, bears almost no connection to the beloved source material and fails the logic test at every turn.
Appleseed was a film ahead of its time, but perhaps not in a good way. Computer technology had progressed far enough along to allow the conception and execution of such a film, but had not progressed enough to make it look seamless. The end result is a contradiction, both impressive and lacking. It's a glimpse into the possibilities of things to come, but not quite satisfying in its own right. Shirow gave it another shot with a sequel a few years later, Appleseed: Ex Machina and achieved more satisfactory technological results with more realistic-looking designs and less angular, artificial movements. As for Appleseed, well, all good ideas start somewhere.
A plot isn't the kind of thing that improves with time, say like a fine wine does. When it was released, the lackadaisical plot was the biggest hindrance to Appleseed. Now on Blu-Ray, it still sucks. Much hullabaloo was made about the revolutionary and cutting-edge graphics, but as with so many popcorn blockbusters, all the budget went into CGI and none to the screenwriter. Appleseed is laughably bad in the drama department -- the bad guy is named General Hades, for heaven's sake. There isn't a subtle bone in Appleseed's body. It's just an endless string of kung fu fight sequences in bullet time, firefights, explosions, and lukewarm meanderings on the nature of humanity. All that was good and interesting in the original work by Masamune Shirow has been filtered down to the point of nonexistence -- not that there was much to begin with. Let's be honest here. As kitschy and fun as the manga can be, to say it lacks the existentialism of Shirow's later work is an understatement.
I haven't seen Appleseed in over five years, since I reviewed the PSP edition in fact. Seeing it on Blu-Ray in 2010 is something of a mixed bag. The film looks marvelous; digital animation transfers splendidly to Blu-Ray and Appleseed is no exception. The problem is more chronological. Digital animation technology moves extremely fast, and the last few years have seen serious breakthroughs in terms of what we as consumers expect from our media. In 2004, Appleseed was something to get excited about, but today, it almost has the look of something you'd see on YouTube now -- not quite the groundbreaking digital animation from a major Japanese studio it once was. Time is a cruel mistress in this game, and the angular and jerky motion of the characters and plastic facial expressions looks old-fashioned and amateurish by current standards.
Animation issues aside, the 1080p transfer is sublime. I dusted off my old DVD version of this film, and there is no comparison; the increased resolution and fidelity makes all the difference in the world here. If anything, the Blu-Ray treatment makes the film look too good; we see the texture limitations and occasionally jagged animation lines that the softness of old standard-definition televisions smoothed out. For better or worse, HDTV shows everything in uncompromising, cruel detail. Colors are marvelously saturated and vibrant, with strong black and white levels. Certain sequences that were murky and difficult to decipher in the SD edition (the infamous opening sequence) are much clearer and more defined in 1080p. If you live and die by reference quality visuals, you can safely discard your old DVD editions of Appleseed, because you won't need them any longer.
Audio reveals some interesting decisions by Sentai. This disc features no lossless audio options, only DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes; rare for Blu-Ray. In addition, an alternate English Dolby 5.1 mix is included, a newly recorded track using the same voice actors as in Sentai's treatment of Appleseed: Ex Machina. The default is the newly recorded track, but it's nice that they kept the legacy version for people who got attached to the old Geneon edition. I think the new English dub is pretty solid, but you may find yourself picking and choosing certain voices you prefer over others. I like Briareos in the old Geneon dub better, for example, but Deunan in the new version. The only catch is that the old dub only comes in Dolby Digital 5.1, which is unfortunate, because the DTS tracks are far superior in both Japanese and English versions. Bass response is extremely strong, rear channels come alive during battle sequences with flying bullets and explosions; the first five minutes of the film alone will put some serious mileage on your home theater system. The Dolby 5.1 tracks are a bit more conservative; less oomph and volume, flatness in tone compared to the sparkle of the DTS version.
Extras are not too different from the previous DVD release. A commentary track with director Shinji Aramaki and producer Fumihiko Sori is included (subtitled) as well as some production staff profiles, all of which were previously available. The new addition is a 30-minute featurette, "The Birth of 3D Live Anime," delving into technical detail and making-of footage to illustrate how the film came together.
The Rebuttal Witnesses
The plot sucks. No, seriously. You might think I'm being pithy and dismissive. I'm not.
Closing Statement
A middling mediocre action film, Appleseed suffers from an awkward plot and dated animation, but thankfully none of it detracts from the sheer butt-kicking joy of watching the adrenaline-packed action sequences in glorious 1080p. Appleseed takes to Blu-Ray like a fish to water. This is the format the film was meant to be seen in.
The Verdict
Something of a split decision, but the top-notch technical marks saves this title from the gallows. Not guilty.
Scales of Justice
Video: 94
Audio: 95
Extras: 55
Acting: 70
Story: 65
Judgment: 80
Perp Profile
Studio: Sentai Filmworks
Video Formats:
* 1.78:1 Non-Anamorphic (1080p)
Audio Formats:
* DTS 5.1 Surround (English)
* DTS 5.1 Surround (Japanese)
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English)
* Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (Japanese)
* English
* English (SDH)
Running Time: 105 Minutes
Release Year: 2004
MPAA Rating: Rated R
Distinguishing Marks
* Alternate English Dub
* Commentary
* Featurette
* Profiles
* IMDb
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Eclipse Community Forums - RDF feed Eclipse Community Forums Re-using operations in multiple EGL files
But as I call these operations in different egl templates, it seems that I need to copy them, or the operations won't be defined.
Is there any way to make operations defined in one template accessible to other templates?]]>
Joost van Pinxten 2012-11-12T14:07:01-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files
You can define your operations in a .eol file and then import it from your .egl templates.
Dimitris Kolovos 2012-11-12T14:10:41-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files
Cheers, hadn't thought of that. I will try this out!
Joost van Pinxten 2012-11-12T14:21:35-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files
I would suggest to change the style of the "import" part, as I think this is confusing. If at all possible, or logical, the structure of imports (what is allowed where?) Wouldn't it be convenient to state this somewhere in a general chapter, e.g. in a dependency diagram?]]>
Joost van Pinxten 2012-11-13T09:44:46-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files
There's this paragraph in the book (last paragraph in p. 119) saying that any EOL statement (including the 'import' statement) can be used within the dynamic part of an EGL script:
"Any EOL statement can be contained in the dynamic sections of an EGL template. For example, the EGL template depicted in Listing 7.3 generates text from a model that conforms to a metamodel that describes an object-oriented system."
Perhaps we should mention imports in this paragraph as well?
Antonio Garcia-Dominguez 2012-11-14T09:45:37-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files also be imported (addtional to EOL modules). Creating a kind of dependency graph between module types can also help here. E.g. how EML, EVL, ETL, and EOL modules can reference one another.
"Modules can also import other modules using import statements, and access their operations." <- this is good information, but it's a good idea to show the readers how to do this. The concrete syntax is missing here.
It might be a good idea to break listing 3.1 into two different listings, such that "operation Integer add2()" is imported into the other listing and then both are called. Or to create another example here, so that the complexity of the example does not become too high.
Also, as far as I can see, there are two ways to import: using relative and absolute paths. It might be convenient to mention this here too.
I haven't tried this, but are conditional imports allowed (like in PHP's 'require' and 'include')? Or should the import always occur at the top level, before any other type of statement?]]>
Joost van Pinxten 2012-11-14T10:37:42-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files .
I have added a new example at the beginning of Section 3.1 showing how imports work. Could you have a look at it? The example also mentions that we can use absolute paths, relative paths or even platform:/ URIs.
As for conditional imports, I'm afraid those aren't supported. Import statements must be at the top level, since the E*L engines will statically parse the scripts looking for them.
Antonio Garcia-Dominguez 2012-11-24T19:59:10-00:00
Re: Re-using operations in multiple EGL files
consider this test.eol:
// prints 1
// this operation defines the end of the (executable) body of this eol file
operation Integer test () {
// Does not print anything
This is not a documented feature and led me to report bug 393988.
My suggestion is to change this section into something like the attached image, as my latex-fu is not up to par to create something along that spirit. Basically, I'm trying to include the fact that a source file consists of three pieces: first piece consists of import statements, second piece consists of a sequence of "normal" statements that are executed, and the third piece contains operation definitions, in which normal statements aren't executed.
However, I recognize that this piece of information (about module contents and organization) may not be well structured anymore. How about splitting it up:
\section{Module Organization}
In this section the syntax of EOL is presented in a top-down manner. As displayed in Figure \ref{fig:EOL.Module}, EOL programs are organized in \emph{modules}. Modules can import other modules using \emph{import} statements and access their operations, as shown in Listing~\ref{lst:ExampleImports}.
Each module may define a
\item number of \emph{import} statements
\item block of EOL statements to execute
\item and a number of \emph{operations}.
The body is a block of statements that are evaluated when the module is executed. Each operation defines the kind of objects on which it is applicable (\emph{context}), a \emph{name}, a set of \emph{parameters} and optionally a \emph{return type}. The body ends when the first operation definition is encountered and thus statements outside an operation will be silently ignored after the first operation definition.
I know that this is all very basic stuff, but I think it's important for developers new to Epsilon to be able to fall back on the information, as it is the actual reference for all things related to Epsilon. Thank you for your time!]]>
Joost van Pinxten 2012-11-24T22:06:05-00:00
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EconStor >
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin >
DIW-Diskussionspapiere >
Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
Title:Absorptive capacities and the impact of FDI on economic growth PDF Logo
Authors:Farkas, Beatrice
Issue Date:2012
Abstract:This paper analyzes the necessary local conditions required for the existence of positive spillovers from multinationals' entry and it consists of a unified study of absorptive capacities. We start from the idea that FDI speeds up the diffusion of technologies across countries. Yet, the question that arises is: to what extent are these advanced technologies absorbed and successfully internalized by the receiving countries such that they materialize in welfare gains? The impact of FDI depends on the country specific absorptive capacity. We first interact FDI individually with different growth determinants and we find that the contribution of FDI to economic growth is positive and significant depending on the level of human capital and the development of financial markets, but its presence in developing countries must complement rather than substitute a set of other growth determinants. Then we test the robustness of the linear interaction terms relative to each other and we analyze the set of conditions that are most beneficial for FDI.
economic growth
absorptive capacity
Document Type:Working Paper
Appears in Collections:Publikationen von Forscherinnen und Forschern des DIW
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/101942
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Bitcoins on top of traditional cash
Remember how the discovery of a botnet took much of the value out of the Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange, leading it to declare bankruptcy? Yeah, investors aren't happy about that -- and they're now demanding compensation. One of them, Gregory Greene, has filed a lawsuit accusing the exchange of fraud for not doing enough to protect traders from theft. He's pressing for class action status to cover all Bitcoin owners who used Mt. Gox, and he wants the exchange to pay both restitution and damages. It's not yet clear how the company will respond, but it wouldn't be surprising if there are other lawsuits to come. When customers may have lost the equivalent of $480 million in virtual currency, there's a lot more than just hurt feelings at stake.
Mt. Gox exchange faces US lawsuit over Bitcoin losses
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Clay Davis in his natural habitat
If you've been waiting for the day you could marathon The Wire without buying a DVD set or an iTunes pass, your moment has come: as promised, Amazon has rolled out the initial wave of HBO shows on Prime Instant Video. Those shelling out $99 per year (or $79 if you're lucky) can now stream every season of older series like Deadwood, The Sopranos and The Wire as well as a handful of seasons from ongoing productions like Boardwalk Empire and True Blood. You'll also get a smattering of comedy specials, documentaries and movies. While you'll have to remain patient if you want to watch fresher shows, such as Girls or Veep, this is still a big deal if you want to see what you've been missing on premium cable TV -- or if you'd just like to revisit a favorite episode.
Amazon's Prime Instant Video gets its first HBO shows, right on cue
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Click here to visit the new Engage website!
The philosophy behind the Natfhe boycott proposal
Added by David Hirsh on May 16, 2006 08:48:10 PM.
I sent an email round to some Natfhe officers telling them about the Engage website and attaching copies of these three arguments against the proposal to draw up a blacklist of Israeli Jewish academics, which is to be discussed at their conference this month. I received this reply from Steve Cushion who is a member of the national executive committee of Natfhe:
As you have asked for my views, I suppose I should give you them unvarnished. I think:
1. Israel is a colonial settler state and, as such, is built upon racist foundations.
2. To criticise Zionism and Israel is not to be anti-Semitic, but rather it is criticism of a political philosophy that many of us believe is a blind alley for the Jewish people. The Zionist state's reprehensible behaviour in the occupied territories has caused an increase rather than a decrease in anti-Jewish feeling in this world. I hope that criticising a government of a country is not seen as hatred of the inhabitants of that country as I have been extremely critical of the governments of the United Kingdom over the years.
3. A two state solution in Palestine institutionalises a racist divide in the region and is a bar to peace.
4. The only possible solution is for a secular socialist state from the river to the sea.
5. Israel exists as an outpost of United States imperialism in the Middle East and could not exist without massive aid from the US governement for that purpose. The British government, in its role as US poodle is part of that problem.
6. Anti-Semitism needs to be fought head on in the countries where it occurs as do all forms of racism. This is not done by proposing a separatist or nationalist solution, rather it is done by a united response from all socialists and anti-racists. By supporting emigration to Israel, Zionists have bottled out of the fight against anti-Semitism.
7. The example of South Africa is instructive in that there were two opposing strands to the resistance to racism there that may be summed up by the opposed slogans "one man one vote" and "one settler one bullet". The fact that the multi-racial ANC became the dominant trend in the resistance movement rather than the narrow nationalist PAC was in no small measure due to the international boycott that gave political credence to those who supported a multi-racial solution. To this end, I support a complete boycott of Israel.
I realise that this was not what you wanted to hear, but you did ask. Thank you for your contribution to the debate, Steve.
Steve Cushion is a lecturer at London Metropolitan University with research interests in, amongst other things, Resistance movements in World War Two and Jewish History.
3 & 4 are unbelievable, other-wordly, surreal. Steve thinks that if the Palestinians and the Israelis sat down to negotiate, if Israel agreed to withdraw behind the green line, if the two parties did a deal over the Palestinian refugees and over Jerusalem, if the Palestinian Authority agreed to take all possible measures to stop attacks against Israel, then this would be a "bar to peace". It would be a backward step. Better stay as we are. Because the only possible solution is a socialist state from the river to the sea. For Steve, a "secular democratic state" is not sufficiently radical. The answer is "socialism". But what was the question? The question was, I assume, how do we end the intolerable situation for Palestinians who are suffering under Israeli occupation and how do we end the intolerable situation for Israelis who are targeted by people trying to kill them when they go out for dinner or when they take a bus to work? Socialism.
5 is not convincing. Israel won the war in 1948 against the Arab states because the Jews in Palestine were supplied with weapons by Stalin, via his Czechoslovakian colony because there was a British and American arms embargo. It is fashionable to believe that Israel controls the USA, that it is able to decide issues as important as when America should go to war, and send it off to do its bidding. Steve Cushion rejects this conspiracy theory in favour of its opposite: Israel does not control America, but is in fact an American outpost. This reading has it that Israel is not really a state at all and Israelis are not really a nation - they are in fact American colonists. Steve adds that Britain also is a controlled subsidiary of America (a poodle). Steve has a research interest in Jewish history, he knows about how Israel came into being and he knows something about its history. It is difficult to believe that he really thinks this stuff. But to wonder why he might pretend to believe it is just as puzzling.
In 7, Steve considers two possible strategies for the Palestinians to move towards socialism; either they should hold a democratic election, with each person "from the river to the sea" having one vote (is this what he means by socialism?) or they should shoot all of the Israeli settlers. He opts for the first rather than the second. He argues that the international boycott of South Africa was decisive in the process that led to the "multi-racial" ANC winning power in South Africa (actually it was non racial) rather than the Black Consciousness movement, which he misrepresents as genocidal. He thinks that it was nothing to do with what people in the South African liberation movements thought or did; nothing to do with the political debates in the South African non racial trade unions, nothing to do with a battle of ideas between democrats, socialists, Stalinists, black nationalists - but was in fact to do with people in foreign countries refusing to buy Cape apples, to bank at Barclays and to fill their cars with Shell oil. And presumably also, the academic boycott of South Africa, that nobody took much notice of anyway. For serious discussion of the Israel = South Africa claim, see John Strawson or Susie Jacobs. See also Benjamin Pogrund and Ralph Seliger.
I clearly remember sitting through a long and learned talk from a South African "Marxist" in the 1980s explaining that apartheid was so bound up with capitalism that there was no possibility that apartheid could be defeated without a socialist revolution. I wonder if Steve remembers such nonsense then and why he repeats such nonsense now.
If Steve seriously thinks that Israel/Palestine is like South Africa, then why is he not in favour of a process of negotiation like the one that finally ended the apartheid regime? His understanding of apartheid South Africa seems to be as hazy as his analysis of the contemporary Middle East.
2 is anachronistic. He writes as though Israel was not a nation state but was in reality a political and social movement based on a bad idea. Jews shouldn't go to Israel, he says, they should fight antisemitism where they are. Zionism is not a solution to antisemitism. I feel like I have received an email from 1925. Jews did go to Israel Steve. They didn't go because they thought it was a good idea, they didn't go because they thought Zionism was better than socialism, they went because Hitler made a pretty good go at killing them all. They went to Palestine fleeing for their lives. They risked their lives to get past the Royal Navy that was trying to stop them going. Other Jews joined them there when they were ethnically cleansed from the great cosmopolitan cities of the Middle East by Arab nationalists. Others joined them after the fall of the antisemitic Soviet empire in 1989.
This bit I love: "The Zionist state's reprehensible behaviour in the occupied territories has caused an increase rather than a decrease in anti-Jewish feeling in this world." Lets pretend that this is true, and that "the Zionist state" is responsible for antisemitism rather than the antisemites. "Antisemitism" says Steve, "needs to be fought head on in the countries where it occurs as do all forms of racism". Emigrating to Israel is no solution to antisemitism. Yes, finally something we can agree on. Steve agrees that antisemitism is on the rise and that it is partly to do with discourses around the Israel/Palestine conflict. So how should we fight it?
We should fight it by drawing up a blacklist of Israeli Jewish academics and excluding them from the global academic community.
David Hirsh
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Homework Help
What is an iambic pentameter phrase in Act III of Romeo and Juliet?
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mandi1088 | Student, Grade 9 | eNotes Newbie
Posted February 21, 2012 at 12:39 PM via web
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accessteacher | High School Teacher | (Level 3) Distinguished Educator
Posted February 21, 2012 at 2:16 PM (Answer #1)
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Let us remember that an iambic pentameter is a line of blank verse that has ten syllables and a regular rhythm that can be expressed as "de-dum de-dum" and so on with the emphasis falling on the "dum" or the second syllable. Actually, it is not difficult to find examples of iambic pentameter in Shakespeare's plays because the majority of the text is written in blank verse. There are some sections of each play that are written in prose, and these can easily be distinguished by the length of the lines and the fact that they are written in paragraphs, whereas blank verse is identified by the shortness of its lines in comparison. Here is an example from Act III scene 5 when Juliet says farewell to Romeo and has a vision of their future:
O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
If you check each line, they all have ten syllables, making them excellent examples of lines that are written in iambic pentameter. There is some irregularity in the rhythm, but on the whole it is regular. Now have a look at Act III yourself and see if you can find some more examples. Good luck!
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Esquire + Me in My Place: Samantha Lockwood
Photographs by /// Interview by Laura Lane
I like having people around because it makes me feel comfortable. But when it's me, the brush, and the canvas, the whole world disappears. I don't even know what's going on around me. It's kind of up to everybody else if they want to be there or not. I'm not great company.
(Click VIEW LARGER for more Samantha, and here for women you might actually know)
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[ Back to EurekAlert! ]
Contact: Phil Ciciora
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Mao Ye, Chen Yao, and Jiading Gai, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Caption: High-frequency stock trading leads to an increase in order cancelation but little else of value to investors and the general public, says research co-written by University of Illinois business professor Mao Ye, left, and graduate students Chen Yao, center, and Jiading Gai.
Credit: L. Brian Stauffer
Usage Restrictions: None
Related news release: High-frequency stock trading of little value to investors, general public
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[ Back to EurekAlert! ]
Contact: Kayla Graham
Centruroides Vittatus
Caption: This image depicts a male striped bark scorpion (Centruroides vittatus).
Credit: Matthew Rowe, co-author of this PLOS ONE article.
Usage Restrictions: Published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CCAL), which allows it to be freely used, distributed, and built upon as long as proper attribution is given
Related news release: Meek male and fighting female scorpions
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global_05_local_4_shard_00000656_processed.jsonl/102071
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The Great Banking Scandal
Dr. Sennholz heads the Department of Economics at Grove City College in Pennsylvania. He is the author of the 57-page booklet The Savings and Loan Bailout: Valiant Rescue or Hysterical Reaction? available from The Foundation for Economic Education at $4.45.
Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Green-span recently shocked the financial world when he estimated the eventual cost of the savings and loan bailout at half a trillion dollars. And Treasury Secretary Nicholas Brady added a jolt by admitting that taxpayers must bear most of the burden.
It is a scandal, all agree, the greatest ever in U.S. financial history. It is greater by far than the bail-outs of Chrysler, Lockheed, and New York City, even greater than the costs of the default of Third-World debtor countries. In ages past, it would have been ignored as a malicious story that was absurd and impossible. Yet, it is as real as the S&L losses and bankruptcies.
It is even more scandalous that most of the perpetrators are escaping unscathed. The legislators and regulators who created the system during the 1930s have left the stage of life and can no longer be held accountable. But there are many who helped to fashion the S&L structure, who drafted and enacted the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act of 1980 that stoked the fires of inflation, and the Garn-St. Germain Act of 1982 that invited crooked appraisals and dubious accounting. They are making their escape.
A few politicians actually paid a nominal price for the damage they inflicted. Representative Fernand St. Germain of Rhode Island, co-author of the law that made matters worse, was defeated for re-election. Speaker Jim Wright, who badgered Federal regulators for his favorite S&L bankers, resigned in disgrace. Five Senators are at risk because they intervened with regulators on behalf of big campaign donors. Yet, no Representative or Senator is expected to lose a penny from the debacle. In fact, they voted themselves several boosts in salaries and pensions and are about to raise them again.
The politicians who created and nurtured the system are quick to point at the bankers who saw an opportunity to splurge and steal. Some 50 thrift officials and accountants already have been convicted, and more are likely to face indictments as inquiries proceed. But even if a few hundred incompetent and corrupt owners and managers should be found out, their numbers are puny when compared with some 50,000 employees laboring in the industry, it is unlikely that the number of industry perpetrators will ever reach 1 percent of employees, but it is obvious that more than one-half of legislators created and fashioned the system and that regulators guided it every step of the way.
The greatest outrage, however, is the lack of Congressional interest in the causes of the disaster. There are no hearings, no investigations, no special prosecutors, not even committee debates on the real causes of the scandal. Congress is visibly skirting the real issue.
The reasons for such conspicuous silence may be as numerous as the voices against the hearings and investigations. Some legislators undoubtedly are convinced that they have the answer: the irresponsibility and greediness of bankers. Many newspapers and broadcast media share this opinion, which implicitly exculpates the legislators.
The conspicuous silence may also hide an awareness of guilt. Many legislators not only cast their votes for the system but also have used it, and continue to use it, for their own ends. Savings and loan associations and other government-sponsored and regulated institutions are among the most generous contributors to the re- election campaign funds of the politicians who legislate and regulate the conditions of S&L existence. The con tributions amount to many millions of dollars, bolstering the political and financial fortunes of incumbents. Surely, any Congressional investigation would soon discover the connection, which would be rather embarrassing to the legislators.
Public opinion, which offers a ready answer to all things, usually points at a lax Reagan Administration and a reckless industry. It neither theorizes nor analyzes, nor argues on grounds of inexorable principle. In vague and eclectic fashion, public opinion clings to simple notions of good and evil, command and obedience. It places the blame on evil bankers and lazy regulators who neglected their police function.
Actually, the bankers’ greed and the regulators’ negligence merely are visible symptoms of much greater evil. The real cause of the disaster is the very financial structure that was fashioned by legislators and guided by regulators; they together created a cartel that, like all other monopolistic concoctions, is playing mischief with its victims.
The structure was erected on the foundation of government force rather than voluntary cooperation. Held together by numerous laws and regulations, it weakened from the inflation fever of the 1970s and growing institutional competition during the 1980s. It suffered severely during the Nixon, Ford, and Carter Administrations which lifted interest rates high above the rates S&Ls were permitted to pay and charge. As depositors withdrew their deposits and turned to higher-yielding money market funds, S&Ls were caught in the vise of inflation and regulation. Moreover, rising interest rates caused S&L instruments consisting primarily of long-term mortgages to plummet in price. All S&Ls suffered staggering losses. It is surprising that some actually managed to survive.
In desperation about their sinking ship, the legislators finally consented to “deregulate,” that is, they relaxed some rules while they tightened others. They passed the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act which reduced aggregate reserve requirements for Federal Reserve member institutions by about 43 percent and tightened Federal Reserve control over financial institutions.
To lower reserve requirements is to pour more fuel on the fires of inflation. The 43 percent reduction that member banks experienced was unprecedented in scope and magnitude; it flooded the markets with new credits, caused interest rates to skyrocket to a 20 percent prime rate, and precipitated an inflation rate that reached a staggering level of 18 percent. To control the price inflation, the Carter Administration then invoked the Credit Control Act of 1969 and placed controls not only on banks and thrift institutions but also on all consumer lenders, such as retailers and auto dealers.
The Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act extended Federal Reserve credit controls by imposing reserve requirements on all transaction accounts. At the same time, credit unions, savings banks, savings and loan institutions, and nonmember banks were required to keep their reserves with the Fed. In short, the extension of Federal Reserve controls and the expansion of Federal Reserve funds greatly tightened the vise that was to crush more than 3,000 thrift institutions.
The S&L industry is a component part of the American financial cartel that builds on legislation and regulation. Federal deposit insurance was added in 1933 to prevent a repeat of the sad banking picture of the Great Depression. Unfortunately, government insurance is self-defeating. The greater the protection government provides, the greater the risks the insured are willing to take. Depositors who are fully insured have no incentive to select a solid bank over a poorly managed bank. Federal deposit insurance contributed to the debacle of the S&L industry.
As with so many government programs gone awry, the S&L system was born of good intentions and economic ignorance. Unfortunately, the economic ignorance of politicians and officials is always visited on the people. It is visited anew on the American people who are facing a bailout bill of some $500 billion.
November 1990
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