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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45652 | Juiced About Martinelli
Wine Editor Lettie Teague admires Martinelli's Sonoma bottlings, but she's even more enamored of the unfairly perfect family behind them.
© Stina Wirsén
Freud once observed that we all have an ideal family in mind, some superior group to which we'd like to belong; he called such a fantasy a "family romance." Though it sounds more like a Disney movie than a psychoanalytic theory, I have a pretty good idea of what Freud was thinkingespecially after spending a few days with the Martinellis, a winemaking family in Sonoma, California.
The Martinellis were grape growers long before they decided to make winefor more than a century, in fact. Though Giuseppe Martinelli arrived in Sonoma's Russian River Valley in the late 1880s, it wasn't until the late 1980s that the family produced its first wine. Considering that the Martinellis own some of Sonoma's best vineyardsnot to mention what seems like most of its land (they say "around 2,000 acres")it is hard to believe that they waited so long.
Martinelli Zinfandels and Chardonnays as well as Gewürztraminers, Syrahs and Pinot Noirs have received top marks from wine critic Robert M. Parker, Jr., and are considered some of the best in Sonoma, if not in all of California. Many are available by mailing list only, and certain wines, such as the Jackass Hill Zinfandel, have a waiting list of those hoping to buy a bottle or two. With recognition like that, didn't the Martinellis wish they had entered the game perhaps a bit sooner? Not really, Lee Martinelli replied; they'd mostly just wanted to take care of the land.
As befits an ideal family, the Martinellis aren't merely modest, they're movie-star gorgeous. And that's not just my opinion but reported fact. Lee, the 64-year-old patriarch (and grandson of Giuseppe), is mistaken for Paul Newman so often when he travels that he prefers to stay home. If someone compared me to Julia Roberts, I'd probably be out on the town every nightbut then, of course, I'm no Martinelli.
In fact, it's Lee's daughter, Julianna, who looks like Julia Robertsalbeit with longer legs and fewer B-list actor ex-boyfriends. Juliannawho goes by Julieis in charge of the winery's marketing and public relations, which means she spends a lot of time on the road. Her father and brothers, Lee Jr., 38, and George, 34, stay home and manage the vineyards. Though theirs is a 12-hours-a-day, six-days-a-week occupation, it's clear the three men consider it the superior deal. "I wouldn't want Julie's job," Lee confided to me. "I'd rather be outdoors." Lee's wife, Carolyn, holds an "inside" job, helping to manage the winery officethough she trained as a psychiatrist and practiced for over 12 years. The fourth and youngest Martinelli, Regina, 32, lives, Lee said, "away." Although he made it sound as if she'd left the country, I later discovered Regina had merely moved to San Francisco, some 50 miles to the south.
"Away" is a little-used word in the Martinelli vocabulary, for they are a family deeply rooted in place. Indeed, ever since Giuseppe emigrated from Italy, virtually no Martinellis have left home. Eva (Giuseppe's granddaughter and Lee's cousin) told me that she "would not allow" any member of her family to leave. Considering that Eva, about to turn 80, was in the midst of one of her many solo construction projects (a barn) when we met, I had little doubt she had the power to detain them.
Lee tried leaving once, back in the 1970s. He got as far as Santa Rosa, 12 miles down the valley. His father, Leno, had urged his departure, saying there was no money in farming. So Lee went to college and became a teacher of agriculture. But he found himself longing to be back on the land. A few years later, Lee told Carolyn he didn't want to be "inside" anymore, and they returned home.
But because this was the late '70s, a decade before the wine boom truly began, Lee had to hold two jobs for a whileteacher by day and farmer by night. Back then, the Martinellis farmed other fruit besides grapes, most notably applesthough they aren't related to the Martinellis who make apple cider. (According to Julie, her sister Regina sometimes pretended to be an apple cider Martinelli to get into certain parties at college.) Now that Martinelli wines have gained renown, the apple cider tribe has reported people asking them if they produce wine. "That's when we really knew we were on the map," Julie said with a laugh.
The woman who put them there is no less a figure than Helen Turley, the winemaker who created the cults of Colgin, Pahlmeyer and Bryant Family, among others. (Turley also makes sought-after wines under her own label, Marcassin, which she produces in one of the Martinellis' red barns.)
The Martinellis met Turley in a way that only a family such as theirs could encounter a world-famous winemaker: over a fence. Turley and her husband, John Wetlaufer, were having a picnic on their side when Lee and Carolyn introduced themselves as new neighbors. "Lee told us he'd bought the land next to ours to go hunting," recounted Turley. "He had no intention of turning it into a vineyard."
A few months later, in 1993, Turley became the Martinelli winemaker and, a few years after that, Turley and Wetlaufer turned that piece of land into Blue Slide Ridge Vineyard, from which Turley produces Pinot Noirs under both the Martinelli and Marcassin labels. Turley has been the Martinellis' winemaker for over a decadean extraordinarily long partnership for the strong-willed Turley. "It's hard to believe," she acknowledged. She credited their long alliance to Lee's deep understanding of the land and his "willingness to do things the right way," while Lee talked in terms of mutual respect. "We're both very directwe haven't had any real problems," he said. He did allow that Turley was capable of sending "a strongly worded fax" now and then.
Under the tutelage of the Turley-Wetlaufer team, the Martinellis have taken to planting vineyards with a single-minded fervor bordering on obsession. The second day of my visit, the Martinelli men, George and the Lees, both Jr. and Sr., gave me a tour of a few newly developed parcels. "I just love planting new vineyards," Lee Sr. declared as we bounced along the back roadsmany named after Martinelli vineyards.
Most of the Martinellis' grapes are sold to others; only a small fraction go into their own wine. What of the grape glut that's currently threatening just about every other grower? I asked. It hasn't been a problem, Lee replied, adding, in a characteristic understatement, "People still seem to want our grapes."
Several of the Martinelli-acquired properties include not just vineyard land but also houses, most notably an impressive Tudor with a swimming pool. Which Martinelli lives there? I inquired. None; it's rented out, Lee replied. In fact, all of the houses had tenants; it was part of Lee's plan to ensure no Martinelli lived better than another. To do otherwise would risk the sort of rivalry that could break the family apart. Nevertheless, Lee added wistfully, with a look back at the pool, "It would have been nice to go swimming sometimes." (Abandoning travel because people confused you with a certain movie star; relinquishing pool privileges for the sake of the familylife as a Martinelli is not without sacrifices.)
As we drove along, the Martinellis took turns describing the vineyards we passed, all newly planted to Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and Syrah. Lee was especially excited about the new Syrah vineyard, Chico's Hill (named after Julie's first childhood horse), located just above the famed Jackass Hill vineyard.
It is hard to believe that any vineyard could be higher than Jackass Hill; it seems impossible that one could be any steeper. With a slope that exceeds 60 degrees, Jackass Hill is practically vertical. It's so steep that Leno's tractor actually pitched over and rolled down twicefortunately, both times he managed to jump free. "Every time I get up there, I wonder what I'm doing," Lee said.
The vineyard name was coined by Leno's second wife, who declared "only a jackass" would be crazy enough to farm the hill. Lee and Leno are the only two Martinellis to have done so with a tractor, though their individual farming methods have differed considerably. Under Turley's direction, Lee cut the yield considerably, nearly by half. Lee recalled, "When my father saw us throwing grapes on the ground, he had a fit. It took him three years not to say anything about it. But he never got over it." However, when his father learned how much the wine sold for (now $75 a bottle), he was somewhat mollified. Jackass Hill Zinfandel is an immensely rich, concentrated wine that can attain alcohol levels of nearly 18 percent. Robert M. Parker, Jr., is a big fan; he has called it "one of the greatest Zinfandels made in California," adding, "I have yet to meet anyone who has been able to intelligently discuss the merits of drinking a whole bottle, but one glass is riveting stuff!"
Martinelli Winery's single-vineyard Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs are just as compelling, if very different from its Zins in style and scale. Although possessed of similarly gorgeous, ripe, up-front fruit, there is also a remarkable subtlety and nuance to the wines, an incredible balance of flavor and intensity that is a tribute to the talent of the Burgundian-minded Turley. Pinot Noir, in particular, has gained most-favored-grape status among the Martinellis; in fact, there are now eight different bottlings ("Do you think that's too many?" Lee askedsomewhat rhetorically), including vineyard-designate wines such as Zio Tony (Uncle Tony), Seven Mules, Bondi Home Ranch and, of course, Blue Slide Ridge. Since these last two are bottled under both Martinelli and Marcassin labels, I asked if the Martinellis and Turley had ever tasted the two vineyard interpretations side by side. The Martinellis made a show of pretending the idea had never occurred to them. Turley did much the same, saying it "somehow never happened." Perhaps, as in a good marriage, both parties had decided certain things should be left unsaidnot to mention untasted.
Indeed, the topic of marriage came up almost as often during my visit with the Martinellis as that of wine. Their cousin, Darek Trowbridge, was about to be married in a ceremony slated to take place in the waters of the Russian River itself. (There was much talk of the appropriate footwear; Tevas seemed to be the sandal of choice.) The Martinellis insisted I accompany them to Darek's rehearsal dinner, claiming it would be a good opportunity to taste his wines. Darek, the only Martinelli relative who actually makes wine (he produces Pinot Noir and Zinfandel under his own Old World Winery label), had apparently agreed to the ideaunfazed by the prospect of a journalist at his prenuptial feast.
Naturally, it proved an ideal family gathering. The wines were well made, the speeches warm and loving, and Darek himself turned out to be as modest and handsome as the rest of the family. But as I sat there, surrounded by such flawlessness, I realized things would never work out between the Martinellis and me. (Family romances can founder just like the regular kind.) I lacked their brand of perfection (not to mention their prime vineyard land). At least I'd gained an insight into how long and how hard they had worked to achieve it: I could taste it in every bottle of wine.
PUBLISHED November 2003 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45654 | Salmon with Oyster Mushrooms and Peppers
© Cedric Angeles
Salmon with Oyster Mushrooms and Peppers
During the summer, Maria Hines, chef and owner of Tilth, gets heirloom peppers from one of her favorite farmers, Billy Allstot. She'll sometimes add a silky red pepper puree to accompany this wild salmon dish, but here she goes without for simplicity.
slideshow More Salmon Recipes
1. 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2. 1 large white onion, thinly sliced
3. 2 red or yellow bell peppers, sliced 1/2 inch thick
4. 1/2 pound oyster mushrooms, thickly sliced
5. 2 garlic cloves, minced
6. 1/4 cup dry white wine
7. 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
8. Salt and freshly ground pepper
9. 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
10. Six 8-ounce salmon fillets, with skin
11. Lemon wedges, for serving
1. Preheat the oven to 450°. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the bell peppers and cook until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, garlic and wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender and just beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the parsley, season with salt and pepper and keep warm.
2. Heat a very large ovenproof skillet until hot. Add the olive oil and swirl the skillet to coat. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper and add them to the skillet, skin side down. Cook the salmon over high heat until the skin is crisp, 3 minutes. Turn the fillets, transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes, until just cooked through.
3. Spoon the mushrooms and peppers onto plates, top with the salmon, skin side up, and serve with the lemon wedges.
Suggested Pairing
An aromatic Spanish white is lovely with rich fish like salmon. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45678 | Click to expand
User avatar #35 - ihatem (02/18/2013) [-]
Reminds me of the macho man story.
There was a big macho man that came home to his wife one day,
he took off his pants, threw em to his wife and said,
"Honey, try these pants on."
She does, and says, "I can't, they're too big."
He says, "Well yeah, I'm letting you know that I wear the pants in this relationship."
She strikes a glare at him, takes her panties off, and says,
"Oh is that so? Try these on then."
He says, "What? No way! I'm a man, I can't get in those!"
And she simply turns her nose up and says,
"Damn right you're not getting in these pants, and unless you change your attitude you never will."
TL;DR Real women got your **** down son
#41 to #35 - herbolifee (02/18/2013) [-]
If you're a beta faggot, then yes.
If you're a beta faggot, then yes.
User avatar #42 to #41 - ihatem (02/18/2013) [-]
I guess old jokes just don't strike senses of humor like they used to
User avatar #304 to #42 - herbolifee (02/18/2013) [-]
Yeah, well, it's old.
Also, nowadays there's more people actually being serious with this than joking, so excuse me for my remark (not sarcastic)
#99 to #42 - icewraith has deleted their comment [-]
User avatar #286 to #99 - ihatem (02/18/2013) [-]
Feminist? That isn't remotely feminist. Get married for about five years,you'll know exactly what I'm talking about then.
This is an old marriage joke
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45689 |
FPS players feel better after dying than after killing others, say researchers
Brandon Erickson's picture
James Bond 007: Nightfire
An article in the February issue of the journal Emotion presents some strange findings regarding players' emotional reactions to killing and being killed in a first-person shooter (FPS). In the experiment, a group of students played James Bond 007: Nightfire (Super Monkey Ball II was used as a control) while their facial expressions and physiological activity were tracked and recorded moment-to-moment via electrodes and various other monitoring equipment. Conventional FPS wisdom would suggest that players like shooting enemies and dislike getting shot. The research findings, however, paint a different picture.
From the article: "instead of joy resulting from victory and success, wounding and killing the opponent elicited anxiety, anger, or both." In addition, "death of the player's own character...appear[s] to increase some aspects of positive emotion." This latter finding the authors believe may result from the temporary "relief from engagement" brought about by character death. Whatever the underlying basis, however, the results seem highly counterintuitive.
My first reaction to the article was that something must have been wrong with the experiment. From what I recall playing Call of Duty 4, I most certainly did not enjoy being wounded and killed and I usually felt pretty satisfied after shooting an enemy. I don't entirely understand the researchers' method for measuring positive and negative emotions, and so I can't pass judgment on it. But suppose for a moment that their methodology is sound? Am I actually experiencing negative feelings on some level when I shoot an enemy in Call of Duty 4? I guess that would speak well for my morals.
The researchers also found that: 1) Players showed no signs of desensitization over the course of multiple play sessions; and 2) Subjects who tested higher for psychoticism (based on a pre-trial psychoticism questionnaire) experienced less anxiety from killing enemies. That higher psychoticism would correlate with lower negative feelings about violence is not surprising. It is interesting, however, that players showed no signs of physiological or emotional desensitization. While this doesn't necessarily disprove that desensitization to videogame violence can occur over long periods of time, it does suggest that brief exposure has little or no desensitizing effect.
Of course, more research would be needed to confirm these findings. This was a small study and the authors' conclusions are mostly tentative. But on the whole, an interesting read.
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Results are fine, interpretation is bad
This study makes perfect sense. The key quote here is:
Right. That doesn't really give good insight into emotions, only into the outward signs of it. In psychology, we call intense immersion into an activity "flow" -- and almost no activity better describes "flow" for most people than playing a game, especially an FPS.
Just imagine yourself, or if you've ever watched your friends play FPSes -- do you show any excitement or joy upon killing an enemy on your face? No, of course not -- to do so would interrupt your flow in the game (and also probably get you killed, which you are conditioned to avoid). If you celebrated every kill, it would completely interrupt your immersion in the game; you would have to take a step back to "reflect" on what you're doing from a personal standpoint, rather than from the complete agency of acting as the "shooter".
Once you die, however, you do have time to reflect -- you are automatically out of your flow, since you can no longer act. That's when your emotions show. And since playing a game is an inherently reinforcing activity, it's no surprise that you look "happy".
The only valid point, I think, is that people do probably feel some relief to be out of their "battle fever" -- taking short breaks between bouts is also reinforcing (hence the popularity of round-based FPS games).
Other than that, terrible analysis =P.
Are you serious? Most
Are you serious? Most cultures thrive on death and destruction and enjoy it. Look what sells... Look at what people do when they pass by an accident. They don't look away, they slow down and stare hoping to see something whether they want to admit it to themselves or not.
James Bond 007:
James Bond 007: Nightfire........ they used a game from 2002
I don't know what kind of brain-dead monkeys they had playing this game, but they didn't react like anyone I've ever seen, or like I play. I'm not super-emotive, but I have been known to utter a "HAH! Eat it, motherfucker!" or a giggle here and there when I really waste someone, or land an impossible shot. I am definitely let down when someone kills me, it's not a relief, the whole point is the engagement, the player wants to be engaged. I've seen people jumping up and down screaming at the TV in anger when they die in a multiplayer console game, or cackling with glee after every single kill. Never EVER have I seen someone look sad after killing someone in a game, and the only times I am, or have seen others look relieved or satisfied after dying is when they were really on a good tear and had killed a whole bunch of people. These guys have terrible testing technique, they associate a lack of expression with happiness, and a tense expression with anger or sadness, both of which are pretty far off-base. If you're concentrating, you're angry!
Also, human nature LOVES destruction, are you kidding me? Have you not seen the news anytime, ever? Humanity is tearing itself apart. Also, getting shot in a game is no more natural than shooting someone else, that whole comment was just naive.
Old! The same study was already done to gambling addicts.
There is one study that is a really old one, about the emotional reactions of gambling addicts to winning and losing.
"Normal" people would feel excited when winning and disappointed when losing. There are, however, people who only play certain sums of money (their salary, for example) instead of some certain time (until bored). Those people tend to have reversed emotional responses: losing brings the game a notch closer to the end; winning prolongs it.
The study concentrated on the slot machines, I think, where you only can play smallish sums of money every round (unlike no-limit poker, for example).
Retarded much?
Wow, these researchers are complete retards, in all honesty, some guy isn't going to be full of joy because they just got killed, ffs at least use logic and don't use emo kids.
It would be nice if they did
It would be nice if they did this tests on games where you had to kill other things than humans, such as Silent Hill.
I think the "temporary
I think the "temporary relief from engagement" hypothesis is dead on. They probably used a random sample of test subjects, and not a majority of real gamers.
To the uninitiated, shooters can be chaotic and stressful. I'm sure novice players are entering the test with an already heightened level of stress or anxiety brought on by simply volunteering for something unknown. Apprehension would probably be the best word.
But experienced gamers would enter the game knowing what to expect. Strategy and practiced reactions take over and the subject is probably at a reduced level of stress.
I would be interested to know if they measured heart rate, breathing, and other physical traits that can indicate stress.
You just need to read some of the comments to understand why it would seem that people dislike killing and like dying in games. The interesting thing is that these researchers obvioulsy NEVER played a FPS in their lives. First, you can tell by the game they chose, as someone pointed out: a game from 2002! (WTF!)
Second, if you are a player, you know that there's nothing better than killing your opponents and nothing worse then dying. I mean, I can get really stressed out about dying, but nothing makes me happier than kicking a** and killing everyone. Everyone enjoys more a game when they are winning.
I need to see this research
I need to see this research in more detail, but I believe the negative emotions are from shooting other *players* not from shooting NPCs. I would be very surprised to learn otherwise.
I want to check some details here - if they are shooting strangers, that's a different play experience to shooting friends, for instance.
Regarding dying, they are only reporting some positive emotional elements. The capsule version is not telling the whole story here, as the negative elements are there (I've observed this myself in our research) - I believe they are just saying there is an unexpected positive component that was unanticipated.
I'll try and get hold of the paper behind this and dig into it a little more.
These so called "games" seem to automatically gravitate to extreme violence. Why? They only advertise that the originators have no desire to rid our world of violence. How very extremely stupid and boring(!!!!!!!!!!) You only promote more violence in the minds of people who support and use your completely dull and stupid
imaginings. I don't have to tell you to go to Hell. you seem to
be creating it. You're a bunch of stupid assholes. ---Doug Rosbury
Bunch of crap
It's all in the words you choose, now isn't it? Let me summarize differently: Players feel RELIEVED, less tense, etc when killed. I can see how some outside egghead observer could interpret this to mean "feel better" and then other idiot readers interpret this to mean "LIKE TO DIE" in FPS games, but this ain't the case.
In a good game, you'll be all revved up and tense... and then BANG, if you're "dead" you get 10 seconds of respite. So yeah, you're going to feel less tense, etc. You're getting a break.
And then conversely, shooting others adds to the tension, especially if there are plenty of enemies around, breathing down your neck.
tris, you are probably the
tris, you are probably the only gamer to answer this question. it seems simple to me that you are exactly right and nailed it.
Hey Doug...
Next time you're out in the world, as opposed to sitting behind a keyboard, please call someone a "stupid asshole" and tell them to "go to hell."
I don't think that'd escalate to extreme violence.
By the way, go die in a fire.
There is absolutely no
There is absolutely no chance this is true unless frustration and a stream of obscenities directed towards your virtual killers mother is considered a positive emotion.
I totally get this
especially if you're playing with friends. when you die, it's like "ah, you got me!" you smile, you get ready to beat them back. But when you're on a rampage, you're grim, focused, concentrated. getting killed breaks that, gives you a little relief time.
people don't play fps to be happy, they play fps to accomplish something, to hone a skill, to be (in a way) productive). That's the deal.
Once a killer always a
Once a killer always a killer. i'm an ex Army Ranger, and i LOVE FPS games. You could even say that to some extent, it's more of a type of therapy for me. Civilians should realize that there are HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people like me; highly trained ex malitia etc. with nothing to do, and no way to vent. These games are great training tools, and to some they're more than that.
The test procedure isn't described in a way that seems terribly sound. Though I'm not surprised by the results, when playing FPSs in the regular "lan-party" setup where you can see everybody (talk shit to everybody, be a wise ass to everybody, 'grats a good shot by either friend or foe) I don't get too upset about being killed every few seconds.
Its not quite the same when I'm not in the same physical vicinity as the other players. Everybody is quiet with only the occasional shout across the house if something happens. Individuals get bored or tired of playing faster that way.
Purely anecdotal personal experience though, maybe I'd fall into the "extreme outlier" category in their experiement...
Doug, not sure who you are
Doug, not sure who you are angry at. But, you seem to be the person so far using the least respectful language. The rest of us are the players of these games and being fairly respectfull even if disagreeing with the results of the research. So who is the one being violent here?
It is plain that human nature needs an element of violence. Our instincts are geared to survival in a world where violence abounds. Animals eat, and therefore kill, other animals, including humans. This is the world that formed us, like it or not.
These games can give us what we need to fulfill our needs without taking that need to other living beings.
I think you have tried to hard to supress your instincts, or someone has. The anger you display in your language shows it.
I'd imagine there's an
I'd imagine there's an element of observer's paradox in there as well - were they playing against strangers, in the same room? In an overtly monitored environment? That's hardly a typical gaming session. Some competitiveness index would be good, as would relating people's reactions against their score (both over time and in relation to each other). There's just so many variables they could have covered! What's the relation to respawn time, team games vs. deathmatch, killing players you've talked to in real life or not... Still, kind of interesting.
Subjective or what
I personally could not disagree more. I play CoD4 and F.E.A.R regularly and gain no enjoyment whatsoever from dying and love to be nearer to the top of the leaderboard then everyone else. HOWEVER when i play at lans with my friends i know i enjoy dying a little bit more as it has more of a sense of "now i owe you one" which motivates me further to want to start winning and killing.maybee gamers are just different from other people. because this survey seems like it was done with the average joe public. not people who actually play games
I don´t believe in
I don´t believe in emotional reactions for killing and being killed, it is only because the result of the game.
Submited by : Alimentacion
Lol...its called
Lol...its called "Kill...kill...fun, aww i died, might as well chill for a bit till i respawn"
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45693 | The True Story Of Double Dragon - Features -
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The True Story Of Double Dragon
The original Double Dragon was one of the first beat-em-ups to ever hit arcades. For a time it was a cultural icon, but how well do you know its story?
I remember when I first encountered Double Dragon on the NES I thought it was the coolest game I'd ever encountered. It's story wasn't complicated, but I thought I understood it. Billy Lee was the guy in blue, and his brother Jimmy Lee was the guy in red. After their girlfriend (I never really understood who she belonged to) was captured by a group of street thugs, the Lee brothers went on a journey to save her.
A glance at the NES instruction manual reveals a story that isn't much more complicated (it was Billy's girlfriend.)
That last line is really surprising as it gives away the twist at the end of the game – basically you have to fight your own brother and the guy you've been fighting beside for several hours. But, that's not nearly as surprising as the original story for the game, which was revealed in the Japanese Famicom manual. Look at this cool Japanese poster for the game:
Anyway, the original story for Double Dragon isn't much different than the U.S. version, but it does elaborate on a few points. For example, Billy and Jimmy are twins from New York City who run a chain of popular martial arts dojos. However, after a nuclear war kills off much of the city, the society devolves into chaos. That's right, Double Dragon took place in a post apocalyptic future. Looking back, you can see how this plot influenced the game's development: the backgrounds were dilapidated, and your enemies looked like Mad Maxian wastelanders who occasionally sported odd colored skin.
Have you ever experienced this before? What games from your youth took on new meaning once you explored their story a bit more?
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45734 | What are some of your ideas for a good Wii control scheme?
#1 Posted by mugugipan (566 posts) -
for any type of game.
#2 Posted by Meowayne (6168 posts) -
Some good games that I played with good to excellent Wii control schemes, in score order:
1. Super Mario Galaxy
2. Twilight Princess
3. World of Goo
4. Metroid Prime Trilogy
5. Resident Evil 4 Wii
6. Okami
7. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
8. LostWinds 1 + 2
9. Zack & Wiki
10. Boom Blox 1 + 2
11. New Play Control series (all of them, especially Donkey Kong & Pikmin)
12. No More Heroes
13. WarioWare
14. Bully: Scholarship Edition
15. Call of Duty: World At War
16. Nyxquest
17. Dead Space: Extraction
18. Mario Kart Wii
19. EA Sports Active
20. DeBlob
21. Dawn of Discovery
22. MadWorld
23. Wii Sports Resort
24. Bit.Trip series
25. Trauma Center series
26. Geometry Wars: Galaxies
28. Mario Strikers Charged
29. Grand Slam Tennis
30. WarioLand
31. Excitebots
32. Godfather: Blackhand Edition
33. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
34. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex
35. RE: UC and DC
36. Elebits
37. Broken Sword
38. Kororinpa
39. RRR TV Party
40. Tomb Raider: Anniversary
41. Endless Ocean
42. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
#3 Posted by GunstarRed (5828 posts) -
a 360 pad
#4 Posted by Dalai (7778 posts) -
@marioncobretti said:
" a 360 pad "
Oh you.
The best example I found would have to be Metroid Prime 3. It could be the best FPS controls outside of a keyboard and mouse. No More Heroes does a great job kepping the waggle at a minimum and hilarious, the jerking off motion should be standard in all games.
And Super Smash Bros. Brawl wins the accessibility award since you can use several different schemes.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45738 | 7 Days of Beauty Inspiration From Rihanna
• 7 Days of Beauty Inspiration From Rihanna
Rihanna is undeniably one of our favorite fashion and beauty icons, but even we were blown away by the amount of gorgeousness—and variety—she brought to Paris Fashion Week. Let's take a look at one of her best hair and makeup weeks ever.
rihanna purple lips square
Rihanna at Balmain
Does anyone wear a purple lip better than Rihanna? Nope. And let's not forget to mention that fierce bob she's been rocking. Flawless.
• rihanna nude lips square
Rihanna at Lanvin
The liner. The lashes. The perfect nude lip. The choppy bangs. Everything about her look just screams bombshell.
• rihanna matte red lips square
Rihanna at Dior
There really aren't enough words in the English language to describe the amount of perfection RiRi is emitting outside of Dior. Copy those lips with MAC Viva Glam Rihanna Lipstick, $16.
• rihanna black lips square
Rihanna at Jean Paul Gaultier
Rihanna has experimented with pretty much every lip shade out there (does anyone remember the unconventional blue lipstick she wore last month?), so the fact that she makes this black look hot is no surprise.
• rihanna orange lips square
Rihanna at Givenchy
New rule: From now on, we're just going to add a tomato lip whenever we're having a bad day—no matter what we look like—and pray it works even a tenth as well as it does here.
• rihanna hot pink lips square
Rihanna at Stella McCartney
Dying, dying, dying for this combo of hot-pink lips and orange sunglasses. We're not even waiting for spring to try it ourselves.
• rihanna pink lips square
Rihanna at Chanel
The only thing more epic than the Chanel fall 2014 runway show supermarket set was probably this exact moment: Rihanna and Karl Lagerfeld holding each other. RiRi's girly beauty vibe is a nice pause from the over-the-top drama we usually see her in, too.
• rihanna red lips square
Rihanna at Miu Miu
On the last day of Paris Fashion Week, Rihanna rocked the classic red lip we all know and love. J'adore! |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45751 | Golf Channel Mobile
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The Most Amazing Place I Never Saw
We here at Big Break headquarters go to great lengths to ensure the secrecy of each series' location until the time comes to announce it publicly. But privately, family and friends are always concerned to know which general direction you’re headed for the next few weeks. (They're funny that way.) My answer is usually a cryptic reference to the geographic area in question—in this case, 'The Bahamas'—and their response is always the same: 'Must be nice!'
This time, 'nice' barely scratched the surface. So I hear.
The Atlantis, Paradise Island is, as a certain dolphin might tell you in episode 3, 'more amazing than the myth'. The Big Break invaded the resort for a little under a month, but in truth it would probably take more to fully explore all that Atlantis has to offer.
If Willy Wonka was a beach bum instead of a candy connoisseur, this would be his place.
I was told you can not leave Paradise Island without exploring the Aquaventure water park and its 20 million gallons of thrills and refreshing chills. Marcela, Kelly and Aubrey were fortunate enough to play their way into Aquaventure, and it certainly appears they made the most of their afternoon!
Atlantis boasts myriad swimming areas, and based on what I've heard they make most resort pools look like chlorinated rain puddles. Then there's The Dig, a staggering underwater recreation of the lost city of Atlantis which should be on any visitor's to-do list. (No shovel required.)
In addition to the aquatic adventures found all over Paradise Island, there's a vast network of restaurants, spas, shops, bars and, of course, the casino – home to hundreds of table games, slot machines and, proudly, zero of my dollars.
Alas, swimming, dining and shopping were not the reasons we came to Atlantis. It was all about the golf. We covered every inch of the incredible Ocean Club Golf Course in search of this season's worthy Big Break champion, and the action did not disappoint.
Unless your name happens to be Zakiya Randall.
This particular day was long, even by Big Break standards, but arguably no one had a longer day than 'Z'. She discovered that, while Big Break golf is unlike any you'll ever play, some golf axioms still vividly apply. Like this one: it's a game of inches.
Zakiya was sitting pretty in the first Immunity Challenge and looking like the third member of the Aquaventure excursion team until Aubrey so deftly knocked her off her perch – by two inches. Rumor has it that's thinner than the glass at The Dig.
Pity, really. That spandex would have transitioned nicely to the water park.
Even in the midst of Big Break's 17th season there's a palpable sense of surprise and intrigue on set when such a game-changing moment occurs. The ensuing chain of events ultimately landed Zakiya in the Elimination Challenge. The rest is Big Break history, and a perfect example of what's at stake on each swing.
Try playing Jenga at gunpoint, or doing surgery on your favorite pet during an earthquake. That only begins to depict the pressure that the ladies of the Big Break are feeling over every shot. And even when you rise to the occasion, somebody else might be two inches better.
Being a part of the planning, development and production of such a series is almost as exhilarating as the sheer drop down the 'Leap of Faith', the watery plunge from Atlantis' Mayan Temple. Or so I'd imagine.
With so much excitement on the course and a dedicated, professional crew putting it all together the long days somehow tend to fly by. Then it's back on a plane headed home a mere 43 shades lighter than the tanning mom.
Upon my return, when family and friends give me the standard 'must be nice' reaction, I return serve with my old stand-by response: The hours are brutal, but the office is amazing.
And I definitely plan to go back to Atlantis, to finally see what I was missing the whole time I was there. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45792 | Desserts Recipes
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45798 | The Leader in Guild Web Hosting
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It appears that the guild you were trying to access 159699, "Ghost of the Jungle" was removed either at the request of the owner or as part of an automated maintenance process that removes guilds that have been inactive for a very long time. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45801 | In association with heise online
19 March 2008, 14:14
Kerberos vulnerabilities enable code smuggling
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The Kerberos developers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have discovered security holes in the network suite. Attackers can use them to inject and execute malicious code. The developers have made patches available to close the holes.
If Kerberos 4 is enabled in Kerberos Domain Controller (KDC), manipulated messages can result in a null pointer being used in other operations and freed. This makes it possible to execute injected malicious code. Furthermore, private data can be sent to the attacker, since the software might not completely fill the buffer in the reply under certain circumstances, but the entire buffer, including data which might not have been overwritten, is sent back.
The kadmin server also contains a vulnerability. An array overflow can occur if too many file descriptors are opened. This can cause the software to crash, but might also permit an attacker to execute malicious code. However the developers were not able to create an exploit for this and have not seen one in the wild.
The security advisories from MIT are either linked to, or contain, the patches that administrators need to update the Kerberos source code. The amended source code has to be re-compiled and the updated files installed, in order to repair the vulnerabilities. The next release of the Kerberos Suite should already contain the fixes, but the security advisories do not indicate when to expect it. Kerberos server administrators should update their installations as soon as possible.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45900 | Huffpost Arts
Jan Herman Headshot
Supervert Gets Into Her Head
Posted: Updated:
The last time I mentioned Supervert, the nom de plume of a writer I know, the headline, Better Than a Review, referred to a YouTube video that a fan made about Supervert's latest book, Perversity Think Tank.
The other day, an interview with Supervert showed up on the Web site Dark Markets that led me to a review of Necrophilia Variations, his previous book, about death, desire and deviance, which puts the lie to that headline. The reviewer writes:
Every once in a while, I find a book that affects me so greatly that it lingers long after it's been devoured and placed back on the shelf. I have a feeling that SUPERVERT's collection will be with me forever, worming its way deeper and deeper into my brain until its presence is untraceable.
Is there a writer alive who wouldn't kill for a review like Jessica Brown's? I don't know who Brown is. But she's one smart critic. Her interview with Supervert is terrific, too. Here's a sample:
Have you always been interested in things that are generally seen as depraved?
Yes, always. When I was being pushed out the birth canal, I managed to lift my head and give my mother a chomp on the clitoris. Nothing has changed since.
Of all unusual and unpopular practices, why did you choose exophilia and necrophilia?
It is difficult to articulate the "why" of a choice to write about something. A few nights ago I had a dream in which a friend confessed to some eccentricities in her sexuality. She was seeking some sort of approval, which I gave her. I then informed her about a sexual pathology called "anusitis diametes" -- a made-up condition, fabricated in the workshop of sleep. When I woke up, I marveled that my brain had invented this scientific-sounding term without my having the slightest idea what it meant.
Writing is a similar process. Something appears in my head and a book is the record of my attempt to fathom it. This was especially true of Extraterrestrial Sex Fetish. I didn't choose the subject so much as it forced itself on me. I made up the term "exophilia," but it was to describe something already flourishing like a tumor in my brain.
Is there anything that does personally offend you?
Bad manners. Nietzsche defined philosophy as the ability to reverse perspectives, and the same could be said of courtesy. It is a matter of thinking the thoughts of others -- the people around you, their needs, their movements, their reasons for doing what they do. A philosopher who lacks such an ability to get outside his own head can't be much of a thinker, thus courtesy is a good indicator of a genuinely philosophical temperament
What do you think about the American culture of celebrity worship? Would that be classifiable as a perversion?
Celebrity worship is very much the norm. Perversity is to turn away from it, to eschew the spotlights in favor of the obscure and the shadowy.
That's my kind of writer. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45902 | Huffpost TV
Laura Prudom Headshot
Posted: Updated:
The CW
The CW
Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 7, Episode 22 of The CW's "Supernatural," entitled "There Will Be Blood."
A TV season is a marathon, not a sprint, but I'm concerned that "Supernatural" is starting to show signs of fatigue as it nears the finish line. The show is assured an eighth season and an injection of fresh blood when veteran writer Jeremy Carver comes back on board as showrunner, but I still want to see Season 7 go out with a bang instead of a whimper.
Last year's two-part finale narrowly avoided fizzling out in such a manner; I thought that Episode 21 was uneven and Episode 22 was downright dull until the final few minutes, at which point it pulled itself sharply out of its nosedive and left us with one hell of shocking cliffhanger to obsess about over the summer hiatus. Am I confident that this year's finale will wow us? No, but I'm cautiously optimistic, if only because it promises to reunite many of our favorite major players in one place: Crowley, Meg, Castiel and Bobby will all play a role, and even better, the Impala will make her long-awaited return. On paper, it all sounds promising, but I'm troubled that the finale is coming after such a lackluster scene-setter.
All the right pieces were in place, but somehow "There Will Be Blood" didn't come together to form a cohesive whole for me. It felt by-the-numbers, as if everyone was going through the motions, but couldn't quite summon up the energy to kick things into high gear and find up the momentum needed for the finale. Cast your minds back to the halcyon days of Season 1 and "Salvation," how Sam and Dean had a menacing adversary and a personal stake in the outcome of their mission -- you could feel the tension running through the hour, wondering who Meg might kill next and whether John would get out alive. It's still the pinnacle of penultimate episodes for me, followed by Season 4's "When The Levee Breaks," since I can't quite count "All Hell Breaks Loose Part 1" as anything but half of a whole finale.
There were a few moments that elevated the episode, of course; Rick Worthy was a creepy delight as the returning Alpha Vampire, and Bobby's alarming descent into vengeful spirit territory was suitably chilling. It was also amusing to see Dean's reaction to the Leviathans tainting his precious road food (especially the pie), and Jensen Ackles expertly played those comedic beats, as usual. (It was also immensely satisfying to see Dean back in a leather jacket, even if it was a very poor substitute for the gorgeous piece that was stolen a couple of years ago.)
It's hard to really put my finger on why the episode didn't work for me -- some intangible combination of poor pacing and a strange, bipolar tone in the dialogue, perhaps. The episode was penned by the reliably hit-and-miss Andrew Dabb and Daniel Loflin, who have missed more than they've hit this season, I think, between this, "Time for a Wedding" and "Girl Next Door" -- though "Plucky Pennywhistle" proved amusing, if light on plot development.
I found the ending of the episode downright abrupt, with no real tension or dramatic weight lent to Crowley and Dick's confrontation. I know it will be expanded on next week, but I would've preferred to end with Bobby missing and the boys panicking over it, or stretched out the macho showdown to a more dramatic closing point. It almost felt like the writers ran out of time so just stopped writing once they hit a predetermined page, regardless of whether or not they'd adequately built up to a satisfying crescendo.
There were also some troubling gaps in logic -- how was Bobby able to zap into the mansion to scope the place out for vampires without the flask being in the mansion first? Did I black out and miss some loophole explanation? This was especially baffling given that it came so soon after Sam and Dean had gone to the trouble of leaving the flask in the car just so Bobby would be unable to eavesdrop on them talking about him a few meters away. I know that the "ghost rules" are ever-evolving, but that seems like a fairly major oversight, given the central role the flask played in Bobby's movements throughout the episode.
I also found the Alpha's overly-knowing "see you next season" jab to be a little too on-the-nose for such a tonally serious episode. Meta jokes are fine in comedic tales like "The French Mistake" or "Changing Channels," but such an overt nod to the fictional facade felt jarring and unnecessary. If we're supposed to invest in the stakes of the world and the idea that the boys were truly in danger while they were trapped with the Alpha and the Leviathan, the fourth wall needed to remain unbroken, without their enemy winking that they'll be duking it out in September so none of this really matters anyway.
I've only rewatched select episodes of Season 6, so I can't remember if the Alpha Vampire's kid obsession was explored when he was introduced, but I think it skewed a little too high on the creepy scale and wandered into perversity for the sake of perversity, which I'm not entirely comfortable with. The show does chilling and schlocky well, when situations call for them, but when it comes to using children in those kinds of moments, it feels unnecessarily exploitative. These kids (or 20-year-old virgins being treated as kids and left with the Alpha despite suffering obvious psychological damage from 12 years in captivity) weren't in positions of power, as when Lilith possessed little girls -- which was disturbing enough -- so I found the ramifications of the Alpha's abducting minors more distracting than tonally appropriate, which probably wasn't what the writers were going for.
That's not even touching on the clunky expositional dialogue used to explain what Sam and Dean did with the rescued child once they got him away from the Alpha: "Cops thought we took that kid -- we had to jump out a freaking window, man," Exposition Man dramatically informs his sidekick, Reaction Boy, despite the fact that both characters just experienced the very same inconvenient misunderstanding with the local law enforcement and don't need to sum it up for each other. Yikes.
I'm both impressed by the show's season-long attempt to comment on the current capitalism/1 percent conversation through the Leviathan story, and a little turned off by it. Allegory is far more potent when it's subtle; the reason why "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Dawn of the Dead" were so effective at critiquing the era in which they were created wasn't because characters outright accused each other of being communists or zombies spouted rhetoric about racism or Vietnam -- those allusions were implicit, and far more insidious because of it. Having a literal corporate fat-cat giving televised interviews where he outright admits to cannibalizing the population? Not so subtle. It's a very timely and relevant concern, and I applaud the writers for choosing to tackle it, but I wish they had found a way to examine our fears about institutionalized greed with a little more nuance.
At least Guy Bee's direction is always confident and compelling, even when the script falls short. There were some beautiful framing choices in the Alpha's mansion and Dick's scenes in particular, and like all good directors, he has a keen sense of when to keep his edits and angles unobtrusive and when to add in a little flair. In terms of set decoration, Jerry Wanek is still the undisputed master, especially with the opulence of the Alpha's lavish lair. I also approved of the high-tech devil's trap that Dick caught Crowley in -- it was a nice visual touch that speaks to the Leviathan's influence and forethought.
I don't really mean to sound as harsh as I'm likely coming across in this review -- "There Will Be Blood" certainly wasn't painful to watch like "Time For a Wedding." But I think, given that all of the promising components should've added up to a dramatic, exciting whole, I don't quite understand why the episode failed to live up to its potential. Dabb and Loflin have proven that they're capable of brilliance ("Frontierland" is one of my all-time favorite episodes), so I'm not sure why this one felt so unfocused. In any case, I hope it's not indicative of the season finale, which has a lot of loose ends to tie up and a lot of expectations about the Leviathans' endgame to live up to. For now, I'm choosing to have faith.
What did you think of "There Will Be Blood"? Am I judging it too harshly, or did it feel a little messy to you too? Share your thoughts and predictions for the finale below!
"Supernatural" airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on The CW. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45903 | Huffpost Science
Matthew Hutson Headshot
Posted: Updated:
In The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion describes the year following the sudden death of her husband. At one point, while collecting his clothes for donation, she stops. She can't give away all of his shoes, for he might need them if he returns. This is the magical thinking of the title.
When people die, they're not completely gone. They live on in our minds. We might wonder what they think of our decisions, or we might carry on imaginary conversations with them. They are as alive to us as someone who just stepped out of the room.
The continued representation of the dead in our heads may contribute to afterlife beliefs (see chapter 5 of my new book The 7 Laws of Magical Thinking). You can't fully convince yourself that the person is kaput; your brain isn't wiped clean so easily. In one study by Jesse Bering, even people who said the soul dies when the body does continued to assign mental states to a fictional character after his death. One subjected noted that of course there's no afterlife and the dead character sees that now. So "out of sight, out of mind" isn't quite right when describing the departed. More like "out of sight, so the mind fills in the blanks."
But what if the person is still in sight? What do we think of people in persistent vegetative states, who can breathe but can't think? Mentally, they are dead, but since we're very aware of the body still lying there, we can't as easily imagine them as active characters in our lives. This combination of factors -- a dead mind but a living body -- may, ironically, lead us to think of people in a PVS as more dead than dead.
Kurt Gray, T. Anne Knickman, and Daniel Wegner recently tested this hypothesis and wrote up their findings in the journal Cognition. In the first study, subjects were divided into three groups and read about a character named David who had a car accident and then A) fully recovered, B) died, or C) ended up in a PVS with nearly his entire brain destroyed. Each group rated whether he had mental functions -- whether he could have a personality or know right from wrong, etc. -- on a scale from -3 (strongly disagree) to 3 (strongly agree). On average, living David scored 1.77, and dead David scored -0.29. But PVS David scored -1.73. People saw him as having less mind than dead David. So in a sense they saw PVS David as more dead than dead. But you could also say they saw dead David as not fully dead. The fact that they didn't deny him a mind as much as they could have, the authors argue, indicates subtle afterlife beliefs.
In the second study, the researchers asked people about PVS David, dead David, or a dead David whose description mentioned his embalmed body lying in a coffin. Again, subjects -- including both the most religious third and the least religious third -- saw PVS David as having less mental capacity than dead David. But the least religious saw corpse David as being similar to PVS David (they strongly disagreed with his having a mind), whereas the most religious saw him as being similar to dead David (they slightly agreed with his having a mind). For those low in religiosity, a focus on his nonfunctional physical body helped them recognize the nonfunctionality of his mind, just as the image of a PVS David in a hospital bed did. The most religious subjects, however, had explicit beliefs about the afterlife that allowed them to overcome the corpse reminder and continue to picture David frolicking in heaven or wherever.
In the third study, subjects imagined themselves in a car crash, and either dead or in a PVS. They said they'd have less mind in a PVS, and also that being in a PVS would be worse for both themselves and their families. Further, the attribution of less mind partially explained the greater undesirability of a PVS. People see being a vegetable as a state worse than death, in part because they irrationally believe they'd have a fuller mental life if someone just pulled the plug. (Of course, their mental lives would be equally nonexistent.)
"These data do highlight one irony," the researchers note: "People high in religiosity are more likely to see PVS as worse off than death, but are also more likely to advocate keeping such patients alive on life support."
They also point out that focusing on the body interferes with attribution of mind in everyday life, too. The more you objectify someone (a woman in a bikini, say), the less capable you think she is of thought.
So I guess if you really really want to excise someone's offensive personality from your memories, picture her (or him) as a corpse in a bikini. Don't be alarmed, however, if the image results in a little mental scarring. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45905 | Huffpost Religion
Nigel Barber Headshot
After Quran Burning, The Need to Put People First
Posted: Updated:
A quirky Florida sect has finally carried out its threat to burn the Quran. Once again the obscure sect was rewarded with worldwide attention.
The absurdly named Dove Outreach Center in Gainesville, Fla., claims that burning the Quran is an act of freedom of expression articulating the view that Islam is evil. Moreover, the virulent animosity stirred up in the Muslim world by the Quran burning only proves their point.
They accept no responsibility for ensuing riots in Afghanistan that resulted in many deaths, including nine rioters in the Taliban hotbed of Kandahar, Afghanistan, and 11 deaths in an insurgent-organized attack on the U.N. compound in the northern city of Mazar-I-Sharif.
What is expression?
Burning books is a strange way of promoting freedom of expression, but there is a precedent for burning flags and burning political leaders in effigy as a form of legitimate political expression. The Quran is a symbol of the religion: hence the burning.
The World Trade Center was also a symbol -- of American imperialism -- and thus targeted for destruction by al Qaeda. If burning books is "expression," how about burning office towers with workers in them? We are much more upset at the idea of homicidal self expression than at the burning of books.
The Muslim world, however, seems to be much more incensed by the burning of their religious text than they are by arbitrary destruction of human life, whether by suicide bombers, American drone attacks or religious stonings.
What is freedom?
Lawyers have an old saying that one must not yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater. Freedom of expression is contingent on responsible assessment of possible harm arising from one's actions. Or, as John Stewart Mill expressed it, "The right to swing one's fist ends with one's neighbor's nose."
Unlike the Florida sect, the Dutch really care about freedom of expression and felt that it was being seriously eroded by conservative Muslims among them. Hence the publication of cartoons portraying Mohammed as a terrorist and other depictions that proved deeply offensive to Muslims around the world, inciting protests and riots in which about 100 people died.
The newspaper putting out these cartoons, Jyllands-Posten, may not have accurately predicted the consequences, at least for the first printing. In effect, this was exactly like crying "Fire!" in the crowded theater and many innocent people died in the ensuing stampede. Knowing the likely consequence means that burning Qurans in Gainesville, or anywhere else, is an act of criminal mischief.
Should we respect religion?
There is no need to respect any particular religion, such as Islam, or all religions. Religious people often claim high ground for themselves and their faiths but are not particularly ethical in their conduct.
With freedom of expression comes responsibility -- in this case, to avoid needless bloodshed by pointless burning of qurans. Does this mean that the terrorists have won and that they are enforcing sharia throughout the world and denying us of free speech by censoring opportunities to criticize Islam? Not really. There are other, less inflammatory, less deadly, ways of criticizing Islam.
Under our system of government, no one is obliged to respect any particular religion. What we do respect is another person's freedom of thought. That means that if someone is an atheist, they are entitled to express the opinion that all religions are substantially works of fiction.
How about respecting people?
We do not need to respect either Christianity or Islam, as belief systems, just the right of individuals to believe them. We do, however, need to recognize that religious identity and symbols are important for many people throughout the world.
The Dutch cartoons were inflammatory, not because they depicted the face of Mohammad but because they depicted him in an unflattering way that was perceived as deliberately insulting. Burning the Quran is viewed similarly except that this is also considered an unspeakable blasphemy in a part of the world that does not guarantee freedom of religion, much less freedom of expression.
Around the Web
Terry Jones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Who Is Terry Jones? Pastor Behind 'Burn a Koran Day' - ABC News
Why Terry Jones Quran burning spurred two days of deadly Afghan ...
Afghan Violence Spreads Over Terry Jones' Quran Burning - ABC News
Rev. Terry Jones: Quran Burning "Very Necessary" - The Early Show ...
Terry Jones Finally Got That Koran-Burning Out of His System ... |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/45919 | You Can be Emperor in The Elder Scrolls Online
Assuming you're prepared to dominate in PvP.
Bethesda has revealed that players will be able to compete to become Emperor of Cyrodil in The Elder Scrolls Online, with perks being awarded to the lucky individual that achieves it.
Speaking to OXM, game director Paul Sage revealed that you'll be able to ascend the Cyrodilic Throne, providing you're prepared to cut a swathe of devastation in the PvP area of Cyrodil.
Actions you perform there will earn you Alliance Points, including but not limited to killing other players, healing friends and conquering keeps. While these acts will also earn you the standard experience points and loot, it's the Alliance Points that matter for anyone hoping to become Emperor.
As you take over more keeps, you'll be given bonuses and expansions to your territory. These will stack until your Alliance conquers all the keeps around the Imperial City, at which stage the individual with the most points will be crowned Emperor and unlock further bonuses for those who've worked with him or her to achieve dominance.
"Players who become Emperor will get a full skill line that they keep throughout the rest of their lives in The Elder Scrolls Online," Sage explained. "It won't be easy to become Emperor, but we think people will be glad they worked for it."
In other words, when you're inevitably dethroned your skills may be slightly less effective, but you'll still be one of the few to have access to them. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like you're going to be able to reach the same lofty political heights by pursuing PvE activities so, if you're committed to becoming Emperor, you're going to have to bite the bullet and enter the fray.
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Barry Del Sherman was born on November 10, 1962 in Fontana, California, USA. He is an actor, known for American Beauty (1999), There Will Be Blood (2007) and Independence Day (1996). See full bio »
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2015 Wiglum (Short) (completed)
2015 Yosemite
2014 The Bridge (TV Series)
Newspaper Guy
- Harvest of Souls (2014) ... Newspaper Guy
2014 Saint Francis (TV Movie)
2013 Night Moves
2012 Futurestates (TV Series)
Simon Ender
- Life Begins at Rewirement (2012) ... Simon Ender
2009 Gary's Walk
1990-2008 Law & Order (TV Series)
Bob Munsen / William Harriman Jr.
- Personae Non Grata (2008) ... Bob Munsen
- Poison Ivy (1990) ... William Harriman Jr. (as Barry Sherman)
2004 CSI: NY (TV Series)
Richard Smockton
- Officer Blue (2004) ... Richard Smockton
2004 Kinsey
IU Reporter #1
2003 10-8: Officers on Duty (TV Series)
Fred Evans
- The Wild Bunch (2003) ... Fred Evans (uncredited)
2003 Law & Order: Criminal Intent (TV Series)
Brent Anderson
- Gemini (2003) ... Brent Anderson
2002 The Guardian (TV Series)
- The Neighborhood (2002)
2002 Easter
Matthew Ransom
2002 Guide Season (TV Movie)
Terry Woodrow
2001 A Woman's a Helluva Thing (TV Movie)
2000 The Specials
Zip Boy
1999 If... Dog... Rabbit
Robber #1 (as Barry Sherman)
1999 Mascara
1998 Dante's View
Aysa (as Barry Sherman)
1998 Almost Heroes
1998 The Naked Truth (TV Series)
The Clerk
- 8 1/2 (1998) ... The Clerk
1998 Cracker: Mind Over Murder (TV Series)
Jimmy Cliff
- If: Part 1 (1998) ... Jimmy Cliff
1997 The Player (TV Movie)
1997 Suicide Kings
Window Washer (as Barry Sherman)
1997 The Big Easy (TV Series)
- A Streetcar with Desire (1997) ... Lester
1997 Picture Perfect
1996 Independence Day
Street Preacher
1994 Reality Bites
Grant's Producer (as Barry Sherman)
1992 Another Girl Another Planet
Bill (as Barry Sherman)
1991 Darrow (TV Movie)
Richard Loeb (as Barry Sherman)
1989 Alien Nation (TV Series)
- Fountain of Youth (1989) ... Executive (as Barry Sherman)
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: Played "Nester" in "Wilfredo", a play by Wesley Walker (2100 Square Feet Theater, Los Angeles, California, USA). See more »
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46110 | Opinion: Talking about conspiracy theories
-A A +A
Many times when something major happens, almost always when it involves national security, the conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork. They all have some explanation of how it is not what it seems to be, and is a government plot to extend federal control. The recent raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound was no different.
There are two main classes of theories here. Some say that the raid was faked and others say that bin Laden had been dead for years. Quite frankly, both are ridiculous.
People say that the raid was faked, in order to justify maintaining such tight security measures that violate civil liberties, give the government more power, and help Obama get reelected. There is one key detail that all these seem to forget. If the raid was faked, that means bin Laden is still alive. If bin Laden were to release another tape, like he had been doing for years, he would not even need to say anything. The simple fact of his presence in the image would prove that he was, in fact, alive, proving that the federal government had lied to the American public, undermining anyone’s trust in their government.
This in turn, would undermine the quality of the service of civil servants, including our troops in Afghanistan. It could even start a few riots. Surely bin Laden would have thought of this, were he still alive. The media would be all over it in half a second, broadcasting it all over the nation, bringing these impacts about immediately. So, the fact that it has been so long since the raid means that bin Laden is definitely dead. Government 1, conspiracy 0.
Alternately, some claim that Bin Laden had been killed years ago. No one specifies when, exactly, they claim he actually was killed. Perhaps they mean that it was done during the Bush administration, and Obama is trying to take credit for it.
If so, it could have happened during either Bush’s first term, or his second term. Had it been during his first term, he would indubitably have announced it then, as it would have silenced all who criticized his method with the war on terror, i.e. the PATRIOT act and the TSA’s more stringent security measures, thus guaranteeing him the reelection.
Proof comes from a pattern of “connecting the dots” between events that may not be causally connected.
--Cary Bronson |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46119 | 'The Voice' (NBC)
Premieres: Monday, Sept. 10 at 8 p.m. Expect to see: Any lingering Lucca-related tension between Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera has listed, so they should be back to their usual flirty banter this year. "The Voice" is introducing significant changes to its format (read about them here) but don't worry -- the red thrones and blind auditions aren't going anywhere. -- Carina Adly MacKenzie, Zap2it Getty Images |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46144 | How to prevent my screen from dimming when watching YouTube?
view story
http://askubuntu.com – My screen brightness used to dim after a few seconds to preserve battery. This is default in Ubuntu 12.04. However when watching video it should not dim. This works correctly when I watch videos using native applications like VLC. With in-browser video, however, the screen is not prevented from dimming. This is very annoying as you have to move your cursor every 10 seconds or so. I used to use Mac OSX where I had the same dimming settings and Flash videos were taken into account correctly. Anyone an idea how you can make YouTube prevent your screen from dimming? (HowTos) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46146 | Music Software
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Geek Guide
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Tools and Technologies for Scale and Reliability
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46148 | Help answer threads with 0 replies.
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1. Old Comment
yum error
I'd go for
1) what was used (hostname + OS + application program + username + remote website involved etc etc)
2) what you did
3) what happened (obviously includes an unexpected thing you're calling a bug)
4) how that differs from what you expected
You need all those elements since I've had bug reports like this
"The program I compiled is not executable."
"How do you reckon that?"
"It's got no * next to the name in ls output."
Posted 07-16-2013 at 11:15 AM by linosaurusroot linosaurusroot is offline
2. Old Comment
yum error
A bug report should contain (at minimum):
1) the host OS
2) the version of packages involved
3) the exact command run to trigger the bug
4) related configuration files
But, since this isn't a bug report medium, I suspect you'll have better luck at the relevant OS forums or bug tracker...or even in the forums.
Posted 07-14-2013 at 08:45 PM by rocket357 rocket357 is offline
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46168 | Thread: Imperial Heresy
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Old 09-21-2007, 12:53 PM #36
Dum Spiramus Tuebimur
JediMaster12's Avatar
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Buried in books...literally
Posts: 5,939
Current Game: Assassin's Creed
((I'll take a Nightcrawler. He will report to the temple so we can have some bad guys here))
Human blood. The richest source of life guaranteed to make one run rabid until he has it. Being a Nightcrawler meant that you were damned to an existence hiding by day and hunting by night. You were damned to drink the blood of innocents. You were just plain damned for eternity. For Saimhain, eternity was all the time in the world. Over four hundred years old, he was a creature of the night. Oh it wasn't always like this however.
Once he was a mortal, an elf actually.Then his sire came and seduced him, made him what he was. He took the name Saimhain meaning fall's end and never looked back. He revelled in the dark power he had and enjoyed using it against the puny mortals. There was one however that he wanted the most.
He met the elf warrior once in the night and fought him. The Elf gave him a nice gift before he retreated battered and bloody but alive. It enraged Saimhain that the Elf lived and spent his days looking for him. Then the Temple officials summoned him, at night of course. It appeared that though unclean as he and his kind were, they were willing to make a deal. He took it but had no intention of letting the Temple dictate to him. It gave him freedom to hunt the Elf. Tonight he got lucky. He saw the Elf he was searching for with two humans and a she-elf. What piqued his interest was that one of the humans was from the Temple.
He signaled to his band to move closer. He wanted the elf to feel him close in. He unsheathed a sword that he had carried for forty years since that day and moved in.
Rowan had no doubt that Curudir spotted the Nightcrawlers. Nightcrawlers never showed themselves however unless they were up to something. Rowan stopped Elendir and turned to face the direction they had come. He replied to the knight, "I have no doubts you spotted them but I sense that there is something more."
Darlene trusted Rowan and laid a hand on the short sword that she carried. She also had a special weapon that she carried at all times with her. It was one that would drive them away. She said nothing but looked around.
Rowan passed a sword to the she elf behind him and looked around. His scanning was pointless for the Nightcrawler came into view, laughing.
Saimhain said, "Well isn't this a surprise? I come hunting for an Elf and I get two and two mortals." He looked at the priestess and said, "My lady you are a long way from the Temple. Perhaps we should 'escort' you back."
Before Rowan could say anything in retort, Saimhain bit out, "Stay your words Aldstar. They won't save you here. I have never thanked you properly for the gift you gave me the last time we met." He then spoke to the knight, "You knight must have trust right? How can you put your trust in a creature who let his enemy go?"
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46175 | add artist photo
Ricky Martin
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Ricky Martin
The Cup Of Life lyrics
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Ricky Martin – The Cup Of Life lyrics
Do you really want it? [x3]
Go, go, go, ale ale ale [x2]
Go, go, go, here we go, yeah
[1] - The cup of life, this is the one.
Now is the time, don't ever stop
Push it along, gotta be strong.
Push it along, right to the top
[2] - Como Cain y Abel, es un partido cruel.
Tienes que pelear, por una estrella
Consigue con honor, la copa del amor
Para sobrevivir y luchar por ella
Luchar por ella (Yeah)
Do you really want it... (Yeah)
[3] - Here we go! Ale, Ale Ale! Go, go, go! Ale, Ale Ale!
Arriba va! El mundo esta de pie. Go, Go, Gol!! Ale, Ale, Ale
La vida es, competicion. Hay que sonar, ser campeon
La copa es, la bendicion. La ganaras, Go, Go, Go!
No one can hold you down. If you really want it
Just steal your destiny. Right from the hands of fate
Do you really want it...(Yeah)
Do you really want it...(Yeah)
Tu y yo! Ale, Ale Ale. Go, go, gol! Ale, Ale, Ale
Tonight's the night, we're gonna celebrate
The cup of life!!! Ale, Ale, Ale.
[repeat 1, 2, 3]
Un, dos, tres, ale ale ale. Un, deux, trois, ale ale ale...
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46185 | Newest Members
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#45032 - 08/07/02 08:53 PM Dont believe myself anymore
Broken Offline
Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 273
Loc: Huntingtun Beach, CA, US
I feel like im making things up. My mother told me that the thing i thought was herion was fish food, and she was using the straw to feed it through the top of the fish bowl, because it had a cap. She says she remembers things differently. I dont understand how she could quit herion but not quit drinking. Maybe she wasnt really addicted, maybe she just did it as part of her co-dependancy. I am wondering if any of the things i said are real, i dont know if im just making things up about enemas and things because i heard about them from other places. Or maybe it want her, it was someone else. I dont trust myself anymore, i dont know what is real. I have always been wierd and flakey, maybe i am a little disturbed. I know things she did were inappropriate, but i dont know where my pain stops and memory begins. I dont know why i would make things up, maybe i am lonely and just want to be accepted. Maybe i am just so hurt by all the emotional things that she did i cant tell them from something else.
Im so sick of being me. If i could just try, i could do so many things, but i always give up. I dont have any faith in myself. What the hell is wrong with me? All my dreams feel so far away. I once wrote almost 20,000 words in 3 days, nearly a fifth of a novel, for a book i wanted to write. I wrote for two more days, and typed less than 5000, then stopped and never finished it. My whole life is like that.
I should go to class tonight, but i dont know if i can. I am so tired, of everything, i just dont know anymore. There has got to be a way out of this life.
#45033 - 08/07/02 09:03 PM Re: Dont believe myself anymore
SoCalJohn Offline
Registered: 05/18/01
Posts: 510
Loc: Los Angeles, California
There is a way out, one day at a time, just keep talking, let things continue to unfold for you.
As for your memories, dont throw them out like yesterdays paper, think of them as parts of a jigsaw puzzle, keep gathering the pieces, see how they fit together and one of these days the bigger picture willcome into focus and it will almost all make sense to you.
Just because your mom says it is not so does not make it not so, my mom discounts everything i say, and she recalls everything that happened to me very differently.
I tend to trust your recollection of things, everything you say rings true for me so far.
Perhaps there was someone else involved, who knows, just so you know i never met an addict yet that was not quite accomplished at manipulating people and events to their benefit. I never met one yet that willingly admitted that they had a problem again after they had told everyone they quit. Most addicts live in a world of deciet and think they are pulling the wool over everyones eyes and will do anything and everything to keep the people that notice the discrepancies from figuring out their game.
I got a feeling she is trying o cover her butt more than anything else.
Hang in there, ok?
#45034 - 08/08/02 12:48 PM Re: Dont believe myself anymore
Lloydy Offline
Administrator Emeritus
Registered: 04/17/02
Posts: 7071
Loc: England Shropshire
What's the common link between addicts, perp's and us ?
Lies, they tell them, we believe them and then we start lying to cover up.
But we're breaking the link
John's right Kevin, one day at a time is the way out, go to class. Make it your goal for today.
Henry David Thoreau
#45035 - 08/09/02 01:46 AM Re: Dont believe myself anymore
Broken Offline
Registered: 03/25/01
Posts: 273
Loc: Huntingtun Beach, CA, US
i missed class, but i think i needed it. We werent doing anything really anyways. Today i went though and we had a barbeque. At first i was a little uncomfortable, but i loosened up towards the end. I am going back next semester.
Even if all those other things werent true, some other things i remember pretty solidly are, and maybe they are not pysical incest, but they hurt as bad, worse actually, as what my brother did to me, which was.
I also dont know why i would make memories up either. And any thoughts of incest aside, i still watched her cook herion in front of me when i was five. I still have to live with the kids at school constantly calling me crackhead because they knew id get upset about it, because i saw what drugs did to my mom.
I think i just remembered her cooking when we lived in huntington beach. Maybe, maybe not. We also lived with someone who she admitted did herion, who was her boyfriend. If she quit in 1985, why was she hanging around with a junky in the early 90's?
I have always had to carry her, tried to protect her from herself, and there was no way i could, so i was always a failure. Screw that! Im not going to throw my life away for her or anybody else. And if things happened beyond what i remember right now, then i am not going to be able to hide from them, no matter how hard i try. I have a lot of things i want to do, and i dont want to feel depressed anymore. If i am going to feel sad, then i want to feel sorrow, not just depressed. I guess it is just one tiny step after another, over and over again.
#45036 - 08/09/02 11:42 AM Re: Dont believe myself anymore
integrator Offline
Registered: 07/05/02
Posts: 107
Loc: New York
You said it, Broken, one tiny step over and over again. And just like the other guys were saying, you are worth the effort.
Take my mother for example. She's no drug addict, but she's no crusader for justice, either. When I've mentioned my abuse by a stranger to her, she has done much worse than simply deny it. She has argued against it and tried to dissuade me from that idea.
I've tried to discuss the topic with other people in my life, and they can hardly listen before they just try to change the subject. It's almost like in recognizing the truth, we have become like secret agents. Bond, James Bond. License to instil courage.
Keep up the classes. I'm starting them myself. There's only one way out of this mess taking shape that I can see, and education is it.
Moderator: ModTeam, TJ jeff
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46199 | Scale Data Linearly
Engineering Units
Data Acquisition Toolbox™ software provides you with a way to linearly scale data as it is being queued in the engine. You can associate this scaling with specific engineering units such as volts or Newtons that you might want to apply to your data.
The properties associated with engineering units and linearly scaling output data are as follows:
Property Name
Specify the range of the analog output hardware subsystem.
Specify the engineering units label.
Specify the range of data as engineering units.
For many devices, the output range is expressed in terms of the gain and polarity.
Note You can set the engineering units properties on a per-channel basis. Therefore, you can configure different engineering unit conversions for each hardware channel.
Linearly scaled output data is given by the formula:
scaled value = (original value)(output range)/(units range)
The units range is given by the UnitsRange property, while the output range is given by the OutputRange property. UnitsRange controls the scaling of data when it is queued in the engine with the putdata function. OutputRange specifies the gain and polarity of your D/A subsystem. You should choose an output range that encompasses the output signal, and that utilizes the maximum dynamic range of your hardware.
For sound cards, you might have to adjust the volume control to obtain the full-scale output range of the device. See Sound Cards to learn how to access the volume control for your sound card.
For example, suppose OutputRange is [-10 10], and UnitsRange is [-5 5]. If a queued value is 2.5, then the scaled value is (2.5)(20/10) or 5, in the appropriate units.
Note The data acquisition engine always clips out-of-range values. Clipping means that an out-of-range value is fixed to either the minimum or maximum value that is representable by the hardware. Clipping is equivalent to saturation.
Perform a Linear Conversion
This example illustrates how to configure the engineering units properties for an analog output object connected to a National Instruments® PCI-6024E board.
The queued data consists of a 4 volt peak-to-peak sine wave. The UnitsRange property is configured so that queued data is scaled to the OutputRange property value, which is fixed at ±10 volts. This scaling utilizes the maximum dynamic range of the analog output hardware.
You can run this example by typing daqdoc6_6 at the MATLAB Command Window.
1. Create a device object — Create the analog output object AO for a National Instruments board. The installed adaptors and hardware IDs are found with daqhwinfo.
AO = analogoutput('nidaq','Dev1');
2. Add channels — Add one hardware channel to AO.
chan = addchannel(AO,0);
3. Configure property values — Create the data to be queued.
freq = 500;
w = 2*pi*freq;
t = linspace(0,2,20000);
data = 2*sin(w*t)';
Configure the sampling rate to 5 kHz, configure the trigger to repeat two times, and scale the data to cover the full output range of the D/A converter. Because the peak-to-peak amplitude of the queued data is 4, UnitsRange is set to [-2 2], which scales the output data to 20 volts peak-to-peak.
AO.'SampleRate = 5000
AO.RepeatOutput = 2
chan.UnitsRange = [-2 2]
Queue the data with one call to putdata.
4. Calculate the time to wait for data generation to complete. The wait time is based on:
• the amount of data queued.
• the number of times the generation repeats.
• extra time to allow for the time it takes to configure and start the device.
timeToWait = (length(data)/AO.SampleRate)*(AO.RepeatOutput + 1)*1.1;
5. Output data — Start AO and wait until all the data is output.
6. Clean up — When you no longer need AO, you should remove it from memory and from the MATLAB workspace.
clear AO
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46200 | Install Noninteractively (Silent Installation)
When to Install Noninteractively
If you have many installations of MATLAB® software to perform, and the information you need to enter for each installation is the same, you can put this information into a properties file and run the MathWorks® installer noninteractively. You specify the properties file on the command line when you launch the installer and the file provides the installer with the information that you would otherwise provide interactively, using the installer dialog boxes. Noninteractive installation (also called silent installation) can save time and prevent errors.
Using an Installer Properties File
Note: You need a File Installation Key to use an installer properties file.
To run the installer noninteractively, perform these steps:
1. Create an installer properties file.
Make a copy of the installer properties file template, named installer_input.txt. This file is located in the top-level folder on the MathWorks DVD or in the top level of the folder where you downloaded the software (typically, C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\mathworks_downloads).
For example, on a Windows system, you might execute this command:
copy Z:\installer_input.txt C:\temp\my_installer_input.txt
2. Open your installer properties file using any text editor, and enter values for all the specified parameters. For example, to specify where you want to install products, set the value of the destinationFolder= parameter to the full path of the installation folder.
destinationFolder=C:\Program Files\MATLAB\R2015a
The installer properties file template contains descriptions of each parameter along with valid values. Specify your File Installation Key as the value of the fileInstallationKey= parameter.
3. Save your changes to the file.
4. Start the installer using the -inputFile option to specify the full path of your installer properties file as a command-line argument.
For example, on Windows systems, click the Start menu and select the Run option. In the Run dialog box, enter
setup.exe -inputFile C:\temp\my_installer_input.txt
For information about specifying an installer properties file on Linux and Mac OS X systems, see the instructions in the installer properties file template.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46208 | Are isometric exercises a good way to build strength?
Answers from Edward R. Laskowski, M.D.
Because isometric exercises are done in one position without movement, they'll improve strength in only one particular position. You'd have to do various isometric exercises through your limb's whole range of motion to improve muscle strength across the range. In addition, since isometric exercises are done in a static position, they won't help improve speed or athletic performance. They can be useful, however, in enhancing stabilization — maintaining the position of the affected area — since muscles often contract isometrically to aid in stabilization.
A recent study has shown that isometric exercises may also help lower your blood pressure. However, if you have high blood pressure, exercise at a lower level of intensity. Exercising at a higher level of intensity can cause a dramatic increase in your blood pressure during the activity. Check with your doctor before beginning isometric exercises if you have high blood pressure or any heart problems. Avoid holding your breath and straining during any weight training exercise, as this may cause a dangerous rise in blood pressure.
Nov. 25, 2014 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46222 | Potato Information | Evidenced-Based Supplement Guide on MedicineNet.com - How does Potato work?
How does Potato work?
Potatoes might have activity as an appetite suppressant to cause weight loss. A chemical in the potato peel might also prevent bacteria from attaching to cells. Potatoes are a source of vitamin C, iron, riboflavin, and carbohydrates.
Are there safety concerns?
Unblemished, ripe potatoes taken as medicine seem safe for most people. Damaged, green potatoes and sprouts contain poisonous chemicals that cannot be destroyed by cooking. These poisonous chemicals can cause headache, flushing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, thirst, restlessness, and death.
Do not take potato as medicine if:
• You are pregnant or breast-feeding.
• You have diabetes.
Therapeutic Research Faculty copyright
Report Problems to the Food and Drug Administration
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How to make chocolate chip cookies informative speech
How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies Topic: Baking cookies. General purpose: To demonstrate. Specific purpose: To demonstrate to my audience the procedure of baking chocolate chip cookies. Thesis statement: Baking chocolate chip cookies is fun and simple, using some very basic ingredients and supplies. Introduction I. Everyone has a favorite type of cookie. My favorite is chocolate chip. Since I was a little girl I always loved helping my mom make this treat. This became somewhat of a tradition every Sunday afternoon so for school the next day I would have cookies. This is something fun and simple that can be enjoyed by many. Today, I will show you in three steps how to bake chocolate chip cookies. Transition: Like all cooking projects we must gather ingredients. Body I. First we gather all ingredients and materials. A. All ingredients are essential to making the cookies. 1. 1 cup of soft butter 2. 3/4 cup of brown sugar 3. 1 teaspoon of baking soda 4. 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 5. 3/4 cup of granulated sugar 6. 2 eggs 7. 2 1/4 cups of sifted flour 8. 1 teaspoon of salt 9. 2 cups of chocolate chips B. Other ingredients are optional to add to the cookies. 1. 3/4 cup of chopped nuts (any kind) 2. 1 cup of chopped M&Ms C. Materials to mix and bake the cookies with. 1. 2 large mixing bowls 2. Hand mixer 3. Tablespoon and teaspoon 4. Cookie sheet 5. Spatula 6. Cooling racks 7. Measuring cup 8. Newspaper (optional) 9. Wax paper (optional) Transition: Now that all ingredients and materials are gathered we can begin making the cookies. II. The second step is to blend together and mix ingredients. A. First, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. B. Mix together liquid ingredients. 1. Mix the butter and both of the sugars. 2. Then add the egg and the vanilla extract. C. Prepare and mix dry ingredients. 1. Sift and measur...
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46236 | F1 Championship Season 2000 Image
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• Summary: It enhances a number of the original game's features, adds a handful of new ones, and, ultimately, it will undoubtedly please racing enthusiasts and interested beginners alike.
Score distribution:
1. Positive: 6 out of 8
2. Negative: 1 out of 8
1. A "gateway" game. It’s friendly enough for first time players, but it’s got all the things to keep you playing and become a hardcore racer. (It’s even got options to show you the best trajectory and supply driving tips.) But even the hardcore simmer will find F1RC a challenge and realistic.
2. 92
Because of the depth of the physics, setups, and customizable AI, you'll have your hands full as long as you want.
3. The finest modern-day F1 simulation currently available. [Mar 2001, p.75]
4. Take ("F1 2000") and speed up the graphics a bit, add a new training mode, polish the AI, and offer rainy day racing and all the real-life grids from the 2000 Formula One season and you've got F1 Championship Season 2000.
5. As a patch it would be near-perfect; it successfully addresses several key concerns, adds one seriously compelling new element, and generally turns a very good racing experience into an exceptional one. Certainly, this is the game EA should have released in the first place.
6. To tell the truth, this whole product should have been a giant patch for F1 2000 rather than a standalone sequel.
7. The dismal gameplay coupled with the subpar framerates make this play more like a B-grade no-name title rather than the AAA title it was supposed to be, and that's just not forgivable.
See all 8 Critic Reviews
Score distribution:
1. Positive: 1 out of 1
2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
3. Negative: 0 out of 1 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46241 | MetaFilter posts tagged with publichousing Posts tagged with 'publichousing' at MetaFilter. Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:25:39 -0800 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:25:39 -0800 en-us 60 Fear is the highest fence. After <a href="">years of debates</a>, <a href="">notoriously contentious</a> public <a href="">meetings</a>, and <a href="">the looming specter of a civil rights lawsuit</a>, a federal mediation agreement between the Town of Hamden and the City of New Haven, Connecticut resulted in the removal of a 10-foot chain-link fence that separated New Haven's West Rock public housing projects from Hamden's Woodin Street neighborhood for nearly half a century. NYT's Benjamin Mueller reports: <a href="">In Connecticut, Breaking a Barrier Between a Suburb and Public Housing</a>. Soon after the New Haven Housing Authority announced its intention (and <a href="">legal right</a>) to demolish the fence, <a href="">Hamden Mayor Scott Jackson</a> mailed a <a href="">letter</a> to Woodin Street residents. In it, Jackson details a handful of mitigative measures, including the construction of a new on-site Police Substation that will focus its efforts on the surrounding area, designed to assuage constituents' <a href="">myriad objections and concerns</a>. Following the teardown, the New Haven Register published an op-ed supporting the fence's removal: <a href="">Toppling New Haven-Hamden fence a good start; now time to tear down mistrust</a>. <a href="">New Haven Mayor Toni Harp</a> also celebrated the decision in her statement for the <a href="">New Haven Independent</a>: "I know residents on both sides of this imaginary line believe in justice, fairness, equal access and equal opportunity. Elimination of this fence provides for all those ideals." In less-publicized news, a fence that surrounded Anniston, Alabama's <a href="">Cooper Homes projects</a> for over a decade was also <a href="">removed in May</a> -- but it remains clear that not every city is willing to take similar measures. For example, the <a href="">8-foot wrought-iron fence</a> built to <a href="">enclose</a> Washington, D.C.'s <a href="">Potomac Gardens projects</a> has <a href="">remained in place</a> since 1992. (semi-related previously: <a href="">The Ghetto Is Public Policy</a>),2014:site.140917 Mon, 14 Jul 2014 12:25:39 -0800 divined by radio The Ghetto Is Public Policy Ta-Nehisi Coates writes in <i>The Atlantic</i>:<a href="">The Effects of Housing Segregation on Black Wealth</a>. As <a href="">the wealth gap widens between whites and blacks in America</a>, and after reading <a href="">this list</a> and <a href="">this list</a>, he concludes <a href="">The Ghetto Is Public Policy</a>. <a href="">Terrorism Is Politics By Other Means</a> <blockquote>One of the great contributions of <a href="'s%20Making%20The%20Second%20Ghetto&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false">Arnold Hirsch's Making The Second Ghetto</a> is the conception of racism not as deviancy, moral degeneracy, or stupidity, but as a political ideology whose employers' tactics differ according to class, but whose goals remain the same. The goal of post-war white Chicago was to keep African Americans sealed in the ghetto. Working-class and ethnic whites worked toward this goal through what Hirsch calls "communal violence," which is to say entire communities angling toward terrrorism:</blockquote> <a href="">The Language of Segregation Under Social Sanction</a> <blockquote>Continuing from our conversation around housing segregation and the language employed by those with power I think it's worth thinking some about the text of this petition: "As moral, religious and law-abiding citizens, we feel that we are unprejudiced and undiscriminating in our wish to keep our community a closed community ... to protect our own." The petition was put out in 1957, as Levittown sought to stave off integration. What's important to note is that we are well into post-war America and there is some social sanction emerging against prejudice and discrimination. What the petition does is effectively endorse prejudice and discrimination while claiming not to.</blockquote> <a href="">Levittown</a> is the <a href="">most famous</a> of the post-WWII suburbs, which <a href="">contends with it's own legacy of bias</a>. <blockquote>''It's <a href="">symbolic of segregation</a> in America,'' he said. ''That's the legacy of Levittown."</blockquote> Coates, again: <a href="">The Ghetto, Public Policy, and the Jewish Exception</a> <blockquote>The other day I wrote about differences in how two sectors of Chicago's white community responded to the prospect of integration. I contrasted the response of Chicago's upper-class whites with its working class white ethnics. I am coming to hate all of these terms for their lack of precision. Chicago's white Jewish community demonstrates the problem. When I was researching my article on Detroit, African Americans generally told me that it was usually in the Jewish communities where desegregation began. Jews proved much more open to renting or selling to black families than other whites. I won't go so far as to say that there were no Jewish race riots in the mid-20th century, but I haven't read about a single one. </blockquote> James Baldwin wrote in 1948: <a href="">From the American Scene: The Harlem Ghetto: Winter 1948</a> <a href="">Segregated From Its History, How 'Ghetto' Lost Its Meaning</a> Coates: <a href="">The Ghetto Is Public Policy</a> <blockquote>But the most affecting aspect of <a href="">the book</a> is the demonstration of the ghetto not as a product of a violent music, super-predators, or declining respect for marriage, but of <a href="">policy and power</a>. In Chicago, the ghetto was intentional. Black people were pariahs whom no one wanted to live around. The FHA turned that prejudice into full-blown racism by refusing to insure loans taken out by people who live near blacks. Contract-sellers reacted to this policy and "sold" homes to black people desperate for housing at four to five times its value. I say "sold" because the contract-seller kept the deed, while the "buyer" remained responsible for any repairs to the home.</blockquote> <a href="">A History of Liberal White Racism, Cont.</a> <blockquote>There is some sense that when we talk about the period leading up to the New Deal and beyond, that we are talking about progressives in the North making a tragic, yet necessary, bargain with white racists conservatives in the South. In fact what Ira Katznelson shows in Fear Itself is something a little more complicated. The white supremacists in his book are, indeed, for the most part, Southern. But they also are very much married to to the prospect of progressive liberal reform. It may break our brains a bit to imagine, say, a Southern white supremacist backing railroad unions. But that's actual history.</blockquote> <a href="">The Ghetto Is Public Policy</a> - "The wealth gap is not a mistake. It is the logical outcome of policy and democratic will." and from a comment: <a href="">I'd think about it like this: in Chicago at the time, there were two fundamental housing markets: one for whites, and one for blacks. </a> <i>Chicago Magazine</i>: <a href="">How The Atlantic Discovered Chicago’s Troubled Past</a> - "Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic, one of the best bloggers anywhere, reads his way through <a href="">Chicago’s tense 20th century</a>." <a href="">Les Segregated, But Still Really Segregated</a> Important in thinking about this is <a href="">Hirsch's concept</a> of <i>the second ghetto</i>: "<a href="">the result of systemic public policy aimed at segregation</a>". <a href="">Public Housing: Government-Sponsored Segregation</a> <a href="">How We Built The Ghettos</a> Not just <a href="">Chicago</a> either: <a href="">'Apartheid, Baltimore Style' City Housing Suit and History of Bias</a> <a href="">Living Apart: How the Government Betrayed a Landmark Civil Rights Law</a>.,2014:site.140854 Sat, 12 Jul 2014 09:15:38 -0800 the man of twists and turns The PJs; or, Nychaland <a href="">The Land that Time and Money Forgot</a> New York City’s housing projects are the last of their kind in the country. And they may be on their way to extinction (<i>New York</i> magazine).,2012:site.119780 Mon, 10 Sep 2012 05:39:42 -0800 box Kicking the Pigeon <a href="">Kicking the Pigeon:</a> On Sunday, April 13, 2003, at about 5:00 p.m., Diane Bond, a 48 year-old mother of three, stepped out of her eighth floor apartment in 3651 South Federal, the last remaining high-rise at the Stateway Gardens public housing development, and encountered three white men. Although not in uniform, they were immediately recognizable by their postures, body language, and bulletproof vests as police officers. Bond gave me the following account of what happened next.<br><br> “Where do you live at?” one of the officers asked. He had a round face and closely cropped hair. Bond later identified him as Christ Savickas.<br><br> “Right there,” she pointed to her door.<br><br> He put his gun to her right temple and snatched her keys from her hand.,2006:site.49297 Fri, 17 Feb 2006 19:02:04 -0800 jennyb |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46274 | Alien Breed 3D (Amiga CD32)
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Alien Breed 3D is a follow-up to Alien Breed, a Gauntlet-style shooter, and its sequels. Unlike its predecessors, this game is set into a 3D context, making for the Amiga's first big Doom-style game. The 3D engine uses fairly small screen graphics, but these include full floors and ceilings with detailed shading, doors, vertical position variations, lifts and transporters. The CD version includes extra atmospheric sound, while fast processors and extra FastRAM are also supported.
Alien Breed 3D Amiga CD32 Title screen.
Alternate Titles
• "AB3D" -- Informal Name
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
There are no reviews for this game.
Critic Reviews
Amiga CD32 Gamer Nov, 1995 91 out of 100 91
Amiga Joker Nov, 1995 87 out of 100 87
CU Amiga Jan, 1996 86 out of 100 86
AmigaInfo Aug, 1996 7 out of 10 70
There are currently no topics for this game.
• Amiga Joker
• Issue 02/1996 – #3 Best Game in 1995 (Readers' Vote)
• Issue 02/1996 – Best Action Game in 1995 (Readers' Vote)
Kabushi (133390) added Alien Breed 3D (Amiga CD32) on Apr 21, 2005
Other platforms contributed by Martin Smith (63069) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46275 | Think! (Amstrad CPC)
missing cover art
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Think! is a strategic puzzle game similar to the board game Connect 4. It's played by two player (player vs. player or player vs. computer) on a 6x6 board. The players take turns in putting out counters on the board and the goal is to get four in a row. The counters can't be placed anywhere, they have to be pushed onto the board from the bottom or the right edge. As a counter is added everything in that row or column will move along. Counters that reach the opposite sides of the board can be pushed off and will then be lost. Winning lines can be horizontal, vertical or diagonal.
In addition to the normal mode described above there are a few additional variations of it. These are Speed Think! where each player has a limited amount of time to make each move and Blitz Think! where the player have a total time limit for all moves. There's a tutorial mode where the computer gives feedback on how good each move is. At the end the player gets a percentage score. There are also six preset problems with a few counters already on the board. The player can also create his own problems.
There are no Amstrad CPC screenshots for this game.
User Reviews
There are no reviews for this game.
Critic Reviews
Computer Gamer Jun, 1987 75 out of 100 75
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There is no trivia on file for this game.
Kabushi (133390) added Think! (Amstrad CPC) on Apr 07, 2012
Other platforms contributed by Kabushi (133390) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46276 | Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue (Nintendo DS)
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Nemo's fish tank friends are sealed up in plastic baggies and ready to make their daring escape! Help Gill, Bloat, Pearl, Jacques and the rest of the Tank Gang make their way to the ocean, and their final destination: the reef itself!
Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue is a game that focuses on the Nintendo DS' unique features in a variety of mini-games, similar to Feel the Magic. It will take a variety of different tasks to get each fish to the reef, including, but not limited to, rolling plastic baggies across busy roads, escaping the clutches of an octopus, swimming away from a deadly angler fish, riding the East Australian Current, and more! Each game is played either with the stylus, or a combination of the stylus and the DS' microphone.
In addition to this, there is also an 'Interactive Reef' feature that allows players to create their own customisable environment for the escaped fish to live in, choosing from either the ocean or an aquarium. It is possible to earn more items for your Reef by scoring well in the mini-games, which convert the points into tokens for you to spend.
There are also three two player multiplayer games that can be played via multi-card multiplayer: Octo-Bash, Hide and Seek, and Pearl Blast. These games are two-player versions of games that you play in the single-player mode.
There are no Nintendo DS screenshots for this game.
Alternate Titles
• "Finding Nemo: Touch de Nemo" -- Japanese title
• "Findet Nemo: Flucht in den Ozean" -- German title
• "Buscando a Nemo: Fuga hacia el océano" -- Spanish title
• "Alla Ricerca di Nemo: Fuga nell'Oceano" -- Italian title
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Critic Reviews
IGN Feb 16, 2006 7 out of 10 70
Cheat Code Central Feb 24, 2006 3.4 out of 5 68
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There is no trivia on file for this game.
Ben K (23096) added Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue (Nintendo DS) on May 25, 2006 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46277 | Syn Boga Wiatru (Atari 8-bit)
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Syn Boga Wiatru (Son of the Wind God) is a platform game, set in Inca cities and temples. The player is a professor who, on each of the game's four levels, is trying to find a priceless amphora. Jumping around and climbing ladders and ropes feature heavily. The main threats, apart from steep drops, are various enemies that walk around; falling a long distance or contact with an enemy drains the professor's health. Running out of health ends the game immediately.
The professor has two thrown weapons: rocks and knives, both of which kill enemies instantly. There is limited ammunition, and rocks have the additional demerit of being affected by gravity over long distances. Ammo can be replenished by collecting diamond-like pickups. There are also keys, used to open locked doors (each key is one-use, so it's necessary to decide which doors to open and which to leave alone). Finally, the player can find cups that replenish health.
Syn Boga Wiatru Atari 8-bit Need to get this key
Syn Boga Wiatru Atari 8-bit Doors or enemy
Syn Boga Wiatru Atari 8-bit Title screen
Syn Boga Wiatru Atari 8-bit No key no passage
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User Reviews
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Critic Reviews
Secret Service / New S Service Oct, 1992 80 out of 100 80
Top Secret Aug, 1993 5 out of 10 50
There are currently no topics for this game.
Development & inspiration
In developing the game, author Tomasz Sadza was inspired by his beloved books about Aztecs, Incas and Mesoamerican culture in general. Many of his initial concepts, however, he found impossible to achieve due to technical limitations of the Atari.
The author (in a 2007 interview) states that he is very satisfied with the complexity of the mazelike levels, noting that having to map it out was what drawn in many of his friends.
God mode cheat
The game has a very unusual cheat: in order to gain god mode, the player has to touch the Atari's right joystick port with a salivated finger. Technically, the "god mode" cheat code is to move the joystick in all four directions at the same time. This is, of course, physically impossible, but the wet finger (an electricity conductor) does the job.
Related Web Sites
JudgeDeadd (13161) added Syn Boga Wiatru (Atari 8-bit) on Aug 09, 2011 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46300 | Kevin Drum - August 2011
Our Oil-Constrained Future
| Fri Aug. 26, 2011 5:55 AM EDT
…2009 oil production was around 85 [million barrels per day] (depending on what source you like) so in the counterfactual world we would have needed it to be around 88-89mbd. Now, in 2008, oil production got up to around 86mbd (on an average basis) but doing so triggered (or required) an oil shock in which prices briefly reached $135/barrel on a monthly basis and almost $150 on a daily basis. What would the likely price path have been had the world then needed an additional 2-3mbd the following year?
To give an indication of the scale of 2-3mbd, note that the loss of 1.6mbd of oil this year (Libya) triggered something like a $30 increase in the price of oil (before it became clear that the global economy was slowing again causing prices to fall). That, along with other commodity price increases, was enough to cause a little bump in inflation that significantly reduced the Federal Reserve's latitude for action.
OPEC countries routinely claim that they can increase pumping capacity to meet world demand. "Our customers aren't asking for more supplies," is the usual phrasing. But that's not true. The world plainly wants more oil that OPEC can't provide. After all, if OPEC had plentiful supplies, we wouldn't see huge price spikes whenever demand gets near the neighborhood of 90 mbd. But we do.
Now, there are some caveats here. For one thing, no one can say for sure precisely what OPEC's pumping capacity is (Middle East regimes are very secretive on this score), and Iraq, in particular, can certainly increase its production capacity if it ever gets its infrastructure rebuilt. But in a way, that's small beer. Global production capacity right now seems to be a little under 90 mbd, and even if this increases to 95 mbd or 100 mbd a few years down the road, we're going to be continually bumping up against this ceiling along the way as the global economy grows. That's going to cause sporadic but frequent price spikes.
The effect this has on the economy is probably greater than even most pessimists realize. James Hamilton, a University of California-San Diego economics professor who's studied the economics of oil demand deeply, points out that 10 of the 11 recessions in the United States since World War II have been preceded by an increase in oil prices—and even small increases in oil prices can have a surprisingly big impact on economic growth. In a recent update of a model he originally published in 2003, he estimates that an oil price spike of 10 percent over its previous high produces a GDP decline of 1.4 percentage points one year later. To put this into real-world terms, his model suggests that the huge run-up in oil prices between 2007 and 2008, when prices nearly doubled, explains most of the Great Recession that followed. And he forecasts that the Libyan price spike early this year, which came on top of a 9 percent increase the previous quarter, will reduce GDP by an estimated 2.4 percentage points by the end of 2011. And the Libyan price spike was pretty modest.
The precise effect of oil prices on the economy depends on which model you prefer, and Hamilton says that a different model that uses a three-year window might be more accurate. That would be good news for the economy in 2011 (and 2012), but it doesn't matter much for the long run. Basically, we're stuck with two stubborn observations. First, world demand for oil is very near its production ceiling, which means that even small increases in demand (or small disruptions in supply) now result in large oil price spikes. And increases in demand are inevitable every time the economy starts growing even modestly. Second, even small increases in the price of oil cause large GDP losses. Price spikes of 20 to 30 percent are likely to be common in the future as we periodically bump up against production ceilings, and if Hamilton's model is correct, this will produce subsequent declines in GDP of 3 to 5 percentage points. That's huge. The effect on world GDP may be less pronounced, but it will still be significant.
If you don't believe in global warming, that's one thing. But the evidence that the world is starting to reach growth constraints based on oil production is, if not a slam dunk case, still pretty compelling. So even if, as Rick Perry says, the world's climate scientists are just inventing global warming as a devious scheme to increase their funding, we still ought to be going balls to the wall to expand existing forms of alternative energy and fund research into new ones. Unless, of course, you really like the prospect of a future full of relentless and painful oil-induced recessions. It doesn't seem very agreeable to me.
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Fear and Loathing at the Federal Reserve
| Fri Aug. 26, 2011 12:47 AM EDT
Why is Ben Bernanke unlikely to announce any major action to help the economy in his Jackson Hole speech on Friday? Because of inflation hawks on the Fed board? Because of concerns that further monetary policy isn't effective when interest rates are already near zero? Because of a generalized fear of being on unfamiliar ground? Mark Thoma says it's all of the above:
But that is not quite enough. I think a majority on the FOMC would still push forward if it weren’t for the change in the political environment. When Bernanke wrote earlier in his career and criticized the Japanese central bank for not doing more, I don’t think he thought the consequences of being wrong about inflation were as severe as they are now. The Ron Pauls in Congress looking for a reason to attack and take away the Fed’s powers, the criticism from many on the left for all sorts of things, etc., etc., puts the Fed in a more precarious political position than they ever expected to be in, and the fear of making a mistake and losing independence is tying its hands. The Fed values independence first and foremost, and it is unwilling to put that in danger. Thus, the Fed is trading more unemployment now for less in the future, and it’s mainly the political environment rather than economics that is driving this decision.
Paul Krugman says much the same thing today. The political environment is so toxic right now that the Fed is afraid that helping the economy — and thereby "interfering" with next year's election — might produce a serious backlash in Congress.
But there's more to this. The Fed is secure from Republican backlash as long as (a) Obama remains president and (b) he refuses to go along with Republican mischief. So if fear of losing its independence is really what's holding back Bernanke and his allies at the Fed, it means they think there's a significant chance that either (a) or (b) or both won't be true over the long term. Fasten your seat belts.
The End of Refrigeration
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 11:19 PM EDT
Quote of the Day: Flexible Mind, Flexible Body
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 3:36 PM EDT
From yoga teacher Sarah Miller's piece in The Awl today, "Why Yoga Can Be So Irritating":
There are teachers and students who think flexibility is some kind of indication of how good a person you are. A teacher once said to me, "Your hamstrings are tight is because your mind is not flexible." I said, "Have you ever taken differential calculus?" She said, "What?" I said, "Have you ever taken differential calculus?" She had not. She said she was terrible at math. I said, "Well, I am very good at math." (This was not strictly true, but I was quite confident I was better at math than she was.) “Is there something wrong with your mind that you aren’t?”
This was obviously written for nerds everywhere. You shall know the differential calculus, and the differential calculus shall set you free.
Hearing From the Other Half
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 2:34 PM EDT
• forty-one academics (ten at Ivy League institutions)
• forty writers and journalists
• four current and former political office holders.
I'm not sure what to think of this. On the one hand: yes, it would be nice to hear from actual people with actual lives a little more often. On the other hand: I have to admit that I'm skeptical that the blogs of America are full of working class diamonds in the rough who would expand our visions if only we had a chance to read them. These folks get interviewed on the local news with some frequency, and most of the time they're not especially enlightening. The truth is that writing even minimally interesting op-eds is harder than it sounds.
But yes, I'm elitist scum. And technocratic elitist scum at that, more interested in bloodless charts and statistics than I am in actual human blood, sweat, and toil. Anyone who reads this blog knows I'm not joking, either: I really am more interested in what the big-picture evidence says than I am in eavesdropping on the kitchen table conversation of middle-class families.
Still, it would be an interesting experiment. Every day for a month, let's insist that Andy Rosenthal dig up and run a submission from someone who's literally a working stiff and has absolutely no other credentials. Let 'em tell us what's bugging them, whether it's the owner of a dry cleaning shop complaining about onerous regulations, a truck driver tired of long hours, or a waitress who wishes her customers weren't such assholes. Whatever. I'd have pretty low expectations for this experiment, which means it wouldn't be hard to impress me. So come on, Rosenthal, give it a try.
The Economy and the Auto Industry
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 1:09 PM EDT
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Peak Earnings
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 11:54 AM EDT
Stuart Staniford directed me today to a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce about the distribution of earnings throughout the workforce (here). It's got lots of interesting stuff, including basic data about the value of education. On average, workers with a college degree earn 74% more over their lifetimes than workers with only a high school diploma. And workers with a high school diploma earn 34% more than high school dropouts.
But for some reason, the chart below drew my eye. It shows the trajectory of earnings from age 25 through 65, and most people hit their peak earning power around age 45. But there are two big outliers at the very top and very bottom. The earnings of those with professional degrees rise very steeply and max out at age 37, after which they go nowhere. Conversely, although high school dropouts don't make much, their earnings rise steadily for quite a long time, not peaking until about age 53. Also: people with Associate's degrees have an oddly delayed peak until about age 50.
This is, needless to say, one of the least important pieces of information in the report, but it seemed sort of interesting to me. Discussion?
Public Debt and the Great Meltdown
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 10:23 AM EDT
According to Paul Krugman, Germany's finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, gave a speech today in which he said:
Say what? Krugman points out that he and Brad DeLong and Christina Romer, among others, dispute this, but I'd go much, much further. Two years ago I jotted down a list of all the common explanations for the financial meltdown that were then making the rounds, and out of 18 items there wasn't a single one related to public debt. That doesn't mean that literally no one was talking about this, but it does mean that it was uncommon enough that I hadn't heard it. That makes it pretty uncommon.
Now, since then, there's no question that Ken Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart have popularized the notion that public debt is bad news for economic recovery. But as far as I know, even they don't suggest that it was the cause of the 2008 collapse. So what is Schäuble talking about? Well, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports on things that a few other Germans are saying today:
So: Germany is (understandably) unhappy about having to bail out the PIIGS and equally unhappy that this rescue will probably require them to substantially increase their own public debt. Politically, this means they need to badmouth public debt, so that's what they're doing. Schäuble is just taking a bit more dramatic license about it than the others. That will probably earn him points both at home and with the GOP's deficit hawks here in America, but it doesn't make him right. Debt was indeed a major cause of the 2008 financial collapse, but not the public variety. The private financial sector managed it all on its own.
Shooting Yourself in the Foot as Political Strategy
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 9:23 AM EDT
Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has gotten a lot of press for his campaign to get CEOs to halt all political contributions until politicians in Washington, DC, stop their insane bickering. Except it's not really bickering that he and his fellow corporate titans are upset about:
More than 100 business leaders have signed onto Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s pledge to stop making donations to incumbents until Washington gridlock eases, sending a message to lawmakers that they must make real progress in reining in deficit spending.
…In all, more than 100 business leaders have agreed to the pledge, which not only has leaders agreeing to stop campaign contributions until lawmakers “strike a bipartisan, balanced long-term debt deal that addresses both entitlements and revenues,” but also has the leaders agree to find ways to accelerate job growth in their companies and the economy as a whole.
I'm not sure that spending their personal fortunes on mansion upgrades instead of political contributions is quite the cri de coeur these guys seem to think it is, but whatever. As a PR device—and what is politics besides PR?—it seems to be getting some attention. So more power to them.
As usual, though, I'm sort of flummoxed by the substantive thinking on display here. I mean, I assume these guys are all bright and politically aware. Which means they must know perfectly well that one party in Washington is already willing, however grudgingly, to cut a debt deal that addresses both entitlements and revenues. In fact, the leader of this party has spent the last several months leading his own PR campaign to sell precisely this "balanced approach."
And then there's the other political party in Washington. This one relentlessly mocks the "balanced approach" as yet another big government giveaway. Its presidential candidates unanimously agree that they'd oppose a deal that includes $10 in real spending cuts for every $1 in increased revenue. Its leader in the House walked away from several opportunities to strike an ambitious deal based on an 85-15 split of cuts vs. revenue increases. Its leader in the Senate declared himself delighted with the debt ceiling debacle, saying his party learned it's "a hostage that's worth ransoming." And the rest of its congressional leaders have all sworn blood oaths not to compromise on their pledge to never ever raise taxes under any circumstances.
This description of recent events isn't really controversial or especially inflected by partisan hackery on my part. Everyone knows this is how the deal went down earlier this month. Republicans are pretty proud of it, in fact. So in exactly what way are Schultz and his fellow boycotters seeking a "bipartisan" agreement? They aren't. What they really want, if their own words are to be taken seriously, is for the Republican Party to agree to tax hikes as part of any future debt deal.
And for some reason they've decided that Republicans will cave in on this if they announce their intention to withhold all political contributions to both parties this year. Seriously? My guess is that the GOP leadership is laughing its ass off over this. If this kind of strategic thinking is typical of these rock-jawed titans of American industry, it's no wonder our country is in such trouble.
Steve Jobs
| Thu Aug. 25, 2011 12:48 AM EDT
I've never been susceptible to the Steve Jobs reality distortion field. The only time I ever used an Apple product was in the late 80s, when my company bought a bunch of Mac SEs. I hated mine and was delighted when we finally gave up on them.
So my admiration for the guy is completely dispassionate. But genuine nonetheless. He was largely responsible for the Apple II, the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. That's five dazzling, smash hit products in four completely different product areas. Toss in Pixar and it's six huge successes in five areas. I'm honestly not sure that any other businessman/inventor/product designer in the past century has a record quite that brilliant. We're not likely to see his equal anytime soon. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46302 | Burger King Finally Gives PETA an Inch
| Thu Mar. 29, 2007 7:36 PM EDT
Burger King has just announced an initiative to purchase 2% cage-free eggs and 10% of its pork from farms that allow sows "some room to move around." As far as its Canadian and American suppliers are concerned, anyway. In Asia, anything still goes.
Nevertheless, the policy leaves the chain way behind other reduced-cruelty crusaders like Wolfgang Puck and Chipotle. One reason for the slow start is the higher price of humanely-raised meat, which the company is currently negotiating so its menu prices won't change (read: BK is going all Wal-Mart on its suppliers and demanding lower prices, because it certainly wouldn't want to keep the Hamlette Sandwich cheap by diverting money away from video games or an ad campaign featuring the world's creepiest mascot).
An industry VP says that an increase in mindful consumers will require more companies to jump on the bandwagon – that's right, this guy actually calls "social responsibility and social consciousness" a "bandwagon." There are 285 million egg-laying hens and 63 million pigs in factory farms in the U.S., a country in which 9 billion chickens are raised and killed for meat annually. Keep an eye on that bandwagon, which, if it gets big enough, could cause changes of revolutionary proportions when industry giants may not be able to strong-arm farmers into selling their quality goods for less, and companies and consumers alike will finally have to admit that there's not enough room on the planet to give the meat we eat "free-range."
—Nicole McClelland
|
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46307 | Skip to main content
Gulliver's Travels synopsis
In this animated tale, seaman Lemuel Gulliver (Sam Parker) is the sole survivor of a shipwreck on the distant land of Lilliput, whose people are no bigger than peanuts. Unaware of Gulliver lying on the beach, King Little arranges for the marriage of his daughter, Princess Glory (Jessica Dragonette), to Prince David (Lanny Ross), the son of neighboring King Bombo. Angered when King Little refuses to agree on the wedding song, Bombo declares war just as the villagers discover the giant Gulliver.
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• Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941)
• Khumba (2013)
• Muppets Most Wanted (2014)
• Make Mine Music (1946)
• The Adventures of Tintin (2011)
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46308 | Skip to main content
The Hoodlum Saint
Not Yet Rated| 1 hr. 32 min.
Plot Summary
A World War I veteran (William Powell) milks a New York charity scam until the Wall Street crash of 1929.
Cast: William Powell , Esther Williams , Angela Lansbury ,
Director: Norman Taurog
Genres: Drama
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
Release Date: January 1st, 1946|1 hr. 32 min.
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• Echoes of War (2015)
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46320 | AIBU to refuse to babysit?
(59 Posts)
BadLad Sat 08-Dec-12 16:41:50
As in title?
I live with my BiL, SiL and 2 DNs, as well as wifey and MiL.
DNs are 4 and 1. Pains in the neck though they can be, I love them.
However, a family thing has come up, and it wouldn't be appropriate for either I (being foreign and not related) or the nephews (being too young) to go to, so the suggestion is that I babysit them.
I really don't want to, for the simple reason that I would have no idea what to do if there was any problem. I have no siblings or cousins of similar age, and I have never been around kids before.
I think SiL is silly to think it is a good idea to leave them with me for what will be about six hours.
wifey? wtf
family thing that not appropriate but you are family?
CreamOfTomatoSoup Sat 08-Dec-12 16:44:37
It's the best way to learn.
IneedAsockamnesty Sat 08-Dec-12 16:45:26
Are you really that incompetent that you don't know how to deal with a 4 and 1 year old.
Are you under 13
BadLad Sat 08-Dec-12 16:45:35
That's not the issue - I have no desire to go to it. Just want to know am i being rotten in wanting SiL to make other arrangements for her kids?
TisTheSeasonToBeJolly Sat 08-Dec-12 16:46:43
No I wouldn't babysit anyone elses child if I didn't know what to do with them
Im being nosy now but why do you all live together?
NothingIsAsBadAsItSeems Sat 08-Dec-12 16:46:50
YANBU but you live with your DNs so should have some idea about what would entertain them, what food they like, their routine etc so looking after them for the day shouldn't be too hard.
I'm also guessing that you have your BIL, SIL, wife etc number in case of emergencies?
BadLad Sat 08-Dec-12 16:47:55
I am not under 13, but if there it an emergency and the worst happened, it would be my fault.
I can speak the language here for everyday uses, but if, say, I needed to call an ambulance, I'm not sure I could describe, say, a child child choking.
You're a real charmer aren't you?
NatashaBee Sat 08-Dec-12 16:48:24
Why do you live with your MIL? I'm imagining it's possibly to allow you to save money or because you can't afford to live alone, so in that case, your MIL is doing you a favour and you should make the effort to help out the family. I can see why being left with a 1yo is a bit daunting if you don't have one of your own though. Can you have a few practise runs before the event?
pinkyredrose Sat 08-Dec-12 16:49:33
Maybe for family harmonics you could try it? It may not be as bad as you think and as they're young I expect the DN's would be in bed early.
As it's family I would do it and it'll probably earn you big brownie points too.
blackeyedsusan Sat 08-Dec-12 16:49:33
6 hours is quite a long time to start...
BadLad Sat 08-Dec-12 16:52:33
It's not that I don't want to help. I do plenty with them. I just don't want to have sole responsibility for them for a period of a few hours, for their sake. I am worried about the worst happening.
Extended families living together is not uncommon in this country.
No idea why I am being sarcastically described as a real charmer - I presume some wrong grasp of the situation.
WorraLorraTurkey Sat 08-Dec-12 16:56:28
I don't blame you OP
With the language barrier possibly creating a safety issue/other problems and your total lack of experience...I wouldn't agree to six hours either.
Not for children so young.
SandStorm Sat 08-Dec-12 16:58:11
I was going to say YABU until you mentioned the language issue.
Narked Sat 08-Dec-12 16:58:35
Reverse AIBU?
BadLad Sat 08-Dec-12 17:00:25
Not a reverse one, Lulu. I assume that means you think I am being unreasonable.
nannynick Sat 08-Dec-12 17:00:44
6 hours is a long time, especially if the children are awake all that time, so doing daytime care, rather than evening. Whilst you do know the DNs a bit due to living with them, it sounds as if you may not know them that well, so are worried that you won't be able to cope for that length of time. Things can happen, children do get ill and can go downhill fast. However it does not happen that often and their parents I presume would be contactable.
Calling emergency services in a country where you don't speak the language will I suspect be tricky but what are the chances of that actually being needed?
StuntGirl Sat 08-Dec-12 17:01:03
If the safety angle is the genuine reason then can you not explain it to them from that angle? That you feel uncomfortable having sole responsibility of them for so long given you don't have a good enough grasp of the language?
If its more that you just don't want to be inconvenienced by it then YABU.
longjane Sat 08-Dec-12 17:01:55
one bad lad you live in house you know the kids
two you dont phone 999 for child child choking you deal with your self this could happen to anyone anytime you tube and learn what to do
three you and your wife could have kids who would want to babysit if you say no now they would say no in future .
four would want to share a house while everyone was out with a babysitter.
if you really dont want to do it you will need a work night away to make it seem right to everyone.
IneedAsockamnesty Sat 08-Dec-12 17:02:18
Ok fair point given the language barrier
suburbophobe Sat 08-Dec-12 17:05:21
You need to grow a pair.
Never too late to learn how to take care of kids.
Millions of people all over the world do it single-handedly 24/7.....
BadLad Sat 08-Dec-12 17:06:20
Nanny and stuntgirl, I speak the language for my own purposes, but as I have no kids, and have been in good health since I arrived, medical words aren't my strong point, and I don't want to have to describe a child's symptoms over the phone in a hurry. I suppose the chances of it happening are slim. I am happy to spend time with them, and regularly do so, but knowing that if there is a problem I can call someone else.
As it says in the first post, the reason is simply that I worry about coping with any problem. Part of the six hours is a drive there and back.
I read this back before posting and it sounds more flippant than I want to be - I appreciate your posts.
nannynick Sat 08-Dec-12 17:08:28
Can you resolve the safety issue by having a neighbour you could call on for help, by doing some basic first aid training (even by watching videos online and reading about it), learning some key phrases to say to ask for help, maybe see if the emergency services have any language specific phone numbers (don't know if any do but you never know they might) or find out what languages the emergency services call centre supports.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46329 | Aqa Spanish oral exam
(7 Posts)
Christy62 Mon 11-Nov-13 16:58:57
Please can somebody explain to me why my son had to memorise 5 paragraphs of Spanish for his oral exam today? Are they testing their ability to speak Spanish or their memories, what harm does it do for them to read from a card? Also does anyone know what percentage of the final mark comes from this oral exam and the next one which I believe is in January. Thank you.
CountingStars Mon 11-Nov-13 18:11:50
If it's anything like my exams were, it's 15%, and he will be asked some spontaneous questions.
Snargaluff Mon 11-Nov-13 18:19:21
They send off the two best marks and they come to 30% The written one is another 30.
Yes, it's a test of memory really.
StrokeOfBadLuck Wed 13-Nov-13 14:48:17
I think it's one (!) spontaneous question.
This week, my son's doing the Spanish written paper... but you write it first at home (thanks, Google translate), memorise it, then go into the exam with a piece of paper with 40 words to help you, and a dictionary. Great for those mediocre at languages, but with a good memory!
Hope your son does well, Christy. smile
slickrick Wed 13-Nov-13 17:45:56
Its so ridiculous it is not testing language its testing memory.
daphnedill Thu 14-Nov-13 22:46:07
I hope he didn't actually rely on Google translate! I mark GCSE written papers and I can spot Google translated sentences a mile off!
It shouldn't be written at home - if it has been, the school is breaking the rules.
Yes, it's a test of memory (and most MFL teachers disagree would prefer a terminal exam), but it depends on the quality of what's being memorised. It's quite surprising how many candidates still don't use different tenses or opinions and/or don't stick to the task.
Candidates in small classes and/or with somebody who can help at home have a distinct advantage.
Oral tests are more difficult to "fiddle", because candidates have to interact with the examiner in addition to memorising a chunk of language.
StrokeOfBadLuck Fri 15-Nov-13 11:49:10
He certainly uses Google translate, but I hope he didn't rely on it! grin. We shall see. I don't know if he gets results for individual papers. It's his first GCSE, so I don't have much of a clue.
They were given the topic, and he spent ages writing up different pieces on the topic at home, underlining different tenses etc. Is that not allowed? How can the school stop you doing that, as they don't know whether you've done any preparation at home?
We don't speak any Spanish. You certainly would have an advantage with these type of assessments if you had a parent who could help. For the oral test, there was only one extra question, so really that wasn't that much of a challenge, in my opinion. At least not compared to O-levels in my day - old fogey alert wink.
I guess there was some preparation at home even then. When I did German O-level, the whole class wrote "Die Sonne scheint aus einem volkenlosen Himmel" for the story based on a cartoon strip, and the exam board commented in their critique that year that many entrants had used the same sentence!
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46331 | What words do your cats understand?
(49 Posts)
Sophiedotty Wed 02-Oct-13 04:21:21
Mine understands 'Tuna' & if I say want to go out she goes to the door. My other cat that died knew tuna too. If I wanted them to come in I would just shout tuna & they would run in.
BonaDea Fri 18-Oct-13 18:31:54
Mine 'know'
'Kittens' (a joint shout from the back door)
Their names
Breakfast (we use this word for all their meals - we're weird)
Think that's it.
loraflora Fri 18-Oct-13 18:29:25
My old cat would run to the door when she heard DH's car. DH no longer car commutes but our current one doesn't seem to behave like that.
Answers to all of the following periodically
Clicking noises/kissing noises
Will run up if she hears treat box being shaken.
Runs away if she hears no.
trinitybleu Fri 18-Oct-13 18:20:35
Their names, out, down, food?, milk?. find DD and kisses. OH also does 2 different meows for food and milk and they respond to the one they want.
My face thing is when one of them comes in she repeatedly shouts a meow that sounds exactly like how my DD shouts hello when she comes in. As soon as you call back "up here!" or whatever, she reverts to her normal meow or chirps and comes to find you.
LeGavrOrf Fri 18-Oct-13 17:49:47
Only one of them responds to her name, but that's our fault for calling them things like kittycats, kittens, boys, girls, little fuckers, fluffy wuffys, babies and all sorts of crap collectively instead of just calling the cats by their names.
I am embarrassed to say that when it is feeding time I sing a song which makes them come running from all over.
Also they recognise our car engine noises, and sit on the drive awaiting our arrival.
usualsuspect Fri 18-Oct-13 17:27:48
His name.
Do you want to go out?
Do you want to come in?
Iwouldratherbemuckingout Fri 18-Oct-13 17:25:03
Mine know nom noms as in its nom noms time! Brekkie, and din dins. Lillie knows her name, as does shadow. Storm, well, he's a bit dim!
They also know my routine inside out and I find myself saying, Lillie, no it's not nom noms time yet, I haven't got my make up on .....
My little dilly cat always knew I was on my way home by racing to the front door, DP reckoned that given I always turned up a few minutes later I hadn't even turned into our road!
catameringue Fri 18-Oct-13 00:05:00
Two of mine know their names.
The words no, oi, stop also feature.
The sound of a treat packet
The key in the front door
And I think they know when I say to dh its bed time as they immediately zoom up to the bedroom and camp under the bed.
Fluffycloudland77 Thu 17-Oct-13 19:37:16
We all use din-dins don't we? Like their furry toddlers.
I heard my old ndn saying "dogg-y, yes it's a dogg-y isn't it?" To him one afternoon.
Mrsdavidcaruso Thu 17-Oct-13 18:22:40
Mine know their names and will respond to them individually I have Alfie, Harvey and Maisie which sounds similar
If I am in the same room as them and call one the others wont respond however If I am in the Kitchen and call Harvey the others will rush in in case Harvey is getting something they're not
Oh and Din Dins
tobiasfunke Tue 15-Oct-13 09:36:32
If I stand at the back door and whisper the word Tuna the 2 pests will turn up in less than a millinanosecond. If I stand there and yell their names- nothing.
We had a cat who DH taught to say 'Eh-0h' for hello as in the Tellytubby way. It was v funny. We thought he was a cat genius but turned out he was the thickest cat we had ever owned and he was a bit of a one trick pony. Sweet and furry though. I miss him.
Ohwhatwitcheryisthis Tue 15-Oct-13 09:30:04
you fucking little twat!
no actually they dont understand (neither does ds)
tabithasmum23 Tue 15-Oct-13 09:24:53
Mine says Hello in different tones depending on if she's calling me or Mr Tabitha. Hello is usually her asking where we are and Alright is said on finding us. So first it's herroooo..alwiit. She understands absolutely everything and I think she knew she had an appointment with the vet I had forgotten about!
EnlightenedOwl Mon 14-Oct-13 21:54:01
Tea time
roly poly (honest he does roly polies ifyou say this)
Get down!
(there's a theme here)
bic bics (go cat!)
VenusStarr Mon 14-Oct-13 20:42:44
Mine know their names, 'are you hungry?' And 'bedtime' grin
ZebraOwl Sun 13-Oct-13 14:48:30
Found out today mine know the word "noodles". They are very keen on the Animonda Chicken, Duck & noodles pouches that are included in the range of wet foods they get for breakfast. When my brother asked what I was having for lunch & I replied "noodles" the cats suddenly came galloping into the kitchen at full tilt looking VERY optimistic. And paid an awful lot of attention to my meal. And saying "no, MY noodles" got me swatted at crossly.
My cats are special. Yes, yes, they are.
PlainLardy Tue 08-Oct-13 13:46:32
Love this thread!
Mine knows his name, 'tea-time', fish, bye-back-soon, milk, playtime & bird. BUT he only understands these words when I say them; if anyone else says them he just stares at them blankly grin
ZebraOwl Sat 05-Oct-13 09:01:22
Mine say NOW very petulantly when we're disagreeing about whether or not it is dinnertime & the whole time their food's being put down & they're doing the Bisto-kitty dance outside the kitchen.
Our cats know their names,
Sit ,stay wait .
I always treat them as dogs and it seems to workgrin
Catmint Fri 04-Oct-13 23:19:56
Not much, so far. Trying to teach her the family whistle, and, NO!
Getting a sense that she suspects her name is her name, but no proof, yet.
TamzinGrey Fri 04-Oct-13 23:17:35
Mine doesn't understand anything that I say to her, but she expects me to understand everything that she says to me. Today we had a loud one sided conversation that involved a cushion being removed from a chair that she wanted to sit on.
TheOneWithTheNicestSmile Fri 04-Oct-13 23:17:12
mine know that if they hear the back room door opening when they are outside, it's me coming in, & they come running smile
they both know their names
the naughty one who jumps up on kitchen counters knows NO!!! & DOWN!!! (doesn't stop her doing it when I'm not there though hmm)
LynetteScavo Fri 04-Oct-13 23:12:59
I used to have a cat who could say "out" and "food".
My cats know their names, and one of our cats responds two pats on your thigh, which means he has to jump up on you, and he always does.
EllieQ Fri 04-Oct-13 23:06:05
Her name; breakfast; dinner; bedtime; no! (though she won't actually obey me when I say no); do you want to go out?
She probably understands 'you can use the cat flap, you know' but just ignores us when we say it smile
CatOfTheDay Fri 04-Oct-13 19:37:15
One of mine said "Brian" once. I have no idea who Brian is!
out2lunch Fri 04-Oct-13 18:47:22
mine too zebra
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46334 | Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies
Chocolate Peppermint Patty Cookies Recipe
Photo: Leigh Beisch; Styling: Dan Becker
If you're in the mood for ice cream, fill these cookies with mint gelato and then roll their edges in the crushed candy canes.
This recipe goes with: Hazelnut Nutella Sandwich Cookies, Chocolate Decadence Cookies, Double Chocolate Cookies, Chocolate Peanut Butter Thumbprint Cookies
Makes about 40 cookies (20 sandwich cookies)
Recipe from
Nutritional Information
Calories 320
Caloriesfromfat 30 %
Protein 3 g
Fat 11 g
Satfat 5.8 g
Carbohydrate 58 g
Fiber 1.6 g
Sodium 56 mg
Cholesterol 38 mg
10 ounce bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into chunks
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons milk
3/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
About 2 cups crushed and sifted candy canes
1. Put chocolates and butter in a medium metal bowl and set bowl over a pan filled with 1 in. of simmering water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until melted, then remove from heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in eggs and sugar, mixing until combined. Then whisk in flour, baking powder, and salt. Chill dough, covered, until firm, about 2 hours.
2. Let dough sit at room temperature 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350° and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop 1 tbsp. portions of dough, rolling each into a ball, and put onto sheets 1 in. apart. Using the palm of your hand, press dough balls into rounds 1/4 in. thick.
3. Bake cookies until they no longer look wet on top, about 8 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
4. In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk, and peppermint extract until smooth. Spread 1 heaping tsp. peppermint icing onto the flat side of 1 cookie. Top with flat side of a second cookie to form a sandwich, pressing together to squeeze filling to the edge. Roll edge of cookie in candy canes. Repeat with remaining cookies.
Make ahead: Batter up to 1 day; baked cookies up to 2 days, airtight.
Note: Nutritional analysis is per sandwich cookie.
December 2009
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46347 | updated 12/9/2011 11:41:53 AM ET 2011-12-09T16:41:53
Gamers worried their actions on the virtual battlefield could land them at the Hague war crimes tribunal can relax.
The group also trains armies in how to abide by the rules of war that forbid targeting civilians, medics and captured combatants.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46351 | TY - JOUR AU - Hurd,Michael D. TI - Savings and Bequests JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 1826 PY - 1986 Y2 - 1986 DO - 10.3386/w1826 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w1826 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w1826.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Michael D. Hurd RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street Santa Monica, CA 90407 Tel: 310/451-6945 Fax: 310/451-6923 E-Mail: [email protected] AB - Empirical studies have indicated that the elderly seem to accumulate wealth after retirement, and that the desire to leave bequests is an important determinent of saving behavior, both kinds of results have cast doubt on the validity of the life cycle hypothesis of consumption. In the first part of this paper, a model of bequests is specified, and the implications for consumption and wealth trajectories are derived. The main result is that, even with a bequest motive, consumption generally decreases with age after retirement, and that wealth will also decrease for all but wealthy households. In the empirical part of the paper, wealth changes of retired households are reported over 10 years of panel data. Contrary to many results from cross-section data, the elderly do dissave: over 10 years the wealth of the elderly in the sample decreases by about 27 real. A test for a bequest motive is proposed. There is no evidence whatsoever for abequest motive. ER - |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46353 | TY - JOUR AU - Evans,Martin D. D. AU - Lyons,Richard K. TI - How is Macro News Transmitted to Exchange Rates? JF - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series VL - No. 9433 PY - 2003 Y2 - January 2003 DO - 10.3386/w9433 UR - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9433 L1 - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9433.pdf N1 - Author contact info: Martin Evans Department of Economics Georgetown University Washington, DC 20057 Tel: 202-687-1570 E-Mail: [email protected] Richard K. Lyons 460 Michigan Ave Berkeley, CA 94707 Tel: 510-642-1059 Fax: 510-642-4700 E-Mail: [email protected] AB - This paper tests whether macroeconomic news is transmitted to exchange rates via the transactions process and if so, what share occurs via transactions versus the traditional direct channel. We identify the link between order flow and macro news using a heteroskedasticity-based approach, a la Rigobon and Sack (2002). In both daily and intra-daily data, order flow varies considerably with macro news flow. At least half of the effect of macro news on exchange rates is transmitted via order flow. ER - |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46411 | The Wire, Season 2, Episode 1: "Ebb Tide" (Veterans edition)
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on May 29, 2009 at 7:00 AM, updated May 29, 2009 at 7:21 AM
Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) in "The Wire" season two premiere.
As we did last summer, it's time to revisit "The Wire," the greatest drama in TV history, this time moving on to season two. And, as I did last summer, I'm going to do two slightly different versions of each review: one for people who have already seen the entire series and want to be able to discuss how events in these episodes impact or are echoed by events down the road; and one for people who are slowly working their way through the series and don't want to be spoiled for episodes they haven't been to yet. (If you want to see how they differ, you can go back to check out the veteran and newbie editions from season one.)
Veteran-friendly spoilers (the newbie edition is here) for the season two premiere, "Ebb Tide," coming up just as soon as I take note of the mileage...
"It's all about self-preservation, Jimmy -- something you never learned." -Jay Landsman
As I wrote when I reviewed "The Target," the first episode of season one, "The Wire" is a show that teaches you how to watch it. And even here, with a full season under its belt, the series still needs to offer up reminders that it's going to play by its own rules.
Having spent the 13 hours of season one introducing this huge cast of characters, explaining how they work together, or against each other, you might expect season two to pick up with a quick re-assembly of Lt. Daniels' task force to go after Stringer Bell and the remains of the Barksdale drug operation, or after a similar drug crew. Instead, it's like we're back at square one.
There are some familiar faces, but they're often in new and marginalized places, like McNulty working on the boat or Daniels in the evidence room. Characters who were marginal last year, like Prez's well-connected father-in-law, Major Stan Valchek, are now major players, and we're introduced to a whole new cast of characters down at the docks.
Because the stevedores are a predominantly white group, you might assume that "Ebb Tide" is in some way an attempt to reboot the series and try to draw in a larger audience. You would be wrong (though this was the show's highest-rated season). Outside of Prez's monologue in Valchek's office, in which he offers his own brief synopsis of the Barksdale investigation, there's no attempt at hand-holding, no effort of any kind to make this world fathomable to a new viewer. I could barely follow the action with Bodie and Shamrock and Stringer in this one the first time through, and I'd watched the first season religiously. This is the start of volume 2 of the Great American Novel for Television, and good luck to you trying to crack it open at this point.
No, what David Simon, Ed Burns and company are doing here is revealing that "The Wire" is going to be far more than a cops vs. drug dealers saga. It's not a crime show. There's a lot of crime in it, yes, but it's a story about the death of an American city (really, the death of the American city), and little by little the show is going to take us into every corner of that city. Last year, it was the projects and the drug war raging within them. This season, our focus turns to the ports, and to the state of blue-collar, industrial America, which has been phased out in favor of a service economy that many of these guys just aren't equipped for. As Simon referred to it in a few interviews, it's "a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class."
As has been said many times before, the opening scene of each "Wire" premiere is like a mission statement for that season. We open with McNulty riding forlornly on the boat, staring out at the many abandoned factories ringing Baltimore's harbor. Once upon a time, these places were thriving concerns that provided jobs for any man willing to put in the work, no matter his background or skill level; now they're rotting husks, relics of a time that barely exists anymore. Jimmy looks at those factories and thinks wistfully about the way things used to be, the lifestyle his father and his father's friends had. Then he and his partner Claude answer a distress call from a party boat filled with yuppies who couldn't care less about Bethlehem Steel or Domino Sugar; they just look at the harbor as a place to get their drink on while dancing to "Blue Skies." Jimmy notes that they have to tow the boat out of the shipping channel, but at the same time, the harbor seems so dead that it hardly seems worth the bother; it's been a long time since cargo ships were constantly coming and going from this port.
Recognizing all of this, Jimmy takes a bribe to tow the boat to an out of the way location where the party can keep going, and there you have your season in a nutshell: the port workers are dinosaurs, being replaced by wealthy people looking to party (or buy condos with waterfront views), and the only real money to be made around here is through bribery.
And it's in that capacity that we get to know the new season's central character, union leader Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer). I don't want to go too deep into discussing everything Frank is up to, but he makes some of it clear in his argument with union rival Nat Coxson, and in the actions we see him take involving his nephew Nick, the mysterious "Greek," and Father Lewandowski at the local parish. Because the grain pier has fallen into disrepair, and because the shipping channel isn't deep enough any longer, not enough ships are coming to the port to employ all stevedores that Frank represents. So he's taking bribes from the Greek to slip shipping containers past customs, and then using that money to get close enough to politicians -- with a little help from his favorite priest -- who might be able to help him get the canal dredged.
But in buying a new window for the church nave -- and in making an offering higher than the one the Polish cops and firemen could afford -- Frank has now put himself on the radar of the petty but politically influential Stan Valchek. And in trying to help the Greek and his people import a shipping container (or, as they'll be referred to mostly from here on out, "can") full of dead girls, he's about to get a whole lot more.
Again, without wanting to give too much away, let me offer the best I can in terms of an explanation of who some of the key new (or more prominent) figures are so far:
• Frank Sobotka: Head of the stevedores union. Keep in mind that there are several different types of stevedores involved at the port, but the primary group, and the one Frank and these others are a part of, are the checkers, who are responsible for identifying and tracking all the cans as they move in and out of the port, and who have the ability to help smuggle items in.
• Nick Sobotka (Pablo Schreiber): Frank's nephew, such a junior checker that he struggles to get shifts when there are so many senior guys ahead of him and so few ships to work. He's Frank's go-between with the Greek.
• Ziggy Sobotka (James Ransone): Frank's bumbling (but well-endowed) son, who can be as charming as he is obnoxious.
• Horseface (Charley Scalies): Frank's heavyset sidekick
• Stanislaus Valchek (Al Brown): Commander of the Southeastern district of the Baltimore PD, which covers most of the remaining white ethnic neighborhoods in the city, as well as the port; he's Prez's father-in-law.
• Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos (Paul Ben Victor): Nick's soft-spoken contact; is either the Greek, or at least a Greek
• Beadie Russell (Amy Ryan): Port cop whose job largely involves driving around the stacks of containers to make sure something's amiss; she's the one who notices the broken customs seal on the Greek's can.
This is a lot to take in, I know. Lots of new people, and lots of old friends still absent for now. No Bubbles, or Omar, or D'Angelo, and a bare minimum of Bunk, Kima, Avon and others. But just as I imagine lots of you were completely lost at this stage in season one, only to grow to understand and love it as you went, I suspect you're going to have a similar learning curve here.
Some other thoughts on "Ebb Tide":
• To make it clear that the show hasn't forgotten about the Barksdale investigation, and that it views every part of this city as connected in some way, we spend a decent amount of time in the premiere following Bodie trying to pick up a non-existent drug shipment, and then on Stringer trying to find out why their supplier left them hanging. What makes it particularly inscrutable is the way we keep seeing Bodie and his partner Shamrock from the perspective of Tank and Country, the two older hands Stringer has sent along to make sure the young guys aren't stealing. It's sound strategy on Stringer's part, but it makes the subplot more complicated than it probably should have been in the middle of an episode that's already incredibly dense.
• That subplot does give us two wonderful Bodie moments that echo season one. First, we have him being confused by the idea that the radio stations change when you leave Baltimore (and then being disgusted when the first Philly station he tunes in is playing "A Prairie Home Companion"), which is very much in keeping with Wallace not even knowing what things are like on the east side of town, let alone in the country. Second, we have him scolding -- in an echo of one of D'Angelo's lectures to him last season -- one of his new soldiers about the futility of always thinking of violence as the first solution to any problem in this business.
• One final point on that subplot, and a holdover from the veteran discussion of last year's premiere. A commenter, Boones19, suggested that the Dominican drug crew that Fitz from the FBI was investigating (with the help of one of Jimmy's informants) would turn out to be Avon and Stringer's supplier, but when I caught the lawyer telling Stringer that his client was under investigation from the DEA, not the FBI, I checked with David Simon, who says they're two unconnected outfits.
• A new season means a new -- or, in this case, the Tom Waits' original -- version of "Way Down in the Hole," and a new opening title sequence, this time filled with images of the port. As I did last year, I suggest taking a look at Andrew Dignan's analysis of each of the first four seasons' title sequences at The House Next Door, though I'd steer clear if I was a newbie, as it's filled with spoilers about this and later seasons.
• "The Wire" is nothing if not patient, as is Jimmy McNulty, and the show is willing to take the time to show Jimmy taking the time to screw over Bill Rawls and Jay Landsman (who, we find out, was the one who gave away Jimmy's fear of the marine unit, rather than Jimmy himself doing it out of self-loathing over what he did to Kima and D'Angelo) by going over the tide charts for proof that the dead woman fell into the water within Baltimore PD jurisdiction.
• This show loves its parallels, and here we get Daniels and Bunk tearing apart the evidence room for the material on the Gant case at the same time Bodie, Shamrock and the mechanics are searching the car for the drugs that are supposed to be there.
• The band playing at the stevedore bar is The Nighthawks, who enterprisingly put a banner with their website on it in the background of the shot.
• This qualifies less as a spoiler than it does a fair warning for the newbies: get used to Ziggy showing off his large (albeit, to our eyes, clearly fake) male appendage.
And now we'll talk about some elements of the premiere and how they'll play out down the line:
• You know I like to keep track of the many minor tragedies along the way that have to happen for the big tragedies (Wallace's death, Randy's foster mom getting burned) to take place, so I'm going to be keeping a close eye on the events that lead to Ziggy's downfall. First up: if Nick's car hadn't broken down, he wouldn't have needed Ziggy to drive him to the Greek's diner, and Ziggy might never have gotten involved with Double-G and the others. (And note Double-G calling Ziggy "malaka" -- the final insult that will inspire Ziggy's shooting rampage -- under his breath while Ziggy is up at the bar studying a menu.)
• I'm going to be watching these at the same rate I'll be blogging on them, so I can't remember how many more episodes it took before we found out for sure that Vondas wasn't the Greek, and that the unassuming guy at the counter was. Still, it's funny to watch him sitting there, casually reading his newspaper and listening in on everything his underlings are doing.
• Even though Beadie seems bored with her job in the early going, note that she's still observant enough to spot the broken seal, and tough enough to go into the can on her own to investigate. Lester and Bunk are going to teach her a lot about detective work, but she has some good raw material to work with already.
• "Always Boris." Still funny.
• Kima's disinterest in Cheryl's fertility treatments (and dismay at the expense), not to mention her discomfort at being a "housecat" in the asset forfeiture unit, are the first signals that this relationship, the healthiest of season one, isn't going to last.
Coming up next Friday: "Collateral Damage," in which the dead girls cause a stir among various law-enforcement agencies, Avon's sister pays him a visit, and Valchek's vendetta begins.
What did everybody else think? |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46442 | Math & Terror
Scott Simon talks with Weekend Edition math guy Keith Devlin about how mathematicians are playing a crucial role in the war against terrorism. Mr. Devlin directs the Center for the Study of Language and Information at Stanford University.
|
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46477 | The plastic bag crusade
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The sincerely well-meaning and the outright meddlesome in cities throughout the nation seek to ban plastic shopping bags to protect the environment, reduce oil consumption and fight litter.
Bans, such as being studied in Irvine and enacted in Laguna Beach, Dana Point and Los Angeles, seem reasonable. But well-intentioned and meddlesome government attempts to make things better, often have unintended consequences that make things worse.
The Pacific Research Institute, a San Francisco free-market think tank, published conclusions reached by Kenneth P. Green and Elizabeth DeMeo of the American Enterprise Institute that can be viewed online at
“As the evidence above has shown, the panic surrounding plastic grocery bags is largely unfounded,” write Mr. Green and Ms. DeMeo.
“Despite extensive state and local legislation that would seem to demonstrate the evils of plastic bags, the evidence shows that they're less likely to be contaminated, typically save more energy than paper or cloth alternatives and are less hazardous to dolphins than is commonly conjectured.
“[W]e need to exercise more prudence before sounding the death knell on plastics.”
They cited a 2011 study by the Environmental Agency of England that found that out of seven types of grocery store bags reviewed, conventional lightweight bags made of high-density polyethylene were more environmentally friendly than a plastic bag chemically treated to speed degradation; a lightweight bag of biodegradable starch-polyester blend; a regular paper bag; a heavy-duty “bag for life” made from low-density polyethylene; a heavier duty polypropylene bag and even a cotton bag.
Conventional plastic bags had the lowest environmental impact in eight of nine categories. The popular alternative, cotton bags, had greater environmental impacts in seven of nine categories, “even when used 173 times, which is needed for its global warming potential to drop” below that of plastic bags.
Plastic bags fared even better because people recycle them as trash bags. Cotton bags must be reused 131 times to achieve what researchers term the same “global warming potential,” which considers how much greenhouse gases and pollutants are generated at all stages of a bag's existence.
Other research found cotton bags are “harmful.” A University of Arizona and Loma Linda University study found “large numbers of bacteria were found in almost all bags and coliform bacteria in half.” Bacterial growth increased 10-fold when cloth bags containing meat juices were left in automobile trunks just two hours.
One complaint is that plastic bags contribute to ocean debris, including the alleged Great Pacific Garbage Patch, allegedly twice the size of Texas. But PRI says the floating garbage is but a “small fraction” of the size of Texas.
Economic effects of banning plastic bags are overlooked. Mr. Green and Ms. DeMeo cite a 2011 report by Suffolk University that Washington, D.C.'s bag tax “will eliminate a net of 101 local jobs,” cause annual wages to fall $18 per worker and see an aggregate decline of $5.6 million in real disposable income, resulting in less income tax collected.
The National Center for Policy Analysis also found when Los Angeles County banned thin-film bags in July, 2011, stores under the ban reduced employment 10 percent while those outside the ban slightly increased jobs. Local governments, in the words of the study's authors, should “look at the whole picture when doing any sort of cost-benefit analysis.”
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Permalink for comment 158737
RE[2]: Nice
by bogomipz on Mon 4th Sep 2006 07:15 UTC in reply to "RE: Nice"
Member since:
I've been running Thunar beta2 for quite some time myself. It only depends on exo + libxfce4util, which is really sweet. So far it hasn't managed to break my habit of entering the console for most file operations, but neither did rox before it. Perhaps the full xfce interface will have more luck in this regard. I know I will slim it down to just xfwm + panel + thunar, and probably replace xfwm with openbox again eventually, so we'll see ;)
Reply Parent Score: 1 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46509 |
Thread beginning with comment 211596
by sp29 on Sun 11th Feb 2007 19:18 UTC
Member since:
I don't believe the iPod can keep Apple going forward. It's just quick cash on a fad electronic. Sorta like what Sony had with the Walkman that had about 11 good yrs of life. But Sony too had to move on.
Apple with all it's talent in software writing should be focusing on better products that are better than the status quo.
As a Mac user(an pc), I have been annoyed by Apple's continue focus on everything else but it's pro foundational user. Are we going to get another broken app like Apeture that was rushed to market?
Apple whatever happen to quality both in software and built products?
Reply Score: 3
RE: iProducts
by thavith_osn on Sun 11th Feb 2007 20:17 in reply to "iProducts"
thavith_osn Member since:
That's true. To be honest, I didn't the ride would have lasted this long.
What is good is that Apple can see this too, that is why the iPhone is coming, to breathe new life into the iPod. I think eventually you may not even have iPods, but a range of phones that embed the iPod.
I think Apple is still very much interested in OS X, but can see the future is moving away from a standalone computer.
I think the future is something like the iPhone (I'm talking a few years here) where you plug the phone into a keyboard, monitor etc. for computer work (via bluetooth or something like it). You won't sync the phone with a computer, your phone is the computer.
Reply Parent Score: 3
RE[2]: iProducts
by hurricanechristian on Sun 11th Feb 2007 22:09 in reply to "RE: iProducts"
hurricanechristian Member since:
im not sure we will ever see os x on stand alone computers (officially). it would kill the mac completely. im sure apple still make a lot of money out of macs
Reply Parent Score: 1 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46528 | You are here
Guest Blogger: My Eight-Year-Old Son
Courtesy of the author
Bloggers exploit their kids. We do. I do. The site you’re on right now—and every other parenting site, for that matter—is rife with moms and dads who turn their children into content. Why is that? Because we are not all that interesting on our own. Think about it. Who would you rather read about: An adult who persevered through a jammed printer at their insurance adjustments firm, or a kid who cooked a bag of popcorn in the dryer? No brainer.
But is it fair what we do? Our kids never get to share their side of the story. The reason I put the popcorn in the dryer is because Dad was watching football and kept saying, “In a minute, hon.”
So I’m giving my child his opportunity to be heard. Over the course of two sessions (one at our kitchen counter, the other at Moe’s Burritos), I interviewed my eight-year-old son, Jackson. I asked him how my wife, Brandy, and I are doing as parents, what we do well, where we need to improve, etc. I thought I’d hear gut-punching, sobering truths about my parenting skills. What I got was a series of sweet, sincere, zig-zagging thoughts on everything from cancer to Osama bin Laden to Old Navy.
I know you write stories about me. That’s awesome! Actually I told everyone in my class that I was in the magazine, and Nicholas was the only one who believed me. And then my teacher had a Parenting magazine, and she looked at it, and she said I was there. And everyone was like, “What the?!?”
I like being in the magazine, especially because I get to wear cool clothes and stuff in the pictures. If I could go somewhere to get cool clothes, it would be Old Navy.
What could you and Mommy do better? Hmm. I don’t know. I don’t think you get too mad. You know who would make me really mad? Gabe in The Lightning Thief. He’s the stepfather. He says things like, “Get me a soda!” and orders people around all the time.
I know you try hard as a dad. People make mistakes. No one’s perfect. You know who’s perfect at being bad? Osama bin Laden.
My favorite part about you guys is… like, you’re kind and stuff, but what I really like is your talents. Mom is really good at reading, and you’re really good at drawing.
You and Mommy make me the laugh the hardest. Remember that time you did something so funny, and I was drinking milk, and you made me spit milk out on the table? I think you were doing a funny voice or something.
A mom and dad’s job is to take care of kids until they get their own house. Maybe when I get older I might help you and give you some money. Like if you can’t afford to pay the bill and they’re going to take away your home, I can give you the money you need.
Dad, I have $5. So when we go to Target, can I get one of those packs of Halo guys? If I don’t have enough money, maybe you could help out?
When I grow up, I want to be on a SWAT team, and sell my art. I’ll be an artist and a SWAT team guy.
Know what I just saw? I saw a little girl that was bald. I think she has cancer or something. Like my friend Carter. He wore a bandanna on his head, and I thought there was something wrong, that his hair was falling out. But actually the bandanna was holding the hair on. There is this medicine that you take for cancer that makes you bald.
Do you know how to play War? Oh, that’s right. You know how to play. I know you were supposed to buy playing cards for us. I understand that you’re busy and stuff. Actually you’re always busy because you’re always going to work. Can I tell you what would be awesome? If our home was two miles from your work. You would have more time with us, and you’d get home faster. Maybe I could wish for that on my birthday.
Oh, you know what? I have one wish that’s a secret. Like a really really big secret. I’m going to keep it to myself. You guys will find out the secret when I’m 19 or 20. Actually, I can’t give you any more hints. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46530 | "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned."
I spoke the words clearly, firmly, just as I had been taught by Sister St. Margaret. This wasn't my first confession, but it was close to it. And on this particular Saturday afternoon, my mother had decided to take me to confession for reasons I can't remember; but since I was a 7-year-old with a cranky temper and a disobedient streak, I'm sure they were valid.
I told him my sins, and he gave me my penance. And in just a few moments, it was over. I prayed the act of contrition—"O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended thee . . ."—then crossed myself, pulled aside the heavy curtain, and went to the altar rail, knelt and prayed. I had done it. The secrets in my heart had been shared with another and God, in his mercy, had forgiven me. I was a new man! (Okay, a new 7-year-old.) The slate was clean. I could begin again.
After finishing the prayers I had been given, I returned to my mother's pew and we went out into the parking lot. As she started the station wagon and backed out of her space, she had a word of advice. "Gregory," she said, "you've got to learn to keep your voice down. I could hear you all over the church."
My early experience with confession may be one reason why for many years I avoided it, as a man with a cavity avoids the dentist. I was afraid it would hurt. Even when "confession" underwent a makeover and became "reconciliation," and the small dark boxes were replaced with wide-open rooms, I was reluctant. I would go once or twice a year—a perfunctory, had-to-do-it practice. My heart wasn't in it. My head, certainly, was elsewhere.
In the interim, when I did go, there may have been flashes of forgiveness, moments of grace. If so, they were accidental. I didn't do much to help matters. Neither, for that matter, did some priests.
I wasn't sure what to say, but thanked him. He patted my shoulder and said he would pray for me. With that, he stood up to point me back into the church. He had to begin Mass. I didn't pray the act of contrition. I don't think he gave me absolution. He told me to have a nice day. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46549 | Netgear Inc.
By Les Freed
Netgear provides outstanding installation and setup tools, especially for its more sophisticated products. These features, as well as a secure firewall, led us to award our Editors' Choice for small-office routers to the Netgear FR318. This model and the Netgear FR314 are the only products in our roundup that offer SPI firewalls.
Netgear has one of the broadest home and small-office product lines of any vendor, and we reviewed five of its products for this story. All of the Netgear devices we looked at have sturdy metal cases and a nearly identical browser-based configuration wizard. Like most of the products in our roundup, the Netgear models came with printed quick-start guides. Netgear provides complete product manuals on CD-ROMs in Adobe Acrobat format. Each CD also contains networking tutorials that explain IP routing, NAT, and PPTP basics.
The Netgear RP114 is the company's entry-level NAT home router. It has four 10/100 Ethernet ports and one WAN connector on the front panel. Each of these connections has link and activity lights right on the sockets, so you can easily see which ports are connected and operating. The RP114 is the only product we tested that automatically detected the DSL modem we used for testing. It also includes two features that distinguish it from home products: Dynamic DNS and content blocking. Dynamic DNS lets you register your router with the Dynamic DNS Network Service (, so that you or other users can locate your personal servers on the Internet by name, even when your ISP uses dynamic IP addressing.
The content filter lets you create a list of sites or keywords to block; the list can be continuously active or set to a schedule. Although configuring it sounds easy, you must manually enter the domain name for every site you wish to block.
The Netgear FR314 is an SPI router with four 10/100 Ethernet ports on the rear panel. One port has an uplink switch, which allows easy connection to a larger switch or network. This model also incorporates SurfControl's CyberNOT Web-blocking list, a subscription service that provides a list of potentially objectionable Web sites, which are sorted into categories such as pornography, sports, hobbies, and hate sites (a 30-day trial is included with the FR314). The system administrator can choose the categories to block or pass and can set a schedule for Web access. We were able, however, to access several objectionable sites by simply clicking a link in a Hotmail spam e-mail message.
Out of the box, the FR314 supports only 8 users. You can upgrade the unit to 20 users for $109 or to 45 users for $248.
The Netgear FR318 is the eight-port version of the FR314, but it also includes an option to upgrade to a VPN endpoint, which lets the unit act as a single-user VPN server. With this option, a remote user or another VPN router can create a secure, encrypted connection to the FR318 over the public Internet. The VPN is exceptionally easy to configure and lets remote users or other LANs access shared files and printers without posing a security risk. Like the FR314, the FR318 supports 8 users but can be upgraded to support 20 or 45 users (though the VPN remains single point).
The Netgear RO318 is an SPI firewall with eight Ethernet LAN ports. It has the same manual content-filtering features as the RP114 and it supports 253 users via DHCP.
The Netgear MR314 is a wireless router that combines a four-port 10/100 Ethernet switch with an 802.11b-compliant wireless access point; the access point provides 64- or 128-bit WEP security. It has the same basic features as the RP114, including time-of-day access blocking.
Les Freed
By Les Freed
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46550 | Definition of:cellular vs. Wi-Fi
cellular vs. Wi-Fi
The two major categories of wireless Internet access for smartphones, tablets and laptops are cellular wide area networks (WANs) and Wi-Fi local area networks (LANs). In a nutshell, cellular is everywhere, although it may be poor or nonexistent within a building and in rural locations. Wi-Fi is only within a confined area approximately 50 to 100 feet in diameter.
Cellular 3G and 4G service is built into smartphones, which of course are cellular phones, but is an option for tablets and laptops. Wi-Fi is standard on all three, as well as most every other modern wireless device except satellite phones, which use satellite communications.
Cellular - Long Range - Nationwide
Cellular carriers offer data services for any device that has a built-in or external modem (see cellular modem). Travelers can generally rely on cellular data transfer no matter where they are, just as they do with cellphones/smartphones. Fees for data plans are based on bytes transferred, although unlimited plans may be available, and data and voice are priced separately (see carrier data plans).
Wi-Fi - Short Range - Local
Wi-Fi hotspots are set up within the home or office. Limited to a hundred feet or so, the range can be extended with boosters. Hotspots are also available at no charge in many public areas such as coffee shops and lounges. Airports and other public venues may charge for Wi-Fi access.
Which Is Faster?
Cellular data service may be slower, the same or faster than Wi-Fi. For example, 3G service in a crowded city may be slower or the same as a busy public Wi-Fi hotspot, but it will crawl compared to Wi-Fi at home with fast cable or FiOS access to the Internet. However, 4G cellular may be much faster than public Wi-Fi or home Wi-Fi with a slow DSL connection to the Internet. See cellular generations.
Location, Location, Location
Like real estate, the value of wireless is location. Cellular is everywhere (theoretically); Wi-Fi is not. However, a Wi-Fi hotspot can also be created wherever a cellular signal is available (see cellular hotspot). See Wi-Fi hotspot and Muni Wi-Fi. |
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P\w+ Release Fest
by simonm (Vicar)
on Jul 16, 2005 at 14:32 UTC ( #475453=perlnews: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
Was there something special about Friday?
Use Perl has release announcements for Parrot, Pugs, and Ponie. Go get your P\w+ fun on!
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Re: P\w+ Release Fest
by monarch (Priest) on Jul 16, 2005 at 16:30 UTC
Yup, Friday was definately special..
Re: P\w+ Release Fest
by holli (Monsignor) on Jul 16, 2005 at 16:44 UTC
Fridays are always special. At least in the CB: especially silly :)
holli, /regexed monk/
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Re: Image verification on form submissions
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in reply to Image verification on form submissions
You may also want to looks at the methods employed by SANS to deal with this problem. And please remember to consider the disabled.
Updated: Said SANS article has now also gotten the slashdot crowd putting in their oar.
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Re^5: "Invisible" nodes (details)
by tye (Cardinal)
on Jan 06, 2012 at 15:39 UTC ( #946616=note: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
in reply to Re^4: "Invisible" nodes (core)
in thread "Invisible" nodes
Yes, Clean smoke-test install for Inline based modules using Inline::MakeMaker results in a blank page when I'm logged in as tye and access it via that web server as well (that web server is the "new" one that has mod_perl v2). Each visit adds the following to the error log:
[...] [notice] child pid 45490 exit signal Illegal instruction (4)
This doesn't happen if I view it when not logged in or even when I view it logged in as tye .
One of the factors that is often present in previous cases I've seen of this is the presense of a node by BrowserUk where he uses "<spoiler><code>", Re^5: Clean smoke-test install for Inline based modules using Inline::MakeMaker. But there have been other such nodes where this bug doesn't happen and there have been nodes that trigger this bug where that string is not used.
Since both tye and tye have the same settings for how to handle spoilers, I just now spent some time changing some of my "code wrap" settings. I can make the bug appear or disappear by changing several of those. A common element might be that settings that insert HTML tags for CODE sections trigger the bug? In any case, I can trigger the bug for that node if I turn on "auto code wrap" and set the wrap length to 10. I can also trigger the bug there if I use your "code prefix" that contains several HTML tags.
I suspect that Perl's "safe signals" would prevent me from trapping SIGILL so that I could get a stack trace of where the bug fires. "man signal" on this OS doesn't say that I can't trap SIGILL like "man signal" says on my work box does, so it might be worth trying. Makes me want to be able to pick between "safe" and "unsafe" signals in Perl on a per-signal basis. I don't think Perl supports that but I suspect the underlying mechanism Perl uses could support that.
BTW, adding ;spoil=1 to the URL doesn't prevent the bug.
So that is some more specific information than I had before. Still doesn't give me a simple troubleshooting route, unfortunately. I don't have more time to look at that right now, but I might find some time to look further fairly soon.
- tye
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Re^6: "Invisible" nodes (details)
by roboticus (Chancellor) on Jan 06, 2012 at 16:28 UTC
Don't hurry to fix it on my account, I just wanted to give you what you needed to reproduce it if needed. Thanks for the ";spoil=1" workaround, I'll use that when I need it.
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Re^2: Help with fstab
by Dorficus (Initiate)
on Jan 20, 2012 at 10:19 UTC ( #948926=note: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
in reply to Re: Help with fstab
in thread Help with fstab
Thanks for the links but I'm new with perl so I have couple of more questions
new ( node => $node_obj, name => 'fstab' ) ;
read ( io_handle => ... )
write ( io_handle => ... )
This is the code he provides me with, but what should I write instead of "node", "name" and both "..." Any ideas? Sorry for my poor presentation of questions, but my knowledge is poor :(
Comment on Re^2: Help with fstab
Re^3: Help with fstab
by Anonymous Monk on Jan 20, 2012 at 10:42 UTC
What are you talking about? Link please
Any clue on how to only print the information you want?
That's how I extract the information from it
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Mr. Spock, definitely. The Wizard of Oz is an old DOS batch programmer, you can tell just by lookin' at him. Randall Flagg, he's a Python programmer. Gargamel I suspect is C#, but I'm just guessing there. And Merlin? He's old school C, all the way. I also have it on good authority that Count Chocula does all of his programming on an Apple ][e in ugly old BASIC. From what I understand, Professor X is a Prolog programmer.
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Re: Why oh Why oh Whyo (Catalyst Woes)
by castaway (Parson)
on Feb 24, 2006 at 00:32 UTC ( #532429=note: print w/ replies, xml ) Need Help??
in reply to Why oh Why oh Whyo (Catalyst Woes)
Sorry, but it's hard to give help on Catalyst without getting any actual questions on it. I haven't seen any questions on the mailing list from you, I saw you once on the IRC channel, and this is just complaining, and not asking questions..
Yes, Catalyst needs more documentation, who doesn't? But the people who work on and with it daily get out of touch with how hard it is for newbies to get into it, without them coming along and asking, how do we know what to add to the documentation?
As for assuming knowledge of MVC, it's not a framework for dummies, yes, the docs assume you can manage to google for things like MVC, and understand what you find. If you do that and still get stuck, sensisble questions will be answered, if we get them.
BTW, I wrote most of that Tutorial, so, what's missing? What else did you need?..
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Actually, since my choices in drink are somewhat limited to diet I just tell a waiter or waitress "whatever you got that's diet.."
I have over my lifetime lived in so many parts of the USA that what I generically call a carbonated beverage is quite random. I've been heard to say "soda", "pop" or whatever sometimes in the same sentance! ;-)
Peter L. Berghold -- Unix Professional
Peter at Berghold dot Net
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46579 | user icleave 24 Nov 2009: I just started learning Perl from "SAMS Teach Yourself Perl in 24 Hours" 3rd Ed by Clinton Pierce in about August 2009. Perl is the first computer language I've attempted to learn because: 1) It is 'free' and open source, 2) The community spirit and support, and 3) Automation and screen scraping abilities. I'm running Ubuntu 9.04. 2009-11-30 18:55:15 11 808895 4 London |
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^^^ theme is cute!
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46628 | Mischiefmaking in 'Megamind'
by Michael Underwood
6 March 2011
cover art
Megamind Mega-Double Two Pack
Director: Tom McGrath
Cast: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, David Cross
US DVD: 25 Feb 2011
This film is steeped in superhero lore. Megamind takes the basic premise of DC hero Superman’s origin story (only survivor of a doomed planet sent to earth who grows up to be a superhero) and turns it on its ear by presenting not one but two Last Sons. One, voiced by Brad Pitt, is a golden child raised by loving parents. The other is a blue child raised by criminals in a penitentiary.
The children are rivals from youth, and the future Megamind grows up with a firm grounding in evil values after being embittered by being showed up in school. His only friend is the talking fish, Minion, who was sent with him from his home planet .
As adults, the two children become super-rivals, their battles playing out through Metro City. Metroman defeats Megamind for years, until Megamind’s orbital laser plot finally fells Metro City’s defender.
Without his nemesis, Megamind takes over the city and quickly becomes bored. Always invested in the theatricality of being a villain, when deprived of his opposite lead, Megamind despairs. He sets out to create a new nemesis, someone to challenge him and lead to more epic confrontations. He replicates Metroman’s powers and adopts a disguise to train the new hero. At the same time, he befriends the Lois Lane stand-in Roxanne Ritchi (using a disguise here as well) and falls for her.
In the end, the replacement Metroman becomes power-mad, and Megamind ends up as the hero, protecting Metro City from his creation. The film is fairly heartfelt, carries an interesting nature-vs-nurture message, and the voice acting by bring a great deal of life and energy to the leads.
The main special feature is the short film Megamind and the Button of Doom. Megamind auctions off all his old evil devices (killer robots and flamethrowers are somewhat frowned upon for heroes) and as he’s finishing up, accidentally activates a giant robot programmed to destroy Metroman and ends up coming after Megamind (who has created a Metroman-esque set of gadgets to replicate the hero’s powers). There is also a filmmaker commentary with director, writers, and producers, talking about the process leading to the making of the film, the actor’s interpretation of the characters, the story, the music and more.
This two-disc set is stuffed with special features, with extras on each disc, including a meet-the-cast feature, deleted scenes featurette talking about the design of the character of Megamind and his lair, a highlight on the animators of the film, a ‘how to draw Megamind’ tutorial, the Megamind music video, a video comic, and more.
Megamind Mega-Double Two Pack
Extras rating:
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46662 | Appcelerator Premium Modules Offer Mobile Mashups-in-a-box
Daniel Luxemburg
Mar. 16 2011, 08:13AM EDT
Appcelerator, a company focused on cross-platform development tools, has started extending itself into the world of APIs by offering mobile developers drop-in tools for integrating their applications with popular web services. Appcelerator recently announced a new offering called Titanium+Plus, a set of premium modules that developers can purchase to incorporate into applications built using Titanium Mobile, Appcelerator's open source mobile development platform. Rather than mainly providing new or deeper access to the core functions of devices, the new Titanium+Plus modules are focused outward—or maybe upward—towards the cloud. In fact, the announcement came with a new tagline: "The cloud starts here™".
Titanium Mobile applications are written in JavaScript and can be compiled into versions for iPhone as well as for Android. BlackBerry capability is currently in a Beta restricted to paying subscribers.
Even though Titanium applications are developed with JavaScript, they are not browser-based. Titanium provides developers access to device functionality through an interface exposed in a JavaScript runtime environment outside of the browser. This allows developers to build native applications using a widely known scripting language rather than the more specialized Objective-C (for iPhone) or Java (for Android and BlackBerry).
Nolan Wright, the company's CTO, gave a webinar last week to provide more details on Titanium+Plus, including a technical demonstration for developers. During his presentation, Wright explained how the new features pushed Titanium towards being a "mobile cloud platform." The premium modules are being built by Appcelerator in cooperation with partners like PayPal (for payments), Brightcove (for streaming video), Urban Airship (for push updates), among others and with more on the way. According to Appcelerator, Titanium+Plus lets these companies "bring their capabilities natively into Titanium", and by extension put them in front of over a million Titanium developers for quick and easy integration.
While language or framework libraries that abstract web APIs for a particular development environment are nothing new, offering them for sale as premium products is a fairly novel business model. All three of the above examples of Titanium+Plus partners have listings in our API directory, and there are plenty more where they came from. With both the mobile app and the web service API ecosystems blossoming, positioning itself as a "mobile cloud platform" seems like good move for Appcelerator.
For a more in-depth explanation of Titanium+Plus, take a look at the video of last week's webinar and and the accompanying slides at the Appcelerator blog.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46663 | Today in APIs: Skype Desktop API Plans Shifting, Matrox Maevex PowerStream API, and 9 New APIs
Greg Bates
Nov. 07 2013, 02:00PM EST
Skype is still axing Chat on its Desktop API, keeps recording and device capability--for now. The Matrox Maevex PowerStream API is available to manage Maevex H.264 encoders and decoders. Plus: LinkedIn adds restrictions on APIs, Pebble SDK hits 2.0 with new APIs, iOS 7 support, and 9 new APIs.
Skype's Desktop API: Chat to be Silenced, Recording to Stay, Maybe
Having previously announced plans to kill the Skype desktop API, Microsoft is now walking that back, kinda. It will now keep the API with call recording and compatibility with hardware devices. This may ease some of the controversy. But it keeps things up in the air, in Microsoft's own words, "until we determine alternative options or retire the current solution."
In The Next Web, Emil Protalinski notes that Microsoft's indecision is leaving developers in the lurch:
"Skype is still killing off the Chat functionality, which is what many developers and users have been particularly vocal about. Furthermore, the company has only touched upon what is happening with the Desktop API for now, as opposed to outlining potential plans for a desktop and mobile replacement API."
Skype's argument is that this API works only on Windows and Mac desktops, excluding new mobile technology. Change is hard but the company has a point; APIs should embrace mobile solutions. But still, why can't the creators (or at least the owners) of a killer communication technology communicate decisively?
Matrox Maevex Gets New API to control Maevex H.264
Matrox Maevex Series H.264 encoders and decoders extend low-bandwidth, Full HD quality 1080p video and audio over standard IP networks for less. The API makes it possible to manage the PowerStream software feature set with customization to define resolutions, bit rates and more.
According to AVNetwork, the API provides an extensive list of calls:
Preliminary documentation is available directly through Matrox. The API will be available CQ1 2014.
API News Your Shouldn’t Miss
9 New APIs
Today we had 9 new APIs added to our API directory including a daily catechism service, an image processing service, a javascript code encryption service and a nonprofit fundraising and membership platform. Below are more details on each of these new APIs.
CatechizeMeCatechizeMe API: Catechisms are learning tools for Christians that teach core religious tenets by phrasing them in the form of questions and answers. CatechizeMe provides daily catechisms along with a publicly available collection of catechisms. The CatechizeMe API allows developers to integrate daily catechisms or any/all of the catechisms available on the website into their own sites and applications.
JScramblerJScrambler API: JScrambler is a service that encrypts JavaScript code used in a site or application to make it appear incomprehensible. The code will still function exactly the same, but will be much harder for anyone to copy. JScrambler has been tested with all major browsers, mobile devices, and JavaScript frameworks.
The JScrambler API allows developers to automate requests to encrypt JavaScript projects, delete projects, download encrypted projects, and retrieve information for managing encrypted project versions.
NeonCRMNeonCRM API: NeonCRM is a web-based platform for managing fundraising and membership for nonprofit organizations. The platform allows users to automate and streamline common tasks and processes. It also provides a powerful CRM (Customer Resource Management) database for managing any communications, documents, notes, payments, people, or organizations that are important to the nonprofit's mission.
Developers can integrate the NeonCRM platform into their websites using either SOAP or REST APIs. This allows the website to automatically feed data into the CRM database and access the NeonCRM platform's functions. This API is currently in Beta.
NutribuNutribu API: Nutribu aims to transform nutrition into a social experience. The Nutribu API provides developer access to food and nutritional data. Exposed resources include metadata describing users, products, ingredient groups, and more.
YouTracker QR GeneratorYouTracker QR Generator API: The YouTracker QR Generator is a free web service allowing applications and websites to generate QR Codes. The API requires only a simple HTTP call, specifying the URL-encoded data, and the image scale.
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how to determine fold change of gene expression
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#1 Taranaki
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Posted 13 July 2011 - 05:58 AM
I've done a microarray to have a look at the effects of a siRNA-mediated knockdown of my gene of interest. I have checked the expression of some of the deregulated genes with qPCR.
I've seen that some people compare the expression level determined by Microarray and qPCR. However, I do not understand how they calculate the fold change of gene expression for those genes which are covered by several probes on the array. For example, one genes is covered by 5 different probes and therefore you also have 5 different logFC values.
So, how do you calculate the fold change of gene expression from microarray data?
Edited by Taranaki, 13 July 2011 - 05:59 AM.
#2 toejam
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Posted 21 July 2011 - 03:48 AM
hi taranaki,
i'm far from being an expert in microarrays, especially since i just started analysing them very recently. do you observe any differences in the logFC of the same gene that is covered by 5 different probes? in principle you shouldn't. if i'm not mistaken, you are looking at 5 different bits of the same gene by using 5 different probes, which means that the logFC of the same gene should be the same over all of them.
when you detect interesting changes in gene expression by the microarray, then you confirm that data more precisely via qpcr. i hope this helps. good luck!
#3 Felipillo
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Posted 18 April 2012 - 02:24 PM
May be this R tutorials could be helpful for you
For the basics of microarray analysis and fold change.
An this one for the heatmaps
Also, there is a recient method published here
RankProd: Hong et. al.
Bioinformatics, 22 (22), 2825-2827.
Chance favors the prepared mind
Louis Pasteur.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46666 | Jump to content
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growing cometent cells
competent cells
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#1 student47
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Posted 11 October 2013 - 08:52 AM
HI all,
during resistance plasmid growth in transformation step, protocols usually say shake growth for 1-2 hr at 37 deg C after heat shock. when i grow it without shaking, i get colonies, when i grow with shaking, very very few colonies. although neither times i had any insert, but rest that for now. do you think i should grow stationary culture or shaking culture? and sometimes people say dh5alpha is very delicate and you need to keep on ice ass soon as its out of freezer and pipette gently to not kill the bacteria etc etc, which makes me think be ther reason why shake culture might be a problem but then they also say it is a very robust organism and so on. am confused! ! what is actually? and most importantly shake cuture or stationary?
#2 bob1
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Posted 12 October 2013 - 01:25 PM
For maximal survival of the cells when thawing, thaw them as fast as possible in a 37 degree water bath or in your hand. This prevents ice-crystal formation that can damage the cells if thawed slowly (i.e. on ice).
The growth following heat shock is to allow time for the expression of the antibiotic resistance genes, and as such it is important that this step NOT include antibiotics. Shaking allows aeration of the culture, which is optimal for E. coli growth, however, for this short period, and given the small volume the cells are in, there probably won't be much difference between shaking and non-shaking.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46684 | Mar 122013
dk-paulineThere have been two notable events lately as regards the portrayals of women in videogames.
One is the launch of Anita Sarkeesian‘s video series on Tropes vs Women in Video Games, the first episode of which covers “damsels in distress.” You may recall Sarkeesian as the person who launched a Kickstarter for funds to make this video series, and was promptly attacked in vile ways, up to and including threats of violence. (This would be why comments are disabled on the video, I presume, though that hasn’t stopped the nastiness from returning in a number of comment threads all over the Internet).
The other is the story of game developer Mike Mika, who hacked Donkey Kong for his three-year-old daughter, so that she could play as Pauline instead of Mario. This has resulted in lots of accolades for “best dad ever” all over the Internet.
Pauline is of course a prototypical damsel in distress — as Sarkeesian points out, one of the very first in videogames. From time to time, games have subverted the damsels in distress trope in various ways (in Karateka, the princess seems like a damsel in distress the whole time, but at the end, if you approach her wrong, she kills you; in Metroid, the protagonist famously turns out to have been female the whole time, concealed in battle armor). But by and large, it’s alive and well.
So lots of accolades for Mika, and a lot of vitriol for Sarkeesian. And along the way, a lot of apologia for the damsels in current games. We’ve seen people saying that rescuing women is a male instinct driven by hindbrain biology. We’ve seen the argument that it just costs too much to provide alternate gameplay modes. We’ve seen the case made that games already have a predominantly male market, and that’s why the games are designed the way they are, to maximize revenue — essentially a tautology (and one that ignores early games like Ms. Pac-Man, not to mention the enormous boom in the female audience that came with more casual play). And of course there’s the fact that it is undeniably a classic plot device used in many classics of literature.
My wife Kristen is an as-yet unpublished romance novelist. She’s got one novel out there right now being looked at for full-length publication (e.g., she got past the query and sample chapters). She’s been working on this stuff for years… and I first started paying attention closely back when I did that Love Story Game Design Challenge at GDC back in 2004. And I think there’s a lot we can learn from romance novels — and it doesn’t mean that the plot device has to go away.
Few genres are as rigid as romance. They are incredibly formulaic, and often exist as sheer wish-fulfillment. Many feminists will dismiss them outright as regressive.
Now, formula and genre go hand in hand, and to state that they are formulaic isn’t intended to denigrate them. Mysteries are equally formulaic, after all. A reader of romance novels has expectations: they want a Happily Ever After. They want an interesting story. They want challenges along the way to true love. This is no different than the various tropes around detectives, the expectation of actual science in hard SF, or all the various bits cribbed from Tolkien in fantasy novel after fantasy novel after fantasy novel.
And yet, here’s this genre that is all about finding a good husband — but it does a way better job of avoiding “the pattern of presenting women as fundamentally weak, ineffective or ultimately incapable” that defines “damsels in distress” (to use Sarkeesian’s words).
One of the core tenets of this genre is that at some point “the guy rescues the girl.” She is almost always an actual damsel (“a young unmarried woman of noble birth”, though sometimes she’s not actually noble and the class gap is one of the plot points to overcome), literally in distress: about to be married off to someone wrong, about to become penniless, whatever. But sometimes, she just needs rescued from herself: from a an emotional problem or “character flaw” that she must overcome. In other words, in romance novels, the arc is about a woman growing as a person.
Except that another core tenet is that at some point the girl “rescues” the guy. Romance novels don’t work unless both protagonists have a “critical flaw” that they must overcome, and find that the other person is the means to doing that. What makes a romance novel a satisfying story is that the couple helps each other grow. They “rescue” each other (in the broadest sense).
Generally, the woman is the viewpoint character. Oh, you can have the guy’s viewpoint too, and many novels do. But one of the commonest reasons romance novels fail is because the male character is cardboard, and takes no action other than worshipping the woman. Those tend not to get published, and the romance novelist forums are full of discussion on how to avoid this pitfall.
Having the female viewpoint also means that there is no way for the female protagonist to be passive. If she is, then nothing happens in the book — something must occur while the guy is offstage, after all. So passive protagonists are usually considered to be poor writing. (Many of the critiques around the Twilight series revolved around this… and yet, Bella is way less passive than the typical videogame princess!)
The female characters tend to be shy but spunky, feel constrained by their social roles, almost always do something that violates social convention quite badly (i.e., they play against the damsel trope)… in fact, you could see the entire genre as being a manual on how to deal with the fact that the world sees you as a helpless damsel. (In fact, one of the commonest “character flaws” for the female protagonist is an unwillingness to accept help!).
It is also typical that the actual slave to societal mores, the actual coddled princess, is usually an older female antagonist who is pushing the younger woman to conform to expected socially constructed gender roles (“you must come out at the ball!” “Don’t go there unescorted!” “Heavens, what will they think?!?”). It isn’t unusual for this character to have a moment sometime in the book where “she remembers the girl she used to be” or the like, and joins the protagonist in rebellion (often in a quiet way).
Of course, the biggest convention is HEA: Happily Ever After. Romance novels end there because what comes after is much harder and much more complicated. They are fairytales, after all.
But I think they have a lot to teach us as we think about the “damsels in distress” trope. If a romance novelist had written Donkey Kong, Pauline would escape sometimes. She’d save Mario’s bacon at least once. When he got to the top, maybe she’d reject him at least once (romance novels usually have a “cold feet” moment, sometimes many). It wouldn’t even be hard to do these things, and the game wouldn’t have to change one whit.
There’s a difference between telling the fairy tale and the sexist trope.
24 Responses to “Damsels in Distress”
1. I am glad you gave the small suggestions about Donkey Kong at the end. I believe that small steps like that would make any game more interesting for everyone, in addition to avoiding the trope. It might even help lessen how often men have the reaction of “I did these things for you, you really should love me” to a girl’s rejection.
I would love to work on a game that explores narrative elements of romance, and am personally a fan of games that explore multiple genres that go beyond the game’s primary genre. Narrative variety has kept me interested, engaged, and led to some of my favorite gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
2. I follow the cake criteria for testing a damsel in a videogame: if you can replace the damsel with a cake, and this has no impact on the narrative or goals for the protagonist, then you’re doing it wrong.
3. […] través de este artículo de Raph Koster me enteré de la publicación del primer video de Anita Sarkeesian que trata sobre la exploración […]
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46694 | What joke is so bad it's good? by Huomenna in AskReddit
[–]Conc3pt 2 points3 points (0 children)
How many tickles does it take to make an octopus laugh?
Ten tickles
Norman's last name? by JustGotDown in lifeofnorman
[–]Conc3pt 3 points4 points (0 children)
Norman probably told us his surname once, we weren't really listening but he did mind because he knew there was going to be a new episode of CSI on that night.
A surprising amount of my Facebook friends were in a Nepalese earthquake by Conc3pt in britishproblems
[–]Conc3pt[S] 0 points1 point (0 children)
I've not had this many but I've got a few. I think its more like people thinking 'Wow! something is going on, I better send a facebook notification to everyone telling them I know a thing happened'
What Dans would you like to see appear on Danswers? by tehkyle5k in giantbomb
[–]Conc3pt 6 points7 points (0 children)
Dandrew WK. He already has his own advice column but he would be amazing on Danswers
Re-Sale of MFLB! by jluk33 in uktrees
[–]Conc3pt -5 points-4 points (0 children)
If you really want to sell it you are gonna have to knock the price down. You can buy a new one for pretty much the same price.
QuizUp knows the how 2 b Spooky by Conc3pt in 2spooky4me
[–]Conc3pt[S] 2 points3 points (0 children)
General Nonsense. I think its an April Fools thing
Would I be able to play Xenoverse without much knowledge at all about Dragon Ball? by LlamaSurprise in dbz
[–]Conc3pt 8 points9 points (0 children)
Yeah, you are 'fixing time' but in reality making the game story match the story of the tv show/manga. If you didn't know the story already it might be confusing why anything is happening. Also it doesn't give back story to any of the characters so you wont have a sense of why certain events are important
WDIS Pulp by adolfdiggler in WhereDoIStart
[–]Conc3pt 6 points7 points (0 children)
I would say Different Class is a good start. Then personally I would go to either This Is Hardcore or His 'n Hers
Fights on the internet by 030191 in cringe
[–]Conc3pt 2 points3 points (0 children)
"i think i'm a college student with an undergraduate degree in computer science". and "I'm an NYPD psychologist "
That is a very well educated 13 year old
What is the stupidest thing that has come out of your mouth that you're willing to admit to? by Totallynotapie in AskReddit
[–]Conc3pt 140 points141 points (0 children)
"Hey, Isn't 50 shades of grey about undead people fucking?"
I had heard someone once describe it as "mummy porn", I took it literally and believed it for at least a year.
Families from around the world and their food supply by vitruv in interestingasfuck
[–]Conc3pt 10 points11 points (0 children)
As a someone from England, who the fuck eats mayonnaise sandwiches?
I'm good at copying handwriting. They hate each other. by kungfucat371 in AdviceAnimals
[–]Conc3pt 2 points3 points (0 children)
Even if this is a lie it made me smile so you get an upvote |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46711 | New Nerve Cells – Even In Old Age
May 7, 2010
After birth the brain looses many nerve cells and this continues throughout life ““ most neurons are formed before birth, after which many excess neurons degenerate. However, there are some cells that are still capable of division in old age ““ in the brains of mice, at least. According to scientists from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology in Freiburg, different types of neuronal stem cells exist that can create new neurons. While they divide continuously and create new neurons in young animals, a large proportion of the cells in older animals persist in a state of dormancy. However, the production of new cells can be reactivated, for example, through physical activity or epileptic seizures. What happens in mice could also be applicable to humans as neurons that are capable of dividing also occur in the human brain into adulthood. (Cell Stem Cell, May 7th 2010)
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks. The corresponding view that the brain loses learning and memory capacity with advancing age prevailed for a long time. However, neuronal stem cells exist in the hippocampus ““ a region of the brain that plays a central role in learning and memory functions ““ that can produce new nerve cells throughout life. It is known from tests on mice that the newly formed cells are integrated into the existing networks and play an important role in the learning capacity of animals. Nonetheless, the formation of new cells declines with age and the reasons for this were unknown up to now.
Together with colleagues from Dresden and Munich, the Freiburg researchers have now succeeded in explaining for the first time why fewer new neurons are formed in the adult mouse brain. They managed to identify different populations of neuronal stem cells, thereby demonstrating that the hippocampus has active and dormant or inactive neuronal stem cells. “In young mice, the stem cells divide four times more frequently than in older animals. However, the number of cells in older animals is only slightly lower. Therefore, neuronal stem cells do not disappear with age but are kept in reserve,” explains Verdon Taylor from the Max Planck Institute of Immunobiology.
The precise factors that influence the reactivation of dormant stem cells are not yet clear. The cells can, however, be stimulated to divide again. The scientists observed more newborn hippocampal neurons in physically active mice than in their inactive counterparts. “Consequently, running promotes the formation of new neurons,” says Verdon Taylor. Pathological brain activity, for example that which occurs during epileptic seizures, also triggers the division of the neuronal stem cells.
Horizontal and radial stem cells
The different stem cell populations are easy to distinguish under the microscope. The first group comprises cells which lie perpendicular to the surface of the hippocampus. Most of these radial stem cells are dormant. As opposed to this, over 80% of the cells in the group of horizontal stem cells ““ cells whose orientation runs parallel to the hippocampus surface ““ continuously form new cells; the remaining 20% are dormant but sporadically become activated. The activity of genes such as Notch, RBP-J and Sox2 is common to all of the cells.
Radial and horizontal stem cells differ not only in their arrangement, apparently they also react to different stimuli. When the animals are physically active, some radial stem cells abandon their dormant state and begin to divide, while this has little influence on the horizontal stem cells. The result is that more radial stem cells divide in active mice. The horizontal stem cells, in contrast, are also influenced by epileptic seizures.
It would appear that neuronal stem cells are not only found in the brains of mice. The presence of neurons that are formed over the course of life has also been demonstrated in the human hippocamus. Therefore, scientists suspect that different types of active and inactive stem cells also arise in the human brain. It is possible that inactive stem cells in humans can also be activated in a similar way to inactive stem cells in mice. “There are indicators that the excessive formation of new neurons plays a role in epilepsy. The use of neuronal brain stem cells in the treatment of brain injuries or degenerative diseases like Alzheimers may also be possible one day,” hopes Verdon Taylor.
Original work: Quiescent and active hippocampal neural stem cells with distinct morphologies respond selectively to physiological and pathological stimuli and ageing. Sebastian Lugert, Onur Basak, Philip Knuckles, Ute Haussler, Klaus Fabel, Magdalena Götz, Carola A. Haas, Gerd Kempermann, Verdon Taylor, Claudio Giachino. Cell Stem Cell, May 7th 2010
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46757 | Rhapsody App for
Rhapsody International, Inc.
Weekend At Burnie's (Explicit)
Weekend At Burnie's by Curren$y
Released: Jun 2011
Label: Warner Bros.
Curren$y's utopia of candy-painted cars and pliant women has grown familiar after the Pilot Talk series and mixtapes like Covert Coup. But the formula still works for now. On Weekend at Burnie's, he flips rhymes with the efficiency of a joystick, twisting familiar riffs on Dayton tire rims and Cannabis Cup competitions into floating worlds like "Televised" and "#Jetsgo." Monsta Beatz, whose production approximates Ski Beatz's winning Pilot Talk sound but can't match his musicality, adds sleepily synthesized grooves to Curren$y's game-spitting performances.
Mosi Reeves
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46758 | Rhapsody App for
Rhapsody International, Inc.
Top 25 Latin Albums of 2013
by Rachel Devitt | December 11, 2013
Our picks for the top 25 Latin albums of 2013 are a wild, widely varying bunch. But then, that was kind of the state of Latin music this year -- sometimes within a single genre. Young guys (some not even from Puerto Rico) were killing it at old-school reggaeton, while the established reggaetoneros inched ever closer to full dance pop takeover. Bachata saw some ladies (Leslie Grace, Maite Perroni) join its boys' club, while the genre's reigning princes moved more toward soulful adult contemporary and dance pop (or at least, that's what Prince Royce did). Meanwhile, Latin pop artists were doing all sorts of weird and fascinating stuff with their hooks and beats, from Raul y Mexia's regional-woven dance pop to Julieta Venegas' pensive electronic jams, Juana Molina's esoteric electro-textures to Carlos Vives' typically sunny stab at a little sertanejo. Regional's young guns (Noel Torres, Gerardo Ortiz, Los Cuates de Sinaloa) continued to make a case for themselves as rock stars, while Latin rock's older dogs (including Babasonicos, Zoé and Draco Rosa) didn't stray too far from their respective usual tricks. But the biggest story of the year might just be salsa. The oh-so-familiar son drove some of the year's best and brightest albums, including Cucu Diamantes' concept album/live record/movie soundtrack and our No. 1 album of the year, Marc Anthony's warm, rich hit machine, 3.0. Our vote? More new salsa in 2014!
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46771 | Image of Logan's Outlaw (Men of Defiance)
Image of Logan's Outlaw (Men of Defiance)
Levine pens a story of love and danger amid the Wild West. Book four of her Men of Defiance series is full of raw, dramatic tension, bone-crushing action and realistic characters but the romance is mostly one-sided for most of the novel.
Sarah Hawkins is a pariah in white society after her return from captivity by Sioux Indians. She is eager to disappear somewhere where no one knows her and begin life anew, but first she must right an injustice. Her noble quest puts her in the middle of an Indian war. Trader Logan Taggert usually steers clear of damsels in distress but Sarah’s courage and fortitude capture his interest. He becomes her personal bodyguard despite the lady’s protests. Soon he is all that stands between Sarah and her enemies; it’s a price he is willing to pay for the woman who has captured his wild heart. (ZEBRA, Mar., 300 pp., $6.99)
Reviewed by:
Maria Ferrer |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46802 | Skip to Content
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Aligning Cognitive Neuroscience
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June 10, 2013 Check for other dates
M from 10:45 AM to 12:45 PM
Kirkland W. Green Student Center Garnet & Blue
Dr. Henry Findlay
Course Description
Over the years, educators at all levels of education have been using technology in their classes to augment teaching and learning. However, educators have given very little attention to the use of technology, based on brain-based research findings. Also, in recent years, there has been a surge in cognitive neuroscience, which is concerned with an understanding of the mental processes that take place in the brain during learning and particularly when students are using the technology to which they are emotionally attached. Given our knowledge of the new science of teaching and learning, educators need to design instruction where pedagogy drive the teaching and learning process instead of the technology driving the teaching process – in other words, using technology for the sake of technology. This workshop will focus on how to align technology with cognitive neuroscience learning theories to create deep and lasting learning. Objectives 1. To understand how cognitive neuroscience learning theories can enhance student learning outcomes, when aligned with the integration of various technologies such as the cell phone, clickers,, etc. 2. To understand how technology can change the attitudes and behaviors of college students when using selected technologies 3. To determine how selected technologies may be used to create deep and more lasting learning in subject matter content 4. To understand and apply factors that should be considered in using technology to augment teaching and learning
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Category: Programming » Libraries
IP Firewall Lite ATL/COM
Added 2004-09-09
by Egemen Tas
IP Firewall Lite is a *FREE and open source* ATL/COM component based on "Windows IP Filter Driver" technology. It is a powerful packet filtering component for Windows 2000/XP. A sample application firewall is also provided along with it.
Web Audit Library (WAL)
Added 2004-08-11
by Roses Labs Innovations (RL+I)
Web Audit Library (Wal) is a python module that provides a powerful and easy API for writing web applications assessment tools, similar to what Libwhisker does for Perl. Wal comes from the need of such a library for python. Writing web security tools using Wal is very straightforward. Wal provides the following features send/receive/analyze HTTP 0.9/1.0/1.1, HTML parser, cookie support, anti-IDS, decoders/encoders and much more... Needs python 2.3 or later.
Network Packet Capture Facility for Java
Added 2004-03-18
by patrick charles
Cyrus SASL
Added 2004-03-11
by Carnegie Mellon, [email protected]
SILC (Secure Internet Live Conferencing)(Toolkit)
Added 2004-03-02
by Priikone
SILC (Secure Internet Live Conferencing) is a protocol which provides secure conferencing services in the Internet over insecure channels. SILC superficially resembles IRC, although they are very different internally. The purpose of SILC is to provide secure conferencing services. Strong cryptographic methods are used to secure all traffic. The SILC is delivered as SILC Client for end users, SILC Server for system administrators, and SILC Toolkit for application developers.
Added 2004-02-09
by Sergey Kolychev, [email protected]
Net::RawIP is a perl module that can manipulate raw IP packets, with an optional feature for manipulating Ethernet headers.
License Manager
Added 2004-02-09
by ElevenProspect
License Manager is a tool that enables developers and organizations to deliver securely licensed Java applications.
Added 2003-12-02
by The OpenSSL Project Team
Added 2003-03-27
by Alex P
libike is a cross-platform C library for managing IKE negotiations. The library implements RFC-standard ISAKMP/IKE exchanges and utilizes a callback mechanism to delegate tasks of the actual packet transmission and security policies management to the external code.
Script Identifier
Added 2003-02-24
by Robert Sandilands
Scriptid is a program and a library that can be used to determine whether a given text file contains code of a specified programming language. The current release can tell whether a file contains vbscript or not. It should be possible to extend this to any number of other languages. It is important to also download the latest neural network weights update file.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46810 | I hung there for long minutes, mewling and sobbing in pain, making strange little sounds, and trying to somehow bring my cunt that last tiny bit of the way to an orgasm so I could have some relief from the burning, pulsing heat.
My mother finally became annoyed enough about it to do something. A few seconds manipulation of my clitty would have shot me into orbit. Instead she brought out a thick leather belt. She stood before me, eyeing my desperate condition with a sneering look of satisfaction.
Then she brought the belt whirling down from overhead and smacking right into the center of my crotch. I screamed as the leather cracked painfully against my splayed out pussy. Pain and pleasure coursed through my veins. My legs and arms shook and my body was seized by shivering spasm of lust.
She stood still, waiting for me to recover, then reached the belt forward, letting it slide over my buttocks and down along my asshole and cuntslit.
"Want me to hit you again slut?" she taunted. "Want to feel this against your little clitty?"
My brain pounded with anxiety, fear, and desire. She trailed the belt alongside my slit, inches away.
"P... please." I whimpered.
"What was that sweety?" she smirked.
"P... p.. please. OH PLEASE!"
"You want me to whack your little pussy?"
I nodded my head helplessly.
"Say it... SAY IT!" she hissed.
"Hit me." I sobbed.
"Where baby? Where should I hit you?" she cooed.
"My pussy!" I pleaded. "Hit my pussy!"
"HOw hard sweety pie? I wouldn't want to hurt you." she trailed the belt up and down my mound ever so lightly. I winced as a ferocious surge of desire swept through me.
"H... H... Hhhhard!" I stuttered. "Hard H... HARD! HIT ME HARD !" I begged.
She leered mockingly at me and swung the belt down again. It cracked down against my pussy mound, impacting with a dull splat against my moist pussy slit. I screamed again and babbled incoherently.
"H... HHharrdddd! Hit m... me h... hard! Hit me... Hit me... Hit me..."
She swung the belt again, sending a flaring explosion of heat and pain through my crotch. She started to whip the belt down harder, and faster. The cracking whip smashed down, sending a flood of exquisite sensations roaring through my body. My burning cunt exploded in raging heat and crackling eruptions of electric shocks.
Cunt juice gushed down my fuck tunnel and out through my gaping cunt opening, coating my entire crotch with greasy girl cum. I screamed in ecstatic release, my mind reeling from the intense bursts of heat. Then she dropped the belt. My head was flopping dazedly from side to side.
I looked down and saw her place her fist against my cunt mouth. She leaned into my cunt as I watched dreamily, fascinated. My cuntmouth spread and stretched, opening wider and wider. Slowly her fist sank down into my fuck hole.
I groaned with the mind blowing feeling of utter fullness as she pushed her fist down inside me. I couldn't take my eyes off her hand as her fist slid down out of sight inside my crotch slit. I shivered all over as her wrist passed my cuntlips and still she continued pushing.
Her hard balled up fist pushed deeper and deeper. Finally, when her arm was buried halfway to her elbow, I felt a grating, grinding pain as her knuckles crushed up against my cervix. She and I both stared, enthraled at the sight of my pussy lips gripping her arm. Slowly she pulled it back until the fist was just inside my pussy, starting to stretch the lips again, then she rammed it forward again.
I erupted in frenzied driving cum, as she began fucking her fist in and out of my guts. I felt her hard knuckles rasping back and forth in my cunt tunnel. she slammed her fist around inside my belly, driving me to a screaming writhing, bundle of torn and paralysed nerves, and sending my mind spinning down an endless hole into senselessness as climax after climax shook my frame.
It was almost half an hour before I had recovered enough of my senses to become aware of the pain still shooting through my shoulders and arms. My mother laughed when she saw I had returned to the world. She tore a feather off a feather duster she was using and slid the end into my sopping drooling pussy slit.
I didn't know what she had in mind from that except maybe a silly taunting joke, until the air current sin the room started to blow the feather ever so lightly against my clit and clitty. My reddened aching cunt lips began twitching against the feather as its ticklish touch reached against them again and again.
In another hour I was back in the same shape as before the whipping. I groaned in renewed need as the feather licked against me. I shook my frame, trying to dislodge it, but couldn't. I was nearly out of my mind with desperate yearning lust.
My Father came into the living room and walked over to me. He looked surprised when he saw the feather in my cunt, but drew back and laughed loudly.
"Well, well. How do you feel cunt?" he inquired.
"Please Daddy! Please fuck me!" I begged.
"You don't sound sincere enough to me." he grinned.
"Oh GOD! PLleeeasseee please please DADDY! PLEASE FUCK ME !! FUCK ME! FUCK ME! FUCK ME!!!" I screamed.
He laughed to himself and then pulled his erection out of his pants. "Is this what you want little girl?" he leered. He put the tip of his cock less than an inch away from my cuntslit and I humped my ass up towards it. He pulled back with a laugh.
"PLEeaasssse!" I sobbed.
He seized his cock firmly and placed it against my gaping cunt hole, then with one brutal lunge, he drove his whole big fuckstick, balls deep in my cunt. My mind and body screamed in joyous release as my cunt box was stuffed full of pumping cockmeat. He grabbed my shoulders for leverage and slammed his whole body against me with furious pounding strokes.
My body was slammed and bruised against the wall as his big prick sawed in and out of my cunt. I came furiously. Lust and sex energy raced unrestrained through my twitching, trembling, jerking body. Blinding bursts of multi colored light exploded in my brain as my cunt was impaled by the savage fucking prong of my Father.
I howled and shrieked in joy and mindless ecstasy as cum after cum flooded through my body. Crackling electric shocks raced up and down my spine as my disoriented mind was staggered by repeated blows of furious intense pleasure.
Then I clenched my teeth against a last overwhelming explosion of cunt fire and gave a final whimper of pleasure as my mind gave up and slid into unconsciousness.
After that, I was allowed to talk, and walk, and act like a human being again. I was still a sex toy for my parents use. Around the house, I seldom wore clothes unless they were the most immodest and shameless things imaginable.
One of the outfits my Dad got me was a tight pair of leather pants with no crotch or ass. My buttocks were squeezed out into a perfect circle by the tight leather, and my pussy was lewdly exposed and framed by the crotchless front.
My Dad shaved my pussy hair off so my slit was even more easy to see. The top of the outfit consisted of a tight leather bikini with holes where the nipples went so they stuck straight out. Sometimes he would stuff fat rubber cocks up my cunt or asshole and then clip a tight piece of leather down between my legs to pull brutally up between my pussy lips and hold them in place.
Sometimes he would simply tie me from head to foot in all kinds of bizarre positions and then just leave me for hours and hours. He fucked me at least five times every day.
Needless to say, all this was having a big effect on the way I acted around other people as well. I wore the tightest possible pants I could get into, pants so tight I had to jerk and yank on them for twenty minutes to get them closed. The tops I wore were so tight they hugged my bulging titties like cellophane, displaying my usually hard nipples for everyone to see. The skirts I wore barely covered my ass cheeks, and I never wore any panties.
If I was a cockteaser before, I was a real little slut now. The stares I received got more obvious and my own more blatant. I no longer cared about getting a reputation at school, and fucked every boy who wanted me, which was pretty near all.
I even came on to some of the cuter girls in my class, and some of the teachers.
One day alone, I screwed two male, and one female teachers, five boys and one girl from various classes, and of course my Dad. I was a real little nympho now. I needed sex like a drug addict needed his fix.
One of the dates I had was with a guy named Jimmie Fox, a nerdy guy from my math class who got straight A's every year. I had already screwed almost every guy in my Math class. Jimmie was too shy to ask me out, so I asked him. He was kind of cute, even if he was really straightlaced.
He tended to wear his shirts buttoned up to the throat, even on the hottest days. He had nice blonde hair though, and a really nice ass.
We went to a movie where he almost had a heart attack after I slid my hand into his pants and grabbed his cock. I almost had to drag him to the Sunshine Motel on the edge of town. I got rooms for free there since I started screwing the manager.
Jimmie backed away from me when we were inside, and practicly fell onto the little sofa. His eyes were bulging as I looked down at him out of slitted eyes.
I slid into the chair on top of him. My legs straddled his body as I faced him. My hot round ass cheeks rubbed against his lap, where I could feel his erection already blooming. I didn't have any doubt he was a virgin. That didn't bother me though. I'd had dozens of virgins in the last couple of months.Teenagers our age seldom got the chance for a good fucking.
I slid my arms around his neck and leaned down slightly to kiss him. My mouth touched his gently, my lips sliding back and forth against his. My tongue snaked out and licked over his lips, and then darted inside, flicking over his teeth, feeling their sharpness.
I kissed harder, pushing my lips firmly against his. My tongue slid in between his slightly parted lips, moistening them, feeling the ridges and bumps, and the sharp tang of popcorn he'd had at the movie. My tongue touched his, touching, licking and sliding around against it.
I squirmed in his lap, my buttocks mashing down against his boner. I could feel its hardness through the paper thin, silky soft pants I was wearing. On dates I wore looser clothes, so I could get out of them fast, and boys could get their hands into them easier.
My hands were around him, sliding up and down along his shoulders, his neck, and over his head. My fingers slid through his hair as I turned and slid my face around against his. I mashed my tits between us as I pushed myself against him.
I moved my mouth against his neck, and licked and bit him softly. I moved my mouth lower, nibbling against the nape of his neck, then sucked fiercely on the skin. My hands undid the buttons on his shirt one by one, without him even noticing it. When I reached his pants, I pulled the shirt tails out and undid the final buttons, opening his shirt completely.
My mouth went down his chest, licking and kissing a soft wet trail. I lingered over each nipple, sucking them into my mouth, massaging them with my lips and tongue, and biting them gently.
My hands slid up and down the soft warm skin of his chest and stomach, squeezing and rubbing. I grabbed one of his hands and held it with my own, our fingers interlocking, then pulled it up against my boob and placed it flat against me.
His hand rested there as he stared dazedly at my chest. I put my hand on his and pushed against my boob, flattening it, squashing the fleshy meat out to the sides. I grabbed his other hand and put it on my other tit. He began to squeeze me slowly as I kind of sat back and smiled encouragingly.
I slid my fingers down and popped the buttons as he watched. His mouth was open and his eyes bulged with intense concentration as I opened my shirt and pulled it off. A little groan escaped his lips as he stared at my two proud tit mounds.
I grabbed his hands, which he'd allowed to fall off, and placed them on my now naked boobs. He squeezed them again, and I revelled in the soft warmth of his fingers around my orbs.
My titties began to swell with desire and my nipples hardened into two little pebbles. I pulled his face against my chest and he suckled softly, then with increasing force on my proud titty. His other hand squeezed harder on my other tit, squashing and kneading the meaty round orb.
His mouth was a wet, chewing vacuum cleaner as it sucked ferociously on my nipple, and roamed across my swollen flesh. I moaned and squirmed around in his lap more. His hands slid around my waist and hugged me to him as his face buried itself between my tits and licked and bit my chest.
He rubbed his face all over my chest and tits, biting and licking and chewing and sucking. I let him paw and lick on my tits for a few minutes, then pulled away. I licked a trail down the center of his chest, sliding back off him so I could lower my mouth down his belly and below.
I sat next to him on the couch, my hands sliding up and down his body. My hand popped the catch on his pants and then slid inside. I could feel the heat and sweat inside there immediately. My hand slid over and around his hot hard erection and squeezed softly.
I rubbed him as my mouth licked its way back up his chest and suckled on his nipples. He gasped and my hand was suddenly soaked in cum. I realized he had already climaxed. I unzipped him and slid his pants down over his hips.
He raised his ass up a little and I pulled his pants down and off his legs. His cock was semi flaccid, and coated in a thin layer of shiny sperm as I looked down at it. I vent over, licking down his stomach and abdomen and through his pubic hair. I licked out at the tip of his penis as I reached it. The taste of sperm was a huge aphrodisiac to me.
I slid my lips around his cockhead and worked my tongue all over it, licking and slurping up the cock juice. I fed more and more of his cock into my mouth and cleaned it off completely.
Within minutes it began hardening. I felt the cock stiffening and expanding in my mouth and backed off, giving it room to enlarge. I slid my mouth around it sideways, mouthing it like it was a flute. I bit gently and nuzzled at his balls. I raised my head and pulled at his legs, wanting them up on the couch.
He quickly obliged, his hardened cock bouncing as he moved over. He was now lying on the couch, his legs spread wide as I knelt between them. My head descended again, and I engulfed his cock with my mouth. I slid my lips down the entire length of the cock until the cockhead was in my throat and his balls were up against my lips.
He moaned and humped up reflexively. I slid my hands under him and cupped his soft buttocks, squeezing them in my fingers. My mouth bobbed up and down on his cock, soaking it in spit. Then he grabbed at my head and pushed me down all the way.
I felt his cock twitching and throbbing in my mouth, and he poured sperm down my gullet. I pulled upward, wanting the juice in my mouth so I could taste it better. My mouth continued to work on him.
My tongue sizzled as it danced up and down and around his cock.It made obscene sounds as I suckled on his softening cock. I pushed a finger against his asshole and plunged it inside to the knuckle. Jimmie gasped in astonishment and pleasure. His cock began to harden rapidly.
I raised my head and smiled at him. I got off the couch and stood in front of him posing provocatively. My hands slid down my sides to my pants and then around to my belly. I rubbed my belly slowly, then slid a hand to the catch of my pants and popped it open.
I slowly slid my hand down inside the front of my pants till it was against my cunt. I squeezed it gently and then began to rub up and down on my clitty. My eyes closed slightly and my body swayed as my hand slid up and down my pussy.
I pushed a finger inside my slit as I rubbed myself. Jimmie just sat there staring wide eyed, like a kid who'd just seen Santa Claus. My pants slid slowly down my legs, exposing my bald cunt and hand. There was another chair facing his and I backed up and slid into it.
I was practically lying on my back, my legs spread way wide over the arms of the sofa chair. My hand slid up and down my pussy slit. I buried another finger inside, and then a third. Jimmie gaped as I slid the three in and out slowly began to finger fuck myself.
My other hand rubbed over my boobs. I looked up at Jimmie and panted, giving him a desperate look. As if in a trance he rose and padded over to stand above me. I grunted and humped against my fingers as my first cum approached.
I threw back my head and moaned long and low, shoving my three fingers deep inside my pussy slot and squishing my tits between my arms and hand. My eyes closed as a dizzying array of multicolored lights blazed against my eyelids.
When I calmed a little I opened my eyes to see Jimmie still standing next to the chair, gawking down at me. I spread my arms wide in open invitation, and he fell forward against me. His hard cock stabbed into my belly as his mouth and hands raced desperately over my body.
I grabbed his rock hard cock in my hand and placed it against my moist cunt opening, then pushed my groin up. The feeling of his cockhead going inside me made JImmie cry in delight. He pushed his hips down and his cock slid softly into my sucking cunt sheath.
When he was buried in me, I threw my legs and arms around him, holding him tight as we kissed savagely. Then I began humping against him, squeezing him with my legs. He started pumping down, and his cock slid in and out of my fuck box.
His hands caressed my ass and squeezed my buttocks as I did the same to him. He pulled my groin up against him to meet his fierce thrusts. I whimpered as the buildup of sexual energy rose higher in my body, overwhelming my senses with its carnal sensuality and electric flickering shocks.
I came with a shuddering groan, burying my face into his neck as he pumped away at me. His balls slapped at my ass cheeks as he fucked away wildly. I came again. His lips chewed and bit on my titties, his hand squeezed and kneaded my ass cheeks. His finger slid into my asshole and wiggled around. I came again.
My cunt mound was a burning throbbing insatiable pit. My vice like tunnel crushed his prong, squeezing cum juices from it.
I pushed him off and scrambled around on the chair, kneeling on it and showing him my ass. He gave a low cry and thrust his cockrod up my pussy from behind. My legs slipped off the chair and I stood bent way over, my hands on the chair arms holding me up as Jimmie slammed his groin into my crotch.
His arms went around me and hugged me in a solid bear hug as he jammed his cock all the way up my pussy and spewed his cock juice inside my belly. I came again, and collapsed forward onto the chair.
Needless to say, I became sort of popular around school, at least with the boys. Most of the girls wouldn't be seen near me. It wasn't just that they thought I was a slut. I had also gotten around about how I swung both ways. I hadn't exactly made a secret about that.
Several girls had walked into the girl's room to find me and Amy Cooper locked in a passionate embrace. One of my hands was inside her panties and had pushed her skirt way up over her belly. It wasn't possible to deny anything about that incident,and I actually couldn't be bothered trying.
I kind of liked my slutty reputation. It made life interesting.
Amy, of course, was now in the same boat as me. She was a real shy girl, who was scared stiff of boys. She wore these long, sombre dresses around, and jumped whenever anybody spoke to her. If that somebody was a boy,she turned seven shades of red and stuttered in reply.
What the girls had seen in the bathroom was really just another of my come ons which the little ninny had been too timid to resist. She hadn't actually been doing anything but mumbling protests and trying to shove me away without making me mad.
Once it got all over the school that she was a dyke, nobody would talk to her, and the girls gave her nasty little looks and vicious comments whenever she passed them.
I felt sort of responsible for that, and tried to take her under my wing. One day I walked her home from school. It was a nice warm sunny day, and I detoured us through the Markham woods. I knew she didn't really want to be near me. She reddened up every time she saw me. I practically had to hold her arm as we walked, to stop her from fleeing.
Anyway I got to feeling horny as we walked along the old dirt road. Amy walked along with her head mostly pointed toward the ground, and she sure wasn't any conversationalist. My mind wandered, and with me, whenever my mind wanders, you can be sure there's something sexy there.
I got to sneaking little peeks at her as we walked, trying to figure out what she looked like under those old grannie clothes she wore.
She had a nice, heart shaped face, with dark, reddish hair that curled down over her shoulders. She was a bit skinny, but not as skinny as me.
We left the road to shortcut through a tall field of grass and the thought just hit me to have sex with Amy right then and there. I knew I was acting kind of like a bully. Amy was actually bigger, and a little older than me, but she was so shy and timid, a five year old could order her around.. I knew I could do what I wanted with her, and I wanted to eat her out, to see if I could make her cum.
My eyes narrowed and a wicked smile appeared on my face. If Amy had been looking at me she surely would have wondered...
Subtlety would be of no use whatsoever. I just stopped short, grabbed her arm, and pulled her against me face to face. Her head looked up from the ground, like a startled doe. She tried to back away, but my arms slid around her and pulled her tight.
My lips locked around hers as my hand grabbed a fistful of her hair and jammed our faces together. Amy's arms came up and folded protectively over her chest, as if she didn't know what else tod o with them. Her head tried to move away, her lips to break free.
I could see her wide desperate eyes staring at me as my other hand slid down her back and over her ass. My hand slid up her back, popping the buttons open as it went. Amy trembled and murmured little complaints and protests as my hands grabbed the two sides of the opened back and pulled them apart, yanking the dress down to her waist as her hand scrambled madly for it.
She was wearing a full slip underneath the old dress, and I grabbed the shoulder straps as she fumbled for her dress, pulling them apart and down so the top of the slip came down to her waist. She seemed to recoil in shock at having her breasts exposed.
She gasped in embarrassment and folded her arms in front of her boobs again. I took the opportunity to jerk the dress and slip, along with her panties down over her hips to her feet.
Amy was shivering and little tears of frustration and humiliation slid from her eyes. I hugged her against me, sliding my hands up and down her ass, squeezing her buttocks repeatedly. I slid a hand down the center of her ass crack, down past her anus and between her legs to cup her little furry cunt mound from behind.
I pulled her to the ground and lay atop her, kissing and sucking at her mouth, darting my tongue in and out past her lips. The poor girl didn't know what to do. Her hands batted feebly at me now and then and her mouth whimpered little pleas.
I licked a trail down her neck to her titties. She actually had nice little titties. They were small and cone shaped, with hard, pointy little nipples. I sucked at them as I squeezed and rubbed my hands over the tender flesh.
My mouth trailed down over her stomach, past her abdomen and through a thin little covering of reddish brown hair to reach her juicy pussy slit. I forced her legs apart and pushed my face into her crotch, digging my tongue into the slit, and sliding it up and down the length.
I squeezed and kneaded the flesh of her buttocks as she lay there sniffling helplessly. My mouth worked over her pussy, licking, sucking chewing, massaging. I found her clit and sucked it into my mouth like a cock. I bit gently on it, bringing a short cry of fear from her.
My tongue rasped back and forth over the little bud. Despite her fear it hardened rapidly. My tongue slid down and into her slit, and I pushed it as far inside as I could get it.
As I worked away on her, I gradually became aware of the growing taste of girljuice as her pussy reacted to my manipulation. Amy just kind of laid there in numbed shock. I wondered if she had ever even jerked off before.
I slid a single finger inside her tight slit, and felt her cunt tube squeeze half the blood out of the finger. Amy shivered, and her legs twitched briefly as I dug my finger deeper inside her. I felt her cherry inside and grinned to myself. I wished I had one of my dildos with me.
I started sliding the finger in and out of her, rubbing it against the clit with each stroke. My tongue continued to lick along the slit and flick up and down on her red little clitty. I felt her cunt twitching around my finger every time I touched that clitty.
I looked up the length of her body to find her face staring up at the sky. Her mouth gaped open and a look of astonishment was on her face. Her arms had flopped back onto the fence above her head and she now seemed unconscious of her nudity as a new and baffling series of sensations started to well up within her.
I grabbed her clit between two fingers and squeezed it tightly. She groaned and her hips rocked up against me. My fingers flew in and out of her fuck box. My tongue danced on her clitty and my teeth chattered as they nipped and chewed on her pussy lips.
Amy gulped and whimpered as her body reacted with surges of passionate heat. Her whole body seemed to tense up, and then she writhed back and forth helplessly on the grass as my mouth sucked glistening pussy juice out of her.
I stood up and quickly shed my clothes as she sprawled there gasping for breath. Her face looked amazed and confounded by the sensations that had swept through her. She looked up at me with disbelief as I stood naked over her. Then I settled down, squatting over her face.
"Lick me Amy," I ordered her. "Suck me off." I pushed my damp pussy against her face, rubbing my clitty against her nose. Her hands came up defensively, as if to push me off, but then jerked back as if burned when they encountered my soft ripe ass cheeks.
I reached back and grabbed one of her firm little tits, squeezing and twisting it ruthlessly. Amy cried out in pain and shock. "Suck me off you little bitch!" I ordered, rubbing myself over her face.
Her tongue came out and made a tentative lick over my pussy mound. I squeezed her tit again, and she licked harder. Soon she was licking desperately at my cunt slit. I squatted there, occasionally humping against her, now and then twisting on her titties when her enthusiasm waned.
I enjoyed being the one in charge for a change, enjoyed using her as I was used by my parents and others. I wiped my pussy back and forth against her face as the heat built higher in my pussy. I turned to face her feet and bent forward, putting my face against her pussy, and starting to lick and suck her again.
I was a much better cunt licker than her, I guess, or else she was just hotter. She really started creaming on me. I licked up what seemed like gallons of cunt juice that seeped and drooled past her pussy lips. Her mouth was working much faster against my own cunt mound now.
As her body began to jerk spasmodically against me, I felt her hands on my ass, pulling me down tighter. I jammed two fingers into her cunt and raped them back and forth, banging against her cherry with each thrust. Amy's legs were jerking and flopping up and down with sharp little movements,m like fish out of water. I heard a muffled wailing against my cunt and figured she had come again.
We continued to eat each other there in the grass. It was a glorious, free feeling of natural lust. My cunt was raw and blinding sensations of ecstasy shot up into my belly and chest as I started to cum.
My fingers in her twat, rammed deeper and harder inside her and then suddenly her cherry popped and my fingers drove all the way inside her to the knuckles. Amy and I both cried out as we came simultaneously. Searing bolts of sexual shock ripped through my guts as I spewed my fuck water down into her face. My mouth slurped up her own juices as I felt her tongue racing up and down my cunt slit.
When we were done, I lay next to her on the grass, our arms around each other, occasionally stroking each others breasts or faces. Amy had in fact never jerked off at all, she'd been isolated, with no friends, and handn't even heard of such a thing. She turned out to be a reasonably nice girl, once you got her talking. Unfortunately, even then, she remained as timid as a fawn.
The next day I brought her home with me. We were hardly inside my room with the door closed when I pulled my clothes off and turned to her. She looked alarmed and drew back.
"What if your parents come up?" she breathed.
"They won't," I assured her. "Anyway I want you to try on some of my clothes.
I got naked and dressed her in a nice pair of white cords and a green shirt. She looked like a whole other person. I let her try on some of my sexy lingerie and she marvelled at the lacy bikinis and teddies.
"Your parents let you buy these?" she asked, doubtfully. She was wearing a thin, lacy black g-string and a bra that barely covered her nipples. I was naked. I laughed in response.
My father bought me most of this stuff." I assured her.
Her mouth opened in surprise, but I moved forward just then and kissed her passionately. She seemed to melt into my arms as I hugged her against me. My hands slid down her back and over her ass cheeks, squeezing them tightly. She returned my kisses with surprising passion, and soon she was as naked as I, and we fell into my bed.
We each tongued each other to a cum, and I grabbed up my dildo from the nightstand drawer and started to push it inside her. She looked down at the rubber cock with astonishment in her face, and then hissed and threw her head back as I shoved it several inches deep into her twat.
I began sliding the cock in and out of her, pushing down harder with each stroke to push the cock deeper inside her cunt box. She moaned in pain and pleasure as her pussy hole was widened and lengthened. I jumped out of bed and strapped on a long black rubber cock. It was the one my Mom liked to use on me. It fit right over my own cunt and stuck out like a cock.
I jumped on top of her and pulled the other dildo out of her shining cunt mouth. I settled onto her body and pushed the end of the cock against her slit. I humped my body up and then slowly lowered it so the cock slid down inside her.
She groaned and squirmed against me as the cock went deeper and deeper. Our lips locked together and I started fucking her in earnest, grinding my fake cock down against her, twisting and jerking it sideways and up and down inside her.
My ass rose and fell as I fucked her little virgin twat with my rubber cock. Her legs were wide apart and her cunt humped up against me as she soared through a climax.
My Dad walked in just about then and watched with interest. Then he moved over and jerked me off her. He dropped his pants as Amy looked blearily up, her mind in a near stupor.
My Dad got on top of the girl and pulled her legs up onto his shoulders. In a second his cock was right against her cunt slit, and then he lunged forward and drove it all the way down into her belly with one furious stroke.
Amy cried out in pain as he rode her. As was usual with him, he showed little interest in anybodies pleasure but his own. He rutted and humped down into her like she was a mindless fuck animal. He grabbed Amy's hips in his big hands and jerked the lightweight girl up and down against his cock.
I could see her cunt juices glistening along the entire length of his fat fuckmeat as he plunged the thing down her tight little tunnel repeatedly. Amy was making strangled gasps and moans as my Dad reamed her out. She whimpered in confusion and pain as my Dad skewered her near virgin pussy.
His fat prick ripped in and out of her little red twat furiously. He shoved her legs way back, so her ankles were up near her face, and started driving his shaft down her tube with long rapid thrusts. He held his body in the air, supported by his feet and hands, only his cock touching her as his hips pumped up and down.
Amy was practically bent in two as my Father rode her and crammed his fuck pole down into her guts. She gasped and grunted as she came, Her eyes closed and her arms jerked and flopped on the bed. Within seconds my Dad came too, pouring his gushing fuck juice down her tight little cunt tube.
He got up off her and pulled his pants up nonchalantly. "Nice little fuck," he said to me, as eh passed me and went out. Amy lay spreadeagled on the bed, astounded by what had just happened.
Before long Amy was hanging around with me all the time. She got to be like my shadow. I managed to get her to change the way she dressed so she was more like everybody else, but no matter what I said, she still remained timid and shy around almost everybody but me.
She never really got used to the group I ran with around school For the most part they were a pretty sleazy lot anyway. There was Jackie Price, Mark Mcguire, Paul Simmons, John Denton, and Phil Jeffries. The only girls were me, Jackie's sister Susan, and now Amy.
Susan was known to be the biggest slut in school, aside from me that is. She had straight blonde hair, and huge fat tits. Her brother was an asshole who liked to bully smaller kids, but he had a huge cock, so I put up with him. Mark and Phil had just returned to school from a juvenile detention center, they'd raped a girl in the gym a few months ago.
During lunch and free periods, we would wander around the yard talking and smoking. The favourite game was touchy feely. The guys would see how much the girls would let them get away with right there with people all around.
I didn't care much. If one or another of them wanted to stick their hands down my pants or up my shirt, that didn't bother me. Susan would or wouldn't let them feel her up, depending on what kind of mood she was in.
Amy turned out to be a delight to them. It embarrassed the hell out of her even to have one of them touch her, let alone when anyone was nearby. Mark or Phil in particular, found it hilarious to wait until a group of kids was passing nearby, and then stand behind her and throw their arms around her.
They would shove their faces into the nape of her neck and kiss and bite her there, while squeezing and mashing her titties openly so the kids passing could hardly miss it. Amy would always try feebly to move away and stutter something inaudible.
One time while we were sitting on the front stairs of the school, Phil stuck his hand right down the front of Amy's pants and squeezed and rubbed her as everyone was going in and out. He kept at it for at least five minutes while goggle eyed boys and icy faced girls walked past.
Another time John managed to undo the ties on her halter and pull the whole thing off, leaving her topless right there in the schoolyard. She kind of sat there bewildered and embarrassed, her arms crossed in front of her, and her whole body turning red with embarrassment. Me and Susan had to chase him down and tear the halter away from him.
At lunch one day, me and Amy were sitting on a kind of ledge in the yard. It was a foot or so deep and had a steel fence running along the back of it. The guys were standing around talking an shooting the shit. Jackie moved over against Amy, pushing himself between her legs as they hung down.
The ledge was just the right height for him to kiss and fondle her without having to even bend over. The rest of us mostly ignored them as Jackie kind of pushed her legs apart and dry humped against her. His lips were sucking on her s as his tongue slid in and out of her mouth.
He pushed her legs further apart, and raised them up so her feet were on the ledge on either side of her. This started to create some interest, mainly because Amy was only wearing a dress with a short skirt, and nothing underneath.
That hadn't been her idea of course. Phil had wrestled her to the ground on the way to school and yanked them off. Him and Paul played catch with them which unfortunately ended in the panties falling in a pool of oily muck.
Amy had been walking around school like she had eggs in her shoes, afraid of a stay breeze or something. The only thing she had to worry about were the guys of course. They took every opportunity to grab at her skirt.
During a class change, paul had snuck up behind her and yanked her skirt up from behind so it was up above her waist. The hallway was crowed with kids at the time and a lot of them had gotten a nice eyeful of her naked pussy and ass.
Now, as Jackie humped against her, the skirt was pushed u to her waist and covered nothing at all. Amy kept glancing around apprehensively, afraid someone other than us would see her wide open pussy and asshole. She wasn't even happy about us seeing it, she was always embarrassed about showing her self to anybody.
Jackie humped slowly against her, his hands slid up and down her thighs, and over her pussy. I saw him thrust a finger inside her, and Amy groaned and looked around again anxiously.
Jackie suddenly grabbed the edges of the dress, and pulled up hard. He pulled the whole loose dress up over the startled girl's chest and past her fumbling arms before she could react. Now she was naked except for a little white bra, and Jackie pulled that off next.
"Hey! Are you nuts man?" Mark hissed.
"You're gonna get us all expelled asshole!" Phil exclaimed.
"Just take it easy." he replied easily.
He pulled his cock out of his zipper and pushed the fat head up against Amy's pussy slit. Before she or anyone else could say or do anything, he had thrust his hot erection deep into her guts.
Amy was helpless to do anything about the sudden fucking. She was naked, and pushed up against the fence. She was too timid to even curse at him as he held her there and thrust himself in and out of her box. We all tried to pull closer together so nobody passing by would see them.
Unfortunately, there were kids passing on the other side of the fence too, and it was pretty damned obvious to them what was happening. Jackie thrust his whole body against the naked girl as she sat, split open on the ledge. His body crushed her back into the fence, which gave and then bounced her forward again, accelerating his fucking.
His hands were on her legs, holding them up and apart as his cock rutted into her. amy hated this, but her body responded nevertheless. We could all see the heat rush to the surface of her body. her breasts swelled, and her nipples hardened as Jackie skewered her.
Her arms slid up above her head, her fingers latching through the fence and using it for support. Jackie ignored everyone and continued to thrust his cock in and out of the girl. She was practically hanging from the fence as his hands shoved her legs so far apart and up that he lifted her assn off the ledge.
Then she came and collapsed against him, her arms going around his shoulders and her face digging into his neck as his humping movements threw her back and forth with him, and his cock churned into her pussy slit.
He groaned and jabbed his cock deep into her belly, spewing his cum into her.
To top that off, he and the guys ran off with her dress. Susan thought that was a laugh riot and I had to hide the mortified girl in a bush until I could chase them down and get the thing back.
Of course my Dad continued to fuck me every single night. Sometimes I brought Susan and Amy over and he would fuck all of us, and watch us do each other. Susan loved that. He liked Amy most of all, because of how timid and obedient she was.
A couple of months after he'd first fucked her, he had her leave home and move in with us. Her parents didn't mind since they were poor and really crowded. I liked it too. My Dad took out most of his Sadistic sexual energy on Amy, leaving me relatively free of the beatings and such.
I felt a little guilty about it though, especially when My Dad put her out in the yard like he'd done to me. I wasn't allowed out there but I watched as my Dad tied her across a low fence post and led the dogs up behind her. They screwed her for hours.
Sometimes the guys would come by and watch. They got a real kick out of the way my Dad would fuck Amy so hard her teeth would chatter. We had a few orgies with them. My Mom liked those more than me. None of the guys was surprised that my Dad and Mom were fucking me. Susan and her brother fucked all the time after all.
Sometimes my Dad would give me or Amy to friends of his. Sometimes he'd use us to pay bills or pay off favours. That sucked, because his friends were usually ugly and gross. I hated fucking these dirty, ugly old guys.
One time me and Amy had to put on a show. My Dad and his friends all gathered around while we licked and sucked on each other. We did a sixty nine for them, and then we used dildos and vibrators on each other.
Of course all his friends had to fuck us both afterwards. I found out later he'd charged them for it. That made me mad, not because it made me a whore, but because I didn't get any. I figured if anyone was gonna get money from fucking me, it should be me.
I decided to make my own money then. I hung around the old guys in town and waved my ass at them. There were a lot of men more than ready to pay for the privilege of fucking my tender little cuntbox.
When I had enough money, I moved out. My Dad was furious, but I took off before he knew what was happening. He probably took it out on Amy. I didn't care. I was free of him and that lousy little town. I moved into a nice apartment in the city.
For me it's was the perfect life now. I fuck all day and half the night, and get paid a fortune for it. Some of the guys are gross, but I come every time anyway. What kind of job besides whoring would pay so much and let you cum twenty or thirty times a day?
Maybe someday I'll go back home in a limousine and see how My Dad and Mom and Amy are doing.
The End
Anonymous readerReport
2014-10-21 11:07:00
More about Amy being done in public, please.
Anonymous readerReport
2014-10-21 11:06:30
More about Amy being done in public, please. more about her and lots of dogs for hours...maybe after the guys
Anonymous readerReport
2014-10-21 09:59:51
Anonymous readerReport
2014-04-04 09:38:41
Sweg storrie bro. Wanna blaze it 420 with me? I live in Ausralia so hook me up lad
Anonymous readerReport
2014-03-22 20:20:38
bsbbMa Very good blog article.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46811 | When the mind breaks...
Jack's mind was not in the moment, as his eight inches of pulsing meat slammed in and out of that tight, dripping cunt. His mind was on another situation, the body in his trunk, most of all. "Fuck me, harder, yessss" The woman screamed, clutching the sheets in her fist, her hips udulating upwards against his heavy pounding. He didn't even hear her, but thinking of that cold body, her cold flesh, twisted, rain dripping off it, it made his cock explode, his seed filling her womb, falling down on top of woman, as she screamed, moaned, whimpered. He didn't even remember her name, didn't remember her, or how they had met. He just knew he had to release, to feel that burning lust that had built itself in the pits of his stomach. Rolling off of the panting woman, he stood up, rubbing his head as he entered the bathroom, cum still dripping from his now limp cock. The tiles on the floor were cold, much like the body he had dumped in his trunk. He could still remember her face, twisted in agony, as he cut into her. He tilted his head back, going back to it, the deed, the way it had unfolded, the way he had ended up in this mess...
"You know, you could be a little less angry, it's going to kill you one day." Said Jenny, the red headed, green eyed barbie, sitting across from him. She was his wife of five years, beautiful, young, intelligent, successful. But as she talked to him, he could only see her ruby lips forming words, his thoughts were clouded, he was very angry right now, seething, boiling over. He suddenly slammed his knife down, cracking his plate, shattering the glass across the obsidian table. "Shut your fucking mouth, or i'm going to kill you, you dumb whore." He didn't bleieve himself at first, the words that had come out of his mouth, and the demenor at which he had used. "Now get out of my face and go do the dishes." He shoved his plate across the table, standing up and walking out of the room. He could hear her crying, whimpering, as he had finally blew the flame out of their relationship, the straw that would break the camels back. It was that hour, as he slept on the couch that he had snapped. Something in his mind, had suddenly burst, exploded, something black and vile had birthed inside of his skull. Standing up, he procceded to the kitchen, grabbing the 6 inch kitchen knife, serated, stainless steel. Then he climbed all 18 steps, pushing the door open. There she lay, curled up on her side of the bed, her gown wrapped around her small, lithe form. She was beautiful, but as he pulled the edge of the knife across her throat, spilling crimson from it, she looked even more beautiful. Those large green eyes, spreading open, wide in terror, unbelief, even as she twitched, convulsed. It is there that he had ripped the night gown up, way up the curve of those thighs, his hungry eyes, his throbbing cock, sliding deep into her gash. She was hot still, fresh, his weight applied to her small body, not as if it would matter. She could only stare at him, as she bled to death, each pump, shaking her body like a rag doll. He could feel the wetness of her pussy, as he stretched it, as he had done several times before, but none had been sweeter than this time. Each time his cock slammed into her belly, it was a new wave of euphoria, as he shot his seed over her tits, belly, whiped it off of on her face, rubbed it down in the flowing blood, feeling it's warmth, like a rich silk syrup, coating his candy. Wrapping her neatly in a black plastic bag, he put her in the trunk of his small civi, and resumed on picking up the woman he had been seeing on the side, vanessa. She was a real treat, almost as fucked up in the head as he was, but not quite as derranged.
But this was now, no time to dawn on the past. Now that the rush was over, he felt sated, relieved, and regenerated. He showered quickly, and placed some fresh clothes on. "Whe're you going this late, baby?" The little voice came from behind. Turning slowly, he flashed her his famous smile, the handsome, powerful broadcasting charm. "I just need a little air, my love, please lie back down, you need the sleep." She spoke timidly, shyly even as she slid down into the sheets. "Ok, just be safe." He smirked, walking out the door, and getting into his car, the ignition sparking to life, engine roaring up, as he made his way to the docks. The bag was heavy, dead weight had always been, even though he was in peak physical condition, it was still a hastle, ambling down the wooden pier, and tossing the body into the water. The water bubling, rippling, as it sank, deep into the murky depths, secluding it's descent. The bricks adding the weight, so that it would stay where it belonged, buried. Although, he was sure that it would be found, it was highly likely that it would go undiscovered. Nothing did in this town, in this semi-large, neon city. He smiled, sliding into the drivers seat, his hands felt clean, even though they were blood coated, the blood of his sins. He smiled.
Just an introduction... If you would like more, comment. Or shoot me a message.
anonymous readerReport
2011-03-17 01:40:04
Mmmm so sexy I loved the death scene
Anonymous readerReport
2009-06-30 12:38:36
thank you,i enjoyed your fantasy flowing into warm gurgling blood,i am a dolcett fan and beleive it to be stories like yours but in pictures
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46812 | Parody of TV series Shake It Up
This story is a parody of the TV show Shake It Up. The following story takes place during the episode "Boot It Up". If you do not watch the show, or you have not seen the episode, you will still be able to enjoy the story. It takes place following the lunch scene where Rocky discovers her meal might not be catered to her vegetarian tastes. Would you assist her in finding food which caters to that taste? Remember, she is not a vegan, so she could swallow anything you have her milk out.
Alright, Camp Counselor, I think that Rocky requires your assistance in finding food more suited to her unique vegetarian tastes. You have brought her into the kitchen, and no one is around because they are all outside eating or serving food. You are all alone with Rocky, and you would like to show her a healthy protein-rich meal. You unzip yourself and reveal your special pastry bag to the teenager. Your special meal dispenser fills with both excitement and a creamy meal for your camper. You want nothing more than to have this girl suck down your nutritious meal. You have her grab your member full of delicious white goo. You tell her that she ought to tug on it in order to receive her meal. She is not too sure at first, because she would like to make sure it is okay for her, a vegetarian, to ingest your special sauce. You explain to her that while your meal is indeed made from a mammal, it is not made out of one and is therefore safe for vegetarians like her to eat. Vegans need not apply.
So, as Rocky is the only one suitable to swallow your special meal, she continues tugging, but with all of that tugging she has barely produced any sustenance. There are only slight drops of the meal you promised her on the tip of the head of your nozzle. Rocky gets to her knees with the cock right at her face level. She ever so slowly opens her mouth and her tongue begins to tap the head. The pressure from her tongue unleashes a slight bit more juices from the nozzle, as saliva and man juice fall to the floor.
You instruct her to resume tugging at the nozzle, which she does, slowly, with her tongue still on the end. Rocky continues to lick the tip until it is too much juice. She encompasses the full head into her mouth as she flicks it with her tongue trying to receive her meal. You look down at her as she fondles your cock. She now has both eyes closed and saliva mixed with juices are dripping from out of her mouth and down her chin, sparkling all over the floor.
Her pace accelerates as you begin jutting with anticipation. You have no idea why this has even been able to go on for so long without the thick white protein-filled cream spraying all over Rocky's beautiful face. You bite your lip in anticipation as Rocky continues sucking hard; she gives one firm clasp from the end of the bottom of your penis up until the head. The head leaves her mouth, and just in time.
Instantly the nozzle begins spraying Rocky's face with it's white goo. It is all over her eyebrows and forehead, in her hair, and dripping down her lips. Webs of the man-milk are dangling from her eyebrows and laying atop her hair. You look down at her and you feel kind of disappointed you were not able to give this girl the meal she deserved. Despite all of the trial, none of the cream reached the inside of her mouth.
Rocky is not one to be easily defeated.
She sticks the nozzle back into her mouth and resumes sucking. Webs and streams of goo go flying into her throat. You hear the most beautiful muffled moans as if they were sung by a choir of angels.
Ecstasy consumes you as Rocky finishes her meal, with half of it still dripping down her face.
Your pastry bag may be empty, and you may believe your job as camp counselor complete with Rocky's belly full of your delicious cream, her lips are still pouring with the viscous liquid. She seems satisfied, as do you. You step back and you start to try to re-dress yourself and go back outside.
Rocky stops you. She needs your help. All of that tugging and leaking has caused quite the mess. Not only is her face still glazed with juices, but it had also been covering the floor. And, what do you know? She had the grand misfortune of wearing a skirt!
Rocky's legs are covered and shining as if covered with the heaviest oils. She turns her back to you, with her face to the floor. She shows you her filthy legs. She cannot simply go back to camp like this!
You stare at her slowly jiggling legs. As you look at them it is as if there are a thousand jiggles in one. Her muscles gyrate as you stare at her from behind with her face to the floor.
Her legs are so covered it is almost as if her legs are a mirror. They are filthy.
Rocky is covered in filth from the earlier session with your pastry bag. You are ashamed to have failed your camper with such a difficult dispenser. You lower yourself and begin licking the remains. The taste is at first slightly bitter, but as you remove every layer of cream, the taste becomes more and more delicious. You cannot stop licking. It is the best taste you have ever had against your tongue.
Rocky reaches and begins removing her clothing which had been soiled by the cream. Her hands are merely inches away from your face and they graze your tongue. As her ring finger touches your tongue she begins to moan. You are unsure. This is a moan of frustration. You look before you. It seems as if Rocky had been preparing a meal for you all this time.
A viscous liquid begins trailing from just beyond her hand and onto the floor. You stare at it hungrily. Rocky's finger touches the tip of her vaginal lips, barely protruding the entrance. She removes her soaked finger and begins feeding it into your mouth. You taste it and suck it from her finger. This is a taste far greater than that of Rocky's delicious pastry remains you had been licking from her previously. Rocky is moaning much more heavily and with increasingly greater frustration. She resumes the practice of barely protruding her entrance and feeding you her special goo. It taste delicious, but you are near paralyzed. You instinctively know that Rocky has made you this special goo in return for the cream you had given to her earlier. Your body forces you to inch forward. Rocky continues trying to feed you her goo until...
Your tongue touches the lips of Rocky's goo factory. Rocky lets out the loudest moan you have ever heard. You are sure this moan might have shattered the Earth itself, but your body will not stop, your tongue begins flicking for more and more of the delicious goo Rocky is offering to you.
You dive face first into it as your licking continues. The more you lick, the more that comes out, and you are careful not to waste a single drop. A few feet in front of your face the most beautiful girl on the planet is moaning with greater vigor and beauty than before. You cannot stop. You begin to worry your cock is leaking, but that is of no concern, your only wish is to finish your meal.
As your tongue finally completely probes the teenager's vaginal lips Rocky yells and juices begin flowing, you suck all of the juice up as you continue protruding and taking back your tongue. You relieve your head as Rocky's legs give out, and she pants on the floor with the most resounding beat. Rocky is finished.
After a long rest and warm silence, you hear Rocky's stomach growl. She is clearly unsatisfied with what you have given her to eat so far, and she is more than willing to swallow anything else you can feed her. You hover above Rocky's face, fully erect. Rocky is quickly back on her knees and you are in front of her with your cock on eye level with her. She wastes no time in the haste of her hunger. She is sucking it hard and you are enjoying every second of it.
Just then, you hear talking coming from the entranceway. Apparently Major Dance has fired her two head chefs and has instead hired these two tall, fit, young adult men. You have always known Major Dance to have a short temper, and you realize that if anyone catches you and this beautiful teenage girl, it could be your job, your life, that is in jeopardy next. As they walk closer and closer to the kitchen, your panic hastens. Each passing step makes your heart beat even faster. You look down at the ecstatic girl giving you an amazing blowjob, and even though it is great, your fear will not fail to persist.
There just is not enough time to put your dick away. Rocky is still sucking it and doing a wonderful job. You hear the new chefs as they reach the entranceway of Rocky and your love-nest and you are completely helpless.
The two young men look at the scene of you feeding your cock to the beautiful teen year old girl. Both men grimace with anticipation as they remove their peripheries to join you as Rocky continues sucking your cock. You are relieved to not be in any danger of losing your job, or worse. However, as these two young men remove their pants, the two chefs reveal the largest and fattest shafts of dicks you could ever imagine. One stands on either side of Rocky and are both pulsating with confidence. You cannot help but feel both inadequate and jealous. Would Rocky even bother to service you at this point?
Rocky reaches out and clasps her petite young hands around each of the young man's fat shafts. Her hand can barely grasp the full circumference. You notice her muscles tensing as she eagerly tries her best with these two large penises. Her stressed arms and armpits are in plain sight for you. Even though your cock is still in her mouth, it is painfully obvious her active task has changed to stroking off these two strong men. Rocky finally appears to get somewhat of a grasp on either penis. Quickly, however, each cock begins leaking it's initial juices, as if either man only needed the touch of a beautiful supple young princess to begin seeping out precum from the fat heads of the tips of their penises.
Rocky finally resumes actively sucking your cock, now with her eyes closed. She opens one eye and looks up to you with the most innocent, trusting, and adorable face, with her mouth completely full with your cock and each of her hands more than full with two more penises.
Rocky alleviates her mouth from your cock. As she does so, drool and juices leak out from her mouth and onto her lips and down her chin. With bated breath, you watch her leave you completely unattended. She reaches her tongue to the cock on her left which has more than begun leaking it's initial juices. Rocky cleans the tip of this man's penis with only her tongue alone. As more and more juices continue to outpour, she turns her head away and some of the juices drip to the floor.
With her eyes closed, Rocky turns. She passes right by your cock as your frustration builds. She begins licking the crown of the cock on her right, and then she begins taking this cock into her mouth. This cock is much larger than yours, and it has no trouble slickly gliding over Rocky's tongue as it teases her throat, dropping it's initial juices on her uvula as they drip down her throat. Excited, the young chef begins thrusting his hips in and out with Rocky's motions. You can tell he is enjoying himself. He is enjoying himself with your camper more than you are. She is your camper and you are responsible for her, and yet, this other man's cock seems much more pleasing to Rocky than your own. Your jealousy builds as she moans in delight at the strong, long thrusts this chef makes within her throat.
Drool and juices begin leaking from Rocky's lips, so much so that Rocky removes this man's cock from her mouth; she moves her head and turns it toward your cock. She licks the nozzle of your cock - once, and turns to the man on her left.
With a pelvic thrust, the man juts his cock on Rocky's cheek, painting some of his man juices on Rocky's pretty face. He thrusts outward allowing Rocky access to his cock by her mouth. She licks the tip of his cock and cleans it entirely with her mouth alone, without needing to take in the head of his cock.
She turns back to your cock and finally resumes sucking, this time with what feels like the vigor of ten thousand suns. She seems to be stroking either cock with her hand even harder now too. This is a girl who seems to be working at full capacity, at her absolute limit. There is no way this once-innocent girl could handle anything else.
All three of you are enjoying Rocky, and she is enjoying all three of you enjoying her. You all feel ecstasy with each of the teenager's muffled moans. You are all thrilled to be taking part of the healthy diet of an adolescent. The anticipation had been building for some time now within the three of you, and as you all look down at this beautiful, supple, young teen, you all instinctively know, without any words needing to be said, that the three of you are about to be spraying gooey white juices all over the face of this beautiful young girl.
Rocky has been working hard, so very very very very very hard, for this reward, and you all are about to give it to her.
Just then, you all hear someone call out the camper's name. It is her older brother, Ty Blue. Apparently he is looking for his little sister; his mother drove out to pick up her daughter. He is asking something about a refund, and asking if Rocky can hear him, because he cannot see her.
All three of you feel panicked but paralyzed at the prospect of this innocent sweet young girl's older brother seeing her entertaining three cocks at once like this. You are all filled with such intense panic, your heart is racing, and so is your heartbeat, including all of the places in your body which resonate that heartbeat; including the cock in the mouth of this young girl.
All three cocks are twitching in fear and the friction from Rocky's hands and mouth is not helping. You all still hear Ty calling out his sister's name. Your cock is still thick and hard inside of Rocky's mouth, as Rocky's hands are firmly clasp around the leaking cocks of the chefs on either side of her. You got away with it once, but you seriously doubt you will get away with it a second time when a little girl has your dick in her mouth in front of her older brother. You do not know what to do, but you, and everyone surrounding you is paralyzed with fear.
Finally, Ty rounds the corner and witnesses his sweet innocent child sister handling three men's cocks at once. It is a sight of horrors for him, to have to look at his younger sister covered in multiple men's initial juices, and with her handling all three of those men at once. This was his child sister; he had known and cared for since she was a baby. How could he be witnessing her being so completely defiled?
Just then, all three of you can no longer take the discomfort and fear which had been building up inside of you. All of your twitches of fear are just met with Rocky's friction. You all explode your cocks all over Rocky's face at once. Gobs and gobs, stream onto streams, webs upon webs, land onto the teenagers face and into her throat. That's it. You are done now and you are staring at the older brother of the little girl you have just ruined.
Ty stares onto the girl he had always believed to be his loving child sister. He had always thought of her as a child, and never once thought differently. Seeing this, however, made him confused...
Confused as to why his own cock was now pulsating, and entirely erect. Ty could not explain why he removed his own pants and boxers within seconds of witnessing three men blow their loads onto his kid sister's face. Ty did not understand why he was now revealing his throbbing manhood to his child sister. Gobs and gobs of older men's, men older than Ty himself, were dripping, pouring, from his little sister's face. And yet, his legs could not help but propel him forward as he neared his very own penis toward his very own sister.
Ty did not know what was coming over him, he felt powerless to stop himself. Ty stopped within inches of his sister, with his own cock nearly touching her face. He could not stop himself. Within seconds, Ty was covering his sister more fiercely than you or the other two men could accomplish combined. He was panting. He was moaning. He was panting and moaning. Rocky just looked up at him, motionless. Ty's expression on his face showed he had no control, like a sleepwalker - a sleepwalker dispensing man goo on his kid sister's face.
Rocky was turned toward Ty, her mouth was widening from the shock of the situation. No one had moved. Ty quickly went limp when he finally emptied, and his face filled with horror.
Everyone was still and motionless. It seemed as if nothing was moving in that room. Almost nothing, anyway.
One of Ty's streams slowly made it's way down Rocky's face. It moved down her forehead, and glided down her pretty nose. It continued dripping until it reached her lip. Rocky did not move for a second throughout all of this. The goo was positioned, dripping on her upper lip, seemingly making a path to her tongue. Ty looked at complete disgust at the mess he had just made. He saw what was about to happen, and his heart was both pounding and felt motionless at the same time as he watched that one gob drip, and then pull itself back up onto her upper lip, drip, then pull itself back up, drip, then pull itself back up, drip and...
The web of Ty's adult man goo finally slipped from Rocky's upper lip and landed square on her tongue, making a splashing sound against the firm teenage girl's tongue. Ty saw this happen as his sister still looked on wide-eyed in shock...
Looked on wide-eyed in shock as her brother's penis lifted itself right back up with a greater erection than before, and entirely by chance worked it's way right into his little sister's mouth within milliseconds, with all of the spunk from the day working as the perfect lubricant.
Ty's sister looked beautiful and sexy covered in the goo of four men, Ty included. He was in a room with three other men who had also used his sister that day, and she had enjoyed all three of them.
Ty also saw the innocent sister he had always known, but Ty was not in control, here. He could only watch on as his sister began to use a new skill she had only just learned. Rocky, at first meaning to breathe in through her mouth, began sucking her older brother's cock as she stood on her knees at eye level with it.
Ty grabbed the back of his sister's head and began feeding her. His hips pounded like machinery in and out of his own sister's face.
Not wanting to miss an opportunity, you motion towards Rocky and begin to attempt to remove her panties. Blinded by her older brother's intense fury, Rocky attempts haphazardly to remove her own underwear for you. You remove it completely for her, and bring it to your face.
It's soaked. So much so, in fact, that you remove a layer of the viscous substance and attempt spoon-feeding it to yourself, but that hardly removes any of it. You lay on the ground as Rocky begins using her remaining strength to hover over you - reverse cowgirl. When she is in position, you level her onto your shaft, her juices instantly soaking your creamy dispenser as you slowly begin thrusting in and out of her.
Reminded of her thick juices, you take her panties, still in hand, and move them back toward your face. You plant them on top of your mouth where you lick and slurp the remaining juices. Inches away from your nose, your nostrils are filled with the heaviest heavenly aroma you ever had the privilege to smell.
As you learned earlier, the young chefs are not ones to miss opportunity, either. They retain their previous positions on the left and right side of Rocky. Rocky, still under intense pressure from her brother brutally pounding his pelvis into her mouth grabs onto the men's cocks at each side of her, squeezing partially in agony, and partially in lust.
You continue thrusting yourself in and out of Rocky. She is moaning heavily but you cannot be sure if that is due to difficulty breathing or if she is enjoying herself. You look up at her only to see Ty. Tears are streaming down the young man's face as he skullfeeds the girl he once believed as his sweet, innocent little sister. He is crying, but he cannot stop himself. Rocky's face is still covered with his, yours, and the splooge from two more men, and yet Ty will not let up as he pounds himself into his sister, until finally...
Ty releases himself deep inside of his little sister's throat. Rocky has no choice but to swallow. You can hear her gulping and the seed plopping into her belly as she continues riding you. Ty continues allowing for webs and webs of his seed suited for procreation hit the back of his child sister's throat. The chefs watch with great enjoyment at the grand taboo as Rocky continues to stroke their increasingly slippery cocks.
Ty finally falls to the floor and seems to be regaining his senses. He seems as if he is becoming aware of the situation. Just in time as either of the young men begin to fight over who will have their turn next inside of Ty's sister's throat.
Now that Ty is aware of what is happening he begins crying for real. Cocks are bouncing in front of his child sister's face and he is just sitting on the ground helpless. What is worse is what he had just done to his sister, but he cannot even realize this now. Ty begins sobbing and moaning in existential agony as his little sister moans in complete lust.
Rocky struggles to choose between which of the chef's cocks she will suck. She does not struggle to choose between them so much as she struggles to discern why she would need to choose in the first place. Rocky opens her mouth wide and encompasses the heads of either cock whole.
Meanwhile, you are laying on the ground watching Rocky's round mound bounce up and down on your lap. It is the perfect shape; it is both fit and large. It bounces with every thrust, and several times in between.
You look over to Ty; his lower-half is completely exposed. His eyes were at first transfixed on the face of the sister he had always known. The face of trust and innocence he never believed would change. The face he had just endlessly pounded his dick into. The face covered in multiple men's goo. The face of innocence.
Now, however, Ty was moving. His cock had returned to being limp after he finished, but apparently all of this confusion was too much for him. His hand had coincidentally been idly holding his beaten shaft after the rough treatment he had given it inside of his little sister's mouth.
Rocky winced as she struggled to handle what quickly became the two most eager men on the planet, either one, already larger than Rocky could handle, was attempting to relieve themselves deep in her mouth, and all at once.
Rocky was trying her best to manage to enjoy the idea she was pleasing to these men, but she could not shake that her widened mouth was becoming painful.
Rocky continued just bouncing on your lap through all of this, and you could not care otherwise, for her underwear was inside of your mouth, and her gelatin rear was jiggling right before your eyes. It might not have been eventful, but there is no other life experience which could top this.
It seemed as if Ty agreed. Ty's eyes finally shifted, as did his hands. Ty resigned from focusing on his sister's face.
This was no longer Ty's sister. This was nothing more than a body, and an amazing body at that. Ty began jerking off his own cock as he watched each movement the girl, his sister, made on your pelvis. Each bounce, each jiggle. He stroked himself in tandem with yours and her movements. Ty was fully aware of the situation now, but his sister's beauty was enough to convince him that taboo could not stop him from jerking off to his sister.
Finally, either chef gave out. They began shooting their jets inside Rocky's throat, but she began gagging. The men removed themselves from her mouth as jets upon jets began shooting across Rocky's hair. Rocky stopped gyrating atop your own shaft. All of the power of the two large cocks which had just completed their mutual journey in Rocky's mouth knocked Rocky right off of your lap.
Rocky's anticipation had been building, as had yours. The two men quickly stepped back to avoid Rocky falling on them.
Rocky attempted to reposition herself on your lap as quickly as possible as to not spoil your mutual climax.
However, in her haste, Rocky failed to line things up properly. Juices had been heavily leaking this whole time as she accidentally glided you into her perfectly lubricated and ridiculously tight backdoor.
Rocky's climax was ruined, but yours could not be.
Rocky attempted to reassert herself and position you back into the right hole, but before you could allow for her to force you to leave her exit, you rise up, and slam her onto the ground, knees holding her up, face and shoulders to the cold floor.
You do not know what has come over you, but you are well aware that your body will not let anything else happen. You pin Rocky's hands to the ground as she squirms - which only makes things much tighter and more enjoyable for you. You continue drilling into her unbelievably tight colon, with your body practically wrapping hers. You can notice out of the corner of your eye that it appears Ty is really enjoying the spectacle, beating himself faster than you could ever imagine.
Rocky's perfect butt jiggles against your pelvis with each thrust. This reminder really sets you off as to just who you are about to finish inside - this is the most beautiful woman in the world.
Your thrusts get stronger and deeper as your adrenaline builds. In and out and in and out and in and out and in and out and in and out. Rocky is audibly crying and moaning in pain as all this goes on inside of her. She had been looking for a good time, but never suspected to go this far.
You feel guilt, internally, but you know that Rocky is about to feel something far different internally as well. With a few short juts you begin releasing your seed inside her digestive tract. You can feel the webs leave you and hit the inside of Rocky's walls, vibrating like some sort of echolocation. It feels as if this goes on forever, it is a greater feeling than anything you've ever known, Rocky's unbelievably tight hole just will not stop juicing you as this all takes place. You are going to finish completely inside of her.
Finally, you begin streaming the final remains of the dynasty of build-up you have felt this past session. You remove yourself from Rocky as your senses come over you and you begin to realize she is really crying.
As you remove yourself from her, Rocky does not move. She is covered, soaked, in men's juices, and she is crying.
Each of her holes are covered the most and there is no doubt in your mind each are leaking with the remains of what lies inside.
Rocky's whole body is beautiful and glistening from the day's events, you marvel at her perfect figure as her beautiful rear is on display for all.
Her legs have not moved and she begins shaking which just causes for her butt to gyrate and jiggle more wondrously than before. She is still crying. Ty stands up and approaches his sister.
The man who Rocky had always known and looked up to as a father figure would surely come to her rescue as she withered in so much agony from the streams you had just finished unleashing within her. Ty was sure to help his sister up and stay with her until she felt better.
For the first time since you had pinned her down, Rocky lifts her head to look up at her loving brother.
Instead she is met with the lascivious pervert Ty Blue jerking his own cock right at his own child sister's face. Rocky can barely fathom the situation by the time Ty climaxes, completely covering Rocky's beautiful well-glazed face with his final farewell. The seed instantly splashes against the tears Rocky had been crying, crying out for someone to help her as you defiled the girl.
Ty finishes on his sister; or 'the body' as he could only now think of it. He turns away from her as Rocky collapses on the ground, covered in four separate men's semen in each of her holes and all over her body and covering her hair.
The most beautiful girl in the world had been eternally ruined by four men she would have been led to believe she should trust the most. Her camp counselor might have made sense, two staff member's at a children's camp might be very taboo, but it could happen, yet Rocky could not believe what her own brother had done to her.
Yet, through all of this intense use, Rocky continued to look truly beautiful.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46813 | Waiting on his sister before she goes to the disco, John runs into his sisters friends, and their plans...
John sat on his porch, smoking a joint as he watched the young girls walk by. Friday meant the teenage disco down the road and a bit of idle purving. He reckoned they were all around sixteen or seventeen, and the parade of tight asses and young tits was better than watching the news. He wondered why girls didn’t dress like that when he was young, but then everyone thinks that.
He was really waiting for his sister Anna, who was going to the disco and planned to change in his house. His parents weren’t so happy about small dresses and high heels so she always wore her sexy clothes under her normal ones to pass her parents inspections before going to her brother’s house to transform for the boys.
John had to admit that Friday’s were starting to become his favourite night of the week; watching his little sister change into whatever these young sluts seemed to be wearing these days would send him out on the town with a hard-on that lasted through Sunday. She was a petite brunette with a killer ass and a cute little smile that would always send him over the edge. When they were younger they used to fool around under the covers, pretending they were a couple, but since they had grown-up more it had changed into gentle flirting.
The steps outside his apartment block were raised above the road and two teens sat on the lower level, slightly facing away from him. They were handing around a bottle of vodka, drinking it straight and grimacing each time they took another swig. John looked closer at the two girls.
The first was a pale redhead, who had a slight emo look with her dark eye shadow, was wearing a tight black and white striped dress that hugged her slim figure. Her hair hung down past her bare shoulders and her shy eyes kept glancing up at John whenever she turned her head. The other one, a skinny blonde, wasn’t glancing up at John, she was staring.
‘Is that a joint?’ she called up, while putting her fingers under the waistband of her denim hot pants. She jutted out her chest, proudly showing off her sexy breasts that were barely contained within a tight white top that was split down the middle.
‘Maybe’ he said, taking another drag.
She walked up the steps and stood above him, her blonde hair blocking out the setting sun. John took her in more closely. Her legs were perfection, without an ounce of fat, and he thought that he’d be able to wrap his two hands around her tiny waist. Her face was of a naughty angel, the soft eyes off-set by an inviting mouth and high cheek bones. She was no emo, her bright make-up and light pink streaks in her blonde hair showed a more cheerleader air.
‘Can I have some?’ she asked, twirling her hair in an obvious attempt at flirting to get her way. John shrugged, why not he thought, and handed it over. She took a long drag and blew it out through her nose. John smirked, she was trying to be cool in front of him.
‘What’s your name?’ he asked, as she handed him back the joint.
‘Emma’ she said, sitting down beside him ‘you’re Anna’s brother, right?’
‘Yeah, you waiting for her too?’ he said, looking at his watch ‘I’m not expecting her for another hour.’
‘I know, she just texted us. Got any more of that inside?’ she said, pointing at the joint that was nearly finished.
‘I’ve got something better’ he said, opening his legs and not exactly hiding the large erection in his jeans. It was a ridiculous move, but he didn’t feel like being flirted with all night, he wanted to know the score. He had heard the rumours about what went on at these discos, and thought he might as well test it.
She arched her eyebrow sexily and looked down towards her friend.
‘You promise to help me out with a problem I have with my friend?’
‘Depends on the problem…’
‘You don’t need to know the problem’ she said ‘but you’ll definitely enjoy the solution…’
She ran back down the stairs and John watched out of the corner of his eye as they urgently whispered between each other. Eventually the redhead nodded and they both came up the stairs. He stood up as they reached him.
‘Hi, I’m Sarah’ said the redhead. John took her in more closely, admiring the small dash of freckles running down the top of her cute nose, her small lips still full and pout.
Emma, the blonde, stood beside her. As John said hello back she put her arm around the girls’ waist and squeezed, before slowly moving her hand down to rest on her ass. The redhead, Sarah, scolded her lightly and slapped her hand away.
‘So what have you got that’s better than weed, eh?’ she asked ‘we’ve got a disco to go to after all.’
John smiled ‘come inside, I’ll show you’. He was thinking that his sister might arrive at any minute, but it was worth the risk; these two girls were giving off a serious vibe, especially the blonde, and the red head had a look in her eyes that said to John ’it’s always the quiet ones’, so he couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
The girls walked ahead of him and John watched their tight little asses shake down the hallway; the tight dress squeezing the redheads’ ass while her high heels lifted it up and showed off her superb, long legs and the blonde wriggled her juicy cheeks in the denim hot pants that barely covered half of her ass. John was so entranced he forgot to lock the door behind him.
Once inside, John beckoned them to sit around the table on the couch as he went into his room to get his party pack, as his friends liked to call it. He listened to the girls giggling in the other room while he checked what was left. It was more than enough.
‘Well’ he said while grabbing three shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard ‘how would you girls like to do an Irish tequila? I wouldn’t normally offer, but you two look mature for sixteen.’
‘Oooh’ said Emma ‘what’s an Irish tequila?’
‘Like everything Irish, it’s stronger and better.’
He poured out three shot glasses and took out two bags of white powder.
‘Wait, I forgot the lemon!’ he said, jumping up to the fridge and taking out a plate of lemons. After cutting a few slices, he lowered each one into a bag of powder, coating it in white crystals.
‘Now girls, hold out your hands.’
The two girls, who had been sitting together on the couch held out their hands silently. John took the other bag and took a large pinch out of each and sprinkled it on the girls’ hands before doing it himself.
‘What is this stuff?’ the redhead asked, nervous despite herself. She seemed to be one of those cool and aloof girls – never wanting to speak too much in case she got caught out saying anything stupid.
‘It’s cocaine’ said John ’and the lemons are covered in crushed-up ecstasy. The whiskey is just whiskey, but I still rate that the most dangerous.’
‘It’s okay, Sarah’ said Emma, balancing the cocaine ’my sister did it before and said it was great.’
‘Well, let’s do it shall we?’ said John, sitting down between the two girls, feeling their warm bodies resting against his ‘first lick the cocaine, then the shot, then the lemon.’
After a momentary hesitation the two girls went for it. With grimaces and squeals they did it all, slamming the shot glasses down in the table and collapsing onto John, laughing with the triple whammy of highs. John laughed with them, enjoying the feeling of the two girls’ hands touching him, and felt himself get hard as Emma moved her hand onto his inner thigh and stroked her fingers up and down.
‘That was amazing!’ screamed Emma to her friend ’I could do another one right now!’
‘Easy now’ said John ’there’s plenty of time for that later.’
‘So what will we do in the meantime?’ asked Emma, staring at him and squeezing the inside of his thigh playfully. The instant hit of the two drugs and the drink had already gotten the girls giddy and loosened up.
‘I dunno’ said John ‘we could play a game…’
‘What sort of game?’ asked Emma. She asked in a way that all three knew what type of game she was suggesting.
‘What about a kissing game?’ said the redhead. John liked where this was going.
‘Kissing games are lame!’ said the blonde, giggling ‘that’s for kids’
‘Well, y’know’ said the redhead, looking at her friend with a grin ‘Emma here gives a great blowjob, or so I‘ve heard…’
‘Sarah!’ shouted Emma, looking genuinely angry ’You know not to say that!’
‘It’s true!’ said Sarah ’I heard you and Anna…’
‘Anna?!’ exclaimed John ’As in my sister?’
Emma raised her eyebrows and looked at John. Her demeanour had changed. A second ago, she was looking daggers at her friend, now she seemed to have decided something.
‘That doesn’t matter, it’s not true. Anyway’ she said, looking at her friend ‘you’re just saying that because you’ve never even been with a boy before’
‘Yes I have!’ said Sarah. The drugs had seemed to loosen her up. She had been suspicious of John at the start, now she didn’t seem to give a shit.
‘Prove it then’ demanded Emma.
‘How the fuck am I supposed to do that?’ asked the redhead, crossing her arms to her chest.
‘Suck his dick. Right now. That’s the game. Whoever makes him cum first is the winner’ responded Emma. John sat, not wanting to say a word in case he fucked this opportunity up.
‘Okay, fine’ said the redhead. John couldn’t help notice that she was eyeing the bulge in his trousers. She looked John in the eye and moved closer to him, thrusting her hand into his trousers and grabbing his cock before whispering in his ear ‘and who say’s I’m sixteen anyway?’
On the other side, Emma began to unbutton his jeans hurriedly, getting frustrated at even the slightest delay. John’s nearly nine inch cock sprung out and the two girls stopped for a moment to gaze at it.
‘Oh my god’ said Sarah as she gingerly wrapped her right hand around the shaft ’I’ve never seen anything so big…’
‘Too much for you, eh?’ he said jokingly, but the girl just smiled and lowered her head to his chest. He felt her long red hair fall onto his lower body and then the warm touch of her mouth as she began to engulf his cock. The blonde stared at her friend, breathing heavily as she brushed the girls’ hair to the side so she could see the action.
John grabbed her by the back of the neck, pulling her towards her and kissing her deeply. The little girls tongue darted around his mouth as she pressed against him, while Sarah spat on his cock and began jerking it. Her lips worked the head while her hands slowly milked his cock and massaged his balls. Even in his increasingly horny state John realised that the girl had skills, despite what her friend had said.
Soon Emma couldn’t keep herself and the blonde dropped to the floor beside her friend.
‘C’mon’ she said, watching her friend ‘you can go deeper.’ With that she began to push her friends head from behind down onto John, causing her to gag harder and her eyes to open even wider. ‘That’s it, take it in, take it all in.’ Despite her best efforts, there was no way the redhead could fit it all on her own, so the blonde took a different approach.
She moved her face towards John, taking off his top, kissing him lightly before whispering ’Fuck her face, fuck it like it was her pussy. I know her, she pretends she’s a little angel but I know she’s nothing but a fucking whore.’
The little redhead whimpered and for the first time looked away at John and towards her friend. For a moment it looked like she would pull her head back but John grabbed her at the back of the hand and said ‘You heard what your friend said, I have to fuck your little whore face.’
With that he began pumping his cock into her mouth. He felt her trying to pull away but that only made him rougher, lifting up off the couch as he quickened the pace. Even with that she couldn’t take it all, but Emma raised the stakes. She moved behind Sarah and lifted John’s legs so they wrapped around the back of her head. He began pulling his legs towards him while pumping his cock down the girls’ throat. The little redhead was gagging hard, her head locked into place, while her cheeks went red as she felt his massive cock fuck her throat.
‘You like that, bitch?’ demanded Emma as her friends’ mascara began to flow down her face ’You fucking cunt, you told everyone that we sucked those guys’ dicks just because you wanted everyone to remember your dumb little party, didn’t you? For the last year everyone’s been laughing behind my back, and you two faced little whore just kept smiling and pretending it wasn‘t you - I know it was you!’
John saw the look of rage on the blondes’ face, but quite frankly couldn’t have given a shit; this little beauty was about to make him cum any second. It didn’t matter to him if this was all to get revenge for some teenage gossip. With a final push, he slammed his cock all the way down her throat, the girls’ eyes meeting his with a look of what John thought was pure terror.
It was only when he released the girl and moved his legs that he saw that she had been feeling her pussy the whole time, reaching her hands under her dress. She sat back, breathless, fingering herself violently to orgasm as Emma reached around, feeling her tits through her top and slapping them through the fabric.
He stood up off the couch and began to jerk his cock to cum over these two sluts’ faces, knowing that they were going to get the full load. It was at that moment that he heard a voice from the door.
‘Emma! No! Not my fucking brother!’
It was his sister, Anna. She stood there; her hands on her hips watching the scene unfold. The two girls looked up at her, still heaving and touching themselves and each other. John stood there, facing his younger sister, but continued to stroke his cock. He saw her hesitate, staring at his manhood. Before she could help herself, John saw her lick her lips.
There was only one thing to do. John turned and walked slowly towards his sister, his cock sticking high into the air. At first she took a step back but then remained stock still as he reached her. Moving behind her, he rested his hands on either of her arms and began kissing her neck.
‘John… I’ve… I never meant this… oh, fuck…’ she whispered, but the soft moan betrayed her as he lightly kissed her neck. He began to unzip the billowy dress and let it drop to the floor, revealing her real party outfit. Not for the first time in his life, John looked on his baby sisters’ body in awe, but this time she had even out done herself.
She wore a short tartan skirt that was frayed at the bottom as if she had cut it even shorter herself. A black fishnet top barely covered her body, riding high at the back and low at the front with the stockings continuing down the sleeves ending with a triangle at the hand. A black bra covered her c-cup breasts and she stood taller than her small frame from black high-heels.
‘Jesus’ he said ‘what were you planning to do at that disco tonight?’
He stood back a moment and soaked in her body. Their mother was Spanish and it showed on her daughter, her olive skin covering a frame that had curves in all the right places. Her slim waist led to an ass that seemed to defy gravity, pert and full, pushing the skirt even higher, while her dark hair flowed down the curve of her arched back. She looked over her shoulders and her eyes rested on her brothers.
‘Do you really think I look sexy?’ she asked shyly, biting her bottom lip.
He couldn’t even respond, instead moving behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her neck and her shoulders. He moved his cock in between her legs, and she squeezed her thighs together, reveling in the feeling of her brothers’ dick pushing against her pussy. She moaned again as he turned her around, stared at her straight in the eyes before gently kissing her upper lip. Soon they were kissing deeply and passionately, now seemingly unaware even of the other two girls in the room.
Emma and Sarah hadn’t been watching the two siblings idly however, both were touching and kissing each other too, the effects of the drugs taking hold over their bodies. The blonde was just in her bra and a g-string, while the other had kept her figure hugging dress on.
Anna reached down and took her big brothers’ cock in her hand, starting to stroke it up and down as they kissed.
‘Do you want this?’ she asked seductively, but with a hint of fear in her voice.
‘I’ve always wanted this, sis, always’
John, fearing he was set to burst, picked his sister up and lay her on the couch. The two girls moved towards them, the redhead crawling across the floor before stopping at the couch. On all fours, she arched her ass into the air, stretching the fabric of her dress to breaking point.
‘Hello’ said Emma, smirking over Anna’s body. ‘Don’t worry, we won’t tell anybody, as long as you don’t tell about us two of course.’ She rubbed Anna’s right breast with her fingers, twisting the nipple roughly through the top. ‘Y’know, I was going to get my revenge on that little bitch over there tonight, but this is a lot more interesting.’
The blonde bent around and starting sucking deeply on John’s cock which had been resting against his sisters’ shaved pussy.
‘Not yet’, the little blonde smirked ‘we haven’t finished the game yet’.
He began to take off his sisters’ panties with one hand while he used the other one to reach out and feel the redheads’ ass. His sister began kissing Sarah, their tongues reaching out to meet each other. After a moment, Emma released his dick and looked at John.
‘I want you to fuck that little whore before you fuck me and your sister. And make sure you pound the little bitch; she deserves it after all the shit she’s been saying about us’ she said simply. He looked at his sister who seemed to nod in agreement and he moved behind the redhead and began touching her ass through the dress.
‘Spank her, you fucker’ demanded Emma, and John obliged willingly. Sarah groaned as he started to spank her hard, moving her dress away to expose her tiny ass. He moved his cock into position and pushed against her pussy opening. He stopped for a moment before looking at the blonde who was watching the scene unfold.
‘What the fuck are you staring at?’ he asked, gesturing towards his sister at Emma ‘lick her pussy you little cunt.’
Obviously, Emma liked being ordered about as well, because she immediately moved towards his sister, slowly slid off her panties, reached below her skirt and began to feel Anna’s pussy. She started to moan in pleasure as Emma started to push her tongue against her clit, moving in circles while fucking her with two fingers.
John couldn’t take it any longer; watching his younger sister getting licked-out made his dick bigger than ever and he started to shove his cock inside the little redheads’ pussy, getting progressively more turned on as it went further in. He felt her tight pussy clamp over his cock. He started to loosen her up, sliding in and out of her faster and faster.
‘Oh fuck yeah’ she whimpered ‘that feels so fucking big inside me… harder… fuck me harder…’
He grabbed her by the hair and pulled her face back towards his own. Moving his hands around her front, he pulled the dress down, exposing her tits, and he used his right hand to feel her body while his left kept her hair pulled back. He quickened the pace, fucking her harder and faster. The girl squealed in pain as he pumped her pussy as fast as he could while his sister began to orgasm on the couch, her body arching in pleasure as the blonde quickened her pace.
He tried to take the whole scene in; his sister groaning loudly, her slim body gyrating against the blonde girls’ mouth. She still had most of her clothes on and John was desperate to finally see those tits that he had fantasised for so long about. Emma seemed to read her mind, reaching up and pushing the bra over her breasts before his sister finished the job. He could see her nipples poking out from behind the fishnet top and he began fucking the redhead even harder; her body began to move away with the force, making him grab her around the hips and pulling her pussy onto his cock.
The little blonde moved away from his sisters’ pussy and began sucking on her tits, eventually kissing her deeply.
‘Do you like watching your brother fucking your friend? Is it turning you on?’
John and Anna’s eyes met. She licked her lips as the blonde started fucking her pussy with two fingers.
‘I fucking love it…’ she almost whispered.
‘You want his big cock inside you?’
‘Yes, more than anything’ she moaned, as John continued to pound the young redhead.
The redheads’ body was starting to shake and her pussy seemed to be almost vibrating. John decided to send her over the edge; he reached out to the table with one hand and took a pinch of ecstasy before shoving it under the girls’ nose. She sniffed it in deeply without really knowing what it was. She screamed at the combined feeling and her body began shaking violently. John could feel a pressure building up against his cock, pushing it back out. The redhead was squirting, her orgasm spilling out onto the floor.
‘Wow, you really are a little whore!’ said the blonde, grabbing the redheads’ face roughly. The girls’ eyes were still rolling up towards the sky, her legs shaking with the force of the orgasm. ‘Now make yourself useful’ she said, pushing the girl towards John’s sister lying on the couch. She made Anna go down on all fours on the couch, spanking her ass to make sure she stuck it out high enough in the air. She seemed to become entranced with his sisters’ ass, rubbing fingers down and around it before sticking them into her tight, inviting pussy.
‘Your sister is incredible’ she said, allowing herself a deep and long lick along her pussy lips and to her asshole. John couldn’t agree more and smiled at his sister as she looked at him over her shoulder. He made a move towards her, unable to help himself anymore.
‘Down boy!’ Emma cried, playfully smacking his cock ‘I need cock now’. She again grabbed the redhead by the hair and positioned her behind his sister and demanded that she eat her asshole.
No matter how much he wanted his sister, John was looking forward to this. The little blonde was practically vibrating sluttiness, her every body movement aimed at getting pleasure. He decided to play her at her own game. He grabbed her hair.
‘So who’s the real slut here, eh?’ he asked, moving his other hand down to her pussy. ‘You want my cock? You want me to fuck your little pussy?’
‘Oh fuck yeah’ she groaned ‘make me your fucking whore!’
He moved everything off the table and, picking the blonde up, dumped her onto the surface and spread her legs wide. He began licking the inside of her leg, moving along her smooth skin and breathing in the smell of this hot little slut. She kept pushing her pussy towards his mouth, desperate for him to lick her wet pussy, but he wouldn’t give her the pleasure, not just yet.
‘Beg me for it, you little bitch. Beg daddy for his cock.’
‘Please! Please fuck me! I need it!’
‘You didn’t fucking listen, you whore’ he hissed at her, smacking her tits roughly ‘I said beg Daddy for his cock.’
‘I’m sorry! Please Daddy, please fuck my pussy! It’s so wet… please!’
‘Not good enough now’ he said harshly.
He moved to the head of the table and pushed his balls into her face. He could feel her breathing in the scent deeply and he let his whole weight dropping onto her face, making her go red with the lack of air. He put his hands around the back of her head and lifted it towards him, positioning his cock against her lips.
‘Open wide for Daddy’
She tentatively opened her mouth and he shoved his cock in deeply causing her to gag against his thrust. Deciding she needed a dose of her own medicine, John began fucking her mouth roughly, feeling his cock slide down her throat. Watching the young girls’ eyes bulge and his cock disappear into his mouth nearly made him cum, but he wanted to keep that for as long as possible. Before he finished, he grabbed her behind the head with both hands and began fucking her face as hard as she could. The little blonde girl started to gag wildly, using her hands to try and push him off her.
‘Oh fuck’ she gasped, gulping for air, before regaining her composure and asking with a smiled ‘so, do I win the game?’
John smiled back. That’s better, he said, grabbing her legs again and spreading them wide. He rested the cock at the top of her pussy for a moment and looked at her, waiting.
‘Please Daddy’ she almost whimpered ‘please fuck me…’
With that, he shoved his cock as deeply as he could into the little blonde. He could only force it halfway, but even with that the girl screamed loudly, reaching out both hands to grab onto anything as her body rocked against his thrusts.
John used his weight to force more of his cock inside her tight pussy before pulling it back out and starting to get into a rhythm. The little girl squirmed beneath him, her body trying to take in his cock. He looked across at his sister who had her head rested sideways on the arm of the couch, groaning loudly as the redhead lapped at her ass hole. She reached down with her own hand and began rubbing her clit to orgasm, watching her brother fuck her best friend.
‘You want it, sis?’ he said, grabbing the blonde by the thighs and pulling her onto his cock, his full length going in and out of the small girl.
She almost couldn’t respond, instead biting her bottom lip and groaning. ‘I want it so bad, so fucking bad. Fuck me… stick your cock inside me…’
‘What do you want me to do to you’
‘I want you to fuck me… I want you to fill my little pussy… I want… I want… I want you to hurt me…’
With that, John pushed away from the blonde. Moving to the couch, he grabbed Sarah and pushed her away, the little redhead falling to the floor, naked and panting.
John began feeling his sisters’ ass, pulling the tartan skirt down and past her high heels. Resting his cock against her ass, he pulled her by her breasts towards him. Her head reaching behind, they met in a deep and passionate kiss. He moved his hand down to her pussy and began rubbing her clit, making her groan into his mouth, while she reached around and grabbed his cock.
‘Are you going to fuck me, big brother? Are you going to fuck your little sister?’
Listening to his little sister talk dirty broke any doubts that John may still have had. He pulled her fishnet top over her head, leaving her naked except for her high heels. He took one long feel of her body, resting on the curve of her back and pushing it down so her ass stuck up into the air. He began rubbing the tip of his cock along her pussy, pushing it upwards and feeling her wetness.
‘Tell me what you want me to do to you, little sis’
She looked around again and pulled his face towards hers. To his surprise, she had a look of real seriousness on her face.
‘Please, John. I’ve always wanted to be used, my boyfriend, he’s not… I just want to be fucked. I want you to hurt me, to use me, do anything you want with me…’
He understood, but he couldn’t bring himself to be rough with her just yet. He kissed her again, feeling her smooth body with his hands. He pushed her head back onto the couch and moved his cock to the entrance of her pussy. He could feel the warmth emanating from it, begging for him to be inside her.
He pushed inside, feeling her pussy clamping down on his cock. It was so tight he could barely fit it inside her but the feeling of fucking his little sister was immense. He had never felt anything like it. He didn’t even notice the two other girls moving to the two siblings’ side to watch them fuck each other.
Emma wriggled underneath his sister, her legs coming around and locking John against Anna, plunging his cock even deeper inside her. Sarah got on all fours and brought her head down beneath him and began sucking on his balls, taking them into his mouth.
‘You dirty little sluts. You dirty little fucking sluts’ he gasped, almost in disbelief.
With that, John decided to treat his sister like she wanted him to. He got a purchase on her hips, thrusting inside her and holding it one more time. He then pulled out until only the tip rested inside her.
‘Oh God, fuck me big brother, fuck me like I always wanted you to’
He violently thrusted his cock all the way in, making her scream with pain and pleasure. Squeezing her hips tightly, he began to fuck her hard, roughly pounding his little sisters’ cunt.
‘Is that what you want, you little cunt? You want your own brother to fuck you?’
‘Yes, fuck me! Fuck your sister! It’s your pussy, fuck your pussy!’
He could feel her on the edge of an orgasm already, her little body shaking against his. Even with this, she still began to push back against him, their two bodies working together so they could feel themselves inside each other, the taboo heightening every sense.
After only what seemed like moments, John felt his sister convulse in an orgasm that rocked her body. She screamed loudly and bit the sheets at the end of the couch, her ass shaking as her brothers’ cock continued to thrust in and out of her.
The blonde by now was licking her lips and thrusting against his sister in an almost sexual frenzy, pulling Anna’s mouth towards her tits. John saw her hand reach down and feel her own clit, trying to watch John’s cock go in and out of his sister.
‘Oh my God’ she said in an almost awed voice ‘this is so fucking hot.’ She stopped and looked at John. ‘Fuck me too, please fuck me!’
John looked down to see the blonde raising her pussy off the couch, touching it against his sisters. He pulled out and began to fuck the blonde underneath, sending her into an almost immediate orgasm.
‘Oh yes Daddy, fuck your baby girls’ pussy!’ she screamed, bringing his sisters’ face up to hers ‘Your brothers’ cock feels so fucking good inside me… it’s so big.. you’re not allowed to have it back…’
His sister didn’t take kindly to that, pushing the girls face and slapping her roughly.
‘He’s mine you little bitch!’ and then spat on her face. This only seemed to turn the blonde girl on even more.
The two girls wrestled for a moment, before John grabbed his sisters’ hair and pulled her up from the blonde. The redhead stayed on the floor, looking up at the three on the couch with a look of total submission, fingering her pussy as mascara continued to run down her pretty face. John decided to deal with her later. First came his sister.
‘You know you shouldn’t be fighting!’ he shouted in his sisters’ ear ‘you’re going to have to be punished now.’
She smiled defiantly, drool running out of her mouth. He reached down and spread her ass wide open, pushing his cock against the small opening. For the first time, she started to have a look of fear on her face.
‘John… I’ve never…’
He didn’t wait for her to finish, pushing his cock inside roughly. He could only get an inch or two in it was so tight, but the look on his sisters’ face gave him all the encouragement he needed. She seemed to be lost in her own little world, oblivious to Emma twisting her nipples in revenge.
‘You take what I give you, little sister. All of you is mine. All of you.’
Never before had he fucked a girl that like. He was like a madman, pounding his little sister from behind for all he was worth, ignoring her screaming, knowing she was more turned on than ever before because he saw her grab the blondes’ hand and pressing it against her pussy as her ass was violated.
The blonde began to move more and more of her fingers into John’s sisters’ pussy, and he encouraged her to do her worst.
‘Fist the little whore. Fist my little whore sister while I fuck her virgin ass.’
Anna began to have wave after wave of orgasms, hitting her like a hurricane. She stopped moving as her friend and her brother filled her holes. She felt the little girls’ fist fuck her and her brother pushing all his nine inch cock inside her ass. She collapsed in a final orgasm, dropping like a dead weight onto the blonde.
John turned her over and pulled her up. He looked into his sisters’ face and knew that he had done what she had wanted. She seemed to come out of a daze and looked at her brother.
‘Are you going to give me your cum now, big brother?’ she asked as the little blonde moved beside her.
He pushed his cock into his sisters’ mouth for the first time, feeling her warm, big lips as he grabbed her by the back of the hair while she deep throated him.
‘That’s it’ he said ‘taste your ass, sis. Do you like the taste of your slut ass?’
Finally, he let himself go, pulling out and releasing load after load onto his little sister, letting it splash onto her eyes and cheeks before letting the final stream into her inviting mouth. She let it drool out of her mouth, the blonde licking it off her face and the two meeting in a kiss, swapping the warm cum between them.
‘Mmmm’ said his sister ‘that was fun…’
‘Yeah it was’ said the blonde, millimetres from her face. She kissed her again lightly on the lips, a stream of cum connecting the two as they moved away from each other, before pointing to the redhead and asking ‘but what are we going to do with this little bitch? She’s bound to shoot her slut mouth off.’
‘I won’t tell!’ Sarah shouted ‘I promise!’
Anna smiled up at her big brother before responding ‘I dunno, you told about me and Emma and those two guys, so why won’t you tell anybody about this?’
‘I swear! I really won’t tell!’
John decided to take the situation in hand. ‘I know what to do’ he said ‘Anna, get your camera phone.’ He picked up the redhead and led her into the shower, making her kneel on the floor.
‘You rolling?’ he asked his sister, who nodded mischievously.
With that, he took his dick out and unleashed a stream of warm piss all over the redhead, who seemed to be resigned to her fate.
‘Who’s the slut now?!’ said Emma, standing behind Anna with her arms wrapped around her.
‘Open your mouth’ John demanded, and Sarah opened her mouth and let the piss roll flow into her mouth and down her throat. John was surprised when he saw the girl reach down and feel her pussy as he humiliated her in front of her friends. She was a keeper, he decided. When he had finished he put on the shower and water began to wash over the young girl. ‘Clean her up’ he said, pointing to Emma ‘we’re not done with her yet.’
He pulled his sister towards her and walked back into the room. She kissed him deeply again, but this time lovingly. ‘I can’t wait until you do that to me’ she said seductively.
‘You have no idea the plans I have for you’ he said, spanking her ass and bending her over the arm of the couch. ‘You aren’t going to that disco anymore, I can tell you that much.’
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46814 | (C) 2004 Chagrin Riddle
Because his parents were religious, believing that God made him that way, and wanted him to be that way, Matt Davis had two penises from birth, and did not have one removed. One was found at a spot about a half-inch lower than the placement of the average penis, and one was about a half-inch higher. Both could get erections, and both could have the feeling of an orgasm, but only the lower penis could cum. It had both its balls below it. The upper penis had no balls, but was instead used to piss with. His bladder only went to the upper penis, much like his testes only went to the lower.
Matt was considered a medical wonder when he was born, with both dicks operating with one function each. He never got infections, and when he became sexually mature, his sperm was discovered to be perfectly healthy and normal.
Matt grew up a funny life. While in elementary school he was laughed at and jeered when his two penises were discovered; in middle school, the topic seemed to make girls blush; and in high school he became extremely popular. Many girls had seen Matt’s two dicks by this time, and most loved them. They weren’t bad at an average seven inches each, either.
* * *
Our story begins on one such high school night, in which Matt was at a school dance. He came alone, as usual, and usually ended up dancing with most of the girls. And most of the girls would ask him if the rumors were true, and Matt would nod and grin. The girls would then take a glance at his private direction, and give a grin as well. And when most girls would ask to see them, he would show them. Not on the dance floor, of course, but they would leave the dance, head to the parking lot, or behind the building, and he would show them. Most would be impressed. Very few, though some, asked to touch them. They would usually end up on their knees, tasting them. None of the girls he talked to were sluts, either. Matt would make certain of that.
And, as our story opens, Matt had just taken a beautiful girl out of the dance and behind said building. She had a sky blue formfitting dress on, matching her eyes. Her dark brown hair was kept back by a curly ponytail, that was currently being squashed against the brick wall of the building.
Matt was leaning a hand against the wall, with a smooth look on his face. The girl had a look of combined excitement, giddiness, and carnal arousal.
“Would you like to do the honors?” Matt asked in his sly voice.
“Definitely,” the girl said with a smile, and moved her hand from his chest down. Her hand landed on the button of his pants, and unfastened it. Her hand unzipped the zipper, slowly, suspensefully, erotically. Using both hands, she pulled his pants to his ankles, with his boxers tagging along.
Both penises swung up in their escape from the constraints of the boxers to full attention and salute. The girl looked down, and a look of immense delight came across her face.
“Can I touch them?” she asked, knowing the answer.
“If you wish,” Matt said in his most suave tone.
The girl’s left hand stroked the top, and the other stroked the bottom.
Matt kissed the girl for a full half-minute, working his tongue down to her throat. When he stopped for a moment, she asked a second question, to which she also already knew the answer.
“Can I lick them?”
“If you wish.”
The girl slowly lowered her knees to the grass, stopping the stroking. She looked at the topmost dick, and keeping her smile constantly on her face, stuck out her tongue a little, slowly and sensually. The tip of her tongue rotated around his foreskin, and then tasted her way into his dick, pressing against the purple head, getting it wet.
The tongue rotated more, licking the inside of his foreskin. Matt could tell that this would be some of the most intense, amazing head he’d ever gotten, or ever would get.
The girl opened her mouth wide, dropping her tongue out, and licked the side of his top dick. She breathed heavy, hot breath upon it, and she never lost the smile at the corners of her mouth and in her cheeks.
She stroked the side of his dick with her tongue, and when she got back to the tip, she submerged the head of his dick in her mouth.
Deep inside her mouth, she thoroughly washed Matt’s dick tip, reaching and soaking every bit with hot saliva. She edged in more, until his dick tip was barely touching the back of her throat, and continued to bathe his dick. She let it slide back out, and slide back in, growing slippery. She closed her lips around his dick, losing her smile just to please him more.
And now, she wanted to test the taste of his lower dick.
The girl let the top dick slide out of her mouth, but held the tip in for a few more seconds, to suck it like a lollypop. Finally, she let it leave her mouth, and she moved her body down to more easily reach the second dick.
She began by kissing this penis, much dryer than the first. She worked her way to the side again, but this time opened her mouth, and suckled the dick like she was playing a harmonica and sucking a pacifier. She let her lips loose, and licked the underside of his dick, making her way down the shaft, heading towards the balls.
When she got to the balls, she kissed them first, and then suckled them like a baby on a tit, but with her tongue always caressing. She traded from the left nut to the right, but finally allowed both into her mouth. She breathed deep and humid, rolling the balls along her tongue. The balls were full, and the sac was tight with the weight and the ever-so-slight pulling by the girl’s sucking.
The girl opened wide, letting the balls fall out of her mouth, smiling again, and panting on them, looking up to see Matt watching her with a face of pure relaxation and ecstasy.
The girl licked the bottom of the bottom dick from balls to tip, and, less gracefully, threw her mouth around his dick. She bobbed back and forth twice, allowing his dick to slide in and out of her mouth. She rotated her tongue once more around the tip, mouth opened wide, and straightened to work back on the upper cock.
Still stiff, still soaking, the girl let the upper dick slip into her mouth again, caressing it with her tongue to keep it moist.
Matt put a hand on her head, and gave an ever so slight push, a gesture to indicate to move back down.
The girl obeyed, and let this dick leave her mouth again, to give more attention to the lower. Matt stroked his upper dick slowly in replacement.
The girl licked the underside of the bottom dick, and moved to lick the underside of his sack, paying careful attention to every single spot.
The girl worked her tongue back up to the right side of his dick, and licked it as though she were rolling a blunt.
After several passes, she came upon his tip again, and took her mouth back for only a second, long enough to let her spit drip onto his tip and foreskin. She submerged the tip again into her mouth, licking around and around as she buried his dick deeper inside of her.
The girl, as though she could stand it no longer, violently ripped her dress over her shoulders and tossed it dirtily upon the ground. She kicked her shoes off behind her, and now she was on her knees, completely naked. Quickly, rapidly, she rubbed her clit.
“Oh, please,” she begged, getting to her feet, “I want to feel both of your dicks inside me. Put them inside me,” she whined.
In an instant, Matt had her hoisted in the air, squatting on nothing, being held by Matt only and the brick wall against her back. He pushed her legs into the air, and cleanly shoved both cocks into her wet, dripping pussy.
“Oh, yes!” she cried during the initial penetration.
Matt pushed the girl against the wall with his dicks, and buried them deep inside her luscious cunt, until his balls tapped her asshole.
“God, mmm…” she whined.
Matt slid his dicks away slowly, and slowly back in, keeping a good pace, allowing her to jostle slightly with each push. Matt had both hands against the wall, keeping the girl balanced with her legs against his shoulders. The girl hand one hand wrapped around Matt’s neck, the other spreading her pussy for him to pummel.
As the girl exhaled, Matt sucked the air out of her mouth, playing tongue tag with her. The girl forced her mouth away for air, and Matt licked her cheek, down to her neck, and locked lips with it, sucking it like a vacuum, making a large red mark.
The girl wrapped both hands around his body, and moaned, “oh…fuck me harder…”
He slammed her ever so much harder against the wall, pulsating from rolling waves into quick, slamming bursts. “God damn…God damn…” the girl cried, “Oh, God damn…oh…”
And suddenly, her twat got tense. She inhaled sharply. Matt could feel what was happening. She was cumming. Her twat walls pulsated around Matt’s dicks for fifteen full seconds before slowing and stopping. Matt did not stop the onslaught. He continued to pound away during and after her orgasm.
Matt slowed, however, feeling that he might cum in a moment, too. He slipped both dicks out of her hot, slippery cunt, and let her feet touch the ground. He didn’t want to cum yet. He wanted to hold it as long as possible. This girl was fucking beautiful, and he wanted to fuck her all night.
Matt kissed her again, this time with no tongue, but simply a sensual, loving kiss. The girl was amazed. No other guy had ever made her cum. And she wanted to cum again. Her back, however, was telling her a different story.
“Can we go somewhere more comfortable?” she asked.
“I was about to suggest that,” Matt lied in reply. Though, a short walk would be good, to give Matt a chance to recover. This girl needed all that Matt could give her, for as long as possible. “We can go to my car. It has big, comfortable seats,” Matt recommended, picking up her tossed dress.
“Okay,” the girl replied, still slightly out of breath, picking up her shoes.
They walked to his car in the parking lot. During the entire walk, Matt’s arm hugged her waist, her pure, naked flesh. How many guys could say they’d walked outside with a naked girl?
Matt opened the left back door to his 2005 Chevy Equinox, and let her climb into the back seat. The girl dropped her shoes in the front passenger seat, and let herself collect against the cold window opposite the door she climbed in.
Matt draped the gown over the same front seat, and got in, sitting beside the girl.
He let her absorb the comfort of the seats and the cold of the window for awhile, as he removed his own clothes. No doubt she was slightly exhausted and hurting from the brick wall, and Matt was most willing to allow them both to recuperate.
When the last of his clothes were finally off, Matt sat back for a little while, staring at the ceiling and breathing heavy.
Out of the corner of his eye, Matt caught the girl begin to bend down to suck his upper dick again, but he put his hands in the way. “You don’t need to do that. You’ve done more than enough,” he said, allowing her head back up.
The girl was a little confused, but sat up, and allowed him to kiss her again.
“You deserve fair treatment,” he said, and finagled himself to the floor of the car.
Her twat was trying to recuperate, slowly shrinking to a smaller size, one less accommodating of two penises. More accommodating, it seemed, of a tongue. And that was what Matt aimed to use.
Matt stroked her thighs with his hands, letting her open her legs at her own pace. As she did, Matt caressed her waist with his tongue, sliding a frolicking around to her inner thighs. He teased her clit, stabbing it quickly a few times.
Finally, the girl inhaled in pure pleasure as he buried himself in her hairless, perfect looking cunt. Barely any protrusion of pussy lips, Matt compensated with his own. His tongue reached deep into her vagina, catching every corner of her insides as his lips sucked the outsides.
The girl started rubbing his back, squealing small “oohs” and inhaling when he hit a beautiful note in her body.
Being unable to breathe, Matt pulled his head up, letting his tongue drag behind soaking the clit, and departing from her body. He gave another long lick, and caught his breath.
The girl found this an opportune time to slouch and move her legs over his shoulders.
When she was comfortable, Matt blew a stream of cool air on her clitoris, and moved closer to lap at it like a dog. He sucked it, pulling his mouth away, letting it follow and fall.
Matt let his tongue trace her inner thighs again, and sailed to her asshole, perfectly pink and tiny. He knew by the look of it that she’d never before experienced anal sex.
Matt’s tongue poked her asshole, dabbing it with spit. Next, he licked around it and on it, letting it dampen. Another soft “ooh” let him know that she wanted him to continue with it. He licked her asshole more, trying to slip his tongue in, letting his nose enter her pussy. As he attempted, she moaned a demand: “please, fuck me again…oh, fuck my ass…”
Matt got up, licked his fingers, and rubbed her asshole. “Are you sure?” he asked sincerely. He didn’t want to cause her pain, and he knew the only lube he could find was his own saliva.
“No…I’m not sure…” she whined, confessing, “I’ve never done it before…but please…I want you to do it…” She gave him a lot of trust, and he wasn’t about to betray that trust. He had to warn her.
“Look, most girls find it to hurt, especially with no lube.”
“Do it anyway…please?” she had the tone of a girl begging for her life.
“Alright, but I’ll go slow.” And he did.
Matt licked his hand again, and moistened her asshole. This would be rough, but he wanted to make it pleasant. He moistened his lower dick, as well.
He pushed his lower dick lightly into her asshole, but it did not break easily. He forced it slightly harder, slightly harder, but he only pushed her asshole back, causing the look on her face to grow red with a slight pain. Finally, the penis pierced, and he slowly pushed it in, as his upper penis automatically began to refill her vagina.
It was still painful for her, but she knew she wanted it, so Matt did not stop. He edged his bottom cock further into her bottom orifice, but wanted her to forget the pain, and experience only the pleasure. He squeezed her round, B cup tits, and the features on her face slowly grew happier.
When his lower dick was as far in as her ass would allow, he let it sit for awhile, trying to get her used to the feeling. He continued to fondle her breasts, kissing her cheek and mouth.
“Thank you,” the girl whispered in his ear. Matt knew why.
Matt kissed her longer, but started to slide his dicks in and out of the holes. Her ass was so tight, suctioning his dick to her insides. Matt was more careful and slower than ever as he let his dick slide around inside her split posterior.
The girl began to enjoy it, with her quiet “oohs” forming at the intervals of the pumps.
Her ass slowly became looser, and Matt could slightly speed up his pumping. He still fondled her tits, and had moved his mouth into the picture. He licked her nipples and all the skin of her breasts, digging his face between them. When her hands were not grabbing the skin of his back or rustling his hair, she too rubbed her breasts.
Matt pumped harder now, and the girl was starting to get louder. She was no longer in pain, loving every sensation of her ass, clit, and tits. Her “oohs” became “aahs.” Matt moved his head back to hers, and they kissed more.
Still harder Matt pumped, until it was almost as fast as he had before, at the wall. Her ass was splitting, becoming looser. Matt’s dick could slide easily in and out now, and if he took it out, a hole would be there where a pink starburst used to be.
The girl was nearly screaming now, forgetting to kiss Matt, almost shouting one continuous “aah.” She was about to cum again.
So was Matt.
He couldn’t help it this time. He had to cum deep into her ass, her slightly round, squeezable butt, now no longer an innocent orifice.
And he let it. He stopped pushing, and as her pussy pulsated around his upper cock, Matt could do nothing but allow himself to spew a white, hot, sack full of cum into her newly pierced arse.
She hugged him as she came, and as they began at the same moment, they ended identically. It was an amazing experience.
When Matt’s balls were fully drained, both sat in exhaustion. Matt allowed both of his dicks to become flaccid inside her.
“Did you cum?” she asked, after a minute.
“When you did,” Matt replied.
“In my ass?”
“Thank you.”
Matt slid his dicks out, and sat next to her, drained of precious life, having given her that gift.
The girl was tired, and was breathing softly. Matt had an identical feeling in him. She was ready to sleep, but Matt, oddly enough, was not. After the break, Matt was awake as ever.
Matt leaned over her, and kissed her on the cheek, but the girl did not respond.
“Are you alright?” Matt asked, genuinely concerned.
“I feel great,” she whispered, ready to fall asleep in his car. “You are a wonderful person. No one has ever given me anal before.”
“I know.”
“I loved it. I wanted it. No guy ever wanted to. I think I love you.”
“I think I love you, too. To be honest, I’ve never really had sex. Girls have sucked me off, but when I suggest pussy, they are intimidated by two dicks.” Matt was not lying.
“I love your dicks.”
“Should I drive you home?”
“Yeah…I need some sleep.”
Matt helped her into the front passenger seat, where she continued to sit, drained of energy. He rolled down the window for her, and let her get cold wind against her face during the ride. She gave him directions in short bursts, when he needed to take a turn or stop.
When they arrived at her house, he parked in the street, and looked over at her. She was still breathing shallow, dazing in and out. Matt leaned over and kissed her.
“You should put your dress back on,” Matt said. The girl let him slide it over her body, and she was struck with the first realization that she was home.
“I had a great time,” she said, and kissed him back.
“So did I. Maybe we can hang out sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe,” she said, and opened the car door. She stepped out, and grabbed her shoes.
“Hey, what’s your name?” Matt asked.
“Ann,” the girl replied, and lightly shut the door.
“Goodnight,” Matt said through the window, and watched her walk barefoot to her door, and walk in. Her figure was beautiful, with clothes or without. “Ann,” he said to himself, and drove off.
He would see her again. And he would no longer go stag to dances. And he would fall in love with her.
anonymous readerReport
2011-04-29 02:26:50
Wonderful story, we all appreciate the post. This story would probably be rated >90% if the 2 dicks didn't freak some people out.
2008-03-15 09:37:08
Great Story ... That would be a delicious treat!
2007-05-14 00:19:11
OHH that was HOT. 10/10
2007-04-03 01:01:35
I read a story about an outlaw wqith two cocks a long time ago. the author was "Fire ___" something.
2005-11-21 14:27:38
9/10....really gud...but dat doiuble dick thing is weierd
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46837 | Aug 29, 2006 News Wire
Kevin Yank
• A cute demonstration proving that search engine optimization is not dead. Unfortunately, all the attention has broken the demo, but for awhile at least this SEO pro was able to grab the top 5 search terms on Google in the desired order.
(tags: )
• This JavaScript library is something of an upstart compared to more established players like Dojo, Prototype and others. It has, however, developed a strong following and a reputation for fostering a simple and elegant coding style.
(tags: )
• A brief account of the goings-on at a “Web 2.0 Patterns” workshop organized by Tim O’Reilly to expand on the conclusions of his “What is Web 2.0″ paper. The list of Web 2.0 “values” they produced is nice enough, but I look forward to more detail.
• An entertaining comparative review of the main web-based “Office killers”.
(tags: )
• An open source programming language and environment specialized for producing animation and sound. The current implementation produces Java applets, but it’s simple enough for programming novices. Feels like Logo for the 21st century.
• Odeo CEO and Pyra/Blogger co-founder Evan Williams provides this analysis of the dwindling usefulness of page view statistics in measuring the importance of web sites. Williams suggests time spent, or attention, as a potentially meaninful metric.
(tags: )
• A summary of all the new developer features coming in Firefox 2, with links to more detailed information.
(tags: )
• A neat idea for managing CSS code bloat. Produce an HTML page that demonstrates each of the CSS style elements in use on your site as a reference for future maintenance and modification.
(tags: )
• Justin Palmer’s amusingly accurate account of what usually happens when a designer (read: non-programmer) attempts to contribute to an open source project. Might explain the relative ugliness of most open source software.
• In the first of three blog posts, the Internet Explorer team shares its tips for improving the performance of JavaScript code by reducing unneccessary symbol look-ups. Some of these tips I’m seeing for the first time, and they apply across all browsers!
• A minor bugfix release of the Yahoo! User Interface library comes in tandem with extensive updates to the lovely, YUI Cheat Sheets in PDF format.
(tags: )
Get your free chapter of Level Up Your Web Apps with Go
• jizzypop
Processing 1.0 (BETA)
is this like flash for nerds? :)
• WarpNacelle
RE: Creating a Style-Guide for your site
Something to note:
If you use “TopStyle Lite” as your CSS editor, it does that for you. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46839 | Hi! I have created a form on our Intranet that will mail it's results to the webmaster. Everything works wonderful, except the author name is always blank. When I delved into this,the author is represented as an IP address. Is there any way for the author to identify themselves in the form and then have their name included in the sending of the message?
Any ideas would be appreciated. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46849 | SMH Home
Home > World News > Article
Pluto may lose planet status
By Stephen Cauchi
March 10 2003
The solar system, we've been told since primary school, has nine planets. But a fierce debate raging among astronomers could mean that number being revised to as low as eight or as high as 12, if not more.
Quaoar, Varuna and Ceres are names students may one day start learning alongside Mars and Venus. And tiny Pluto may become an asteroid or "Kuiper-belt object" rather than a planet.
Gibor Basri, an astronomer at the University of California, is about to submit a controversial proposal to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which has naming rights to space objects, that would increase the number of planets to 12. The IAU has a working group considering the definition of "planet".
"It's something of an embarrassment that we have no definition of what a planet is," Professor Basri told his campus newspaper, Berkeley News. "People like to classify things. We live on a planet; it would be nice to know what that was."
Professor Basri said that recent discoveries of large asteroids in the Kuiper belt, on the solar system's fringes, had tested the hazy definition of "planet". If Pluto, with a diameter of 2300 kilometres, was a planet, other similar-sized bodies in the solar system should be so regarded, he said. The 1300-kilometre Quaoar, discovered last year, was the biggest find in the solar system since Pluto in 1930.
According to Professor Basri's definition, a planet must orbit a star, not another planet, and it must be round. That means it must be 700 kilometres in diameter, when gravity moulds it into a sphere, or bigger. Smaller objects are potato-shaped.
Under his definition, the 900-kilometre asteroid Ceres, discovered in 1801, would become a planet, as would the Kuiper-belt objects of Varuna, discovered in 2000, and Quaoar.
"All the accepted, or putative, planets are round," he said in his proposal. "One can calculate the lower limit for this mass ... it is a little below the mass of Ceres, or objects less than about 700 kilometres in diameter. That seems a good place to draw the bottom line for planets."
But other astronomers, if not most, would rather delist Pluto than call smaller objects like Ceres planets. A New York planetarium in 1999 did not include Pluto in its display of planets, and the IAU was forced to deny rumours that year it would delist Pluto. But some academics, like Ross Taylor of the Australian National University, have already removed Pluto from planet status in their textbooks.
"Most astronomers now say there are eight planets," Professor Taylor said last year. "It's arbitrary ... you get into a real semantic sort of swamp. It's like trying to define life."
At the other extreme, Professor Basri says a planet can't be bigger than 13 times the mass of Jupiter. Because such objects generate heat and light, they should be called stars.
Professor Basri meets opposition here too. Geoff Marcy, a member of the Anglo-Australian planet search team at Siding Springs telescope - which has discovered 13 of these planets - says other factors need to be taken into account, including how the planet was formed.
"It's way too early to define a planet," he said. "Even though we have now found over 100 of them, these are still early days in planet hunting."
Also in World
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Pentagon seeks a nuclear digger
Boys quizzed about their terrorist boss father
Migrants: Britain seeks refuge in Albania
Israeli politicians in Hamas sights after killing leader
Justice for families of Srebrenica victims
Weddings ring the alarm bells in Taiwan
Villagers hope diamond seam saves them
Pluto may lose planet status |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46890 | Q: I keep hearing advice that I should build on my strengths, but it makes more sense to me to fix my weaknesses. What am I missing?
A: Development planning requires prioritization, so determine where you’ll get the most for your efforts.
The inner game
Think of yourself as a whole person, setting aside any sense of strengths vs. weaknesses or good vs. bad. Relax and settle into some time for reflection, taking some deep breaths and letting go of any preconceptions that may limit your thinking.
While in this peaceful state, allow yourself to experience the deeper essence of who you are as a whole person, not the disparate parts or the personas that you employ in day-to-day life. What do you treasure about yourself? What are the gifts that you bring to the world? If you aren’t used to thinking this way, it might even be uncomfortable. If you’re stuck, imagine that someone who cares about you is offering a description. What does your best friend see?
Next, think about the ways you show up in various settings. What attitudes help you move forward? Do they reflect the inner you in ways you value? If so, consider whether you employ them as fully as you could.
In this context, development becomes the path you take to most fully actualize your inner self. Strengths and weaknesses are simply a way of defining whether you’re bringing your best self to the settings you’ve chosen to engage in.
The outer game
To move forward, focus on one personal characteristic, for example, that you’re decisive. Now think through the following questions:
• How consistent are you in making decisions?
• How satisfied are you with the quality of your decisions?
• What underlying characteristics do you have that enable quality decisionmaking?
• Likewise, what characteristics detract from the quality of your decisions?
If you approach this as improving a weakness, you’d look at ways that you can fine-tune your skills. For example, you may feel that you make poor decisions under pressure. In that case, consider developing your skills for negotiating more time for decisions. You will need to be selective to pick improvement opportunities that will truly be of benefit.
To build on your strengths, focus instead on finding opportunities to demonstrate your skills. Perhaps you’re a very strategic thinker in a tactical role. Look for opportunities to use your strategic skills: volunteering for special projects or applying for different positions that need those skills.
Focus on developing in ways that are exciting and interesting. If you find yourself saying “I should get better at so-and-so,” find a different direction that is more inspiring to you.
The last word
No one can be good at everything, so select your development opportunities carefully.
|
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Re: TR6 Front Hub adjustment, etc.
Subject: Re: TR6 Front Hub adjustment, etc.
Date: Sat, 9 Jul 2005 19:57:12 EDT
Hi Pete,
Did you use new felt dust/grease seals on the inboard side of the front
hubs? If so, the ones being sold today are about twice as thick as the
originals. I cut about half the thickness off with a razor blade before
them. If installed without this kind of trimming, the seal itself will often
fool you into thinking the hub is properly tightened. After a bit of use, the
untrimmed seal compresses a bit and the hub then feels loose, just as you
describe. Another possibility is that the bearings themselves weren't fully
but since you reused a good set I think a new seal, if one was installed, is
the more likely suspect. IMHO it's *always* a good idea to recheck front hub
tightness immediately after a test drive and again after the car has some low
mileage on it, and readjust as needed.
Regarding the castellated nut, just put a washer or two under it and
shim it out, if you wish. Be sure the "D" washer goes on first, right next to
bearing. This keeps the turning bearing from loosening the nut. Regular
washers can be put on as shims so long as they are on top of the D washer. The
cotter pin just keeps the nut from backing off with vibration. So long as it's
catching the nut a bit, it's fine. But, sure, you can shim a little if you like.
Regarding front ride height, many TRs tend to be a little "nose up" in
their stance. The really important thing is how balanced the car feels
cornering and such. If you like the handling and ride of the springs on your
car, I'd
try to avoid changing them. A relatively easy trick to drop the front roughly
slightly is to simply invert the lower control arms. They have an upward
"bend" in them, in normal installation. Inverting these means removing them,
removing the 3/8 NF stud at the indoard end and reinstalling it on the
opposite side (might need to tap the hole, it's often not threaded the whole
through), then reinstalling the control arm with the bend "down". This
effectively lowers the spring pan between 1/2 and 3/4", perhaps enough for your
I believe the poly or rubber pads are really just to keep the spring
from rubbing against the upper and lower mounts, to protect it from rubbing
and reduce noise. The rubber pads really don't add much ride height, probably
about 1/4" total on my TR4, which uses four pads per side because it has the
1-1/4" tall aluminum "packing piece" above the spring. I've never used the poly
ones and can't say if they are thicker, although I'd guess they compress less
over time than the rubber ones.
Note: If you invert the lower control arms, check the feel of the
steering and especially watch out for any "bump steer". This small amount of
lowering usually has no noticible effect on steering geometry, but I'd still
a little caution the first time you have the car back on the road.
Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 CT17602L
One question is, is it normal to have to readjust the hubs? I didn't
actually replace the bearings because they were only about 2 or 3 years
old and couldn't have more than about 3000 miles on 'em.
<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread> |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/46958 | The tape tribe of hardware and software vendors could be facing extinction. De-duplication could prompt the long-awaited re-assessment of tape backup and send it into the forgotten past. Why is this? An examination of what de-duplication is, how it works and what the vendors' product plans are reveals the extent of the threat, the real threat facing tape.
De-duplication is a technology for reducing the amount of data stored on disk. It has a couple of problems associated with it. One is the processing burden. The other is understanding exactly what de-duplication means. Is it fancier compression, single instance storage or the use of fiendishly clever algorithms working with variable block sizes, hash addressing and the like?
So first the term de-duplication itself needs de-duping.
De-duping 'de-duplication'
There are basically three kinds of de-duplication activity possible with a file of data:-
1. Character level
2. Block level
3. File level
We'll look at one and two first and then turn to block level which is more complex and has larger claims associated with it.
Character level
Here every character in a file is compared to existing characters and, if repetition is detected it is replaced by a location pointer and an identifier. Obviously the space taken up by the location pointer and identifier has to be less than that taken up by a string of repeated characters.
This technique is quite old in computing terms and is called compression.
The effectiveness of compression depends upon the type of data being compressed. Word documents and PowerPoint decks can be compressed quite well because of repeated characters such as or <...>, etc. Compressing other data types can be unrewarding though.
Compression can generate 2:1 to 5:1 size reduction ratios. Zip archives are a typical use of compression technology.
Over the last couple of years, as de-duplication technology as been developed by several vendors they, and the compression technology vendors, are generally insistent that de-duplication is not compression and vice versa. They can be quite indignant about it.
At a dictionary level they are simply wrong. Removing repeated characters from a file is de-duplication at a character level. Arguing it's not is like saying that water is not wet.
File level
You may often hear the phrase 'single instance storage' (SIS) and this is equally often used to be synonymous with de-duplication, particularly by vendors who don't offer block level de-dupe.
The idea is conceptually simple. Any file to be stored is compared to existing stored files. If a match is found the incoming file is discarded and replaced with a stub, a pointer to the existing stored file.
This is effective when storing e-mails with common attachments. Network file management vendors may claim they have de-duplication, Njini for one. It means single instance storage and the company says it can release 20 to 30 percent of the disk space in a company with 1 - 3TB of disk.
This is obviously worthwhile but the actual de-dupe ratio is a relatively small 5:1 or 3:1, little more than effective character level compression. This is small potatoes compared to the much higher claims of the block level de-dupers.
Block level
By looking for repeated patterns at a block level then much greater de-dupe ratios could be achieved than possible either through compression or file-level de-duping. NexSan is working on de-duping 32 or 64KB data blocks. Avamar and Rocksoft technologies use variable block-level de-duping. They don't rely on fixed block boundaries. Instead they look for byte group-level repeated patterns. These might coincide with a company logo in a PowerPoint deck or standard paragraphs in Word documents.
Once a repeating pattern is found then metadata is constructed. The first instance is stored and subsequent instances replaced by a file position pointer and a reference to the stored pattern.
As the library of stored pattern templates builds up to the thousands and millions a very good indexing or access scheme has to be built up and stored in RAM for pattern recognition by the de-dupe software to be fast. Any need for disk accesses will slow down the ingest speed and effectively rule out in-band de-duplication (see below).
The block-level de-dupe software uses mathematical algorithms that are not application-aware. They don't know about such things as PowerPoint slide boundaries or Word page and section breaks. All they see are bit streams of bytes coming in and they do their pattern recognition at this level.
De-dupe ratios
Vendors make large claims about the effectiveness of de-duplication. These centre on the amount of reduction in data size possible, that is the de-dupe ratio. EMC, with its Avamar acquisition makes the most grandiose claim, stating that a 300:1 de-dupe ratio is possible. (In fact this is achievable with its 2-round de-dupe scheme of de-duping the source data and then de-duping a second time at the hub.)
Others, like Diligent, OEM'd by Hitachi Data Systems, talk about a 30:1 de-dupe ratio, ten times less. The idea of being able to cut down the stored data amount to a thirtieth of the size it would have been without de-duping is seemingly fantastic.
These claims are realistic when applied to block level de-dupe runs on the same disk volume of data when it is backed up repeatedly over time. The incoming backup data is compared to the already backed up data and only the new items are actually stored on disk. The repeated or duplicated items are replaced with identifiers and pointers. Over time, ten, twenty, thirty or more backup runs, the de-dupe ratio heads towards 30:1 or more.
Quantum tell us that a user doing a weekly full backup and daily incrementals could expect to achieve a 25:1 de-dupe ratio. If the user is doing daily full backups then the de-dupe ratio could head towards 50:1.
Such de-duping is not a one-shot exercise and doesn't mean you can reduce a multi-gigabyte PowerPoint presentation to a thirtieth of its raw size in a single de-dupe run.
Also the achieved de-dupe ratio depends upon what kind of data is being backed up and de-duped. The numbers above apply to typical Windows or Unix servers running a general mix of business applications.
De-dupe processing burden
De-duping is typically recommended for use in disk-to-disk backups and virtual tape library scenarios. The amount of data to be backed up increases all the time and disk space is limited.
The de-duping can be done as the raw data is first ingested - in-band - or after the data is first backed up to disk - out-of-band. Such post-backup processing means that the server running the backup application does not have to run the de-dupe code. This can be done off-line, as it were, outside the backup window, on the destination device or appliance, typically a VTL (virtual tape library).
De-duping at the character or file levels is not that processor-intensive. It does require reading a whole file but doesn't involve much processing beyond that. The de-duping takes time but not as much time as a block level de-dupe of the same file would take.
De-duping at the variable block level needs a lot of CPU cycles as every byte in a file has to be read and potential patterns compared to every stored byte pattern using some kind of table lookup using hash address-type identifiers calculated from a block's contents.
The processing needs of block level de-duping are much higher but the pay-off in terms of a higher de-dupe ratio are much higher also.
Think of block-level de-duping as being like a much more granular incremental backup
De-dupe and tape
A de-duped file cannot be restored to a user without first being reconstructed. The de-dupe software typically has the reconstruction capability included. This effectively rules out backing up de-duped data to tape.
It's not that it can't be written to tape; it can. But backup software writes to tape and backup software doesn't include the functionality to reconstruct de-duped files. So restoring files from a de-duped backup set written to tape would be a two-stage process. First restore the de-duped data from tape to the de-dupe device. Then reconstruct the file and send it on to the user.
In practice no de-dupe supplier is doing this. Instead they say that, if customers want to store data on tape then use backup software and write the raw data to tape in a standard full or incremental backup.
Alternatively they say that, as EMC does, that the benefits from de-duping are so significant as to make it worthwhile to re-think the data protection process from first principles and consider not using tape or traditional backup software at all.
If de-duping is being done by the destination machine, such as a VTL, then it has to store the ingested backup data. That means its disk capacity has to be used both for de-duped data and for non-de-duped data. In turn it means there is less space for de-duped data. The effect of this could be that, instead of being able to store, six months of backup data on the VTL you can only store three months because the need for a 6TB buffer, say, to store the ingested raw backup data.
De-duping will prompt drive array and VTL developments
If you de-dupe to a VTL and then de-dupe again at the VTL across multiple incoming de-duped target (edge) device data streams, then you have a very efficient way of storing data. You can afford to replicate it across a LAN or WAN for disaster recovery.
This fact can prompt the question 'why do we need to deploy tape at all?' If your answer to that is 'we don't' then it prompts a second question; 'why do we need a VTL at all?' Why not call it a de-duping drive array and have done with it?
Data Domain does this already with its de-duping drive array. Of course its disk write and disk tread speed in terms of receiving and delivering data to/from requesting servers is not as fast as that of an array dealing with raw data.
But a combination of flash memory caching, 2.5 inch drives, and a controller with an embedded server with high-speed processor and lots of RAM could dramatically increase the effective I/O bandwidth to that of a 3.5 inch disk drive array dealing with raw data.
It would also use much less energy than the equivalent drive array storing raw data because it would need far few spindles and much less cooling. In terms of watts used per raw TB stored a de-duping array wins hands down over a non-de-duping array. A 30:1 de-dupe ratio means that where a raw data array would need 180 spindles a de-duping array would need six.
Such a theoretical de-duping drive array could deal with general business data and not just backup data. It is likely, in this writer’s view that VTLs will decrease in popularity and general-purpose de-duping drive array products will appear.
De-duping and tape hardware and backup software vendors
Lets face it, de-duping could represent apocalypse now for tape hardware and backup software vendors. It as a potentially extremely disruptive technology for Symantec's Veritas, EMC's Legato and Dantz, Backbone, CA and other backup software vendors. It could also kill the business model of tape hardware vendors.
They may say tape is not dead, there will always be a need for tape to be the remove-to-a-vault, archive of record medium. A Quantum developing its own de-dupe technology (aka we'll eat our own tape children if we have to) and an EMC buying the claimed game-changing Avamar (aka we'll eat our own backup software children if we have to) means one thing; vendors with a heavy dependence on tape-based legacy revenue streams are thinking the previously unthinkable.
Tape could not just be in decline; it could be facing technology extinction. Tape and tape software are the equivalent of punched cards. They. Are. Simply. Doomed.
That's an extreme view at present. But it's one that EMC, with all its market weight, is going to be pushing. Another important tape hardware vendor is going to gradually join in. The slow tidal change from tape to disk that several vendors are beginning to discern could become a tape-devouring tsunami.
A straw in the wind you could watch out for would be backup software products incorporating de-dupe agent software sending de-duped data to a target drive array.
Vendor de-duping technology
Data Domain - de-duping drive array.
EMC (Avamar) - in-band, sub-file level, variable block size, de-dupe at target edge clients and second round at data centre hub across multiple client de-duped data.
FalconStor - file level, single instance store. Maybe developing sub-file level de-dupe capability with Sun Microsystems.
Hitachi Data Systems - sub-file level de-dupe using Diligent technology.
H-P - It OEM's Sepaton VTL software which has byte-level (block-level I think) de-duplication, not that HP staff seem to know about it. For them HP's DAT-72 and LTO 3 and 4 tape formats have a steady-as-we-go future.
Network Appliance - no de-duping products but it is working on developing one.
NexSan - Has a de-duping VTL.
Njini - file-level, single instance storage de-duping.
Quantum - in-band, sub-file level de-dupe product expected using Rocksoft technology obtained via ADIC acquisition. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/47014 | Here's a post my superiors at the Guardian should like, since the premise of it is evidently sloppy reporting on the part of the Telegraph.
Mark Benjamin of Salon spoke to an unnamed Pentagon official who tells him that the unreleased photos of detainee abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan do not show any images of rape.
This comes on the heels of a report by Benjamin last week based on an interview with retired army officer Antonia Taguba, who denied that he'd seen any such pictures.
The original Telegraph story used a quote from Taguba that was accurate in a word-for-word sense -- but in which Taguba says he was talking about a different set of photos, not the ones currently under debate.
Now, all this would seem to help the ACLU's case: if there's no rape or other horrific image, what's the problem? Release the pics. No. We still don't know what's in them. A photo of a rape being committed is hardly the only potentially shocking image that could exist or emerge. I still say Obama made the right call, on the shock-value front and, as I said at the time, for other reasons: the photos are old, it's not his war, etc.
One bigger question here, of course, is the relative importance of the rule of constitutional law in an open society. As I wrote before, I'm a believer in civil liberties but I'm not a civil liberties absolutist. In a democracy one should be wary of any kind of absolutism, Dick Cheney's or the ACLU's. Perhaps this subject is worth a longer post one of these days. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/47023 | Michael Palin – the comeback kid?
Monty Python
What a bright idea. Michael Palin, centre, has hinted that Monty Python may be set for a return. Photograph: THANE BRUCKLAND /PA
We are the knights who say "maybe we should re-form". Michael Palin – leader of the knights who protect the sacred words Ni, Peng and Neee-wom – has uttered the Holy Grail of sentences Monty Python fans want to hear. I might get the gang back together, reports the Sun. "The lines of communication are open," he says. "No one has ever said we would never, ever do anything again". So it could be time, once again, for something completely different. Sun, TVbiz, P1 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/47026 | Schubert: Schwanengesang – review
(Wigmore Hall Live)
4 / 5
• The Guardian,
• Jump to comments ()
Buy it from
1. Buy the CD
2. Schubert
3. Schubert: Schwanengesang D957, encores (Christopher Maltman/Graham Johnson)
4. n/a
5. Wigmore Hall Live
1. 2012
This the final instalment of Christopher Maltman and Graham Johnson's series of Schubert's song cycles, although Schwanengesang is not so much a cycle as a posthumous collection of late songs, ordered to give the impression of a unified study of existential isolation. There's an uncompromising emotional rawness in Maltman's singing in Der Atlas, Die Stadt and Der Doppelgänger that make for very disquieting listening. But it's not all angst: he's sexy in Ständchen and humorous in Die Taubenpost. Johnson, meanwhile, is exemplary, reminding us throughout of the genius of Schubert's piano writing.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/47046 | Joint Maintenance (Book Excerpt)
Equine athletes are really no different than human athletes in regard to the effects of aging, exercise, and other use on the joints. Because this is the case, if a horse is used for regular performance, competition, or other exercise activity, one should see changes over a period of time relating to the joints and skeletal system.
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