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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68883 | A fresh look for the Help Center
Our Help Center is the place to go for answers to any of your Pinterest questions—and it just got a makeover! We designed the new Help Center so you can quickly find whatever you need to know, whether you’re on the couch with your laptop or out and about on your phone.
So if your roommate’s at the grocery store and you want to send him the Pin for tonight’s dinner, just do a quick search for “send a Pin” and you’ll get your answer right away. Or if you’re introducing Pinterest to your friends and family, now you can show them the handy new Guide to Pinterest and this quick What’s Pinterest video:
You’ll notice everything in the Help Center has been streamlined, from how you get around to the answers themselves. And it all feels a lot more like Pinterest, too.
We’re always looking for ways to make Pinterest easier to use and understand, so poke around and let us know what you think.
—Aaron Franklin, Project Manager, Currently pinning to surreal |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68891 | Category:Lisbon in the 2010s
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2010s: (Commons)" Lisbon 2015-May-30T23:00Z 2015-May-30T23:00Z mapsearch Lisbon //
Media in category "Lisbon in the 2010s"
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68897 | What we got here… is failure…. to communicate.
This is, among other things, an introductory adventure for some of use who are new to cyberpunk. An episodic, overlapping story arc, that is filled (hopefully) with intrigue and adventure. It was designed to bring characters that had little or nothing to do with each other together.
There are the mega-corporations- large seemingly unopposable entities that do what they want to whomever they want. Their problem is that they are like a heavily loaded locomotive. It takes them time to get started. There are committies to organize, groups to form, acquisition forms to fill out, cross check and get signed in triplicate.
There is the situation- espionage, information theft, and murder to clear the books. The characters all have ties to the NPC that did the deed that caused her to become dead.
There are our heros- All who just don’t want to be cleaned “off the books”. Is it really their fault that they had the unlucky circumstance to be involved with an information theif? The groups problem is that they are like a group of motorcycles driving down the railroad tracks. They are fast and manuverable. They can make alot of ground early on and dodge the oncoming obsticles easier. But when they hit an obsticle they are hurting.
Keeping with this analogy- Once the corperation starts moving, that heavy loaded train will be next to impossible to stop. It will go strait through the motorcycles that are our heros. And while yes, the motorcycles can dodge the train once maybe even twice- your luck will run out unless you have some way to stop that train
Corporation Screwover
Cyberarm The_Ren TheBoredfish Endevin 3viltiki Sparkablaze BovineLord |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68901 | Importing and Exporting Person and Group Records
You can import and export person records using the vCard format. To create a vCard representation of a person, use the ABPerson method vCardRepresentation. This method creates an NSData structure that you can use in your program or save to a file. To enable drag and drop for this data, use a file promise as described in Dragging Files.
To create a person record from a vCard representation, use the ABPerson method initWithVCardRepresentation:. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68910 | Information for "JResponse::getHeaders"
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68918 | Accordion (disambiguation)
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Accordion may refer to:
• Accordion, a musical instrument of the handheld bellows-driven free reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox
• Accordion (solitaire), a solitaire card game
• "Accordion," a song by Madvillain from their album Madvillainy
• Accordion cut, a technique in butchery similar to butterflying
• Accordion (GUI), a graphical user interface widget in which several sections of a document can be expanded or collapsed
• Any object with features resembling an accordion or its bellows |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68920 | Classical Latin
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Classical Latin
Rome Colosseum inscription 2.jpg
Latin inscription in the Colosseum
Pronunciation [laˈtiːnitaːs]
Native to Roman Republic, Roman Empire
Region Mare Nostrum region
Era 75 BC to AD 3rd century , when it developed into Late Latin
Early forms
Old Latin
• Classical Latin
Classical Latin alphabet
Official status
Official language in
Roman Republic, Roman Empire
Regulated by Schools of grammar and rhetoric
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Linguist list
Glottolog None
Linguasphere 51-AAB-aaa
The range of Latin, AD60
Classical Latin is the modern term used to describe the form of the Latin language recognized as standard by writers of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. In some later periods it was regarded as "good" Latin, with later versions being viewed as debased or corrupt. The word "Latin" is now taken by default as meaning "Classical Latin", so that, for example, modern Latin textbooks describe classical Latin. Marcus Tullius Cicero and his contemporaries of the late republic, while using lingua Latina and sermo Latinus to mean the Latin language as opposed to the Greek or other languages, and sermo vulgaris or sermo vulgi to refer to the vernacular of the uneducated and less-educated masses, regarded the speech they valued most and in which they wrote as Latinitas, "Latinity", with the implication of good. Sometimes it is called sermo familiaris, "speech of the good families", sermo urbanus, "speech of the city" or rarely sermo nobilis, "noble speech", but mainly besides Latinitas it was Latine (adverb), "in good Latin", or Latinius (comparative degree of adjective), "good Latin."
Latinitas was spoken as well as written. Moreover, it was the language taught by the schools. Prescriptive rules therefore applied to it, and where a special subject was concerned, such as poetry or rhetoric, additional rules applied as well. Now that the spoken Latinitas has become extinct (in favor of various other registers later in date) the rules of the, for the most part, polished (politus) texts may give the appearance of an artificial language, but Latinitas was a form of sermo, or spoken language and as such retains a spontaneity. No authors are noted for the type of rigidity evidenced by stylized art, except possibly the repetitious abbreviations and stock phrases of inscriptions.
Philological constructs[edit]
The classical[edit]
Good Latin in philology is "classical" Latin literature. The term refers to the canonicity of works of literature written in Latin in the late Roman Republic and the early to middle Roman Empire: "that is to say, that of belonging to an exclusive group of authors (or works) that were considered to be emblematic of a certain genre."[1] The term classicus (masculine plural classici) was devised by the Romans themselves to translate Greek ἐγκριθέντες (enkrithentes), "select", referring to authors who wrote in Greek that were considered model. Before then, classis, in addition to being a naval fleet, was a social class in one of the diachronic divisions of Roman society according to property ownership by the Roman constitution.[2] The word is a transliteration of Greek κλῆσις (klēsis) "calling", used to rank army draftees by property from first to fifth class.
Classicus is anything primae classis, "first class", such as the authors of the polished works of Latinitas, or sermo urbanus. It had nuances of the certified and the authentic: testis classicus, "reliable witness." It was in this sense that Marcus Cornelius Fronto (an African-Roman lawyer and language teacher) in the 2nd century AD used scriptores classici, "first-class" or "reliable authors" whose works could be relied upon as model of good Latin.[3] This is the first known reference, possibly innovated at this time, to classical applied to authors by virtue of the authentic language of their works.[4]
The canonical[edit]
David Ruhnken
In imitation of the Greek grammarians, the Roman ones, such as Quintilian, drew up lists termed indices or ordines on the model of the Greek lists, termed pinakes, considered classical: the recepti scriptores, "select writers." Aulus Gellius includes many authors, such as Plautus, who are currently considered writers of Old Latin and not strictly in the period of classical Latin. The classical Romans distinguished Old Latin as prisca Latinitas and not sermo vulgaris. Each author (and work) in the Roman lists was considered equivalent to one in the Greek; for example Ennius was the Latin Homer, the Aeneid was a new Iliad, and so on. The lists of classical authors were as far as the Roman grammarians went in developing a philology. The topic remained at that point while interest in the classici scriptores declined in the medieval period as the best Latin yielded to medieval Latin, somewhat less than the best by classical standards.
The Renaissance brought a revival of interest in restoring as much of Roman culture as could be restored and with it the return of the concept of classic, "the best." Thomas Sébillet in 1548 (Art Poétique) referred to "les bons et classiques poètes françois", meaning Jean de Meun and Alain Chartier, which was the first modern application of the word.[citation needed] According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, the term classical, from classicus, entered modern English in 1599, some 50 years after its re-introduction on the continent. Governor William Bradford in 1648 referred to synods of a separatist church as "classical meetings" in his Dialogue, a report of a meeting between New-England-born "young men" and "ancient men" from Holland and England.[5] In 1715 Laurence Echard's Classical Geographical Dictionary was published.[6] In 1736 Robert Ainsworth's Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius turned English words and expressions into "proper and classical Latin."[7] In 1768 David Ruhnken (Critical History of the Greek Orators) recast the mold of the view of the classical by applying the word canon to the pinakes of orators, after the Biblical canon or list of authentic books of the Bible. Ruhnken had a kind of secular catechism in mind.[8]
The ages of Latin[edit]
Wilhelm Sigismund Teuffel
In 1870 Wilhelm Sigismund Teuffel in Geschichte der Römischen Literatur (A History of Roman Literature) innovated the definitive philological classification of classical Latin based on the metaphoric uses of the ancient myth of the Ages of Man, a practice then universally current: a Golden Age and a Silver Age of classical Latin were to be presumed. The practice and Teuffel's classification, with modifications, are still in use. His work was translated into English as soon as published in German by Wilhelm Wagner, who corresponded with Teuffel. Wagner published the English translation in 1873. Teuffel divides the chronology of classical Latin authors into several periods according to political events, rather than by style. Regarding the style of the literary Latin of those periods he had but few comments.
Teuffel was to go on with other editions of his history, but meanwhile it had come out in English almost as soon as it did in German and found immediate favorable reception. In 1877 Charles Thomas Cruttwell produced the first English work along the same lines. In his Preface he refers to "Teuffel's admirable history, without which many chapters in the present work could not have attained completeness" and also gives credit to Wagner.
Cruttwell adopts the same periods with minor differences; however, where Teuffel's work is mainly historical, Cruttwell's work contains detailed analyses of style. Nevertheless like Teuffel he encounters the same problem of trying to summarize the voluminous detail in a way that captures in brief the gist of a few phases of writing styles. Like Teuffel, he has trouble finding a name for the first of the three periods (the current Old Latin phase), calling it mainly "from Livius to Sulla." The language, he says, is "…marked by immaturity of art and language, by a vigorous but ill-disciplined imitation of Greek poetical models, and in prose by a dry sententiousness of style, gradually giving way to a clear and fluent strength…" These abstracts have little meaning to those not well-versed in Latin literature. In fact, Cruttwell admits "The ancients, indeed, saw a difference between Ennius, Pacuvius, and Accius, but it may be questioned whether the advance would be perceptible by us."
Some of Cruttwell's ideas have become established in Latin philology. While praising the application of rules to classical Latin, most intensely in the Golden Age, he says "In gaining accuracy, however, classical Latin suffered a grievous loss. It became cultivated as distinct from a natural language… Spontaneity, therefore, became impossible and soon invention also ceased… In a certain sense, therefore, Latin was studied as a dead language, while it was still a living."[9]
A second problem is the appropriateness of Teuffel's scheme to the concept of classical Latin, which Teuffel does not discuss. Cruttwell addresses the problem, however, altering the concept of the classical. As the best Latin is defined as golden Latin, the second of the three periods, the other two periods considered classical are left hanging. While on the one hand assigning to Old Latin the term pre-classical and by implication the term post-classical (or post-Augustan) to silver Latin Cruttwell realizes that this construct is not according to ancient usage and asserts "…the epithet classical is by many restricted to the authors who wrote in it [golden Latin]. It is best, however, not to narrow unnecessarily the sphere of classicity; to exclude Terence on the one hand or Tacitus and Pliny on the other, would savour of artificial restriction rather than that of a natural classification." (This from a scholar who had just been complaining that golden Latin was not a natural language.) The contradiction remains; Terence is and is not a classical author depending on context.[10]
Authors of the Golden Age[edit]
At Maecenas' Reception, oil, Stepan Bakalovich, 1890. An artist's view of the classical. Maecenas knew and entertained everyone literary in the Golden Age, especially Augustus.
After defining a "First Period" of inscriptional Latin and the literature of the earliest known authors and fragments, to which he assigns no definitive name (he does use the term "Old Roman" at one point), Teuffel presents "the second period", his major, "das goldene Zeitalter der römischen Literatur", the Golden Age of Roman Literature, dated 671–767 AUC or 83 BC – 14 AD according to his time reckoning, between the dictatorship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix and the death of the emperor Augustus.[11][12] Of it Wagner translating Teuffel writes
The golden age of the Roman literature is that period in which the climax was reached in the perfection of form, and in most respects also in the methodical treatment of the subject-matters. It may be subdivided between the generations, in the first of which (the Ciceronian Age) prose culminated, while poetry was principally developed in the Augustan Age.
The Ciceronian Age was dated 671–711 AUC (83 BC – 43 BC), ending just after the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar, and the Augustan 711–67 AUC (43 BC – 14 AD), ending with the death of Augustus. The Ciceronian Age is further divided by the consulship of Cicero in 691 AUC or 63 BC into a first and second half. Authors are assigned to these periods by years of principal achievements.
The Golden Age had already made an appearance in German philology but in a less systematic way. In Bielfeld's 1770 Elements of universal erudition the author says (in translation): "The Second Age of Latin began about the time of Caesar [his ages are different from Teuffel's], and ended with Tiberius. This is what is called the Augustan Age, which was perhaps of all others the most brilliant, a period at which it should seem as if the greatest men, and the immortal authors, had met together upon the earth, in order to write the Latin language in its utmost purity and perfection."[13] and of Tacitus "…his conceits and sententious style is not that of the golden age…".[14] Teuffel evidently received the ideas of a golden and silver Latin from an existing tradition and embedded them in a new system, transforming them as he thought best.
In Cruttwell's introduction, the Golden Age is dated 80 BC – 14 AD ("from Cicero to Ovid"), which is about the same as Teuffel's. Of this "Second Period" Cruttwell says that it "represents the highest excellence in prose and poetry," paraphrasing Teuffel. The Ciceronian Age is now "the Republican Period" and is dated 80–42 BC through the Battle of Philippi. Later in the book Cruttwell omits Teuffel's first half of the Ciceronian and starts the Golden Age at Cicero's consulship of 63 BC, an error perpetuated into Cruttwell's second edition as well. He must mean 80 BC as he includes Varro in Golden Latin. Teuffel's Augustan Age is Cruttwell's Augustan Epoch, 42 BC – 14 AD.
Marcus Tullius Cicero, after whom Teuffel named his Ciceronian period of the Golden Age.
Julius Caesar.
The literary histories list all authors canonical to the Ciceronian Age even though their works may be fragmentary or may not have survived at all. With the exception of a few major writers, such as Cicero, Caesar, Virgil and Catullus, ancient accounts of Republican literature are glowing accounts of jurists and orators who wrote prolifically but who now can't be read because their works have been lost, or analyses of language and style that appear insightful but can't be verified because there are no surviving instances. In that sense the pages of literary history are peopled with shadows: Aquilius Gallus, Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, Lucius Licinius Lucullus and many others who left a reputation but no readable works; they are to be presumed in the Golden Age by their associations. A list of some canonical authors of the period, whose works have survived in whole or in part (typically in part, some only short fragments) is as follows:
Virgil's bust, on his tomb in Naples
The Golden Age is divided by the assassination of Julius Caesar. In the wars that followed the Republican generation of literary men was lost, as most of them had taken the losing side; Marcus Tullius Cicero was beheaded in the street as he enquired from his litter what the disturbance was.[citation needed] They were replaced by a new generation that had grown up and been educated under the old and were now to make their mark under the watchful eye of the new emperor. As the demand for great orators was more or less over,[15] the talent shifted emphasis to poetry. Other than the historian Livy, the most remarkable writers of the period were the poets Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. Although Augustus evidenced some toleration to republican sympathizers, he exiled Ovid, and imperial tolerance ended with the continuance of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty.
Augustan writers include:
Authors of the Silver Age[edit]
The frowning second emperor, Tiberius, limited free speech, precipitating the rise of Silver Latin, with its emphasis on mannerism rather than on solid content, according to Teuffel's model
In his second volume, on the Imperial Period, Teuffel initiated a slight alteration in approach, making it clearer that his terms applied to the Latin and not just to the age, and also changing his dating scheme from years AUC to modern. Although he introduces das silberne Zeitalter der römischen Literatur, "the Silver Age of Roman Literature", 14–117 AD,[16] from the death of Augustus to the death of Trajan, he also mentions regarding a section of a work by Seneca the Elder a wenig Einfluss der silbernen Latinität, a "slight influence of silver Latin." It is clear that he had shifted in thought from golden and silver ages to golden and silver Latin, and not just Latin, but Latinitas, which must at this point be interpreted as classical Latin. He may have been influenced in that regard by one of his sources, E. Opitz, who in 1852 had published a title specimen lexilogiae argenteae latinitatis, mentioning silver Latinity.[17] Although Teuffel's First Period was equivalent to Old Latin and his Second Period was equal to the Golden Age, his Third Period, die römische Kaiserheit, encompasses both the Silver Age and the centuries now termed Late Latin, in which the forms seemed to break loose from their foundation and float freely; that is, literary men appeared uncertain as to what "good Latin" should mean. The last of the Classical Latin is the Silver Latin. The Silver Age is the first of the Imperial Period and is divided into die Zeit der julischen Dynastie, 14–68; die Zeit der flavischen Dynastie, 69–96; and die Zeit des Nerva und Trajan, 96–117. Subsequently Teuffel goes over to a century scheme: 2nd, 3rd, etc., through 6th. His later editions (which came out in the rest of the late 19th century) divide the Imperial Age into parts: the 1st century (Silver Age), the 2nd century: Hadrian and the Antonines and the 3rd through the 6th Centuries. Of the Silver Age proper, pointing out that anything like freedom of speech had vanished with Tiberius, Teuffel says[18]
…the continual apprehension in which men lived caused a restless versatility… Simple or natural composition was considered insipid; the aim of language was to be brilliant… Hence it was dressed up with abundant tinsel of epigrams, rhetorical figures and poetical terms… Mannerism supplanted style, and bombastic pathos took the place of quiet power.
The content of new literary works was continually proscribed by the emperor (by executing or exiling the author), who also played the role of literary man (typically badly). The talent therefore went into a repertory of new and dazzling mannerisms, which Teuffel calls "utter unreality." Crutwell picks up this theme:[19]
The foremost of these [characteristics] is unreality, arising from the extinction of freedom… Hence arose a declamatory tone, which strove by frigid and almost hysterical exaggeration to make up for the healthy stimulus afforded by daily contact with affairs. The vein of artificial rhetoric, antithesis and epigram… owes its origin to this forced contentment with an uncongenial sphere. With the decay of freedom, taste sank…
Marcus Aurelius, emperor over the last generation of classicists and himself a classicist.
In Crutwell's view (which had not been expressed by Teuffel), Silver Latin was a "rank, weed-grown garden", a "decline."[20] Cruttwell had already decried what he saw as a loss of spontaneity in Golden Latin. That Teuffel should regard the Silver Age as a loss of natural language and therefore of spontaneity, implying that the Golden Age had it, is passed without comment. Instead, Tiberius brought about a "sudden collapse of letters." The idea of a decline had been dominant in English society since Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Once again, Cruttwell evidences some unease with his stock pronouncements: "The Natural History of Pliny shows how much remained to be done in fields of great interest." The idea of Pliny as a model is not consistent with any sort of decline; moreover, Pliny did his best work under emperors at least as tolerant as Augustus had been. To include some of the best writings of the Silver Age, Cruttwell found he had to extend the period through the death of Marcus Aurelius, 180 AD. The philosophic prose of that good emperor was in no way compatible with either Teuffel's view of unnatural language or Cruttwell's depiction of a decline. Having created these constructs, the two philologists found they could not entirely justify them; apparently, in the worst implications of their views, there was no classical Latin by the ancient definition at all and some of the very best writing of any period in world history was a stilted and degenerate unnatural language.
The Silver Age also furnishes the only two extant Latin novels: Apuleius's The Golden Ass and Petronius's Satyricon.
Writers of the Silver Age include:
Through the death of Trajan, 117 AD[edit]
Germanicus Caesar
Ancient bust of Seneca, part of a double herm (Antikensammlung Berlin)
Through the death of Marcus Aurelius, 180 AD[edit]
Of the additional century granted by Cruttwell and others of his point of view to Silver Latin but not by Teuffel the latter says "The second century was a happy period for the Roman State, the happiest indeed during the whole Empire… But in the world of letters the lassitude and enervation, which told of Rome's decline, became unmistakeable… its forte is in imitation."[21] Teuffel, however, excepts the jurists; others find other "exceptions," recasting Teuffels's view.[clarification needed]
Sketch of Apuleius
Stylistic shifts[edit]
The style of language refers to repeatable features of speech that are somewhat less general than the fundamental characteristics of the language. The latter give it a unity allowing it to be referenced under a single name. Thus Old Latin, Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin, etc., are not considered different languages, but are all referenced under the name of Latin. This is an ancient practice continued by moderns rather than a philological innovation of recent times. That Latin had case endings is a fundamental feature of the language. Whether a given form of speech prefers to use prepositions such as ad, ex, de for "to", "from" and "of" rather than simple case endings is a matter of style. Latin has a large number of styles. Each and every author has a style, which typically allows his prose or poetry to be identified by experienced Latinists. The problem of comparative literature has been to group styles finding similarities by period, in which case one may speak of Old Latin, Silver Latin, Late Latin as styles or a phase of styles.
The ancient authors themselves first defined style by recognizing different kinds of sermo, or "speech." In making the value judgement that classical Latin was "first class" and that it was better to write with Latinitas they were themselves selecting the literary and upper-class language of the city as a standard style and all sermo that differed from it was a different style; thus in rhetoric Cicero was able to define sublime, intermediate and low styles (within classical Latin) and St. Augustine to recommend the low style for sermons (from sermo).[22] Style, therefore, is to be defined by differences in speech from a standard. Teuffel defined that standard as Golden Latin.
John Edwin Sandys, for many decades an authority on Latin style, summarizes the differences between Golden and Silver Latin as follows.[23] Silver Latin is to be distinguished by
• "an exaggerated conciseness and point"
• "occasional archaic words and phrases derived from poetry"
• "increase in the number of Greek words in ordinary use" (Claudius Suetonius refers to "both our languages", Latin and Greek[24])
• "literary reminiscences"
• "The literary use of words from the common dialect" (dictare and dictitare as well as classical dicere, "to say")
1. ^ Citroni 2006, p. 204.
2. ^ Citroni 2006, p. 205.
3. ^ Citroni 2006, p. 206, reported in Aulus Gellius, 9.8.15.
4. ^ Citroni 2006, p. 207.
5. ^ Bradford, William (1855) [1648]. "Gov. Bradford's Dialogue". In Morton, Nathaniel. New England's Memorial. Boston: Congregational Board of Publication. p. 330.
6. ^ Littlefield 1904, p. 301.
7. ^ Ainsworth, Robert (January 1736). "Article XXX: Thesaurus Linguae Latinae Compendarius". The Present State of the Republic of Letters (London: W. Innys and R. Manby) XVII.
8. ^ Gorak, Jan (1991). The making of the modern canon: genesis and crisis of a literary idea. London: Athlone. p. 51.
9. ^ Cruttwell 1877, p. 3.
10. ^ Cruttwell 1877, p. 142.
11. ^ Teuffel 1870, p. 216.
12. ^ Teuffel 1873, p. 226.
13. ^ Bielfeld & Hooper 1770, p. 244.
14. ^ Bielfeld & Hooper 1770, p. 345.
15. ^ Teuffel 1873, p. 385, "Public life became extinct, all political business passed into the hands of the monarch..."
16. ^ Teuffel (1870) p. 526.
17. ^ Teuffel 1870, p. 530.
18. ^ Teuffel & Schwabe 1892, pp. 4–5.
19. ^ Cruttwell 1877, p. 6.
20. ^ Cruttwell 1877, p. 341.
21. ^ Teuffel & Schwabe 1892, p. 192.
22. ^ Auerbach, Erich; Mannheim, Ralph (Translator) (1965) [1958]. Literary Language and its Public in Late Latin Antiquity and in the Middle Ages. Bollingen Series LXXIV. Pantheon Books. p. 33.
23. ^ Sandys, John Edwin (1921). A Companion to Latin Studies Edited for the Syndics of the University Press (3rd ed.). Cambridge: University Press. pp. 824–26.
24. ^ Suetonius, Claudius, 24.1.
• Bielfeld, Baron (1770), The Elements of Universal Erudition, Containing an Analytical Abridgement of the Science, Polite Arts and Belles Lettres III, Hooper, W (Trans.), London: G Scott
• Citroni, Mario (2006), "The Concept of the Classical and the Canons of Model Authors in Roman Literature", in Porter, James I, The Classical Tradition of Greece and Rome, Packham, RA (Trans.), Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, pp. 204–34
• Cruttwell, Charles Thomas (1877), A History of Roman Literature from the Earliest Period to the Death of Marcus Aurelius, London: Charles Griffin & Co
• Littlefield, George Emery (1904), Early Schools and School-books of New England, Boston: Club of Odd Volumes
• Settis, Salvatore (2006), The Future of the ‘Classical’, Cameron, Allan (Trans.), Cambridge, UK; Malden, MA: Polity Press
• Teuffel, Wilhelm Sigismund (1873), A History of Roman Literature, Wagner, Wilhelm (Trans.), London: George Bell & Sons
• Teuffel, Wilhelm Sigismund; Schwabe, Ludwig (1892), Teuffel's History of Roman Literature Revised and Enlarged, II, The Imperial Period, Warr, George CW (Trans.) (from the 5th German ed.), London: George Bell & Sons
See also[edit]
External links[edit] |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68921 | Common toad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Common toad
Bufo bufo 2 (2005 07 11).jpg
Common toad near Telč, Czech Republic
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Bufonidae
Genus: Bufo
Species: B. bufo
Binomial name
Bufo bufo
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Bufo bufo distribution.png
Range map of common toad
The common toad, European toad or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the toad (Bufo bufo, from Latin bufo "toad"), is an amphibian found throughout most of Europe (with the exception of Ireland, Iceland, and some Mediterranean islands), in the western part of North Asia, and in a small portion of Northwest Africa. It is one of a group of closely related animals that are descended from a common ancestral line of toads and which form a species complex. The toad is an inconspicuous animal as it usually lies hidden during the day. It becomes active at dusk and spends the night hunting for the invertebrates on which it feeds. It moves with a slow ungainly walk or short jumps and has greyish brown skin covered with wart-like lumps.
Although toads are usually solitary animals, in the breeding season, large numbers of toads converge on certain breeding ponds, where the males compete to mate with the females. Eggs are laid in gelatinous strings in the water and later hatch out into tadpoles. After several months of growth and development, these sprout limbs and undergo metamorphosis into tiny toads. The juveniles emerge from the water and remain largely terrestrial for the rest of their lives.
The common toad seems to be in decline in part of its range but overall is listed as being of "least concern" in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.[1] It is threatened by habitat loss, especially by drainage of its breeding sites, and some toads get killed on the roads as they make their annual migrations. It has long been associated in popular culture and literature with witchcraft.
Shoulder girdle
Skeleton showing shoulder girdle
1 suprascapula, 2 scapula, 3 clavicle,
4 procoracoid
The common toad was first given the name Rana bufo by the Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae in 1758.[3] In this work, he placed all the frogs and toads in the single genus Rana. It later became apparent that this genus should be subdivided, and in 1768, the Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti placed the common toad in the genus Bufo, naming it Bufo bufo.[4][5] The toads in this genus are included in the family Bufonidae, the true toads.[2]
Various subspecies of Bufo bufo have been recognized over the years. The Caucasian toad is found in the mountainous regions of the Caucasus and was at one time classified as Bufo bufo verrucosissima. It has a larger genome and differs from Bufo bufo morphologically [6] and is now accepted as Bufo verrucosissimus.[7] The spiny toad was classified as Bufo bufo spinosus. It is found in the Mediterranean area and grows to a larger size and has a spinier skin than its more northern counterparts with which it intergrades.[8] It is now accepted as Bufo spinosus.[9] The Gredos toad, Bufo bufo gredosicola, is restricted to the Sierra de Gredos, a mountain range in central Spain. It has exceptionally large paratoid glands and its colour tends to be blotched rather than uniform.[10] It is now considered to be a synonym of Bufo spinosus.[11]
Bufo bufo is part of a species complex, a group of closely related species which cannot be clearly demarcated.[1] Several modern species are believed to form an ancient group of related taxa from preglacial times. These are the spiny toad (Bufo spinosus), the Caucasian toad (Bufo verrucosissimus) and the Japanese common toad (Bufo japonicus). The European common toad (Bufo bufo) seems to have arisen more recently.[6] It is believed that the range of the ancestral form extended into Asia but that isolation between the eastern and western species complexes occurred as a result of the development of the Central Asian Deserts during the Middle Miocene.[12] The exact taxonomic relationships between these species remains unclear.[6] A serological investigation into toad populations in Turkey undertaken in 2001 examined the blood serum proteins of Bufo verrucosissimus and Bufo spinosus. It found that the differences between the two were not significant and that therefore the former should be synonymized with the latter.[13]
A study published in 2012 examined the phylogenetic relationships between the Eurasian and North African species in the Bufo bufo group and indicated a long evolutionary history for the group. Nine to thirteen million years ago, Bufo eichwaldi, a recently described species from south Azerbaijan and Iran, split from the main lineage. Further divisions occurred with Bufo spinosus splitting off about five million years ago when the Pyrenees were being uplifted, an event which isolated the populations in the Iberian Peninsula from those in the rest of Europe. The remaining European lineage split into Bufo bufo and Bufo verrucosissimus less than three million years ago during the Pleistocene.[14] Very occasionally the common toad hybridizes with the natterjack toad (Bufo calamita) or the European green toad (Bufo viridis).[15]
The common toad can reach about 15 cm (6 in) in length. Females are normally stouter than males and southern specimens tend to be larger than northern ones. The head is broad with a wide mouth below the terminal snout which has two small nostrils. There are no teeth. The bulbous, protruding eyes have yellow or copper coloured irises and horizontal slit-shaped pupils. Just behind the eyes are two bulging regions, the paratoid glands, which are positioned obliquely. They contain a noxious substance, bufotoxin, which is used to deter potential predators. The head joins the body without a noticeable neck and there is no external vocal sac. The body is broad and squat and positioned close to the ground. The fore limbs are short with the toes of the fore feet turning inwards. At breeding time, the male develops nuptial pads on the first three fingers. He uses these to grasp the female when mating. The hind legs are short relative to other frogs' legs and the hind feet have long, unwebbed toes. There is no tail. The skin is dry and covered with small wart-like lumps. The colour is a fairly uniform shade of brown, olive-brown or greyish-brown, sometimes partly blotched or banded with a darker shade. The common toad tends to be sexually dimorphic with the females being browner and the males greyer.[16] The underside is a dirty white speckled with grey and black patches.[15][17]
Other species with which the common toad could be confused include the natterjack toad (Bufo calamita) and the European green toad (Bufo viridis). The former is usually smaller and has a yellow band running down its back while the latter has a distinctive mottled pattern. The paratoid glands of both are parallel rather than slanting as in the common toad.[15] The common frog (Rana temporaria) is also similar in appearance but it has a less rounded snout, damp smooth skin, and usually moves by leaping.[18]
Common toads can live for many years and have survived for fifty years in captivity.[19] In the wild, common toads are thought to live for about ten to twelve years. Their age can be determined by counting the number of annual growth rings in the bones of their phalanges.[20]
Distribution and habitat[edit]
After the common frog (Rana temporaria), the edible frog (Pelophylax esculentus) and the smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris), the common toad is the fourth most common amphibian in Europe.[15] It is found throughout the continent with the exception of Iceland, the cold northern parts of Scandinavia, Ireland and a number of Mediterranean islands. These include Malta, Crete, Corsica, Sardinia and the Balearic Islands. Its easterly range extends to Irkutsk in Siberia and its southerly range includes parts of northwestern Africa in the northern mountain ranges of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. A closely related variant lives in eastern Asia including Japan.[15] The common toad is found at altitudes of up to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) in the southern part of its range. It is largely found in forested areas with coniferous, deciduous and mixed woodland, especially in wet locations.[17] It also inhabits open countryside, fields, copses, parks and gardens, and often occurs in dry areas well away from standing water.[15]
Behaviour and lifecyle[edit]
Adopting a defensive stance
Adopting a defensive stance, Poland
Grass snake eating adult common toad, Czech Republic
The common toad usually moves by walking rather slowly or in short shuffling jumps involving all four legs. It spends the day concealed in a lair that it has hollowed out under foliage or beneath a root or a stone where its colouring makes it inconspicuous. It emerges at dusk and may travel some distance in the dark while hunting. It is most active in wet weather. By morning it has returned to its base and may occupy the same place for several months. It is voracious and eats woodlice, slugs, beetles, caterpillars, flies, earthworms and even small mice.[21][22] Small, fast moving prey may be caught by a flick of the tongue while larger items are grabbed with the jaws. Having no teeth, it swallows food whole in a series of gulps.[21] It does not recognise its prey as such but will try to consume any small, dark coloured, moving object it encounters at night. A research study showed that it would snap at a moving 1 cm (0.4 in) piece of black paper as if it were prey but would disregard a larger moving piece.[23] Toads seem to use visual cues for feeding and can see their prey at very low light intensities where humans are unable to discern anything.[24] Periodically, the common toad sheds its skin. This comes away in tattered pieces and is then consumed.[21]
When attacked, the common toad adopts a characteristic stance, inflating its body and standing with its hindquarters raised and its head lowered. Its chief means of defence lies in the foul tasting secretion that is produced by its paratoid glands and other glands on its skin. This contains a toxin called bufagin and is enough to deter many predators although grass snakes seem to be unaffected by it.[15] Other predators of adult toads include hedgehogs, rats and mink, and even domestic cats.[22] Birds that feed on toads include herons, crows and birds of prey. Crows have been observed to puncture the skin with their beak and then peck out the animal's liver, thus avoiding the toxin.[22] The tadpoles also exude noxious substances which deter fishes from eating them but not the great crested newt. Aquatic invertebrates that feed on toad tadpoles include dragonfly larvae, diving beetles and water boatmen. These usually avoid the noxious secretion by puncturing the tadpole's skin and sucking out its juices.[22]
Infected with larvae of Lucilia bufonivora
Infected with larvae of Lucilia bufonivora, Poland
A parasitic fly, Lucilia bufonivora, attacks adult common toads. It lays its eggs on the toad's skin and when these hatch, the larvae crawl into the toad's nostrils and eat its flesh internally with lethal consequences.[25] The European fingernail clam (Sphaerium corneum) is unusual in that it can climb up water plants and move around on its muscular foot. It sometimes clings to the toe of a common toad and this is believed to be one of the means by which it disperses to new locations.[26]
In 2007, researchers using a remotely operated underwater vehicle to survey Loch Ness, Scotland, observed a common toad moving along the bottom of the lake at a depth of 324 feet (99 m). They were surprised to find that an air-breathing animal could survive in such a location.[27]
The common toad emerges from hibernation in spring and there is a mass migration towards the breeding sites. The toads converge on certain ponds that they favour while avoiding other stretches of water that seem eminently suitable.[21] Adults use the same location year after year and over 80% of males marked as juveniles have been found to return to the pond at which they were spawned.[28] They find their way to these mainly by using olfactory and magnetic cues. Toads experimentally moved elsewhere and fitted with tracking devices have been found to be able to locate their chosen breeding pond when the displacement exceeded three kilometres (two miles).[29]
The males arrive first and remain in the location for several weeks while the females only stay long enough to mate and spawn. Rather than fighting for the right to mate with a female, male toads may settle disputes by means of the pitch of their voice. Croaking provides a reliable sign of body size and hence of prowess.[30] Nevertheless, fights occur in some instances. In a study at one pond where males outnumbered females by four or five to one, it was found that 38% of the males won the right to mate by defeating rivals in combat or by displacing other males already mounted on females.[31] Male toads generally outnumber female toads at breeding ponds. A Swedish study found that female mortality was higher than that of males and that 41% of females did not come to the breeding pond in the spring and missed a year before reproducing again.[32]
Egg strings of common toad
Egg strings, Belgium
The males mount the females' backs, grasping them with their fore limbs under the armpits in a grip that is known as amplexus. The males are very enthusiastic, will try to grasp fish or inanimate objects and often mount the backs of other males. Sometimes several toads form a heap, each male trying to grasp the female at the base. It is a stressful period and mortality is high among breeding toads.[15] A successful male stays in amplexus for several days and, as the female lays a long, double string of small black eggs, he fertilises them with his sperm. As the pair wander piggyback around the shallow edges of the pond, the gelatinous egg strings, which may contain 3000 to 6000 eggs and be 3 to 4.5 metres (10 to 15 ft) in length, get tangled in plant stalks.[21]
The strings of eggs absorb water and swell in size, and small tadpoles hatch out after two to three weeks. At first they cling to the remains of the strings and feed on the jelly. They later attach themselves to the underside of the leaves of water weed before becoming free swimming. The tadpoles at first look similar to those of the common frog (Rana temporaria) but they are a darker colour, being blackish above and dark grey below. They can be distinguished from the tadpoles of other species by the fact that the mouth is the same width as the space between the eyes, and this is twice as large as the distance between the nostrils. Over the course of a few weeks their legs develop and their tail gradually gets reabsorbed. By twelve weeks of age they are miniature toads measuring about 1.5 cm (0.6 in) long and ready to leave the pond.[21]
Development and growth[edit]
Tadpoles of common toad
Tadpoles, some with hind legs, Germany
The common toad reaches maturity at three to seven years old but there is great variability between populations.[15] Juveniles are often parasitised by the lung nematode Rhabdias bufonis. This slows growth rates and reduces stamina and fitness. Larger juveniles at metamorphosis always outgrow smaller ones that have been reared in more crowded ponds. Even when they have heavy worm burdens, large juveniles grow faster than smaller individuals with light worm burdens.[33] After several months of heavy worm infection, some juveniles in a study were only half as heavy as control juveniles. Their parasite-induced anorexia caused a decrease in food intake and some died.[34] Another study investigated whether the use of nitrogenous fertilisers affects the development of common toad tadpoles. The toadlets were kept in very dilute solutions of ammonium nitrate of various strengths. It was found that at certain concentrations, which were well above any normally found in the field, growth was increased and metamorphosis accelerated, but at others, there was no significant difference between the experimental tadpoles and controls. Nevertheless, certain unusual swimming patterns and a few deformities were found among the experimental animals.[35]
Tadpole development
Tadpole development over a two-week period, Germany
A comparison was made between the growth rate of newly metamorphosed juveniles from different altitudes and latitudes, the specimens studied being from Norway, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and France. At first the growth rates for males and females was identical. By the time they became mature their growth rate had slowed down to about 21% of the initial rate and they had reached 95% of their expected adult size. Some females that were on a biennial breeding cycle carried on growing rapidly for a longer time. Adjusting for differences in temperature and the length of the growing season, the toads grew and matured at much the same rate from the four colder localities. These juveniles reached maturity after 1.09 years for males and 1.55 years for females. However, the young toads from lowland France grew faster and longer to a much greater size taking an average 1.77 years for males and 2.49 years for females before reaching maturity.[36]
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species considers the common toad as being of "least concern". This is because it has a wide distribution and is, over most of its range, a common species. It is not particularly threatened by habitat loss because it is adaptable and is found in deciduous and coniferous forests, scrubland, meadows, parks and gardens. It prefers damp areas with dense foliage. The major threats it faces include loss of habitat locally, the drainage of wetlands where it breeds, agricultural activities, pollution and mortality on roads. Chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease of amphibians, has been reported in common toads in Spain and the United Kingdom and may affect some populations.[1]
There are parts of its range where the common toad seems to be in decline. In Spain, increased aridity and habitat loss have led to a diminution in numbers and it is regarded as "near threatened". A population in the Sierra de Gredos mountain range is facing predation by otters and increased competition from the frog Rana perezi. Both otter and frog seem to be extending their ranges to higher altitudes.[1] The common toad cannot be legally sold or traded in the United Kingdom[37] but there is a slow decline in toad numbers[1] and it has therefore been declared a Biodiversity Action Plan priority species.[17] In Russia, it is considered to be a "Rare Species" in the provinces of Bashkiria, Tataria, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous County and Irkutsk,[17] but during the 1990s, it became more abundant in Moscow Province.[17]
It has been found that urban populations of common toad occupying small areas and isolated by development show a lower level of genetic diversity and reduced fitness as compared to nearby rural populations. The researchers demonstrated this by genetic analysis and by noting the greater number of physical abnormalities among urban as against rural tadpoles when raised in a controlled environment. It was considered that long term depletion in numbers and habitat fragmentation can reduce population persistence in such urban environments.[38]
Tunnel for toads
Tunnel under road for toads, Germany
Many toads are killed by traffic while migrating to their breeding grounds. In Europe they have the highest rate of mortality from roadkill among amphibians. Many of the deaths take place on stretches of road where streams flow underneath showing that migration routes often follow water courses.[39] In some places in Germany, Great Britain, Northern Italy and Poland, special tunnels have been constructed so that toads can cross under roads in safety. In other places, local wildlife groups run "toad patrols", carrying the amphibians across roads at busy crossing points in buckets. The toads start moving at dusk and for them to travel far, the temperature needs to remain above 5 °C (41 °F). On a warm wet night they may continue moving all night but if it cools down, they may stop earlier.[40] An estimate was made of the significance of roadkill in toad populations in the Netherlands. The number of females killed in the spring migration on a quiet country road (ten vehicles per hour) was compared with the number of strings of eggs laid in nearby fens. A 30% mortality rate was found, with the rate for deaths among males likely to be of a similar order.[41]
The main toxic substance found in the parotoid gland and skin of the common toad is called bufotoxin. It was first isolated by Heinrich Wieland and his colleagues in 1922 and they succeeded in identifying its structure about 20 years later.[42] Meanwhile other workers succeeded in isolating the same compound and its parent steroid bufotalin from the Japanese toad (Bufo japonicus). By 1986, researchers at the Arizona State University had succeeded in synthesizing the toad venom constituents bufotalin, bufalitoxin and bufotoxin.[43] The chemical formula of bufotoxin is C40H60N4O10. Its physical effects resemble those of digitalis[44] which in small doses increases the strength with which the heart muscle contracts and which is used in the treatment of congestive heart failure. The skin of one toad contains enough toxin to cause serious symptoms or even death in animals and man.[45] Clinical effects include severe irritation and pain to eyes, mouth, nose and throat, cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms, paralysis and seizures, increased salivation, vomiting, hyperkalemia, cyanosis and hallucinations.[45] There is no known anti-venom.[45] Treatment consists of supporting respiratory and cardiovascular functions, prevention of absorption and electrocardiography to monitor the condition. Atropine, phenytoin, cholestyramine and lidocaine may prove useful in its management.[45]
Cultural significance[edit]
Devil's coat of arms
The Devil's coat of arms
The toad has long been considered to be an animal of ill omen or a connection to a spirit world. This may have its origins in the fact that it is at home both on land and in the water. It may cause repugnance because of its blackish, wart-like skin, its slow movements and the way it emerges from some dark hole. In Europe in the Middle Ages, the toad was associated with the Devil, for whom a coat-of-arms was invented emblazoned with three toads.[46] It was known that the toad could poison people and, as the witch's familiar, it was thought to possess magical powers. Even ordinary people made use of dried toads, their bile, faeces and blood.[47] In some areas, the finding of a toad in a house was considered evidence that a witch was present.[47] In the Basque Country, the familiars were believed to be toads wearing elegant robes. These were herded by children who were being trained as witches. Between 1610 and 1612, the Spanish inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías investigated withcraft in the region and searched the houses of suspected witches for dressed toads. He found none.[48] These witches were reputed to use undomesticated toads as ingredients in their liniments and brews.[48]
An English folk tale tells how an old woman, a supposed witch, cursed her landlord and all his possessions when he demanded the unpaid rent for her cottage. Soon afterwards, a large toad fell on his wife and caused her to collapse. The toad was thrown into the fire but escaped with severe burns. Meanwhile, the old witch's cottage had caught fire and she was badly burnt. By next day, both toad and witch had died, and it was found that the woman's burns exactly mirrored those of the toad.[49]
Witch feeding toads
1579 woodcut showing a witch feeding her toad familiars
The saliva of the toad was considered poisonous and was known as "sweltered venom" and it was believed that it could spit or vomit poisonous fire. Toads were associated with devils and demons and in Paradise Lost, John Milton depicted Satan as a toad when he poured poison into Eve's ear.[47] The First Witch in Shakespeare's Macbeth gave instructions on using a toad in the concoction of spells:[50]
Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.
It was also believed that there was a jewel inside a toad's head, a "toadstone", that when worn as a necklace or ring would warn the wearer of attempts to poison them.[51] Shakespeare mentioned this in As You Like It:[52]
Mr. Toad
Mr. Toad as illustrated by Paul Bransom, 1913
Sweet are the uses of adversity
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
Mr. Toad Esq. is one of the main characters in the children's novel The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame.[53] This has been dramatized by several authors including A. A. Milne who called his play Toad of Toad Hall. Mr. Toad is a very conceited, anthropomorphic toad and in the book he composes a ditty in his own praise which starts like this:[54]
The world has held great heroes,
As history books have showed;
But never a name went down to fame
Compared with that of Toad!
The clever men at Oxford
Know all there is to be knowed.
But none of them know half as much
As intelligent Mr. Toad!
George Orwell in his essay Some Thoughts on the Common Toad described the emergence of the common toad from hibernation as one of the most moving signs of spring.[55]
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36. ^ Hemelaar, Agnes (1988). "Age, growth and other population characteristics of Bufo bufo from different latitudes and altitudes". Journal of Herpetology 22 (4): 369–388. doi:10.2307/1564332. JSTOR 1564332.
37. ^ "Common Toad: Bufo bufo". Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
38. ^ Hitchings, S. P.; Beebee, T. J. C. (1998). "Loss of genetic diversity and fitness in Common Toad (Bufo bufo) populations isolated by inimical habitat". Journal of Evolutionary Biology 11 (3): 269–283. doi:10.1046/j.1420-9101.1998.11030269.x.
39. ^ Santos, X.; Llorente, G. A.; Montori, A.; Carretero, M. A.; Franch, M.; Garriga, N.; Richter-Boix, A. (2007). "Evaluating factors affecting amphibian mortality on roads: the case of the common toad Bufo bufo, near a breeding place" (PDF). Animal Biodiversity and Conservation (The Natural Science Museum of Barcelona) 30 (1): 97–104.
40. ^ "What we do". Toad watch: Helping toads to survive. Retrieved 2012-04-30.
41. ^ Gelder, J. J. (1973). "A quantitative approach to the mortality resulting from traffic in a population of Bufo bufo L". Oecologia 13 (1): 93–95. doi:10.1007/BF00379622.
42. ^ Chen, K. K.; Jensen, H.; Chen, A. L. (April 1932). "Action of Bufotoxins". Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 7 29 (907). doi:10.3181/00379727-29-6141. ISSN 1535-3699. Wieland and Alles isolated bufotoxin from the skin of B. vulgaris or B. bufo bufo.
43. ^ Pettit, G. R.; Kamano, Y.; Drasar, P.; Inoue, M.; Knight, J. C. (1987). "Steroids and related natural products. 104. Bufadienolides. 36. Synthesis of bufalitoxin and bufotoxin". Journal of Organic Chemistry 52 (16): 3573–3578. doi:10.1021/jo00392a014.
44. ^ "Bufotoxin". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 2012-05-26.
45. ^ a b c d "Toad toxins". Retrieved 2012-05-26.
46. ^ Peddle, S. V. (2007). Pagan Channel Islands: Europe's Hidden Heritage. Robert Hale. p. 118. ISBN 0-7090-8248-7.
47. ^ a b c Burns, William E. (2003). Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-313-32142-9.
48. ^ a b Burns, William E. (2003). Witch Hunts in Europe and America: An Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 20–21. ISBN 978-0-313-32142-9.
49. ^ Hunt, Robert (1865). Popular romances of the West of England; or, the drolls, traditions, and superstitions of Old Cornwall, Volume 2. Hotten. p. 105.
50. ^ Shakespeare, William (1605–1606). "Macbeth, Act IV, Scene I".
51. ^ Wanner, Noel (2011). "Frogs: Frog myths across cultures". The Exploratorium. The museum of science, art and human perception. Retrieved 2012-08-23.
52. ^ Shakespeare, William (1599–1600). "As you like it, Act II, Scene I".
54. ^ Grahame, Kenneth (1908). "Chapter 10". The Wind in the Willows. Methuen. ISBN 978-0-674-03447-1.
55. ^ Orwell, George Shooting an Elephant Secker and Warburg 1950 p. 202
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How To Track Down Suspected Memory Leaks in libcurl
Please note that this memory leak system is not adjusted to work in more
than one thread. If you want/need to use it in a multi-threaded app. Please
adjust accordingly.
Rebuild libcurl with -DCURLDEBUG (usually, rerunning configure with
--enable-debug fixes this). 'make clean' first, then 'make' so that all
files actually are rebuilt properly. It will also make sense to build
libcurl with the debug option (usually -g to the compiler) so that debugging
it will be easier if you actually do find a leak in the library.
This will create a library that has memory debugging enabled.
Modify Your Application
Add a line in your application code:
This will make the malloc debug system output a full trace of all resource
using functions to the given file name. Make sure you rebuild your program
and that you link with the same libcurl you built for this purpose as
described above.
Run Your Application
Run your program as usual. Watch the specified memory trace file grow.
Make your program exit and use the proper libcurl cleanup functions etc. So
that all non-leaks are returned/freed properly.
Analyze the Flow
Use the tests/ perl script to analyze the memdump file:
tests/ < memdump
This now outputs a report on what resources that were allocated but never
freed etc. This report is very fine for posting to the list!
If this doesn't produce any output, no leak was detected in libcurl. Then
the leak is mostly likely to be in your code.
Jump to Line
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Concurrency orchestration patterns for Go
branch: master
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orc.go committing buggy code to master because nobody cares
Concurrency orchestration patterns for a concurrent language
I am working on a new version of this. Same ideas, cleaner semantics, much much nicer syntax.
(c) 2012 Gatlin Johnson See LICENSE for licensing details.
0. Introduction
Orc is a simple library to aid with concurrency orchestration. The goal is to write useful patterns once and to build more complex patterns out of intelligent, simple primitives.
1. Synopsis
package main
import (
func main() {
// a site is a function which publishes a value asynchronously
load_page := orc.Site{
func(url orc.Void, publish orc.Voidchan) {
resp, _ := http.Get(url.(string))
defer resp.Body.Close()
publish <- url
// the built-in Cut function calls multiple sites concurrently and yields
// the first return value
loaded_first := orc.Cut([]orc.Voidchan{
// for now, it's your job to assert types.
// Void is interface{} and Voidchan is chan interface{}
// rtimer publishes `t` after `t` seconds
rtimer := orc.Site{
func(t orc.Void, publish orc.Voidchan) {
<-time.After(time.Duration(t.(int)) * time.Second)
publish <- t
// this site wraps fmt.Println
site_print := orc.Site{
func(msg orc.Void, publish orc.Voidchan) {
publish <- nil
// sites can be recursive if pre-declared
// metronome also shows a nifty heart-beat pattern in Orc which could be
// useful for fault-tolerance in distributed computations
var metronome orc.Site
metronome = orc.Site{
func(t orc.Void, publish orc.Voidchan) {
2. Acknowledgements
The work is inspired by the language of the same name and everyone who has worked on it there.
My semantics are not exactly the same but this is a work in progress; I'd love it if someone sent me corrections.
3. Explain this Orc thing
Orc, is a language and concurrency calculus developed at the University of Texas, Austin. Based on the JVM, it is designed from the ground up to orchestrate concurrent operations and provides a nice functional syntax.
I've implemented some semantics of Orc in Go.
In Orc you have sites which are like functions except they "publish" values non-deterministically and may actually be implemented across the network. On top of this concept are four combinators: parallel, sequence, prune, and otherwise.
Parallel is pretty simple: given two site invocations, it re-publishes both of their values in tandem. F | G publishes the results of both F and G, which may be sites or other expressions built on them.
Sequence is also simple. F >x> G(x) means "do F, then with the results do G." If F is actually an expression (say, H | J), then each published value of F is run through G.
Prune is conceptually a little harder. F <x< G means "Do F and G in parallel, but hold the parts that rely on a value from G until you get one." The first value published by the expression G is used in F.
Otherwise returns to simplicity: F ; G means "do F, and if you get a nil value, publish G instead."
4. How this translates to Go
The actual Orc language makes certain things implicit - sites essentially are asynchronous message queues that can return anything at any time, and the combinators specified above really just implement schemes to manage non-deterministic values coming out of the pipes.
Thus, sites are represented by the Site struct, which contains a function and a Call method. Site functions don't return, but publish values to the channel supplied to them. I chose to implement Sites this way because in the future I'd like them to abstract where the Sites were defined and form the basis of something akin to distributed objects.
Parallel really just merges the output channels of two site calls (which happen concurrently thanks to Call using the go keyword), so it's represented as Merge: merge a slice of void channels into a single one.
Sequence becomes the void channel method ForEachDo which accepts a Site to be called for each value; sequence is essentially an implicit event loop, but Go has explicit loops.
Prune takes a huge semantic hit because at the moment, without metaprogramming, I'm not sure how I would know which parts of the right-hand-side depend on the left - so it's assumed that all of it does. In that regard, prune becomes the void channel method WithFirstDo. It accepts a site just like ForEachDo and on the first value does something. So it's similar in utility and semantics but not identical.
There will be practical and semantic changes; stay tuned.
5. Future
Right now I play fast and loose with the type system. I would eventually like to use the reflect package to allow library users to declare normal types, and let Orc simply ensure they're consistent. For now, though, we have type assertions.
Another goal is already suggested by my use of Site objects rather than simple functions: I would like for Sites to allow both local and remote computations. This requires a bit more thinking but I imagine net-chans and some kind of uniform Site registration and announcement system could make wide-area orchestration much more feasible.
If you write a cool function building on the ones supplied here, send me a pull request and I'll probably include it. It'd be neat to turn this into the one-stop-shop for concurrency patterns.
Also, better examples.
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A Swiss army knife for genome projects
branch: master
Merge branch 'release/0.1.0' closes #4
* Genomer compatible with ruby 2.0.0 thanks to @robsyme
* Use more secure https:// in genomer project Gemfile
* Update all gem versions
* Fix error where features were run from installed version
of genomer rather than the version being developed.
latest commit 06d26fb9a3
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man Init man contains details of the created project
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Genomer: A swiss army knife for genome projects
Genomer is command line glue for genome projects. I wrote this tool to simplify the small but tedious tasks required when finishing a genome. Genomer does not perform assembly, gap closing or genome annotation. Genomer does however make it easy to reorganise contigs in a genome, map annotations on to the genome and generate the files required to submit a genome.
A important part of genomer is making all projects reproducible. Genomer is designed to work well with build tools such as GNU Make and revision control tools such as git. This allows for all steps taken in genome project to be tracked and reverted if required.
Genomer is also built as a modular tool where additional functions are added by installing plugins. Plugins can be added simply by naming them in the Gemfile in the genomer project root, followed typing the command bundle install. Furthermore plugins can be specified to specific versions, this means that new versions of genomer plugins will not break any existing genomer projects.
I wrote genomer to simplify the manual and error prone tasks in my own genome projects. You can see examples of using genomer for a small plasmid and for a larger microbial genome. Each of these projects takes advantage of revision control and build files to make the projects reproducible.
Ruby and RubyGems are required to use genomer and related plugins. Genomer is installed on the command line using:
$ gem install genomer
Genomer is developed by Michael Barton ( The source code is available on github. Bug reports and feature requests should also be made there.
Genomer specifically requires the 1.2.x version of md2man. This is because later versions are not compatible with ruby 1.8.7 and I aim to keep genomer backwards compatible for as long as possible. If you find that there are errors running or developing genomer related to md2man please remove all versions from the systems and try reinstalling genomer. If you have further problems please contact the genomer mailing list found at the site.
Genomer copyright (c) 2010 by Michael Barton. Genomer is licensed under the MIT license. See LICENSE.txt for further details. The swiss army knife image is by Alan Cann used under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 2.0 Licence. The original can be found on flickr.
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[ENT] Jammer's Review: Second Season Recap
Expand Messages
• Jamahl Epsicokhan
Warning: This lengthy recap article contains plentiful spoilers for the entire second season of Enterprise. In brief: Pervasive mediocrity somewhat redeemed
Message 1 of 1 , Sep 9, 2003
• 0 Attachment
Warning: This lengthy recap article contains plentiful spoilers for the
entire second season of "Enterprise."
In brief: Pervasive mediocrity somewhat redeemed by some solid shows near
season's end. Not what I would call an impressive year.
Enterprise: Second Season Recap
Capsule Reviews & Season Analysis
For episodes airing from
9/18/2002 to 5/21/2003 (USA)
Series created by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
Executive producers: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan
So, summer is winding down, the days are getting shorter, and the fall
television season is upon us. It's time, I suppose, for a recap of
Enterprise's second season. You know the drill. Part one: capsule reviews.
Part two: season commentary. Part three: excessive consumption of alcoholic
beverages (optional; please observe local laws). Here you can revisit all of
last season in a single stop. Agree, disagree, punch your computer screen,
throw your computer out the window, bark like a dog, smash a beer bottle
over your head -- the works. Hey, it's your life.
"Shockwave, Part II" -- Airdate: 9/18/2002. Written by Rick Berman & Brannon
Braga. Directed by Allan Kroeker.
It was probably foolish for me to believe "Shockwave, Part II" could
possibly live up to "Shockwave, Part I," but there you have it. The basic
problem here is that the writers painted themselves into an impossible
corner (which is why I found part one so interesting), and had no really
inventive way to get themselves out. The solution is all too obviously
contrived (particularly hard to swallow is the notion of sending a signal
back through time 1,000 years into T'Pol's quarters using some copper wire
and a transmitter), and the episode ends with the usual cartoon action
sequences that Voyager long since rendered routine. The plot is on such
obvious autopilot that it permits Silik to go free on his merry way even
after a Suliban plot that resulted in the deaths of thousands of innocents.
Not a total waste (some fun moments, and the speech arguing in favor of
Enterprise's continued mission has its heart in the right place), but
certainly a major disappointment given the setup.
Rating: **
"Carbon Creek" -- Airdate: 9/25/2002. Teleplay by Chris Black. Story by Rick
Berman & Brannon Braga & Dan O'Shannon. Directed by James Contner.
If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that too many Vulcans in the
same room can be deadly dull. There are stretches of dialog here that are
impossible to care about because the performances are so muted that it feels
like we're watching the halftime entertainment show at a narcolepsy
convention. Jolene Blalock turns in a particularly bland performance in an
episode already filled with bland Vulcan monotone-laden performances. The
plot is of little help, rehashing Trekkian humanity themes we've seen many
times before and bringing no spark of originality or creativity to them.
It's not wrong-headed or offensive in its message, but it's certainly not an
hour of television that deserves your time or patience.
Rating: *1/2
"Minefield" -- Airdate: 10/2/2002. Written by John Shiban. Directed by James
A well-executed exercise in showing characters dismantling a bomb, with
capable performances and production design that sells the simple premise on
its terms. The core of the episode, some well-written dialog between Archer
and Reed, keeps us interested in the characters in the midst of a situation
whose resolution is admittedly a foregone conclusion, but which throws
enough course changes at us to make the process of finding the solution
reasonably entertaining. Notable is the level of competence revealed in the
course of finding that solution; the crew studies multiple approaches to the
problem and considers them as backup plans. Sensible. The show finds a nice
contrast between Archer's style of commanding via a getting-to-know-you
approach and Reed's more official, and less buddy-buddy, naval background.
Rating: ***
"Dead Stop" -- Airdate: 10/9/2002. Written by Mike Sussman & Phyllis Strong.
Directed by Roxann Dawson.
Probably the season's most effective episode of pure science fiction, "Dead
Stop" is an inspired little engine of subtly unsettling weirdness. A fully
automated repair station comes across as vaguely disturbing precisely
because it's just *too* automated and too good to be true. You get the
feeling that it operates on a logic of its own that cannot be overruled -- a
suspicion confirmed by the plot advances. Tucker and Reed stay true to
character by acting like heedless fools who apparently never heard the
expression "curiosity killed the cat." Mayweather stays true to character by
being a plot pawn whose character arc in the episode goes something like
this: cloned, swapped, killed, used as human battery, rescued. But for the
most part this material is successful and entertaining, and I also liked the
"Twilight Zone"-like ending where the obliterated station starts repairing
Rating: ***
"A Night in Sickbay" -- Airdate: 10/16/2002. Written by Rick Berman &
Brannon Braga. Directed by David Straiton.
Here we get a complete mangling of Archer's character, a moronic plot
involving his poor sick dog, and a completely concocted and frankly
unwelcome sexual-tension concept between Archer and T'Pol. It makes for an
absurd episode best forgotten. Low points include a fantasy sequence
involving Archer, T'Pol, *and* Porthos; Archer ranting and raving about
aliens when the whole situation is his own fault; Phlox trying to catch a
Tiberian bat; and an alien ritual sequence of alarming corniness. Mostly
just unwatchable. Next, please.
Rating: *
"Marauders" -- Airdate: 10/30/2002. Teleplay by David Wilcox. Story by Rick
Berman & Brannon Braga. Directed by Mike Vejar.
The season's most toothless action episode, in which the Enterprise crew
honorably teaches a man how to fish, so that he might eat for a lifetime (or
so goes the obvious metaphor). Here we're teaching a settlement how to
fight, so that they can defend themselves from bad Klingons who rob them.
Features nice location shooting and respectably optimistic Trekkian Themes,
but the execution of all of this is almost laughably lightweight. No
Klingons are harmed in the making of this picture -- or anyone else, for
that matter. This is just too much bland safeness for my tastes. The scene
where the Klingons are lured into a ring of fire plays like a Three Stooges
routine. The plot also doesn't account for the Klingons' obvious ability to
attack this settlement from orbit. But judging by the fire-ring episode, I
wouldn't be surprised if they were too stupid to think of something like
Rating: **
"The Seventh" -- Airdate: 11/6/2002. Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga.
Directed by David Livingston.
"The Seventh" works because it takes a Vulcan cloak-and-dagger plot and
plays it not for action, but for a character's psychological torment. This
is always the safer bet, because once you abandon character for simply
action, your plot is hollow and meaningless (hence, many installments in the
middle part of this season). Better to do it like this, where the point is
that T'Pol must face old demons while trying to determine if the source of
those demons -- a Vulcan outcast from her past named Menos -- is lying or
telling her the truth. Jolene Blalock turns in one of her best performances
as T'Pol struggles to contain the emotions buried within her, brought back
to the surface by a repressed memory. Bruce Davison is perfectly cast as
Menos, believable as a man who could be lying or telling the truth. The plot
is not airtight, but for the most part it works on the basis of its own
merits as well as a catalyst for some T'Pol character insights.
Rating: ***
"The Communicator" -- Airdate: 11/13/2002. Teleplay by Andre Bormanis. Story
by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga. Directed by James Contner.
Here's a perfectly good story idea that ends with a perfectly good action
sequence and for the most part moves along just fine. Unfortunately, when
you stop to think about key details of the story -- mainly Archer's apparent
cluelessness given his desperate situation -- the shine begins to tarnish.
The whole story is based on the premise that there are no Starfleet
protocols on the books regarding cultural contamination, so Archer and Reed,
once captured, must improvise lies on cue so they are not discovered to be
aliens. What's worse, the lies they concoct are even more potentially
dangerous to this society than the truth itself: They claim to be
genetically engineered enemy soldiers, which seems to me could end up
starting a full-scale war (which, methinks, would certainly qualify as
"cultural contamination"). I also found the hoary "execute the prisoners
immediately" idea to be pretty unrealistic for the sake of a Ticking Clock;
a real government would certainly exhaust all avenues of interrogation
before hanging two of the most valuable prisoners ever caught.
Rating: **1/2
"Singularity" -- Airdate: 11/20/2002. Written by Chris Black. Directed by
Patrick Norris.
Lots of weird behavior, not lots of story significance or believability. As
these things go, however, it's fairly entertaining because the show at least
knows better than to take things too seriously. The episode is basically an
excuse for the entire crew to go insane, with predictably goofy results.
Trip becomes obsessed with a chair, Reed becomes obsessed with an alarm
system, Archer becomes obsessed with writing a biography introduction, etc.
Eventually everyone is crashing into each other because of their
incompatible priorities. Meanwhile, there's a Ticking Clock and everyone's
gonna die from radiation exposure, so T'Pol has to drag Archer out of a coma
and steer the ship out of danger. The show benefits from amusing
performances and some sharply written one-liners, but otherwise there's not
a whole lot of substance here to recommend.
Rating: **1/2
"Vanishing Point" -- Airdate: 11/27/2002. Written by Rick Berman & Brannon
Braga. Directed by David Straiton.
From what I can tell, few but me liked this episode. I stand firm, however,
in defending this as one of the season's unsung highlights. It's an
absorbing, psychologically disturbing tale, and Hoshi is an excellent
protagonist as played by Linda Park. Essentially, the story uses the
transporter as a metaphor for the separation of our physical selves from our
mental conviction that we exist as something more significant than our
physical selves. In other words, this is a show actually about confronting
death and pondering the possibilities of the soul, where being lost in a
transporter beam is perhaps one of the most disturbing mysteries because it
blurs that line. After all, if you can be scattered into molecules and
reassembled again without dying, exactly where is your conscious mind in the
interim? Yes, the notion of the transporter in Star Trek is utter nonsense
when you get right down to it, but that doesn't stop this episode from
prompting interesting thoughts within a context where the transporter is
still a mystery to many of the characters. The ending reveals it all to be a
paranoid nightmare, which is somehow appropriate given the material and
Hoshi's character. Even with the twist, the ideas under the surface remain
Rating: ***1/2
"Precious Cargo" -- Airdate: 12/11/2002. Teleplay by David A. Goodman. Story
by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga. Directed by David Livingston.
Simply one of the worst, most boring, most pointless, and most unwatchable
episodes in the history of the franchise. Self-parody has never been so
tedious or excruciatingly protracted.
Rating: zero stars
"The Catwalk" -- Airdate: 12/18/2002. Written by Mike Sussman & Phyllis
Strong. Directed by Mike Vejar.
Middling survival premise turns into middling action outing in which the
crew hides out in the catwalk to avoid radiation exposure and then must stop
alien invaders from stealing the ship. A competent outing on its simple plot
terms, but move along, nothing to see here. The three aliens who take refuge
on the Enterprise are so obviously hiding something that I found myself
wondering why Archer wasn't expecting the other shoe to drop.
Rating: **1/2
"Dawn" -- Airdate: 1/8/2003. Written by John Shiban. Directed by Roxann
An episode about communicating with your would-be enemy, "Dawn" is about
gaining understanding when there's a language barrier. (This, of course,
doesn't stop Trip and the alien from beating each other's asses first.) How
far we've fallen since TNG's poetic "Darmok," and yet how nice it is to see
that Star Trek hasn't turned cynical and still believes in solving problems
and overcoming differences. From there, the show is your standard survival
premise (except you'd think these guys would know that you seek shade when
trying to survive in the hot sun). Move along, nothing to see here.
Rating: **1/2
"Stigma" -- Airdate: 2/5/2003. Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga.
Directed by David Livingston.
Trek makes a return to social commentary, in which a Vulcan mental disease
is compared to AIDS and mind-melding is compared to (I guess) gay sex. Not
bad, but not exactly good, either; this is a message show that feels at
least half a decade behind the times, and as a commentary where the strategy
is one of drawing parallels, the show is simultaneously too much and not
enough. The anti-prejudice message is too obvious while the suggested
allegorical parallels don't always seem to fit. The show's storyline
continuity doesn't exactly track with its predecessor, "Fusion"; some facts
have been somewhat misrepresented. I admire the good intentions, but given
the current landscape of television today when it comes to exploring issues,
"Stigma" is a relative lightweight.
Rating: **1/2
"Cease Fire" -- Airdate: 2/12/2003. Written by Chris Black. Directed by
David Straiton.
Attempting to tackle one of the few things on this series that (at the time)
resembled an ongoing storyline, "Cease Fire" delved back into the conflict
between the Vulcans and the Andorians, once again putting Archer in the
middle as mediator, one who is acceptably fair to Shran. A little too
mechanical and routine, this show failed to engage me. The story moves from
beat to beat, but can never transcend its overall sense of clockwork
routine. Worth mention here is how the Enterprise's role seems to be making
humanity relevant as a member of the interstellar community, and how T'Pol
expresses to Soval her loyalty to Archer. Other than that, there's just not
much of interest here to make it worth an hour spent.
Rating: **1/2
"Future Tense" -- Airdate: 2/19/2003. Written by Mike Sussman & Phyllis
Strong. Directed by James Whitmore Jr.
Turning back to weird sci-fi, this is an episode with a plot that scarcely
matters or makes sense (the temporal cold war is obviously an arbitrary
concoction), but offers up enough in strange and interesting concepts to
make us want to jump aboard for the ride. Readers have informed me that the
ship which is larger on the inside than the outside is an idea that was
already done on "Doctor Who." Well, I've never seen an episode of "Doctor
Who," so it seemed fresh to me here. Besides, an idea need not be fresh if
it at least *seems* fresh, and that's accomplished here with some dialog
that I liked, most notably the scene between Trip and Malcolm where they wax
philosophical on the possibilities of knowing the future, on simple human
terms that I could appreciate. The Tholians show up here as players in the
temporal war madness, though whether they will become important remains to
be seen in light of the series' new direction for season three.
Rating: ***
"Canamar" -- Airdate: 2/26/2003. Written by John Shiban. Directed by Allan
Nicely directed, with nice production design and serviceable performances,
but the story is one that prompts nothing but disinterest. This is a Star
Trek prison show that is ultimately not about anything, and that's a real
frustration. A prisoner decides to take over a prison transport ship, so
Archer must try to stop him. That's basically it, and that's nowhere near
enough for me. The feeling I got after watching "Canamar" was that I'd
basically just wasted my time on a garden-variety B-movie prison-break plot,
offering absolutely nothing in terms of drama or insight or character
motivation. It's a mechanical exercise, and not a particularly entertaining
Rating: **
"The Crossing" -- Airdate: 4/2/2003. Teleplay by Rick Berman & Brannon
Braga. Story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga & Andre Bormanis. Directed by
David Livingston.
Fifteen minutes of strong, solid sci-fi collapses in favor of 45 minutes of
inanity. (Will wonders never cease? Well, yes, in fact, they will, and quite
soon.) What begins as a potentially interesting exploration of non-corporeal
life forms proceeds with alarming haste to sell itself out to Alien Takeover
Attempt No. 522. From there we have to suffer through such masterpieces as
an alien taking over Reed's body on a mission to discover what's inside
T'Pol's pants, a redundant visit to the catwalk, plenty of generally
derivative and corny body-possession material, and an inexplicably drawn-out
scene where Phlox configures valves and levers to flood the ship with gas.
The ending, despite being sensible from Archer's tactical standpoint, is a
downright cold and cynical move on the part of the writers. The script in a
nutshell: We create some wonderfully different forms of life, we make them
Evil Body Snatchers, we expel them and blow them up. How inspired.
Rating: **
"Judgment" -- Airdate: 4/9/2003. Teleplay by David A. Goodman. Story by
Taylor Elmore & David A. Goodman. Directed by James L. Conway.
One of the season's better offerings, in which Archer is once again jailed
but the results turn out to be charged with drama and tension. This is an
episode that relies heavily on our love of the Klingons and all their
bombastic grandstanding. The always reliable J.G. Hertzler makes his first
Enterprise guest appearance as Advocate Kolos, Archer's lawyer in a Klingon
system of "justice" that seems designed to crush them both. Crucial to the
success of the story is how the court system seems designed not only to
crush Archer, an outsider, but simply anyone who stands accused. Kolos is
first seen here as a tired and cynical man who has given up after having
watched his culture gradually turn corrupt, and his commentary throughout
the episode reveals a three-dimensional character that I would love to see
again. His eventual change of attitude and willingness to fight for justice
is kind of inspiring, and leads to a scene of wonderful grandstanding that
only Klingons could get away with. Of course, the look, feel, and attitude
of the episode is borrowed from the courtroom scene in "Star Trek VI" -- and
borrowed skillfully.
Rating: ***
"Horizon" -- Airdate: 4/16/2003. Written by Andre Bormanis. Directed by
James A. Contner.
Ensign Mayweather, the most obviously neglected regular character on this
series (often relegated to status of plot pawn), finally gets his showcase
vehicle of the season, in which he returns home for the first time in years,
in the wake of the recent death of his father. The results are mixed,
ultimately a little disappointing. The general idea is reasonable, the focus
on the un-Starfleet-like "Boomer" culture is interesting, and the show's
heart is in the right place. But it never comes alive. The plot makes
obvious turns and seems willing to go from A to B without a single challenge
to Plot Structuring 101. Meanwhile, a disposable B-story involving the
Enterprise on a separate exploration mission is utterly superfluous. The
show might've been saved had Anthony Montgomery been able to rise to the
occasion with a solid performance, but his take on Mayweather is too wooden
to really get us involved.
Rating: **1/2
"The Breach" -- Airdate: 4/23/2003. Teleplay by Chris Black & John Shiban.
Story by Daniel McCarthy. Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill.
Like "Dawn," "The Breach" proves that even after five series have been
called Star Trek, there's still room for the Trekkian tenacity of optimism,
even in the face of what seems like an impossible situation of unmovable
attitudes. In this case, we see a bitter divide between Phlox's people, the
Denobulans, and an alien race called the Antarans. The message and the
method here are those of classic Star Trek themes and approaches -- left
undisturbed in terms of presentation -- and there's something comforting in
knowing that these sort of stories are still valid and make for good
television, even if there's not anything particularly groundbreaking about
it. John Billingsley once again shows that his presence on this series as a
supporting player is a quiet but valuable asset. The B-story involving the
rescue mission is fairly standard, but made believable by way of skillful
Rating: ***
"Cogenitor" -- Airdate: 4/30/2003. Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga.
Directed by LeVar Burton.
This is the best episode of the season because: (1) It chooses to be about a
topic that could only be tackled in this series' current time frame and
stage of Starfleet development with regard to the still-nonexistent Prime
Directive; (2) it features an alien society that actually provides
interaction and an avenue for learning rather than hollow conflict; (3) it
shows exactly how good intentions can go wrong and have tragic results,
which the story potently depicts; (4) it is clever in the way it makes it
initially appear the story sides with Trip when in fact it does not; (5) it
shows that the people on the Enterprise are not perfect and can makes
mistakes; (6) it shows that those mistakes may, in fact, be a result of
Archer's inconsistent leadership style; and (7) it lets no one off the hook.
Given all that, I'm not going to hold the "Malcolm hooks up" subplot,
pointless as it is, against this episode. This is the sort of story that
this series should be telling.
Rating: ****
"Regeneration" -- Airdate: 5/7/2003. Written by Mike Sussman & Phyllis
Strong. Directed by David Livingston.
At last, here's an action show that I can enjoy purely on the basis of
action. I also enjoyed the cleverness of the general idea, which is
simultaneously ludicrous -- rife with time paradoxes, plot conveniences,
logic stretched to within a millimeter of breaking, and overly powerful
Borg -- and yet somehow still convincing as a concept that grows logically
from the events of "First Contact." The Borg here take on the
characteristics of a plague: Thanks to their nanoprobes, basically all they
have to do is touch you and you are doomed to become one of them.
Nevertheless, the forward momentum of the action in "Regeneration" is hard
to resist, and I found myself caught up in the story. Only after the fact
did I feel a need to apply scrutiny. The pacing is dead-on, and Brian
Tyler's score is particularly rousing for a TV Trek score. As sci-fi action,
this works wonderfully; as a piece of the Trek canon it works just this side
of well enough. More fun than most Enterprise outings.
Rating: ***1/2
"First Flight" -- Airdate: 5/14/2003. Written by Chris Black & John Shiban.
Directed by LeVar Burton.
Something tells me that one of the problems with Enterprise is that its
status as the official prequel to Star Trek has prompted the expectation
that certain areas of Starfleet's history would be revealed -- and so far
that hasn't happened because Starfleet was founded long before the events of
"Broken Bow." Thus, shows like "First Flight" can be valuable, giving us
some of the backstory within the backstory. In this case, we get to see how
Archer competed with another would-be captain of the Enterprise, and how
some of the warp barriers were broken prior to the construction of the first
warp-5 vessel. As interesting as this material might've been, it's only
adequate as presented in "First Flight," which has one too many obvious
moments of testosterone cliche (wounded pride, bar fights, etc.) and doesn't
quite hold the level of fascination we might hope, perhaps because it
doesn't deal with questions we might've had in mind (Starfleet, the years
after "First Contact," etc.). But it does place an emphasis on exploration
and taking risks, which is an important statement worth making.
Rating: ***
"Bounty" -- Airdate: 5/14/2003. Teleplay by Hans Tobeason and Mike Sussman &
Phyllis Strong. Story by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga. Directed by Roxann
Archer is captured and held in a cell for what seems like the billionth time
while T'Pol undergoes a shameless, writer-induced pon farr cycle that
vaguely resembles rejected audition fodder for Spike TV. Much panting and
sweating and slithering ensues courtesy of our favorite partially undressed
Female Vulcan Hottie [TM], much to the ostensible delight of horny teenage
boys, but probably, in fact, not, because they likely have better objects
for their sexual fantasies that also do not brand them with the dubious
stigma of being one of those damn Trekkie nerds -- or, even worse, one of
those damn Trekkie nerds that would consider jerking off to a Star Trek
character. In any case, as an hour of Trek, this is pretty lame and
pathetic, if harmless, garbage.
Rating: *1/2
"The Expanse" -- Airdate: 5/21/2003. Written by Rick Berman & Brannon Braga.
Directed by Allan Kroeker.
Looking suspiciously like a second pilot to relaunch a series in mid-run,
"The Expanse" brings in unknown alien attackers from left field and has them
kill 7 million people on Earth, thus giving the Enterprise a new mission to
investigate this new threat. Putting aside for the moment the fact that "The
Expanse" is clearly a catalyst for a complete series shake-up to send it in
a new direction in the third season, this episode works on its own for the
simple fact that it takes its fictional threat -- obviously inspired by
real-life events -- seriously as drama. That's an important quality not to
be overlooked, and the results here are effective. The characters are
shocked, saddened, angered, and appropriately thrown off balance. There's
also a massive underlying feeling of uncertainty -- of the future, of what
lies in the Delphic Expanse, and who the Xindi, the alien attackers, really
might be. What doesn't work is a plot involving the Klingons that doesn't at
all fit in, and the uneasy sense that the series is veering away from any
possibility that it can ever be a legitimate prequel to Star Trek given the
latest apocalyptic turn of events.
Rating: ***
Regarding a lot of this season, I have little to say that I didn't already
say a year ago in my First Season Recap. The reason for that isn't hard to
pinpoint: There's nothing cohesive to say about this season of Enterprise
for the simple fact that there's been very little cohesive about Enterprise
as a series. If there's a single word to sum up this past year, it's
Enterprise season two is an overall aimless string of episodic adventures --
no more, no less. Of course, there's an obvious exception -- the season
finale, and I'll get to that in due time -- but otherwise we've had in this
season a notable lack of direction and purpose, and a lot of rampant
mediocrity instead. That's not to say this season was completely without
merit. Certainly it wasn't, and there were some worthy episodes that worked
as good television and as good Star Trek. But in taking a step back and
looking at this as a whole season of Trek, I'm not impressed. Too many
episodes just sit there, and I thus find myself too often indifferent. As
I've said before, indifference can be even more potentially devastating than
As I think back to my experience in watching "Precious Cargo," one of the
worst episodes in the history of the franchise, I realize that the episode
was so bad precisely because it was so deadly, deadly, deadly dull and
coma-inducing. Some bad episodes -- like Voyager's ever-controversial
"Course: Oblivion," for example, which to this day I still get dissenting
e-mail about -- are subject to debate and strike different people in
different ways; even when there's a negative reaction, it's one of
disapproval for what was attempted. That's not the case with an episode like
"Precious Cargo," where *nothing* remotely thoughtful was attempted, and
whose defenders would be hard-pressed to make a reasoned argument in its
favor, aside from your usual "just don't think about it and have fun"
defense. (The episode, by the way, was *not* fun; it was nothing short of
I think that's a microcosm for Enterprise's general situation of being flat
for so much of the season. In most cases, it wasn't that I disapproved of or
hated the episodes; it was more that I didn't care. In addition to the
aforementioned "Precious Cargo" (by far the worst of the offenders), we had
shows like "Carbon Creek" (narcolepsy-inducing), "Marauders" (toothless),
"Singularity" (plotless), "The Catwalk" (average), "Canamar" (pointless),
"The Crossing" (a sell-out), and "Bounty" (Spike TV), whose sins were all
similar -- they tried and accomplished so very little. Even episodes that
made a stab at a storytelling theme, like "The Communicator," "Dawn," "Cease
Fire," or "Horizon," were lacking that spark of interest and conviction that
they really needed. Of course, there's always "A Night in Sickbay," which by
contrast was a resounding success ... in broad character assassination,
absurdly inappropriate sexual themes, and general idiocy -- although to be
honest I don't think that's what they were going for. (Perhaps someone could
explain to me how not one, but *both* "Carbon Creek" and "A Night in
Sickbay," two of the season's worst, could be nominated for a Hugo award
rather than a far more worthy example of sci-fi like "Dead Stop." Please,
stop the insanity.)
There has been far too much wandering, pandering to supposed demographics,
and bland storytelling. We have our starship and its gallant crew, but
scarcely a sense that they have a mission out here. Their mission appears to
be to randomly (and often cluelessly) stumble over problems each week. Fine
and good if your stories are interesting. Not so fine and good when they're
safe and ordinary. Also not so fine and good when the characters are
primarily functional pieces within those stories and are allowed so little
development, which was the case this season, particularly with the
supporting roles.
So, what exactly do I think Enterprise as a series should be doing? Well, I
had some ideas a year ago, and my opinions have not changed, so out of pure
laziness I'll simply quote my thoughts from last year:
"Questions ... need to emerge, such as: What happens when Starfleet starts
building and deploying more warp-5 ships that are as fast or faster than the
Enterprise? How will the interstellar community interact or be developed as
more and more humans venture into space? How will the Vulcans grow to accept
humans in this community, and how will humans come to better coexist with
the Vulcans? Lastly, and doubtlessly most significantly (and way down the
road): How will all of this lead to the founding of the Federation, where
Earth will be a key member? The Enterprise, right now, is out here alone
taking baby steps, but I'll find their mission much more interesting when
the show hopefully starts developing threads like these, using continuity to
show progress. Yes, there's still time to bide, but many of these issues
should unfold over time, hopefully spanning seasons, and the seeds should be
planted early and with subtlety."
As I had said, I didn't really expect to see those things in season one, but
now, after 52 episodes of this series, I begin to wonder if such issues will
ever be made a priority. The answer for season two was "no," so I guess
we'll be content to re-examine some of the issues remaining from season one,
which had their share of extended coverage in season two. We had, for
example, the Vulcans hanging around as a source of conflict who still, to a
certain degree, hold the reins on human exploration, as seen in the season
premiere, "Shockwave, Part II," or via the flashbacks in "First Flight." By
extension, their conflict with the Andorians in "Cease Fire" suggests how
humanity's role in the interstellar community may become key in terms of
diplomacy (only too bad this idea was somewhat buried in lackluster action
and a pedestrian plot).
We had the issue of non-interference (pre-Prime Directive) raised again this
season, as in "The Communicator" (only too bad "The Communicator" shot
itself in the foot with its clueless characterization of Archer in his
predicament). Cultural interference was also the subject of the season's
best episode, "Cogenitor," which was truest in the spirit of Trek while also
uniquely in the spirit of Enterprise. "Cogenitor" is an hour that embodies
what I feel should be the true core of this series, showing early missteps,
difficult questions, and lessons learned the hard way by imperfect
As far as ongoing story arcs go, we had the Klingons chasing down Archer
after his escape from Rura Penthe in "Judgment." I didn't think this plot
line was particularly necessary, and in some ways it takes away from
"Judgment" by providing a lame follow-up in "Bounty" and an extraneous
distraction in "The Expanse." The brilliance of "Judgment" was that it was
an internal indictment on Klingon society as seen from the viewpoint of a
Klingon character. By following it up with the typical Klingon silliness,
it's as if the whole point of "Judgment" was reduced to a cartoon punch
There was also the temporal cold war material, although calling it a
storyline may be a bit of a stretch. I didn't much care for the
oft-contrived "Shockwave, Part II." And while I sort of liked "Future
Tense," it added little if anything useful to the canvas of the temporal
cold war. (Of course, the general problem with the temporal cold war canvas
is that it's arbitrarily conceived, and painted upon with disappearing ink.)
The temporal cold war also played significantly into "The Expanse," which
I'll deal with in a moment.
Actually, where the season worked best was in the same place it worked
worst -- within its isolated moments. I particularly enjoyed "Regeneration,"
"Vanishing Point," "Judgment," and "Dead Stop," among others. Many of these
episodes are self-contained while simply relying on the general Star Trek
lore that we all know so well. It is perhaps worth noting that Enterprise,
for all its flaws, is still recognizable as Star Trek in terms of attitude
and approach. The characters generally want to ask questions first and open
fire later. As seen in episodes like "Cogenitor," "First Flight," "Dawn,"
and "The Breach," the writers still believe in the Trek ethos, embracing
understanding and mostly spurning cynicism. Enterprise may not often enough
be great or even good Star Trek, but I do think that it is still Star Trek
at heart, and for that I'm glad.
Of course, it's hard to tell these days whether the general public cares
about the Trek ethos, with the declining Enterprise ratings and the
box-office disaster that was "Star Trek: Nemesis." Maybe the recent efforts
are simply too stale, mediocre, watered down. Or maybe the Trek ethos is
seen by many as obsolete. I really can't say. But it seems the direction of
Enterprise must go somewhere else, because the current direction is not
getting the job done.
Which brings us to "The Expanse."
With "The Expanse," it's pretty clear the intended message for what lies
ahead is "All Bets Are Off." We get a deadly attack on Earth, a new mission
for our crew, a strange and unexplored region of space, and a military
presence aboard the Enterprise. The upcoming season of Enterprise, from all
reports, is going to be different.
At the moment, it sounds promising. I'm actually quite optimistic for the
most part.
Consider: What we got in "The Expanse" is contrary to the storytelling
technique of season two and thus goes against the entire theme of aimless
mediocrity as argued in this article. Where season two was aimless, season
three will have little choice but to be goal-oriented. Where season two was
episodic, season three will have little choice but to feature ongoing story
material and more lengthily developed plot arcs. Where season two felt too
much like clockwork routine, season three will plunge us into the unknown,
with a new enemy and a lot of unanswered questions. Where the crew's mission
in season two was broad to the point of being undefined, in season three
they have something specific to investigate and focus on.
"The Expanse," more than anything, gives this series a much-needed sense of
purpose, and I think that's important. While it's true that a legitimate
purpose could've been defined under the previous parameters of the series,
the simple fact of the matter is that the writers after two years had not
found one, and it didn't appear they were on the way to doing so anytime
soon. To shake up this series and take it off in a new, unfamiliar direction
is not a bad idea, and if handled properly can be a good one.
Naturally, there are possible pitfalls. First and foremost is the issue of
continuity within the Star Trek universe. More so than season one, I believe
that season two allowed some liberal revisions to the Trek history in
telling its stories. Season three opens itself to the possibility of going
even further down that road. Already, with a massive attack on Earth
resulting in 7 million dead, I'm finding it pretty hard to believe that the
events of "The Expanse" could've happened and not been something
acknowledged later in the Trekkian timeline. Obviously, this is because it
was created by the Enterprise writers, who didn't feel a need to stay within
the boundaries of the existing franchise history. Or perhaps they have some
wild card up their sleeves that could tie this in with the temporal cold war
and manipulated timelines -- which has its own frightening implications in
terms of out-and-out narrative cheating. But the bottom line is this: "The
Expanse" and its consequences do not naturally fit into the timeline as we
already know it, and so it will be the dramatic effectiveness of what is to
come that will determine whether or not we choose to accept these
alterations to the canon. I don't mind careful or clever bending of the
rules or even obvious contradictions to the fictional history, provided it
is done for a good reason and is made convincing up to a point. After all,
this is only television we're talking about. The question is whether it's
*good* television, and I think that's what makes the difference when it
comes to contradicting the Trek canon. If it's good, I can be more
Another potential pitfall, of course, is in the ensuing stories themselves.
This upcoming season rides on whether the writers provide us an adequate and
appropriate depiction of the Xindi threat, the Enterprise's investigation,
and the attitudes of our characters in the wake of a brutal attack on Earth.
The results could be excellent, awful, or anything in between. Given "The
Expanse's" taste of what lies ahead, I'm hopeful. With the 9/11-like theme
of a surprise attack in "The Expanse," the upcoming season has the
opportunity (and I would also say the obligation) to deal with
post-9/11-like themes in a Starfleet setting. The response to the Xindi
attack needs to be addressed in not merely military terms, but also
long-standing Star Trek terms. Our characters would be wise to ask, for
example, just how much we can believe about the Xindi based merely on
Silik's and the Shadow Man's say so. (After all, let's not forget that Silik
& Co. killed thousands in "Shockwave" merely to protect their own front in
the temporal war. Who's to say they aren't manipulating this new situation
or at least pieces of it?)
Also, the Earth military team that has been put aboard the Enterprise, which
went unseen in "The Expanse," will undoubtedly be an important presence in
the coming season, and could be an interesting source for conflict and
debate. In the post-9/11 United States, the question has often come up: Just
how far are we willing to change our lives and our philosophies in the
interests of better security? That's a question I expect to see tackled in
this post-"Expanse" series. There are also emotional considerations, like
the visceral issue of revenge. It should be interesting to see, for
instance, where Trip's character goes in the aftermath of his sister's death
at the hands of the Xindi. In "Expanse" he was understandably angry and
bitter; that's a response that needs to be examined further. It would be
easy to show his dark side emerging and depict his thirst for vengeance; it
might be more interesting, however, to have him do some soul-searching and
confront his dark side when and if it does emerge. Other obvious character
arcs will undoubtedly include those for T'Pol (who jettisoned her Vulcan
High Command career to remain aboard the Enterprise) and Archer (who will
have to make very different and important decisions in his new mission), but
I'm hoping the other supporting characters will also get some worthy
analysis, and hopefully more so than in season two.
I spend so long discussing "The Expanse" because, for this series and its
current direction, it is more significant than possibly all the rest of the
second season's episodes combined. Dramatically, the writers have an
opportunity to take this series to some new places and explore some darker
and deeper elements that haven't been seen on Trek since maybe the height of
the Dominion War on DS9.
But another key question remains -- and will likely for some time remain --
unanswered: Can Enterprise go off in this direction and still return as a
believable prequel to Star Trek? My hope is that the Xindi plot can become
an important and interesting aspect of this series, without selling out to
superficial action at the expense of its characters and the Trek ethos. At
the same time, my hope is that the Xindi plot will not have to define what
Enterprise is all about. This series has a new direction and purpose, but in
many basic Trekkian ways, the writers would be wise to remember where they
came from before they arrived here.
Copyright 2003 Jamahl Epsicokhan. All rights reserved.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this article is prohibited.
Jamahl Epsicokhan - jammer@... |
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FIC: "Forgiven" (PG) (Jean/Scott) [Coda to "One Fine Day"
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A few of you might actually remember my story One Fine Day Some really smart feebackers said that it needed more, and since I had agreed, I wrote a coda to
Message 1 of 1 , Sep 2, 2000
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A few of you might actually remember my story "One Fine Day" Some really smart feebackers said that it needed more, and since I had agreed, I wrote a coda to it. Unfortunately, I've been busy of late, so I didn't really have time to proofread until now. But here it is anyway. If anyone needs to know the background first, check out One Fine Day at the list owners' site or at Egroups. Thanks!
Title: Forgiven (Coda to "One Fine Day")
Author: Meridian
Summary: Just a little scene that someone thought was a good addition and close out for my story, and one that I liked a lot. Nothing too serious, I promise!
Rating: PG (hinty-hinty about something more than casual kissing, nothing much else)
Comments and Flames taken 24/7 at TrinityVixen@...
Archiving: Sure!
It never ceased to amaze her how a simple thing like a shower could make her feel so much more human. Sighing contentedly, Jean dried herself and walked out of her bathroom to scrounge for clothes. Unconsciously, she glanced at the bed, a habit born of a thousand midnight attacks of insomnia. She half-expected Scott to be there, to be the reason she was creeping around instead of making more noise.
*Get a grip, Doc.* Scott was, of course, not dozing in their bed; he was still in the medical lab recuperating from the accidental run-in with Rogue. The corners of her mouth tugged upwards in a smile as she thought of the young woman who now wore her lover's glasses as a precaution. *She's a good kid.*
No, Jean had to admit, she was better than that. After their discussion, Jean had gone back down to the medlab to watch over Scott. Four hours later at three in the morning, Rogue came down. Her hands were on her hips and her jaw was squared. Jean smiled as she remembered her shock. Rogue's actions were so like those of her love. It took her a moment to realize that Rogue probably absorbed those personality traits right along with the reason she had to wear the ruby-quartz glasses.
The young woman had absolutely refused to take 'no' for an answer. Jean had been forced upstairs to take a nap and rest while Rogue took her place for a few hours. Although she was hesitant to leave Scott, as both doctor and girlfriend, Jean had to concede that her body desperately craved sleep, even if it was only for a few hours.
Jean pulled on her jeans and a baggy sweatshirt, tied her hair back into what Scott jokingly called her 'battle ponytail,' and looked once more at the empty bed. She fully intended to move Scott from the lab to it when she went down, whether or not he was conscious. He would appreciate the familiar surroundings, and seeing him asleep in their bed was much easier on her heart than watching him on the sterile infirmary cot.
Rogue yawned and stretched in her chair. Scott had not so much as twitched for the whole four hours she had been watching him. His face had gained some color, or at least she thought it had. If he woke up before Jean came back, she would just have to try and talk to him and ask him all those 'how are you feeling' questions herself.
*How am Ah even gonna be able tah talk tah him?* Rogue steeled herself; regardless of Jean's reassurances, she still suffered from pangs of guilt. Next to Logan, Scott had been one of the nicest to her. The Professor, Jean, and Ororo had all been polite and very warm, but Scott seemed to make the extra effort. Jean had revealed that the football game was part of his way of including her as much as it had just been for fun. Rogue smiled; Scott's enthusiasm for the game had really impressed her and had made participation that much more attractive.
"...mmm..." Rogue nearly fell off her seat at the grunting, half-conscious noise Scott made. Immediately, she leaned closer to see if he was, indeed, stirring. Other than his light moan, there were no signs to indicate that he was waking up.
"Mr. Summers?" Her voice was tiny in the large room. He made no reply to her entreating question. *Of course not! Logan didn' even wake up for half a day that time Ah touched him. The next time it was a lot longer...* Rogue really hoped Scott would not be out that long. Her eyes drifted over the bruises on his neck where that one ray that escaped her eyes had hit him. Behind the red glasses, the bruises looked maroon, but she safely assumed they were purple or blue-black like most bruises.
"...ungh..." That time she knew she saw him shift on the cot. Silently, she watched his shoulders twitch and the sheet draped over him shifted as he moved. Instead of trying to speak again, Rogue just waited. She cursed those glasses he wore; like the emergency pair Jean had given her, Scott's glasses mirrored the world around him and hid his eyes completely. *How am Ah supposed to know if he's awake or not?*
"Mr. Summers? Are yah awake?" Nothing for a moment and then his head rolled toward her. If he was surprised or angry to see her, he was too tired or distracted to show it.
"...Rogue?" His vision was fuzzy, but the accent had been real enough. If it was not the precocious Southerner, then the imposter was doing an accurate impression. Scott blinked a few times and her image came into focus.
"How are yah feelin'?" Before he could answer, Scott nearly jumped at a spark in his mind; or rather, he would have had he had the energy. The electricity that tickled and shocked the back corner of his mind was familiar and welcome. [[ Jean? ]] He could feel his words bouncing over her suddenly excited mind.
[[ Scott!?! Oh God! I'll be right there! Thank God, you're awake! Finally!
God...God! ]] Whatever other communication she tried was obviously too complex for her relieved mind, so Scott stopped confusing her and turned back to Rogue, who was waiting expectantly for the end of what she deduced was yet another psychic conversation to which she was not privy.
"Sorry, Jean was a little excited. I'm fine. Tired, but okay." Her smile made his heart ache. The relief seemed to seep through her entire frame. "How are _you_ doing?" Rogue started. The question was so honest, without trace of anger or even fear. Scott was not upset with her nor was he afraid that she would hurt him. She could tell he trusted her that much, and it made her crazy heart relax and stop squeezing with guilt.
"Ah'm okay. Ah hope yah don' mind that Ah borrowed these," Rogue tapped the frames of his glasses. Chuckling, Scott shook his head.
"Not at all. In fact, you could probably have this pair if you prefer. Those are my old ones. I didn't even think I still had those things." He shot the older, out-of-style pair a dirty look, making Rogue giggle. Suddenly it occurred to him that she looked different. Not different physically, but her color was all wrong. Instead of the intense red, the color was a little more...maybe there was no color difference, but _something_ was very different.
"What are yah doin?" Rogue watched as one of Scott's hands came tentatively up to his glasses. Slowly, he pulled them from his face. He took a deep breath and then opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was Rogue's open-mouthed stare...in bright vivid color. Her hair was brown, not reddish-tan, not reddish anything. Her eyes were green...they were green!
"I thought so..."
"What? Ah don' understand..."
"You still have my powers." Rogue nodded. There was a tingling right around her nose. She had felt it coalesce there when she touched him and absorbed the ability hours and hours ago. It was a steady stream of power just pouring into that spot, right behind her eyes and right over them.
"But why don' yah have them, too? How did yah know?" Scott shrugged lightly and sat up. This moment was too good to waste on wondering why, but Rogue looked worried, so he thought it over.
"I didn't know, but I could feel it. It's like that tickling sensation was gone," he tapped the spot of skin right between his nose and one of his eyes. She nodded, fully aware of what that sensation felt like. "I can't remember the last time it wasn't there." Rogue smiled, happy for him. Seeing the world literally through his eyes was not much fun, probably about as much fun as she had going through life without being able to touch. The lack of color bothered her, but she had always been able to know that it was only temporary. *But Scott has it foh life.* The thought made her ashamed to be so happy about the fleeting time she would be stuck with the glasses.
"Cahn't yah ever turn it off?" Scott shook his head, a deep frown forming over the wondrous grin that he had had. Rogue felt a brush of bitterness from the Scott she had tucked away in her mind. Whatever it was that kept him from absolute control was ugly; the memory was hidden in her mind as the mind-Scott refused to tell her any more than the real thing. Abashed, she dropped her head.
"Ah'm sorry. Ah didn' think befoh Ah said it..."
"That's okay, Rogue," he reached over to pat her gloved hand and give it a squeeze. "Really." She looked up, searching for a reason to believe that forgiveness could come so easy. She had so much for which she had to apologize.
"Ah'm sorry about what happened yesterday, too..." Scott waved it off.
"I'm glad you're okay. I just wish you didn't have to get stuck with those, too." He pointed at her glasses. "Here, swap." A second later, she had his regular pair on and was calling on the personality she had absorbed to do a wicked imitation.
"There, how's that?" Scott chuckled, his humor encouraging her. "Well then, Mr. Summers, Ah think that y'all will have tah make up the paper Ah assigned, won' yah? Ah don' wanna hear 'bout comas, no excuses mister! Blah blah blah...history...blah blah blah...physics..." Scott roared, his laughter dwindling into coughs. Instantly alarmed, Rogue reached out to thump him on the back. "Yah all right?"
"Fine, fine, I...Jean!" Rogue's head turned to follow his gaze to the door. Dr. Jean Grey stood in the doorway, mouth open in shock, hair wild but settling after her sprint to the lab. She took in the scene, her eyes lingering on Scott's. *They're beautiful.* They were simply brown, a color that maybe half the population had, if not more. To Jean, they were the most gorgeous, most unique, most special eyes she had never seen before. She managed to take one calm step, and then she was rushing to be at his side and wrapping him in a hug a millisecond later. If the doctor side had not warned her against it, she might have just ripped him from the bed with her telekinesis.
"Glad to see you, too, gorgeous." Scott smiled over Jean's hair at Rogue. Some little voice from Scott's corner of her mind warned her that she would probably want to leave very shortly. Jean did not appear to recognize that she was there, and things would very easily grow _very_ personal in a second.
As it turned out, she did not even get a chance to hop off her chair before Jean planted the most furiously desperate and elated kiss right on her lover's lips. Scott chuckled in his mind, letting the embarrassment carry over their bond to Jean. She was too distracted to notice for a full minute, but eventually she got the idea. Flushing slightly as she pulled away, she nodded to Rogue.
"Rogue." The young woman smiled at Scott. For the first time, and, she realized, probably the last, she saw the smile in his eyes as well as his mouth when he grinned right back.
"Morning, Ms. Grey. Ah think Ah can leave the patient in your capable hands, right, Doctor?" Jean blushed redder than her hair, Scott laughed, and Rogue stood up. "Well, mah momma always said 'two's a crowd and three's an eavesdropper,' or worse in this case. So Ah'll just be on mah way." Rogue strolled over to the door.
"Rogue?" She looked back at the still-embracing pair.
"Yah boss-man?"
"Thanks." Her smile was all the 'you're welcome' any of them needed. The part that was Scott in her brain told her how much it meant to both of them to be free of his restrictive powers, even for a short while. He would get them back, but they had a little while in which they could express everything to one another without the barrier that she now wore on her face.
The sighs and light moans that echoed her footsteps towards the elevator made Rogue smile. *They certainly are enjoyin' it, all right. Ah wonder if tha's such a great thing foh them tah be doin' jus' now.* She pinked as Scott's voice in her mind shouted indignantly that he was an adult and could do whatever he wanted, thank you very much. Rogue giggled. She doubted that any of the other students would believe her if she told them that she had seen behind the mask of the unflappable Scott Summers.
Halfway to the main floor, Jean called out to her telepathically.
[[ Thank you, Rogue. ]]
The words were clipped, almost as if Jean were as mentally breathless as Rogue assumed, not without some embarrassment, she was currently in real life.
[[ Yah're welcome. Ah guess it's tha least Ah could do. ]]
Rogue smiled, humming slightly, no trace of exhaustion in her lively gait even after being awake for the whole night. It would be all right. In return for a few hours of putting up with his red glasses, Rogue had given Scott a gift he had never thought he would ever be able to receive. Somehow that made the accident seem insignificant.
They were even. They could still be friends.
She was forgiven.
The End |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68982 |
Re: Bug#97094: Summary of tty handling bug (bug #97094)
Taral <[email protected]> writes:
> So you're telling me that either:
> 1) echok is set on your systems, or
> 2) unsetting echok does not cause ^U to print itself when in canon mode.
> Is this correct? If so, I'd like to log in and test one of these systems
> myself. Every one of the systems I try exhibits this bug.
I can affirm that if I do:
stty -echok
and then type characters at cat, ^U echos. It only echoes if it is
not the first character in a new line. (With the result that if you
type two in a row, you only see one, because the first one erases
all the line, and so the second is at the front of the line.)
Also, bash doesn't pay attention to echok or most tty bits, so people
trying to test this should certainly be using cat or something stupid
to read the input.
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68985 |
Re: Installing the Hurd.
Philip Charles, le Mon 21 Sep 2009 01:36:43 +1200, a écrit :
> On Mon, 21 Sep 2009, Samuel Thibault wrote:
> > Yes, deboostrap seems to be working atm.
> Playing catchup and making progress. Problem, what is the root password
> for a new installation.
I guess an empty pasword should be fine.
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68988 |
Bug#632734: Strange
I find it strange that the PAE kernel is the ONLY one which gives me
any trouble.
I guess it could be hardware related, but 2.6.38-1 and 2.6.38-2 have both been
booting fine for months.
Is there something about the PAE series that would uncover hardware faults which
may have existed for a long time ?
---Frank McCormick---
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68989 |
Re: Power-Button
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004, Jose Carlos Garcia Sogo wrote:
El mar, 16-11-2004 a las 11:07 +0100, Andreas Tille escribió:
and Centrino WLAN
Only a little note for the list record: this module can be compiled
using ipw2100-source package (in contrib). After installing,
read /usr/share/doc/ips2100-source/README.Debian
I'm aware of this but I wanted tha latest and greatest version - at least
in this case when upstream has a 1.0 version number.
I normally trust my fellow Debian developers even more than upstream and
will take this in the future.
Kind regards
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68992 |
Re: compiling kernel for another system
On Tuesday 09 December 2003 09:46, John L. Fjellstad wrote:
> Yeah, I figured that out after looking at the dependency list of
> the kernel-packages. I'm wondering though if using gcc3.3 would
> have any impact (since everything else on the stable system would
> have the programs compiled with gcc2.95)
Well, that's what I've been thinking. But isn't the kernel basically
one self-contained unit? I mean sure: The modules depend on the
kernel but they're both compiled with the same compiler anyway,
Apart from that: The kernel is pure C, isn't it? The changees from
gcc2.95 to gcc3.2 were in the C++ ABI, they didn't affect C
compatibility IIRC. So it really doesn't make much sense to have any
unresolved symbols here - and, as I said, at least for me it worked.
Anyways, I'm really no expert on this. But it's been really
interesting to discuss it - always something to learn on this list!
Best regards,
--- Magnus von Koeller ---
email: [email protected]
address: International University
Campus 9, App. 13
D-76646 Bruchsal / Germany
phone: +49-7251-700-659
mobile: +49-179-4562940
web: http://www.vonkoeller.de
Attachment: pgpxvJjRafGje.pgp
Description: signature
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68993 |
Re: how to use mplayer to convert DVD to a file?
If I give enough details, can you help me out?
If my memory doesn't fail, there are only 2 directories in DVD, I copy them to
And I can use vlc to play by just specifying directory.
After conversion, I wish frame size is about 384x288. The film is 90 minute long, I wish the file size is about 500 megabytes. As to format I wish it can be played in Windows and Linux.
--- On Tue, 11/11/08, Ron Johnson <[email protected]> wrote:
> From: Ron Johnson <[email protected]>
> Subject: Re: how to use mplayer to convert DVD to a file?
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Tuesday, November 11, 2008, 7:24 PM
> On 11/11/08 18:04, Serena Cantor wrote:
> > I have copy DVD to hard drive.
> As an ISO file?
> > It's at /mnt/dos4/1415
> > I want to convert it to save space.
> That's way too non-specific.
> How compact?
> Shrink image width/height?
> What format do you want it stored as?
> > Do you know the command?
> Depends on what you really want.
> -- Ron Johnson, Jr.
> Jefferson LA USA
> If you don't agree with me, you are worse than
> Hitler!!!
> -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to
> [email protected] with a subject of
> "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact
> [email protected]
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68994 |
[Fwd: Desktop normalization]
--- Begin Message ---
Marcin Krol wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Nov 1998, Greg S. Hayes wrote:
> > Desktops are a value added product
> Not at all. It's not seventies anymore. Now desktop (widely understood) is
> de facto part of OS.
But not all linux installs will use desktops so why make them part of
the standard-base? If you were creating a standard base for an end-user
system your argument would make sense, but take into consideration that
there are alot of servers, enbeded systems, etc. that don't use a
desktop (or even want one). Desktops are up to the distributors, they
are not part of the standard.
Greg Hayes
--- End Message ---
Reply to: |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68996 | Proposal #2: marshalling utilites
Marcin 'Qrczak' Kowalczyk qrczak at
Sat Dec 2 16:19:38 EST 2000
Sat, 02 Dec 2000 13:49:52 +1100, Manuel M. T. Chakravarty <chak at> pisze:
> And because the greatest fun of all is to argue about names,
> I propose to rename `throwIf_EINTR', `throwIfNull_EINTR',
> and `throwIfMinus1_EINTR' to `throwIfEINTR',
> `throwIfNullEINTR', and `throwIfMinus1EINTR', respectively.
Perhaps testing for (== -1) and (== nullPtr) is not worth their own
functions and throwIf (== -1) is enough to keep the interface smaller.
It must be stressed that these functions translate errno - this fact
is not visible in their interface. They can easily be misused if a
library function just returns something in case of an error but does
not set errno at all.
Anyway, I think that the following functions are more important :-) than
throwIfMinus1 and throwIfNull (perhaps under better names):
sequenceCont:: [(a -> z) -> z] -> ([a] -> z) -> z
mapCont:: (a -> (b -> z) -> z) -> [a] -> ([b] -> z) -> z
Example of usage:
execv:: [String] -> IO a
execv args = do
mapCont withCString args $ \argPtrs@(arg0Ptr:_) ->
withArray0 nullPtr argPtrs $ \argsPtr ->
execvC arg0Ptr argsPtr
throwErrno "execv"
foreign import "execv" unsafe
execvC :: Ptr CChar -> Ptr (Ptr CChar) -> IO CInt
Without them one has to write a recursive helper function.
Unfortunately plain mapM does not work for continuation-style
__("< Marcin Kowalczyk * qrczak at
^^ SYGNATURA ZASTÊPCZA
More information about the FFI mailing list |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/68998 | June 3, 2012
Rohan Marley's son gets LB MVP at summer camp
Nico Marley did his father proud at today's Al Golden Summer Camp, earning LB MVP honors. So will that translate into a scholarship offer? Don't miss this. Read on.
|
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69011 | Shared publicly -
This great post from September made it to the front page of Reddit today, thought you all might enjoy it.
Mathieu Chénard's profile photoRicky Pike's profile photoAndrew Borntrager's profile photoChristoph Nahr's profile photo
Alamogordo Stout. It grows its own legs.
+Tom Nathe Delicious! AND a protein boost! Those usually cost extra at Jamba Juice. BARGAIN.
• "Jimmy Neutron"'s favorite brew.
• Seriously hopped up hops.
• Geiger guzzling
• Am I drunk or radioactive?
• I think my head is spinning - no those are the extra electrons.
Add a comment... |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69012 | Shared publicly -
Seth Gabel Not Returning as a Regular For Fifth and Final Season
Amber Eastland's profile photoΜονα Λιζα's profile photoNicci Tribbett's profile photoIsaiah Mullins (Isaiah's Zone)'s profile photo
Figured but still sucks to hear that. Going to miss him.
Well, at least he can still come back as a guest :(
That's too bad to hear, but just because he's not a regular doesn't mean he won't be back at all. I bet we see him a couple times.
Hopefully he makes a guest appearance to before the series finale.
Too bad to hear that. But at the end of the day I still prefer the role Joshua Jackson plays as Peter Bishop. But indeed who knows maybe Seth will return for one or two episodes.
Hope this doesn't mean we won't see "the other side" again. They can always use the "sorry, he's away in Japan/Patagonia" trick :D
Awww, and I wanted to see him get the girl! One of them anyway!
+Mike Minor - judging by Olivia Mk2 (don't like FakeLivia...) 's face when he stayed on her side, I think he did :)
Lincoln has been "Charlied"? Why does the show keep losing that supporting role?
I kinda suspected this. But this still means we'll see him atleast once or twice, right? It'd be cool if he and the other Olivia hooked up!
Will they open the bridge again? as it was healing the 'other side'
to open the bridge, Peter needs to go back into the doomsday machine! And I have a bad feeling about it
They don't need to open the bridge. They can show what's going on there without it like they did on season 3.
Because according to Nielsen ratings system, the show doesn't have a high number even for a Friday night. But because of the fans (all over the world), Fox and Warner decided to give it a final season for a closure.
I like Lincoln. I miss his counterpart in the series. I'm going to miss him. Yay to him and the other Olivia.
Add a comment... |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69023 | Peppermint Ice Cream Pie~
22 Nabisco Famous Wafers (may use Oreos, just omit the sugar), crushed or processed into crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 quarts Edy's Peppermint ice cream (or whatever brand is available in your locale), softened slightly by leaving out at room temperature (you won't use the whole carton)
1 jar fudge sauce
In a medium bowl, combine chocolate crumbs, sugar and butter. Pat into a pie plate. Freeze till firm.
Scoop out ice cream into pie crust, spreading to fill. Smooth top, leaving room for a layer of fudge. Freeze a couple hours till firm.
Spread jar of room temperature fudge sauce over ice cream. Return to freezer.
Use knife dipped in hot water (and dried) to cut slices. Serve with crushed candy cane garnish and/or whipped cream if desired.
Serves 8. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69024 | Assembly Version Behavior
I just want to know if the following behavior is by design. I start Visual Studio and open my project and rebuild it. The assembly version is set to 1.0.*. I get a version number of 1.0.2839.26817. Now as long as I keep visual studio open every time I rebuild, I get the same build and revision number. I have to close and reopen visual studio to get the revision number to change. Again I just want to know if this is by design since everything I have read says that the revision number is either supposed to be random or the number of seconds since midnight. Is there a way around this? This is visual basic by the way.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007 8:00 PM
All replies |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69029 | More titles to consider
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69030 | A Rakuten Company
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In this major reinterpretation of the evolution of the American corporation, Mark Roe convincingly demonstrates that the ownership structure of large U.S. firms owes its distinctive character as much to politics as to economics and technology. His provocative examination addresses essential issues facing American businesses today as they compete in the new international marketplace.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69035 | Diablo® III
I still think Zoltun Kulle was good.
Kulle had some serious mental issues, but his heart was in the right place.
Reply Quote
42 Gnome Priest
Posts: 1,041
08/28/2012 07:51 AMPosted by ImJon
Yeah, right where the quest tracker said it would be.
Reply Quote
He was a thousand times Kuller than Adria.
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Good and evil are all just a matter of perspective.
Reply Quote
08/28/2012 07:08 AMPosted by escorpion
I like the guy too. Kulle for pres 2012.
Yes at least he knows that there is no justice in murder...
Reply Quote
ya he was the best character in the game, for some reason he had a mysterious type feeling that urged you to plunge deeper into his story, they could of done a lot with ZK, he should of convinced the hero(s) that angels and demons were no different and the Nephelam should reign over both heaven and hell
besides..a cinematic with ZK slapping Imperious and Diablo around at the same time would of been awesome
Imperious: Nephelam look what your kind has wrought!
Diablo: How taste your fear Nephelam?!
ZK: -laugh, explosion, winning-
Reply Quote
Posts: 285
best voice acting in the game, hands down
Edited by Sean#1744 on 8/28/2012 8:49 AM PDT
Reply Quote
ZC 2012
Reply Quote
I think Kulle is an example of Chaotic Good. He laughs because no one is interested in knowing any hidden truths. Like the templar not wanting to know the origins of his order, or Leah not being curious about what betrayal might be going on. And then we kill him with a sharp stick? I hope its not permanent.
Reply Quote
Kulle was a bad guy because he ended every interaction with you by letting out a maniacally evil cackle. C'mon!
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I want a bumper sticker that says "Don't blame me, I voted for Kulle"
Reply Quote
This is like saying a Politician is good, because he says he wants to rid the citizens of the Republican and Democratic Parties long time war. Sorry.....Politician=Agenda=usually not good.
Reply Quote
My favorite character probably. I thought the voice acting was great.
Reply Quote
08/28/2012 10:19 AMPosted by Khendo
I guess I'm the only one that was completed irritated at the whole Kulle part of the story. I felt the complete opposite. It was so poorly written that from the moment you first hear about Kulle, you knew what was gonna happen. The only deeper part of his story that I wanted to delve into was how to get him to leave me alone.
My favorite part of the whole game was the first play through in normal when I finally got to kill him... just so he would shut up and quit following me around.
Worst part of the whole game if you ask me.
I agree his story was hack, but the actual concept and character was cool. And the whispering he would do trying to sow discord was pretty cool. And, when you get to the bottom of it, he just believed that mankind should be free from control of both Angels and Demons. Is that so bad?
Reply Quote
What doesn't make sense is how quickly you killed him. He gets the soulstone set up and something weird happens, making him realize that Adria has not told everyone what's actually going on. For some reason, your character just decides that this means he's bad and must die, rather than saying "hey Adria...wtf is really going on here?"
I really, really hope he comes back as some sort of protagonist later, he was a great character.
Not to mention that the Horadrim couldn't kill him, they could only drain his blood and separate his head from his body...and yet you have no issues at all.
Reply Quote
Posts: 1,064
Sure he might have been a power-hungry Horadrim renegade, but he did aim to save mankind from the consequences of meaningless, never ending battles of angels of demons and their plots against Nephalem.
Ensuring the safety and well being of one's race, now that's something I would hardly call evil.
Actually if u pay attention and read leia's journal right after kulles defeat, you will see that he went back on his bargin because he saw that the 2 LOH were bound together in the stone, which was done by adria to facilitate diablos rise. Kulle was trying to prevent the end result and was killed for it. You were just a puppet in diablos web, and you killed the man who tried to save you.
Reply Quote
Yea man, I was digging Kulle during my first char play through. Right before the fight hit, and he asked me to join him, I was muttering, "Uh, yea man, sounds like a plan let's do it." lol
Reply Quote
08/28/2012 11:26 AMPosted by Khendo
I dunno... for a M rated game, the story sure did play out like it was for 10-12 year olds.
This is a very VERY fair point.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69081 | Opened 3 years ago
Closed 3 years ago
#69 closed enhancement (fixed)
prototype: oof and oof + event
Reported by: jelinson Owned by: mmorton
Priority: major Milestone: milestone3
Component: component1 Version:
Keywords: Cc:
Blocked By: Blocking:
It seems like we might want to allow windows to distinguish responses for both an out-of-frame and out-of-frame event (click essentially nowhere, or click on a different button). This would allow the build menu and detailed stat window to stay open even if the player toggles the map blocks.
Change History (3)
comment:1 Changed 3 years ago by jelinson
• Milestone changed from milestone2 to milestone3
comment:2 Changed 3 years ago by jelinson
• Owner changed from somebody to mmorton
• Status changed from new to assigned
comment:3 Changed 3 years ago by ecoughlan
• Resolution set to fixed
• Status changed from assigned to closed
Note: See TracTickets for help on using tickets. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69104 | Reviews for Mini Fic Meme
JosephineX chapter 1 . 8/24/2011
O.o Don't ask me if this is a good or ba thing cuz I don't even CENSORED know! Sorry, kinda copied you on the censore thig...
Blanc Expression chapter 1 . 12/21/2010
Hilarious. :D
Actually...Bobby and Mystique is actually quite possible, because they dated in the comics. :D It's not all that cracked up!
Ace-of-Cyberspace13 chapter 1 . 12/4/2010
That was pretty awesome! I liked the Logan crack one! That was funnyful!
aecul chapter 1 . 12/4/2010
That was so funny! I was cracking up through the whole thing (except the sad ones, but I loved those too). My favorites were the Angst one (aww, poor Jubilee!), the AU one (Ah, Pyro), the hurt/comfort one, the crack fic one (haha) and the baby one (Me: Who's 5 and 9? My sister: Bobby and Mystique! Lol)...I feel like that's almost all of them...oh well. :) They were all great.
I liked how creative and in-character each one was, especially for only being able to use fifteen words. Fantastic job!
Hope your other stories are going well!
Indigo-Night-Wisp chapter 1 . 12/4/2010
Oh but that was cool! Seriously, where can I find some of these challenge things and memes? I wanna write one now... only with different prompts 'cause I've read yours.
Lord Shade chapter 1 . 12/4/2010
Wow. This was great. Vert random and well done. I night have to steal this from you. By the way, hows the Romy alphebit going along? What letters are you done to? |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69108 | Four Hundred Days
By PassionFish
A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed…I'm sorry it's been so long since an update…hope this makes up for it some what! Read….enjoy….and review!
Part Fifteen:
A/N: Thanks, as always, to the wonderfully talented Lady Brandywyne for beta-ing this chapter…I'd be lost without you babe!
~*~ Day Two-Hundred and Forty Three ~*~
"Come on in, the water's lovely!" Buffy called flirtatiously, a small smirk on her pretty face as she regarded her Mate's shocked expression with amusement. She wiggled in the water, the light shimmering across the small ripples she created, as her petite breasts bounced gently on the surface.
A low, dangerous growl rumbled from deep within the Vampire's chest as he took in the sight before him.
Without a word, the creature of the night dove smoothly into the clear, crystal surface. He disappeared within the water, so deep that she couldn't see him even through the practically transparent liquid in which she was bathing.
Buffy smiled, stretching out her senses in order to locate the Vampire, then shrieked as she was pulled beneath the waves, and cool fingers trailed possessively over her naked body.
In a flash his grinning game face leered above her, and her eyes sparkled in excitement.
The shriek that had dissolved into the water when she had been pulled under was let loose once more as the Slayer was tossed effortlessly into the air. She flew vertically above the public bath, a delighted laugh tearing from her throat as her butterflies fluttered in her stomach from the velocity.
An amused laugh rumbled from the Vampire below her as he watched his Slayer let loose all her inhibitions. As she started to plummet to the water, he rose up in order to catch her and safely slide her beneath the cool liquid surface.
Her melodious laughter was cut off as his mouth descended on hers. His tongue slid wetly over hers, massaging and titillating her senses. Her fingers dug into his scalp, holding him to her lips, ensuring that he couldn't leave…never leave her…
As if reading her mind, Spike's arms wrapped tightly around her body as he rested her against the side of the pool. Her body moulded to his as her legs slid around his waist, drawing his naked body even closer to hers.
Buffy shivered, the coolness of both the hard body in front of her, and the hard marble behind her turning her on more then she thought possible. Spike's mouth finally slid from hers, tonguing his way down her neck and across her collar bone, leaving her skin ablaze wherever he touched.
He paused by her ear, rumbling words of love, security and affection as his adoring hands roamed her water-slick body.
With a low groan, unable to resist the temptation of the rock hard nipples he could feel burning into his chest, Spike slid further down her body. His head was fully immersed in the water, but neither party truly noticed as the vamped Vampire's rough tongue circled and tugged at Buffy's pert, ruby red nipples.
Buffy moaned as sparks of lust soared through her veins and she rubbed frantically against his mouth, unintentionally piercing her flesh with one of his sharp fangs.
Spike growled loudly as Slayer-blood filled his mouth. Refusing to loose any of the precious fluid to the water he rose up out of the bath, bending Buffy backwards over the pool-side as he continued to suckle at her weeping, blood stained bud.
With a shocked groan, Buffy came, arching and writhing against him. Her nails clawed at his skull as she slowly descended from her high. With a momentarily sated sigh she flopped back down, only her lover's quick and careful hands keeping her from banging her head on the hard marble.
Realising that while sex in a pool sounded fun there were too many sharp edges for his Slayer to get hurt on while they were lost in the moment, Spike eased her body up over the edge and on to a bed of soft towels near by.
Buffy barely noticed the movement, her body still buzzing with the tingles from her Vampire's bite. She quickly dropped back to earth when she felt her lover's body lift from hers, only to moan loudly in supplication as his hands parted her thighs and his mouth opened against her.
Her fingers dove into his soft, damp hair, tangling in the curls as his elongated tongue swept, circled and spanned her drenching entrance. She cried out again as his much coveted organ thrust playfully into her pussy, drawing out her pleasure as his nose nudged her clit.
His face, which had returned to its more human planes, morphed when she rubbed her thighs against him, seeking the friction. His features cracked with the change, and his tongue became rougher, causing Buffy to squeal in delight that her lover had done what she had silently pleaded for.
Carefully he drew the throbbing bud into his mouth, all the while savouring her unique flavour on his enhanced taste buds. His teeth nipped at her playfully, never breaking the skin, before he sucked on her clit – hard.
Buffy convulsed into orgasm with a shriek of his name: the sound reverberating around the old stone walls of the otherwise silent public pool. Spike growled in satisfaction at the knowledge that his lover had been fulfilled once again. His lust doubled for her, if that was even possible, as he gazed up into her eyes and saw nothing but love and devotion.
Even though he gazed up at his angel with the eyes of a demon.
"MINE!" He growled. All of a sudden it was imperative that he stake is claim, that the world know that this woman was indeed his.
He crawled up her body, his eyes still on hers as he drove into her. Her body arched up with a silent cry of ecstasy at finally being joined. One that he only too willingly reciprocated.
With hard, possessing strokes he slammed into her over and over again, causing their bodies to scratch over the piled towels and on to the cold marble floor.
Neither noticed.
The room began to steam up, seemingly by the heat emanating from her body alone. Spike's growls and purrs rumbled around the room over the yips and shrieks of pleasure torn from Buffy's mouth as she dragged her short nails down her his back.
Spike reared up at the scent of his own blood his amber eyes flashing with possession.
"MINE!" The claim was uttered once again before he swooped down, sinking his fangs deep within her jugular.
The two skyrocketed over the abyss and into their release with unholy screams and roars of liberation.
Heavily panting, Buffy's head lolled to the side as her Vampire continued to tend to her neck. "Yours." She whispered, completed and utterly replete.
Spike growled softly, before a purr boiled up in his chest, sounding through Buffy's body and lulling her to sleep.
Together, they lay spent from their carnal coupling, limbs tangled and heart's beating as one – even if only from borrowed Slayer blood.
Fangs still deep within Buffy's neck, the two slowly fell asleep, calm and sated.
One final thought reverberated around Spike's brain before he succumbed to sleep; *Unlife is… perfect!*
Back in Sunnydale…
"Is this okay, baby?" Buffy called uncertainly across the open-plan downstairs to her lover.
Spike lifted his head, running a knowledgeable eye over her work. With a nod he shouted back, "It's great, pet; perfect – you done in there now?"
Buffy jogged over to where her Vampire was efficiently and effortlessly tacking and arranging screens and shutters over the beautifully wide and illustrious windows. "Want me to do upstairs now?"
"Nah, love – got it earlier while you were out shopping with the Witch." Spike spared his love a smile as she reached up to help him hold the wood in place as he knocked in the final two nails. "You hungry, ducks – mind your fingers!"
"Yes and minded!" Buffy smiled lovingly at his worry, basking in it; never had she experienced anything quite so powerful outside of maternal love.
With expert hands he drew her unresisting body into his embrace, pressing her back to his chest as he moved them both to the kitchen.
"Fancy something big or just a snack?" Spike asked as he guided them to the fridge and opened it before them, allowing them both to peruse the well stocked machine.
Buffy let her eyes roam the contents before falling on the eggs, "I was thinking something big, but actually I'd really like some of your scrambled eggs – that okay?" She turned her head up to face his.
Spike smiled, dropping a kiss onto her perfectly placed lips. "Always." He spun the Slayer around in his arms, continuing to softly sip at her lips as he walked her backwards. When they were close enough to the countertop he slid his hands down over her bottom, using his grip on her to draw her gently up so that she could have a seat.
With one more lingering kiss he released her, pouting at her pout, "Baby…"
"Want you…" Buffy moaned, dragging him back in between her legs by her grip on his belt-loops. Just as he was about to give in her stomach rumbled loudly.
She giggled. He sighed; "Food first, love." He decided with a nod, "Not having my girl starve."
Buffy pouted as he left, but this time let him go with a mock salute, "Yes, Sir!"
Spike growled, "Don't tempt me…"
"Oooh, naughty!" Buffy teased, then leant back against her hands watching her lover move surely around their kitchen as he prepared what was sure to be a sumptuous feast.
She sighed silently to herself.
Life was….perfect.
To Be Continued…
A/N: Remember reviews help me write! Honest they do!
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69109 | Part Twelve
The minute he heard the front door scrape open, Nagi abandoned the history text book he'd been staring blankly at for the past half an hour and scrambled out of his room. He found his boyfriend in the living room, meticulously draping his jacket over the back of the sofa.
"What happened to you?" Nagi asked, blearily scrubbing a fist over his eyes. "I thought you'd be here ages ago."
"Dinosaurs roamed the earth ages ago," Farfarello intoned, reaching out to touch Nagi cheek. "Ages have past since those ages."
Nagi followed him into the kitchen and watched him rummage for food. "You were at the studio this long?"
"For a while that was long." Farfarello noisy spilled milk into a bowl and then begin crumbling vanilla wafer cookies into it. "But then I went to see Ken and that was for a long while even longer."
A little prick of jealousy stabbed at Nagi at the mention of Ken's name. It was lame to feel jealous, especially since he himself liked Ken quite a bit but it was quite the rare thing for Farfarello to actually like someone. Somehow, during that whole ironing business, it seemed that Ken had unconsciously charmed his way into Farfarello's highest esteem.
"Oh yeah?" Nagi remarked in a would-be causal voice. "For what?"
Farfarello didn't answer right away. He was busy mashing the banana he'd added to his bowl of milk-wafer with a metal whisk. "To give him the picture I made for him," he finally replied, splashing gunky milk all over the spotless surface of the kitchen table.
"You gave Ken a picture?" Farfarello had never painted him a picture.
"So he would know."
"Know what?"
Farfarello looked up from his whisking and blinked his one eye a few times. Surprise marked his features, as though he'd just noticed Nagi's presence. "I like Ken," he declared, licking the thick gloop that clung to the whisk. "He likes to do ironing when he doesn't have to, did you know that?"
"Yeah, so I heard."
"He likes you too," Farfarello added. "He said he played video games with you." He found a ladle and began slurping his milk mixture from it. "He's not Schu's pretend boyfriend anymore, did you know that too?"
"He's not?" This was news to Nagi. He'd assumed that when Schuldich disappeared a couple of days ago, it had been with Ken in some grand scheme of them moving out together to fuel Brad's jealousy. Between his endless schoolwork and extracurricular activities, he hadn't the time to follow Schuldich's latest string of dramas. "How come? Did he decide he wanted out?"
Farfarello shook his head. "Schu decided he didn't want a pretend boyfriend anymore. I think he doesn't want Crawford either. I don't think he'll be back...he'll be backless at least."
"But-" Nagi blinked and felt tongue-tied. Schuldich loved Brad, had since day one. Everything was about Brad and making him love Schuldich. Wasn't that the whole purpose of Ken being around in the first place? "Why didn't you tell me all this when Schu first left? I thought he and Ken took off for a few days for dramatic, jealousy purposes."
"They're not thespians," Farfarello stated with the air of one instructing a child, ignoring Nagi's question completely.
"Well we have to go see him right now! We have to find out what's going on. Schu's probably super upset and drunk too. If Brad gets home and Schu's not here, Brad'll kill him!"
The Irish man nodded sagely. "And maybe even Ken too. But I won't let that happen."
Nagi rolled his eyes. "Well hurry up and eat your food. I'll call a cab and change into normal clothes. It's gonna take us like two hours at least to get to Schu's place. Do you even remember the address?"
"We can't go to his house now." Farfarello licked his ladle. "It's a school night."
"Are you kidding me?" Nagi huffed. Now was a great time for Farf to act his mother! "Schu left us! I don't care about school. I want to hear what's going on straight from him. I'm going to have to figure out what to tell Brad, if he really moved out for good."
"But Ken's over there right now," Farfarello remarked. "They're going to sew things up. If we went there we'd be the ninth wheels."
"It's not going to make much of a difference if we go there for just a little bit," Nagi insisted. "I feel bad. It's been like what three days? I didn't even know Schu was gone for good. This is depressing. I'll miss him!"
"He isn't dead." Farfarello slowly blinked one eye at him. "You can still see him Nagi. He just doesn't live here anymore. He hasn't gone to the black void, obviously."
"Yes I realize that," Nagi said impatiently. "I only meant that want to see him and I don't think that we-"
"The front door has opened," Farfarello interrupted dropping his ladle back into his bowl with a loud splat. Milky banana sludge slopped all over the table.
Nagi stood up, wiping at his splattered sleeve. "See, I knew he'd back. I mean he only loves my-"
Farfarello grabbed Nagi's wrist with sticky fingers and pulled him back down. "It's Crawford."
"What?" Nagi paused to listen. He heard the front closet door closing. Schuldich never used the front closet, preferring like the rest of them to toss his jacket onto the living sofas. "Brad's not supposed to be back for another two weeks at least," he hissed in a panicked voice.
Farfarello shrugged one shoulder, unconcerned. He dipped his finger in a frothy puddle beside his bowl and licked it. "Crawford's home."
Firm footfalls were now striding up the corridor. The walk wasn't Schuldich's walk, not at all.
Crawford really was home.
"Okay act casual," Nagi whispered and immediately felt stupid. Farfarello always acted the same, no matter what the situation. "We have to ease him into this. And we absolutely can't let him know Ken's with Schu right now or he'll murder them both."
"Dead like daffodils," Farfarello agreed and went back to lapping up spilt froth.
Brad entered the kitchen, looking both impeccable and intimidating in a suit of pure black wool.
"Brad hi!" Nagi greeted as enthusiastically as he could. While Brad was hardly a caring sort of man, he did have quite the soft spot for Nagi. Nagi figured if anyone could placate Brad, it would be him. "What're you doing home so early? I missed you!"
Brad's foreboding expression eased. He never liked to display his curt anger around his younger half-brother. "We closed the deal a lot sooner then I'd anticipated." He tousled Nagi's hair and nodded in Farfarello's direction. "How are you, Farfarello?"
"Like metacarpi poking from flesh," Farfarello answered serenely.
"I see." Brad glanced at his watch and asked offhandedly, "Where is Schuldich?"
Nagi looked over at his boyfriend, who had resumed whisking his bowl of mush. Clearly there wasn't going to be much help from that department. " would seem Brad don't get mad 'cause it's not that big a deal kinda left."
Brad's face remained impassive but his eyes did narrow behind his glasses. If Nagi hadn't been looking for a reaction, he wouldn't have caught the tiny gesture. "Is he with Ken?"
"No no, it's nothing like that," Nagi hastily assured the man. He had to suppress a wince at the derision in Brad's voice when he spoke Ken's name. This wasn't going to be pretty, that was for sure. "It's more just decided..." How to put this delicately?
Farfarello wasn't concerned with propriety or the wrath of Brad's temper. "He moved out," he piped up. "A few days ago. He said he's not coming back. He's gone like the hoop skirt, didn't you know?"
Nagi now suppressed the urge to groan.
"Moved out where?" Brad's tone was succinct, quiet. Nagi knew there was an explosion waiting to happen behind those words.
"Back to his house of course," Nagi quickly chimed in. "And not with that Ken guy or anything. They're only friends and don't see each other...hey where are you going?"
"I want him here," Brad replied imperiously, striding into the living room. "I have work for him to do."
Nagi chased after him. "Come on Brad, you just got here! You need food and a proper rest and all that. Give it until morning at least." He grabbed the older man's wrist and stopped him. "Please Brad? Let's just hang out tonight, you and me. I haven't seen you in ages. Schu isn't going anywhere. I bet he's drunk out of his mind right now and angry that you've been gone for so long. You know how rash and sulky he can get sometimes. Just give him a bit of time alone to brood and he'll be back here before you know it." Nagi blinked up at Brad with wide eyes. "This is Schu's real home and we both know how much he cares about you. He'd do anything for you. He'd never leave you."
Brad scrutinized him for a few moments and then came to the decision that Nagi knew he would. "You're right, of course. Schuldich wouldn't dare leave, he needs me too much. He has nothing else, afterall." He smiled thinly and placed a hand on Nagi's shoulder. "You change out of your school clothes, I'll shower and then I'll take you to that high rise restaurant you like."
"Can Farfarello come?"
"Of course," Brad replied dismissively, heading down the hallway.
Nagi waited until he heard the door to Brad's room shut before racing into the kitchen. "You make sure Brad doesn't come in here," he ordered, pulling his boyfriend to his feet. "I'll call Schu and warn him."
Farfarello leaned down and kissed Nagi soundly. "You know how to play with the marionettes," he stated and padded out of the kitchen.
Nagi yanked out his cell phone and speed-dialled Schuldich's cell. There were a few rings before his voice mail came on.
"Schu you dumb shit are you there? Brad just came home and he's super pissed that you're not around. Your stupid plot worked like charm 'cause he's definitely jealous over Ken and if he finds out that Ken's with you, you guys'll be history! I just conned him into thinking that you're in a pissy rage and will be home soon. He'd much rather you come to him, naturally. Anyway, I'll keep him busy for as long as I can, you get rid of Ken and then come home soon so we can figure something out."
Nagi snapped his cell phone shut and joined his boyfriend. "Ken's dead meat," he muttered, sliding into Farfarello's arms.
"Dying carcasses always attract flies," Farfarello intoned. He rested his chin atop Nagi's head.
"I don't think Schu shouldn't be with Brad."
Nagi had said those words, both to Schuldich as well as to his boyfriend, and they never ceased to make him feel like a traitor. He loved Brad, the stern man was the only family he had but even he couldn't deny that Brad didn't treat Schuldich well. Schuldich deserved better then Brad; Nagi had known that from day one.
Farfarello touched Nagi's hair. "I don't think so much of that either."
The words hung between them.
I want you to stay...and be here.
"Well I am here," Ken said unnecessarily. His voice sounded a bit too loud in the sudden still of the room. He had no idea what to say...or what Schuldich was even asking him. With fumbling fingers that he clumsily wrenched from Schuldich's cool grip, he gulped down a big splash of his green martini and felt warm choke into his chest. " are you asking me, exactly?"
Schuldich contemplated for a few, uneasy moments. Then he picked up the scraggly piece of paper that was sitting under an empty beer stein and thrust it at Ken. "Here's your answer."
Ken glanced down at the paper. It was covered in stains and a loopy scrawl that was written in pink glitter ink. He looked back up at Schuldich and asked, rather boldly he thought, "To which question?"
Schuldich's expression was unreadable. "Read it and you'll know."
The ink hurt Ken's eyes. He held the spotty, smeared paper about an inch from his face, squinted his eyes and began to read. After a few seconds, he was snickering. By the end of it he was laughing.
How are you? I am fine. You are a shitty jerk. Why don't you go stick your head in a blender and press puree?
If you think I'm just some annoying punk hanging around your apartment all day then you're dumber than a boulder. You're lucky I help you with your work all the time because if I didn't then you'd have to pay someone to do what I do for free. You should be thanking all the Gods that I'm a real bargain.
I don't even snore dipshit.
Sometimes you know how to make me so mad. If you think I love you then you better think again Chief. I love you like I love a heel to the head. That means I don't love you because I don't love heels to the head, get it? Plus you suck a whole crapload because you don't know *jack shit*. That's why I'm dumping you like last week's left over pork udon.
Sincerely, Schuldich
PS: I can read your mind, bimbo.
"Beautiful isn't it?" Schuldich looked beatific. "A work of true penmanship, I'd say. Shame I didn't write it in calligraphy."
Ken skimmed over the letter again, hooting. "You can't give him this, you called him a 'bimbo'!"
"And 'dipshit' too, don't forget." Schuldich winked at him. "It took a load of work to make it look that shitty. I actually had to put effort into the letter, which is more then bimbo deserves, lemme tell you."
"Hey pal, it's your death warrant." Ken set aside the letter. All in all, he was rather awed by Schuldich's daring. "You're dumping him? Seriously?"
Schuldich toasted him with his beer bottle. "Yeah I am, I have to. He had it coming, that's for sure."
"But why now? Sure he was a bastard but from what you've told me, sounds like he was always a bastard. I mean you knew about Emilia ages before the other night right? So what changed?" Ken hesitated and then added, "If you still want me to be your pretend boyfriend then I will. I don't mind, really I don't. If you love the guy then I'll-"
"I do love him," Schuldich interrupted earnestly, pushing aside his drinks. "I can't help myself. I still love Brad and that isn't gonna disappear any time soon. Part of me wants to take you up on your offer and go on with the stupid charade. I still want him and I can't help that either. But then I think about our last conversation and I'm reminded of how weak and desperate I am. It's pathetic and I'm through with being pathetic. I'm not doing that shit again, especially not with you. I'm not sorry I scrounged you for this scheme because I wouldn't have met you otherwise but you've come to mean something to me. I'm not going to put you in the line of Brad's possessive anger, not anymore."
"Um...thanks?" Ken was heartily relieved. He didn't much fancy the idea of a murderous American with a murderous American weapon shooting him point blank in a deserted alleyway or something.
Schuldich seemed in a mood to talk; willing to share all his newfound revelations. He went on as though Ken hadn't spoken. "I've done a lot of thinking these past few days, like mad thinking. I made lists and everything. You know what I came up with?" He waited for Ken to nod. "I came up with this scenario...a plausible scenario. Picture's like five years in the future and Brad's married to Emilia or someone appropriate like her. He lives in this huge house with his perfect trophy wife and his perfect two point five kids. He works hard, he socializes with his wife at all these fancy events, he plays with his kids and on the weekends he comes by to fuck me. Just another possession in his perfect world." Schuldich scowled blackly. "Yeah, well guess what? I don't think so pal. I don't deserve that mediocre shit. It hurts now but that scenario would hurt way more. I'm not a closet trophy of his and I don't want to be second to a wife. So fuck that."
"Good for you." Ken was quite impressed by the Schuldich's speech. "The guy's an asshole. You're much better off without him."
Schuldich nodded, satisfied by Ken's response. "Exactly. It's been long enough. I really would give anything for him to love me like how I love him but it's pretty obvious that it's not gonna happen. Everyone else could see it but me. I guess I just kept hoping...and I can read fucking minds." He snorted self-depreciatingly. "His call opened my eyes. The way he thought I didn't give a shit about his work, after all the hours I put in planning and organizing his stupid self-occupied can you get? Nagi and Farfarello have been telling me for ages that Brad isn't good enough for me. Never struck home." Schuldich reached across the cramped table and ruffled Ken's hair affectionately. "Some of it also had to do with you. I thought about how much you loved Ran and how you gave him up. It wasn't an easy choice to make but he's not holding you back anymore. You're free to do whatever you want now."
"Yeah, I guess I am," Ken agreed, sipping at his green martini. He hadn't thought about his break-up with Ran as a liberating experience but it rang true all the same. He was free, of Ran and of Yohji too. He could do anything he wanted to, he really could. "Birman helped me a lot though. She forced me to open my eyes and see that Ran didn't have it in him to love me like I wanted him to. Sometimes it's pretty hard to argue with your feelings, no matter what your head says."
"That's true." Schuldich touched his hand. "So you have my answer kiddo. What's yours?"
Ken stared down at Schuldich's pale fingers and was reminded of Farfarello's painting. Was this what the Irish man had been trying to say? "You want me to stay with you? Here, for the entire night?"
"...yeah. I guess I do." Was there a slight bit of hesitancy in Schuldich's voice?
It was as though the past few days hadn't happened, as if they hadn't been separated. Schuldich hadn't hurt Ken with his abrupt dismissal and Ken wasn't here to say good-bye. They were still friends, brought together by circumstance and bound by mutual need and similarity. Tonight was just another session of relationship purging, like they'd been doing since that first night outside of the 'Electropolis' nightclub. And now that they were both back to being single, worthless boyfriends a thing of the past, mostly...there was a whole other realm their friendship could evolve into.
Which was something that scared Ken. He had stayed with Schuldich for money and still had gotten hurt because he'd come to care for Schuldich as a friend. How much worse would that hurt have been had he and Schuldich been something...more? Because there was an attraction between then, Ken was certain of it. He himself liked Schuldich more then he should and much more then was safe.
"I can't," Ken muttered, pulling his hand away. "It wouldn't be a good idea. You know that as well as I do."
"Why?" Schuldich's eyes bore into him like he was trying to read his mind.
Ken had to know for sure. He took a breath and blurted out, "Are you attracted to me?"
Beneath his very eyes, Schuldich's gaze became smouldering. "You have to ask?"
Ken blinked. The answer was slightly throaty and hearing it made his stomach tremble. "Then that's why I can't stay."
"Yeah, you probably shouldn't." Schuldich downed the rest of his beer in one deep swig. He wiped his mouth with his arm. "I hurt you that day, I know it. You're just coming off of a serious relationship. I still love Brad. Ran wants you back." A loaded pause. "But..."
Ken's breath caught. "But?"
"Logic was never my strong suit," Schuldich drawled, smirking slightly. "Why do you think I stayed with Brad all this time? I'm a fucking idiot and I want you to stay here because I like you. You're easy to talk to, you're interesting, you're kind and you're funny." Then he added, as an afterthought, "And I wanna bang you."
"Erm..." Ken didn't know how to respond to that. His face felt very hot. "You...uh do?"
"Yeah, hell." Schuldich deliberately checked Ken out. "You got that hot jock body. I'm just hot period. I haven't had sex since Bardy left and I know you've been living green since that shit dumped you. Why don't we just eliminate the middlemen and go at it?"
"But that shit just dumped me." Ken hurriedly drank more of his martini. Something told him he was going to need an extra bit of courage for this turn in the conversation. "I'm like on the rebound or whatever you call it."
"And Ran wants you back," Schuldich reminded him, examining a bottle of candied cherries.
"Yeah he does." Ken sighed loudly. That was a whole other drama that he just didn't have the energy to deal with. "And you love Brad, remember? You're strong and determined now but if you see him and he looks all good and stuff, you just might end up going back to him."
"Yeah, he is my weakness," Schuldich agreed, tilting his head sideways. "Hey, if I try to get back with Brad you'll beat my head in right?"
"Sure. And if I try to get back with Ran or Yohji...?"
"I'll hit you too."
"Good deal."
There was a lengthy silence.
Ken chewed on his lip and studied the table before while Schuldich made a production of wiping the sticky maraschino cherry bottle on his letter to Crawford. This was some kinda turn of events...and Ken didn't know whether it was all the alcohol Schuldich had consumed talking or what. Have sex with Schuldich...less then a week after being dumped by Yohji...all the while Ran still wanted him back? Ken was no male whore, thanks very much! He'd never, ever had casual sex with anyone before and he wasn't about to start now. It was such a seedy thing to do. And even if it wasn't...well it would only lead to a whole load of complications later on. Who knew, Schuldich might even change his mind about Crawford upon seeing him on Japanese soil. From what Ken understood, Crawford didn't seem like the sort of guy who'd take being dumped easily. He'd probably pound Schuldich some, physically and sexually and then drag him back to his fancy sky-rise apartment.
"You wanna tour of the house or something?"
Ken looked at the redhead and felt a spark of...something. Schuldich was decent and Crawford was nothing more then a stupid American bastard who didn't deserve the telepath. Ken couldn't bring himself to answer negatively, even though his head was telling him to bust a right move. "I guess."
Schuldich stood and wove his way through the stacks of books and papers that littered the floor. He hadn't lied; drinking really hadn't impaired his balance at all.
Ken pinched his nose and drank the rest of his verdant martini in one straight gulp. "Whoa there's a swizzle." He carefully rose to his feet, his head feeling light-headed. "What the hell's in that hoopla?"
"Midori liqueur, green apple vodka, Triple Sec and lime cordial." Schuldich smirked, kicking aside some stray papers as he approached Ken. "Can't handle your booze, kiddo?"
"Pfft. I can handle anything I want to," Ken bragged. His chest felt incredibly warm. "I'm stronger then people gimme credit for. So my boyfriend dumped me. Big deal. So my ex wants me back just after I got over him. Bigger deal. I don't need either of those shitty asshats. Screw them, they can kiss my ass."
"Yeah? Well I want in on that," Schuldich said huskily, striding close to Ken.
Not to put too fine a point on it but very close.
Ken took a hasty step backward. The backs of his knees collided with the coffee table and he would've fallen backwards on his ass in a heap of bottled liquor and empty glasses had Schuldich not caught hold of his wrist. He yanked Ken up against his long, lean body hard.
"I always thought that ass of yours was pretty damn fine," Schuldich drawled out, skimming his hands around Ken's waist very slowly. His blazing gaze belied his casual tone.
"Erm..." Ken's eyes felt enlarged. He didn't know how to deal with a sexually flirty and touchy Schuldich! He squirmed in Schuldich's arms. The redhead was invading his personal space like how. "You don't say."
"I do say," Schuldich murmured, his lips falling upon the curve of Ken's ear. He matched Ken's wiggling with measured shifts of his own.
The pit of Ken's stomach dipped as though he was flying downwards at unnatural speeds. Schuldich grinding as doing very naughty things to his body. Ken pulled away as far as Schuldich's arms would allow and rubbed his ear against his shoulder. "Stop that, it's tickling!"
"Good." Schuldich slipped roving hands downwards and groped at Ken's ass. Grinning at the surprised yelp his squeezings wrung from the boy, he ground his hips against Ken's with smooth motions intended solely to tease. "Keep wiggling kiddo, I like that."
Ken gulped in air. "What are-" The words were cut from him as Schuldich began to nuzzle the length of his neck. He had to struggle to speak. This was not right at all...and hell, how was he supposed to think clearly when Schuldich kept moving like that? "Are you still me your house?"
Schuldich didn't bother to answer. Instead he kissed him with liquor-laced lips. Ken gasped in shock and realized one frantic heartbeat later that he probably sounded like a gutted chicken but Schuldich didn't seem to care. Desire was tangible between them, evident in the carnal way Schuldich devoured his mouth, the way he pushed wildly against slim hips, bulging hardness. An overwhelming, sensual rush slathered over Ken. His every sense was warping, each heightened to dizzying peaks. Logic and all the things that made up his reality fell apart. His awareness of things other then Schuldich dissipated; there was only the telepath between him and over him and around him.
Ken moaned as Schuldich's tongue tangled with his own. He could taste a hundred things Schuldich brought to him, all of them drenched, and intoxicating and striving to make him light-headed. The pit of his stomach trembled as his body rose from warm to scorching. He found himself winding his arms around Schuldich's neck and riding those sexy, undulating movements.
"You want me," Schuldich whispered against swollen lips. One hand moved to slip around front and scribbled high upon the inside of Ken's thigh. There but not there.
Ken panted, clenching his eyes shut. "No I don't," he whispered back, his tongue tracing a moist line over the full curve of Schuldich's bottom lip. "We're not gonna have sex when we haven't even known-uhhhh!" Now they were there, those certain, questing fingers, right there, where they needed to be and where they felt so good. Ken shoved forward with hasty, clumsy thrusts, unable to find the willpower to stop.
The smirk was palpable in the German man's voice. "Who said anything about having sex?"
"What d'you call this smart ass?" Ken wheezed, arching his neck and feeling damp lips mark his burning skin.
"I call this fondling," Schuldich murmured, jerking covered flesh skilfully. "And I call this..." Dexterous fingers unbuttoned and unzipped cargo pants in scant moments before slipping inside constraining boxer shorts. "Tell me what I should call this, Kenny boy."
Ken cried out, his heart vaulting. He squirmed in those cool, scrabbling fingers. "Manipulation of the situation," he managed thickly.
Schuldich sounded smug. "You want some more manipulation?"
"No," Ken groaned, shifting his hips quicker. His entire body was feverish, bright with sweaty twists. He was holding onto the telepath so tightly he could hardly stand it. He wanted things he knew but couldn't name for the life of him...he wanted his bones to melt into the other's so those aching shifts would be doubled and solid. It was too much and not enough. Whimpering, Ken bent one knee hooked against Schuldich's hip; to bring him deeper into that immobile grasp. "M-may...maybe."
Schuldich's voice was low, breathy. "You're getting off on this." He tightened his fingers around Ken and began fisting in light, languid pumps. "I can't read your mind kiddo. Tell me how much you like this."
Ken huffed into Schuldich's ear and licked at smooth skin. "Faster," he panted, leaking prefluid into scantily-brushing digits. "Schuldich..." Since it was fairly obvious that this was going to happen and that it was going to be so good, Ken decided it wasn't enough, that barely there grip. Urgency as viscous as the pleasure rolling from behind his groin wavered over Ken. He had to feel naked skin, had to return this engulfing lust. Holding onto Schuldich's shoulder with a biting clasp, he pressed his hand against the closure of low slung jeans and fumbled. After gauchely managing to yank them open, he stuffed his hand down Schuldich's pants to find that the guy was going commando. Shit. He passed his palm over the expanse of erect flesh, drawing a breathy moan from the redhead.
"That's sweet," Schuldich groaned, lapping moist paths down the curve of Ken's neck. He angled his pelvis into the boy's eager clinch as he began jerking Ken in faster, rougher strokes.
There was nothing tethering Ken to the ground but the German. Both awkward and forceful in his haste, Ken mashed his crying mouth onto Schuldich's. The pleasure was too much for him to bear, too incredibly intense. They were uneven in their passion, movements out of sync and hurried and sloppy and so damn insistent. The flesh, the taste, the angling...all of it was new to Ken and it was sweet, for all that it was. And unbearably arousing to both, beyond experience and expectation.
Schuldich tore his mouth from the boy's and abruptly released him. Ken whimpered in response, tightening his hold upon the stiff, hard length throbbing inside the circle of his fingers. Schuldich broke his hold and shoved Ken backwards into the upright, cushy embrace of a wingchair. Then Schuldich was back, on his knees, pushing open Ken's pants and there was no prelude, no teasing, no enticing. Just his mouth...working there...
Ken struggled not to scream. He didn't know whether he was successful or not. Schuldich was all around him, every inch of Ken's aching hardness slick and hot and marked. Had it ever been this drenched, this searing before? Had his stomach ever writhed so harshly? Had he ever felt the need to dominate so completely? Why was restraint such a foreign concept? Why he so close to the edge when they'd only just started? Where was this sheer urgency coming from?
There were long, soggy strokes and pursed lips. There were kitten-laps soaking up precream. There were saliva scrawls down below, where his churning liquid sought a desperate escape. And now it was all there again, enshrouded in fluid warmth and self-control really was nothing more then an abstract concept sort of like...
Ken choked, his hips arcing from the chair and into the utter sex of Schuldich's lips. He was chanting mindless, endless nonsense, comprised of the German's name and pointless exclamations. His body was so tight, drawn like a wire strung between two points and it seemed to crest forever and not for even an instant, this cloying lust, and everything was so concentrated and so muted all at once and he couldn't tell up from down but only knew that he was going somewhere, anywhere and that it was fucking tremendous and then...then...
"Oh hell," Ken wheezed, his body dropping back lax into the chair. Schuldich was still there, around him, coaxing and catching all and the last bit. Ken touched vibrant hair with weak, trembling fingers. A shudder ran throughout his body when Schuldich looked up and gave him a frothy smirk.
"Like that goalie boy?" Voice so throaty, sounding exactly like what it had just been doing. Schuldich pushed aside coarse material and pressed his lips onto Ken's quivering thigh.
"Shouldn't've..." Why wasn't air going into his lungs? His chest heaved at the effort to breathe. He was still trembling. "Shouldn't've done that..."
"But I wanted to," Schuldich murmured, peeling apart his own jeans. His hand disappeared and he groaned softly. "Wanted to since...uhhh...found you watching soccer...middle of the morning...that fi-first fucking cute..."
Ken bonelessly slid out of his chair and fell against Schuldich, sending them both to the carpet. "Lemme," he whispered, his hands eagerly roaming beneath Schuldich's shirt, over lean muscles and hard nipples.
Schuldich's breath was unsteady. His hands rose to entwine in Ken's hair. "Gonna...manipulate the situation?"
"Yeah, I'll manipulate your situation, kiddo." Ken decided he liked having the upper hand, liked how Schuldich made soft cries as he slid those lanky jeans down lean hips and skimmed his fingers over smooth, sweaty thighs, liked how Schuldich was moaning for him to touch him where he needed it the most.
He'd never really had the opportunity to tease before. It was pretty satisfying to have someone's orgasm rest entirely on your pace and your ministrations, Ken idly thought as he swallowed as much sexflesh as his mouth could hold.
It was different then what he was used to, a different taste and texture and size and those differences were what made it delicious. He'd never much enjoyed this sort of task, never doing so with Ran and only occasionally with Yohji. He hadn't intended to now either, to tell the truth; had only meant to use fingers and the eroticism of his grip but Schuldich's noises were so sexy and he found himself lowering his head for just one lick of one drooling drop...
Schuldich was muttering in German, words that sounded racy and shocked and out of breath. Ken liked that also and especially liked this. The redhead's grip on his hair bordered on painful; Ken didn't care. His used his oral muscle to caress the taut, pulsating length and used the insides of his cheeks to cradle and sheath. He found he didn't mind this, for whatever odd reason. Schuldich's pleasure was all that mattered. Ken renewed his enthusiastic endeavours, flicking and squirming and fondling, using his hands and mouth and tongue. A few frenzied moments and he was rewarded with a sharp thrust of bucking hips hard into his mouth. Stiffened limbs, painful clench, heated rigidity and then that.
Ken gagged and tried to swallow the onslaught of copious, acerbic fluid. He managed to keep some in, the rest dribbled down his chin and onto sweaty skin and faded jeans.
"S-sorry," he choked, sitting back and scrubbing at his face with one wrinkled sleeve. "Never was too good at-"
Schuldich's lips covered speaking ones in a demanding kiss. Two sorts of bitter milk slathered them, strange and familiar and sexy.
"We have all night to practice," Schuldich promised, licking the side of Ken's neck in a slow, luscious trail. "I still owe you don't I? Can't keep my pseudo-boyfriend waiting..."
"But...but this isn't a good idea. Remember?" Ken found himself groping with the buttons to Schuldich's shirt. Why weren't the friggin' things coming undone? "'Cause it'll complicate our relationship and our ex-boyfriends'll get pissed and then Birman'll get mad at me for being bad after I just got dumped and...I'm not drunk am I?"
Schuldich kissed him again, hard, and Ken decided that he didn't much care if he was or not. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69110 | Here is the final chapter to 'From Time to Time'. Details of a sequel are at the bottom!
Chapter 20: Decisions
Dumbledore's Office YR 1996
Everything had been explained to them all. Dumbledore explained that he already knew how James, Sirius, Remus, Peter and Lily got back to their own time because they had explained it all to him when they had eventually got back. The five students had been missing for a month before they had reappeared again. Dumbledore had known that Voldemort wouldn't win because if he had done so, James and Lily would never have returned anyway.
Harry thought about this turn of events. "So, does that mean the future is set?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Up to a certain point. Your parents will now have to decide what they must do. They can either leave the future as it is, and die or they can alter it so that you are not marked as the boy who lived. They came into one of the possible futures that could happen with this decision. You might find Harry that your life will change gradually, you may find that your parents choose to change it, however I remember altering all their memories so that they did not remember a single thing. Unless I am mistaken, they will choose to leave the future as it is."
Harry lowered his head. "It would've been nice to know who they were."
"But you do know," Dumbledore prompted, "You got to see them. And yes, they were not the parenting figures you want them to be, they will one day. Just remember that our loved ones can be found in our hearts. You may not remember them much, Harry, but they show themselves most plainly when you are in dire need. They live on in you."
Harry nodded. "I know. I just wish...that everything could be better for me."
"Perhaps one day it will." Dumbledore replied, smiling through his half-moon glasses.
Hogwarts June 1977
James woke groggily, his head hurting considerably. "Ow." he murmured. Where was he?
He scanned the room he was in. "Not again," he was in the hospital wing. Why was he in here? And then he remembered.
His son, Harry.
The older - much older - Wormtail.
He reached out for his glasses, finding them and slipping them over his nose so that he could see properly.
"I'm glad to see that you have woken, Mr Potter."
"Professor Dumbledore!" James said. "What year is this?"
"Just as it always has been since January 1st. 1977."
"I'm back? We're truly back?"
"What do you mean my dear boy?" the headmaster asked quizzicly.
James looked at him oddly. "I...we...there was a Gem that Professor Greenhelm gave us. It took us to 1996. Nineteen years into the future," a dreamy look came over his face, "I have a son with Lily...but I'm dead. My son is alive and a Gryffindor. He's the Boy Who Lived."
"I think James that you've had a nasty hit on the head. Once you are better I will speak to you and your companions separately. Lay down and go to sleep."
As Dumbledore said those words, James felt his eyelids drooping. The next thing he knew was that he was deeply asleep, his mind caught up between the past, present and future.
He woke again a few hours later his head much clearer then before. Memories flashed before him once again. He sat contemplating. Should he change the future he had visited or not? Should he make his son's life happier by being there for him? He didn't know what to do.
That evening, James was told by the nurse to go to the Headmaster's Office and with Lily, Sirius, Remus, and Peter in tow he took them through the Castle corridors towards the Office. Dumbledore was waiting for them as they entered. He drew up five chairs and the five of them sat down.
"Now, tell me what has happened to you." Dumbledore said.
Then James spoke of what had happened. He spoke of the future; of Harry; of Wormtail and lastly of Voldemort. Once he had finished he locked his hazel eyes on Dumbledore' shining blue ones and said: "This is the truth, Professor. I know it sounds far too impossible, but it happened. Everything I said was true. I would never joke about something like this."
Dumbledore studied him for the moment and then said: "I believe you, James. However you have a choice to make, you can either fight to prevent this future from happening, or have your memories erased and the future that you saw plays out. It is a rather heavy decision to make. It is your choice."
James had already discussed it with the others beforehand and they had decided that having their memories erased would be the best option, however now that it came to it, he wasn't sure that he wanted to. True, he knew that his son would never know him, but James would like to see his son grow old. He wanted it so badly...
He looked at Lily and saw that she was having the same thoughts.
"We'd decided to forget it," James began, "but I don't think I can go through with it. I want Harry to be happy, but he won't be if we die. I want to remember, to change it."
"Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked.
James nodded. "Yes, I am sure."
And so it came to pass that James and Lily would remember what had transpired while Sirius, Remus and Peter would have their own memories erased. James and Lily thought long and hard about keeping their memories but they decided Harry needed a better life. If they could change the future then they would. They wanted Harry to be happy.
Yet they would not know what the damage would have done to the future they had visited. They would only know if they lived longer then 31st October 1981. And that wouldn't be for a long time. They only hoped that both of them had made the right choice.
The End
Well, this is it, the end of my story. However there will be a sequel but I'm not writing it until all my other stories that are waiting to be written are done first. I do need ideas for a sequel so if you have any ideas then please tell me. The title to the sequel at the moment is: If Time-Travel Changed Everything.
It is likely it will change but I'm not sure. I may write the sequel completely before posting it. If you want an e-mail notification then please tell me in a review with a contact address.
Thank you for all the reviews I've had. It is simply marvellous to read them all! Thanks!
Signing out for the last time on this story, |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69112 | A/N: This story is about a very special girl who's past is somewhat dark, but her gifts and determination shape the future of the wizarding world. It is also a story of how two people who feel broken can become whole again through each other. If you have a problem with Snape/ Student relationships, do not read on. Some things are on canon, but because of additional characters, a few minor changes had to be made. The story has some implied adult content in the beginning and middle, but it is important to understand the character. It is not descriptive, but If it disturbs you then do not read on. If some things are unclear, please tell me and I will try to explain them. The first few chapters are basically the set up, but after that the actual story picks up. This is my first fanfic, so I hope you enjoy.
Chapter one
On the Run
He would never hurt them again, that much was certain. How did this happen? She was unsure, but she knew for her sake, as well as her sisters, they had to escape. They had no one else in the world, but they had each other. She had survived worse, and now she needed to protect her sister.
"Ada, wake up, we must be getting close now", she said to the sleeping girl in her arms. Ada woke up, rubbed her eyes, and yawned.
"Where are we going again?"
"We are going to a place called Hogwarts. It's a school, and you and I have been accepted. I just hope it is not too late."
Ada began to cry. She did nothing but cry and sleep the entire ride. It broke her sister's heart. She had failed her. She had spent her entire life trying to protect her sister, and she had failed her now. It all started when she was four years old……
She had just turned four, and her and her mother were raking the autumn leaves. Well, her mother was raking; she was jumping in the big piles that were ready to be put into bags. Her little sister was inside taking her nap. She picked up a big stick and began to have a sword fight with her invisible opponent.
"Mummy, this is just like your stick you used to play with. Where did it go?" Her mother made a strange look of pain that she didn't understand.
"I had to put it away honey, it was too dangerous. Sticks are dangerous, please put it down."
"Is it in the box where you keep all of daddy's things?" her inquisitive little mind wanted to know. Things had changed after her daddy died. Ada hadn't even been born yet, and her mummy was very sad. She didn't remember much because she was only two, but she remembered they moved away from their house. Then mummy met Joe. She didn't like Joe. He was only nice to her when mummy was around. And when mummy went to work he would yell at her and make her bring him food, or a beer. She didn't like beer. It made people act funny. He would yell and tell her and Ada to shut up. He was only nice when mummy was around, but she was too afraid to tell her mummy. Mummy was happy now, and she wanted her mummy to be happy. When mummy went to work she just made sure that she kept her and Ada away from him. Then it was okay.
"Lets finish with the leaves, okay pixie?" She loved it when her mummy called her pixie. Her mummy said with her dark hair and eyes, she looked just like the little pixies in her stories. She loved to hear about pixies, and faeries, and magic. Mummy didn't like to talk about magic anymore. Mummy always got sad after talking about magic, so she learned to read all by herself so mummy wouldn't have to read any more stories about magic. But she liked magic. Sometimes she liked to play that she could use magic. One time she thought she heard her bunny, Suekki, talk to her, but decided she was being a silly little girl. She didn't like to be too silly. She wanted to be a big girl like mummy. She loved her mummy, so she didn't tell her about Suekki.
Suddenly she heard a great crash. She looked at her Mummy and saw that she was scared. "Mummy what's going on?" she cried. Her mummy picked her up and ran inside.
"Pixie, I need you to be a big girl now. Can you be a big girl Violet?" violet nodded. "Good. I need you to go get your sister and hide. Do not come out. No matter what you hear, you cannot come out. Not until I, or someone you know, comes to get you. Do you understand?"
"Yes mummy. I will get Ada and hide. I will not come out."
"Good. You must promise me something. You must promise me to take care of Ada. You must promise to always take care of your sister. You are her big sister and she needs you."
"I promise mummy, I love you"
"I love you too pixie. Go. Run now and hide"
Violet ran. She ran as fast as her little legs would take her. She took her sister and hid in the laundry basket in the closet. Ada woke up and started to cry. Violet kissed her sister, and told her that they were playing hide and go seek with mummy, and that she needed to be quiet. She sang her sister back to sleep. Then she heard the crash and the scream, but she did just what she told mummy her to do. She didn't come out. She stayed with Ada in the closet until late into the night. When her Grandma came, she climbed out and wanted to know where her mummy was. It was her Grandma that had to break the news to the now, hysterical, four year old. Joe chose that moment to come home.
"Where is Jordana?" He asked in an irritated voice.
"She is dead." The grandmother replied, breaking into sobs.
"What do you mean, She's dead?" He asked, furious. "I just saw her this morning, she was fine".
"For your information, she was murdered." She screamed, forgetting Violet was listening to every word.
"What happened? Who? Why?"
"People from her past. You would know nothing about it." Her grandmother said defiantly.
"Well this is just great," he said in a sarcastic tone. "After all I did for her, she goes and gets herself killed." Her grandmother had had it then.
"Well fine, if that's how you feel. But what am I supposed to do with these stupid brats?"
And they did. For seven glorious years they lived with their grandmother. But their grandmother was old, very old. And it wasn't long before she too was taken out of their lives. But who else was left to care for them? Their grandmother's house was now theirs, but they needed a guardian, and the courts could only think of one person. And this was the beginning of Violet's personal hell.
She was now eleven. She was quite a beauty for her age. With thick black hair that fell in waves down her back, dark brown eyes, and full lips. Her complexion was clear and pale. She was also quite tall for her age. Ada was almost her opposite. At nine years old, she was small, with blond hair and blue eyes. Their personalities also could not have been any more different. Ada spoke often, and without thought. Her emotions were worn on her sleeve. She was more interested in her play than in her schoolwork. Violet was a bookworm to the core. It helped her escape from life. She was quiet, but not quite shy. She learned how to get what she wanted by more cunning ways. She lived for only one thing. Her sister. And that is why she felt like a failure.
About six months into their life with Joe, things began to spin out of control. He would drink, and then loose his temper. Violet always made sure to get Ada out of the way when the hitting began. The hitting she could deal with. It was his next line of thinking that broke her spirit.
One day, while Ada was at a friend's house, Violet brought him his dinner. She tried to leave his room, but he blocked her path. "You know", he said," You sure are becoming such a pretty little thing".
"Thanks, I guess. I should go do the dishes." She answered nervously.
"No, I think you should come over here. I bet you don't even know how pretty you are. You know, you shouldn't be so tempting. Some people wont be able to control themselves around you."
And that is when it started. She tried to say no, but he wouldn't listen. Suddenly his next sentence scared her enough to comply.
"You know," he said menacingly," If you don't want to, maybe Ada might." And that was enough. She looked him straight in the eye and said she would do whatever he wanted to, as long as he never laid a hand on her sister. And for the next year and a half, he did just that.
After that first day, violet began to let the numbness set in. her heart became cold to everyone but Ada. She went through everyday mechanically. About two months later, She went to put some boxes in the attic, and found it. It was the box. She was so overwhelmed she almost began to cry, but then remembered she didn't do that anymore. She was the strong one. She opened the box that had once belonged to her father. Her grandmother must have had it all this time. She was truly amazed at what she found in there. It was full of books. Strange books, about subjects she had never heard of before. Potions, Divination, and Transfiguration, what did these mean? She also found some strange polished sticks. And to her amazement, she found a letter addressed to her. It was from a place called Hogwarts, and she was accepted. This must have came right before her Grandmother died. Why had she never shown her? She could go, she wanted to, but what about Ada? Well as nice as this place sounds, she would never leave her sister. But she studied. Every night after Joe was finished, and took himself to bed, she snuck up into the attic to study. She had read book after book, learned theory after theory. She had read from a rule book that she could not actually practice with a wand unless she was at school, so she did her best to learn everything else. What else was there for her to do?
This continued until the summer of the following year. Then something interesting happened. An owl came to the window, with a letter, addressed to Miss Ada Madison. What should she do? Should she tell her? How would Ada handle the news that magic was real, and that she had kept it from her? She decided to wait to tell her sister until she could figure things out. That was best, so she stuck the letter under her mattress.
The next week passed like any other, until her worst fears came to life. She had stayed after school to discuss a project for her English class. When she came home, she began to make dinner. Then she heard her sister crying. "Please, don't, I don't want to do that." Still carrying the frying pan, she noiselessly made her way to Ada's bedroom. When she saw Joe trying to force himself on her sister, she did the first thing that came to mind. She hit him in the back of the head with the pan. He was breathing, but out cold. Immediately she began to pack.
"Get up, get dressed, we are out of here."
End flash back
And that is when Violet stole her neighbor's horse. Gavin was mistreated from the day he was brought there, so she felt no guilt, and they needed a getaway. She tried her best to explain to Ada where they were going, and she hoped that one day her sister would forgive her for not being there for her. But she would try to make up for that now. She arrived at the gates of a large castle.
"Ada, we're here, we're home."
(A/N: Okay, Joe was slime, but in the future her hardships will give her an advantage. You will see that for a little while Ada is a selfish brat. And by the way, its pronounced (Ah-dah, not aid-ah. Please Review throughout the story if you like it, or have any suggestions. It really makes writing worthwhile.) |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69113 | Hey Everyone! Sp this is the last chapter. Yeah it may be sad that I am ending the story BUT! I wrote a happy ending! And hopefully you all love it. So I am going to stop talking and let you read! (Disclaimer: I don't own twilight!)
Wednesday afternoon, I was sitting on my couch reading one of the many books I love. Pride and Prejudice. I was alone because Alice and jasper were out shopping. Emmett and Rosalie were in there Apartment, and Edward said he had to stop and get something.
Ever since I had that dream about me and Edward the night we got back from Esme and Carlisle's we had gotten closer. We had been together about 2 months and they have been the best months in my life. There was a knock at my door and Edward opened the door. He sat down next to me and was watching me read.
"What?" I asked looking up at him.
"Nothing, I just have something planned…" he said. I looked away from my book and sat it on the table.
"What do you have planned?" I asked smiling.
"I can't tell you that." He said. I sighed and stood. "And! Where the snoopy outfit you have!" he said. I laughed and quickly dressed and brushed my hair. I brushed my teeth and slipped some converse on. I walked out and saw Edward standing and waiting.
"I'm ready." I said and Edward toke my hand in his and we left the apartment.
"Everyone is going to meet us at the Fair." Edward said.
"oh, so we are going to the fair?" I said. He nodded and pushed the down button on the elevator.
"Yup, last night and I thought we could all go and have fun." He said smiling at me. I smiled and kissed his cheek.
We got into the elevator and Mrs. Johnson was standing in it. "Hey Mrs. Johnson." I said and hugged her.
"Well, hello Bella, Edward. Where are you two love birds going?" she asked.
"The fair." Edward said smiling at her. "Do you need help or anything?" he asked.
"No, now you go and have fun young man!" she said and got out as it went to the bottom. We got out and waved goodbye at her. Edward opened the door for me and walked swiftly to the driver's door. He got in and started the car. He drove on the road quickly and I didn't look over at the speed cause I didn't want to know how fast he was really going.
We pulled into the fair grounds and paid, and got blue stamps on our hands. I smiled as I saw Alice and Jasper waiting for us by a carnival game where Alice was holding a stuffed duck.
"Hey Alice, Jasper." I said
"HEY!" Alice said and hugged me. I hugged her back but I didn't understand why…she had just seen me three hours ago. Emmett and Rosalie told Edward and told him they would be there later and that seemed to make Edward a little angry, but I wasn't sure why.
"HEY! Let's ride the Farris wheel!" Alice said and smiled at me.
"Okay…" I said and Edward took my hand as he led us over to the line. It took us about 15 minutes just to get in. apparently the last day, everybody goes and the rides are extra wait. When we finally got on Edward sat holding my hand. I looked over and saw Alice and jasper cuddling together.
I shook my head and looked out at the city lights. The Ride came to a stop with us right at the top. Alice and Jasper turned and looked up at us. Alice waved and smiled up at us.
"Bella…" Edward said. I turned and looked at him. He was looking at me and I looked up. "You are the most important thing to me…ever, and I just want to be with you forever. And I love you so much." He said I smiled and put my hand on his cheek.
"I love you too Edward." I said. He took my hand and held on to it. I felt something in his hand. I looked down as he slipped a small ring on to my hand. I took a deep breath and looked up at him.
"Bella, will you marry me?" he asked. I looked back up at him and back down at the ring. It was nothing to expensive looking. "we can wait if you like, its just tha-" I cut him off by leaning forward and putting my lips on his. I kissed him hard and put the amount of passion in it to make a person feel love that was Un-loved.
I pulled back and held his face on both sides and looked into his piercing green eyes. "Yes, yes I will." I said and smiled. He smiled back and kissed me.
"YAY!" I heard from down below. I looked down and saw Alice clapping and giving me thumbs up. I laughed and sat back down and Edward put his arm around me. I smiled as the ride started and let us off.
When we got off Alice hugged me for a while and started saying about what she had to do to plan. We walked around for a while and rode rides. Soon Rosalie and Emmett joined and Emmett saw the ring on my finger and picked me up spinning me. Everyone around us laughed and pointed at us.
Emmett sat me down and we started walking. Just then the creep I saw on the first day I went to the fair came in front of me. "hey there." He said. I stopped and tried to get around him. He just moved and put his hand up. "I never got a call." He said.
"Yeah, your number is probably back in the sand and dirt where I left it." I said and he smirked.
"Don't be like that." He said and put his hand on my shoulder. Just then Edward pushed the creep back and stood in front of me.
"Keep your hands off my fiancé!" he said and Jasper and Joined so did Emmett.
"Yeah, his fiancé and my sister." Jasper said and Emmett just leaned towards him and whispered.
"You better run." He said and the creep…mike I think his name was; ran off in the opposite direction. Edward came and put his arm around my shoulder.
"Thank you." I said.
"Nobody touches MY new fiancé." He said. I smiled and looked up at him.
"I like the way that sounds." I said
"Me too." He said and pulled me closer.
We decided to stay and play some more games. WE ended up walking around and daring each other to do something. I saw a man walking around with a Long white beard who was wearing some kind of leather outfit.
"Emmett! I dare you to bite some one." I said. "But I choose." I smiled and he turned to me.
"Who do you want me to bite?" he asked.
"Dumbledore!" I said and everyone laughed as I pointed at the man. He seriously did look like him. All he needed was a long robe and a hat! (idea from VeggieGirl15 thanks!)
Emmett walked over and held his hand out to shake. As soon as the man took Emmett's hand Emmett pulled his hand up and bit him. I covered my mouth as the man jerked his hand back and glared at Emmett. Emmett ran over and was laughing with us.
After four hours we left and went home. Edward came back to my room and layed with me. I stared at the ceiling as Edward had his arms wrapped around me. I heard a soft noise and looked over as he snored quietly. I smiled and kissed him gently. His nose twitched but he never woke.
"Mmhmm…Bella….my …wife." He said I smiled and curled into his side.
I guess I get my fairy tale ending.
The End.
How was that for an ending?? Thank you all for who followed my story and liked it! I actually did have a dream about this…except It was about me and someone…but that's not important! So please review and give me love on how much you love this! Please and thank you!
So too you guys this was my fairy tale ending! And that happens to be the end. So see ya'll on my other stories!
Writing rabbit. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69114 | (Disclaimer: APH is not mine. And please, do not stick your tongue to a metal pole when it's freezing out. It will most likely get stuck and I don't want you to come crying to me because you read it in a fic and just had to try it.)
It was a cold afternoon, and the North American brothers were walking home together from a meeting, laughing over the antics of some of their fellow Nations.
"Do you remember when Italy yelled at Germany for pronouncing the name of that pasta wrong?" America asked Canada, chuckling as he remembered Italy bursting into tears and the uptight Germany trying desperately to quiet the brunet.
"What about when France started hitting on Japan and in return was hit on by Russia?" Canada asked, leaning against his brother for support as his laughter grew in size.
"Oh man, that was awesome! The look on France's face…that was priceless!" Canada's added weight threw America's balance off, not that he was paying much attention to where he was going anyway, and the next thing either brother knew, they had walked into a metal pole. The brothers found this to be the funniest thing that had happened yet, and sat on the ground, roaring in laughter.
Canada was the first to calm down, and he nudged America to get his attention. "Do you remember that movie, A Christmas Story?"
"Of course! How could I not. I mean, we produced it together and all," America gasped out, breathless from his laughter.
"Well, remember how those two were disputing about whether or not a person's tongue will stick to a frozen flagpole?" America nodded. "And they did it and it did stick. But, while filming, they used a suction tube instead of actual metal, right?" Again, his brother nodded. "So they didn't really settle the dispute. Does one's tongue actually stick to cold metal?"
America got a rare, thoughtful look on his face. "I don't know. In fact, I—"
"I triple dog dare you to try it!" Canada shouted in a moment of bravery.
America looked aghast. "Triple dog dare? You know I can't break that!" His normally quiet brother looked smug. "Fine! I'm a hero. I can do it," He said confidently, but hesitating as he stood and moved closer to the pole.
"Well then, go on," Canada urged, smiling to himself at his brother's hesitation.
"Right, then, here I go." And there he went, indeed. America stuck his tongue out and leant forward, placing it on the cold metal. Predictably, it was frozen there, and the adventurous Nation's eyes widened when he realized he couldn't pull away. "'M thuck."
Canada, on the other hand, was cracking up. He couldn't believe his brother actually did it and that his tongue was actually stuck to the pole. Wait a minute. His tongue was stuck to a metal pole. Laughter cutting off, Canada stood up and moved over to America, muttering apologizes. "I can't believe it worked. I'm so sorry, America," He said quietly. "Don't move," He commanded, noticing America starting to panic. "It'll probably hurt more that way."
America glared at him as Canada quickly thought of what should be done. "Get closer to the pole, but don't let more of your tongue hit it." When that was done, Canada nodded. "Good, now, right, put your hands on the pole close to your tongue. It should warm the area so you can gently pull it away when it thaws."
"Y' thur'?" America mumbled, doing as his brother said.
"No, but would you rather be stuck out here all night?" America started to shake his head, letting out a noise in surprise when he was painfully reminded of his predicament.
The brothers stood there for a few minutes, Canada smiling reassuringly to all those who passed by as they waited for the pole to thaw…until he heard an inquiring British voice inquire, "What is going on here, boys?" Canada's smile faded and he quickly moved in an attempt to hide America from England's view. The look on the smaller Nation's face, however, told him that it was no use.
"Is America's tongue stuck to a pole, mon petit?" France asked, coming up behind England, smirking.
Canada felt himself redden as he nodded.
"Would you care to tell me what the bloody hell he was thinking?"
The younger Nation whose tongue was not stuck to a pole bit his lip, looking anywhere and everywhere but at his fathers. "Um, I kind of, sort of dared him to…"
England and France looked at Canada in shock. "And he did it?" France questioned, looking from Canada to America and back again. Canada nodded and France dissolved into laughter. "Formidable! Bonne idée mon petit canadien!" The older Nation clapped the stunned Canadian on the back.
"Good idea?!" England shouted, fists clenching in anger. "He knows how stupid his brother is! He should know better than to encourage such idiotic behavior! I mean, really. America never knows when to think! He never turns down a challenge! Canada, I thought you were the sensible one! I mean, really, why would you—"
"England, stop," America said around a swollen tongue. Sometime during the exchange the metal had thawed enough, allowing America to pull away. "He triple dog dared me. I had to. He would have done it, too, had I dared him, right, Canada?" His brother nodded, still biting his lip. "See? Now, who's up for a trip to McDonald's? I could use some coffee right now!" And, without waiting for a word of protest, he grabbed Canada's arm and headed off for the nearest restaurant. England and France reluctantly followed, if for no reason other than to avoid any other stupid stunts from the North American brothers. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69115 | Disclaimers: Neither Hotch, nor any members of the BAU team belong to me. Neither does Death, as first imagined so vividly by Sir Terry Pratchett, and transplanted to our world. The minor characters like Albany SWAT are mine, the rest I'm just borrowing.
Rating: T. Lots of Hotch-whumping. Physical for now, psychic later.
Spoilers: This is set in the nebulous near future, so up to 4.25/26, "To Hell and Back". Nothing specific for now.
Genre: Crossover (Discworld); Gen
Characters: Hotch; DEATH (Earth); appearances by everybody else.
Pairing: None
Beta: The lovely and talented tfm.
Summary: After a raid goes horribly wrong, Hotch find himself in an unusual position. He's never been an apprentice before. But then again, DEATH (Earth) has never *had* an apprentice before, so they're even.
Chapter One: In Which Nothing Goes At All As Planned
"Daniel Randolph? Daniel Randolph, this is the FBI and the Albany City Police Department, we have a warrant for your arrest."
No answer.
Whispered, back, through the line of officers. "Okay, everybody on three. One. Two. THREE!"
The battering ram bashed through the frail wooden door. Hotch's body tensed, from years of training, and from the fragment of fear that no agent, how ever long he'd served , could quite shake. He submerged it, following Schuyler, the leader of Albany SWAT, into Daniel Randolph's house. Morgan followed close behind him, with Rossi, Prentiss and Reid in close succession.
Fred Schuyler's booming voice echoed through the small yellow Victorian clapboard frame of the house. "Alright, everyone, nice and easy, SWAT , I want you clearing upstairs. BAU?"
Hotch immediately took over. "Dave, you take the kitchen, Morgan the back yard, Prentiss and Reid, the bathroom and living room, and I'll take the den at the end of the hall. Everyone, be careful."
SWAT fanned out on the second floor, and his team did likewise behind him. Hotch headed down the claustrophobic hallway, picking his way through trash, piles of magazines, and other refuse that his mind did not want to dwell on too closely.
"Clear!" Rossi in the kitchen.
"Clear! " Prentiss, loudly, from the living room, with a softer "yuck!" which Hotch's hearing almost missed.
"Clear." Reid. "Clear." Morgan. "Oh, ick." Prentiss again. Hotch almost smiled, as he reached the door at the hallway's end. He threw it wide open, striding through.
He had almost completed his 360 scan around the room. He was almost about to chime into the chorus. But as he opened his mouth to speak, two things happened. In no particular order that he could determine: the door slammed shut again, and a blinding pain shot through the back of his skull. Only training, self-control, and long experience kept him from crumpling to the ground, as he spun to get a glimpse of his attacker.
It was him. Short, close-cropped black hair. Muscled, but wiry, not overstuffed, Dressed in army surplus. Taller then Hotch by about an inch, outweighing him by about 15 pounds.
With a wild glint in his eye, Daniel Randolph raised his arm to bludgeon Hotch with what looked to be an Albany PD-issued nightstick. (Briefly, Hotch's inner bureaucrat noted that for later review.) He managed to grab Randolph's wrist, trying to quickly break it and take control of the weapon. However, Daniel was prepared, and drew Hotch into a wrestling match. Which unfortunately ended with Hotch sprawled on the floor, and Randolph between him and the only exit.
The ache in his head, bad before, was now ten times worse, and he struggled to keep his hold on consciousness. It was not easy; the nausea was close to overwhelming him. Hotch heard voices raised through the thin walls; his team had heard the commotion. But his heart sank as Randolph came back into view, locking the door with a skeleton key.
Randolph glared down at him. "You come into my house? My sanctuary. You think you can come in here and just take me, G-man. You walk around in your three-hundred dollar suits, and you think you're dispensing justice? What gives you the right?"
For a moment, contempt managed to wrestle control away from pain, and Hotch steadily returned Randolph's gaze. "I don't have the right. The thirteen people you murdered do." Hotch could hear the trembling note of anger in his own hoarse tone. "The thirteen men and women you eviscerated and dumped in the Hudson."
"Yeah, well, you're going to be joining them, pretty soon." Randolph quickly dropped into a sitting position on Hotch's chest, and held the nightstick over Hotch's throat. "You're going to be number 14, Agent…." He quickly glanced down at his captive's badge, grabbing it out of Hotch's jacket pocket. Hotch tried to take this opening to get out from under Randolph, but Randolph only pressed down harder. "Ah, Agent Hotchner."
Hotch heard, and felt, banging on the door. The hinges seemed to be loosening. But he dimly sensed that it would be too late. He gasped in every bit of air that he could muster.
A calm seemed to pass over Randolph's features. "Yup, your friends will probably be in here in a minute. So let's finish this now."
Gasps of air turned into no air at all. Hotch struggled weakly, as blackness encroached on the edges of his vision. Hotch's grip on Randolph's hands loosened, and his head fell back to rest against the floor. Pain wracked every inch of his body. Images of Jack, Sean, even Haley flashed in his head; he still heard the panicked voices of his team as they tried to get through the door.
Dave. Emily. Derek. JJ. Spencer. Penelope.
He looked up into the black eyes of Daniel Randolph. Nothing looked back. Brave as he might have thought he was, Hotch couldn't hold that gaze for long, and looked instead over to the back window.
He found himself staring into a pair of green eyes, instead. Cold, but with an unearthly fire to them. Set within a skeletal face. A tall figure in a black hooded garment. It was even holding a scythe. Hotch felt like he was looking at a picture from a tarot card, or from one of Reid's books. "Death" himself, with all the medieval flourishes. If he had been able to breathe, Hotch might have laughed at the cliché of it.
But he could breathe. Or at least, the pain in his head and throat had subsided. Hotch realized, moreover, that he was no longer looking up at those green eyes, but staring directly into them. Which meant, logically… He looked over, and saw, as through a clouded glass, the entwined pair. The bodies of Randolph, and himself. He looked down at his own form. The bullet-proof vest was gone. And for some unknown reason, he seemed to be wearing his favorite grey suit, that he could have sworn he had taken to the dry-cleaners' three days ago.
He glared, annoyed, at the green-eyed figure. "What is going on here?"
That had not been said, per se. There had been no voice that Hotch could hear, yet he heard it anyway. For one of the few times in his life (or, to put it another way, for the first time in some other quantitative measurement of time) Aaron Hotchner gaped.
To be continued |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69116 | Damn, kids, it's been so long since I posted anything. This year has been nuts for me, and I've been writing like mad, but never liking anything enough to post. Here's something to tide you over until I feel the love again!
Spoilers for 358/2 Days. Also, a warning for shounen-ai/BL of the delicious Riku/Sora variety. And remember, the only flames allowed here are from Axel.
Riku wasn't sure about a lot of things, his purpose being one of them, but the one thing of which he was absolutely positive was his feelings for the keybearer, his best friend, Sora.
He wasn't sure when it started. It might have started before Kairi moved to the islands, or when he first joked about sharing a paopu fruit with her to taunt the sky-eyed preteen. It might have been the moment he was locked in the realm of darkness, or the first time he saw Sora locked in that despised conservation capsule in a deep sleep, dead to the world. Maybe it was when he met his best friend's Nobody, or even when Roxas channeled Sora to talk to him in their final battle, before Roxas was sent into the simulated Twilight Town. Or it could have been when Sora made that ridiculous face in such a serious situation just to cheer him up.
But he knew, now that Sora was finally home where he belonged, how he felt.
Riku loved him. He wasn't sure when it happened, but he did.
If there was one thing Riku would say to Sora, if he could, he would apologize for ever leaving. He would apologize for being tempted by the darkness, and for ever giving in, even if it was, in the end, to save him. He would say it for making Sora search for so long, and for making him look through every piece of hay in the loft to figure out if he was the evasive needle, when he could have been taking care of business, like saving the world.
He would apologize to Roxas, for as much as he disliked him, it wasn't his fault for existing and wanting to stay his own person. It wasn't his fault for wanting Xion and Axel to stay, and for wanting a heart of his own to love them with, and one with which he could truly hate Sora for taking it all away from him.
He knew Roxas was there somewhere, probably just as angry as he had been, waiting for Sora to die so he could be reborn free and find his friends in the next life. Riku didn't blame him- if he could have been born free with Sora away from all this madness and shoved it all onto someone else, he would have done it gladly.
Riku didn't know how to spend his days in the sun anymore. That blistering ball of flame burned him easily, made him uneasy in its light, in the life it fills those under it with. It was too fragile for Riku to trust. With a single flicker, it could put out light on this world, another, or all of them. It made Riku ridiculously wary.
But, if he stayed in the shadows, it was wonderful to watch Sora in his element. Watching the sun-kissed young man under those golden rays where he belonged was probably the closest Riku would ever find to an angel, no less one that could belong solely to him.
But Sora was shared with everyone, and that was the way he liked it. Riku couldn't imagine Sora without his friends the way he couldn't imagine himself without darkness, or the Ansem Heartless without his guardian, Isa. As much as he wanted to steal away his clueless best friend, he couldn't imagine confining him to the dark, to the solitude, and ruining him.
It was too cruel to even imagine.
Riku shook his head, watching Sora and Kairi play in the sand in their bathing suits from his perch high in a tree they'd once used for a tree house. So long as the keybearer was close, maybe he could fight the darkness in silence. He didn't have to hurt Sora, or Kairi. After all the trouble the younger had gone through to save the girl, he deserved what time he had with her before the worlds called again.
Riku would not and could not interfere with that, no matter how he wished to. Sora belonged to Kairi, and Riku was destined to forever be the third wheel. And he was fine with that.
Not really, but he had to be, right?
Riku swung his legs over the railing of the tree house, retreating into its darkness for a break from the sun. he could feel the skin on the back of his shoulders peeling away to reveal the raw, baby skin underneath. He supposed it wasn't good for him, but he already spent most of his time in the shadows anyway.
"Riku!" Kairi called. "Riku, come play!"
He knew she couldn't see him, but shook his head. "No thanks," he murmured to himself. "I'm fine right where I am."
There was creaking, and he suspected the girl had come to nag him into it when he turned to find a pouty-faced Sora watching him, clad in blue trunks that were nothing compared to his eyes. "You never play with us anymore, Riku. We worked so hard to come home, and all you do is sit around."
And there it was. We. The thing Riku so despised. After all his traitorous attempts on Sora's life and his friends, Sora still regarded him as part of the damn group. Like he belonged.
Riku clenched his fists and turned away, but hid the stress in his voice. "Sorry, Sora. I'm just tired, you know…"
A step, then another. God, he was getting closer. Why would he get closer to me?
"No, Riku, I don't…" the keyblade bearer said softly. "You've been so sad ever since we got back. I want to help you, Riku… you can talk to me… I'm your best friend…"
I know. Riku thought. I know, Sora. But he merely said, "I'm sorry."
He turned, seeing anger swell up on Sora's face with an angry blush. He stepped closer, and Riku took a step back.
Sora noticed. "Why are you afraid of me?" he demanded. "You don't even look at me anymore."
Riku looked away, and Sora made a low noise in his chest, pained and sad. "Riku…"
Riku brushed past the younger, trying to make as little contact as possible. He couldn't help the shudder that passed through him as their shoulders brushed. "I can't, Sora," he whispered. "I'll see you later."
Sora was quiet for a moment, then called something indistinguishable to Kairi as Riku made haste to leave. He didn't know where to go but out to the island, where- ironically- no one but Sora knew his hidden spot. It was a secret they hadn't dared to share with Kairi.
Riku warped through a dark portal, and was engulfed in the familiar black before emerging into the sea-salty air.
What little light there was cast the room into a deep blue, the waves' reflection on the ceiling. Stalactites dripped from the stone above, and the cavern was only about ten feet high and twenty five around. It was strange and uneven, like a large wave crashed into the rock above and scooped out any rock below, evaporating over time until there was little left.
The only way in or out, other than dark portals, was a long tunnel through a quarter-mile's span of dense, sharp rock. Kairi would never brave it alone, and Riku and Sora were without her the only time they'd decided to explore it thoroughly.
He had so many memories here, of Sora falling asleep on his shoulder when he'd run away for a night and demanded Riku's company and mainly just of Sora and himself. It was here he first cried over the boy, and here where he first acknowledged the darkness in his heart.
He could only hope Sora wouldn't look for him here now. He knew Sora hated seeing him use dark portals, and the only way to get away from him now if he really wanted to see Riku, would be one.
Riku dozed against the rock wall, watching and thinking as the sun sank and the concave little room was thrown into complete oblivion. He wasn't sure now what were the sounds in his head and what was real. He heard the regular screaming of Ansem wanting to be released, but that was normal. He heard clicking, though, and a slow thumping which he had no place for.
And there was Sora's voice.
The words were blurry and unintelligible, and Riku mostly thought it was in his head, and he had finally, finally gone crazy. Until Sora dropped through the wall opposite him through the tunnel, only a dark shape, and murmured a quiet Fira to light the room in orange and red.
Riku squinted and raised his hand to shield his eyes. The light dimmed slightly, but only just, as Sora came into focus.
"Riku," he said softly. "Finally."
Riku glanced at Sora, but back down again.
The younger walked to his side and sat, uncharacteristically silent for a few long moments. Then he finally asked, "Riku?"
Riku was suddenly very awake, his heart fluttering against his ribs like a bird's wings. "Yeah?"
"Did I say something to hurt you? Are you angry at me?"
Riku's heart clenched at the sadness in Sora's voice. "No, Sora, it's not you. Never think that."
"Well I don't know what to think!" Sora exclaimed, his words echoing off the walls. "You won't look at me, you won't talk to me… when was the last time you came out of the dark to play with me and Kairi? Even Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, you ignore them like they don't even exist! I don't understand, but I want to help you, Riku, we all do!"
Riku was quiet for a moment. "I don't need help. I can't- I just don't like the sun so much. Too much time away from home."
"Bullshit." Sora said simply, but Riku couldn't help but stare. In all the fights, all the Heartless cut down, he's never heard a mean word from Sora. And this? Riku didn't know what to think.
"Sora- I… Ansem…"
"Ansem? Is this about him? Kingdom Hearts? The Organization? You have to tell me, Riku, because sitting here and watching you get paler and paler and lose weight every week… it's killing me. You're my best friend."
Riku laughed once, bitterly, and turned his eyes to Sora. "You were always so innocent, Sora."
"But I'm not, okay? I'm not a kid anymore, Riku! I've been through just as much shit as you and it's time for you to be honest with me. What is going on?"
"Fine. You know what, fine. What's wrong, Sora? Ansem. Axel. Roxas. Xion. You. Everything is wrong."
Sora's eyes widened. "Me? Roxas? What- how?"
Riku scoffed, standing and pacing the length of the room. "Ansem won't stop screaming in my head to get free and take over me to get hold of the darkness again. I can't go into the sun much, because my heart's darkness hates it, and it makes me sick and my skin blister and bleed. Xion-" Riku let out a dry sob, slamming his fist into the wall. "She only wanted to be like us, a person with a heart. She died for you, and Roxas followed. He didn't want to, but he knew it was right- even though he loved them. He loved them, Sora!"
"But Nobodies-"
"I don't care what DiZ said!" Riku exploded, sound waves rippling the water, darkness beginning to build. "Roxas and Xion and Axel were the same as any of us, if not something more! They died for us, Sora, us, and for what? So everyone doesn't die? They should have had a life of their own, hearts of their own, and they did nothing to deserve what they got. It was just shit luck and shit timing, and now they're dead. Xion and Axel are gone, and Roxas is locked away forever. You're here- and don't get me wrong, Sora, you- you're perfect- but it isn't fair what they had to go through!"
Sora sat in shocked silence as tears began to roll down Riku's cheeks. He'd never felt so overwhelmed or mortified or sad. He just felt so alone sometimes, like he was the only one who remembered the sacrifices given to this war that wasn't even over.
"Riku," Sora said softly, struggling to stand on uneven rock and approaching. "Riku, c'mere."
"No," Riku said softly. "Sora, you have to stay away from me. I'll hurt you."
Sora paid no heed and wrapped his surprisingly long arms around Riku, one around his waist, the other burying in the elder's hair to pull his head to rest on the shorter shoulder. "Cry, Riku. It's okay. I'm here now, I won't let you go."
So Riku did.
He cried for Axel, Roxas and Xion who all died for Sora's wellbeing. He cried for the screaming thing inside his heart that wouldn't let him go, and wouldn't let him into the warmth of the sun. Mostly, though, he cried for his brokenness and his lonliness and how right it felt being in Sora's arms, but knowing he would not be able to stay there.
Sora rubbed his back and cooed meaningless words to soothe him, but once the tears started they would not stop until they'd run their course.
The agony was so great at times that his sobs would turn to low moans, and then to screams that would leave him breathless and choking on air. He clenched his hands to the slender, toned muscles on Sora's back, soaking his shirt with sorrow and sea salts.
It took a long time, but his screams quieted into gasps and the tears slowed until there was nothing left. Sora still smoothed his hands over his spine, large and warm and comforting. His normally vibrant spikes were somewhat mussed and drooping.
"Riku," he whispered, clutching him close. "I'm sorry, Riku. I wish this war never happened so we could stay home and eat ice cream and lay on the beach and watch the sun rise and set, then watch the moon follow it. I hate to see you sad, Riku."
"For a different reason, all the same," Riku hiccupped, struggling weakly to remove himself from Sora's arms. The younger wasn't having it.
"What? Riku, you said something about me too. What have I done to you, Ru?"
Riku shook his head at the old nickname. "Nothing, Sora, nothing. I just care too much sometimes."
"There's no such thing as caring too much," Sora mumbled, giving Riku a light squeeze. "Whatever is wrong, I will never think any less of you."
Riku shook his head again. "You'll turn away from me. How it is now is fine."
Sora held tight, laying his head on Riku's shoulder, tickling his neck with his soft spikes. "Riku…"
Riku hesitated, but allowed his hands to drop to Sora's waist, one rubbing his side, the other tracing circles on the small of his back. Sora hummed softly, his slender body relaxing in strong, pale arms, his head tucking under Riku's chin.
This may be the only chance you get, Riku, he thought bitterly. Enjoy it while you can.
The moon shone through the cracks in the shallow ceiling, covering them in a smoldering orange from the dying Fira and a silver from the reflected moonlight.
Riku glanced at Sora, whose eyes were shut tight, a look of sadness on his flawless face. Pink lips tilted up, and Riku could suddenly feel Sora's sweet little sighs on his lips.
He could not resist.
It started out as a chaste press of lips until Sora gripped Riku's hair with trembling hands and let out a tiny whimper. His lips parted under Riku's, and the elder could taste sea salt and some kind of fruit, tart but sweet…
Riku broke away with a gasp. Kairi. Sora belonged to Kairi. He probably shared the paopu with her, and Riku was only messing it all up. He turned and ran.
"Riku!" Sora called softly.
He fled through a dark portal and closed it behind him, engulfed in the one true place that Sora could not follow.
Riku wasn't sure how long he stayed in the black world of darkness, for time had no indication and all other means of telling time from the outside stopped. Here was nothing, but here was forever- like purgatory, or maybe like hell. Riku wasn't sure which, but if it was anything like this, he supposed he wouldn't mind too much.
The dark was his only companion here, and here he had forever to simply think. For a while before returning to Sora as Ansem, he had truly considered just waiting here forever. There was no need for food or water- the darkness was sustenance enough for anyone.
He didn't know how long it had been, but it felt like a long time, probably a week. Enough for Sora to stop looking, maybe- but that wasn't true. Riku knew Sora, and therefore knew if the boy wanted something bad enough, he would never stop looking. He wouldn't be surprised if Sora had up and left Destiny Islands through the portal with his keyblade and was scouring each and every world, checking under every leaf, and then some.
But it was nearly time to go back. If there was one thing Riku wasn't, it was a coward- no, he didn't want to face Sora, but he'd had enough running away from him. The Destiny Islands were his home, too, and if Sora was to end up with Kairi, well… Sora would need a best man, wouldn't he? Riku had to man up now and take care of his best friend, even if it meant his broken heart would never truly heal.
And after a few years, he could truly disappear, back to this empty world. Once he knew Sora was safe and whole, Riku would never have to see the sun again.
It didn't take any effort to return, Riku simply had to feel it and open his eyes to feel the angry sun on his back, burning away his naked skin and quickly retreat to the shadows where he belonged.
That was the thing about darkness, when you truly left everything behind to embrace it, you could take nothing with you.
Riku quickly dressed in his now typical clothes, a black, long sleeved shirt and black pants. And that thing- he held it in his hands, considering. It didn't take much thought for him to tie it over his eyes and navigate the islands only on instinct. The darkness told him every stone it touched, and where it did not was nowhere Riku needed to go anyway.
He sat on his usual perch, hearing Sora and Kairi play. Perhaps he could stay for a moment, hearing their happiness and content, and maybe steal a bit of it for himself.
He knew it didn't work that way, but he hoped.
Five, then ten minutes passed without their notice. Riku wondered if this is what it would be like when he was gone, like he had never even existed, with Kairi and Sora happy, growing old together and playing in the sun until their children grew older and did the same in their place.
Then, "Look, Sora, it's Riku!"
Twenty-five minutes. Kairi had outdone herself this time.
Sora made no reply, but Riku could feel the transition as Sora's pitter-patter feet passed into the darkness. Sora was only light- he was the only blank spot Riku could not feel, but knew was in his territory.
"Take it off," Sora said.
"The blindfold. Take it off. I don't like it." Sora's voice was low and angry, aggressive. Then he was angry at Riku for what he had done- good.
Riku could never hurt him if Sora didn't let him.
He reached up and pulled it down around his neck, keeping his eyes closed. He opened them slowly to the burning light, as little of it as there was.
Sora was watching him, a scowl on his face. Riku wondered if he had already ruined his best friend.
And here it was. "How could you do that to me, Riku?"
Riku hung his head, avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry."
"I can't believe you," Sora murmured. "You know me, Riku. You know once I have something, I want it. And what do you do? Kiss me and leave me behind? How could you do that?"
Riku's head snapped up. "What?"
Sora took a step towards him. Riku's back was against the wall. He had nowhere to go.
"You heard me, Riku. You think I did all that running after you because I wanted a friend? Kairi's my friend, Riku, and I didn't do half the stuff for her I did for you. I was just waiting for you to realize- but you didn't."
Riku's eyes widened slightly. "But you- Kairi- you can't, Sora. I'm darkness, you're light- it can't work. I can't even go into the sun!"
Only then did he realize just how pale Sora had become in such a short time.
"I'm not good with the dark, Riku, but I think we can balance each other. When I was with you, in the cave- I could stay in the dark for much longer than I ever could before, and only because I was close to you. And when we kissed, Riku… I felt more whole than I ever have."
Riku turned his head away, looking out the window to see Kairi playing with Selphie and Tidus. She looked …happy.
"I don't want to ruin you, Sora. I'm so… empty. The thought of putting some of my emptiness into you to feel whole is… terrible. I can't imagine it."
Sora shook his head, taking another step. He was barely three feet from Sora now. "I need the darkness, Riku. The light is too much for me to handle by myself, and I know the dark is too much for you."
"But you… what about the keyblade?"
Another step. Another foot gone. "You can use it too, right? I'm not worried about it."
Riku could feel the heat radiating from his skin. "Kairi?"
"Knows already. Has known since she moved here that you and I were closer."
Another step. Another argument gone. He was so close, Riku could smell the cinnamon of his hair, the dried paopu pulp on his hands.
"But I-"
"Stop making excuses, Riku. I need you and you need me. It's absolute."
"Shut up."
He kissed Riku.
He tasted the same, like sea and star fruit, but was much more aggressive now than before. He gripped Riku's silvery hair tightly, unwilling to let him go, to let him run. But Riku didn't want to run anymore.
Sora was impossibly warm, radiating heat that Riku had craved for so long but was unable to enjoy from the sun. Riku wondered, though, if maybe Sora could be his personal sun- his personal light.
Kairi had once told him, when they were young, that if Sora was the sun, then Riku was the moon. Riku had told her in reply that the moon's light was nothing but a reflection of the sun, and that without the sun, the moon just wouldn't work. At this, Kairi's insistences grew stronger. Riku had rolled his eyes and ignored her.
Now he wondered. Was it possible that he couldn't exist without Sora, and even more impossible, that Sora could not exist without him?
Sora gently bit down on his lip to tell him he was thinking too much. Riku conceded, threading one of his hands into the younger's.
Sora's light was calming and refreshing, and Riku no longer felt the exhaustion he'd felt for such a long time. Sora relaxed against him, his lips pressing against Riku's, pulling away, diving in again- languidly kissing the breath from his partner.
Riku was dizzy with taste and touch and the light rushing into him- and darkness rushing out. Sora twisted- stumbled, his eyes bright, but tired.
"Sora?" Riku asked, holding him up.
"I couldn't sleep for so long," Sora mumbled. "I was just too awake- I think I can sleep now- I need to."
"Alright." Riku murmured. "I will too. I'll take you home."
Sora's eyes drooped. "Can't get that far." He collapsed in Riku's arms, there in the tree house. The exhaustion was not so deep, but the transfer had truly wiped Riku out. He could feel it coming now. Riku grabbed an old blanket, once used for a fort, to cover them both as he lay his head down. Darkness overtook him, but he didn't feel nearly as empty as before.
Riku woke with soft spikes tickling his face. A weight rested on his chest, and when he opened his eyes to figure out what was going on, Sora's head was on his chest, sound asleep. Riku smiled, wrapping one arm around the waist of his almost-lover.
Riku shook him gently, noting the setting sun. He had to get Sora home soon.
"Hey, So. Wake up. It's almost dark."
Sora groaned, batting gently at his arm. "M'sleepy."
Riku leaned over, pressing his lips to Sora's temple. "Come on, sleepy head. Wake up. Kairi's probably worried about you."
Sora sighed, but rolled obediently onto his stomach to push himself up. "What time is it?"
"Sunset," Riku replied. "I should get you home before it gets dark. You can't tolerate it, right?"
Sora looked thoughtful. "I'm not in any discomfort now. I'll check." He pushed himself to his feet and walked into the sunlight on the porch, then back into the darkness. He blinked. "I feel fine."
Riku frowned, standing as well. "I wonder…" He crossed into the path of the sun, but felt none of the familiar burning or tingling. His skin greedily absorbed the natural light. Riku glanced at Sora.
Sora made a little noise, a smile spreading across his face. "It doesn't hurt? You can go in the sun?"
Riku nodded slightly. "I think so."
Sora's smile was bright and radiant. "Walk me home, then?"
Riku nodded, holding out his hand to Sora. He smiled. Maybe life with Sora could really make him more than what he was.
Maybe life with Sora could make him really, truly whole.
"Of course."
Sora took his hand, giving it a light squeeze, and emerged into the sunlight. Riku smiled, and followed. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69117 | Coupling: Mark/Lexie, Callie/Arizona, Meredith/Derek.
Description: What if Lexie finds out she's pregnant? And she decides to go away for a while? What if Lexie's pregnancy puts her life at stake? Will Mark be able to help her, or will she attempt to do this all on her own?
Background Information: Based after season 7 - Sort of? With my own spin on everything. Mark has Sofia with Callie & Arizona who are having a hard time adjusting to parenthood and mending their relationship. A little while after Sofia was born, Mark & Lexie slept together again, she wasn't ever with Jackson (gag me, I hate him and their relationship). But they are not together. Meanwhile, Derek & Meredith are separated raising baby Zola.
Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's or any of the characters, blah blah blah. You guys know the drill.
"Lexie you need to bring your stress levels down. I'm serious. It's a wonder you even made it this far in your pregnancy with how high your blood level has been, you're at a serious risk for preeclampsia and with how high risk your pregnancy is anyway with the placenta previa, we need to really reel this in before it gets any worse," Dr. Todd Greenway said as he sat down and watched his patient subconsciously rub her hands up and down her stomach.
"I know," Lexie responds feeling her eyes water and throat clench at the thought of losing her baby. She hadn't even wanted to be pregnant. She hadn't wanted this. Any of this. For another ten years, at least. And she definitely hadn't planned on going at it alone, broke, and dangling the welfare of her unborn child in the process of her emotional instability.
"You're past the first trimester, so the good news is that most of miscarriages happen during this period, so you're out of hot water a little, but we need to do something otherwise you're at risk of preterm labor, I'm going to suggest you be put on bed rest for the remainder of your pregnancy," Dr. Greenway says as he writes down his instructions on the computer in front of him and turns around expecting to hear grumbling or arguing from her but is surprised to see her just nodding in agreement.
"Okay," Lexie nods in acceptance. She was only 16 weeks along in her pregnancy, she hadn't found out until she was already 12 weeks, so she'd only had a month to wrap her head around the fact that she was pregnant.
She was pregnant with Mark's baby.
Mark Sloan, her ex-boyfriend who was currently on paternity leave taking care of his two month old baby girl with his ex-girlfriend slash lesbian best-friend, slash mother-of-his-child Callie Torres.
She missed her entire first trimester. She hadn't even noticed she hadn't had her period. She had always been irregular. It wasn't a big deal for it to just come and go for a few months at a time.
God, her life was so ironic. This was the big thing keeping her and Mark apart. They were at different places in their lives. Babies versus no babies. She wanted a career, he wanted a family. It was that simple.
Only when it came time for her to make the easy medical decision to terminate her pregnancy go back to her not so complicated life that did not include bottles, and diapers, and breast milk, and formula, and sleepless crying nights, suddenly, it wasn't all that simple anymore. Suddenly all the bullshit medical pamphlet, terminology she had learned in med school about abortions, women's-right-to-choose, it's not a human being till it's past 20 weeks, blah, blah, blah just sounded like a load of horse shit.
She couldn't go through with it. She heard the heartbeat and she was done. This was her and Mark's baby. She was a goner as soon as that stick turned up with two lines instead of one, completely turning her life and her world upside down, she was a freaking goner.
She couldn't do it.
And now she was sitting here, holding her bigger than a peanut, smaller than an olive looking fetus's ultrasound picture, in an OBGYN's office that specialized in high-risk pregnancies because she'd stressed herself out so much that now her baby was stressed too. She was already turning her baby into a neurotic nut case, just like she was! She wasn't fit to be a mom. She couldn't do this by herself. She needed help.
She needed to get out of Seattle.
There's no way she would be able to bring her stress level down around here. She needed to be away for a while. Her and her baby's life depended on it.
"Do you have any doctors you can to me near Santa Barbara? I'm going to take a leave of absence from work until the baby's born, and that's the most relaxing place I can think of that I have family near," Lexie asks looking up seeing a sigh of relief leave Dr. Greenway's mouth as his eyes crinkled up with his smile.
"Of course, I'll go take care of it right now, you just give me a few minutes," he says, getting up and patting her knee before leaving the room.
Now she understood why her mother had specified for them not to sell that family vacation home in her will. Because life doesn't always happen according to a timetable or calendar. And feelings can't be scheduled. As if she had known Lexie would have needed an escape route sometime in the future, Lexie looks up before speaking out loud in the empty room as she feels a sense of impending relief, "Thanks mom."
"Is that it?" Mark asks looking around at the last few boxes he'd help Derek pack out of the house him and Meredith shared with Lexie. He couldn't believe they were separating. But he was in no position to judge his friend, he was the last person to tell him what to do with his relationship with Grey. God knows he'd fucked up the one he'd had with Lexie enough, he didn't need to put his 2 cents in with Derek and Meredith's marriage.
"Yeah, for now" Derek says taking his key and trying to figure out where to put it so Meredith would see it when she got home.
"Okay, I'll finish loading it everything you just, see if you missed anything," Mark says as he grabs the last box and takes it to the SUV he'd recently purchased in order to make more room for a car seat for Sofia. Man, it was crazy how much his life and priorities had changed since she became a part of his life. As much as he loved his daughter to death, he'd wished he'd had more time to prepare for all of the emotional turmoil he'd been put through because of the complication that was brought along with everything. He'd felt beaten down.
Then, as if the world was playing a joke on him he sees Meredith, Lexie and Zola arrive and get out of the car not realizing he was standing by the SUV that was parked across the street from the house, watching them go inside. He sees Lexie wave Meredith inside as she opens the back door and grabs Zola out of her car seat, carrying her inside gently as Zola lays her head on Lexie's chest fast asleep, as if their trip had worn the little girl out. Feeling his eyes on her, Lexie looks up and makes eye contact with Mark, who doesn't budge watching how gentle she was with her nice making his stomach churn at the picture in front of him. He'd always known she'd make an amazing mother. She was one of the kindest, most warm-hearted people he'd ever known. Watching her with Zola just reinforced the fact that she hadn't wanted to have a family with him, making his feelings of inadequacy and bitterness resurface. He watches as she shakes her head in sadness, and starts to make her way to the house turning her back to him.
He watches Meredith cross her arms defiantly and refuse to take the key from Derek, standing on the porch. As Lexie approaches with Zola, they both quiet down and watch her walk inside to put her down in her crib up in the room they had decorated for her upstairs. He walks up to grab some more boxes that he saw in the living room, walking past Meredith and Derek as they continue to argue. Lexie makes her way back down the stairs quietly and slowly as if she was wary about being in the tension filled environment, or in the same room as him. As he walks towards the living room and sees five or six more larger boxes he sighs in annoyance. There was no way all this stuff was going to fit in his car now with all the stuff they had in there already. They were going to have to make another trip.
"Hey guys, sorry to interrupt -"
"What is it Mark?" Derek asks, stepping away from Meredith with a look of relief on his face as if he was glad for the time-out.
"There's no way we can fit all those boxes in there now, we're going to have to make another trip," he says looking uncomfortable at the look of annoyance on Derek's face.
Meredith just look frustrated before taking the key from Derek's hand angrily and looking at Mark, "That's not his. Those boxes are Lexie's. So you're done here. You're both done here."
"Oh, is she getting her own place?" Derek looked up curiously, asking what he knew Mark wouldn't.
"Oh now you wanna talk?" Meredith responds snappily. Derek just sighs as if their interaction had worn him thin, while Mark sat back and tried to figure out why Lexie would need to box up her stuff unless she was moving out of Meredith's house. And he couldn't figure out why she'd move out of Meredith's house when Zola arriving and Derek leaving had all happened to coincide in her sister's life at the same time. It didn't seem like something she would do. But then, how well did he really know her? "Look what Lexie does is none of your business," Meredith finishes, looking directly at Mark, as if she'd known Derek had only said anything for his benefit.
Everyone looks back at the soft voice of Lexie interrupting the tension filled conversation on the porch, finally Mark sees how pale and fragile she looked up close. With dark bags under her eyes, she was wearing a sweater that overwhelmed her petite figure making her look as if the wind could tip her over at any minute.
"Lex. Are you alright?" Meredith asks as she pushes her way through Mark and Derek, and grabs Lexie's hand, turning her palm up as if she was feeling her pulse. Worriedly she puts her hand on her forehead.
"I'm not feeling well," she says, her eyes watering as she tries to hold herself up but feels her knees start to buckle weakly. Meredith grabs her by the waist before she could fully buckle to the ground ignoring the worried looks Mark and Derek were sending her way. They watch as Meredith lays Lexie on the couch before grabbing a doppler machine and her blood pressure cuff meter and sit on the couch next to her. As if he was watching everything in slow motion, he watched as Lexie opened her cardigan, and lifted up her t-shirt showing a bulging stomach that could only mean one thing.
She was pregnant.
His Lexie was pregnant.
And from the very worried glances, and rushed preparedness that had come from Meredith's reaction the last few minutes, she wasn't having a good pregnancy from the looks of it
He watches as Lexie's one arm is thrown over her closed eyes in what looks to be exhaustion. Meredith puts the cuff on Lexie's other arm and starts listening through her stethoscope for her pulse as she releases the air. "100 over 60," Meredith says worriedly, taking the stethoscope off and removing the cuff, then grabbing the doppler and squeezing some gel on Lexie's stomach before searching around for a heartbeat. She feels Lexie's hand guide her to her lower right side and feels a sense of relief as the strong "thump. thump. thump. thump." sound generates in the room causing everyone to release breaths they didn't know they were holding. "He likes to hide down there right after lunch, close to my bladder." Lexie explains giving Meredith a smile and squeezing her hand in unspoken thanks.
"He?" Meredith replies questioningly with a small smile on her face. The bond between the two sisters had strengthened immensely in the last few months, she knew exactly what people were talking about now when they talked about a bond between family, something she'd never had until Lexie came along.
Lexie shrugs as Meredith hands her some paper towels and baby wipes to clean her stomach off, "Mother's instinct." She answers quietly before pulling her shirt back down and putting her sweater back on.
"I'm going to call Dr. Greenway, you stay put - okay?"
Just as Lexie nods in agreement everyone hears Zola start crying through the monitor and looks up the stairs awkwardly.
Meredith mumbles as she starts to put her equipment away and looks up the stairs trying to figure out what she was going to do first, just then Derek speaks up walking towards the stairs out of the living room, "I'll go get her."
"Thanks," Meredith says as she walks towards the kitchen to grab Dr. Greenway's number. "You leave her alone," Meredith says pointing at Mark before leaving the room as an air of tension remains with Lexie and Mark alone in the living room.
The silence crackled with a mixture of anger, confusion, and tension as Mark seemed to stand like a statue watching as Lexie closed her eyes trying to keep herself calm. He paused and opened his mouth slightly, like he wanted to say something else, but no words came out. He felt as if he was in some alternate reality, as if the world was playing a cruel joke on him. Was this really happening?
"You don't have to stand in here Mark, you've made it perfectly clear that we're none of you're concern so you can go," Lexie says sitting up on her elbows watching the look of discomfort that had been obvious on her ex-boyfriend's face since she lifted up her shirt. She was so exhausted but she knew she had to be strong for her baby, that was the only reason she hadn't burst into tears since this whole thing had happened in front of Mark. This was definitely not how she'd imagined they'd see each other again, especially after he refused to see her and sent Callie to her apartment to tell her that he wasn't interested in being a part of her life. Or her child's.
Now that was surprising.
She'd never took Mark for someone who would abandon her during her pregnancy, even if they weren't together, she'd always thought he would have wanted to be there for their child but she thought wrong. Now that he had Sofia, he'd already had a child, he didn't need any others complicating his relationship with his daughter. Especially not one that was an accident. That was how Callie put it wasn't it? That Lexie and the baby were an accident. A complication. A bump on the road.
Her eyes water as she swallows a dry lump that had made its way to her throat.
"What are you talking about?" Mark finally manages to whisper out as he speaks, his eyes never leaving the bump on her stomach that was hidden before, now seemed to be glowing in plain sight. It was a wonder he hadn't noticed it earlier.
"Are you joking?" Lexie asks flabbergasted, shaking her head in anger. "I never pictured you for a coward Mark. Sending Callie to do your dirty work for you? Bravo. That's a new low. Even for you. But I'm the idiot here aren't i? Always trying to see the best in people, even when it's not there. Good job Lexie. Not making that mistake again. You can leave now."
"Lexie. I honest to god have no idea what you are talking about right now." Mark says watching as she sits up and glares at him, he could swear he felt the anger radiating off her in waves.
"Playing stupid isn't going to get you anywhere Mark. Go back to your family. How did Callie say it? Your real family. That's right. We'll be fine without you. I'm sure you won't be losing any sleep over any of this," she responds motioning towards her stomach as she lays back down and closes her eyes taking a breath trying to relax herself again. Tears start streaming down her face as her angry facade starts breaking down, Mark takes a step forward but stops when she puts her hand up, "Please, just go Mark. I can't do this with you here right now. You're just making it harder for me and the baby to let you go, so please - just leave," Lexie says, as her voice breaks with uncertainty.
He steps away from her and runs out of the house, ignoring Derek's shouts as he gets in the car and heads over to Callie's house.
From what Lexie had ripped his head off about before she burst into tears, it became evident that Callie knew a lot more about this mysterious situation than he did. A lot more. He was going to find out why, and exactly what was going on here. The truth was hidden somewhere between the lines and he was scared of what would happen once everything was out in the open.
Because the worst thing the truth can do is when you finally tell it, it doesn't set you free, but locks you away forever. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69118 | Yozora no Mukou: Chapter One: Ever Since Then
Bearit's Notes: Hiya everyone! I've finally decided that I will write a sequel for "Lion Heart", and here it is, "Yozora no Mukou", which translates to "Beyond the Night Sky". Yes, it's named after yet another SMAP song of the same name. I hope you enjoy! (Normal warnings apply)
It had been a year since the weddings. Hikaru and Fuu were permanently living in Cephiro with their husbands, though Umi still had yet to have even a boyfriend, so she traveled frequently between both lands. Hikaru made it easier for her brothers and Umi to do so by their own freewill, though by Satoru's advice, Kakeru limited his visits to once a month. Masaru kept his control easily; he had married Katsumi and they had a son named Shingo. Plus, he held an important role in a new anime; he couldn't just take a week's worth of vacation lest he delayed the release of a few episodes.
Kakeru admitted that life was now dull for him. He still kept his distance from his father, but now he lived in an apartment in downtown Tokyo. It was easier access to Tokyo Tower, and therefore easier access to Cephiro, but he had a promise to keep to Satoru.
His friend Hidehiro had married Hikaru's friend Rei, and Yuujirou was busy in Hokkaido with family affairs of some sort. Kakeru never asked, so Yuujirou never told. Sera was busy in America working on some space station project, and Fumiko...
Now that Kakeru thought about it, he didn't know where Fumiko was, much less what she was up to. In fact, he last saw her at Hikaru's wedding, which was a good seven months ago. Perhaps she had decided to stay in Cephiro?
Nah, Kakeru thought. Considering how frequently Umi goes there, I would have heard even in Tokyo some of the arguments. It's either that, or Umi killed Fumiko.
Kakeru considered that for a while. Considering how explosive Fumiko and Umi became during their arguments and with Geo's and Zazu's failed attempts to get the girls to simmer down...
I wouldn't be surprised if she did. Or vice versa: maybe Fumiko killed Umi.
Satoru taught at the Shidou Kendo School with their father now, and Kyousuke assisted. It was actually no different than before; the only real change was that the founder of the Shidou style was once again the headmaster of the school rather than his son. The dojo was gaining more and more popularity, and there was no day when Kakeru wandered the streets of Tokyo he never heard someone--any random person--talking about it.
Now that Kakeru thought about it, it was very ironic. It was almost if all four Shidou siblings were destined to be popular in some way. Satoru was a teacher of a popular kendo school and was the crush target of more than half of the female students (and most of those students only joined because of Satoru--never mind that he was more than twice the age of many of those girls), Masaru was a famous actor, and Hikaru was the would-be Pillar of Cephiro.
Kakeru was a star baseball player. He would have been a soccer player if baseball didn't pay him a whole lot more, but that was okay; the manager of the Lions, the team he played for, told him that the American Major Leagues were interested in recruiting him. Kakeru was going to refuse, of course. He liked it in Japan just fine.
The real beauty of living in a huge metropolis was that he would look familiar to a lot of his fans, but out of respect and fear that he may not be the real Kakeru Shidou, nobody ever approached him. It was a really happy life.
Happy, but utterly dull.
Kakeru slumped onto the pastel couch in his apartment and grabbed the remote control, turning the television on. It was morning; he might as well watch some of the news. In the end, it wasn't anything he was particularly interested in; the Americans were still in the Middle East as soldiers and diplomats against terrorism, a drought was conquering the western coast of Japan, and in sports was the same old, same old. Just when he was about to change the channel, a loud knock sounded on the door.
He stood from the couch and trudged to the front door.
"Coming," he called absent-mindedly. The pounding grew louder. "I said 'coming', damn it--"
Kakeru opened the door, and lo and behold, Fumiko Tachiiri stood there with a bright smile on her face.
"Good morning, Kakeru!" Fumiko chirped.
Kakeru blinked. He thought he would never use the word 'chirped' in conjunction with Hikaru's best friend, the almost exact replica of Umi Ryuuzaki. He narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell?" he asked.
"Can I come in?"
"Oh, come on," Fumiko pleaded. Another word Kakeru thought he would never use in conjunction with Hikaru's best friend. He blinked again.
"Kakeru..." Her voice held a warning tone, and Kakeru sighed softly in relief. There was the Fumiko he was used to.
"All right, all right," he muttered, stepping aside.
She bounced--yet another word that never fit her--inside, and Kakeru shut the door. Fumiko sat on the ground and pulled off her shoes, humming a happy tune. Something was going on, and Kakeru was pretty sure that he didn't like it.
"Yes?" she chirped again.
Kakeru's eyebrow twitched. "What the hell are you doing here?"
When both of her shoes were off, Fumiko hopped to her feet.
"What?" she asked, beaming a ray of sunlight. As if the weather wasn't already bright enough, Kakeru thought bitterly. "Am I not allowed to visit my best friend's older brother?"
"This isn't just a visit," Kakeru growled. "You're here for a reason... tell me what it is, damn it!"
Fumiko looked comically at him as if she were giving the matter a serious thought. After about five seconds, she shook her head.
She giggled. "Get me something to drink first... and get yourself some water. And then sit down. And then I'll tell you."
"Evil bitch," Kakeru muttered as he stomped into the kitchen.
"I know I am," Fumiko said as she entered the living room.
Under his breath, Kakeru murmured obscenities that he would never say to Fumiko's face even in her good mood... or the mood she was in now, whatever that was. He pulled out two glasses from the cabinet--it was a good thing that he had done the dishes the other day--and poured faucet water into one of them. He poured green tea into the other, and he walked into the living room, where Fumiko had already settled herself on the couch.
He sighed and handed her the green tea.
"Thank you!" Fumiko chirped. Again.
Kakeru was seriously getting freaked out.
"Fumiko, if you don't tell me what the hell is going on..."
"Sit," she commanded. "And then I'll tell you."
Kakeru scowled but did what he was told as he grabbed a seat next to her. "Now," he said. "You tell me. Why are you so... perky?"
Fumiko... perky... that does not mix at all, he thought.
"Well..." Fumiko began. She hesitated with a mischievous expression on her face. "I just got back from Cephiro, you see."
"So you WERE there the entire time?" Kakeru asked with an eyebrow raised. "Is Umi dead or something?"
"No. She's quite alive, but she's in England right now," Fumiko said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Now, do you want to know, or what?"
Kakeru sighed. "I want to know. Now tell me."
"With that attitude I'm not telling you anything."
She laughed. "Let's see... when was the last time you were in Cephiro?"
"About two weeks ago, why?"
"That means you can't go back for another... what? Two more weeks?"
Kakeru slapped his forehead. "I'm going back in three weeks for Hikaru-chan's birthday."
"Hmmmm," Fumiko mused. "She may be upset with me if I told you since she wants to tell you herself, but she still has Satoru-san and Masaru-san to give this information to."
Kakeru glowered. "Is there something wrong with my sister?"
Fumiko burst into a guffaw again. "Oh, there's nothing wrong with her, but there is something definitely, ah, different about her, that's for sure!"
Fumiko grinned. "Okay, I'll tell you, but you can't tell your brothers. Let Hikaru tell them herself since I'm stealing this joy from her. Besides, telling you will be more fun for me than it will be for her."
"Fumiko..." Kakeru growled.
"Hikaru. Is. Pregnant!" Fumiko chirped. Again. But this time, Kakeru gaped for a completely different reason.
Apparently, the look on Kakeru's face was so amusing that Fumiko laughed even harder than she had the previous times. She doubled over and had to set her cup of tea on the table to keep it from spilling on the carpet. Kakeru continued to stare forward, absolutely stunned. He found that he couldn't get a coherent thought in his head.
"Hikaru... what... Hikaru-chan is... WHAT?!"
Fumiko's outbursts grew louder.
"Oh... my... God..." Kakeru murmured.
Fumiko finally sat back up, but her guffaw would still not disperse. "Kakeru," she choked. "Water."
"Er... right..."
He slowly brought the cup to his mouth and sipped the liquid, but it helped none. Fumiko must have noticed, for she simmered down and said as quietly as she could possibly muster, "I should have told you to get ice cold water, shouldn't I?"
Fumiko heaved a great sigh, her laughter finally disappearing. "Let me see that," she said as she grabbed the cup from Kakeru's hand. The next thing he knew, a splash exploded on his face, and his head was soaked with water.
Kakeru narrowed his eyes. "Fumiko..." he growled.
"There!" she said proudly. "It was fun while it lasted, but I need you back to normal now. I have to leave for work in a couple of minutes, and it would be just cruel if I left you as a sputtering idiot."
"Right. Work?"
"I have an office job in Sunshine 60."
"Oh. But Hikaru-chan? What? She's... what? WHAT?!"
Fumiko smiled. "Yes, she is. We just found out last week. Who would have ever thought that she would the first one of us to have a kid? Last I heard, Rei and Hidehiro were going to wait for a couple of years before they were going to even try, and Yuujirou and Sera? Well..."
"But Masaru..."
"He doesn't count. He's not part of the gang."
"But then, of course, I didn't expect for her to be the first one of us married," she said. Her grin had softened, and now that Kakeru inspected her further, she seemed rather... mournful? "And yet, somehow, I was never surprised."
Kakeru smiled. "Who can't love Hikaru-chan?"
"You have a point. Well, I have to go," she said as she stood up. "Work and everything. Oh, and I did come by for another reason. Geo and Tatra finally got over themselves. They're getting married around Cephiro's springtime. Our wintertime. December. As Hikaru's older brother, you're invited, and Tarta is looking forward to it."
"Oh," Kakeru said as he accompanied Fumiko to the door, "okay. I'm coming, then, I guess. Wow. Geo and Tatra are finally... I guess it's about time. I take it Eagle still hasn't woken up yet?"
Fumiko shook her head. "Nope. He keeps telling everybody that he's getting closer... he and Hikaru... but since Lantis isn't saying anything I know they're lying." She pulled on her shoes and opened the door. "Well, I guess I'll see you around, okay?"
"O-okay," Kakeru said. "Oh, but hey, I still need to catch up on how everybody is doing in Cephiro. Want to go out for dinner sometime?"
"You were only there two weeks ago," Fumiko said. "There's not much I can tell you. But I need to catch up on how your brothers and my friends and your friends and you are doing. So, yeah, let's call it a date!"
Kakeru blinked. "A date? Whoa, wait a second--"
Fumiko sighed. "Not in the boyfriend girlfriend sense, you idiot."
"Oh," Kakeru said, half laughing, "all right. Is Saturday good? I don't have a game or anything. It has to be in the afternoon, though; my manager is a stickler on me being at batting practice early on Sundays."
"You have a game Monday, don't you?" Kakeru nodded. "Well, Saturday, three o'clock, at my work? Say, I have your phone number, so I'll call you for more specific instructions. If I don't leave now, I'm going to be late."
"All right, all right," Kakeru said as Fumiko stepped out of the apartment. "I'll see you see then!"
Fumiko nodded and walked down the hall. Kakeru closed the door and slumped his back against it and exhaled a great surplus of air.
He just couldn't believe it. Even with the other news Fumiko brought him, the fact that his little sister was pregnant astounded him and infested his entire mind. He knew that she was no longer a child and that she could take care of herself even better than he could, but it was mind boggling. To him, Hikaru would always remain a young, innocent girl that he must protect from emotional harm.
But still...
"Hikaru-chan... my little sister... pregnant?" he murmured. He fell to his knees. "... I hope I'm there when Hikaru-chan tells Satoru and Masaru..."
Elsewhere, in one of the suburbs of Tokyo, Masaru woke to a household of men. Katsumi was in Kyushu to act in a movie, so it was only him, his son Shingo, and his uncle Tadasu. He rolled over on the futon and stole a glance at the clock. Eight thirty. He didn't have to leave for the television station for another hour and a half. Just when he was about to sleep in, his uncle burst into the room.
"Masaru-kun, rise and shine!"
Masaru groaned. "Go 'way, Uncle."
"You're nearly thirty and you're complaining about getting up like a teenager!" Tadasu scoffed. "Come on, up! Shingo-kun needs a diaper change."
"You can't do it?"
"I'm making breakfast," replied Tadasu. "I can't get my hands dirty, unless you want baby wastes all over your food."
"They have sinks and soap for a reason, Uncle!"
"Or maybe you prefer your food burnt?"
"Fine," Masaru grumbled as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. Tadasu walked out of the room but left the rice paper door open. Masaru scowled and stood, stretching his arms high above his head. "Just another day of voicing an episode, that's all."
He walked to the dresser and pulled a drawer open. He grabbed a few pieces of clothing and threw them on, and only three minutes later did he walk into the living room and realize that Shingo really did need a diaper change.
"Ack!" Masaru threw a hand over his nose.
"See what I mean?" Tadasu called. "You better change it now."
"Okay, okay! I'm on it!" Masaru said as he picked his son up from the floor. He smiled at him innocently as if nothing was wrong, but Masaru glared at him. "You know, if your mother was here, I wouldn't have to do this sort of thing..."
He carried Shingo to the bathroom and laid him on the counter of the sink, muttering and grumbling about how much he hated changing diapers. He really felt empathy for his parents now, to have to go through this for four different kids. No wonder his uncle Tadasu stayed single.
Smart man, Masaru commended. He wrinkled his nose as he pulled the diaper off.
I wish Katsumi was here. Damn her for being such a beautiful and great actress! Leaving me with the dirty work! No, wait, damn Uncle for making breakfast!
"This is a housewife's job," he muttered.
Apparently, he had said it loud enough for his uncle to here.
"Well, unfortunately, Katsumi-san isn't a housewife, and don't go making me out to be a house-uncle, you hear me?" Tadasu called.
"All right!"
Most of the time, Masaru got along with his uncle, which was why he called for him to be Shingo's guardian if anything were to happen to both himself and Katsumi. In fact, since Masaru and Katsumi were always so busy with their jobs, Tadasu was there to baby-sit Shingo for most of the day. Luckily, Katsumi was going to quit being an actress for a few years after the release of the movie she was currently working on, and Masaru's job as a voice actor kept him in Tokyo. Shingo would not grow up believing that his family was dysfunctional.
But despite Tadasu's protests and Masaru's reassurances, Masaru had to admit that his uncle really was the replacement for the lack of a housewife. He cooked, he cleaned, he did the laundry, and he took care of the kid. The only thing missing was an apron.
Not that Masaru was complaining of course.
He pulled on Shingo's shirt and tossed the dirty diaper into the trash. All done. Even taking care of Hikari wasn't as harsh as this.
Masaru picked his son up and grinned. "All right, Shingo-kun, let's get something to eat, all right?"
Shingo, of course, didn't understand a word his father said, but he didn't care all the same. A cheerful tone and a smile--and a clean diaper--was all he needed to be happy, so he giggled in joy.
"That-a-boy," Masaru said.
He walked back into the living room and let Shingo go back to watching the famed cartoon Anpanman, a show Masaru and his brothers and sister had grown up watching. He chuckled.
"Almost nostalgic," he muttered.
"Did you wash your hands, Masaru-kun?"
"Erk." Masaru gulped. "Yeah. Getting to it now, in fact..."
"Yeah, sure."
Masaru entered the bathroom again and turned the sink on, but he still decided to dwell into his memories. His brothers, sister, and himself had gone through so much in eighteen years, and he couldn't believe that nearly two decades had passed since his father had left the Shidou household. Everyone always knew that he left to get stronger, but they always thought physically; they never thought mentally. Kakeru still refused to listen to his father's reasons; he continued to deem them "pathetic excuses". And yet, if Kakeru was able to forgive Hidehiro and even become one of his best friends, then why was it taking him a longer time to do so with his own father?
Masaru knew the answer to that question. It's because Mitsuru Shidou was his father that Kakeru couldn't forgive him. When he was seven, he depended so heavily on him that when he broke a simple promise, Kakeru's world was crushed. Kakeru never had an opinion on Hidehiro Akugenta, and there was only a few months passing in between the misdeed and the regret as opposed to twelve years.
Even Tadasu, who wasn't even blood-related to Mitsuru but rather the younger brother of Kinoko, understood and forgave him. Everybody had except for Kakeru.
Someday, Masaru swore, he was going to have to knock some sense into his little brother. This obsession was getting him nowhere.
Masaru turned off the faucet and returned to the living room. "Is breakfast ready yet?"
"It will be soon," Tadasu answered. "Say, when was the last time you visited your family?"
"Where? Back at the school or in Cephiro?"
"At the school, but I guess you could bring Cephiro into account as well."
Masaru sighed. "Well, actually, I was in Cephiro about three months ago. I wonder how Hikaru-chan is doing. At the school, well, I haven't been there... well, for even longer than I haven't been in Cephiro. And don't even ask me about Kakeru. I know he lives in an apartment somewhere downtown but I don't know where exactly."
"Well, I was just thinking," said Tadasu, "since Katsumi is coming back in about a month since the filming will be finished by then, we should go visit them."
"Them? At the school or--"
"Both places."
"Besides, Hikaru-chan's birthday is in August, we might as go then. If I know Kakeru-kun, then he's probably planning to do the same thing. Let's get Satoru-kun and maybe even Kyousuke-san to come along, and maybe your parents too," Tadasu suggested.
"If that's the case," Masaru said, chuckling, "we might as well throw her a birthday party. After all, she's turning twenty-four, isn't she? Twenty-four is a very important age."
"Kakeru-kun is turning twenty-six in a couple of weeks."
"Yeah, but twenty-six isn't as an important age as twenty-four," Masaru said.
"Watch you change your mind in two years."
"So, what do you say? Shall we go throw Hikaru-chan a birthday party?" Tadasu asked, popping his head out of the kitchen expectedly for an answer.
Masaru blinked, and then grinned, and then nodded. "Sure, why not?"
It didn't matter where in Japan or what the day of the week was, lunchtime at McDonald's was always crowded. And since it was July, everyone from junior high school students to entire families stood in the worthlessly air conditioned building waiting by the steaming counters for their lunch.
Kyousuke, being the keen man in circumstances such as this, dragged Satoru to the restaurant at eleven o'clock, barely beating the masses. Twenty minutes later, they were finished eating, but for the sake of having more privacy while they talked, they stuck around for a while longer. After all, why would a single person decide to eavesdrop on their conversation when there were dozens of others he could choose to listen to? And with the bustling discussions all around, it would be impossible for others to directly hear them, anyway.
"Now, what do you want to do after this?" Kyousuke asked. "There's a karaoke box just across the street, but we could always hitch a ride on the monorail and go down to Tachikawa... but then, we're a bit old to be shopping down there..."
"Why should that stop us?" Satoru asked. "We both look like we're still in our mid-twenties. I'm sure it will be fine."
"So, Tachikawa, is it? You're too modest for karaoke, anyway."
Satoru frowned. How could he say such a thing when Kyousuke only took him there once? "What do you mean?"
"Well, last time we went, back in high school, you sang no songs and me and the other guys ended up making fools out of ourselves," Kyousuke said. He sighed "You really don't know how to have fun, do you?"
"Yes, I do, I just don't dwell on it as much as you do."
"Which is why we're going to get back your childhood today," said Kyousuke. "I mean, really, you should have never let me stay in Eagle's room by myself if you didn't want something like this to happen."
"That's why your chances are very slim."
"Going back to Cephiro."
Kyousuke stared at Satoru long and hard, and Satoru kept his solemn gaze. After half a minute, Kyousuke groaned, "Satoru, I don't know whether you're joking or being serious. Damn you. Just... damn you!"
Satoru chuckled to indicate to Kyousuke that he was just kidding around. It was also to prove a point; Satoru did know how to have fun and hated when Kyousuke tried to tell him otherwise.
But Kyousuke's goal on taking Satoru out of the house for the day was not going to waste. Even Satoru's father agreed; it was about time that Satoru experienced life as a teenager, since while he was growing up, he had to live life like a full-grown man. It was a task that Satoru was prepared for, but prepared for and accomplished all too early. From Eagle, Kyousuke's suspicions had been confirmed, and he also took Eagle's advice to give Satoru that adolescent age back. Never mind that he was thirty-two years old; Satoru more than deserved to enjoy the life of the carefree.
Satoru knew why his father agreed to let him take a day off. He felt guilty for stealing those years from Satoru, and this was the best he could do give it back to him. Satoru knew that he was going to get more and more days like this. It was absolutely certain.
Kyousuke's never-ending mission in life, however, was also taking place on this day; though, as Satoru was about to find out, he actually seemed serious about it.
Yes, the never-ending proclamation that Satoru should get a girlfriend. He only wished that Kyousuke would one day see that Satoru just wasn't interested; not everybody had to settle down with a "one true love." Besides, in order to continue to be a devoted son and brother to his family, he would be best if he never married.
"So, Satoru," Kyousuke began again, shaking off the verbal prank Satoru pulled on him, "Fuu's sister is about our age, isn't she?"
"Younger. She's younger than Masaru," Satoru said. "Why?"
"Well, she acts just as old as us, though that's going to change soon," said Kyousuke with a small smirk. Satoru shook his head, but Kyousuke continued, "And she looks just as old as us... what do you think about her?"
Kyousuke cringed and stared out the window. "Well... you know... there's a perfect match for everybody. I hate to force you into a relationship and everything, and I'm not going to. Trust me. But... well... you do know where I'm getting with this, right?"
Satoru sighed. "I'm sure Kuu-san has other interests."
"Like who? Geo?"
"No," Satoru said, shaking his head. "Somebody from her work, or maybe even someone else in Cephiro. Or maybe someone we can't even consider. We haven't seen her in a long time, and we don't know too much about her."
"But if you knew that she wasn't interested in anybody else, would you give her a chance?"
"Most likely not. I'm not interested."
Kyousuke gaped. "'Not interested'? What's there to not be interested about? She's smart, sweet, beautiful--"
"If that's the case, why don't you try to go after her?" Satoru asked with a soft smile. "After all, you never had a girlfriend either. And don't go pulling that 'I'm different' excuse. We're the same, Kyousuke-san."
Kyousuke's face tinted red. "You won't believe how wrong you're on that," he muttered. "I'm sorry for being hypocritical, but I'm not... that interested in her, either. I think you deserve her far more. There's nobody for me, and if there was, she's probably in New York or something like that. Someplace I'll never go."
"Hypocritical is right... it's either that, or you're not telling me something," said Satoru sternly. "Is there someone else you're pining after although she is with another man? Or something along those lines, at least?"
Kyousuke sighed. "You're half right. I am pining after somebody, but I'm not going to tell you who. Come on. We're finished eating, and he might as well let someone else have these seats. It's getting too crowded."
Kyousuke stood up, leaving Satoru with a thought in his head.
Somebody else? I wonder who. I wonder who he could possibly be in love with who is making him this miserable.
"Coming, Satoru?" Kyousuke asked. Satoru nodded and followed him out the door. "So, Tachikawa, is it?"
In an instant, Kyousuke's depression seemed to have disappeared, but Satoru knew better than to bombard him with questions about it. After all, if Kyousuke didn't wish to tell Satoru, then what right did he have to ask?
Besides, it was supposed to be a happy day, and Satoru had no particular interest in ruining that.
To Be Continued |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69119 | Hello, all. I should explain a few things. This is my first Wicked fanfiction. I'm stepping into new and scary waters, for me, at least, so please be gentle in your criticism. Secondly, I might not be able to update consistently. At least, not at first. Thirdly, I want you all to enjoy this story. I'm not going to beg for any reviews or comments or anything like that. I just wanted to try my hand at some Wicked/Gelphie fanfiction.
Having said that, I present to you: Speechless Voice.
Galinda Upland was scared. Hurt and scared. How was she supposed to feel about this? Who could she tell about this? So many emotions rushed through her mind. Fear, sadness, worry, pain, anger. Just to name a few. But shame was the most prominent. Unadulterated shame.
How could she have let this happen? Was it because she was too weak? Was it because she always made herself out to be this blissful, blonde little girl that wasn't the brightest in her class at Shiz?
She remained where she was laying for what felt like an eternity, her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to quiet her sobs and wipe away her tears. With a shaky deep breath, she managed to at least pull herself up into a sitting position. Even only that much hurt. She sat still for another minute or so, knees pulled to her chest, her chin resting on top of her knees as she looked blankly at nothing in particular. She had to move eventually. She knew that much. She couldn't stay out here forever. Especially after what had just happened.
"Come on, Galinda. You are Galinda Upland of the Upper Uplands. You just… you need to get to your room, take a nice, hot shower, and then everything will be…" She broke down into quiet sobs again. Nothing would be okay again, not after this. But the attempted pep talk at least got her to push herself up off the ground and start to make her way back to their dorm at Crage Hall. She kept her arms wrapped around herself, as if she were figuratively trying to keep herself and her world from breaking into a million pieces. She tried to hum a cheerful tune, tried to think about anything other than the past half hour. Anything but that.
Finally, she reached the entrance to Crage Hall, walking as quickly as she could to her dorm room. In her rush to get inside, she fumbled clumsily with the key as she fit it into the lock, turning it and entering the room as quickly as she could, closing the door behind her rather loudly.
"I see you've returned from your nightly waltz around Shiz." That would be the artichoke, Elphaba Thropp, snarky, as usual. "Tell me, have you found anything new worth viewing around campus since yesterday? One might suspect witchcraft, should there be something there that wasn't there before."
But Elphaba's dry humour was lost on Galinda, and she ignored her completely as she walked very quietly to her bed, sitting down gingerly and staring at the wood floor beneath her feet. This gave Elphaba pause. The blonde always had some form of comeback, whether it be a snide comment or another rude nickname for the tall green girl. She looked over at the little blonde, her characteristic glare softening a bit as she studied her. Something wasn't right. The blonde was never this quiet. Ever. That alone was enough to make the green girl worry. And furthermore, the distant look on her face gave Elphaba chills. And definitely not the good kind. After a few moments of unbearable silence, Elphaba decided to speak up.
"Miss Galinda… Are you alright?" She watched the blonde carefully, but she showed no signs that she had even heard Elphaba speak. Now Elphaba was certain that something was wrong. "Galinda." She dropped the formal prefix as her voice grew more firm in her concern for the petite blonde girl as she moved to stand in front of her. Her worry for the girl, despite herself, only continued to grow when she didn't even seem to acknowledge that Elphaba was standing right in front of her.
Against all of her better judgment, she moved to kneel in front of the girl, ducking her head to try and meet Galinda's distant gaze, which seemed to bore straight through the green girl. She let out a soft, mostly inaudible gasp as she studied Galinda from up close. Her clothes, normally perfect and unblemished, were smudged with dirt. Was that a rip on her sleeve? Her gaze moved up to Galinda's face, and she searched her for any sign of emotion. That couldn't be a bruise on her cheek, could it? Something definitely was not right. Not in the slightest. She watched her for a bit longer, her gaze scrutinizing, before she spoke quietly. "Galinda…" She hesitantly reached a hand up and placed it on Galinda's arm, which appeared to be the wrong thing to do, or possibly the right thing, when Galinda flinched and her ocean blue gaze focused on Elphaba's own dark gaze. "Are you alright? Has something happened you need to tell me about?" She spoke with an intensity that neither girl really understood.
There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence as Galinda seemed to struggle internally with what to say. Could she really tell her roommate what had happened? Would this just be reason for the green girl to further taunt her with? Not that she could see Elphaba Thropp using something like this against her. That girl couldn't, and wouldn't, hurt a fly. But she was scared and hurting. Oh, how she was hurting. And she wanted nothing more than to be able to tell someone why she felt so alone right now. Why her world was crashing down. But there was another voice screaming inside her head. A voice that told her she could trust no one, that after tonight, she was completely alone in the world, and that she would have to deal with the repercussions on her own. In the end, the second voice, the fear, won control of her actions.
"Don't touch me," she murmured, barely above a whisper as she tried to move away from Elphaba's hand.
Elphaba wasn't sure if she was relieved or further worried about the girl's response. It did seem normal, though, coming from her, so she didn't think too much into it. "Of course, Miss Galinda. Wouldn't want you to catch any of my oh-so-contagious green." She let her hand fall away from Galinda's arm as she stood back up, still keeping a wary eye on the girl, however, as she turned and walked back to her desk. After a moment of hesitation, she turned back to the girl, her expression still soft with worry. Galinda was hiding something from her, and she needed to know what was haunting the poor girl. "Miss Galinda. Are you sure there isn't something that you need to speak to me about?"
Galinda moved her gaze from the floor to her roommate in the briefest of glances, her fear once again getting the better of her as she molded her emotionless gaze into one of slight annoyance. She couldn't let Elphaba know that something was terribly wrong. Not yet, at least. "Miss Elphaba, it would quite possibly be a miracle if you would be able to remain silent for the briefest of moments. I need to think."
"Shocking." Elphaba rolled her eyes, a more characteristic smirk replacing the worry on her features. "Do try not to injure yourself. I would hate to have to go through the trouble of explaining to the nurses in the infirmary that your brain simply exploded with the mere effort of thinking."
But Galinda's only response was a quiet sniffle, completely unheard by Elphaba, who had gone back to immersing herself in whatever book she was currently reading about Ozian history. To save herself from any further ridicule that would surely ensue, should Elphaba catch her crying, Galinda stood as quickly as she could, grabbing her shower things and running into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She was quick to turn the water on to hide the growing sobs that were starting to tear from her throat as she dropped her things on the floor, moving to once again wrap her arms around herself.
She didn't know how long she sat there on the edge of the toilet, allowing herself to have a long, hard cry. Eventually she figured she had better shower if she wished for there to be any hot water left for her, so she very carefully removed her somewhat tattered clothes and stepped into the shower, wincing a bit as the water hit her. She did her best not to look at the bruises and scrapes that lined her arms and legs, to ignore the sting she felt where the man's hand had connected with her cheek. But most of all, she tried to ignore the excruciating pain between her legs, and the blood that mixed with the water as she rinsed herself off.
As she continued to clean herself off as best she could, she thought back upon the night. It had started out nice. She had had a date with Fiyero. They had had a nice picnic by the Suicide Canal, and they had watched the sun set. It was perfectly romantic. And all too soon, it had to come to an end. And since boys were not allowed in or near Crage Hall, they had had to part ways there, leaving Galinda to walk back to her dorm alone. It hadn't seemed such a bad thing to have to do, at the time.
Suicide Canal wasn't even very far from Crage Hall, but Galinda had decided that she wanted to walk around campus for a bit, since she had never seen anything around campus at night. Thinking back on it, that was her wrong step. What girl in their right mind decides to go exploring campus at night? And alone, too, no less. But she had already made up her mind, since she was so stubborn, and had begun her trek around campus. Had she found anything to look any different at night than it did during the day? No. But it had been the idea of a nighttime walk around campus that had tempted her, she hadn't really expected to find anything new or unusual.
She hadn't thought much about when she happened to see someone following behind her when she looked over her shoulder. Maybe this person was just headed home. Or maybe it was just that silly Biq, who always tried to grab her attention in any way that he could. Nevertheless, she had picked up her pace a little, an unsettling feeling coming over her. That was when she noticed the footsteps behind her were getting quicker, too. In a moment of pure fear, she began to run. Much to her dismay, so did the person behind her. Before she had even been able to process what was happening, she was pinned against a wall, and she was screaming and begging the person to stop, but they wouldn't.
Galinda closed her eyes, shaking her head and trying to wipe away the tears. She couldn't think about this anymore. At least not tonight. She would have enough trouble, as it was, trying to get to sleep. With a shaky deep breath, she cleared her throat, washing her face to erase any signs that she had been crying, before turning the water off and drying herself off carefully. She slipped her nightgown and robe on, to hide any evidence of the bruises and scratches from Elphaba. Quietly, she headed back into their room, throwing her covers back, sliding under them and covering herself up quickly, turning so she was facing away from Elphaba.
Elphaba watched her from the corner of her eye. Something was off about the petite blonde tonight. Elphaba didn't know what and she didn't know why, but it was very unsettling. And what was even more unsettling was the amount of care that seemed to be worming its way into Elphaba's being. She supposed she would just have to wait for the right time to bring it up. Nothing would be able to be said with Galinda distancing herself even further than she already was from the green girl. But she would wait until Galinda was ready to talk about it, that much she was certain about.
So, there you go. The first chapter in my first Wicked Gelphie fanfiction. If you'd like to, you are more than welcome to leave a review or suggestions in the little box down below. Thank you for reading. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69120 | It was the end of a very long day for Manchester's Major Incident Team. Rachel had just gotten a confession out of one of the suspects and they were all busy filling out paperwork. In fact, everyone had nearly finished. Everyone except Kevin, of course, who was busy making a model of his car out of blue tack.
Gill looked out into the office from her desk and saw the huge mountain of paperwork that Rachel and Janet had already completed. Not bad for Rachel; she was becoming more responsible and was obviously looking for a little Christmas bonus by doing more work. Gill liked to think that she was responsible for Rachel knuckling down and getting on with her work, she thought she gave a good example. Kevin, on the other hand, she was not responsible for. She had only hired him as a favour to Julie and no matter how much she tried to make him do it, Kevin never did any paperwork. Janet usually did his as well as her own, he was too busy making models out of blue tack or looking at girls on the Internet. Gill got out of her chair and opened the door to her office.
"Right, I think it's late enough. You lot can get going."
"Thanks Boss!" Rachel looked delighted.
"This isn't like you Gill, the Christmas season must be getting to you," Janet replied jokingly as she and Rachel left the office. Heading for the pub, no doubt.
Kevin got up to get his coat from the stand near his desk.
"Erm, where do you think you're going, Kevin?" Gill asked sternly.
"Home," Kevin replied.
"No you're not," Gill said. "You staying here with me until you have finished that paperwork, or at least done as much as everyone else has."
"Ha, nice one, Boss!" Mitch remarked as he left, laughing at Kevin.
"But Gill, that's not fair!" Kevin whined, sounding like a little kid.
"I think you'll find that it is totally fair. And it's Boss or Ma'am while we're still in the office," she replied.
Kevin slumped back into his chair to begin the work.
About half an hour later, Kevin was still on the same piece of work that he had started with. He had become distracted and was now drawing a naked lady in his daybook. He turned round in his chair and stared into the empty office. He could see Gill working at her desk, looking busy. His phone began to ring and he turned his back on the rest of the office to go back to his desk and answer the call.
"Hello," he said, answering the call. "Oh, hi Mom. No, I'm not coming home yet, Godzilla's made me work over time for no reason, stupid bitch."
"KEVIN!" Gill bellowed from the doorway of her office. She had obviously come out of her office just in time to hear Kevin's conversation.
Kevin turned around, still clutching his phone to his ear.
"My office. Now!" Gill stood staring at Kevin for a few seconds, then led him into her office. She didn't know why she ordered him into her office, there was no one else in the building so he could have just given him a bollocking right there, but there was something satisfying about leading him there. It meant she had the power, she was the stronger out of the two. She closed the door to her office and reeled around.
"I don't care who was on the phone, you do not speak about a senior member of staff like that!"
"But Rachel calls you Godzilla all the time, Boss," Kevin protested.
"Yes, but that's Rachel. I like Rachel, I don't like you," Gill replied sharply.
Kevin looked wounded. "Right, sorry," he said.
"Sorry, Boss," Gill said.
"Sorry, Boss," Kevin copied.
Gill opened the door. "Get back to work," she said. "Oh, and stop drawing naked ladies in you daybook."
Kevin looked embarrassed. As he went to walk out, his foot got caught in the handle of Gill's handbag, which was on the floor by her desk. He slipped and fell onto Gill, pushing her against the door, his hand landing on her breast. Gill was taken by surprise and let out a gasp. She looked down at Kevin's hand and he swiftly removed it. He got off Gill and she tried to straighten her skirt.
"Nice, erm…" Kevin tried to clear his throat. "Nice boobs, Boss," Kevin remarked.
"Thank you, Kevin," Gill replied, slightly flattered that a young 'un like Kevin had thought that she had nice breasts.
"Erm, I'm gonna get a snack, do you want anything?" Kevin asked. Typical Kevin to think of his stomach.
"Yeah, go on then. I'll have something," Gill replied.
Kevin walked out of Gills office and went to the microwave in the corner of the room. He was going to get his Alphabetti Spaghetti, Kevin's favourite thing to put on toast. At least he was making an effort to make something for Gill.
Kevin came back into the office with a plate with two pieces of bread and some Aplhabetti Spaghetti. He put it down on Gill's desk, showing that he had spelt out a message with spaghetti.
'Wanna shag?' it said. Gill could not believe what she was seeing. Kevin wanted to shag her? Since when? He hated her!
Kevin leaned down to Gill and kissed her. It felt so wrong but at the same time, it felt so right. Gill kissed back, pushing her lips onto Kevin's. Kevin pushed back even harder. She stood up and Kevin pushed her up against the window, making the blind fall down. This startled Gill and she broke off the kiss to try to fix the blind.
"Never mind about that. Leave it," Kevin told Gill, sliding his hand up her top. Gill grabbed hold of his arm and yanked it out of her blouse.
"I don't think so, sunshine," she said and she kissed him again.
Gill pushed Kevin back and he crashed into the filing cabinet. She pushed him against the cupboard and kissed him gently this time. Kevin pushed back, hungry for more. Kevin moved forwards so that Gill was against the door. He undid her purple shirt, revealing her black bra.
"Not here," she said and did her buttons back up. She grabbed Kevin's had and led him out of the office.
They got into a cab outside the station. Neither of them wanted to drive so they decided to get a cab. They sat in the taxi and started to kiss again, Kevin's hand sliding up Gill's skirt. Gill didn't push his hand back this time, she let him leave it there.
They arrived at Gill's house and she opened the front door. Sammy, who was inside with his girlfriend, Melissa, heard a man's voice and then his mother giggled. He didn't think that this was like her, so he went out into the hall to see who the man was.
"Gill?" Melissa asked, shocked that Gill had brought a man home.
"Kevin?" Sammy asked in complete shock that it was Kevin that his mother had brought home.
Gill led Kevin up the stairs and stopped half way up.
"We won't be long, Sammy, love," she said to him, winking at Kevin.
"Yeah, I think it's best if we go out for a bit," Sammy said to Melissa, who agreed and disappeared out of the front door as fast as she could, with Sammy following close behind.
Gill and Kevin ran up the rest of the stairs and Gill showed him into her bedroom. Kevin leaned in to kiss Gill and she fell back onto the bed, squealing with excitement. Kevin held Gill's blouse and pulled in over her head while Gill undid Kevin's buttons on his shirt. She kissed him again and Kevin's hand wondered to her breast again. She kicked off her heels and Kevin untied his laces.
"I've never been so sure of anything else," Gill replied taking off her bra… |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69130 | Foresight Nanotech Institute Logo
Image of nano
Architectural Considerations for
Self-replicating Manufacturing Systems
J. Storrs Hall, PhD.*
Institute for Molecular Manufacturing,
123 Fremont Ave., Los Altos, CA 94022
Web page:
This is a draft paper for the
Sixth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology.
The final version has been submitted
for publication in the special Conference issue of
To achieve the levels of productivity that are one of the desirable prospects of a molecular manufacturing technology, the techniques of self-reproduction in mechanical systems are a major requirement. Although the basic ideas and high-level descriptions were introduced by von Neumann in the 1940's, no detailed design in a mechanically realistic regime ("the kinematic model") has been done. In this paper I formulate a body of systems analysis to that end, and propose a higher-level architecture somewhat different than those heretofore seen, as a result.
Without the productivity provided by self-replication, molecular manufacturing, specifically robotic mechanosynthesis, would be limited to microscopic amounts of direct product. Self-replicating systems thus hold the key to molecular engineering for structural materials, smart materials, the application of molecular manufacturing to power systems, user interfaces, general manufacturing and recycling, and so forth.
The cellular machinery of life seems to be an existence proof for the concept of self-replication. Indeed, many proposed paths to nanotechnology involve using it directly. However, it is limited in types and specificity of reactions as compared with mechanosynthesis, and thus in the speed, energy density, and material properties of its outputs.
Alternatively, one could select from the existing productive machinery of the industrial base, augmented with robotics to close a cycle in which factories build parts, which other factories build into robots, which build factories and mine raw materials. This is the approach of the 1980 NASA Summer Study (Frietas [1980]). This is clearly a useful avenue of inquiry; but the proposed system is very complex and is based on bulk manufacturing techniques.
It seems likely that there are simpler and more direct architectures for self-reproducing machines, ones dealing in eutactic mechanosynthesis, rigid diamondoid structures, stored-program computers, and so forth. There is, however, a really remarkable lack of even one detailed design in what von Neumann called the "kinematic model". (see Friedman (1996) vis a vis Burke (1966)). (There is no lack of designs in various cellular automata, and other "artificial life" schemes, but those have all abstracted far enough away from the problems of real-world construction that they are not directly relevant to the the design of actual manufacturing systems.)
Note that in the following I will adopt the terminology of Sipper (1997), who distinguishes reproduction, involving the exchange of genetic information and other variation strategies to allow for evolution, and replication, which does not and can be a completely planned, deterministic procedure. I will be concerned only with replication.
Self-replicating Systems: Analysis
Consider a system composed of a population of replicating machines. Each machine consists of control and one or more "operating units" capable of doing primitive assembly operations (e.g. mechanochemical deposition reactions). Let us define the following:
p(t) -- population at time t
g -- generation time (seconds to replicate)
a -- "alacrity" primitive assembly operations per second
s -- size in primitive operations to construct
n -- number of primitive operating units
Then and .
There are some interesting implications of even so simple a model. First, if a replicator based on a single universal constructor is redesigned to have to cooperating constructors so it builds twice as fast, but in doing so it is made twice as complex, the growth rate is unchanged. On the other hand, suppose the architecture is enhanced by adding constructors that are special-purpose and thus both simpler and faster. As long as all units can be kept busy, na increases faster than s, decreasing g. Therefore there is no use for raw parallelism in a replicator, but specialization (the assembly line) can be a viable optimization technique.
Assuming that the replicators can be diverted at any point to perform at full efficiency on some task of size ST, the total time to finish the task can be given as a function of the number of generations allowed to complete before the diversion:
Or, factoring out g to obtain the time in generations,
Which has a minimum at
Or, in other words, divert to direct construction when the total size of all replicators (s 2k) reaches 69% of the size of the task to be done. (In practice, needing an integral number of generations, evaluate TT at the floor and ceiling of the indicated continuous value.)
Architectural Variations
Let us consider tradeoffs between architectures at various levels of complexity. To highlight the phenomena of interest, I will describe systems at the extremes of a spectrum. Suppose we have plans for two possible replicating systems, one simple and one complex. The simple one consists of a robot arm and a controller which is just a receiver for broadcast instructions (such as described by Merkle (1996)). The complex one consists of ~100 molecular mills that are assemply lines for gears, pulleys, shafts, bearings, motors, struts, pipes, self-fastening joints, and so forth; its architecture also includes conveyors and general-purpose manipulators for putting parts together.
Drexler's nanomanipulator arm (Drexler 1992, p. 400 et seq) is 4x106 atoms without base or gripper or working tip (or motors). With the addition of motive means, a controller, and some mechanism for acquiring tools for mechanosynthesis, it seems very unlikely that a simple system could be built at less than 1x107 atoms. The arm will need a precision of approximately 1x104 steps across its working envelope to build itself and controller by direct-in-place deposition reactions. Let us assume that it takes an average of 1x104 steps per deposition, including the time to discard and refresh tools. Let us assume that it can receive 1x106 instructions per second, and can take one step per instruction.
One could design a faster arm, e.g. with internal controllers, but it would be more complex, and we are delineating an extreme of the design space here. Similarly, one could probably get by with fewer steps across the envelope, but the simplest way to achieve positional stability is to gear the arm down until the step size is small compared to other sources of error.
The simple system must execute 1x1011 steps to reproduce itself, and can do so in 1x105 seconds (about 28 hours). In order for it to reach the capability to produce macroscopic products, which we will arbitrarily define as the ability to do 1x1020 deposition reactions per second, it must have a population of 1x1018 (each individual can do 1x102), which implies 60 generations, about 69 days.
An offhand, intuitive comparison with existing industrial systems suggests that it should be possible to build special-purpose "molecular mill" mechanisms for the primitive operations that are ten times less complex than a robot arm (there are of course many such primitive operations in a given industrial machine). If we assume that stations in such a machine can be ten nanometers apart, with 1x106 atoms per station, and that internal conveyor speeds can be 10 m/s, a mill capable of building a 1e4-atom part would contain 1x1010 atoms (1x106 parts) and would produce 1x109 parts per second, or its own parts-count equivalent in a millisecond. (This is somewhat faster than the "exemplar system" of Drexler, but again we are seeking an extreme).
Suppose such systems could be built from 100 kinds of parts, and assume that we must double the complexity of the system to allow for external superstructure and fully pipelined parts assembly. Then the complex system as a whole consists of 2x1012 atoms and could reproduce itself in 2 milliseconds. Since it produces at a rate of 1x1015 atoms per second already, it needs only 17 generations, or 34 milliseconds, to reach macroscopic capability.
Iterated Design Bootstrapping
Given a single "hand built" simple system, we could:
• Build a complex system immediately atom by atom. This would take 2x1010 seconds (over 600 years).
• Reproduce simple systems until, 69 days later, one has macroscopic capability.
• Simply assume that building the first complex system is the goal, and employ the formula above; it gives an optimum of 17 generations. This results in a first, reproductive, phase of 472 hours, resulting in 131072 assemblers, which build the complex system in a second phase of 42 hours, for a total of 21 and a half days.
This has implications with respect to an optimal overall approach to bootstrapping replicators. Suppose we have a series of designs, each some small factor, say 5.8, more complex, and some small factor, say 2, faster to replicate, than the previous. Then we optimally run each design 2 generations and build one unit of the next design. As long as we have a series of new designs whose size and speed improve at this rate, we can build the entire series in a fixed, constant amount of time no matter how many designs are in the series. (It's the sum of an arbitrarily long series of exponentially decreasing terms. Perhaps we should call such a scheme "Zeno's Factory".)
For example, with the appropriate series of designs starting from the simple system above, the asymptotic limit is a week and a half. (About 100 hours for design 1 to build design 2, followed by 50 hours for design 2 to build design 3, plus 25 hours for design 3 to build design 4, etc.) Note that this sequence runs through systems with a generation time similar to the "complex system" at about the 25th successive design. Attempts to push the sequence much further will founder on physical constraints, such as the ability to provide materials, energy, and instructions in a timely fashion. Well before then we will run into the problem of not having the requisite designs. Since all the designs need to be ready essentially at once, construction time is to all intents and purposes limited by the time it takes to design the all the replicators in the series.
Architectural Implications
This sequence has implications for the architecture of replicating systems. Since each replicator will build others of its own type for only a few generations and then build something else, a design which is optimized to allow the unitized assembler to build another exactly like itself is not optimal for the process as a whole. Similarly, a design which follows the logic of bacteria, floating autonomously in a nutrient solution, is likely not optimal.
A more efficient scheme, given the desiderata above, is to have the entire population in a common eutactic environment, and remain physically attached to each other and a substrate. The major new concern for the architecture in this approach is logistics: distributing raw materials (and information) in a controlled way, and building the infrastructure which does so and incidentally forms a framework for the ultimate product. Given such an infrastructure, productive units need not be individually closed with respect to self-replication.
This significantly relaxes the constraints on the design of any unit in a beneficial way. Current practice in solid free-form fabrication (see, e.g., Jurrens 1993) suggests that machines of moderate complexity should be considered capable of making parts smaller than themselves, but not machines their own size. This suggests a two-phase architecture consisting of
• parts factories (general or special purpose -- parts accretion by mechanochemical deposition reactions is clearly a variant of solid freeform fabrication)
• motile construction units (again general or special purpose; an early breakdown might be transport and assembly) which build infrastructure, more construction units, and more factories, from parts
Any manufacturing system can be described by a directed graph, where each operating unit is represented by a vertex and the inputs and outputs are considered to flow along the edges. For the analysis of self-replicating systems, we must add a secondary type of edge, in addition to the ordinary product edges, which indicates that the product, instead of forming an input to its terminal vertex, is an instance of the operating unit the terminal vertex represents. We will call these secondary edges capital edges.
Each system will in general have exogenous product edges, representing the inputs to the system as a whole, and if it is to be useful, egressive product edges as well. Any real-world self-replicating system will have these inputs and outputs as well; that is to say, we do not consider a system to be non-self-replicating because it obtains raw materials, energy, or indeed control from the outside world. Instead,
Definition 1. A system is self replicating if each vertex is the terminus of an endogenous capital edge.
Note that the functions of transport as well as assembly can be represented by explicit vertices, which means that models such as von Neumann's kinematic model of an assembly robot floating in a sea of parts can be described as self-replicating in our sense:
Figure 1. A simplified von Neumann model. Capital edges are represented in red.
Note that the constructor vertex in this diagram has a self-loop capital edge. We call such vertices self-replicating kernels. Note that a system does not necessarily have to have such a kernel, but if one can be designed, it often simplifies the rest of the system. Note also that the schema conflates instances of mechanisms; it does not distinguish between units in parent and offspring systems. However, it is permissible to duplicate vertices to distinguish applications of the same unit, as in the case where the constructor used a different set of inputs to make different products; there would be separate copies of the constructor vertex with different connections.
Design Methodologies Unhelpful
In a standard top-down design methodology, a critical part of the specifications for a machine is its capabilities; to build a manufacturing system, for example, it is useful to know what it must manufacture. For a self-replicating system, however, the product is the system itself, the specifics of which are not known until the design is completed. Therefore the design process must be somewhat ad hoc.
In an attempt to ameliorate this situation, theoretical studies of self-replication often opt for a "universal constructor". This concept is derived by extension from "universal computer", and in the non-physical world of the cellular automaton it does seem reasonable to posit a mechanism which can produce any pattern of states in the cell space of the model. However, the use of the term in the physical world has given rise to confusion and controversy. Thus we will use instead the concept of self-replicating kernel as above, and the more explicit methodology of the producer/consumer diagrams.
Following the architecture above, we will split the notion of the general-purpose constructor into the tandem of parts fabricator and parts assembler. The parts fabricator:
• has a work envelope smaller than (e.g. probably within) itself
• operates with atomic precision
• makes parts which are single rigid connected objects with no internal configurational degrees of freedom (there may be an exception in the case of springs)
• it remains to be seen to what extent it will be necessary or possible to create strained structures. In general they are to be avoided as requiring additional manipulative mechanism. However, it may be possible to produce structures with dislocations (e.g. Lohmer dislocations as in the Merkle cylinder, in order to produce a desired surface configuration) by essentially chemical means, by virtue of the pattern of deposition reactions
The parts assembler, on the other hand:
• has a work envelope larger than itself
• does not necessarily operate with atomic precision. This probably means that although its mechanism addresses positions on a scale of angstroms, the stiffness required in placement is not such as to guarantee that the effector remains within an angstrom of the addressed point with extremely high reliability, as is the case with the mechano- chemical effector
• assembles parts into mechanisms which have multiple internal degrees of freedom
• will be capable of exerting mechanical force to tension springs, snap snaps, and otherwise move the constructed system across energy barriers
There are a number of factors which motivate this architecture. First, it greatly simplifies the design of the fabricator for the object it builds to be rigid. This allows the fabricator to address reaction points on the surface of the partial object without concern for whether the object has undergone a configurational change. It relieves the fabrication design process from the necessity of scaffolding, its provision and subsequent removal, simplifying the process and making it easier to maintain a eutactic environment.
These specifications argue for a parallel robotic configuration in the case of the fabricator and a serial one in the case of the assembler. Parallel linkages, such as the Stewart platform, offer increased stiffness at the cost of decreased range, whereas serial linkages, such as an anthropic-style arm, have maximal range but low stiffness. (Note that the parallel / serial distinction is not universally useful; an X-Y table is parallel if it rides on orthogonal actuators each of which allows free motion in the other's direction, but serial if it consists of an X-table mounted on a Y-table.)
Self-Assisted Assembly
A low-precision arm can nevertheless construct objects with atomic precision by the use of guides and jigs, just as a human draftsman can draw a straight line using a ruler. Clearly, the envisioned tasks will often employ such jigs. However, the fact that the system is operating at the atomic suggests another technique. It is commonplace in biochemistry for the parts of an object (e.g. a virus) to self-assemble. We can make use of the same phenomenon.
In general, a part held at the effector of an arm will occupy a probabilistic cloud of space whose shape depends on the specific stiffnesses and degrees of freedom of the arm. If there is within the cloud an energetically favored configuration, the part will seek the configuration without additional manipulation.
The most obvious construction of such a situation consists of a part whose shape fits a complementary cavity at the desired position. The arm need only hold the part against the cavity, and let go. More elaborately, the arm can constrain some degrees of freedom of the part but allow others to follow the pathways designed into the configuration. For example, the arm holds a bolt up to a threaded hole. The bolt is not driven, but allowed to rotate freely. With the proper fit, the bolt will screw itself in.
This phenomenon can be combined with a number of techniques involving the inclusion of jigs and guides in the shapes of parts, to produce assembly procedures that involve in the most part moving an object to the right place and letting go, instead of the complex manipulation involved in the assembly of macroscopic mechanisms.
In cases where self-assembly implies a lower energy barrier to self-disassembly than is desirable, a compound sequence can be used. For example, mating parts of a frame will hold together during assembly but a self-inserting bolt will produce a significantly stronger one.
Figure 2. An interleaved joint between two struts will assemble easily and offer some strength due to van der Waals forces at the interface, but a bolt will increase its strength. In this design, the bolt is simply a threaded cylinder with no head. The fully-inserted position is the bottom of a potential well.
Other phenomena of interest include self-assisted half-assembly. A bolt as in the above example might have a resistance to movement that increased with the surface area in contact, but with a self-insertion force that was essentially constant (i.e. proportional to the derivative of area in contact). In this case the self-insertion would bog down at some point. The assembler arm could apply mechanical force to the bolt to increase the energy gradient (but would still need only push and not turn).
A final advantage to self-assisted assembly is that it simplifies the programming of (and/or volume of external instructions transmitted to) the system. For a system which ultimately comes to be composed of a very large number of robotic units, this can be a non-trivial consideration.
Power and Control
Given the rapid progress to date in the study of the electrical properties of nanotubes and molecular switches, it is reasonable to expect that it will be possible to build conductors and switches into the material of rigid parts even if the synthesis is entirely hydrocarbon. It is desirable to have a capability for such "printed circuits" even if it means extending the chemistry of the synthesizer. The alternatives include mechanical demultiplexers of acoustic pressure signals (Merkle, private communication). With a modest circuit capability it is possible to embed an electrical demultiplexer into the structural parts of the assembly robot. This leaves the construction of the logic in the domain of the parts synthesizer, which is outside the innermost self-replication loop, a desideratum. Alternatively, an electromechanical distributor, a combination of a relay and the rotary unit in a ball-point pen, can act as demultiplexer with only one moving part.
Figure 3. Rotor for an electro-mechanical distributor. It mates (face down) with a substrate with an identical surface, in a well which constrains it to a single rotational degree of freedom. The lands are slightly wider than the gaps, so it does not mesh with the substrate, but always rides on top. This produces the uncharged PES seen below. Embedded charges produce the charged PES in interaction with drivable electrodes in the well wall.
Figure 4. Potential energy surfaces for the distributor (as a function of rotational angle). With uncharged electrodes it will remain at (a) due to the upper blue PES (a function of its shape and van der Waals forces). An incoming pulse charges the electrodes and adds the red PES with the result of the overall lower blue one. The black line at (b) indicates the region where the conductive path for switching lines up, allowing current to flow to the appropriate output wire. When the input pulse ends, the rotor relaxes to (c) where the next pulse should induce the negative of the red PES to advance the rotor.
Figure 5. A two-phase electrostatic stepper, the core of the gearmotor below.
Figure 6. A high-reduction differential-drive gearmotor. The one pictured would have a reduction ratio of 52, but it is possible to get reductions of over 1000 with reasonable tooth numbers.
For driving the arms and so forth it is necessary to have a high-torque drive, and the easiest way to do this with rigid parts is a gearmotor. Macroscopic high-reduction gearmotors often have flexible splines or multiple stages, which are undesirable for fabrication or assembly respectively. The design shown is capable of extremely high ratios, consists of a small number of rigid parts, and can be assembled starting with the case simply by putting the parts in their places. The top internal gear is cut away to show the structure; in practice it would constitute a cap which mates with a spindle extending from the center of the bottom casing.
The Assembly Robot
The essential burden of the foregoing is that is is now straightforward to design a parts-assembly robot that is, except for its motility, well within current well-understood practice of parts-assembly robots. Given a framework to move in that provides precise positioning and traction, as described below, the problem of motion control is relatively modest.
The design depicted is probably overkill, and a more effecient version is likely to emerge from further investigation. The salient features are its ability to engage, move, and turn in the framework, and the fact that it has two manipulators. Development of more careful designs with self-assisted assembly and a judicious selection of jugs and clamps may obviate the duplication and permit a one-armed design.
Figure 7. A motile parts-assembly robot. The outward clamps in the rear engage the struts of the framework. Early generations of robot have no on-board control but obey signals transmitted across the framework.
The Parts Synthesizer
The parts synthesizer uses basically the same motor and control structures as the assembly robot but arranged to the effect of more precise (but thereby slower and shorter) positioning capability. In theory, a 4-position (2-phase) stepper as above with a 50-to-1 reduction driving a 2-nm pitch lead screw (i.e. 1 nm lands and 1-nm grooves) can position a slider with a precision of 0.01 nm (0.1 angstrom). This is sufficient for mechanosynthesis, and the parts can be assembled correctly by a manipulator with 25-to-50 times grosser precision.
My proposed design for a fabricator, seen below, is based loosely on a conventional milling machine. The long motion axes are all driven by lead screws, and the motions of the wrist to orient the working tip are by high-reduction-ratio steppers with short working radii.
A problem that does not appear to have been addressed heretofore is that of starting the deposition process. My proposal is "starting blocks", which would be small blocks of diamondoid material provided as raw material (just as would be working tips). The table (y in the figure below) would be tesselated with cavities of an appropriate shape to bind the starting blocks reliably. Once the part was fabricated, it would be removed from the table by the application of mechanical force by an assembly robot. The assembly robots would also position the starting blocks oroginally and provide the synthesizer with a stream of working tips in early versions. (Note that self-assisted assembly, together with appropriate jigs and limit stops, allow the robot to place the tool precisely in the synthesizer's manipulator.)
Figure 8. Parts synthesizer. An openwork truss can have a high stiffness-to-mass ratio, and can be easily assembled from smaller parts. In this design, there are three axes of motion (x, y, z) consisting of sliding dadoes driven by lead screws. There are three axes of orientation at the wrist (b) for the mechanosynthetic active tip (c). The y-slider table extends beyond the frame in the y direction (in and out of the page) but is not required to have high stiffness at its ends.
Figure 9. A more detailed view of the wrist assembly. Orange indicates motor/bearings (only one motor is required per DOF, so one of the pitch-axis joints can be an unpowered bearing). Preliminary studies indicate that the bend in the toolholder allows a greater range of access to the typical object under construction than a straight one would.
A System Architecture
The bootstrap configuration is a small framework, one assembly robot, and a pile of parts. The robot builds parts fabricator and other robots and extends the framework. Later robots, and framework nodes made from parts from the fabricator instead of the bootstrap stock, have onboard computers. Ultimately the framework is a distributed control system coordinating the activities of large numbers of robots, as well as the physical infrastructure for the target product.
At each stage in its development, the system maintains the "self-replicating system" property. Note in the diagram below that as the system expands, it builds machinery which takes new inputs and transforms it into the old inputs. (Somewhat contradictorily, in the case of physical inputs the move is to the simpler and more numerous, whereas the control inputs move toward the more condensed and complex.)
As the system matures, it will be possible to discard the bootstrap. A mature version of this design, oddly enough, does not have a self-replicating kernel, but a two-vertex loop of assembly lines which build robots which build assembly lines.
Figure 10. System diagram for the bootstrap path of a self-replicating manufacturing system. Each subsystem in a blue line (as well as the entire system) meets the self-replicating system criterion.
Figure 11. The framework. Ultimately the framework is a distributed control system coordinating the activities of large numbers of robots, as well as the physical infrastructure for the target product.
Summary and Conclusions
I have done a systems analysis for self-replicating manufacturing systems. There are several results of this analysis that have implications for their design. First, replicators do not benefit from raw internal parallelism but do benefit from concurrency of effort involving specialization and pipelining. Given the enormous range of possible replicator designs, the optimal pathway from a given (microscopic) replicator to a given (macroscopic) product generally involves a series of increasingly complex replicators. The optimal procedure for replicators of any fixed design to build a given product is to replicate until the quantity of replicators is 69% of the quantity of desired product, and then divert to building the product.
Therefore, it is desirable to design a replicator with the understanding that it will reproduce itself only for a few generations, and then build something else. Furthermore, it is crucial to design replicators that can cooperate in the construction of objects larger and more complex than themselves. I have outlined a system that embodies these desiderata.
Finally, considerations encountered in the design of the present system have convinced the author that, given a precursor or bootstrap technology (e.g. self-assembly from biomolecules) that can produce usable parts, the first thing to be built from the parts should be a parts-assembly mechanism and not a parts-fabrication mechanism. A parts-assembly robot constitutes a self-replicating kernel in an environment of parts, and a growth path that maintains the self-replicating system property (i.e. that each vertex of its diagram is the terminus of an endogenous capital edge) appears to work best.
I would like to thank K. Eric Drexler and Ralph Merkle for discussions leading to this work. Any errors or misinterpretations are of course my own responsibility.
• Burks, A. W., ed. (1966): Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata [by] John von Neumann
• Drexler, K.E., (1992): New York: Wiley. Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation
• Freitas, R. and William P. Gilbreath. (1980): NASA CP 2255. NTIS Order No. N83-15348. Advanced Automation for Space Missions
• Friedman, G. (1996): The Assembler: NSS/MMSG Newsletter, 4 No. 4 Fourth Quarter. The Space Studies Institute View on Self-Replication
• Jurrens, Kevin (1993): NISTIR 5335, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD. An Assessment of the State-of-the-Art in Rapid Prototyping Systems for Mechanical Parts
• Mason, Matthew and J, Kenneth Salisbury (1985): MIT Press. Robot Hands and the Mechanics of Manipulation
• Merkle, Ralph C. (1992) JBIS 45, pp 407-413. Self Replicating Systems and Molecular Manufacturing
• Merkle, Ralph C. (1996) Nanotechnology 7 pages 210-215. Design considerations for an assembler
• Moore, Edward F. (1961) Proc. Symp. Math. Problems in the Biological Sciences, NYC. Machine Models of Self-reproduction
• Sipper, M., E. Sanchez, D. Mange, M. Tomassini, A. Pérez-Uribe, and A. Stauffer. (1997) IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation , Vol. 1, No. 1, pages 83-97, April 1997. A Phylogenetic, Ontogenetic, and Epigenetic View of Bio-Inspired Hardware Systems
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69154 | pureftpd and PASV port modification
Discussion in 'Installation/Configuration' started by KenKnight, May 21, 2009.
1. KenKnight
KenKnight New Member
Hi all,
I'm trying to adjust the PASV range that pureftpd is using. I found the pure-ftpd.conf in the fail2ban directory and have added the following line in there;
PassivePortRange 30000 35000
and restarted using the /etc/init.d/pure-ftpd-mysql restart command
however it doesn't appear to made any difference.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Edit: I found that the configuration is done through individual files in the pure-ftpd/conf directory, however, even after putting a PassivePortRange file in there with the appropriate values (at least I think they are appropriate) it is still not functioning correctly. I also have modified the port forwarding on the firewall to allow this range.
Last edited: May 21, 2009
2. KenKnight
KenKnight New Member
I got it.
I had to add another file in the conf directory for masquerading.
Now it appears to be working.
3. mmk
mmk New Member
Hi. I am having the exact same problem. Could you please explain the masquerading part in more detail?
4. mmk
mmk New Member
Nevermind, I figured it out.
Adding ForcePassiveIP x.x.x.x to /etc/pure-ftpd/pure-ftpd.conf did the trick for me. (x.x.x.x = public IP of the server)
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69163 | Korean Meal for Two
How to Use Chopsticks
Many Korean people still use chopsticks when eating their daily meals. Though they occasionally use a spoon, the majority of the meal is eaten with chopsticks.
You can learn to use these utensils by following three steps (two pencils can be used for practice).
1. Place a chopstick across the hand with one end tucked behind the thumb. Use the opposite hand to position it correctly.
2. Place the other chopstick above the first one. It should rest on the index finger, be tucked behind the tip of the thumb, and finally rest on the second finger.
3. Bring the index finger up to touch the chopstick at the tip of the thumb, then bring the tips of the chopsticks together. Be sure that the other chopstick is positioned at the base of the thumb on the inside.
After a little practice you can have fun eating many foods with chopsticks.
Korean Recipes
Fried Shrimps
10 large shrimps
5 cups vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons catsup
1. 1.
Remove outside covering from shrimps and clean thoroughly. Shake off excess water and sprinkle salt and pepper over the uncooked shrimps.
2. 2.
Bring oil to a boil at 350º and fry shrimps for 5 minutes.
3. 3.
Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to boil, pour over cooked shrimps, and serve while hot.
Natural Date Tea
12 dates
4 cups water
honey or brown sugar
pine nuts
1. 1.
Thoroughly clean dates and place in saucepan with two cups of water
2. 2.
Cook mixture over medium heat at a slow boil for two hours. There should be one and one half cups of light brown liquid remaining.
3. 3.
Add two cups of water and honey or brown sugar to taste.
4. 4.
Add five to seven pine nuts to each cup of liquid.
[photos] 1. rice 2. deep fat fried potatoes 3. vegetable soup 4. rice 5. spinach 6. deep fat fried fish 7. vegetable soup 8. beans 9. pickled cabbage |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69165 | tagLoving WivesHer Niece Saved Me
Her Niece Saved Me
[A story of betrayal and outright lies. There is sex in this story, but not a lot. There are lesbians and heterosexuals in this story.]
A woman I didn't know stepped up to our table and asked, "Which of you gentlemen is Roger Peterson?"
I sized her up in less that three seconds and found her to be about five foot eight, good looking, dressed well in a Navy blue dress and heels, with shoulder length brown hair and a great smile.
I answered, "That would be me." I smiled as I said it. As an envelope came from behind her back my smile disappeared and I thought, 'Shit! I'm being served!'
She said, "You are not being served. Best you open this in private." She handed me the envelope and walked away. My three lunch companions looked at me like I had an explanation to give them for what just happened.
I had no clue.
After a few seconds I stood and said, "I'm going to go find out what this is all about." I left the hotel restaurant through the same door as the woman who gave me the envelope. When I didn't see her I found a chair in the lobby and started to sit down, so I could look inside the envelope.
A hand touched my elbow gently and her voice said, "Not here. Come with me please." She guided me to the elevators and we took one to the eighth floor. I started to speak in the elevator and she said, "Shhh!"
I waited until we were inside room 818 before I said, "Ok, what's this all about?"
She pointed at the chair and said, "Open it." She meant the envelope. I sat down and opened it. Four photographs fell out. All four were of my wife, Denise. All four showed her having sex with my brother! I said, "They are both so dead!"
I felt tears welling up and breathing became more difficult. I thought Denise loved me! We'd been married just over a year and ... now this! And, with Brian!
Her hands reached out and held my face, turning my face to look at her instead of the pictures. She said, "There's a lot you don't know. A lot you need to know before you decide what to do next. Let's talk, Ok?"
"Who are you?" I asked. Her hands were strong, warm, tender and held my face is if I might break.
"Up until now I've been a secret to you. I'll explain that, too. Let's begin with a question. Can you see any way you can forgive her for willingly fucking your brother and stay married to her?"
My mind grabbed at her words. "Was it willingly? Was she drunk? If it was willingly, how do you know it was willingly?"
"Look in the envelope. There's a memory stick in there. Listen to it."
She opened a laptop while I got the memory stick. Seconds later I heard Denise's voice, "I thought I would go nuts waiting for you!"
My brother's voice, "I couldn't drive fast enough to get here sooner. Then Pete's plane was twenty minutes late leaving! How soon will he be back?"
"He'll be back Sunday next. I'm yours."
I heard the sounds of clothes and the sounds of kissing. Denise moaned.
"Denise, There's no chance he'll forgive either of us. Ever."
"It doesn't matter. By the time he gats back, he'll be broke. You look enough like him that you'll be able to get all the money from his accounts, quit his job, transfer his 401k and we'll be living in Calgary before he gets back from that damned convention!"
"Did you ever love him?"
"No! I thought I would, but he's cold and his life is all about making money! He has money and even after we leave him broke, it won't take him long to make more. I knew he had millions before I married him. I need a lover, a man who takes care of me and who lets me take care of him. I need you, not Roger!"
"I plan to take very good care of you, from now on!" My brother said.
A pink fingernail tapped a key on the laptop and the playback stopped.
"The whole recording is hours long. I think, for now at least, you've heard enough. Want to try to save your marriage?"
"No. I've got to stop them from robbing me blind!"
"I'll help, if you'll let me." She let go of me and tapped the keys again. The screen showed a list of the things Denise had planned in order to rob me blind. The list showed what they would do each day, while I was gone, to take my money and where they would put it.
She said, "I got this list from her computer at work. She's been planning this for months! She started planning to rob you as soon as she found out you had money."
"Who are you?"
"I'm your wife's niece, Brenda. My Mom owns the real estate company where Denise works."
"I bought our home from your Mom."
"I remember. She ripped you off. They had ways of adding fees and charges to the contract so you paid them thirty-five thousand more than you should have for that house."
"Why are you telling me all this, helping me?"
"Not all women are like my aunt and my mom. When I saw what they planned to do to you, and to your brother, I decided I needed to help you."
"And to my brother?"
"Brian will find himself in Calgary Canada by himself, broke and alone when Denise is done with him. He's going to have memories of her fucking him but he will have lost his family, his job, and all the money he plans to steal from you. His job is to close the accounts and transfer the money into accounts he believes are joint accounts, but they aren't. His name is on the accounts, but only as someone who can deposit, not withdraw."
"So Denise doesn't love him either?"
"Denise doesn't like men, she uses men. She has dated men, lived with men, cheated on men with my mom and other women since she was in high school. They all believe men are stupid and run by your,,, things."
"This is too much! She can't be a lesbian! We have a great sex life!"
She slid a DVD out of her purse and into the slot on her laptop. Three clicks later I saw Denise and two other women in bed together, nude and talking. Denise said, "Men are the easiest game in town. Roger is so easy. He's convinced I have an orgasm every time he sticks that puny cock of his inside me!" The women all laughed. She continued, "He also believes a man can eat pussy! He couldn't find my clit with a flashlight and a roadmap!"
The older woman in the bed said, "Jack used to brag about what a great lover he was. He never had a clue about pleasing me. Put a little cream on my clit and my cat will bring me more pleasure than he ever did. He did however give me two kids and almost all his money!" They all laughed again.
The pink fingernail stopped the video.
"Brenda, I'm in shock. I need a little time to process all this."
"Take all the time you need, like maybe the rest of today. Tell me to start saving your life and I'll be on the case. I'll be right here in 818 or on my cell phone all week, unless you decide different. Mom and Denise think I'm in Colorado on vacation."
"Start saving my life." I said, then I added, "Let's talk again tomorrow. Come to my room at about nine and we'll have breakfast together."
"Nope. Too soon. Let's meet in the restaurant at nine and we'll start the paperwork right after breakfast."
I nodded agreement. A few minutes later the pictures, DVD's and memory stick were out of her room headed for my own room. I was in shock.
I stayed up until almost midnight, listening and watching to my marriage and perhaps my life come apart. I slept, not long enough and not well, but I did sleep.
At nine I was showered, shaved, dressed in clean clothes and sitting in the restaurant. Brenda walked in dressed in slacks and a sweater and sat down with me. We ordered breakfast and she asked, "Get any sleep?"
I nodded and said, "Not enough and no good, but I did sleep."
We talked about what could be done to save my life. Brenda had already started. She had the offshore account information for the account Denise had opened where she intended to put everything she took from me. Brenda opened a numbered account in the same bank, using the same password that Denise had used for her account. Then she went into Denise's computer and changed the account number that Denise would be using. Denise would be taking money from me and transferring it to me! It would always be my money!
After breakfast I called the FBI and had a long conversation with a special agent. He was excited to learn of their plan and wanted to assist in any way he could. At the end of the call he had volunteered to visit my boss and get him in on the plan, allowing Brian and Denise to believe they had closed my 401k, quit my job and left me high and dry.
By noon we had done what we could do that day to save my life. I attended two sessions of the conference and my colleagues asked me about the woman and the envelope. I smiled and said she was a messenger sent to deliver some papers for a business deal I was making. They bought the story. The two sessions I attended gave me three new business contacts and appointments with those contacts for the week after the first of the year.
At eight Brenda and I met in front of the hotel and went to dinner, not in the hotel. We had a good time together getting acquainted and after dinner we went to a club and danced for a while. She felt really good in my arms. I learned that she was four years younger than Brenda, had her real estate license for almost two years and a degree in accounting. I learned that she liked the music I liked, had read some of the same novels I'd read and like me used riding a bicycle as her preferred method of exercise.
We walked back to the hotel around midnight. As we walked I asked, "How can I thank you?"
"You say, "Thanks Brenda. Then you have a great life without Denise or my Mom in your life."
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"Can I keep you in my life?"
"We can stay friends." She stopped walking and faced me, "But don't pay me for this good deed. I feel bad enough that it's my family trying to screw you over. Just let me help you survive, Ok?"
"Ok." I'd been thinking about holding her hand, kissing her and maybe even hitting on her. I also realized I was still emotionally crazy and she probably wasn't interested in me other than as her good deed of the year. We walked the rest of the way back to the hotel and parted at the elevators. I wanted more. Inside my room I rationalized and told myself that she had made it clear she wasn't interested in anything more than a friendship. I added that if things went as I thought they would both Denise and possibly her mom would end up going to prison.
The next day we again had breakfast and she made sure I was doing the things I needed to do. I hired a lawyer and faxed him copies of everything he needed to start a divorce.
At two that afternoon Brenda found me and said, "New development!"
"Good or bad?" I asked.
"It could have been bad." She got us outside and we walked while she told me what had happened. "Mom and Denise got the idea that they could sell the house and take another chunk of money from you. They started the paperwork to do just that. Mom believes she can unload it with a fifteen day escrow and it will be sold and gone before you know it's gone. They think it's funny that the new owners will show up to move in and surprise you."
"Can they do that? Don't they need my signatures?"
"They have your signatures! You signed lots of papers when you bought the house. They believe they can slip the new sale through and not get caught. They plan to be living well in France when the shit hits the fan."
I called my special agent at the FBI and he was already aware of what they were doing and had contacted the local district attorney. He asked when I was coming back into town. I asked when they wanted me back in town. He told me Denise's reservations to France were for Saturday morning. Brian's reservations to Calgary were for Saturday, very early in the morning.
I told the agent I was going home Friday and having Denise served divorce papers Friday afternoon. We arranged to have her arrested before she boarded the Air France flight on Saturday. Mr. FBI asked if I had anything planned, like revenge.
I said "No." He laughed and hung up the phone.
Until he asked I hadn't thought a lot about revenge. His question got me thinking about it. The idea made me warm all over but the big question was WHAT REVENGE?
At six I called Brenda's room and she said, "It's done! Everything to save your life is done. She'll get to France and be just as broke as Brian."
"She won't get to France. She's being arrested at the airport Saturday morning. She'll be served divorce papers Friday afternoon at the real estate office."
"I wish I'd be there to see that! She has no clue that you are anything other than the schmuck she's fleecing!" Brenda said.
"I'll make reservations for us to fly back Friday morning. You can be in the office when she's served. I'll bet she laughs, believing she's ripped me off for everything."
It was quiet on the phone for a few more seconds than I thought were needed when she asked, "Can we have dinner tonight?" Her voice had changed. We'd had dinner and this dinner was going to be different.
"I'd like that. Yes. What time?"
"It's six-twenty. Come to my room at seven, Ok?"
"Ok." The call ended from her end. Come to her room? We'd been meeting in the lobby, in the restaurant and outside the front doors of the hotel, not in her room or mine. Something had changed.
At seven I knocked on the door of room 818. The door opened and Brenda was standing there dressed in slacks, boots and a sweater. I asked, "Ready to go?"
She smiled and said, "Not quite. Come in for a minute."
I entered and she closed the door. She pointed at the chair and I sat. She sat on the bed.
"When I came here to help you I already knew you were a good man. For almost a week I've watched you deal with everything Denise has thrown your way. You haven't ranted, raved, yelled or even called her a bitch. You have asked why and when she gave you the answer on the video you accepted the answer and stayed a good guy. Things have changed. I don't want your money to pay me for helping you. I never did. I do want something though."
"Name it! If I can give it to you, I will."
"I want to be your girl-friend."
I was glad I was sitting down. When she said she wanted to do this good deed because all women were not like Denise and her mom, I believed her.
"Brenda, what changed?"
"I flew here thinking you were a good guy who didn't deserve what they were doing to you, but not really knowing you. What changed was that I got to know you. I found out who you are, inside, and I decided to love you. I do love you. I'll understand if you don't want me, if it's too soon, if I'm too young or you don't trust me, but I needed to tell you how I feel." Tears flowed down her cheeks and she looked for my reaction.
I stood and said, "Pack. Right now, pack!"
"What?" She looked shocked and surprised but didn't move.
"Pack. You aren't staying in this room another night. You're sharing a room with your boy-friend. That's me. It's too soon. There's too much going on with the family for us to become a couple. You're too young and now that I allow myself to really look, you're too pretty to be with me, but I don't care." The words flowed out like it was one long word. I took a breath and added, "I decided I could trust you days ago. I just decided to trust you farther."
At that moment Brenda's cell phone rang. I waved her towards it and she answered, "Brenda." I moved close and listened.
"Brenda, when are you coming home?" A woman's voice asked.
"Momma, I'm leaving for home in the morning. Why? Is something wrong?"
"Denise is leaving Roger. She's leaving him and moving out of the country for a while. Because of a real estate deal he's involved in, I need to leave as well. If you want to see us you need to get home tomorrow."
"She's leaving Roger? I thought they were happy."
"Denise is a lesbian! You know that! She loved his money, not him."
"I thought maybe she was bi. How did he take the news?"
"He doesn't know. He'll find out after he gets home this weekend. Poor bastard."
"I feel badly for him." Brenda said.
"You want him? You can have him. Denise certainly doesn't want him anymore."
"Gee, Thanks Mom. I would like to see both of you before you leave. Should I go by their house or meet you at home?"
"No, come to the office. We're close to closing a deal and she'll be here most of the afternoon."
"Ok. I'll be there in the afternoon too. See you soon, Momma." She hung up.
"She doesn't suspect a thing." We said together. I helped her pack and I carried her duffel bag to my room. I put the bag on my bed and she said, "Let me get clothes out for the trip home, everything else can stay in the bag."
She got out jeans and a sweatshirt with the logo for Northwestern University on it. She lifted a bra and panty set out of the duffel and asked, "Do I wear them, or leave them packed?"
"How about you wear them, tomorrow?" I asked, smiling. She tossed them on top of the jeans and sweatshirt, closed the duffel and partially zipped it.
"After, I'll put these clothes in there." She said.
"After?" I asked.
"After. You know. After you finally kiss me. After we have dinner. After you take these clothes off of me. After we make love. After we sleep together in this bed and after we wake up and make love again. That after."
We did all that, and more. Room service brought dinner to us and we ate while we got better acquainted. After we ate I parked the food cart in the hallways when we were done with it. We showered together, exploring bodies and getting very clean.
After Brenda pushed me down onto the bed she used her entire body to massage me. She included hundreds of kisses in the massage treatment. I tried to give some of them back. I found places on her that were much more fun to kiss than just her lips. I noted that Brenda didn't taste anything like her aunt.
After the massage ended she asked me to eat her and I did. She said Denise must have something wrong with her pussy, Brenda's responded nicely to my lips and tongue. She came more than once and I worried for a while about her pulling my hair out of my head as she held my head to her open pussy.
After, we joined and I filled her with as much cum as my body had available. We slept, holding each other in contented bliss.
By eight in the morning we were dressed and in the van taking us to the airport. The two hour flight was on time and we slept leaning on each other most of the two hours. We found our vehicles in long-term parking and Brenda took hers and headed for the office. I went home.
I saw Denise's car in the driveway next to the house. I parked nearly a block away and called her on our home number. It rang four times and went to voice mail. Since she wasn't home I drove there and parked by her BMW.
I called her cell and she picked up on the third ring.
"Hi, Roger! How's the weather?"
"Improving. It's getting better and better. How are things with you?"
"Couldn't be better!" She paused and said, "Until you get home, of course."
"I have a surprise for you."
"A big surprise or a little surprise?" She asked. I almost believed she cared.
"If I guess correctly, it's a huge surprise!"
"Well, evil minds think alike! I have a huge surprise for you, too. I can't wait for you to get it!"
"Will you be at work or at home this afternoon?"
"I'm at work, naturally."
"Then, if you'd like I can have the present delivered there. Would you like that?"
I could almost hear the gears whirring in her head, wondering what gift I had for her.
"Are you serious? You aren't bringing it with you when you come home tomorrow?"
"No. I guess I could wait and give it to you tomorrow, but you know I like giving you gifts while you're at the office... let me have it delivered there, Ok?"
"Ok! Have it delivered here."
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69181 | Use of hard-coded password
Saltar a: navegación, buscar
Last revision (mm/dd/yy): 03/18/2015
The use of a hard-coded password increases the possibility of password guessing tremendously.
• Authentication: If hard-coded passwords are used, it is almost certain that malicious users will gain access through the account in question.
Exposure period
• Design: For both front-end to back-end connections and default account settings, alternate decisions must be made at design time.
• Languages: All
• Operating platforms: All
Required resources
Knowledge of the product or access to code.
Likelihood of exploit
Very high
The use of a hard-coded password has many negative implications - the most significant of these being a failure of authentication measures under certain circumstances.
On many systems, a default administration account exists which is set to a simple default password which is hard-coded into the program or device. This hard-coded password is the same for each device or system of this type and often is not changed or disabled by end users. If a malicious user comes across a device of this kind, it is a simple matter of looking up the default password (which is freely available and public on the internet) and logging in with complete access.
In systems which authenticate with a back-end service, hard-coded passwords within closed source or drop-in solution systems require that the back-end service use a password which can be easily discovered. Client-side systems with hard-coded passwords propose even more of a threat, since the extraction of a password from a binary is exceedingly simple.
Risk Factors
• Discuss the technical impact of a successful exploit of this vulnerability
• Consider the likely [business impacts] of a successful attack
In C\C++:
int VerifyAdmin(char *password) {
if (strcmp(password, "Mew!")) {
printf("Incorrect Password!\n");
return 0;
printf("Entering Diagnostic Mode�\n");
return 1;
In Java:
int VerifyAdmin(String password) {
if (password.equals("Mew!")) {
return 0;
//Diagnostic Mode
return 1;
Every instance of this program can be placed into diagnostic mode with the same password. Even worse is the fact that if this program is distributed as a binary-only distribution, it is very difficult to change that password or disable this "functionality."
Related Vulnerabilities
• Use of hard-coded cryptographic key
• Storing passwords in a recoverable format
Related Controls
• Design (for default accounts): Rather than hard code a default username and password for first time logins, utilize a "first login" mode which requires the user to enter a unique strong password.
• Design (for front-end to back-end connections): Three solutions are possible, although none are complete. The first suggestion involves the use of generated passwords which are changed automatically and must be entered at given time intervals by a system administrator. These passwords will be held in memory and only be valid for the time intervals. Next, the passwords used should be limited at the back end to only performing actions valid to for the front end, as opposed to having full access. Finally, the messages sent should be tagged and checksummed with time sensitive values so as to prevent replay style attacks. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69190 | In the classic musical Cover Girl (1944), starring the beautiful and talented Rita Hayworth, the incomparable Gene Kelly, and the master comic Phil Silvers, Hayworth's character, a dancer, gets the chance to star on Broadway but can't decide if she wants to leave her boyfriend Kelly's small-time show in Brooklyn (and probably lose Kelly as well). After Kelly talks with one of the wealthy men trying to lure her away, as well as with his own conscience (in an amazing dance number with himself), he decides to lie to Hayworth, rejecting her to push her away for her own good, because he convinced himself that she would be happier with success and wealth than she would be with him.
Far be it for me to compare myself to Gene Kelly (or even one of his movie characters), but I had a similar pattern in my relationships. Inevitably, at some point in the beginning of the relationship, I would experience a wave of intense guilt and self-conscious hubris: how dare I think that I'm good enough for this amazing person? She deserves so much better a man than I, and every second that she spends with me means a missed opportunity to meet a truly wonderful man who would make her happier than I could ever hope to do.
(In keeping with the classic movie theme, I would be remiss if I failed to menton Groucho Marx's classic quip that he would never belong to a club that would have him as a member, famously retold by Woody Allen at the beginning of Annie Hall. Also see philosopher Jon Elster's masterpiece Ulysses and the Sirens, pp. 165-172, for a scholarly consideration of this theme, which he considers a central paradox of love: "The lover strives to be recognized by a person whose recognition has worth only when withheld.")
Was this simply negative thinking on my part (as the cognitive psychologists would put it)? Perhaps, but it is hard to know when negative self-assessments are false or realistic, and sometimes they will be realistic. Kelly's character certainly had some reason to think so, given the wealth and fame a Broadway career could offer Hayworth that he couldn't, though what she really wanted was his love. (And seriously, what man would honestly feel he was good enough for Rita Hayworth?)
The issue I want to explore in this blog post is: if a person truly believes that he is not good enough for someone, what should he do? Is he justified in manipulating the other person, such as Kelly's character in Cover Girl did? Should he just "recuse" himself from the relationship (such as I tried to do, albeit unsuccessfully)? Or should he leave the decision up to the other person (while still remaining an active participant in the relationship)?
This raises questions of care and respect, two clearly admirable concerns that often work together, but nonetheless can sometimes conflict, often causing tragic problems when they do. Take, for instance, the case of manipulation, in which you lie to the other person, telling her that you don't want to see her anymore, to make her leave. (This "worked" for Gene Kelly, at least initially.) Assuming that you're sincere, you're doing this out of concern for the other person's well-being, but you're going about it in a way that fails to respect her capacity to make her own choices. You're treating her like a child who has to be "led" (that is, manipulated) into doing what's good for her, and that is not how you treat an adult (which is not to say it's necessarily appropriate for a child either).
However, if you do nothing, and she chooses to stay with you, then you're respecting her freedom to make her own choices, but you're failing to care about her interests, because in your opinion she's made the wrong choice (you). (You may even try to tell her this, but she may find it endearingly modest of you—go figure!) This might seem to be in your best interest, since you're with a fabulous woman, but if the feelings of inadequacy are strong enough, you won't enjoy it. (More about this later.)
What about simply refusing to see her anymore? This does not manipulate her choice at all, because it involves exercising your own choice in the situation. Absent a commitment, you have no "duty" to see her, and she has no "right" to your company, so maybe this is the best way out. But one thing may still trouble you: are you doing this to make yourself feel better, or for her own good? The first motivation seems selfish, and the second seems paternalistic (since you're still effectively making her decision for her, even though you have every right to do so).
I don't think there is a good answer in such a situation; even the last option, "recusing" yourself for the relationship, seems unsatisfactory for some reason, even though it expresses care and respect (and strikes me as rather noble).
So how do we solve this peculiar tragic dilemma? Perhaps we should go back to the source: the negative self-assessment itself. Whether it results from irrational negative thoughts or honest reflection, a negative view of yourself can often be difficult to maintain when someone that you admire admires you back (Elster's observation quoted above notwithstanding). When someone else refuses to give up on you, even if you seem ready to give up on yourself, the other person's affirmation can renew you, make you reassess what you think about yourself, and lead you to see yourself more as the other person sees you.
(This is not to deny that what you think about yourself is more important than what others think about you—but if you're having trouble with the first, the second can give it a boost. The danger, of course, is relying on that other person's assessment of you too much; she can help you dug out of that hole, but if you don't keep out of it yourself after that, right back you go when her affirmation disappears.)
So, as you probably guessed, Gene Kelly's bright idea wasn't so bright (and ended up making both him and Rita Hayworth miserable until she got wise to his ruse). Should he have just backed out and let the chips fall where they may, or continue the relationship and hope that he would feel better about it (and himself)? I don't think there's an easy answer, but that's what makes it a dilemma—and a great movie.
Recent Posts in Maybe It's Just Me, But...
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A dating strategy that works for those who've been burned before.
How Much Does Political Affiliation Reveal about Character?
Does it matter if your child's partner disagrees with you politically? |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69194 | Turning Students into Inventors: Active Learning Modules for Secondary Students
Article excerpt
Active learning modules offer students the opportunity to participate in the excitement of invention before they can be "turned off" by the heavy load of required courses for majors in science and engineering, the authors point out. This excitement should carry some students into careers in science and technology and help all students understand the ways science and technology have transformed our world.
Imagine 15 students working in small groups, frantically constructing and experimenting with loops of wire, batteries, pieces of cardboard, and other materials. One student asks what would happen if they used thicker wire. The instructor asks for everyone's attention and explains Ohm's law and how it can be used to solve problems like this. Immediately afterward, someone shouts into a yogurt container, and the whole class watches to see if the needle on a meter flickers, indicating that the shout has been convened into an electric current. When the needle moves, the group members exchange high fives. They know that they are on the trail of an improved method for transmitting speech and sound, one that may have changed history.
This vignette is typical of our experiences teaching talented secondary students to become inventors. We chose to conduct our experiment at the secondary level because secondary school classes are often characterized by the college lecture or read-and-recite model of instruction. As Joseph Carroll observes:
The American high school is an enduring institution. For three-quarters of a century - a period characterized by immense social, political, economic, and technological change - the high school has not changed its basic form of organization. . . . The school day is usually divided into seven periods. . . . Lectures, teachers' questions and students' answers, and homework dominate instruction.(1)
Instruction in science and engineering is not an exception. The orderly, teacher-centered format is well adapted to transmitting existing knowledge but does not model the messy, exciting, often frustrating process by which discoveries are made and inventions are created. While elementary and middle-level educators have embraced the importance of involving students in hands-on, problem-based, and active learning, secondary teachers have generally failed to maximize the potential of these strategies.
Lynn Jenkins and Walter MacDonald argue, "Alternative teaching methods, patterned after the methods of science itself, may provide opportunities for more meaningful learning. . . . Classrooms engaged in a 'spirit of science' approach would add many of the investigative procedures that scientists use, such as observing, measuring, and hypothesis testing."(2)
Perhaps the decision to have students participate in controlled, predictable laboratory exercises results from misconceptions about the processes of scientific discovery and invention. Discoverers and inventors are often regarded as lucky, innately endowed with extra intelligence or some other undefined trait, or both. Therefore, there is no point in trying to encourage students to become discoverers and inventors; all we can do is teach them facts and techniques and hope that a few are endowed with luck and genius and can transcend this kind of education to make technological breakthroughs and discoveries.
When one looks closely at an inventor like Alexander Graham Bell, however, one sees a kind of courage and persistent experimentation that many students could emulate. Even though we now think of the telephone as an "obvious" invention that everyone needed, in Bell's day virtually everyone thought the next step in communications would be a device that could send multiple messages simultaneously over a single wire using Morse code - the multiple telegraph. Bell alone saw the way in which the transmission of speech could transform communications. Despite the fact that both his father and his primary financial backer told him to stick with the multiple telegraph, Bell never gave up his dream of speaking over a wire. …
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69197 |
[Cluster-devel] Cluster IRC meeting - Monday 2nd of Feb 2pm UTC/GMT
Hi everybody,
When : Monday 2nd of Feb 2pm UTC/GMT (*)(**)
Where : irc.freenode.net #linux-cluster
Who : everybody interested is invited to participate
Agenda: http://sources.redhat.com/cluster/wiki/Meetings/2009-Feb-02
This is our second IRC meeting and it is supposed to last approx. 1
hour. Be prepared that it might last longer.
In order to give more space to open discussion please prepare yourself:
- everybody can add topics to the Agenda in the "Voice to the community"
- prepare a 5/10 lines summary for your topic before the meeting. Typing
realtime takes too long.
- How it should work -
For each item on the agenda:
- fabbione (me on IRC) will make a call on the person that should talk
about the item.
- The intersted person will copy/paste her/his own summary.
- Discussion/question on the specific item. If the discussion takes
longer than 5 minutes, we will postpone it at the end of the meeting.
This is to allow everybody to cast her/his own voice in the agenda.
The meeting moderator will call on the time.
Some golden rules:
- please respect the person that is talking and give her/him time to
complete what she/he is saying. Communication on IRC can be slow.
- Avoid to interrupt the discussion with Off-Topic items. We don't
want to use moderation powers if we can avoid it.
- if, for any reason, your internet connection drops during the meeting,
please message me and I will copy paste the last bits of the
After the meeting:
- please update the wiki for Actions (in case there are any to take)
- mail me with comments/suggestions on how was the meeting. It is
perfectly ok to say "it's really bad" but it would also be nice to
know if it was a good experience.
(*) To convert from UTC/GMT to your local time:
(**) some tools report UTC, others GMT.
For our simple usage of time, they can be considered the same.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time for the curious
people out there.
I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69208 | Do-it-yourself solar system
Online game challenges players with orbital physics
11:15am, June 2, 2014
CRASH COURSE SuperPlanetCrash is an online solar system simulator, set up as a game, that employs the same computer code researchers use to find exoplanets.
Sponsor Message
The game, created by astronomer Stefano Meschiari of the University of Texas at Austin, simulates the movements of planets and stars using the same computer code that researchers use to find exoplanets. Points are awarded for how numerous, how massive and how crowded players make their planetary fiefdoms. Earn bonus points for keeping things stable in the central star’s habitable zone, the temperate region suitable for liquid water.
Coming up with bizarre arrangements can be a lot of fun. Wonder how long an ice giant would last between two dwarf stars? Or if 11 super-Earths can squeeze into one habitable zone? For an extra challenge, see if you can get a planet to go counterclockwise. Win or lose, SuperPlanetCrash is the planetary sandbox you’ve been waiting for.
More Atom & Cosmos articles |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69209 | • News
Dark shadows
New radio telescope images of the center of the Milky Way make an even more compelling case that a supermassive black hole resides there.
• Feature
Changes in the Air
Changes in the atmospheric concentration of oxygen through geologic time, some gradual and some drastic, have strongly shaped evolution among many types of creatures.
• Feature
Surface Story
Mathematicians have zeroed in on a new type of minimal surface based on a double helix. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69210 | Math & Technology
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Sifting molecules
John Nash
Mathematician John Nash died in a car accident May 23 at the age of 86, ending a dramatic story of genius.
Brazilian soccer players in 2014 World Cup
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69212 | Now Accepting PayPal and Google Wallet
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global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69213 | Knowledge Base
How to enjoy my Synology NAS music on iTunes (Mac)
Synology NAS can be your iTunes Server to stream music and videos stored on your DiskStation to an iTunes client within the local network. It also provides the Smart Playlist feature, letting you create playlists containing songs particularly specified. This article will guide you through the steps to stream music and videos with Synology iTunes Server to an iTunes client on a Mac, and use the smart playlist.
1. Before you start
2. Manage iTunes server
3. Enjoy music and videos on Mac iTunes clients
4. Use Smart Playlist
1. Before you start
• Create a volume on your DiskStation. (See here)
• Create a shared folder on your DiskStation. (See here)
• Install and run iTunes Server in Package Center.
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2. Manage iTunes server
After iTunes Server is installed on your DiskStation, you can store your music collection in music shared folder and run your iTunes on your Mac computer. In addition, you can change settings of iTunes Server.
To manage iTunes Server:
1. Log in to your DiskStation as admin or user belonging to the administrators group, and go to iTunes Server.
2. Enter your Shared name.
3. Tick Require password and enter a password if you want iTunes users to enter a password before accessing your shared folders (optional).
4. Click Apply.
The music and video shared folders will be accessed by iTunes clients. iTunes Server supports the following formats.
• Audio: MP3, M4A, M4P, WAV, AIF.
• Video: MOV, MP4, M4V.
• Playlist: WPL, M3U.
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3. Enjoy music and videos on Mac iTunes clients
This section explains how to enjoy music and videos on a Mac iTunes client.
Please note that you cannot use the following devices. The media devices access your DiskStation contents through Home Sharing.
• iPad, iPhone
• Apple TV
To access music and videos on a Mac iTunes client:
1. Launch iTunes on your Mac. Under SHARED LIBRARIES, browse to the iTunes server with the shared name you entered.
2. If you had set a password, enter the Password, and click OK.
3. You can access all the music and videos stored on your DiskStation.
Return to top
4. Use Smart Playlist
This section explains how to create a smart playlist, which can automatically include certain types of songs that match specific criterion. iTunes clients will be able to play the smart playlist you created.
To create a smart playlist:
1. Go to iTunes Server.
2. Click Smart Playlist to create smart playlists.
3. Click Create, enter a name for the playlist, and click OK.
4. In the window that appears, set rules for the playlist.
5. Click OK when finished.
To edit a smart playlist:
1. Do either of the following to start editing:
• Select the item you want to edit and click Edit.
• Double-click the item.
2. Do any of the following to modify the rules:
• Modify the rules by choosing items from the drop-down menus.
• Click + if you want to add a rule.
• Select a rule and click - if you want to delete the rule.
3. Click OK when finished.
To delete a smart playlist:
1. Select the smart playlist you want to delete.
2. Click Delete and then click Yes.
To view the newly-created smart playlist on iTunes:
Go to SHARED LIBRARIES, and browse to the iTunes server of the selected shared name. You will see the songs matching the rules of the smart playlist in the main area of iTunes.
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Is this information useful for you? Yes No
Need technical support? Submit Support Form |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69222 | Biobehavioral Studies (Program)
Students interested in animal behavior who are majoring in Anthropology, Biology, or Psychology can choose a Program in Biobehavioral Studies. The purpose of the Program is to provide a broad foundation in the various approaches to the naturalistic study of the behavior of humans and other animals. A Program participant will major in one of the three departments and take an appropriate group of courses in the other two departments. These courses cannot be completed in a short time and interested students are urged to consult with one of the advisors as early as possible in their university career. The contact person in Psychology is Dr. Jin Ho Park. Basic requirements for the Program include:
a. Satisfaction of major requirements of at least one of the three departments (each department offers courses that can contribute both to major requirements and to the Program).
b. Completion of at least five courses from the approved course list (available in the Psychology department office) including one course from the category "first courses in animal behavior," two courses from the category "associated fields", and two courses from "advanced courses in animal behavior" or "laboratory courses". At least five courses from the two departments outside the major department must be completed, including at least one course from each department.
c. A lab and/or field course is strongly recommended. Such a course will be required of Program participants when appropriate courses have been developed.
Participants must declare their intent to complete the Biobehavioral Program with the Registrar in order to have it appear on their transcript. This is accomplished in the same manner as a declaration of major. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69239 | Yahoo Movies
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Adams on Reel Women: In our Jane Lynch Interview the “Wreck-It Ralph” heroine gets animated
Yahoo! Movies Oscars Blog
Photo: Disney/WireImage
In the Oscar-nominated animated feature "Wreck-It Ralph," Jane Lynch voices a video game warrior named Calhoun, who mixes Arnold Schwarzenegger brawn with Jessica Rabbit curves. Her character gets dragged out of her video game for a recon mission to find villain Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) when he goes AWOL from his home box, Fix-It Felix, putting all the games in the arcade at risk. Ralph wants to think outside the video game box and become a hero for a change. Who wouldn't?
Like Wreck-It Ralph, Lynch doesn't want to be boxed in either. Whether she's a villain or a heroine, live action or animated, she's always giving her all to entertain. For Lynch, who achieved TV stardom as Sue Sylvester in "Glee" and cult status as a regular player in Christopher Guest comedies like "Best in Show," performing vocal work for cartoons is a lucrative lark. "Doing animation has always been the brass ring, a great joy. I love the process," the actress and mother gushed while talking to Yahoo! Movies from the set of "Glee."
Thelma Adams: Your character has a wicked backstory: Calhoun failed to protect her fiancé from electronic bugs on their wedding day, which leaves her shoulder permanently chipped. It's so Charles Bronson; now, it's personal.
Jane Lynch: There is a part of me that is very protective. I would be pretty upset if my fiancé was killed on my watch.
TA: Your character, Calhoun, packs some hefty artillery. That doesn't seem like your thing.
JL: I'm afraid of guns. I'm kind of a Fix-It Felix video girl. I like the simpler, sweeter kind of games.
TA: Did you play video games growing up?
JL: No. I never was into it. As a kid we didn't have many. We had Pac-Man and Ms. Pack-Man and Asteroids. I was not the kid that hung out at the arcade. We weren't mall people. In high school, we would go out drinking.
TA: That story's a little less uplifting, but relatable. With Calhoun, you've created a strong role model that your 11-year-old daughter can appreciate.
JL: I guess I'm not consciously trying to create role models, although I'm glad they made this character female. And I'm glad that she's powerful and uses her power wisely and has good judgment. That's important.
TA: She's also hot, and recognizably you. She's a super-you.
JL: Super-me is a good way to put it. There were things that she would do with her mouth or ways she'd move her head and I'd think: That's me. That's me in a 3-D cartoon -- and going to the gym and doing Pilates for six years in a row.
TA: Is it a challenge to leave your body behind and just voice a character?
JL: There's nothing hard about it at all. It's a joy. At the worst, it's repetitive. I'm a person who likes habit and knowing what my job is. It's a cushy job, just five or six sessions over a two-and-a-half year period.
TA: I'm a Christopher Guest junkie. I love "A Mighty Wind" and "Best in Show." Are there any plans for a reunion?
JL: Not that I know of. Over Christmas, we all got together at John Michael Higgins' and sang choral music.
TA: Well, let this be a nudge to Guest to get cracking! Do you go to the movies, or are you a cable girl?
JL: I do like to go to movies. I like to be in the theater. I like the event of it. A lot of time I choose what to see by the actor, but I also pick movies by whether it's a place I want to go --- is this set in Paris, or the Hamptons, or New York City? I'm not rushing to see Cleveland in 1960 on a cloudy day.
TA: Did you watch cartoons growing up?
JL: I watched Saturday morning cartoons. By the time I was a kid growing up in Chicago, "The Flintstones" were no longer in prime time. I watched "Pebbles and Bam Bam," "Tom & Jerry," and "Clutch Cargo."
TA: There weren't as many powerful role models for little girls then in the pre- "Powerpuff Girls" era.
JL: There sure weren't. I do think there's scientific evidence that it does help girls in their career development later for them to see independent, really powerful girls. There's nowhere near parity with that, but we're certainly getting there. Is parity the right word?
TA: Parity works.
JL: It makes me sound like I'm smart.
TA: Game over. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69240 | Yahoo TV
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'Da Vinci's Demons' Review: Renaissance Man, Meet Batman
David S. Goyer traffics in superheroes, and he's found one in 15th century Florence.
The co-writer of the "Dark Knight" trilogy and the upcoming "Man of Steel," has imagined for us a Leonardo Da Vinci nearly as relatable as a billionaire who dresses up like a bat or a flying super-powered alien.
That's good, because for "Da Vinci's Demons," debuting tonight on Starz, we need a steady guide through a Renaissance-era Florence that feels somewhere between gritty Gotham and sleek Krypton. The CGI prettiness of the scenes can mix oddly with the grittiness of the story – but then a bird or a plane or some device merging the two takes flight, and all is forgiven.
With his beard, leather jacket, and textured haircut, Da Vinci (Tom Riley) doesn't look much different from the other L.A. actor-types who populate so many cable dramas. So at least there's something familiar as the swooping cameras take us through lovely if overly computer-generated settings, from dizzying towers to rolling hills and gorgeous courtyards.
The great strength of Goyer's Batman films is how realistic they feel – not just alive, but jittery and adrenalized, as if every glass is about to crash and every bone about to pop. Dangerously alive.
"Da Vinci" doesn't have that feeling, yet, though the show does go for earthiness with a fair amount of nudity, even of the rarely seen full-frontal middle-aged variety. It helps us feel that we're among flesh-and-blood human beings, even amid the nagging sense that we're going into the false dreamscape of visual effects.
The conflict is at the heart of the big challenge for "Da Vinci's Demons": How to bring a sense of urgency to a far-off world. HBO's "Game of Thrones" gushes life through the fictional land of Westeros, and its realness makes its fantasy sequences all the more jaw-dropping. That's a balance "Demons" doesn't yet strike. Florence could use a little more of Gotham's grime.
Fortunately, it feels like it will get there, thanks in part to plenty of nasty characters eager to shed clothes and blood. They include double agents, middle-aged men who don't treat their boyish companions very nicely, the church, and the Medicis.
All the intrigue can be hard to follow at first. But fortunately, we see it through the keen eyes of our hero, who has enough touchstones with Batman for us to understand his essential struggle even if we know next to nothing about the Renaissance.
As Goyer has noted before, both Da Vinci and Bruce Wayne are haunted by parental loss at a young age and both had horrific, life-changing experiences in a cave. As we see in the series premiere, the similarities don't stop there.
Both are also fascinated by artificial flight, inhabit corrupted cities full of grotesque villains, and are closely linked to a mysterious secret society.
Wayne may be a Renaissance man, but Da Vinci was the original. He's a painter, swordsman, inventor and lover who really wants a contract to make military weapons, because, he figures, war is where the innovation is.
Like any great hero, he also has weaknesses -- which may turn out to be strengths. First, he's a bastard, forced to make his own way rather than relying on family wealth. (Between "Da Vinci" and "Game of Thrones," bastards are having quite a nice run lately on premium cable.) His determination makes him smarter and tougher than the nobles.
He's also overly fond of opium. But the visions he experiences on it – besides providing some of the show's many lovely visuals – also provide him answers about his mysterious past.
That mystery has plenty of potential to drive "Da Vinci's Demons" forward. He quickly learns from a smoking buddy named "The Turk" that something called "The Book of Leaves" contains secrets that can help advance his already far-ahead-of-their time contraptions, which include, in the first episode, a hang glider prototype and flying mechanical birds.
If you have trouble following the drama or keeping track of the characters, don't worry. The visuals will keep you occupied as the show rolls out and explains its conspiracies.
The show's first flying sequence – in which Da Vinci helps his young assistant take to the sky – is kind of underwhelming. That's too bad, because later ones are simply beautiful.
In one scene, Da Vinci watches birds fly from a cage and sketches their movements. We see the birds freeze, as they do in his mind, and his sketches appear in place of the birds. It's a brilliant way to show us how Da Vinci's mind works. Later, in another sweeping sequence, we see how Da Vinci translates life into art and then into a merger of the two.
Here's hoping "Da Vinci's Demons" can do the same. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00000035_processed.jsonl/69241 | Yahoo TV
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Mermaids: Nonsense or Nuisance?
"Mermaids: The Body Found""Mermaids: The Body Found"
Animal Planet has raised quite a furor over its airing of the "speculative" documentary "Mermaids: The New Evidence." Capping its annual Monster Week, a network once known for safari shows and puppy bowls is turning over increasing amounts of its broadcast time to cryptozoology shows like "Lost Tapes," "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real," and "Finding Bigfoot".
In fact, "Finding Bigfoot" was at the center of another, similar, controversy reported last year by Entertainment Weekly as TV critics turned skeptics, forced Animal Planet president Marjorie Kaplan to offer a vague defense of the show as "an exploration of the secret corners of the planet," since it lacks anything approaching hard evidence.
Should They Have Aired It?
Animal Planet has 3.6 million reasons (as in viewers!) why they should've.
There's really nothing wrong with using actors to re-enact scenes for a documentary. But where is the line? "Unsolved Mysteries" gives a framework for its actors to pretend they were criminals, but actors on "Mermaids" pretend they're scientists with nothing but a tiny caveat in the credits to suggest it's anything but 100% fact.
Animal Planet's first "Mermaids" installment, "Mermaids: The Body Found," garnered 3.4 million views during its U.S. telecast premiere on Sunday, May 27, 2012. After the airing, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had to release an official statement putting it, in unequivocal terms, "No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found." Marine biologist David Shiffman wrote an article for Slate explaining why we should stop worrying about mythical sea life and focus on the damage being done to the sea life we know exists. He talks about fisheries where up to 90 percent of a catch is made up of unintended victims. Not the commercial fish, but "endangered sea turtles and sea birds as well as marine mammals."
So, do mermaids exist?
Science says no. But science is a process of discovery. And, as this tweet's skepticism of skepticism suggests:
There's no reason not to believe that they might.
But science is also pretty good at predicting. And just because we haven't laid eyes on 90% of the ocean, doesn't mean we don't have a pretty good idea of what's going on down there. Just because you haven't been to your tool shed in a month doesn't make it any more likely that Bigfoot's decided to take up residence in there.
[Related: Eight Reasons Why Werewolves, Vamps, and Zombies Are Taking the Backseat to Mermaids]
Despite this, the fascination with mermaids persists, as the comments on articles like these attest. And why not? It fills the unknown depths of the ocean with hope and wonder rather than fear. Kaplan isn't exaggerating when she says, "These extraordinary television specials have electrified, challenged, and entertained television audiences."
Maybe all these numbers mean is we need a little more mystery. It's been a while since the "X-Files" sent us off to search the skies. How about, instead of a faux doc, we make a show featuring two charismatic FBI agents uncovering the "truth" about mermaids on a weekly basis? Of course, the two attractive agents would be constantly getting soaked and spending most of the episodes half-naked waiting for their clothes to dry. That ought to be enough to blow the ratings numbers for "Mermaids" — ahem — out of the water. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/31 | You're welcome.
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The Ultimate Survival Guide
An e-book you need you to protect your family, yourself and prevail over any danger.
This Ultimate Survival Guide From Advanced Survivors Will Become Your Reliable Assistant In Any Modern Emergency – From How To Behave In The Wild To Effective Strategies For Survival During A Disaster.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/68 | id summary reporter owner description type status component resolution keywords cc platform um_version 56 puma service P.J.Valdes@… um_support "Can I have a username/password for PUMA service (unfortunate name since it is the German version of the IGCM which I think you still support, when I saw the news I thought you must have started a new project with the IGCM). Best Wishes Paul" help closed UM Model fixed |
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For Episode 11 of the official CineGeek Podcast we try some new cheese sticks called Pogos. We discuss Death Race, Stargate coming and going, iphone updates, The Walking Dead, Thor, and Peticoat Junction! Somehow we squeeze it all into an hour! Check it out now or head on over to iTunes and subscribe! |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/78 |
The Internet is one of the most positive forces for improving the human condition the world has ever known. It is the hub of innovation for the economy in America and the world. It's a source of progress, democratic distribution of information, societal change, personal empowerment and technological innovation.
The attempt by the Obama Administration to control the Internet thru the deviously labelled Net Neutrality Act, as a public utility, takes power away from consumers, website developers and small business owners and puts it in the hands of Government. This will drive up costs, slow down innovation, and put unelected political appointees in charge of picking winners and losers.
Click Here |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/98 | Pupil Zone
electricity topic
Here are some useful links to games and activities for pupils
Edenside Learners
A page for teachers to share specific tasks and resources.
H&WB survey
Our annual Health & Wellbeing survey that we ask our children to complete.
Dance Mat Typing Level 1 Stage 1
Learn how to type on the keyboard using your fingers correctly
Doorway Online
Interactive and accessible Learning Activities
BBC Bitesize
Literacy, Mathmatics and Science games.
Primary Homework Help
Enriching Maths
Various Maths resources and games for pupils of all ages.
BBC Numeracy Website
Numeracy games for pupils
Numeracy games for P5 pupils
Numeracy games for pupils
Hit the Button
Highly recommended for number bonds and any number revision.
Numeracy Games
Links to Numeracy Games
Learn Your Tables
Help with learning Times Tables
Code Club
A quick link to Code Club content.
Think U Know Be careful |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/103 | Encyclopedia > Freenet
Article Content
Freenet is a decentralized, peer-to-peer communication network designed to be resistant to censorship, which pools the contributed bandwidth and storage space of member computers to allow users to anonymously publish or retrieve information of all kinds. The term also has an older meaning, referring to text-based community networks offering limited Internet services at little or no cost.
Currently, the system appears to be rarely used in authoritarian nations. This is perhaps because, in some nations, such as North Korea, any use of the Internet is considered suspicious, while in nations such as China where Internet use is common, there are far simpler ways to post and retrieve data anonymously (such as logging in to a public account from a public phone or using a machine in an large Internet cafe) and to circumvent firewalls.
Technical design
The Freenet file sharing network is designed to be highly survivable, with all internal processes completely anonymized and decentralized across the network. The system has no central servers and is not subject to the control of any one individual or organization. Even the designers of Freenet do not have any control over the overall system. The system is designed so that information stored in the system is encrypted and replicated across a large number of continuously-changing anonymized computers around the world. It is extremely difficult for an attacker to find out which participants are hosting a given file -- since the contents of each file are encrypted, and can also be broken into sections that are distributed over many different computers, even the participants themselves don't know what they are storing.
The end goal of the Freenet network is to store documents and allow them to be retrieved later by an associated key, much the same as is now possible with protocols such as HTTP. The network is implemented as a number of nodes that pass messages among themselves peer-to-peer. Typically, a host computer on the network will run the software that acts as a node, and it will connect to other hosts running that same software to form a large distributed network of peer nodes. Certain nodes will be end user nodes, from which documents will be requested and presented to the human user. But these nodes communicate with each other and with intermediate routing nodes identically -- there are no dedicated "clients" or "servers" on the network.
Each node maintains a data store containing documents associated with keys. With each document it also stores the address of another node where that document came from (and possibly some limited metadata about the document). In addition it may have some keys for documents that have been deleted from the local node data store (due to lack of use, memory limits, etc.), but in that case it also retains a pointer to another node that may still have the data.
To find a document in the network given a key, a user sends a message to a node (probably one running on the same machine as the client program) requesting the document, providing it with the key. If no matching key is present in the local data store, the node then finds the "closest" key it does have and forwards the request to the node associated with that key, remembering that it has done so.
The node to which the request was forwarded repeats the process until either the key is found or the request passes through a set maximum of nodes, known as the "Hops To Live" value. Along the route, if a node is visited more than once (and it will know this because it remembered forwarding the request the first time) then that node cuts off the loop by sending a message to the node that sent it the second request telling it to start looking at the node associated with the next-closest data item, the next-next-closest, and so on.
Eventually either the document is found or the hop limit is exceeded, at which point the node sends back a reply that works its way back to the originator along the route specified by the intermediate nodes' records of pending requests. The intermediate nodes may choose to cache the document being delivered to optimize later requests for it.
Essentially the same path-finding process is used to insert a document into the network, the document being stored at each node along the path.
Initially, each node has a purely random set of keys for every other node that it knows about. This means that the nodes to which it sends a given data item will depend entirely on what these random keys are. But since different nodes use different random keys, each node will initially disagree about where to look for or send data, given a key. The data in a newly-started Freenet will therefore be distributed somewhat randomly.
There are two main varieties of keys in use on Freenet, the Content Hash Key[?] (CHK) and the Signed Subspace Key[?] (SSK).
SSKs are based on public-key cryptography. Currently Freenet uses the DSA system as its public key infrastructure. Documents inserted under SSKs are signed by the inserter, and this signature can be verified by every node to ensure that the data is not tampered with. SSKs can be used to establish a verifiable pseudonymous identity on Freenet, and allow for documents to be updated securely by the person who inserted them. A subtype of the SSK is the Key Signed Key, or KSK, in which the key pair is generated in a standard way from a simple human-readable string. Inserting a document using a KSK allows the document to be retrieved and decrypted if and only if the requester knows the human-readable string; this allows for more convenient (but less secure) URIs for users to refer to.
Freenet is an enhanced Open Source implementation of the system described by Ian Clarke[?]'s July 1999 paper "A distributed decentralized information storage and retrieval system." Shortly after the publication of this paper work started on Freenet by Clarke and a small number of volunteers. By March 2000 version 0.1 of Freenet was ready for release. Since March 2000 Freenet has been extensively reported on in the press, albeit primarily due to its implications for copyright rather than for its wider aim of freedom of communication.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/116 | Quote Originally Posted by Drago55577 View Post
I wouldn't mind a small healing buff for Hel. I'm pretty sure Chang'e has higher healing than Hel now. Fucking Chang'e.
Her damage is already high as shit and easy as shit, and they didn't need to buff her 2. It was fine being shit early on because it's fucking CC immunity. That's really strong now that beads suck dick.
Unrelated, It's nice how no one knows Chiron cleanses CC.
Careful, HiRez'll nerf THAT about him too. |
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/142 | Evolutionary Biology Spring 2015 Study Questions
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Lecture 1 - Jan 20th 2015
7) What’s the difference between evolutionary change and phenotypic plasticity?
Lecture 2 - Jan 22nd 2015
1) Suppose you observe that the average weight of squirrels on campus is greater than their average weight on Horsebarn Hill. Give an example in which this difference in weight is the result of an evolutionary change. Give an example in which this difference is not the result of an evolutionary change. Describe an experiment you could do to determine whether the difference is due to an evolutionary change or not.
2) What’s a reciprocal transplant experiment? What can we use it for?
Don’t forget to finish Activity 2 – It should be handed in at the beginning of lecture on Tuesday Jan. 27th.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/143 | HyperDic: plural
Català > 3 sentits de la paraula plural:
ADJECTIUallpluralgrammatical number category referring to two or more items or units
allpluralcomposed of more than one member, set, or kind
NOMcommunicationplural, forma pluralthe form of a word that is used to denote more than one
Català > plural: 3 sentits > adjectiu 1
Sentitgrammatical number category referring to two or more items or units.
Contrarisingulargrammatical number category referring to a single item or unit
Català > plural: 3 sentits > adjectiu 2
SentitComposed of more than one member, set, or kind.
Català > plural: 3 sentits > nom 1, communication
SentitThe form of a word that is used to denote more than one.
Sinònimforma plural
Generaldescriptor, forma, significantThe phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something
Contrariforma singular, singularThe form of a word that is used to denote a singleton
Úsactiu líquidassets in the form of cash (or easily convertible into cash)
administració, oficina central(usually plural) the office that serves as the administrative center of an enterprise
ala, barbacana, ràfec, voladaThe overhang at the lower edge of a roof
alicates, estenalles, pinces, tenallesA gripping hand tool with two hinged arms and (usually) serrated jaws
almoinamoney or goods contributed to the poor
aposta, porraA lottery in which the prize consists of the money paid by the participants
articles de consumGoods (as food or clothing) intended for direct use or consumption
avenaseed of the annual grass Avena sativa (spoken of primarily in the plural as 'oats')
badlandsDeeply eroded barren land
baixesa(usually plural) a low moral state
banyadorswimsuit worn by men while swimming
barres paral·leles, barsgymnastic apparatus consisting of two parallel wooden rods supported on uprights
bateria de llums, bateria, candilejas, llums d'escenatheater light at the front of a stage that illuminate the set and actors
benvinguda, salutació, salut(usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting)
bermudestrousers that end at or above the knee
bifocals, lent bifocaleyeglasses having two focal lengths, one for near vision and the other for far vision
binocles, binoculars, prismàticsAn optical instrument designed for simultaneous use by both eyes
botí, presa(usually plural) valuables taken by violence (especially in war)
braga, bragues, calça, calces, calcetes, pantaló, pantalonsunderpants worn by women
bullícia, hijinks, tabolanoisy and mischievous merrymaking
bénsAnything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or company
calces, calçotetsAn undergarment that covers the body from the waist no further than to the thighs
calçons, pantalons curtstrousers ending above the knee
calçotetsmen's underwear consisting of cotton T-shirt and shorts
calçotetsunderpants worn by men
calçotets, shortsshort tight-fitting underpants (trade name Jockey shorts)
camp de golf, linksA golf course that is built on sandy ground near a shore
castanyetes, castanyoles, maraques, plataretsA percussion instrument consisting of a pair of hollow pieces of wood or bone (usually held between the thumb and fingers) that are made to click together (as by Spanish dancers) in rhythm with the dance
central, quarter general, quarter, seuThe military installation from which a commander performs the functions of command
central depuradora d'aigüesworkplace where water is stored and purified and distributed for a community / community
cisalla, tisoreslarge scissors with strong blades
col de brot, col de Brussel·les, cols de Brussel·lesThe small edible cabbage-like buds growing along a stalk of the brussels sprout plant
colorsA distinguishing emblem
comeupance, desertsAn outcome / outcome in which virtue triumphs over vice (often ironically)
complements de la casa, mobiliari(usually plural) the instrumentalities (furniture and appliances and other movable accessories including curtains and rugs) that make a home / home / home (or other area) livable
condició, terme(usually plural) a statement of what is required as part of an agreement
contacte, contactes, influències, padrins(usually plural) a person who is influential and to whom you are connected in some way (as by family or friendship)
contratemps, incidentAn awkward clash
curiosabooks on strange or unusual subjects (especially erotica)
dausA gambling game played with two dice
deixalla, restesAny object that is left unused or still extant
deliberació(usually plural) discussion of all sides of a question
devoció(usually plural) religious observance or prayers (usually spoken silently)
educació, formes, maneres, modalssocial deportment
elàsticselastic straps that hold trousers up (usually used in the plural)
empòsit, pòsit, solatgeThe sediment from fermentation of an alcoholic beverage
entrada, tornThe batting turn of a cricket player or team
escalaA flight of stairs or a flight of steps
escala de serveiA second staircase at the rear of a building
escrit(usually plural) the collected work of an author
estenalles, fòrceps, tenallesAn extractor consisting of a pair of pincers used in medical treatment (especially for the delivery of babies)
estisores, tisoresAn edge tool having two crossed pivoting blades
fedaí(plural) Arab guerrillas who operate mainly against Israel
ferreria, foneria de ferro, foneriaThe workplace where iron is smelted or where iron goods are made
ferrosmetal shackles
focs artificials, focs d'artifici, for d'artifici, pirotècnica(usually plural) a device with an explosive that burns at a low rate and with colored flames
germans(plural) the lay members of a male religious order
guarniments(usually plural) accessory wearing apparel
habitatge, quarter, vivendahousing available for people to live in
heroïcitatostentatious or vainglorious or extravagant or melodramatic conduct
indumentària, roba, vestitclothing in general
jeans, pantalons texans, texans(usually plural) close-fitting trousers of heavy denim for manual / manual work or casual wear
jocs seculars, Ludi SaecularesThe centennial rites and games of ancient Rome that marked the commencement of a new generation (100 years representing the longest life in a generation)
joies de la coronaregalia (jewelry and other paraphernalia) worn by a sovereign on state occasions
lent, ulleresoptical instrument consisting of a frame that holds a pair of lenses for correcting defective vision
mallesloose-fitting trousers with elastic cuffs
manxaA mechanical device that blows / blows a strong current of air
mitjaclose-fitting hosiery to cover the foot and leg
obra pública, obres públiquesstructures (such as highways or schools or bridges or docks / docks / docks) constructed at government expense for public use
operacionsfinancial transactions at a brokerage
pantalons(usually in the plural) pants for casual wear
pantalons de franel·la(usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth
pantalons de panacotton trousers made of corduroy cloth
pantalons elàsticstrousers made of a stretchy fabric
pantaló, pantalons(usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately
pantaló de campana, pantalons acampanatstrousers with legs that flare
pantaló de golfmen's baggy knickers hanging below the knees
pantaló de muntar, pantalons de muntarFlared trousers ending at the calves
pijama(usually plural) loose-fitting nightclothes worn for sleeping or lounging
pincesAny of various devices for taking hold of objects
pobresPeople without possessions or wealth (considered as a group)
prestatgeria de llibresstorage space in a library consisting of an extensive arrangement of bookshelves where most of the books are stored
primer principi, rudimentThe elementary stages of any subject (usually plural)
profunditats(plural) the deepest and most remote part
puny americà, puny de ferroA small metal weapon
pòsit, sediment, solatgesediment that has settled at the bottom of a liquid / liquid
pòsit del caféThe dregs remaining after brewing coffee
quarter militar, quarterliving quarters for personnel on a military post
record(usually plural) a polite expression of desire for someone's welfare
reservaCapital held back from investment in order to meet probable or possible demands
roba de carrerordinary clothing suitable for public appearances (as opposed to costumes or sports apparel or work clothes etc.)
roba de dolA black garment (dress) worn by a widow as a sign of mourning
roba de nenA garment (a gown or narrow strips of cloth) for an infant
roba militar, vestit de feinamilitary uniform worn by military personnel when doing menial labor
salinaA plant where salt / salt is produced commercially
sals angleses, sals d'Epson, sulfat de magnèsia(used with a singular noun) hydrated magnesium sulfate used as a laxative
sals del bany, sals per al banyA preparation that softens or scents a bath / bath
serveisperformance of duties or provision of space and equipment helpful to others
telecomunicació(often plural) systems used in transmitting messages over a distance electronically
tintoreriashop where dry cleaning is done
tisora d'esporgarshears with strong blades used for light pruning of woody plants
tisores de xapa(plural) hand shears for cutting sheet metal
ulleres, ulleres protectoresTight-fitting spectacles worn to protect the eyes
ulleres de solspectacles that are darkened or polarized to protect the eyes from the glare of the sun
vestit de paisàcivilian garb as opposed to a military uniform
vestitsinformal terms for clothing
àbac neperià, Àbac neperiàA set of graduated rods formerly used to do multiplication and division by a method invented by John Napier
Anglèsplural, plural form
Espanyolforma plural, plural
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/144 | HyperDic: combing
English > 1 sense of the word combing:
NOUNactcombing, combthe act of drawing a comb through hair
combing > pronunciation
English > combing: 1 sense > noun 1, act
MeaningThe act of drawing a comb through hair.
Narrowercomb-out, teasingThe act of removing tangles from you hair with a comb
Broaderhair care, haircare, hairdressingcare for the hair
Spanishpeinadura, peine
Catalanpentinada, pinta
Verbscombsmoothen and neaten with or as with a comb
combstraighten with a comb
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/146 | How to Write an Essay For Research
How to Write an Essay For Research
Writing an essay is not a simple task. It requires research, which can take a lot of time and effort. There are many writers out there who would tell you that researching can be the hardest part of writing an essay. Research can take up a lot of time and effort because you need to learn as much about the topic as possible, or else you will have no way of answering certain questions. You also need to find a good source of information about the topic.
Write an essay for research is not difficult, as long as you make sure you use your own judgment and write from your own point of view. If you have a question, ask yourself if there is a logical answer for it. If there is no logical answer to your question, then you should write it down and search for an answer to your question somewhere else. You do not want to bore your reader with facts, so remember to take your time and ensure that the facts you use are factual.
Remember to use good sources when writing. Not all sources are equal and you should make sure you find the best ones. Once you have gathered your sources, you should write your essay. If you have a question about the way your source uses certain information, then you should do some research on your own. Once you have gathered all of the information you need for your essay, then you can start to write.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/162 | 15 Perks Of Absolute Best CBD Gummies That May Modification Your Perspective
The exact same best CBD gummies goes for those that struggle with neurological health conditions. The more recent medications could be hazardous for clients that have on-going neurological problems.
Because it is actually known to aid lower blood stream stress, another cause that cannabidiol is actually essential is actually. As pointed out over, confiscations are handled by lowering the activity of the nerves in the mind. By taking cannabidiol, you may aid to relax the muscles in the human brain which triggers the problem to end up being extra manageable.
In addition, there are actually other usages for cannabidiol also. It has actually been actually proven to help reduce some health problems, like HIV and those who possess bronchi cancer cells and HIV, as well as those that have Crohn’s ailment and also ulcerative colitis.
People in these conditions normally need certain anti-inflammatory drugs. Some patients can easily certainly not take these because of allergic reactions. As a result, other a lot more generally recommended medicines, like Cannabidiol can aid the patients obtain the medicines they require.
There have actually been actually some current researches that recommend that cannabidiol could assist girls that are actually pregnant. Ladies that were expecting a little one suffered from nausea, puking, fever, as well as cramping during their maternity. With cannabidiol, the nausea or vomiting was lowered, and also lots of girls have actually stated having little bit to no discomfort along with the pregnancy.
The advantage is not simply restricted to clinical conditions. The benefits to CBD are actually a lot of and also even more may be found out as experts continue to analyze the benefits.
When Cannabidiol is actually used as a cure for cancer, it can easily typically do the trick, yet it is actually no wonder drug. The very best thing about Cannabidiol is actually that it does not work for everyone, so you shouldn’t count on instant results. Within this write-up, I’ll explain why individuals are actually having results with it.
A research study administered due to the American Medical Publication evaluated the efficiency of Cannabidiol in dealing with individuals that have actually built neuropathic ache coming from nerve injuries or even burns. For instance, if an individual got Cannabidiol as well as pain was really felt in the feet after a surgical procedure, the person would certainly be actually provided a CBD pill.
The research study discovered that patients provided this supplement experienced a notable reduction in their neuropathic discomfort contrasted to those that really did not get any sort of treatment. This shows that Cannabidiol performs function, but the investigation also located that individuals who had gotten on other treatments had considerably worse ache.
One of the most effective anti-inflammatory residential or commercial properties of CBD comes from its own potential to lower swelling. This reduce in irritation is a major reason that lots of clients are actually succeeding with Cannabidiol.
Numerous scientific tests have actually been completed as well as numerous cancer people were actually presented to be cured utilizing this supplement. It appears that Cannabidiol possesses an anti-inflammatory impact, as well as due to the fact that it possesses a similar activity to narcotics like Vicodin, a patient simply needs to have to take one procedure a day.
Neuropathic pain related to arthritis is a typical complaint for a lot of arthritis patients. Researches done on Cannabidiol have actually presented that when carried out to clients along with the health condition, it substantially lessened the volume of ache they experienced.
There are some side effects connected with utilizing Cannabidiol, but they are actually mild and also seldom cause significant complications. The side effects feature nausea or vomiting, muscle mass twitching, lightheadedness, as well as even migraine.
Most pills have pair of CBD capsules. Some research study suggests that this supplement might improve cravings, but it doesn’t appear to have any sort of effect on hunger for lots of people.
When taking Cannabidiol, regularly make sure to ask your physician or pharmacologist about achievable negative effects. If you take any type of sort of prescription medicine, be sure to identify your medical professional about any kind of therapy that you are actually taking into consideration, considering that some might interact adversely with Cannabidiol.
Because there are still odds of effective treatment along with this approach, there is actually no need to run scared if you are actually currently obtaining medical therapy. Attempt to prevent conditions where your body is under anxiety, considering that it might produce you even more prone to possessing an allergy.
Speak to your medical professional about utilizing it in combination along with other procedures if you yearn for to make an effort Cannabidiol. You may be startled at the end results you acquire with the supplement, specifically if you are actually currently utilizing prescribed drugs.
Just before you try this technique, you need to know that it possesses a high success price along with clients that possess incurable diseases and that do not reply to conventional therapies. It costs a go to try it if you are actually making use of various other approaches to address your ache.
Yet another explanation that cannabidiol is actually important is actually given that it is actually known to aid reduced blood stream pressure. By taking cannabidiol, you can easily assist to rest the muscles in the brain which leads to the problem to end up being more manageable.
Other more often suggested medicines, like Cannabidiol may assist the individuals receive the medications they need.
There have actually been some recent research studies that advise that cannabidiol can aid women that are expectant. When Cannabidiol is made use of as a remedy for cancer cells, it can typically carry out the trick, but it’s no magic bullet. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/189 | The divorce lawyers in brooklyn ny Diaries
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/202 | Soldering Flux
A flux (derived from Latin Fluxus meaning "flow") is a chemical cleaning agent, flowing agent, or purifying agent. Fluxes may have more than one function at a time. They are used in both extractive metallurgy and metal joining. Some of the earliest known fluxes were sodium carbonate, potash, charcoal, coke, borax, lime, leads sulfide and certain minerals containing phosphorus. Iron ore was also used as a flux in the smelting of copper. As cleaning agents, fluxes facilitate Solderig, brazng, and welding by removing oxidation from the metals to be joined. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/203 | 5 Reasons To Hire An Accident Attorney After An Auto Accident
Getting into an auto accident is a stressful, terrifying time, especially if you have injuries. While you focus on recovery, however, the insurance carrier is trying to get you to accept a fast settlement. Instead of struggling to heal and get your fair settlement, hire an accident attorney. They'll handle the hard work of fighting for and negotiating a fair settlement. If you still aren't sure whether you need an attorney, check out these five reasons you may need one.
They'll Help Prove You Aren't Responsible
If you caused the accident, you may want to hire an attorney to help protect your best interests. If the other driver hires an attorney, you may find yourself in the middle of a lawsuit. However, in some cases, you may disagree that you caused the accident. If this is the case, you definitely need an attorney to fight your case for you and prove you didn't cause the accident. By collecting witness statements, police reports, taking photos and talking with both insurance agencies, the attorney can help prove you didn't cause the accident. Without an attorney, you may not get any money.
They'll Protect You If You're Partially Responsible
In other cases, the other driver may accuse you of being partially responsible for the accident. Even if the other driver caused the accident, their insurance carrier or attorney may argue you weren't paying attention, you were driving too closely, you weren't defensive, etc. Their stance is to twist the blame onto you by claiming that if you had been paying attention, the collision could have been avoided. In many cases, this can affect how much money you are awarded. In this case, an attorney could help prove that your actions did not help lead to the accident by arguing your involvement was so minimal and the accident so severe that any action taken by you could not have avoided the collision.
They Talk to the Insurance Company for You
Depending on the severity of the accident and injuries, it's usually a good idea to hire an attorney even if you are simply filing a standard insurance claim with the other driver's insurance carrier. This is because your attorney will do all the work for you, including speaking with the other insurance carrier. The insurance carrier is looking for anything to put the blame on you or reduce your settlement, and unless you have experience in speaking with insurance agencies, you may inadvertently give information they can use against you. Your attorney knows exactly what to say and what not to say. Even admitting to something as simple as noticing a dog on the side of the road may be used to argue you were distracted.
They'll Fight for Physical Pain and Suffering
After an auto accident, you may have soft tissue damage, broken bones, etc. However, while many injuries heal completely, others leave lasting effects. This type of injury is known as pain and suffering, and it is often difficult to prove unless you have an attorney with experience in these types of cases. Pain and suffering can include physical and emotional symptoms, but the physical symptoms are often more noticeable and tangible. A physical injury that may qualify for pain and suffering is a permanent limp, new scar, etc.
They'll Fight for Emotional Pain and Suffering
Emotional pain and suffering are tricky to diagnose and prove because these types of emotional scars aren't as easy to see as a physical scar. They can include mood disorders, including depression, anger, anxiety that develop as a result of the accident. However, they can also include loss of interest in sex, loss of interest in old hobbies and activities, reduced enjoyment of life, etc. Many of these terms and symptoms are subjective, which is why they are hard to prove. However, an attorney knows what documents are needed to prove the extent of your injuries.
If you've been injured in an auto accident, you need to seek medical attention to mitigate your injuries. While you focus on getting better, you need someone to help win your case so you can pay your medical bills and become whole once more. If you would like more information regarding accidents and settlements, contact an attorney in your area today. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/225 | ACT Coaching Classes
If you plan to apply for college admission, it is important to understand what ACT is and how it will affect the application process.
The ACT stands for the American College Test. Like the SAT, it is a standardized admission test administered by the College Board to gauge the college readiness of high school graduates.
Why take the ACT
Most US colleges and universities accept ACT test scores. Taking the test connects students to colleges and universities. The ACT has a science section which differentiates it from SAT. In addition to this, the Math section has more geometry and trigonometry. This test allows the use of a calculator for the entire Math section. The essay section requires you to give students’ point of view which is relatively easier.
ACT Scores
Test scores signify an important measure of a student’s academic progress and together with high school scores are considered by colleges (as much as 50 percent weightage) whilst making admission assessments since most require students to submit SAT or ACT scores.
Students can opt for ACT in 11th class/beginning of 12th class. More than one try can be taken but two tries are the maximum that is advised. Each subject section is given a score ranging from 1 and 36. This is then averaged into a combined score of all four sections which also range from 1 and 36.
ACT tests for International students
In India, the ACT test is conducted in April, June, September, October and December.
How to register for ACT Test
For ACT registrations, please go to the ACT site ( and create a student account at the link below.
ACT Structure
The test duration is for 2.55 hours and with essay (which is optional) an additional 40 minutes making it to a total time of 3.35 hours. The test comprises of multiple choice questions with 4 answer choices. There is no marking for wrong answers as the scores are calculated for correct answers only.
During the test, a 10 minute break is given after first two sections. A final break of 5 minutes is given prior to writing the essay.
The ACT test comprises of 4 sections:
• English
• Math
• Reading
• Science
Essay is optional
The English Test is intended to evaluate student’s understanding of the features of English i.e. grammar, punctuation and sentence structure.
This test covers a complete range of math topics which include algebra, geometry, probability, functions, statistics, number and quantity, and essential skills.
The reading test comprises of questions from passages given from social studies, natural sciences, literary narrative or prose fiction and humanities.
The Science section contains passages of scientific material drawn from physics, chemistry, biology, meteorology, geology and astronomy.
Essay writing requires reading a passage and summarizing it giving the student’s point of view through evidence and examples.
Essay Writing
Our approach to ACT coaching
• We offer a 60 hour coaching schedule
• Equal weightage is given to critical reading/writing skills and problem solving and data analysis in Math
• Our study material is comprehensive and exhaustive ensuring students are adequately prepared for the exams
• Marathon practice sessions are conducted with mock tests each week in real time. This prepares the students to take the ACT test challenge confidently
• Interactive coaching sessions include one-on-one guidance sessions
• Doubt clearing sessions after completion of each assignment
• Self-analysis by students on errors making them more confident in reasoning and logical thinking
• Step by step essay writing
• Students are encouraged to read current news articles which enhance their comprehension and writing skills
• Practice and homework are key elements to our ACT program |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/276 | Novell is now a part of Micro Focus
NetWare 5.1: The Web Development Platform
Articles and Tips: article
Technical Writer
Novell Developer Information
01 Jan 2000
Takes a look at the new features included in NetWare 5.1 and describes how these features offer improved benefits in the realm of Web services, network administration, end-user capabilities, and application and e-business solutions. Also discusses some installation and upgrade issues involved in moving to NetWare 5.1.
NetWare 5.1 builds on the success of NetWare 5 to create a stable and secure server for Internet-enabled businesses. NetWare 5.1 turns a server-class computer into a high-performance Internet server, providing connectivity not only among personal computers, printers, and mass storage devices, but also through the Internet and company intranets and extranets.
NetWare 5.1 is more than just the next version of NetWare, it is a complete solution for a corporate Web site or intranet. By default, the NetWare 5.1 installation automatically converts your traditional file and print network into an instant intranet. With its open-standards Web application and development tools, NetWare 5.1 is a complete platform for deploying Internet commerce- related applications.
This article takes a look at the new features included in NetWare 5.1 and describes how these features offer improved benefits in terms of application and E-business solutions, Web services, network administration, and end user capabilities. It also discusses some installation and upgrade issues involved in moving to NetWare 5.1.
As always, refer to the NetWare 5.1 Web site for the latest information:
New Features
NetWare 5.1 is a complete product with many tools, utilities, and solutions. It provides not only a platform, but also an entire infrastructure, upon which companies can build powerful networks. Solutions based on NetWare 5.1 can range from simple to complex, such as very basic networking services to complete Web-based applications.
Following is a list of some of the new NetWare 5.1 features from Novell and third-parties which will be discussed in this article:
• NDS version 8
• NetWare Enterprise Web Server
• NetWare Management Portal
• NetWare Web Search Server
• NetWare FTP Server
• NetWare News Server
• NetWare MultiMedia Server
• IBM WebSphere 3.0 Standard Edition and WebSphere Studio
• A five-user license of Oracle 8i
• Support for networked features of Office 2000 (such as Web folders and the Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning called WebDAV standard for file usage on the Internet)
• Halcyon InstantASP
These new features elevate NetWare 5.1 to an even more powerful server than NetWare 5. With the Web tools included with NetWare 5.1 you can create a full-featured, Web-based network server capable of hosting, creating, publishing, and finding your Web-based information.
Web publishing with Microsoft Office 2000 is simple using NetWare 5.1, through its support of WebDAV. Novell's WebDAV support is the full implementation and is more than just an alternative to Web publishing and FTP services, it is a new way of accessing your traditional file and print network without having an installed client. Office 2000 behaves on NetWare the same as it does on Microsoft NT IIS server, making it easy for all users on your network to create and publish information.
NetWare 5.1's Web Search Server allows you to create an index for all your Web sites, rather than just searching a single Web site. Since it's so easy for anyone to publish information, the NetWare Web Search Server lets you search your entire company's intranet at once, rather than having to search each site individually.
Another Web-based collaboration tool is Threaded Discussion Groups, which are generated automatically by the NetWare News Server. This server is capable of pulling large, 30 GB feeds from the Internet that you can duplicate on your network. Or your users can create their own discussion threads.
To clear some of the barriers that have barred some companies from moving to NetWare 5 and upgrading to NDS versions, NetWare 5.1 includes the NDS Deployment Manager tool that makes all the preparations for you. Deployment Manager has the ability to help you migrate to NDS version 8 if your tree is ready, and warn you if it's not, or recommend that you migrate to version 7 now, until you're prepared for version 8.
These are just a few of the new features of NetWare 5.1. The remainder of this article takes a look at some of the NetWare 5.1 benefits where you can learn more about these features as they relate to the new capabilities of NetWare.
Application and E-business Services
This section describes several popular Web application development tools that are included with NetWare 5.1 to allow you to create powerful Internet commerce solutions for your customers and users.
IBM WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere allows the developer to build and deploy complete Web-based solutions that run on the NetWare 5.1 platform. IBM WebSphere for NetWare supports open-industry standards, so you can integrate WebSphere with your current network investment to build, run, and manage E-commerce applications on NetWare.
WebSphere for NetWare provides a platform with a robust Web application service infrastructure. With its support for servlets, Java Server Pages, XML (eXstensible Markup Language, Enterprise Java Beans, Transactional processing, and robust database connectivity (EJB support and TP support are advanced addition features. WebSphere provides the underpinnings for future corporate automation and E-commerce solutions that execute on Novell's high performing JVM.
For additional information about IBM's WebSphere server visit
Oracle 8i
NetWare 5.1 includes Oracle8i release 8.1.5 of Oracle's Object Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS) Enterprise Edition for NetWare. Oracle8i which also includes Oracle WebDB, is designed specifically to be an Internet development and deployment platform, enhancing Oracle8's technology with special features that make it easier for developers and systems integrators to create corporate intranets and Web applications. Oracle8i for NetWare provides:
• Maximum performance and scalability through its unique design with the NetWare multi-threaded architecture. In addition, Oracle8i for NetWare has been optimized to take full advantage of NetWare's multi-tasking and input/output (I/O) capabilities.
• Automatic authentication of users by the NetWare operating system.
• Central, easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI) distributed database management using Oracle Enterprise Manager.
• Ability to build and deploy Java-stored procedures with Oracle's JVM.
The key development component of NetWare 5.1 is the Universal Component System (UCS). UCS is the glue that ties external component logic together. From the scripting choices, you can access services on NetWare such as NDS authentication services, or you can link dynamic HTML pages to any ODBC- compliant database on NetWare, NT, or Unix. With UCS you can even execute remote logic such as ActiveX controls on an NT server to provide a single repository for business logic on the Web server platform. Since you have disparate data and logic in real world application development, NetWare 5.1, through UCS, is designed to be the access point to execute your organization's applications.
Halcyon InstantASP
NetWare 5.1 supports Halcyon Software's InstantASP to provide deployment of ASP applications without modifying NetWare much, or none at all, depending on the application. InstantASP allows Java implementation of Microsoft Active Server Pages Framework, remote Java ActiveX Server (R-JAX), and source code conversion from Active Server Pages to Java Server Pages. InstantASP is an excellent portability solution for existing ASP applications built for Windows, and offers free licensing for most InstantASP features. Customers running applications on Web servers that receive heavy traffic may need to pay for real deployment.
Novell JVM for NetWare
The Novell JVM for NetWare allows Java applications to run on a NetWare server, turning general Java applications into tailored commands. You can use the Novell JVM for NetWare to enhance your intranet applications and E-commerce sites by running servlets, JavaBeans, Java Server Pages, and other Java development components on a NetWare server. Also, the Novell ScriptPages technologies offer simple solutions and the easiest way of building applications for NetWare, and they are completely free as part of NetWare 5.1.
Web Services
NetWare 5.1 is chock full of Web services. The Web enhancements include NetWare Enterprise Web Server, NetWare Web Search Server, NetWare FTP Server, NetWare News Server, and NetWare MultiMedia Server. Together these Web services offer organizations a fertile development environment for a Web presence both on the corporate intranet (network behind a firewall) and the Internet.
NetWare Enterprise Web Server
At the core of NetWare 5.1's Web services is NetWare Enterprise Web Server. Enterprise Server allows you to configure your NetWare server as a Web server. It can serve Web pages using the HTTP protocol to respond to requests from Web browsers and can be managed from any current browser. Requests can come from an intranet or from the World Wide Web.
NetWare Enterprise Web Server offers enhanced features that allow Web developers to choose development tools of their choice. Developers can use these tools to develop Web-based applications on the NetWare platform. Likewise, developers can also choose which databases they will use to connect with Enterprise Server.
Enterprise Server provides a scalable Web server platform by allowing database access, script execution, HTML parsing, search, and indexing to be marshaled to available CPUs. Enterprise server can scale under the most demanding resource applications and can be set up out of the box to run both non-secure and secure, without any messy configuration or expensive certificate purchases.
Enterprise Web Server is installed during the initial installation of NetWare 5.1. The NetWare Web Server Manager helps you manage your NetWare Enterprise Web Server from the NetWare General Administration page. Besides configuring your server, from the General Administration page you can also start and stop a Web server and perform tasks for the administration server such as configuring user home directories.
You can also create multiple Web servers. There are two ways you can have multiple Web servers on your NetWare server: either hardware virtual servers or software virtual servers. Each option has its strengths and weaknesses; you should choose the one that's right for your environment. The following table lists some of the advantages and disadvantages of hardware and software virtual servers:
Hardware Virtual Servers
Maps multiple IP addresses to multiple document roots.
Requires fewer system resources than multiple instances of the server.
Must share the same configuration information (for example, if one server has security features or Web publishing enabled, they all must have it enabled).
Software Virtual Server
Each server has its own home page (allowing multiple Web sites from one IP address).
Maps a single IP address to multiple server names.
Users must use client software that supports the HTTP host header to access the server.
Must also share the same configuration information.
Note: In addition to hardware and software virtual servers, you can also load multiple protected memory instances of the Enterprise Web Server on a single NetWare 5.1 box, allowing each host to have its own Web server on one box, giving you true multi-hosting capabilities.
NetWare Web Search Server
NetWare Web Search Server is a powerful, customizable search and print solution that lets you index information located on a NetWare or Web server, allowing users to effectively search and print content from multiple collections of information. With NetWare Web Search, you can:
• Search across multi-language data collections from a single interface
• Customize the look and feel of search and print results, and error and response messages for each language (or collectively)
• Select the information categories, products, chapters, and languages in which to conduct a search, even down to the file level
• Integrate linguistic technology modules such as Natural Language Interface and Morphology
• Integrate with a profiling engine
• Integrate with the Novell single-sign on initiative (NetWare Web Search runs from a super-thin Java client which downloads quickly and still allows clients to conduct searches in all languages)
NetWare Web Search Server allows organizations to easily create an enterprise-wide index of all the information on their intranet. Web Search also lets enterprises organize distributed information spanning multiple servers and file types into a mission-critical knowledge base. Using an intuitive search-and- browse interface that's accessible via any Web browser whether it exists in HTML, Word, Excel, WordPerfect, or other formats users can profit from a wealth of online information. Web Search runs automatically and continuously updates its contents so users have the most up-to-date and relevant information.
Many departments within organizations have their own Web servers allowing them to publish anything they need for their own use. There is currently no way to search all of those departmental sites with a single tool, you would need to visit each site and either browse it, or if search is available, search that site. The NetWare Web Search Server searches all of these departmental Web servers and makes all of the content searchable from one central location. This allows you to go to one site and search everything published within the company. It also allows your IS department to maintain a corporate intranet that publishes official company information, and each department to publish internal information in their own way, and at the same time make it all searchable from a single search.
Creating a search solution using NetWare Web Search involves three essential tasks:
• Defining the location of the files and documents (called a collection) you want included when a user performs a search
• Building an index for each collection
• Using the default templates, which are simple HTML pages containing Web Search variables, or create your own custom templates
When you install NetWare 5.1, the contents of the Enterprise Server's root Web directory are indexed automatically. Once you start the Enterprise Server, you can point your browser to the URL where the default search template is stored and run a search query on the contents of the root Web directory. By viewing the HTML source of the search page, you can see how the variables are used to search the index and then create your own custom search templates by rearranging or adding additional available variables.
NetWare FTP Server
The NetWare FTP Server provides FTP service for transfer of files to and from NetWare volumes. Using NetWare's FTP service, users can use the file transfer protocol command from any workstation with FTP access to log in to the NDS tree, as well as publish Web content from popular tools, including Microsoft's Front Page 2000. Users from any FTP client can also perform file transfers by logging in to the NDS tree using the FTP Server. After logging in to the NDS tree users can also navigate to other NetWare servers (in the same NDS tree) that may not be running the FTP service. The following lists some of the benefits of an FTP server:
• Fast Internet download capabilities
• Efficient services for links to Web-based URLs
• Efficient inter-company collaboration services
• Secure collaboration between organizations or companies over the Internet (FTP access to shared rights maintained via IP addresses)
• Effective archive tool from the Internet (used to back up company information)
Administrators can load the FTP server from the NetWare console by simply typing, "ftpd". Users can start an FTP session from a workstation running FTP client software by typing, "ftp (server_name)". To access files and directories on a remote NetWare server that may not be running the FTP service, users type, "cd//remote_server_name/volume/directory_pathname".
NetWare News Server
The NetWare News Server utilizes threaded discussion groups and provides access to external and internal news groups. The NetWare News Server makes intranet and Internet collaboration a reality by bringing the full power of open standards technology to focused discussion groups. By using the News Server for discussion groups, the people in your company can easily share information both within the company and across the Internet. This is advantageous for example, for support groups who can provide internal and external question and answer correspondence to subscribing users.
Like Enterprise Server, the News Server is natively integrated with NDS by default to allow administrators to control user access to newsgroups and postings based on their NDS and NetWare file system and trustee rights. Using the Web-based administration interface, administrators can create new news groups on the server and provides access to specific users or groups of users.
There are several ways to configure the News Server. The simplest is a single server for internal users. In this configuration, a corporate NDS tree already exists, containing all corporate users. All you need to do is create a newsgroup and assign access to users or groups. The users, using standard news readers (such as Microsoft Outlook Express), access the news groups and participate as desired.
You can also allow internal users to access external newsgroups. This configuration is identical to the previous except that the administrator configures the news server to access newsgroups from external servers. These external newsgroups are then accessible to the internal users as standard news groups. Another option is for a company to create their own news server and allow its customers to share and exchange information. There might also be internal users who read and post messages to the news groups or answer customer questions. Larger corporations with multiple divisions can also operate separate news servers, while allowing their users to share information across divisional boundaries.
NetWare MultiMedia Server
The NetWare MultiMedia Server enables multimedia features on a NetWare server that provides streaming audio and video access for network users. NetWare MultiMedia Server is easy to implement and use, and clients only need RealPlayer G2, from RealNetworks Inc., to play the multimedia files from the server. The NetWare MultiMedia Server supports the Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) and HTTP for streaming audio and video on the network.
The MultiMedia Server also enables interactive information sessions to be held with customers. It can be used for product support or for troubleshooting common issues. It can also be used to gather information from customers. The NetWare MultiMedia Server contains the Real server on NetWare to serve Real Player G2 for the following protocols and file types:
NetWare 5.1 Administrator Benefits
With all the new features, tools, and utilities included in NetWare 5.1, a network administrator can create a Web solution that services all levels of the company. Additional Web-based management tools are also included: NetWare Management Portal, NetWare Web Management, and ZENworks. Following is a look at each of the tools and its features.
NetWare Management Portal
The NetWare Management Portal provides complete management of NetWare 5.1 servers and partial management of NetWare 4.x and 5.0 servers that are in the same tree as your NetWare 5.1 server. The Management Portal runs through a Web browser on a client workstation and allows you to manage your server from any location on your network where a Web browser is available. Portal brings the millions of servers that don't support TCP/IP to be seamlessly integrated in your corporate intranet.
NetWare Management Portal allows network administrators to view the status and health of the server processes, resources, NLMs, and even hardware devices. It also allows you to:
• Mount and dismount volumes
• Access files on volumes and DOS partitions
• Manage server connections
• Configure SET parameters
• Monitor system resources
• View server console screens
• Browse the NDS tree and view NDS partitions
• Down or restart the server
Management Portal is accessible by typing at a browser the IP address of your NetWare 5.1 server. You will be prompted for your NDS username and password. Once you are granted access, the server's name, NetWare version and revision information, and total up time are displayed.
Upon logging into the Management Portal on a NetWare 5.1 server you are presented with the server's name and version, revision, and the total up time. A traffic light health indicator shows the status of the server. The indicator is also a link to the Server Health page.
Note: If the Enterprise Server is installed on your server, you will have to add the Port number (such as 8008) at the end of the IP address. For example, if your Portal server's IP address is, you would enter in the address or location field of your browser to access your server.
NetWare Web Manager
NetWare Web Manager is a server-side LCGI application (written in C) that provides a single point of Web-based administration for configuring the NetWare Enterprise Web Server, NetWare News Servers, NetWare FTP Server, NetWare Management Portal Server, NetWare MultiMedia Server, NDS user and group trustee management, as well as third-party products such as WebSphere.
After installing a Web or News server and NetWare Web Manager, you can use your Web browser to navigate to the NetWare Web Manager port (by default, it runs on the secure port https://). You can then use its forms to configure your servers. When you submit a form, NetWare Web Manager modifies various configuration files on your NetWare server for the server you are administering. It also supports clustering of settings, allowing you to set up several identical Web servers and cloning the configuration settings between them.
You navigate to NetWare Web Manager through your server's IP address or URL. Depending on how you configured the computer hostname and the port number during the installation of your NetWare 5.1 server, the address could look something like this, where 2002 is the Web Manager port number:
NetWare 5.1 includes the ZENworks Starter Pack. ZENworks automates desktop management, using the power of Novell Directory Services to provide application, workstation, and remote management. By automating various redundant administrative activities, ZENworks cuts costs by minimizing the time users and network administrators must devote to workstation management: users are more productive, and administrators are free to concentrate on more critical issues. The ZENworks Starter Pack contains application and workstation management functionality.
Application Management. Provides customized software distribution, which reduces costs and simplifies administration by automatically distributing and customizing software for each user. It also ensures that users have the software tools they need to do business.
Workstation Management. Provides directory-enabled desktop management. These policies and profiles ensure that users can roam from one network location to another while securely maintaining their familiar, personalized desktop interface and have access to printers and the applications they require.
NetWare 5.1 End User Benefits
NetWare 5.1 allows users to take full advantage of personalized Web and network features including personalized folders, Web publishing access, file tranfers, discussion groups, advanced searching, and audio and video streaming.
Personalized Network and Web Folders
NetWare 5.1 features a central location where users can go to access all of their network resources, called My Network folder. This personalized folder contains folders for mapped drives, Web publishing, a user's directory tree and Organizational Unit Web folder, and an Office 2000 start page.
My Network Folder. The My Network folder provides a central location on the NetWare 5.1 server from which users can access the rest of their network resources. Unlike the Network Neighborhood folder on the Windows desktop, this folder actually resides on the NetWare server instead of users' workstations. My Network folder is accessed via industry standard Web protocols, allowing users to view their folder from any Windows workstation that is attached to the public Internet, anywhere in the world. Within the My Network folder, there can be personalized versions of the following items for each user:
Mapped Drive Web Folders. Network administrators can set up mapped network drives for users as Web folders within each user's My Network folder. This will allow users to access their corporate applications and data remotely without the need for a Novell client on their workstations. (Note that Windows and DOS applications that require traditional drive mappings will of course, not work in this environment.)
Personal Web Publishing Folder. When you create login accounts for users, you usually also create a home directory or user directory somewhere on the network. If you enable the User Home Directories feature in NetWare 5.1, the My Network folder for each user will contain a link to their personal Web publishing directory, regardless upon which NetWare 5.1 server their personal home directory is located.
My Directory Tree Web Folder. This folder allows users to see the contents of their NDS tree. In particular, they can see all the users and groups that have been defined within their network. They can view the properties of any object in the tree by double-clicking its icon within the Web folder. To ensure security, you can grant users rights to only modify the properties of their own user object and personal Web publishing folders.
My Organizational Unit Web Folder. Users also have access to an Organizational Unit Web folder that contains all of the users in their department, as well as any other groups of users that you may have defined. Users can use their My Organizational Unit Web folder to modify the access rights to their Web folders for the users and groups over whom they have been granted access control rights.
Office 2000 Start Page. The Office 2000 StartPage allows Microsoft Office 2000 users to view Web folders on a NetWare Server, as well as to search and discuss the documents that have been published there. (This feature, though likely not available with NetWare 5.1's initial release, will be available soon after.)
Web Publishing
Today, almost every company has an intranet. The task of publishing information to the intranet or any Web site is often seen as tedious, time-consuming, and primarily reserved for those more technically inclined. But with NetWare 5.1 and Microsoft Office 2000, anyone can create and publish information, transforming the Web into a central work environment for real-time collaboration and communication.
NetWare 5.1's usage of WebDAV eliminates the need for users to learn HTTP addresses or FTP conventions. In fact, with Office 2000, posting a document to the Web is as easy as saving it to a traditional file server. When you install Office 2000 Web Publishing, it adds an object called Web Folders to the Microsoft Windows environment. In Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 95/98, Web Folders appears immediately after My Computer in the Windows Explorer hierarchical structure.
The Web Folders object contains shortcuts to Web sites. Users can create, move, rename, and delete shortcuts in Web Folders. The shortcuts can include both a URL and a display name. In Windows Explorer, you can publish by dragging files to sites in Web Folders.
Every document and directory has a URL, and access is controlled though NDS, making Web publishing with NetWare 5.1 easy and secure. Novell's security features tied to NDS include Novell International Cryptographic Infrastructure (NICI), Secure Authentication Service (SAS), and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) authentication.
File Transferring
No longer is it requisite for users to use FTP utilities to copy content to their Web servers. Using the standard Windows Explorer, users can add, move, or delete files stored on a Web server, just as they would with files on their hard drive. To log on to an FTP site from within an Office application, users must have dialup networking access through an ISP (Internet Service Provider) or through a proxy server on a local area network.
Discussion Group Participation
NetWare 5.1 simplifies collaborating documents (such as spreadsheets, presentations, and word processing documents) and Web pages, allowing teams to easily create documents that reflect the knowledge of the entire workgroup, quickly and consistently. NetWare 5.1 allows users to employ inline discussions, where team members can share ideas within the context of a document.
As an alternative to exchanging E-mail messages or routing documents through interdepartmental mail or faxes, Office 2000 Web discussions allow users to discuss information, plans, or ideas in the browser or within Office applications. With this capability, group members can instantaneously view others' comments as they are posted. Web discussions extend workgroup interactivity in four powerful ways:
• Web discussions document conversations in threads, so that replies to a particular discussion remark can be nested directly under the remark.
• Multiple discussions can occur within the same document at the same time. Users can insert discussion remarks into the same document without having to route the document or reconcile comments in multiple copies of the same document.
• Conversations are saved in real time, so when someone inserts a discussion remark, it is immediately saved on the Web server. This means that other reviewers can see it as soon as they open or refresh the document.
• Read-only access can be granted to reviewers so they can add discussion remarks to any document, even if they do not have write-permission to it.
There are two types of discussions users can initiate: a general discussion that relates to the document as a whole, and an inline discussion that relates to a specific paragraph, table, or graphic.
Advanced Searching
NetWare 5.1 lets users search information published on your intranet collectively rather than each independently by using the NetWare Web Search Server. The NetWare Web Search Server houses an index repository that is now associated with the network, which allows you to create a single repository of all your Web content, granting the ability to search the entire intranet at once, using author, keyword, document properties, or other search criteria.
Users can also browse, list, and filter Web folders for the exact types of files they need using AutoNavigation pages. This feature is especially helpful when you need to quickly determine which file in a Web page folder (for example, an HTML document, embedded object, or graphic) you need to edit or review.
Audio and Video Broadcasts
The NetWare Multimedia Server, included with NetWare 5.1, supports multimedia feeds over networks, allowing users to listen to audio and watch video streams over the network. Multimedia Server supports WAV, MP3, and RM file formats.
Installation Information
In order to install NetWare 5.1, you need a dedicated server-class computer that meets the following requirements:
• A server-class PC with a Pentium or higher processor
• A VGA or higher resolution display adapter (SVGA recommended)
• A DOS partition of at least 50 MB with 35 MB available space (standard NetWare products and WebSphere for NetWare require 1.3 GB on volume SYS)
• RAM for standard NetWare products requires 128 MB (WebSphere for NetWare requires 256 MB, but 512 is recommended)
• One or more network boards
• A CD drive that can read ISO 9660-formatted CD disks (bootable CD drives must fully support the El Torito specification)
• A PS/2 or serial mouse is recommended, but not required
Installation Tips
For the first time, with NetWare 5.1, the licenses are on the server CD-ROM rather than on a diskette. After installation, you can use the NetWare Administrator utility to install licenses from diskette if desired or required.
Once your NetWare 5.1 server is up and running, you can log in to it from any DOS, Windows, or NT workstation. If you have an existing NetWare client on your workstation, you can use it to log in to your NetWare 5.1 server. You can even use Microsoft's Client for NetWare, but for best performance, functionality, and compatibility, the Novell client is recommended.
NetWare 5.1 provides more than just the traditional file and print services, it allows you to create a complete Web-based environment or solution by including all the necessary tools to enhance communication both inside and outside your company.
With the improved features of NetWare 5.1, you can create a Web presence that your clients, current customers, and potential customers can reliably access. You can create an extranet, an E-commerce solution, and link Web content to your WebSphere or Oracle database. The Web capabilities of NetWare 5.1 are further enhanced by their integration with NDS, providing secure, centralized management of heterogeneous networks.
* Originally published in Novell AppNotes
© Copyright Micro Focus or one of its affiliates |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/277 | The Nature Conservancy
Enter Our 4th Annual Photo Contest
Find out more on the Nature Conservancy Website
Go to RSA Arts & Ecology
APInews: Mapping the Desert/Deserting the Map
“Mapping the Desert/Deserting the Map” is “an arts-centered investigation” of Californias deserts by UC Riversides Sweeney Art Gallery, October 22-25, 2009. The project also investigates “the new, not-so-new and downright ancient technologies that make such mapping possible.” The four-day gathering, along with a year-long series of events focused on California’s deserts, is partially funded by the University of California Institute for Research in the Arts in association with its new Social Ecologies: California-centric embedded arts research program. the “Dry-immersion Roving Symposium” exploring “widespread concern over environmental, economic and cultural sustainability is fast pushing the desert from the margins to the center of attention in debates on the future of our planet” includes tours of the 29 Palms Marine Base and the lower Colorado desert oasis/dune systems and lectures and discussion on desert issues.
via APInews: Mapping the Desert/Deserting the Map . |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/278 | This is VOSA 6.0
This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-SPACE-2013-1) for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no. 606740
VOSA (VO Sed Analyzer) is a tool designed to perform the following tasks in an automatic manner:
• Read user photometry-tables.
• Query several photometrical catalogs accessible through VO services (increases the wavelength coverage of the data to be analyzed).
• Query VO-compliant theoretical models (spectra) and calculate their synthetic photometry.
• Perform a statistical test to determine which model reproduces best the observed data.
• Use the best-fit model as the source of a bolometric correction.
• Provide the estimated bolometric luminosity for each source.
• Generate a Hertzsprung-Russel diagram with the estimated parameters.
• Provide an estimation of the mass and age of each source
(Take a look to the VOSA Help)
You need a username and password to use the application because it keeps a number of files and database entries with your results and we need to be able to identify which results belong to each user so that you can recover them in future sessions. If you don't have a username and password yet, please feel free to register.
Acknowledging VOSA in publications:
Please include the following in any published material that makes use of VOSA:
This publication makes use of VOSA, developed under the Spanish Virtual Observatory project supported by the Spanish MINECO through grant AyA2017-84089.
VOSA has been partially updated by using funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, under Grant Agreement nº 776403 (EXOPLANETS-A)
Referencing VOSA in publications:
If your research benefits from the use of VOSA, we would appreciate if you could include the following reference in your publication:
Bayo, A., Rodrigo, C., Barrado y Navascués, D., Solano, E., Gutiérrez, R., Morales-Calderón, M., Allard, F. 2008, A&A 492,277B.
Other services used in VOSA.
VOSA uses some external services and theoretical models that you might want to cite or acknowledge if your science benefits from the use of this tool
See the complete credits page
© CAB 2019 |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/292 | DREAM 18: Special NYE 2012 – December 31
Date: December 31, 2012
Venue: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
TV: Fight Network
MMA Fights:
155lbs- Shinya Aoki (31-6-1) vs. Antonio McKee (28-4-2)
***Lightweight Title Fight
145lbs- Tatsuya Kawajiri (31-7-2) vs. Michihiro Omigawa (13-12-1)
135lbs- Bibiano Fernandes (12-3) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (30-11-2)
145lbs- Hiroyuki Takaya (17-9-1) vs. Georgi Karakhanyan (19-3-1)
155lbs- Satoru Kitaoka (30-11-9) vs. Will Brooks (7-0)
170lbs- Hayato Sakurai (36-12-2) vs. Phil Baroni (15-15)
185lbs- Denis Kang (35-15-2) vs. Melvin Manhoef (26-9-1)
145lbs- Marloes Coenen (20-5) vs. Fiona Muxlow (6-1)
16 Man Heavyweight Grand Slam Kickboxing Tournament:
Semmy Schilt (39-6) vs. Brice Guidon (28-7)
Gokhan Saki (77-15) vs. Raomoru (?-?)
Daniel Ghita (44-7) vs. Fabiano Aoki (27-9)
Remy Bonjasky (77-14) vs. Filip Verlinden (38-6)
Peter Aerts (104-30-1) vs. Mourad Bouzidi (73-19)
Errol Zimmerman (76-16-1) vs. Jamal Ben Saddik (22-0)
Anderson ‘Braddock’ Silva (32-8-1) vs. Igor Jurkovic (44-5)
Sergei Kharitonov (22-7) vs. Rico Verhoeven (37-6-1)
Jerome Le Banner (72-21-2) vs. Koichi Pettas (26-7-1)
Robin van Roosmalen (37-14-3) vs. Yuichiro Nagashima (17-5)
17 Responses to “ DREAM 18: Special NYE 2012 – December 31 ”
1. Cody Rempel says:
This event will feature a 16 Man Heavyweight Kickboxing tournament, participants so far include Semmy Schilt, Daniel Ghita, Remy Bonjasky, Gokhan Saki, Peter Aerts and Errol Zimmerman
Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
2. Adam Lorenz says:
16 man?! That’s twice the size of the K1 GP! I’d definitely watch a tourny its been forever since those GPs
Well-loved! Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
3. Jamie Locke says:
Sounds like fun. Any word on Bibi coming back for the night as well?
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4. Cody Rempel says:
UPDATE: Added, Brice Guidon, Raomoru, Fabiano Aoki, Filip Verlinden, Mourad Bouzidi, Jamal Ben Saddick, Anderson “Braddock” Silva, Igor Jurkovic, Sergei Kharitonov and Rico Verhoeven, opening bracket for 16 man Heavyweight Kickboxing Tournament is complete!
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5. Cody Rempel says:
UPDATE: Added Hayato Sakurai vs. Phil Baroni, Shinya Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes and Melvin Manhoef
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6. Jamie Locke says:
Bibi vs Yoshiro Maeda
Melvin Manhoef vs DENIS KANG!
How am I going to watch this now that Shaw dropped HD Net (AXS or whatever)…???
Well-loved! Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
7. PUCK says:
Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
8. Cody Rempel says:
UPDATE: Antonio McKee takes on Shinya Aoki for Lightweight Title
Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
9. Cody Rempel says:
UPDATE: This event will air live on the Fight Network with the Dream portion of the card beginning at 2am eastern time and the Glory Heavyweight Grand Slam beginning at 6am eastern time
Added Hiroyuki Takaya vs. Georgi Karakhanyan and Satoru Kitaoka vs. Will Brooks
Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
10. Donald Duck says:
Holy crap I loving watching Antonio McKee fight he’s so ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
11. Cody Rempel says:
Hopefully Aoki finishes him quickly!
Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
12. Jamie Locke says:
As boring as McKee is, I like this match-up for Aoki. There aren’t many awesome opponents for him outside the UFC.
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13. Cody Rempel says:
UPDATE: Added Jerome Le Banner vs. Koichi Pettas and Robin van Roosmalen vs. Yuichiro Nagashima (Kickboxing)
Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
14. Cody Rempel says:
According to Fight Matrix, McKee is the second highest ranked Lightweight outside of the “Big 3” after Jadamba Narantungalag and is actually 7 spots higher than Aoki… I don’t agree with it but gives you an idea of where they’re at!
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15. Cody Rempel says:
UPDATE: Added Michihiro Omigawa to take on Tatsuya Kawajiri
Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
16. Added: Marloes Coenen vs. Fiona Muxlow
Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
17. BlahzayBlahzay says:
No Showtime fighting in the k1 tournament? The way he talks, you would think he is the favorite to win and is one of the world’s best…he’s just had some bad luck getting ko’ed by some no-name toughman
Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
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Some HTML is OK |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/295 | copper ore crushed properties
Copper Ore Crushed Properties
Crushed Copper Ore - Feed The Beast Wiki
This article is a disambiguation page for Crushed Copper Ore. The following is a list of links to pages that share the same title or have similar meanings. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Copper Crusher | Metallurgy2 Wiki | FANDOM …
The Copper Crusher is the 2nd Tier of Crushers A copper crusher takes 30 seconds to crush one ore into dust. This means that it takes 24 coal (as an example fuel) and 32 minutes to crush a full stack of material into take 1 coal to crush 2 ore.
Crushed Copper Ore (Ex Nihilo) - Feed The Beast …
Note: Each chance can be increased by 10% with each level of fortune enchantment. Usage Crushed Copper Ore (Ex Nihilo) can be used to create the following items:
copper ore being crushed -
copper ore crushed properties . The main ore mineral of copper in Australia (and worldwide) is chalcopyrite (CuFeS2). mines involves the ore being broken and brought to the surface for crushing. Get Price. copper, uranium, and The crushed ore is irrigated with a dilute alkaline cyanide solution.
Copper - Wikipedia
Copper Ore Is Mined And Crushed - …
Copper Ore Crushed Properties. Copper Mining and Extraction Sulfide Ores This KS3 education resource looks at copper mining extraction and It is ductile and it can prevent bacterial growth see Copper Properties and Applications To get at the copper the first stage is crushing in huge cylindrical ball mills Get Price.
Crushed Copper Ore - Industrial-Craft-Wiki
Crushed Copper Ore. From Industrial-Craft-Wiki. Redirect page. Jump to: navigation, search. Redirect to: Copper#Crushed Copper Ore; v ... Copper Ore • ...
Henry Cho King - copper ore ( crushed )
Henry Cho King, Experts in Manufacturing and Exporting copper ore ( crushed ) and 2 more Products. A Supplier on
Crushed Ore - Official Feed The Beast Wiki
20-6-2017 · Crushed Ore is an item added by the Ex Nihilo mod. It can be obtained by either sifting Sand in a Sieve to get all types of crushed ore, or by smashing a specific Ore Gravel with a Hammer to get crushed ore of the same type. There are ten variants of crushed ore: Aluminium, Copper, Gold, Iron, Lead, Nickel, Osmium, Platinum, Silver, and Tin.
COPPER Copper production - TU Delft
much energy and very large furnace capacities. The copper ore coming from the mine (0.5 – 1 % Cu) must be concentrated by beneficiation. The valuable minerals like chalcopyrite are intergrown with gangue. Therefore, in the first step the lumpy ore is crushed and milled into fine particles (< 100 µm) to liberate the individual mineral phases.
Copper Ore - Mineral and Healing Properties
Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity and is used in building material. Since 900 B.C., people have been using products derived from Copper and its ore. The demand for copper mainly comes from the electrical and electronics industries. Almost 42% of the share is absorbed by the Electrical & Electronics sector.
Crushed Copper Ore from Industrial Craft 2 | …
Make Crushed Copper Ore and the rest of Industrial Craft 2 easy and use the interactive crafting planner for step-by-step instructions
Copper Mineral | Uses and Properties
Copper Ore 120-150 Copper Ore, Crushed 100-150 Copper Sulfate (Bluestone) 75-85 Copperas (See Ferrous Sulfate)-Copra Cake, Ground 40-45 Copra Cake, Lumpy 25-30 Copra, Lumpy 22 Copra, Meal 40-45 Page 2 of 7 - Scroll for more...
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/300 | [<< wikiquote] Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie is the second feature-length film by Cheech & Chong, released in 1980 by Universal Pictures, and directed by Tommy Chong.
== Cheech ==
Responsibility is a heavy responsibility!
Somebody ripped off the thing I ripped off!
Holy sheep shit! It's guitar heaven!
== Dialogue ==
Chong: What?
Chong: What, this?
Cheech: Yeah.
Chong: No kidding.
Cheech: What are you doing with pee?
Chong: That's for my probation officer, man.
Cheech: What, does he drink pee?
Cheech: Yeah?
Cheech: Yeah, what did you do?
Chong: Have my SISTER pee in it.
Cheech: [laughs it out] Your sister?
Chong: Yeah, she's pregnant!
[Both laugh]
Cheech: Hey, did she get the weed?
Chong: No, she's out of it, man. We're just waiting on some from Columbia.Chong: I dig it, man. It's good. But you know, while you were singing that, I came up with another song, man.
Cheech: Oh, yeah?
Chong: Yeah. It's like the same thing, only different.Gloria's Mom: [while driving] Watch the road.
Cheech: Okay, where's it gonna go?Guard at the Studio Entrance: [to Cheech] Hey, fella, you need a pass.
Cheech: [covered in ashes after the car explosion] Oh, uh... I'm with the Towering Inferno, man.Guard at the Studio Entrance: [to Cheech after leaving in a van] Hey, fella, your pass?
Cheech: Pass? Oh, thanks a lot, man.[After shifting gasoline that has spilt on their clothes, Chong tries to light a joint]
Chong: You got a light, man?
Chong: Why?
Cheech: Ah, these gas fumes, man.
Chong: Oh man. '[flicks the lighter]
Cheech: I don't know. [the inside of the car explodes]Cheech: Want me to teach you some Spanish, man?
Chong: Okay.
Chong: "Hey, how's it going, Pendecko?"
Cheech: ...Yeah, that's close enough.
Chong: What does that mean, man?
Cheech: Oh, it means my really good friend.
Cheech: Pendejo.
Chong: Good, man.
Chong: I'm not Cheech, man.
Dwayne "Red" Mendoza: What?
Chong: I'm Cheech's friend Chong.
Dwayne "Red" Mendoza: Oh, hey, Ching! Good to meet you!Desk Clerk: [on phone with police] Look, this is the real thing this time! There are two crazies running around tearing the place up! I already told you our location! ERRRGH! Well, what are they doing, walking over here? Look, I think they're Iranians!... okay, thanks very much.Pee-wee Herman: Hey, you guys look a little familiar to me!
Dwayne "Red" Mendoza: Okay!
Chong: Yeah, man!
Pee-wee Herman: Fuck this. I'm going somewhere else. Hey, hey, here! [gives Red the finger and storms off]Chong: You're driving like an idiot, man.
Chong: Yeah, they are real complicated, aren't they?
== Cast ==
Cheech Marin as Cheech and Dwayne "Red" Mendoza
Tommy Chong as Chong "Man"
Evelyn Guerrero as Donna
Paul Reubens as Desk clerk and Pee-wee Herman
Betty Kennedy as Candy
Sy Kramer as Mr. Neatnik
Rikki Marin as Gloria
Edie McClurg as Gloria's mom
Bob McClurg as Chicken Charlie
Rita Wilson as Actress wannabe
Shelby Chong as Beautiful girl
Phil Hartman as Chick Hazard - Private Eye
Missy Cleveland as Massage girl
Kim Hopkins as Wardrobe girl
Cassandra Peterson as Hostage
Michael Winslow as Welfare Comedian
Ed Peck as Cop Shotgun
Jonnie Barnett as Cop Driver
Faith Minton as female bouncer
== External links ==
Cheech & Chong's Next Movie quotes at the Internet Movie Database |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/303 | Male Health Conditions That Affect Ability to Orgasm
There are certain health conditions in men that may significantly affect their ability to have orgasms. These conditions may sometimes be considered by doctors as a possible explanation why some men may find it hard to get sexually aroused or achieve climax. It might help provide a better understanding of certain sexual dysfunctions in men and may help find the proper solutions to address such problems.
Men experiencing hypothyroidism may have a thyroid gland that might not be producing enough hormones needed by the body. Some of these hormones may be those needed for normal sexual function. Having such inadequate amounts of such hormones may lead to certain sexual dysfunctions in men which may include the inability to achieve orgasm.
Just like hypothyroidism, hypogonadism may also cause certain sexual dysfunctions in men. This condition may cause the testicles not to produce enough testosterone which may affect normal sexual function that may lead to considerable difficulty to achieve climax.
Neurological Problems
Certain neurological problems may have a drastic effect on a man’s sexual function and ability to reach climax. Stroke, diabetic neuropathy and multiple sclerosis may affect one’s ability to achieve orgasm.
Prostate Problems
Prostate problems including infections and the effects after surgery on the prostate or other pelvic organs can also affect a man’s ability to achieve orgasm.
Psychological Problems
Sometimes the inability to achieve orgasm in men can be traced to certain psychological problems. Depression, anxiety and panic disorders can sometimes cause men to experience difficulties in achieving orgasm. There are also cases where taking certain medications like SSRI’s to correct certain psychological problems may also contribute to certain sexual dysfunctions in men. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/321 | TALOL: Ren Fest Edition
OK. I need to tell you something. I can do this. Just do it like a band-aid Meg, just do it like a band-aid...Here we go...I went to The Maryland Renaissance Festival over the weekend. WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! DON'T GO! Here me out:
a.) I didn't go in costume. (Obviously.)
b.) It was Becca's idea. And my sister could be like, "I'm going to skip stones down by the river" and I'd be all, "COOL!!!!! CAN I COME?!?!" Although she didn't really have to spend much time convincing me to go. She had me at "whimsical hair braiding."
c.) Delicious fried foods on sticks.
d.) Endless beer.
e.) There was a two-headed turtle freak show. I mean. Please.
f.) It was the Olympic Games of people watching. A visual all-you-can-eat buffet of sexually active Theater Geeks and weirdos! To which I say, yes and please!
I would be a whore and a liar if I said it wasn't awesome. Maybe the best part of my entire Summer. Yeah, I know, strong statement. But I mean, honestly! It was a free pass to get drunk at 10 o'clock in the morning and observe Meeks in their natural habitat! And they were corseted and chain-mailed Meeks, none-the-less! I had a digital camera, a liver full of Sam Adams Oktoberfest and zero inhibitions. It. Was. Awesome.
A FURRY! I couldn't even contain my excitement.
(That's what she said.)
Raver Furry. He had "pierced ears" and punk pants. I just...I can't.
Screw Gym-Crush Kyle. This is my new imaginary boyfriend.
At ye olde Cod-Piecery.
It must suck to work on your dragon costume all year and then show up on opening day in 95-degree weather with no breeze and immediately regret that decision.
I didn't know they had Real Dolls in the Renaissance...
I kind of hope I get reincarnated into the wench who gets to spend the end of her summer wandering around Ren Fest shouting, "SWEET NUTS! WHO WANTS A TASTE OF MY SWEET NUTS?!"
Heaving bosoms you guys. Heaving bosoms and bees all over the fuckin' place.
What is it with Meeks and leather horse art?
A beeswax candle of a dolphin. Because of course it is.
TWO TURTLES IN ONE?! The only thing that could be cuter is if they both raped a shoe.
Seriously...cod pieces and heaving bosoms as far as the eye could see.
Mmm...Oktoberfest, fried foods and Meek-hunting.
Uh, HBO Real Sex on Pony Play anyone?!
I was peer-pressured into buying red nymph ears. Here they are. I don't know. In my defense when I bought these I had reached a point where body was comprised of equal parts beer to sweat and I probably would have done anything anyone told me to do. Plus they opened the door to endless "is the maiden horny??" jokes from gentle sirs passing by.
Faire ye well, indeed.
...Don't judge me.
Drinking Game Friday has a new roommate.
Via comments:
Meg: 41 votes
Andrew: 35 votes
Via Online Poll:
Meg: 66.95%
Andrew: 33.05%
Drink When:
- Your favorite blogger gets physically assaulted by a cockroach.
Well good now we're all drunk.
I prefer the term 'Sexually Challenged'"
STSs and their Treatment
Recrap Wednesdays: Zebras and Man Boobs and Arbitrary Decisions! Oh my!
That's how this episode opens. A close-up of waffles being drenched in butter and syrup. Lest we forget these hogs are fatties who like to eat. Thank you Fox. Thank you for that gentle reminder. I just...I just don't know if I can do it anymore. And I mean the universal IT. I'm just not feelin' it this morning. Ted Kennedy's dead, Hello Cupcake ran out of free cupcakes and closed right before we got there last night, I have still yet to figure out how to change the light bulb behind the bar's back splash, my new haircut isn't conducive to the god-awful heat and humidity...some days it's like, what's the point, you know? And then I look into Krazyface Kristian's eyes and I see a beacon of hope. Because as long as we can laugh, we can go on to face another day, right? Right. And considering in this episode K.Face Krissy compares her body dancing the salsa to "two pigs fighting under a blanket," perhaps I can even go on for another week.
Our episode opens with waffles, of course, but then moves on to the arbitrary handing out of the first date. Honestly, everything about this show is so random. There's no reason or rhyme to who gets to go on which date or who gets more face time with Luke or anything. I mean, is a good old-fashioned hot dog eating contest too much to ask for? Anyway, the Gods that be decide Mandy and Kristian will be going on the first date with Luke to learn how to salsa dance. Obviously Kristian shits her pants with excitement because she's clinically insane and has a little Luke Conley Real Doll that she lugs around the house having tea parties and practice make out sessions with. Not really. Well who knows, I wouldn't put it past her.
Mandy irritates me for two reasons: 1.) She has Huckleberry Hound eyes:
and 2.) She's blatantly not overweight! If there were a convention for completely normal body types, she would be a keynote speaker. I just don't get how she's classified as "overweight." Unless "overweight" you mean "needs a supportive bra." Then I get it.
Each girl gets a mini salsa dancing lesson and then some alone time with Luke. Luke chooses to get his alone time with Kristian out of the way first and I get it. It's like ripping a band-aid off. However, this decision sends Mandy into a tailspin of emotion. Because remember, fat people have emotions. And a penchant for waffles. Waffles and emotions. And no date to prom. Proving once and for all that he's a giant creepy weirdo, Luke makes out with Kristian during their alone time—RIGHT AS MANDY ROUNDS THE CORNER! She totally sees the whole thing, runs to the bathroom and cries her face off.
Now, I can understand seeing that and being like "what puh fuck?!" but I don't understand her decision to run away and cry. Because she wastes her entire alone time with Luke having him coddle her and be like, "You're special, you're beautiful, make outs mean nothing, blickity blah blah blah" instead of utilizing that time to actually make out with him herself. I mean come on! What is this amateur hour?! I hate to bring everything back to Rock of Love, and yet I don't hate to at all because that show was genius. Many, many a time, a girl would round the corner to find Bret and a Token Ho making out and instead of being a Needy Nellie about it, she would handle it like a pro. Which make senses because that girl probably was a professional, but still! If Lacey from Rock of Love taught me anything it's that when you see your man making out with another girl on a group date, you walk over confidentaly, say something like, "Oooh, looks like we're having fun over here, mind if I cut in?" which he won't, because what's better than making out with one girl? Two girls. So the girl he was making out will get up (not before saying something catty, probably involving the phrase "sloppy seconds,") walk way and that's your cue to sit down and pick up where she left off. The beauty of this is that you're make out session will be fresh in his mind whereas hers is but a distant memory. BAM! That's how you whore yourself out on national television! Always ask yourself: WWROLD?
The next day Malissa is arbitrarily picked for an alone date. They go on a helicopter ride to a vineyard and go wine tasting. The date pretty much follows the same boring and creepy arc established in every other episode:
couple sits somewhere beautiful -> marvel at how beautiful the scenery is -> Oh PS you look beautiful too -> but I'm fat! -> but you're still beautiful! -> make out -> uncorking wine/champagne bottle ejaculation joke.
Luke's date with Malissa does have the added bonus of a botched tandem bicycle ride, however. They go on the queerest bicycle ride ever. As they ride through the vineyard, they pass a herd of zebras. Honest to god zebras.
The fuck? I've been to Napa Valley and I did not see one zebra the entire time. And things even more mystical and coked out when they BREAK THE BIKE. Their overweight bodies break the tandem bicycle. Personally, I don't believe it. I think the producers tampered with it beforehand because yes, Luke and Malissa aren't exactly the Olsen Twins, but they are in no way offensively overweight enough to break a Huffy in half. I refuse to believe it.
When Malissa comes back from the date, she tells the rest of the girls in the house that she thinks she's in love with Luke. And bring out the waffles and Aunt Jemima because this causes a HAIL STORM of emotion. Kristian goes crazy because (she's crazy and) she's been in love with Luke since her first casting video. Kirstian in her confessional pops a vein in her eye as she shouts, "WELL HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU LOVE HIM? WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU LOVE HIM?" Umm, I don't know psychopath. Probably the same reason you're in love with him after only a handful of group dates: because it's a competition and winning things is super fun. Then Heather starts crying because (fat people have emotions and) she's not in love with Luke yet and feels behind. "What's wrong with me?" she sobs, "Why am I not feeling this?" To which Laura and I both shouted at the television in perfect synchronization: "BECAUSE YOU'RE NORMAL!!!!!!" Which is why it's better to watch this show with a friend or a spotter.
The next day, Luke takes Anna, Heather and The Tranny on a group date to the beach. It's awkward...Luke complains later in his confessional that he's sick of the girls relying on him to direct the conversation all of the time. Yeah. Us too. Because Luke decides to direct the conversation towards man boobs and suntan lotion. Really makes a girl miss the awkward silence. During Luke's one-on-one time with Heather, she tells him that she's starting to get jealous of the other girls and this does not make Luke happy. Luke thought Heather would have more confidence in their connection and this insecurity is a real turn-off. Which is kind of odd considering Luke has a raging insecurity fetish. I thought he'd be coming in his pants during this conversation, but no. Luke Conley: you surprise me.
The next night at the pre-elimination mixer, Mandy utilizes this time to have a heart-to-heart with Luke about how she used to have an eating disorder. Wamp, wamp...Things continue down Awkward Avenue when Kristian tells Luke that she's in love with him. In three different languages. And then in English. Just so there's no lingering confusion. Luke says he's "touched." Now, ideally when you tell someone that you love them, you want to hear it back. Luke saying that he was touched was very kind of him, but sort of a red flag to Kristian that homeboy is not so much in love with her back. Instead of picking up on that flag, Kristian floats back to the other girls, cries and gushes about how in love she is and how he tooooootalllllyyyyy loves her too. This causes The Tranny to reach into her boxers, grab her balls by the scruff and find Luke to tell him that she's "not comfortable developing feelings for the man that Kristian loves, so maybe she shouldn't be in the picture." OOOO! TRANNY TIME! Luke tells Tranny not to pay attention to anything the other girls are saying in the house (read: "WOAH WOAH WOAH, Kristian said what now?! I love her like I love a sturdy dining room table or ample closet space!") and follow her heart. Well played Tranny...well played indeed.
At elimination, Luke chooses Anna first, which is bizarre and shocking because she's gotten the least face and also has Huckleberry Hound eyes. Again, arbitrary decisions 2009. In the end it comes down to Kristian, Heather or The Tranny. This is the same point when Teresa and Dave showed up at my place to find me and Laura clutching each other on the couch screaming "IT'S GOT TO BE HEATHER!!!" over and over again at the TV. BUT! HE PICKS THE TRANNY and sends home Krazyface Kristian and Homegirl Heather! OIJF293F09J2FOIFfijwoei! Arbitrary, horrible decisions that make no sense. After sending the girls off, Luke runs after Kristian because "she needs a little more explanation and a little more time with me." I wish he hadn't done that, because then we get to see her break down in Luke's arms and it feels border-line inappropriate to watch. She does that cry where you can't catch your breath and your.words.are.all.short.and.choppy.like.this and snot's uncontrollably flying out of your nose...we weren't meant to see that. Poor little bird. I almost feel badly for exclusively referring to her as Krazyface Kristian. Almost...
Cry Count: 9...... +50 for Kristian's breakdown. So, 59.
Next week: The four remaining ladies go on their last one-on-one date with Luke and SURPRISE! Their families are there!
The Great Juno Debate
There are two scenes that support Andrew's theory:
Your drinking problem has affected me in the following ways:
No dice.
"Yo baby girl, want you to scratch my itch/
What I've learned from this situation is:
1.) Washington, DC residents are not good Samaritans
2.) I'm a high-class bitch (!)
4.) All white people know each other
And now you know.
My So-Called Drinking Game
If you follow me on Twitter, you already know that I've been having a personal My So-Called Life marathon for the past week, courtesy of Hulu. If you don't follow me on TwitterFYI: I've been having a personal My So-Called Life marathon for the past week, courtesy of Hulu. And it has been magical.
When people ask me what's going on in my life, the first thing I say is that I've been watching a lot of My So-Called Life recently (which is kind of sad and pathetic in it's own right). 80% of people I tell this to have never seen a single episode. That statistic shocks me. Because My So-Called Life is such an important show. And it's not just important to me (although it really is,) it's important to the greater pop-culture landscape as a whole. I believe that MSCL is the most authentic and relatable teen drama that has ever been on television. When explaining it to someone who's never seen it before, I'm quick to compare it to Degrassi, because MSCL also goes there. But really that's an unfair comparison, because MSCL is so much more relatable than Degrassi. Maybe that's because I've only seen Degrassi Junior High and I'm not a Canadian middle schooler in 1987, but still, I argue that MSCL has a leg-up on any other teen drama for the following reasons:
1.) The language. Winnie Holzman's writing is brilliant for so many reasons, and her use of language is key. If you took a shot for every time someone said "like" on the show, your veins would run a river of Jack Daniel's. Which is perfect, because when real people talk, they tend to say things like "like" and "um." Real people also tend to think about weird stuff and ramble. Ergo when Angela says stuff like,
it's so perfectly perfect.
2.) The characters manage to be archetypal while not becoming parodies of themselves. Which happens so quickly on other shows. Let's take Gossip Girl for example. Chuck Bass is the rich, sociopath, womanizing character of the show, right? Well that's all good and fun to watch until Season 2 when the writers have exhausted every semi-incestual sexual relationship between the characters, so they make Chuck move on to an elite Eyes Wide Shut style sex club where members have to wear masks and have secret matching tattoos. Because frankly, what the fuck? I understand womanizing the entire Senior class and maybe some of the help, but an elite masked sex club? Really? It was at this moment that I came to the sad, sad realization that Gossip Girl had jumped the shark. The archetypes on MSCL never got out of hand. Sure Rayanne was The Drunk, but she only needed her stomach pumped once, and who hasn't been there? Relatable. She didn't shank a hooker, steal a car, drive to the Anheuser-Bush factory and drown in a vat of Budweiser.
3.) The show explored both major and minor teenage issues. Sure it tackled drug abuse, child abuse, sex, infidelity, depression, sexuality and homelessness (to name a few,) but more importantly, it also showed those small, universally relatable stupid teen moments that we all had. Like when Angela wakes up and realizes she's finally over Jordan Catalano and dances around her room in her boxers blasting Jane's Addiction Violent Femmes. Everyone has that moment where they're like, "Holy shit. I'm so over you. THIS IS AWESOME!" Hell, I had that moment this morning! Why do you think I was late for work? It took me a few minutes to download "Blister in the Sun" and clear the crap off my couch so I could jump up and down on it, but I did! And it felt great!
4.) The show's Nihilistic attitude towards conflict resolution. This is probably my favorite thing about the entire show. Nothing ever gets resolved. And it's perfect. Let's go back to the Gossip Girl comparison again. Blair and Serena get in this huge fight and spend the first half of Season 1 trying to destroy each other's lives, right? Then they have one teary conversation, hug it out and are instantly biffles^max again? That's really not how it works. At all. Because you and your friend can have that make-up conversation and chalk it up to miscommunication and cry about how much you missed each other and hug and sob and giggle, but things never really go back to the way they were. Because as much as it sucks, you can never really forget what happened. And it's going to be awkward and weird for a while. That's why I appreciate that Rayanne and Angela, although technically past their teary conversation/hug it out moment, weren't really on speaking terms for the last third of the series. And that in and of itself is never really resolved! It's just accepted that their relationship has changed and things are different. Every time their characters interact, it's only in a "Hey...Yeah...This is awkward. Welp! Good to see you!" kind of way. Because that's how it is in life.
Likewise other major issues are explored but never really resolved. Like Ricky's homelessness. He gets beat up, disowned and subsequently has to bounce around staying with various friends. And that's that. His long-lost grandmother from Puerto Rico never shows up to adopt him. Because although that would close out that plot line nicely, what are the odds of that really happening? Or the fact that Jordan Catalano also sort of has a drinking problem and comes from an abusive home. That fact is presented, but never resolved. It's just sort of accepted that he's the trashy kid from the townhouses down the street. So there's that. Or Rayanne's drinking. Yes, she drinks too much and overdoses on X one night, and sure she goes to some counseling, but soon she's right back to drinking. And the show sort of treats that like, "Ooof...that's probably going to suck down the road one day...Oh swells!" and that's that. There's no tender, touching, Hallmark THIS IS FIXED, LET'S NEVER SPEAK OF IT AGAIN moment (Cough, Blair's bulimia problem, cough). Because in life, not everything can be fixed. There are just some shitty things that will always be shitty because that's the way the cookie crumbles. Like Danielle! She's Angela's annoying younger sister, a character I can relate to in a big way. She's bored and left-out and desperate for attention, but guess what? That's just the way it is. There's never an episode where Angela and Danielle talk their issues out and decide to make a conscious effort to make Danielle feel more included. Because that would never happen. She's going to feel lame and left-out for a while, but then she'll get older and things will get better. Because that's just how it works. And I respect the show for recognizing that and not forcing convenient, yet completely unrealistic resolutions.
So that's why I love My So-Called Life. That and the fact that Jordan Catalano couldn't read. Which is endlessly funny to me for some sick and twisted reason.
So lace up your Doc Marten's, tie a flannel jacket around your waist and get ready to share your emotions
it's time for The Ultimate My So-Called Life Drinking Game!
Drink When:
- Music from any of the following bands is played: Violent Femmes, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden, The Cranberries, Radiohead or Jane's Addiction
- A character refers to another character by their last name only (ie: Catalano, Krakow, Chase or Cherski)
- Jordan Catalano struggles to read (LOLZ!)
- Jordan Catalano calls Brian "Brain" because he has dyslexia (DOUBLE LOLZ!)
- Rayanne takes a drink
- Rayanne overdoses
- Rayanne gets stage fright
- Rayanne's mom calls her "Raynie"
- Angela cries
- Mr. and Mrs. Chase have sex
- Patty Chase wears a blouse buttoned to the very top button
- Graham Chase cooks something
- Danielle interrupts the conversation with a non-sequitor
- Tino is referenced
- Sharon organizes something school-related (ie: World Happiness Dance or the Christmas Eve Suicide Hotline)
- Sharon and Kyle make out
- Angela and Jordan make out
- Jordan pressures Angela to have sex
- Brian Krakow is called to save the day
- The soap dispenser in the girl's bathroom is out of soap
- Hallie Lowenthal inappropriately flirts with Graham
- Something supernatural happens (ie: angels or time travel)
- The band breaks up
- One of Angela's friends turn to her mom for help or advice
- Ricky doesn't have anywhere to stay (WAMP, WAMP)
- Jared Leto sings a non 30 Seconds to Mars related song
As always, thank you so much for reading and spreading the 2b1b word via twitter, facebook and your votes! Have a great weekend and we'll see you back here Monday morning!
Thoughts I couldn't flesh out into full entries:
- The unreasonably nice Katie from WeLoveDC did an interview with me that is available here. I emailed it to my dad under the subject line: BE PROUD OF YOUR DAUGHTER. Instead of being proud, this happened:
From: Dad
To: Me
do you really think that Bret Michaels is anything but disgustingly sleazy?
From: Me
To: Dad
I think that Bret Michaels is an innovator who's donated thousands of dollars to juvenile diabetes (pronounced: die-uh-beet-us) charities around the world. What have you done lately?
From: Dad
To: Me
I'll tell you what I haven't done. Hung out with a bunch of skanky redneck chicks who have such frog belly low self-esteem that they would hook themselves to a has-been third tier rock star (the rock version of Screech) for a chance to be on a really, really, really bad reality show.
Wait, that actually doesn't sound all that bad.
I stopped responding after that.
- I would just like to explain the following ridiculousness that just transpired: Our company has a new product that I need to order a bunch of brochures for to give to our sales people. Normally when I need something, I email Pat in the Mail Room and he (she? he-she? What's that? It's Pat!) fills my order (that's what he/she/he-she said) and sends it to me. Yesterday I got a snippy little email from Pat being like, "In the future can you please use our website for literature requests? That's what it was made for." A little snippy, yes, but blokay, I can handle that. I went on our website this morning and submitted my order, per Pat's request. A window popped up that said, "Thank you for your request, a sales representative will be contacting you shortly." Then, not 5 minutes ago, Boss #1 called from the road to say she was forwarding me an email from someone in our area who's requested literature and could I fill it? I said yes. She then proceeded to forward me my own literature request that I sent earlier in the morning. For me to fill. For myself. With the literature that I don't have. Which is why I requested it in the first place. So, Pat, that is why I prefer to email you directly instead of using with the website, you gender-ambiguous A-fuck.
- During one of my recent anxiety induced bouts of insomnia, I googled "I can't sleep," because I trust two things in this world: Google and _____ for Dummies books. The first result was an article entitled "Can't Sleep? 15 Tips You Can Try for Insomnia." Tip #7 is:
7. Don't count sheep if you find that counting is stimulating for you.
That's like the fucking funniest sentence in the entire world to me. Because it was awfully considerate of them to include a tip that only applies to The Count from Sesame Street, a fictional puppet-based character.
- Ever since I failed to find my quest to find a pair of adequately Dynasty-esque nude-colored pumps to revive, I've moved on to stick pins. I don't know why I chose stick pins, I just know they're back and bigger than ever (in my mind and my mind only.) I won three on ebay last week and they arrived at my door Friday afternoon. In a moment of sheer excitement, I (alone in my apartment) unpacked them from their box and sang (out loud and to the tune of Justin Timberlake's SexyBack): "I'm bringin' stick pins back! Yeah! You other accessories don't know how to act! Yeah! Get your stick pins on get your stick pins on!" Immediately after that, the pendent on my favorite one broke off and rolled under the refrigerator. I'd like to think that's god's way of gently telling me to stop being such a douche bag.
Cry Count: 14
We Have to Take Our Clothes Off
Being a celebrity today is a lot harder than it used to be. I say this as though I have experience in a) being a celebrity and b) living back in the day. I have neither of those experiences. However, I feel like in order to be a celebrity today you have to either be really talented at one thing or pretend to be talented at lots of different things.
If you are in the first class of persons, generating publicity for a movie takes about as much effort as breathing. Tom Hanks, for instance, can literally film himself taking a crap and it will most likely generate some Oscar buzz.
For the second class of celebs, it can be a little bit tougher. What do you do to get people to get out and see your new mediocre movie or listen to your new tepid album or whatever subpar activity you’ve decided to try your hand at? You could hit the talk show circuit aggressively, but as you’re a lukewarm personality, people will most likely not be amped about tuning in to hear you plug your latest venture at 1:30 AM on a work night. What you can do is what millions (maybe not millions…tens? twenties?) of celebrities before you have done. Hit the internet. With your camera. And your naked body.
What brings this to mind currently is the latest nekkid photo to hit the interwebs that of Mr. Jamie Foxx. I’m shocked by this for a variety of reasons. First and foremost being, goddamn he should change his name to Jamie Foxxx and look into a career in porn. Secondly, no more than 5 years ago, Jamie Foxx had an Oscar in his hand. But come to think of it, I haven’t heard much from Jamie Foxx since “Blame It” came out back in February. But considering that video shows Jamie palling around with Forest Whitaker, Jake Gyllenhaal, Samuel L. Jackson, and Ron Howard, I’m surprised he feels he has to lower himself by lowers his pants. Though I suppose The Soloist has already come and gone from movie theaters with not as much hype as was expected. But Wikipedia tells me that Mr. Foxx has another movie due out in October. While it is only August, it’s never too early to generate some excitement for a movie. And with the image of Jamie Foxx’s wang seared into your retina (and at the top of most Google searches) for the next few weeks, Law Abiding Citizen may scrape some dough together from the box office.
An even better example involves a repeat offender of these publicity generating tactics, Ms. Vanessa Anne Hudgens. I’m sure everyone saw Baby V’s lopsided bush when it first leaked to the internet back in September of 2007. You’d think she would have learned her lesson and stop taking naked pictures of herself slash delete any pre-existing pictures of herself. That’d be a big NOPE, because more pictures leaked to the internet earlier this month. And in a strange “coincidence” V.Hudge has a movie which came out over the weekend. A movie in which she plays a character named “Sa5m” where the 5 is silent. Clearly, the producers of this movie realize people are going to need an extra push to go see this piece of garbage.
Surely two instances do not make a standard. Well for you fine people, I combed through the annals of celebrity scandals to find some correlations. Let’s see. Colin Farrell’s sex tape was leaked in early 2006, a year in which he released Miami Vice (with none other than Jamie Foxx! Twist!), a movie with much hype, but not a lot of results. Pam Anderson’s sex tape started hitting the old interweb right around the time Barb Wire was set to hit the silver screen. As iff Leighton Meester couldn’t simply let her collabo with Cobra Starship on “Good Girls Go Bad” hype up her forthcoming album, her foot-job sex tape leaked roughly at the same time. Likewise, Kristen Davis let Charlotte York’s good girl image go bad soon before Sex and the City hit theaters with an alleged sex tape of her own.
Let’s say that all of the above instances are really publicity stunts and not Revenge of the Ex (a la Mya) although there’s something kinda hot about revenge on a famous ex via public naked humiliation or maybe it’s just me. I would kill to be a fly on the wall when the conversation between a star and their publicist turns to getting naked. “Listen, Vanessa, V, Baby V. We’ve got a bit of a problemo here. The numbers for your new movie just aren’t where we want them to be. I Googled you last night and it wasn’t pretty. You were the #9 hit. #9! Nickelback got more hits than you! I’d love to see you at #1, and there’s one way I can think of to make that happen. Still with me? This is a cameraphone. I’m going to step out of the room and if you happen to take some intimate pictures of yourself, so be it. And I can promise you that I won’t not accidentally leak them to Perez. Now drop trou, I’ll be back in ten. Love you babe!”
If it does actually work and a naked photo scandal does increase publicity (the litmus test for this will be whether Bandslam is in theaters for more than a month), then please expect pictures of my raw dong to be floating around the internet faster than you can say “More like 2balls1blog!” If not, maybe keep the celeb naked photo shoots to a minimum. However, I heard Jake Gyllenhaal has a movie coming out soon, and if he needs to increase publicity, then by all means.
Oh. I didn't kill myself last night.
Yea. I'm alive. Sorry about that. I received a few concerned direct messages this afternoon regarding something I tweeted last night. It was My So-Called Life quote. Specifically, "There's something about Sunday night that just makes you want to kill yourself." - Angela Chase. I can see how that, added with the fact that I didn't write a post today, go to work or explain any of this, could be interpreted as slightly suicidal. It was an appropriate enough quote though, considering I'm in the midst of a personal MSCL marathon and it was Sunday night and I was totally depressed. But not depressed in like a I'm-going-to-kill-myself-and-post-it-on-Twitter kind of way. More in like a I-can't-fall-asleep-so-I'm-going-to-tweet-this-delightfully-appropriate-My So-Called-Life-quote kind of way. Although if I were going to kill myself, I would totally want to go out on a MSCL quote. That seems sort of perfectly emotional and ironic.
But yea, I'm fine. I'm sitting in a Starbucks actually. Just kickin' it. Enjoying the air conditioning and a hot latte. Watching a man who looks suspiciously like Murray from Flight of the Conchords drink a frappachino. Trying not to stare too hard at this smokin' hot guy who just walked in and interpret the fact that my ipod shuffle just landed on The Pixies "Here Comes Your Man" as a sign that he's my one special someone. I've pretty much never been better.
Last night was fucking rough though. Boss #2 comes back from vacation today and I couldn't stop thinking about how hard that's going to suck. Because she's so obviously going to spend her first day back passive-aggressively blaming me for everything that went wrong while she was away. And these will be things that I had abso-fucking-lutely nothing to do with. And this is all just too much time spent courtesy-smiling and fighting the urge to be snarky, all the while wishing she'd leave faster so I can get back to my MSCL marathon because the next episode is when Rayanne betrays Angela and has sex with Jordan Catalano. ANDOHMYGIGGLES!
Mostly as I layed in bed last night night, I couldn't stop thinking about the burned-out light bulb behind the backsplash of the wetbar. I have no idea how to change it, nor do I know who to contact about getting it changed. I only noticed it Friday afternoon as I was getting ready to leave, but was all Oh Swells! TGIF! about it and figured I'd get to it sometime this week. I should have emailed someone about it then and there. Because now Boss #2 is going to find it and ask me if I noticed it was out. And I'm going to have to be all, "Oh! I didn't see that! Hah..." and feel completely fucking stupid while she stands there staring at it for 20 minutes shaking her head slowly wondering what exactly it is that I do all day long. Damnit. I should have fucking emailed someone. I hate myself.
And this kept me up until 4:30ish. Tossing and turning. But not killing myself. Sorry about that.
One time Senior year, my roommate Danielle very seriously thought I had killed myself. Again, I can see how it looked that way. I had been in the design lab all weekend struggling with a project and just generally hating life when I finally came home to take a nap. The problem with trying to keep your body up for long periods of time by pumping it with adrenaline, coffee, glue fumes and god knows what else you can get your hands on, is that when you finally do have time to sleep, you can't. It's a sick, sick joke. But, I came home, went into my room, turned off the lights, lit one of my Jesus candles, turned on my "Super Duper Relaxing" playlist, put a pillow over my head to block out the light coming in from the blinds and finally dozed off.
A little later, Danielle (who knew I was going through "a time,") came in and discovered this scene: me laying on my bed with a pillow over my head, arms stretched lifelessly out to the side, in a pitch-black room with only a creepy and ominous Jesus candle lit and The Smith's "Sing Me to Sleep" coming from my computer. And Lord knows I'm not the most stable table on the showroom floor, so I can see how this might have been slightly upsetting. I woke up to her standing directly above me, eyes as big as dinner plates:
Danielle: ...........Hey.
Me: ...Hey.
Me: Pretty good thanks...you?
Me: So...what's up?
Danielle: Um. It sort of completely looks like you tried to kill yourself.
Me: [Surveys current state of affairs] Point taken.
Co-Blogger Chris came home one night when we lived together to a similar scene. It was a Friday night and I decided to be lame and stay in. I got Thai food, baked a cake and watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (my go-to cry movie). I don't care how Aspie's this is going to sound, but that night was fucking awesome. Chris came home later and found me in the dark, curled up on the couch, hysterically crying. If I recall correctly, he turned on a light, stared at me for a few seconds and deadpanned, "Uh...Do I need to call a Suicide Hotline or something?" That boy is a saint.
So again, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern. I woke up this morning after 45 minutes of sleep and decided to take the day off. I just can't deal with that angry little Mexican when I haven't had my eight-hours. Please don't judge me.
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Contributors: Miles Rothwell (Author)
Ebook available on:
About the project
We designed a basic front cover for this one and converted the book to epub and mobi from the Word document supplied. It was a very straightforward conversion as there were no images or tables, footnotes etc involved. ...continue reading "…a fleeting glimpse…" |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/348 | Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Mathematicians (is a hard word to spell)
Our boys LOVE when we clap and sing loudly.
To calm them down or make them laugh Travis often starts counting loudly and clapping.
Recently we had this conversation:
Travis: Maybe the boys will be accountants.
Me: What?
Travis: Or mathematicians.
Me: Sorry, why?
Travis: Because they love math.
Me: What? No they don't. They're babies.
Travis: Well, they love counting.
Me: They don't know how to count.
Travis: They love when I count for them, though.
Me: I think they just like that you're clapping. Maybe they'll be percussionists, because they love to hear you keep rhythm.
Travis: Oh yeah.... I guess that makes more sense.
Sometimes I think that he is mental.
"They love math."
At least he's an awesome Dad, and not all crazy...
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Carlie said...
haha that is an awesome conversation!
Polly said...
Poor form Becky, don't make fun of your spouse in public. They tend to take offense.
Krystle said...
ha! that is funny
Unknown said...
Angela said...
This made me chuckle. :-)
Unknown said...
You should encourage them to become chaotician. Chaos + Math = Chaotician.
Marge Bjork said...
I love when people bring up math in conversations, it never ceases to be funny to me. I also think the word "math" is funny. |
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Argument: Actions more important than badges like MBA
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Parent debate
Supporting quotations
"Dear MS. An MBA is BS." Feld Thoughts. April 2nd, 2006 "While many people wear their degrees as badges of honor on their chests, I prefer to let actions speak for themselves (and – rather than look at the badges people have, I look for the actions.)"
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/387 | Interest in Japanese migration studies (Japanese)
Transcripts available in the following languages:
(Japanese) Back then, in Japan, when we learned about America—for instance, when we learned about issues concerning black Americans, what I remember most is that we learned it in a way that assumed that white Americans were responsible for the tough circumstances faced by black American communities. But after coming to America, you find out that there are, in fact, some African Americans who are drinking alcohol in the middle of the day and not working at all. I sometimes pass by and see groups of these people hanging around together, and from this point of view, it makes me think that they’re a part of the problem as well.
Well, I was a student in the Fulbright Program (the US government's flagship program in international educational exchange), so everybody treated me well. But looking around me, there was this competitive immigration from Japan—the immigration right around the ‘60s—and they were settling around where I was. Well, I lived in the east so there were very few of them. But anyway, when I looked at them, even from the perspective of a student, I could see that it was a very difficult thing to be able to settle down in the States, to compete—compete against the American people, and to make their way into the center of American society. So yeah, I’m over here, really having it easy, while I felt that those who left their homes behind and took a risk to come here were having a pretty rough time.
So at that moment, I kind of felt that—and this relates to what I mentioned earlier about the black Americans—when you think about those who immigrated from Japan, or from any other country, I wondered whether we can truly call this country a “country for immigrants,” or a “country of equality,” or a “free country.” You’ve really got to see things from both sides. What I was learning [about America] when I was in Japan wasn’t completely true, and even after coming to America, even though I’m a Japanese immigrant as well, the experiences that I’ve had might be totally different from the experiences of another Japanese immigrant. Looking at all of these differences from many different angles was something that definitely triggered my interest.
Date: October 7, 2005
Location: California, US
Interviewer: Ann Kaneko
Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/392 | 121-109 Luke Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Liberating Women 1-3
Along with His twelve disciples Jesus was also accompanied by some women. These woman had been healed from various affirmatives and freed of evil spirits. The women were contributing their own resources to support the ministry of Jesus. In the gospels of Matthew and Mark while describing the crucifixion these woman are mentioned. (Matthew 27:55; Mark 15:41) In Luke’s gospel he often emphasized the role that women played in the work of Jesus. In the midst of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee Luke gives us a significant reference to the women who were with Jesus.
It is said that this is a man’s world but here Luke elevates the women to a higher plain than most give to them. Only men were allowed to participate in the Synagogue services. But Jesus treated women as persons in their own right. Jesus had not only liberated them from their afflictions but included them as His followers. Jesus was not only a help to them but they were a help to Jesus and to others.
Parable of the Soil 4-18
In the parable of the sower there are three groups of people mentioned. One of the groups was the religious leaders with their hardening opposition towards Jesus. There was the disciples of Jesus, not only the twelve but the larger number that were following Him. The last group were the crowds in general.
This parable is often call the parable of the sower but a more accurate name would be the parable of the soil. The difference between the groups is not the sower but the soil that the seed falls into. During the telling of this parable Jesus would call out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” The parables that Jesus spoke were signs of the Kingdom and so were the miracles that He performed. The parables were for the ears and the miracles were for the eyes.
Jesus taught in parables so that the people would have the best opportunity to respond to His Word. Jesus went about teaching as a sower that all His seed would bear good fruit. But as in the case of the first group the seed fell upon hard ground. These were the people who were the enemies of Jesus who had closed their eyes to the light and their ears to the truth. Some of the seed of the sower, Jesus, fell unto shallow soil who were superficial followers, people whose enthusiasm would fade over time when they faced trouble in their lives. Other seed fell in amongst the weeds as sympathetic hearers that never bore fruit because they were caught in the pleasures of this world. Then there was the seed that fell onto good soil and gave forth much fruit. Some of those who followed Jesus were genuine in their faith and testified to the truths that Jesus was teaching.
In a way the parables of Jesus separated the true followers from the crowds who were just curious bystanders. All who were there heard the same teaching from Jesus but only some of them grabbed ahold with faith and commitment.
Some even missed the point of this parable and continued to be ineffectual in their walk with Jesus. Even the twelve disciples did not fully understand everything that Jesus was teaching. But they persisted in seeking the truth from Him.
There was another advantage to the use of the parable story form. Many a listener remembered the story even if they did not fully grasp the point. There was the hope that someday they would see the moral and spiritual truths of the parable and their minds and their hearts would light up with His divine truth.
The word secret in verse 17 does not mean that Jesus wants to hide the truth from the people. In the New Testament the word of truth is to be made know by divine revelation. The ultimate intent of God is to reveal His truth, not hide it.
The parable of the lamp are found in three other places in the Gospel of Luke. (Luke 11:33; Luke 12:2; Luke 19:26) Their context here reinforces that the message of the parable of the soil. Those who have the words of Jesus in faith and commitment will have the light. We are to share this light with others that they may see the truth of God’s word. It is important then that we hear the Word of God as He intended. In these passages we learn that there are two responsibilities we have in hearing God’s Word. Hearing and sharing the light.
The Christian Family 19-21
These verses further reinforce Jesus’ teaching about hearing. The members of Jesus’ larger family are, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
This occasion happened when His mother and brothers had come to see Him. In the Gospel of Mark we learn that His mother and brothers had come to take Him home because they had thought he was losing His mind. (Mark 3:21, 31-35) This is in accordance with what John wrote in his gospel. “For not even His brothers were believing in Him.” (John 7:5) Jesus was everything that a son should be to His mother and He was everything that He should be to His brothers. But when they had come and posed a threat to His mission He put the will of His Father first. (Luke 2:48-51) The positive point of this incident is that we all can be a part of the family of God. We all can be His family.
Faith and Fear 8:22-56
In this larger passage we see four miracles of Jesus, the stilling of the storm, the deliverance of the demoniac, the healing of a woman who had a flow of blood, and the restoration of the life of Jairus’ daughter. As we have said the parables were for the ear so the miracles were for the eyes. Both were signs of the Kingdom of divine grace and power. We see in these four miracles a show of God’s grace and power in four areas which threaten life and welfare. Nature’s destructive force, the enslaving power of Satan, the pain and suffering from illness, and the fear of death.
Over each of these areas we see that Jesus has divine power. It is also a demonstration that God will eventually remove and destroy each of these threats. The final deliverance is the coming of His Kingdom. The power and grace of Jesus show God’s grace and power are already at work in and through His Son.
Fear mixed with Faith 22-25
Of this incident on the sea at the heart of it is Jesus’ question to His disciples. “Where is your faith?” This was a rebuke to His disciples for not trusting God to watch over them as they were about doing His will. God does not always shield us from the destruction of the storms in life but He can always be trusted. The disciples showed their lack of trust when they woke Jesus with their cries of fear.
The fear of the storm was replaced with a different fear. After Jesus demonstrated His power over the storm they felt the fear of amazement in their presence of one who could command obedience from the winds and the water.
Fear that Rejects Jesus 26-39
As Jesus and the disciples were approaching the shoreline of Gentile territory. The place where they were about to land was a cemetery. When they stepped on land a wild man came out from the tombs and ran towards them.
The man was under the power of evil forces that he had no control over. Society had chained the man in an effort to restrain him, but he had broken the chains and fled to the desert. The man had no home except the tombs. The demonic powers that had taken control of him were so many that he called himself Legion, a name associated with a Roman army unit numbering six thousand men. The man was drawn to Jesus but the demons knew that Jesus was their enemy.
It has been difficult to explain why Jesus allowed the demons to enter into the swine. One reason may be that Jesus wanted the man to know that the evil powers had departed him.
With the loss of the swine the people of the area asked Jesus to leave. Many of the people knew of the man and that he was demon possessed. They came out to see what had happened to him and found him sitting at the feet of Jesus. He was no longer naked and was in his right mind. They could have had any one of many reactions to this incident. They could have been grateful and happy for the man. Instead they were afraid. Luke tells us that it was their fear that they asked Jesus to leave. The superstitions of people will cause a rejection of Jesus and the help that He can offer.
The man himself wanted to go with Jesus. He may have felt fearful in trying to reenter society in a land where the people knew what he had been. But Jesus told him not to go with Him but to return to his home and tell the people what He had done for him. This man who was a Gentile was the first Gentile witness for Christ in a Gentile territory. This is a sign of what was to come after the death and resurrection of Jesus. In the Book of Acts Luke tells us the story of the gospel spreading to the Gentiles.
Faith In Spite of Fear 40-48
Jesus then returned to Galilee and found the people were waiting on Him. Jairus came to Him and fell at His feet. Jairus wanted Jesus to come to his house and help his only daughter. But along the way a woman who had a flow of blood that could not be healed for twelve years put her into a pitiful plight.
Her illness of flowing blood made her permanently unclean by the Jewish people. Therefore, she was treated much the same way as a leper. To make her situation worse the people assumed that her illness was the result of immoral behavior.
The crowd was pressing close to Jesus but she entered in and touched the hem of His garment. Jesus immediately asked who had touched Him. Peter noted that nearly everyone in the crowd had touched Him. Jesus replied that He had felt the power go out from Him at someone’s touch.
The woman became terrified and wondering what the people would do if they found out what she had dome. She was an unclean and an untouchable person and had dared to touch Jesus. In spite of her fear she came to the feet of Jesus and confessed what she had done and told the people why she had touched Jesus and testified that she had been healed.
Jesus then said to this woman the same as He had said to the woman in Luke 7:50 that her faith has made here well.
A Faith that Casts Out Fear 49-56
Jairus had heard the word of the woman’s testimony. And when the news came that Jairus’ daughter had died Jesus built on the experience. Those who brought the news effectively said that death has spoken the last word. They told Jairus not to bother the teacher anymore for her life had passed. Jesus replied to Jairus, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe, and she will be made well.” Jairus had just seen the woman healed by her faith in Jesus. And now Jesus challenges Jairus to have the same faith. With Jairus’ faith Jesus could save his daughter from the clutch of death.
Many a person died who Jesus did not bring back to life. They probably loved there departed ones as much as Jairus loved his daughter. And some of them had as much faith as Jairus. The raising of the widows son, Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus were exceptional miracles. They each showed the authority of Jesus over death. What they experienced points to the hope of the Christian faith, the final victory over death, this is the promise of Jesus’ resurrection. The mourners laughed at Jesus when He said she was not dead but sleeping. They laughed at Jesus because death always has the last word. They were wrong that day as Jesus proved that He has the last word.
121-109 Luke Chapter 8
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/399 | KORE - Plateforme de partage des connaissances sur la résilience
Livestock and Poverty in Karamoja - An Analysis of Livestock Ownership, Thresholds, and Policy Implications
This report from the Karamoja Resilience Support Unit (KRSU) analyses poverty in Karamoja from the perspective of livestock ownership, and uses a livestock threshold to categorize households as poor and non-poor. High levels of livestock poverty are then discussed in relation to programming and policy options.
Conventional national poverty assessments use cash income or consumption expenditure as key indicators of poverty, and thresholds or poverty lines to distinguish between poor and non-poor households. In pastoralist and agro-pastoralist areas, an asset-based approach is useful for understanding poverty and in particular, the measurement of livestock assets. While conventional poverty assessments often use an income threshold, such as US$1.25/day to define the poor and non-poor, a livestock threshold can be used in pastoralist areas for the same purpose. This analysis used raw data from a recent livestock population survey to analyze livestock ownership in Karamoja, and measure poverty against a livestock threshold. The survey did not collect information on the ownership of camels, donkeys or poultry, and so overall, the livestock ownership results in the analysis are an under-estimate of actual ownership. The analysis covered the six main livestock-rearing districts of Karamoja viz. Napak, Nakapiripirit, Moroto, Kaabong, Kotido, and Amudat.
Key Findings:
• For an agro-pastoralist household with six family members, the livestock threshold was 3.3 Tropical Livestock Units (TLU)/capita, equivalent to about 5 cattle per person or 33 sheep or goats per person. This threshold enables a livelihood based primarily on livestock production, complemented with some own production of cereals;
• In agro-pastoralist and pastoralist areas of Karamoja, 56.5% of households owned less than 3.3 TLU/capita and so could be categorized as “livestock poor;”
• The analysis showed a skewed ownership of livestock towards wealthier households. For example, the wealthiest 30% of households owned 69.3% of livestock in terms of TLU. This pattern of ownership is similar to some pastoralist areas of Ethiopia and Kenya, where comparable data are available;
• Among poorer households, those below the 3.3 TLU/capita livestock threshold, livestock ownership was skewed away from the threshold. For example, 47% of these households owned only 1.2 TLU/capita or less;
• Only 13% of households owned no livestock at all.
• Poverty in Karamoja is best measured and understood using measures of both livestock ownership and income;
• Given the numbers of livestock-poor households, the use of area-wide, generic livestock policies and programming raises questions about the relevance of these approaches, specifically for poorer households. For example, a common strategy of poorer households is to maximize the rate of herd growth and so build financial capital. During the growth period, livestock sales are deliberately and logically minimized;
• There is a need to consider how restocking might be further used in Karamoja and at what scale. The design of restocking, at any scale, requires an understanding of traditional restocking systems that are in use, and other strategies used by poorer households to build herds. Restocking should support traditional restocking systems;
• Restocking is not a standalone intervention, and requires coordination and integration with other types of support until herds have reached a sufficient size. One option is to link restocking with social protection, with the latter supporting food security during the period of herd growth. A combined restocking-social protection approach would need careful design and piloting;
• Restocking is not a panacea or suitable for all households. Communities will often have rational criteria for selecting people to be restocked.
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global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/404 | Don’t Leave/I’m Ready
A Farewell Editorial in Three Parts
As you may or may not know, the editorial team at FPS is run by grad students. That means our team changes from year to year. This year, three longtime editors are stepping down from the publication: betsy brey, Chris Lawerence, and Rob Parker. What will FPS look like next year? Well, we already know, but you’ll just have to wait and find out. But, before our August publishing break, they commandeered the weekly post one last time. Here’s what they have to say. Continue Reading
First Person Podcast Episode 35: Disco Elysium
First Person Podcast Episode 29
Reflections on Surviving Subterfuge
Will FPS ever be the same?
Probably, but the experience nonetheless caused the participants to consider the porous nature of the magic circle. How can we navigate the rhetoric of games that reward betrayal, dishonesty and colonial domination, all of which run contrary to our own principles? To what extent do we perform ourselves in the games that we play? How can we be ethical actors while still engaging in a spirit of play? Continue Reading
First Person Podcast Episode 28
Another Year, Not Another Award Show.
First Person Podcast Episode 24
The Paratextual Mysteries of Arkane Studios: A Conversation with Hazel Monforton
First Person Podcast Episode 21
Love Live the Queen: Love Nikki and the politics of playing dress-up
Confession: the subject for this podcast was selected without my having the first clue as to its contents. Before the start of this month I had never heard of Love Nikki-Dress UP Queen (2017), knew almost as little about mobile games (does one go to the Pokemon, or is it that the Pokemon go with you?), and I certainly was unfamiliar with any controversy involving Love Nikki’s procedural dress-up competition mechanics. Continue Reading |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/417 | Tournament Links
Tournament Rules
Back to the list of tournaments
Seventeenth KGS Computer Go Tournament - Open division (Winner: StoneCrazy)
This is the Open division of the seventeenth KGS Computer Go Tournament.
It is open only to Go-playing programs, known as 'bots'. There is also a Formal division, with more restrictive entry requirements.
It will use 9x9 boards, Chinese rules, and absolute time of 28 minutes each.
Swiss style, Simultaneous Schedule.
There is no prize. |
global_05_local_5_shard_00002591_processed.jsonl/447 | Wednesday, December 09, 2009
The media coverage of Harun Yahya
Adnan Oktar (aka Harun Yahya - see his Miami Vice pic on the right) interviews show up regularly in western newspapers. The content doesn't matter, Yahya loves any publicity in the western press and these articles show up as a centerpiece on his website (click here for his website that spins these article in positive light. The picture above is from his website). He presents this as evidence that he is important enough to be covered by all these newspapers. He frames the criticism of his crude creationism, his fascination with free masons, and his talk of end-of-days & the return of Mahdi as simply standing up to the West. The problem is that many of these articles present his ideas as the only version of Islamic Creationism - and this further legitimizes Yahya's position. Here are some reasons why Yahya's brand of creationism is more accessible to journalists from the West: Yahya has borrowed heavily from US creationists (with modifications for the Muslim world), his books and his website are available in english, and Istanbul, where he resides, may not even seem much different from other European cities [Not to mention that Yahya also offers to fly western journalists if they will interview him].
The problem is that it oversimplifies the complex reaction to evolution in the larger Muslim world. The picture is by no means rosy. But, to isolate the reaction to Yahya is like creating a profile of a typical Muslim by spending all of your time in Istanbul. Sure, you will get a profile - but it will be a mistake to call it the profile. [Nothing wrong with Istanbul - I love it! I'm making a different point here :) ]
Here are two examples where Yahya is covered. While they both mention his legal troubles, neither brought up the egregious errors in his Atlas of Creation. The specific are not important. What is important to highlight is the nature of these mistakes - mistakes that even a high school kid will be ashamed to make. In any here is a report from Australia:
And here is an article by Steve Paulson in Slate. In fact, Steve is aware of some of the pitfalls associated with covering Yahya:
Yes, and articles like this may be helping them fill this vacuum (ok - this may be a bit too harsh - but this is indeed how Yahya spins this coverage). If we do cover Yahya, it is important that we focus on how really bad his science is (Dawkins did this wonderfully here) - and that he only represents a particular context in the larger Muslim world [to be fair, Paulson did bring up Turkish politics when addressing Yahya's creationism]. What is important is to highlight that there are varieties of responses to evolution in the Muslim world - some accept evolution, many reject it. One may have to travel a bit farther than Istanbul to see the full spectrum of Muslim reactions to evolution.
Also see earlier posts:
Yahya still desperately seeking attention
The evolution of Harun Yahya's "Atlas of Creation"
Dawkins shreds Yahya's Atlas of Creation
Internet and the spread of Islamic Creationism
Harun Yahya and the arts
Anonymous said...
MashaAllah....the INFLUENCE of Harun Yahya is growing day by day, Because of this INFLUENCE only you wrote "THIS ARTICLE", thanks Mr. Salman Hameed...thank you so much..keep writing and seek attention!!!
Bulent Murtezaoglu said...
You're spot on about Istanbul (and many cities in Turkey). They are hardly typical of anything, even Turkey as a whole.
I also agree that Harun Yahya's 'science' needs to be challenged but I think the apparent fact that he gets followers can be and ought to be analyzed to get a sense of what how the general public is doing wrt. science (as a process). You cannot do this in to a large extent in the (non-US) West because (as we talked about before) many people do say the 'right things' about evolution w/o necessarily understanding them. I don't think this is simply a Muslim problem, it is just more apparent in predominantly Muslim societies. I also don't think it is necessarily a big deal that people don't 'believe' evolution, but it is the manner in which they reject it that's important. Same goes for the ID crowd, the methods through which they get convinced of their case are flawed and that such methods would appear convincing should be more troublesome than the conclusions they lead to.
Here is a video of Leon Lederman making a similar point.
Salman Hameed said...
You are absolutely right about the process issue. I think there are two parallel tracks that we are talking about: One is about science education (Leon Lederman video is excellent!) and how people misunderstand the process of science. I share your concern about the way of rejection - rather than the rejection itself. The second track, which may or may not interact with the first track, is about the social factors leading people to reject ideas like evolution, or the global warming issues. It would indeed be useful to see which factor is dominant in the Muslim response to evolution (we are currently working on a survey instrument and are trying to address the two tracks together - but it can get tricky without making it too long).
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