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Doina Rusti
Excerpt from
Critics about
Novel, Fiction LTD series, Polirom, 2015, 296 pages
Copyright: Polirom
Translation rights sold to: All rights available
Excerpt from
The first time he heard of Bucharest was in the shop of his friend Mustafa and merely listening to the music of the name he had felt it was like a shaving brush running across his teeth. Inexplicably, the whole of that day he was unable to get it out of his head. A word is a tiny maggot, created to multiply without surcease. It slips into the labyrinth of your ear with a map in its pocket and is not interested in any way station, in any alliance, and in the present case it did not stop until it reached the thalamus, that shady area where it is said there is a ghost-haunted lake. But Ioannis did not know of this perverse side to words. He had spent all of his sixteen years at the edge of the Catol quarter, among the fish baskets, firstly next to his mother’s stall, and then hauling loads of blue haddock, grey mullet, sullen goby, and turbot, laid one by one in the wicker baskets, stamped forever on his memory, along with his father’s face, outlined against the sky, like a large, withered sunflower blackened by the rain.
His father was called Bradu Milikopu, an honourable name, known throughout the neighbourhood, not so much for his heroic deeds, as much as for his pocked face and fiery eyes, behind which burned a single dream, Lambros Katsonis by name.
One April morning, after his final basket had been laid beneath the stall, Ioannis ran off, as was his wont. Mustafa’s shop was on the other side of town, a small business, crammed into a single room with a beamed ceiling. He daily entered that room lined with textiles and shawls, just to touch the huge bolts of cloth, to weigh with his eyes the rolls of fine wool and to touch the Mosul silk, for few things can compare with the softness of fabric sliding like a droplet of warm tea between index finger and thumb. Sometimes he visited Mustafa’s just to feel beneath his palm a packet of brocade or to suck into his eyes the pastel colours of the muslin. And when he had the money, he bought remnants, leftover pieces of cloth, even small scraps that nobody else wanted. He made trimmings for turbans, gloves, bags decorated with beads, belts consisting of dozens of patches, handkerchiefs, and dolls’ faces, little things for his sisters or aunts.
As soon as he entered, his eyes alighted on a piece of Bengali cloth, almost hidden among the waves of fabrics. It was a soft fabric, wherein the silk seemed to have risen to the surface, while the thickness, a mixture of cotton and wool, remained at the base. It had the colour of greenish silver.
Mustafa’s moustache twitched to one side: the fabric was not cheap and nor could you make anything much from it, certainly not a pair of shalwars. It would have done for the yoke of a dress or for some watery skirts, maybe for some cuffs. But for trousers, no!
“Out of the question, young Milikopu,” Mustafa opined, in the very same moment as the fez of Okimon the teacher appeared in the shop doorway.
From his eyes, which were radiant in their orbits, it was obvious that he had been to the post office in the port.
“It seems that the most merciful Selim has looked down upon our poor Thessaloniki,” said the teacher, with some emphasis, and despite the fact that for Mustafa “poor Thessaloniki” was Eyalet-i Selanik and for any Vlach it was Saruna, neither of the two had any difficulty understanding where he meant.
In town, everybody spoke Greek from dawn to dusk. But in the white houses, beneath the ruffled crowns of the pines, and in the gaggles of market traders, the Turks quarrelled among themselves in Turkish, the Jews whispered in their own language, which nobody else understood, and as you entered the Catol quarter, you could hear words drenched in honey, whose kernel only the Vlachs knew.
For the space of a few minutes, the teacher heaped praise on Sultan Selim, who had ascended to the throne precisely a year previously.
“A Greek friend of mine,” Mustafa felt obliged to add, “told me that they have increased the wages of the galley men twofold. My friend’s brother was in the service of Gazi Hassan.”
Since the teacher was gazing at him intently, Mustafa went on: “Some even received ranks!”
Through the window of the shop were visible the grey roofs, and in the distance glinted the waters of the sea, which all of a sudden made Ioannis feel closely bound to that place, to that shop lined with bolts of silk and to the two men, who were the men dearest to him in all Saruna. And then, in that moment of warmth, which was like a goodly lobster laid on the table, into the life of Ioannis, into his young brain and his yearning heart, slipped the blade of the word Bucharest.
“My friend’s brother,” boasted Mustafa, “has become the master of a city where everybody dances!”
The teacher doubted that such a place existed, but the Turk chattered on, while Ioannis continued to stroke the piece of cloth.
The dancers of which Mustafa told spoke neither Turkish nor Greek.
“Can you believe it?” he said, rolling his eyes. “Those people speak Vlach!”
“Aha!” said the teacher. Now he understood: “Perhaps you mean Bucharest!”
The name of the city brought with it a moment’s silence.
“One of my grandfathers went to Bucharest,” Okimon went on.
Ioannis was warmed by the thought that in the immensity of the Empire there were other people who spoke his language. He did not even notice that along with this banal observation, the word Bucharest wafted inside him, a word that otherwise did not sound very exotic.
That was the beginning, which dilated with the passing of time: Mustafa’s mouth, moving beneath his moustache, and the teacher clarifying with serene eyes. My friend’s brother, Mustafa had said. One of my grandfathers, Okimon had added. Those bold adventurers had opened the gate for him. The friend’s brother was a sailor with a beard gluey with tobacco. The teacher’s grandfather sold olives and smoked mullet.
Still stroking the cloth, Ioannis remained motionless. The window of the shop reflected the profile of his face, with its prominent nose, like the back of a carp.
Okimon was of the opinion that the Vlachs of Saruna themselves had come thence. Without any reason, the face of his father came to Ioannis’ mind, a face pocked like sand spattered with raindrops.
“In any event, those Vlachs are not very clever,” the Turk pointed out. “My Greek’s brother became a sailor because he never managed to sell one scrap of cloth in his whole life! He has less brain that a Persian hen! But even so, now he is the governor of the dancing Vlachs!”
The teacher mentioned a few other numbskulls from Saruna who had got rich in the same way, closing with a precept on that theme, which, for reasons known only to himself, he uttered in Vlach.
The teacher’s eyes sprayed him with a jet of light, and Mustafa’s moustache twitched benevolently. Unexpectedly gripped by euphoria, Ioannis decided to buy the Bengali cloth with the money for the butcher, completely forgetting about lunch, which was only a few hours away.
Translated by Alistair Ian Blyth
© Copyright Polirom 2008. All rights reserved.
Web design & development by: svc & smorkov
Concept by: Florin Lazarescu
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The Word Became Flesh
Except for a few believers, most believe that “the Word” was a pre-existent being, which I like to call a Word or Sound Being. These like to show several scriptures purporting to show Jesus’ preexistence. Notwithstanding the fact that in all languages, a word is, just that, a word replete with denotations, origins, connotations, and ideas relating to the word. Furthermore, a word is a group of sounds with its intended meanings. Now one can take anything and personify it, but that is only a literary device, not an actuality. For example, Jesus is called the Word of God in Revelation, and we know that is a descriptive for him, not that he is a Sound Being or a book of verses, the Bible.
Some use the scripture about Jesus saying something about before Abraham was born he was to prove Jesus had a prior existence. They say that I Am is the term God used for Himself in speaking with Moses near the burning bush. The I Am translation for God is YHVH, the Eternal One, the Self Existent One. However, the I am translated from the Greek has entirely different meaning: It’s me! Or, “It is I the G Man,” which Gordon Liddy calls himself. Strong’s attests to the eimi, I am or it is I meaning.
Another verse says something about God created the world “through” him, which they interpret as Jesus. Even though the pronoun linkage to Jesus is dubious, the translation of dia as "through" is likely biased as dia could as well and more accurately from a biblical perspective be "because of" or "on account of." One should not base such a great principle as a preexistent Jesus on choosing a word to build up one’s theories.
Even so, we can go around in circles about Jesus’ supposed prior existence, what we need to find out is:
Aim: What exactly does the word became flesh mean?
Logos: 3056. lo/goß logos, ; from 3004; something said (including the thought); by implication, a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension, a computation.
A word is something said. Before a person speaks, he must consider what he is going to say, unless he speaks without thinking, patently absurd because while a person may not consider the impact of his statement, no one can talk without have a thought in his mind first. In fact, no one really says a single word unless he is an umpire: striiike! People speak in sentences, groups of words that make sense, which is the root of sentence.
When a person speaks, he speaks words; we say, he said. The first time in the Bible we have the word said is in Genesis 1:3:
Gen. 1:3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
To say the Word (as a being transformed to a human) became flesh context, the Word became “Light.” Actually, the Hebrew does not have, “let there.” Now if logos or Word is a person, how do we figure what is going on in the creation? God spoke and the logos or Word Being became or transformed into light. To make it further strange: if the Word Being became a human, the word made flesh, then it must follow that the Word Being became light. If so, then the Word Being ceased being a Word Being and became the phenomenon (energy and particle) called light. So, what is the logos, a person or light?
However, we really know that God commanded light into existence. Furthermore, we also know that logos is Greek and debar is Hebrew which has a simpler meaning:
696. Dabar [180b]; a prim. root; to speak.
Then actually God said something and it happened.
A few verses later God said something else:
Gen. 1:6 ¶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
Gen. 1:7 God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
If we reductum ad absurdum, then the Word Being transformed into an expanse as well as being a person and a light.
Note that next verse says God made the expanse. How did He make it? He made it by commanding it into existence. As we know many verses attest to the fact that God demands we understand that He is God, the Creator, there is no one else. So if a Word Being exists as a sound, which incidentally is made by the energy of ruach vibrating vocal folds, the energy of the ruach dissipates almost entirely, matter and energy cannot be destroyed, that it can no longer be heard even if the vibration continues ever so slightly. In fact, the ruach energy can also be transformed into other kinds of energy, which is no longer vibrating air. Oops, good-bye Word Being, you have been changed to something else again, a waving leaf or moving fur.
God continued to command other things into existence:
Gen. 1:9 ¶ Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
Now we can add more to the shape shifting Word Being: waters below the heavens besides being a person, light and an expanse.
Gen. 1:20 ¶ Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
Gen. 1:24 ¶ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
Therefore, we can now add that the Word Being became sprouts, lights, teeming water, living creatures as well as a being, light and an expanse. Will the real Word Being please stand up? Or, does the Word Being become transformed into all these things? How, one might wonder does a single Word Being become all these multiple things and a person as well? Furthermore, if the Word Being became transformed into these things at the creation, how can what was no longer because it changed into something else, later be transformed into a human being? After a transformation into something else, the Word Being cannot still be what it was before the change.
God has something else to say:
Gen. 1:10 God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good.
Gen. 1:28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multi-ply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God’s Word or Words explained what He was creating and why. The Word Being is out of luck here unless the Word Being is also heaven.
God’s Word not only created the universe, but also explained things to us, even blessed what He created and gave authority to man. (Gen 1:30) Finally, after the Word(s) of Creation, God said it was good.
We have begun to understand something about God’s Word commanding things into existence. In the first chapter of Genesis, God’s Word commanded an entire universe, world, planet, and all that is on the planet, which also includes people, into existence.
During and after the creation was completed, God began to instruct people in that which is good for them, because He knew what the creation was for and how people should act in relation to the creation He made for them.
This verse makes it perfectly clear that God completed His (singular pronoun) work, that He (singular pronoun) had done. If there were a Word Being, why does the Bible not mentioned it? Then He (again the singular pronoun) rested, not God and the Word Being, just God, the Supreme Being.
God gave another blessing at this point: He blessed the seventh day dedicated to resting from one’s work as God did. Within this blessing, God began to give commands to earthlings. If they would do this, they would live, if not they would die, cease to exist. God intended that man would live but only after undergoing certain challenges.
Gen. 2:16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
The challenge turned out to be the deceptions of the serpent:
Gen. 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat;
Gen. 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!
Obviously, they both failed the challenge and died, not right then but eventually. Knowing that humans would fail His first challenge, God immediately continued to instruct people about life and eternal life, and offered, as well, offer new challenges. His Word created and established the keys to eternal life. His Word spoke the ten Words or the Ten Commandments. These Words or Commandments became the primer of His Language. “See Dick and Jane,” as the old children’s primer began.
God said:
God said these Words beginning with an introduction to who He is and His relation to His People. He is the One who brought them out of slavery, the slavery of deception and idolatry.
Did the Word Being also become a set of ten rules? The concept of a sound becoming a human being becomes increasing untenable.
God goes on to say:
Ex. 20:3 ¶ “You shall have no other gods before Me.
Ex. 20:4 ¶ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
Ex. 20:6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
Again, God reveals who He is, the One who is above all else including the so-called gods, the most powerful things, which deluded people believe in. Then God tells people not to try to make anything which would be a source of worship because these cannot be greater than He. God proclaims the basic Truth that one must love Him by keeping His Rules or Commandments.
Here He shows His special relationship with people, love based on His Words and Commandments.
God continued to speak out to the earthlings He formed from the clay of the earth.
He told Moses:
First, God spoke to Moses His Word to lift up his staff. His Word inspired Moses to do what God told him to do. In this instance, God spoke the oral language, which prompted Moses to use body language, lifting up that staff. At that point, the ruach, the wind of God, the same ruach that empowers sounds to make words, blew the waters aside so the children of Israel could walk on the bed of the sea dry shod while Egypt was kept from moving against them.
God’s Word resulted in Moses’s action, just as God’s Word in creation resulted in God’s creating the world from nothing other than His command. When God speaks, when words come from His mouth, they always accomplish what God wants.
Is. 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
From these events and the above verse, we begin to understand what God means when He says the Word became flesh. If there were a Word Being that became a human being, that concept would make a mockery of the power of God’s Word creating a universe, a ten commandments, and revealing His Character and Love.
Jesus extends that understanding when, by God’s power at work within, he healed by touch, body language, or by command. He, further, demonstrates the power of the word when he commanded the winds and multiplied the loaves and fishes.
Matt. 8:14 ¶ When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.
Matt. 8:26 He *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
As we understand the awesome power of the Word spoken rightly, we can learn about the Word becoming flesh.
God's Word said that the Messiah would be from the line of David; both Jesus' parents trace their heritage to David. Jesus fulfilled the Word of God. Jesus, like Moses (with one exception) followed every Word God gave him in the tanakh (God's Word). Furthermore, Jesus had the whole Word of God beyond what was given to Moses, and, thus, could know and do more than Moses. Jesus said he only spoke what God gave him to speak; he spoke God's Good News; he healed the sick; and he died for mankind's sins.
As Moses raised his staff to part the waters so Israel could walk to, eventually, the Promised Land, Jesus gave his body to sin, and died for all who sinned ,so all mankind could walk, by God's Word, to the new Promised Land, the Kingdom of God and eternal life. God's Word lived in the mind and body (the flesh) of Jesus, the Messiah. Therefore, Jesus lived as one made in the image of God.
For the first time in history, one man lived by every Word coming out of the mouth of God, he became the Word of God in the flesh. And, he made it possible for all whom God called and chose to become living Words of God also.
The Word became flesh and produced everything God wanted: sons and daughters to live forever in the Kingdom of God with Him.
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Firestarter: Hardware Hacks and Lift and Pray
By Rich
Did China manage to hardware hack the Apple and Amazon data centers? Or did Bloomberg get it wrong? And what the heck can you do about it anyway? This week we start with a discussion of today’s blockbuster security news, before shifting gears back to cloud. It turns out most organizations are having to lift and shift to cloud, even when that is not ideal. We talk about some of your options, even facing ridiculous management timelines.
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Drabble: Ghost of a Smile by Ken MacGregor
by specklit
Ben had been haunting me for days. The moment he died, his ghost appeared. The apparition wore Ben’s favorite shirt: the orange one with the ink-stain on the cuff. He was smiling.
My brother was always happy. Some people are impossible to depress.
I watched the undersize coffin lower into the ground. Mom tossed a handful of dirt; her eyes were red with constant tears.
Beside me, Ben began to fade, starting at the feet. As more dirt fell, more of Ben disappeared. Finally, like the Cheshire Cat, there was only his smile.
That faded, too and he was gone.
Author’s Note: I love phrases that have double-meanings.
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Concepts About Print Assessment Purpose:
Concepts About Print Assessment
Purpose: Based on their home and early school experiences with print—bed time stories and readalouds, big book shared reading, shared writing and their very independent adventures with pretend
reading and writing—young children come to kindergarten and even first grade with different
understandings about the arbitrary conventions that we use to communicate meaning in print.
An assessment of each child‟s level of understanding, and sometimes misunderstandings of these
conventions helps teachers know what their students are attending to in print and what still needs to
be learned. This knowledge enables teachers to design and focus teaching points in literacy minilessons and other classroom literacy experiences that move children forward in their understanding
of how print works. Where is the front of the book? Where does the story start? Where do I start
reading and where do I go after that? What is a letter? What is a word? These are important
literacy understandings that can develop through guided hands-on experience with reading and
writing in the literacy workshop.
An assessment of emergent literacy print concepts should include:
• Book orientation knowledge
• Understanding of principles involving the directional arrangement of print on the page
• The knowledge that print, not picture, contains the story
• Understanding of important reading terminology such as word, letter, beginning of sentence,
and top of page
• Understanding of simple punctuation marks
(Gillett and Temple, 1994, Understanding Reading Problems: Assessment and instruction. Harper
Collins: NY. p. 70)
Directions: In assessing concepts of print, the teacher sits with the child, one-on one, and reads an
engaging early level text, asking the child to help with the reading. The book used should have
distinct layout of print and illustrations, good spacing between words, multiple lines of text on each
page, some basic sight words (I, me, and, is, was, etc.) and basic elements of punctuation (periods,
quotation marks, question marks, exclamation points). Because the teacher reads the book to the
child with the child looking on and responding to prompts, the text we are using is Honey for Baby
Bear at a level F. This text has varied and sophisticated text layout and punctuation. (Other sample
texts, levels C-F might include: Where is Hannah? Ben’s Teddy Bear, A Friend for Little White
Rabbit, Nick’s Glasses, Dan, the Flying Man, Going to Lucy’s House).
The teacher should be very familiar with the text (story, layout and features, punctuation, etc.)
before reading with the child. Have ready two brightly colored index cards, a pencil and the record
sheet. This assessment incorporates prompts that help the teacher observe a student‟s behaviors in
response to the prompts and note these on the record sheet. (While working with the child, you
will want to make small tick marks to note correct responses and keep moving, but later note the
child‟s specific behaviors and responses.)
Based upon the research of Clay, M. M. (2000). Concepts About Print: What have children
learned about printed language? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
©TCRWP 2006-07 Do not duplicate without permission.
Student‟s Name: _________________________
Concepts of Print
Choose a Level C-F book for the administration of this assessment. It should have distinct layout of print and
illustrations, good spacing of words and multiple lines of text. Begin by telling the child, “I‟m going to read you
this story and I want you to help me. It is called
1. Orientation or layout of text/ Front of book: Hand the child the book, holding it vertically so that
the spine faces the child. Ask:
• “Where is the front of the book?”
• “Where is the back of the book?”
• “Open the book to where the story begins.” Child can open the book to title
page or first page of story.
Score one point for each
2. Print, not pictures, carries the message: With the book open to page 1, ask the child:
• “Show me the picture.” Describe and discuss details of the picture.
• “Show me the words.”
Only score one point if both are correct
3. Direction of print: On the same page ask:
• “Show me where to start reading.” If child’s response is vague, prompt,
Where exactly?” Show me with your finger.”
• Point to the first word, read it and ask: “Where do I read after this?”
Only score one point if both are correct
4. Page sequencing: Point to the last word on the left page and ask:
“Where do I read after this?
Score one point
5. Difference between letter and word: Give the child the two strips of paper.
Demonstrate how they slide together and apart on a page in the book. On the same page ask:
“Show me one letter.”
“Show me one word.”
“Show me the first letter in a word.”
“Show me the last letter in a word.”
Score one point for each
6. Return Sweep: Turn to a page with at least 2 lines of text. Read the top line and keeping your
finger on the last word ask:
“Where do I read after this?”
Score one point
7. One-to-One Correspondence: Point to the first word on a new page and before reading, ask
the child:
• “Point to each word as I read this line.” Does the child follow and match text
as you read?
Score one point
8. Punctuation: Point to the period, tracing it with your pencil and ask:
“Do you know what this is?” If so, ask: “What is this for?”
Score one point
For benchmark scoring rubrics please see the Benchmarks for Primary Assessments document.
Based on Clay, M.M. (2000). Concepts About Print: What have children learned about printed language?
Heinemann: N.Z. ECLAS-II. Literacy Development Checklist. (2003). CTB/McGraw-Hill.
Concepts about Print—Implications for Instruction:
Marie Clay calls concepts about print “the rules of the road,” and writes, “Teachers must teach so
that all children become knowledgeable about these essential concepts so they open doors to
literacy.” She explains that teachers who have an understanding of what aspects of print their
students are attending to can introduce students early on to print conventions through experiences in
both reading and writing—especially through focused instruction in the first six months of school
(Clay, 2000, pp. 24-25).
Reading and writing are reciprocal literacy activities, especially in the early years; that is, they both
promote student literacy learning and provide the experiences that children need to gain knowledge
and use of „the rules of the road.‟ Through explicit teacher modeling as well as lots of guided
practice and experience, students take on the concepts, and use them until the concepts become
more automatic.
Based on teacher assessment, this literacy learning should and could be part of whole group, small
group and one-on-one (conferring) learning contexts—from reading the morning meeting chart to
writing a morning message together as part of an interactive writing experience, from shared
reading of a big book with a focus on pointing to each word as we read and moving across the page
from left to right, to writers‟ workshop mini-lessons where a teacher models where to start writing
on the page or how to leave space between words so that readers can reread them.
Most importantly, because children have such varied and broad experiences with print when they
first come to school, this assessment, together with ongoing running records and observation of
students‟ writing, will help teachers to pull together small strategy groups for guided instruction and
practice—whether it be a group of children who are ready to attend to punctuation in their own
writing or a child who still needs support in pointing to words as s/he reads across a single line of
print on a level A text.
Finally, while print layout, directionality, spacing and the stop and go marks of punctuation
determine the “rules of the road,” the major entry into discovering how print works is building an
understanding of how letters in print come together to represent sounds in words. Early letter and
word study can begin with very important words, the children‟s names: How many letters are in
your name? What is the first letter? What sound does that letter make or what is the first sound you
hear in your name? How many claps (syllables) are in your name? Is it a long name or a short
name? As a strategy to building classroom community and literacy the children can have
opportunities to play with their names, to sort names in their classroom by the number of letters, by
the number of claps, by first letter, and to chant their names from a chart or word wall.
Children‟s names go up on the word wall first. As the word wall expands to include little words the
children see in books and want to write in their stories, the children learn about the concept of
word—that words have first and last letters and sounds, that they are separated by spaces on the
page and that the left to right directionality holds true in reading and writing words as it does in
moving across a line of print: letters represent the sounds in words in left to right sequence. As
young children chant words from the word wall, find them in a big book, or stretch them out to
write during writer‟s workshop and then edit for accuracy of word wall words, they also learn that
no matter the font or page layout, the sequence of letters for each word will always be the same.
Heinemann: N.Z.
©TCRWP 2006-07 Do not duplicate without permission.
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Stargate Wiki:Spoiler policy
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This policy may be deprecated as all Stargate series are over now.
As an episode guide and encyclopedia (and to a lesser extent, a dictionary), this wiki may use information considered "spoilerific" in nature. This policy goes over the placement and verification of such information, as well as how the viewer can be forewarned when visiting an article containing such information.
Definition of a "Spoiler"[edit]
In fandom parlance, a "spoiler" is one or more pieces of information that may spoil the user's interest in an ongoing series, such as divulging future plot points or new facts about previously established characters.
To a new viewer of any Stargate series, everything is considered a spoiler. However, since this wiki exists as an information reference, we are not here to protect new viewers from information.
Therefore a spoiler is one or more pieces of information from an episode that has yet to air anywhere in the world, regardless of their perceived size or impact.
Thus this spoiler policy protects viewers familiar with the series who do not want to be exposed to information from episodes that have not had a first airing.
General Policy[edit]
This wiki recognizes that there are those who believe such information is detrimental to their viewing habits, while others are indifferent to being "spoiled" as it does not affect their habits either way. Therefore, the following measures are to be adhered to:
1. Information on unaired episodes can be added to any article on this wiki, but shall be tagged with a spoiler warning message, as described below:
• For articles completely relating to an unaired episode, the tag -- {{spoiler}} -- shall go on the first line of the article's text, before any other text and templates.
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2. Information located on user or talk pages does not need to be tagged with {{spoiler}}. These are "neutral zones", though it is suggested that users keep in mind other users who may not feel the same way they do regarding spoilers when adding content to both talk and user pages.
3. Once the episode has been aired—or is airing at the time of a user's editing—information revealed in that aired or airing episode can no longer be considered "spoilerific". This is regardless of whether or not the episode has yet to air anywhere else. (i.e. Episode 2.11 has aired in the United States, but not in England; just because it hasn't aired in England doesn't make the episode "spoilerific", as it has already aired in the U.S.)
Related Templates[edit]
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Enforcement of Policy[edit]
Repeated failure to obey this policy will result in the user being warned on his or her talk page. Dismissal of the warnings may result in short-term or long-term banning, depending on the circumstances.
Battlestar Wiki Logo.png This page uses some contents from Battlestar Wiki. The original article has been written in Battlestar_Wiki:Spoiler_Policy. The revision history can be seen in the Revision history page. Battlestar Wiki text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) Non commercial. If you want to reuse it you have to distribute it under the same license.
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64272
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Marica (Other)
"Once came to this world to get rid of a Renegade. A bit more cheerful and easy-going than the Marica of this world."
—In-Game Character Description
Marica is the Tenkai Star in Suikoden Tierkreis.
Marica is the leader of the Starbearers on her world. She is a mysterious girl who resembles Marica a lot, which was mistaken as Marica by the villagers of Citro Village. She arrived on Sieg's world by the Gateway, chasing after the Renegade.
Bright and witty, the "Marica of the other world" has shown the capability of wielding a giant axe, which she obtained by laying her fingers on a mysterious book in her world. She is determined, strong, and rather flirtatious when it comes to Sieg, which she quickly brush off by stating that she was just kidding or telling him to nevermind it.
After Sieg and his party arrives at Citro Village after their patrol, the villagers were raging when they saw Marica's arrival. They told them that Marica had just left the village after threating them to show her where the "renegades" are, which the villagers mistook a as rich man's house. Marica got angry at them, and quickly asked Sieg to find her "imposter", heading out together to find her.
When they entered the northern part of the Citro Plain , they found the Wanderer's camp, and one of the wanderers asked Sieg if he could join them on finding the other Marica. Together they went deeper into the forest, and encounter a strange monster which would later be revealed as a Renegade. They try to attack it but it just won't die. A cutscene follows where a woman with two long-braided white hair (who resembles Marica a lot) arrives and slashes through the Renegade, killing it.
After introducing herself and explaining the reason of her arrival to Sieg's world, she joins the party to find the remaining Renegades and the gateway. She also touched the Chronicle after telling them how she get her strength, but she could feel nothing. After defeating the last renegades in the forest ruins, she decided to go home, right after commenting how funny Sieg is, and promises him that she would visit his world sometimes. Sieg also tried to visit her world, but couldn't for some reason.
She collects the Chronicles as well, and is soon revealed to also be fighting a being known as the One King in her world. There, she serves as the leader of Starbearers.
When Manaril deduces the plan to use the False Chronicles to crush the One King, Hotupa gives word to Marica? She crosses swords with the One King at the same time the Hero does. Although the outcome of her battle is not revealed, the Hero reasons that she was successful, as the One King was the one who made using Gateways possible, and the Gateways no longer worked across the Infinity.
Role in the GameEdit
Lv. 99 StatusEdit
Character Statistics
LVL 99 EXP 999
HP 547/547
MP 457/457
STR 253 MAG 109
PDF 201 MDF 159
SKL 172 SPD 169
LUC 189
Starting and Permanent Equipment:
Unite AttacksEdit
Marica (Other) can perform the Counterpart unite attack with Marica.
• She is the first Female Tenkai in the series, despite being in another world. She is also the second hero that is a girl, the first being Chris Lightfellow.
108 Stars of Destiny
36 Stars of Heaven
72 Stars of Earth
Other Characters
DirkDanash VIIIShairahRizwanKureyahMasrurCougarAtrieMaricaLao-KwanFurat
MacouteCononFergusBeardsleyValfredThe One King
United Kingdom of RitterschildMagedom of JanamKingdom of AstrasiaLonomakuaEmpire of the North Star
Citro VillageCragbarkCynasOther CynasEl-QaralGrayridgeFortress RuinsLugenikNaineneisPharamondSalsabilTehah VillageWoodland Village
Citro PlainMarsinah Plains
Flesaria Forest NorthFlesaria Forest SouthNoslaw WoodsWilds of Veile
Ch'olui MountainMount Svatgol
Coastal CaveFort ArcGineh ValleyJanam DesertMislato RiverNorth Marsinah HillRarohenga
Blades of Night's VeilThe Second Mage Company of JanamViele Wege CompanyWanderer
AusterFurious RoarHumansPorpos-kinScribes
RecruitmentUnite AttacksHeadquartersMark of the StarsTradable ItemsEnemiesRecovery and Bomb ItemsQuestsHealth StatusEquipmentChroniclesCharacter EndingsWeapons and ShieldsArmors and AccessoriesMapGlitchesPotchSeasonsGatewaysMusics
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64279
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Knowledge Base
1. 1. What ApprovalMax is for
1. What is ApprovalMax
2. ApprovalMax for Xero
3. ApprovalMax for QuickBooks Online
4. Xero Bills approval
5. Approval of Xero Bills pulled from Receipt Bank
2. 2. How to set up approval workflows
1. How to set up an approval workflow
2. How to define conditional Approvers (Approval Matrix)
3. What is a Default Approver
4. Parallel and sequential approvals
5. How can the auto-approval of requests be avoided?
3. 3. How Approvers work
1. How Approvers are notified
2. How Approvers can make their decision
3. Mobile apps for Approvers and Requesters
4. If the initial Requester does not 'tick' the "Email to Supplier" box, how can the Approver easily spot this
5. What happens if the "Duration for approval" time expires?
4. 4. How company Admins works
1. How to check which documents are not yet approved
2. Managing Delegates as an Administrator
3. What does "Fraud Detection — changes after approval" setting?
4. Force approval / rejection (override a decision)
5. How to invite a user
5. 5. ApprovalMax for Xero
1. How to connect to Xero
2. Why do suppliers not appear in ApprovalMax after being created in Xero?
3. How to create suppliers directly in ApprovalMax?
4. Can I try without using real Xero data?
5. What happens after an approval/rejection
6. 6. ApprovalMax for QuickBooks Online
1. Why vendor email is missing in PO creation form?
2. How to connect to QuickBooks Online
3. Can I test without using real QuickBooks data?
4. Why is there just one integrated workflow compared to the Xero integration?
5. Can I approve QuickBooks Bills and Invoices?
7. 7. Security and permissions
1. Who can create approval requests?
2. Who can change requests
3. Who can see requests
4. SSL usage
5. Where the data is stored
8. 8. ApprovalMax Account Management
1. How to start a trial
2. Can I reconnect an ApprovalMax Organisation to a different Xero/QuickBooks Online organisation?
3. What happens when the trial ends?
4. How to terminate a trial
5. Why do I see a "Trial expired" message?
9. 9. About
1. About
2. Support Policy
3. Contact us
4. How can I navigate fast to the knowledge base or a website?
10. What's new
1. 12 December, 2018 release
2. 8 December, 2018 release
3. 7 December, 2018 release
4. 6 December, 2018 release
5. 5 December, 2018 release
11. All articles
1. Who can create approval requests?
2. About
3. How to connect to Xero
4. How Approvers are notified
5. How to set up an approval workflow
Feedback and Knowledge Base
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64280
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Novell is now a part of Micro Focus
Security update for linux Kernel (IPF)
(Last modified: 07JUN2004)
solutions Security update for linux Kernel (IPF) SuSE Linux Maintenance Web (fbc452895c8686539b54ae55bbebf6be)
Applies to
Product(s): SuSE Linux Enterprise Server 8 for IPF
Package: k_deflt
Release: 20040607
Obsoletes: none
Everyone using the Linux Kernel should update.
Problem description
The IPF kernels have a floating point leak. This is because the context switch code checks just the psr.mfh bit and doesn't look at who the FPH owner is. This allows a malicious program to set the MFH bit and look at the registers of another possibly sensitive process.
Please install the updates provided at the location noted below.
Installation notes
First, find out which kernel package to install by using the following command:
rpm -qf /boot/vmlinuz
Download the kernel image fitting your setup and install it with either:
• rpm -Fvh k_deflt-*.rpm for the default kernel image, or
• rpm -Fvh k_itanium2-smp-*.rpm for the Itanium2 SMP kernel image, or
• rpm -Fhv k_itanium2.rpm-*.rpm for the Itanium2 kernel image, or
• rpm -Fhv k_smp-*.rpm for the SMP kernel image
(N.B.: only install one of these kernels, not all of them.)
Finally, reboot the system with
shutdown -r now
If you are interested in installing the kernel sources, please download the package kernel-source and install it with:
rpm -Uhv kernel-source-*.rpm
links to download packages
Download Source Packages
Download the source code of the patches for maintained products.
© Copyright Micro Focus or one of its affiliates
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64294
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64308
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my Visit To The Apple Retailer
We offer iPhone Restore in Omaha and surrounding areas with a cell service so I actually journey to you to restore the gadget! Please just choose the mannequin iPhone you could have from the list beneath that requires restore, after which select the corresponding restore service from the listing. In case you are uncertain of the required repair we are able iPhone repair to present a free inspection and diagnostic service previous to repair do you have to be unaware of the precise nature of your iPhones downside. Step 1. Set up and launch the iPhone to LAPTOP Transfer in your LAPTOP, join you iPhone 6 to LAPTOP with USB cable. Step 2. Transfer the info you want from iPhone to laptop straight, together with contacts, SMS, images, videos, music, and so forth.
In summary: the costly iPhone display repair kits from iFixit and similar vendors are a complete rip-off; you may get the identical actual thing for $12 on Amazon. I started iFixit, and we're proud that kicked off the DIY iPhone display repair trade. Apple's final plastic handset was the iPhone 3GS in 2009, but it surely only came in black and white.
Aside from one that mentioned yes, you get exactly what's advertised but you in all probability don't want what is advertised.” It went on to elucidate that there are vital parts that are not included in the cheaper package. This was sufficient to scare me off so I went with the $65 equipment from iFixit, realizing it could definitely be right and not wanting Arin to wait any longer to get her telephone repaired.
In this system, prospects can upgrade to the most recent iPhone every year, beginning at $32 a month for the 16GB iPhone 6s and topping out at $45 a month for the 128GB iPhone 6s Plus. So I reluctantly handed over $250 massive ones — an act I am hoping to quickly neglect — to get myself a alternative iPhone. I read all the Amazon comments concerning the $12 equipment they usually have been all very optimistic opinions.
Step 1. Set up and launch the Phone to Telephone Transfer whereas your iPhone 6 is connected to the pc through a USB cable. When you test all the info that you want to backup, click Begin Copy, and the Phone to Telephone Switch will start to back up the selected contents on your iPhone to the computer. Unlike years previous, the iPhone 5 would not keep on as a second-tier gadget - it's just gone.
They might in all probability charge an iPhone glass restore fee of $four hundred, the value of a new iPhone, and folks would still pay up. So I went house and tried to forget concerning the arm and the leg I would just given to Apple in exchange for a new iPhone. Had the iPhone replacement cost me $50, I'd have disregarded the smudge, but for $250 I refused to settle for a brand new iPhone that was anything less than excellent. This free guide tells you what you are able to do to get your iPhone mounted rapidly, cheaply, and professionally. I had my display cracked on my iPhone 4 so I went to the rogers they usually replaced my cellphone with a new one as a result of it was a primary substitute.
Please just choose the model iPhone you have got from the record under that requires restore, after which select the corresponding repair service from the listing. If you're uncertain of the required repair we are capable of present a free inspection and diagnostic service prior to restore should you be unaware of the exact nature of your iPhones problem. Step 1. Set up and launch the iPhone to COMPUTER Switch on your LAPTOP, connect you iPhone 6 to PC with USB cable. Step 2. Switch the data you want from iPhone to laptop instantly, together with contacts, SMS, photos, movies, music, and so forth.
Posted in
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64329
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Tag Archives: illustration
God, the Girdle and the Glory!
Strange title I know, but an even a stranger story that pierced my soul this morning as I read it. Jeremiah, who was only about 17 when God called him, was known as the weeping prophet. He knew what God’s judgment would bring to Israel and no matter how he cried or warned the people […]
Read More
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64359
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Make your own free website on
Logs from my time on A Bug's Muck
During my travels on A Bug's Muck, I have kept logs of the interaction between the insects and creatures of this strange land. The only adventures I have seen firsthand are of those characters that I control, namely Locus the grasshopper, Drizzt the cricket, Loki the walking stick, Muin the ant, and Tirade the scorpion.
So far the only logs I have available are those from the point of view of Tirade the scorpion.
Tirade's logs
Tirade and Daja part 1: Tirade the scorpion and Daja the spider meet for the first time in a half in character, half out of character log Tirade and Daja part 2: Tirade and Daja awake the next morning... very sore... only to pass out shortly afterwards. Tirade and Daja part 3: coming soon
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64378
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10 03 07
The Monster Precariat
Translated by Aileen Derieg
Gerald Raunig
“Oggi May Day è un processo autonomo, una rete dentro la quale agiscono molti collettivi e soggettività diverse in tutta Europa, a partire dai diversi livelli di contraddizione che si vivono nei territori, ma tutti accomunati dalla richiesta di un reddito di cittadinanza universale e da radicali pratiche alternative a quelle dei sindacati e dei partiti della sinistra. May Day è ben più di una serie simultanea di ‘parate’, è un processo ricompositivo e costituente del nuovo proletariato postfordista. […]
Per me il precariato non è fatto solo di esseri egoisti, nè di semplici individui […] Al contrario, la ricomposizione rivoluzionaria dei soggetti sta dandosi un po’ ovunque, in termini di costruzione del commune.” (Antonio Negri, Goodbye Mr Socialism)[1]
As is so often the case with the spread and development of new terms, the explosive expansion of the conceptual field of precarity – precarization – precariat[2] in recent years has led to considerable confusion. It is hardly surprising that in the course of the emergence of the social movement, for which this conceptual field has become the most important reference, there have been different valuations of the central terms again and again, as well as shifts of meaning depending on the social, geographical and temporal context. Even in the mobilization context of the Euromayday movement, an intensive process of exchange has been and is still needed to ensure a reasonably precise differentiation of the conceptual field. And if the Euromayday parades in many European cities in recent years have renewed the resistive practice of May 1st, in the processes that accompany them these parades are not only to be regarded as attempts to politically organize the precarious, but also – both prior to this and beyond it – as information campaigns about issues of precarization, as instruments of collective knowledge production, as militant research into contemporary ways of living and working.
Increasingly intense debates have developed throughout Europe over the past decade, ranging beyond the events of the parades to discussions, reading circles, surveys, leftist magazines and other publications, which have differentiated and made a critical discourse of the central concepts, but without seeking to rigidly define the terms.[3]
Important lines of this debate have especially suggested deferring overly enthusiastic identification and premature generalizations under the umbrella of precarity. In this sense, the narrow geographical and historical boundaries of the discourse of precarization have been problematized, not least of all, in relation to gender and Eurocentrism[4]. From this perspective precarity does not at all appear to be a new phenomenon; fordism could be considered more as the “western” exceptional phenomenon of the 20th century, which made precarity invisible in a certain framework or turned it into an exception.[5] Conversely, it seemed expedient to more closely examine the new forms of immaterial, cognitive, affective labor with their continuities and discontinuities as components of post-fordist capitalism.[6] With the discussion of precarious modes of subjectivization beyond the victim discourses in the context of the autonomy of migration[7], a precondition was also established to ensure that the extremely diverse forms of precarization, their differences and hierarchies did not sink into a precarious amalgamation. At the same time, it became clear that there was little point in making a rigid distinction between self-determination and external determination, to speak of luxury precarization and the underprivileged precarized, identifying the former with the “creative class”, the “intellos precaires” or the “digital Boheme” and the latter with migrants or the sans-papiers. Just as the complex situation in all these areas suggests making a connection between smooth forms of self-precarization and rigidly repressive forms of labor discipline[8], new modes of subjectivization also become possible in this setting[9]. However, if precarization also means subjectivization and multiple subjection at the same time, it seems to make little sense to speak of “the precarized”. Instead of the victimization linguistically inherent to the use of the passive form, the term “the precarious” seemed to correspond more to the ambivalent situation. And this has ultimately also opened up the economic determination of the exclusive focus on labor, so that with theoreticians such as Judith Butler, Antonio Negri or Paolo Virno the precarization of life could also be more widely examined.
The “Dissociated Precariat”
Whereas the conceptualization of precarization, precarity and precariat became increasingly intense and condensed in discourses close to the movement, its diffusion into other fields was apparently less successful. The most obvious example for the lack of a diffusion of the left-wing precarization discourse seems to be the deplorable debates about a “dissociated precariat” [“abgehängtes Prekariat”] that caused conceptual confusion to spread in large sections of the German-language mainstream press in fall 2006. This wave of disinformation and denunciation began with reactions to a study conducted by the market research company TNS Infratest, commissioned by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation associated with the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany), and the study’s identification and classification of a “dissociated precariat”.[10] The crudely formulated study separated “Germans” (excluding the population not eligible to vote) into nine political types, identifying the “dissociated precariat” as the ninth and final stage of this typology. The ensuing debate, characterized by SPD Chairman Beck as a “lower class debate”, left out no platitudes or reactionary resentments and had an impact not only in the political field, but also far into academic and intellectual contexts.
The quick assumption of the family of terms relating to the precarious in the German mainstream press ignored the left-wing debate described above and rooted itself in an ambiguous popularization of the academic social sciences discourse on precarization especially in France. In the German version of the radical reduction of terms, however, the group identified as the precariat was not only fixed – as is often the case in social sciences contexts – to the role of object and victim: the debate over the TNS study went further and constructed a new quality of lumpenproletariat and its exclusion from political agency. Once called “this passive rotting of the lowest classes of the old society” by Marx and Engels, the new precarious lumpenproletariat was now no longer described as passive and pushed into precarity, but rather – especially perfidiously – as self-victimizing agents of their own exclusion. The debate no longer involved exclusionary practices of the majority society, but rather, as Isabell Lorey critically remarks, only the allegedly felt exclusions of those affected, self-exclusions for which they are purportedly themselves responsible: “In this discourse in bourgeois feature sections the concept of the ‘precariat’ is intertwined for the first time in a negative way with a neoliberal, self-chosen loser existence. There is no mention here of resistive refusal, but instead there is a categorization of persons who must be subjected to increasing state control, due to an irresponsible self-responsibility, since they obviously do not allow themselves to be neoliberally governed.”[11]
This continued discursive exclusion and the denunciatory figure of the imputed self-exclusion can be seen as an equally intentional and effective misunderstanding on the part of the normalizing mainstream, as a socio-political stratification that the center of society needs to re-constitute itself. Conversely, however, it can also be interpreted as a necessitated defensive, a defensive that becomes necessary because of the emergence of a new monster. The name of the monster is precariat, its historical model and striking surface is the giant proletariat.
“Il precariato si ribella”
Whereas the following involves an attempt to reconceptualize the concept of precariat, this attempt is initially based less on an etymological or theoretical genealogy[12] than on the development of the terminology within the movement that has formed around it in recent years. In the preparation phase for the anti-G8 summit in Genoa 2001, a group associated with the media-activist collective Chainworkers in Milan organized a first Mayday Parade, at which in the afternoon of May 1st about 500 participants took up the more recent non-representationist demonstration forms of the anti-globalization movement, Reclaim the Streets and Gay Pride. Tying into the legendary US American union of the Wobblies, the International Workers of the World, the new tradition of May 1st had an international orientation from the start, seeking to address precarization as a transnational problem. The advanced precarization in Italy explains the early attempts to organize and mobilize the “generation of the precarious” especially in Milan, although their cry of “Mayday!”, both a battle cry and a signal of distress, soon echoed beyond the Italian borders. On posters, flyers, banners, however, the slogan was not “Stop Précarité” [Stop precarity], as it was first developed by the part-time workers at French McDonald’s restaurants in the course of a campaign in winter 2000, but rather “Stop al precariato” [stop the precariat]. This somewhat confusing and ambiguous formulation certainly has something to do with the various Marxist interpretations of historical concepts of proletariat and class, which I will thematize below, but also and especially with the different meanings of the current concept of precariat in different languages. The ending -iato in Italian, for instance, is more common than the German equivalent, so that the analogy to the concept of the proletariat is far less close than in German: “salariato” (cf. also the French “salariat”) means roughly the legally defined status of waged labor against a juridical and social-institutional background; from this perspective “precariato”[13] is the shadow side of this statute without rights, which is to be fought, the spread of which is to be stopped.
A number of things changed in 2002. Not only did the influx of parade participants grow – especially in the year after 9/11 and Genoa, which is often described as the problematic, if not indeed traumatic break in the anti-globalization movement – to an astonishing extent, but the central slogan was inverted, so to speak. There was no longer any mention of stopping the precariat, but quite the opposite: “Mayday. Il primo maggio del precariato sociale” [the first May of the social precariat]. A twofold turn took place here: with the reference to the social aspect, the struggle and the reflection were expanded from the focus on labor to the precarization of sociality, of life, and most of all, precariat changed from something bad to be prevented to a self-designation. The “precariato sociale” became the common term for a multifaceted and diverse crowd, who did not describe themselves as victims, but as a social movement. This semantic transition was concluded a year later, culminating in the slogan: “il precariato si ribella” [the precariat rebels].[14] In 2003 there was already an indication of the spread of the movement, the realization of a transnational mobilization: the parade was announced as “la parade del precariato Europeo”, not only because precarization was recognized as a transnational problem, but also because increasingly more collectives and groups from other European countries were involved in organizing the parade in Milan.
It was almost a logical consequence of this internationalization that the transformation into the Euromayday Parade developed in 2004 through the first simultaneous organization in Milan and Barcelona. Especially in Barcelona there was a foretaste of a new social composition: sans-papiers and migrants, autonomists, political activists from left-wing and radical leftist unions and political parties, art activists, precarious and cognitive workers of all kinds formed a manifestation of transversality.[15] And Mayday became European in a transnational sense. International Euromayday meetings took place in various cities in Europe, usually on the fringe of left-wing conferences and Social Forums. Following the meeting in Berlin in January 2005, announced as the “International Meeting of the Precariat”, the parade spread more and more throughout the region of Europe; most recently, in 2006, there were over twenty cities, although with somewhat different political orientations and varying quantities of participants.
A New Class For Itself?
“Economic conditions had first transformed the mass of the people of the country into worker. The combination of capital has created for this mass a common situation, common interests. This mass is thus already a class as against capital, but not yet for itself. In the struggle, of which we have noted only a few phases, this mass becomes united, and constitutes itself as a class for itself. The interests it defends becomes class interests. But the struggle of class against class is a political struggle.”[16]
It was not by chance that Marx wrote these lines, which were later to be refigured primarily to legitimate the Lenin party as the state apparatus steering everything, in his response to Proudhon’s Philosophy of Poverty. The question of organizing remained a controversy between the communist and the anarchist camps across the centuries. Marxist-Leninist literature, on the other hand, quickly reduced the struggle and the process of constituting a “class for itself” to the opposition of the “class in itself” and the “class for itself”. A larger social group, parts of which live under the same or similar conditions, was described in this reading as a “class in itself”. However, the empirical objectivization of this group regards the individuals as unconnected with one another and unconscious of their common bond.
The classical example of the state of separation in its extreme form, which cannot even be considered a class, of the impossibility of intervening action and common struggle, is that of the French small-holding peasants. In 1852 Marx wrote in the “Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte”: “The small-holding peasants form an enormous mass whose members live in similar conditions but without entering into manifold relations with each other. Their mode of production isolates them from one another instead of bringing them into mutual intercourse. The isolation is furthered by France’s poor means of communication and the poverty of the peasants.”[17] The small-holding is the paradigm of isolation. In the situation of spatial separation, the peasants achieve an exchange with nature, but not an “intercourse with society”. The concept of intercourse [“Verkehr”], which Marx also shared with his individual-anarchist adversary at the time, Max Stirner, here means something more than a common empirical class foundation. The arbitrary addition of similar units, in Marx’s image the many potatoes in a potato sack, does not result in a union, a political organization. On the contrary, under the radical populist government of the “second Napoleon” Louis Bonaparte, the small-holding peasants are condemned to isolation and separation, to the impossibility of intercourse and representation. They are even “incapable of asserting their class interest in their own name, whether through a parliament or a convention. They cannot represent themselves, they must be represented.”[18]
In contrast, at least in specific Marxist-Leninist jargon, the class in itself must become a class for itself; it must become conscious of the common situation and develop strategies going beyond local issues. And most of all, it must organize itself. It is this aspect that first distinguishes the class for itself from people whose economic conditions identify them as a class, but who as yet share nothing because of their living conditions, who cannot found an organization. From this perspective, it is precisely the small-holding peasants’ absence of relations and communication, their extreme isolation that lacks the precondition for becoming a class for itself and makes every “mass solidarity” seem impossible.
Multitude and Precariat
The sleeping giant of the proletariat must awaken, must be awakened through class consciousness and party. So it corresponds less to the isolated figure of the small-holding peasants than to the state of the class itself, which must simply through the right form of organization come to itself, become a class for itself. Even though the conceptual analogy to the proletariat seems obvious, in comparison the precariat as a movement and organization of the scattered precarious is a monster that knows no sleep. There is no teleological movement here from sleeping to class consciousness; neither the empiricism of the class in itself nor the political invocation of a class for itself, but rather a constant becoming, questions, struggles. Hence precariat appears neither as an in any way empirically comprehensible problem nor as a future model of salvation. In this way, it is also by no means simply the other pole of precarity, in analogy, so to speak, to the class for itself in its relation the class itself.
Yet even the concept of the proletariat is obviously not entirely unambiguous. Two problematic versions of the proletariat haunt the thinking and actions of many leftists: on the one hand these are notions in scientific Marxism that identify and classify a clearly delineated group of people as the proletariat, on the other there is the canonized figure of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Yet there has been and still is a concept of the proletariat going beyond sociological fixation and political teleology that is to be localized in the proximity of a social becoming, as it is sketched in the image of the precariat as a sleepless monster: it is that which already conceptualized the proletariat as the struggle against classification, fixation following the logic of identity and homogenization[19], that to which the opening quotation from Antonio Negri refers in addressing the constituent process of a new postfordist proletariat, but also as formulated the Euromayday activist Alex Foti: “In post-industrial society, the precariat is what the proletariat was in the industrial society.”[20]
As is already clear in the genealogy of the concept of the precariat in the Euromayday movement described above, beyond this formation of analogy there are substantial differences between the concepts of the proletariat and the precariat. The proletarian as a member of the lowest class, who served the ancient Roman state solely by supplying offspring (proles), from the Marxist perspective the waged laborer without ownership of the means of production, represents homogeneity in many respects: this figure of the wage-earner represents a normalized dominant, all the more so the proletarian “class for itself”, which results from the specific organizational forms of unions and mass parties, and most of all, it can only take up the struggle against the dominant class as a unified class. The figure of the precarious, on the other hand, indicates diffuseness, fragility, heterogeneity. The precariat does not represent a unified, homogeneous or even ontological formation; it is divided and diffused across many hotbeds, not because of weakness or incapability, but rather as a discontinuity of geography and production distributing itself in space. In a way, the separation and isolation of the French small-holding peasants is, in fact, repeated in postfordist conditions, and thus often also the inability to establish intercourse and exchange among one another. In this respect, precarization leads more to competitiveness, to lack of solidarity and to opportunism, even if some means of production and especially of communication are increasingly accessible to broader circles. Yet the modes of existence in diffusion also bear the potential of engendering concatenations of singularities instead of identitary and communitary forms of collectivization. Regardless of which form the concatenation of the precariat assumes, which forms of (self-) organization it develops, the concept itself indicates that it does not revert to uniformity and structuralization, to the schemata of molar and linear concepts of revolution. If the precariat is anything at all, then it is itself precarious.
The concept of the precariat becomes especially fruitful for molecular and transversal approaches to theory and politics in exchange with the complementary concept of the multitude, in the potentiality that its singularities concatenate into the precariat in all the heterogeneity and autonomy of the struggles. Both concepts, multitude and precariat, are not to be understood as sociological categories, as groups to be empirically classified, but rather as complementary: namely as potentiality and actualization of the concatenation. In this way they open up the vulgar sociologism that adheres to the proletariat just as persistently as the one-dimensional homogenization of the form of the political party or the state. If multitude implies the potentiality of concatenation, and precariat its actualization, both concepts are still real in the same way: the potentiality of the multitude is just as little the opposite of reality as its permanently emergent actualization in the formation of the precariat. In both concepts, it is not the quantity, the question of their maximal expansion, that is relevant, but rather their quality.
The multitude is to be understood in this relation as anti-identitary form and potentiality, which does not unify the many. It is clear, however, not only in the texts by Paolo Virno on the multitude, that the concept of the multitude is less suitable as a normative concept, that an ambivalence is inscribed in it that shifts and can be shifted: at one pole is the overflowing and interlocking of anxiety and fear (whereby this floating arrangement of anxiety and fear is not to be understood as a psychological category or reduced to a desperate struggle for a return to fordist wage labor circumstances), at the other pole is the potentiality of the development of a new, frightening monster.
Whereas the multitude can be understood as a possibility condition for the development of what is in common in the open process of diffused organizing, the actualization of this potential monster bears the name precariat. Precariat – to emphasize it again – is neither a state that empirically describes a class in itself, nor a function of the teleology of the class for itself. It is much more of a turn, a struggle, a question. It implies neither political nor conceptual closure and homogenization, but rather the development of problems such as the following: How can a form of organization emerge that fosters the exchange, the intercourse of differences more than unifying them? How can new means of communication be used for this organizing? What are the forms beyond state, party and union that emerge in dispersion, in a dispersion that is not only meant geographically, but also relates to the modes of production as well as the locations of production? Accordingly, what are the machines, in which singularities concatenate, instead of being put into identitary vessels? What type is the new band of the multitude that is not actualized as a homogenizing cohesion, but rather as a concatenation?
Thanks to Marcelo Expósito, Isabell Lorey, Klaus Neundlinger and the editorial collective of Grundrisse. Zeitschrift für linke Theorie und Debatte for criticism and discussion.
[1] “MayDay today is an autonomous process, a network, in which many individuals and different subjectivities operate throughout Europe: starting from the contradictions they experience in different spatial contexts, everyone joins in the demand for a universal basic income and in radical practices that differ from those of the unions and the parties of the left. MayDay is more than a series of ‘parades’ taking place at the same time; it is a process of recomposing and constituting the new postfordist proletariat. […]
For me, the precariat is by no means a matter of egoists or simply of individuals […] On the contrary, the revolutionary recomposition of subjects takes place in a sense everywhere, specifically in establishing what all have in common.”
[2] For an initial overview, cf. Frassanito Network, “Precarious, Precarization, Precariat?”,; on the differentiation of the terms in English, cf. Angela Mitropoulos, “Precari-Us?”,
[3] See for instance the articles in the issue “precariat” of the multilingual eipcp web journal transversal,, the Spanish and Italian edition of the Mayday newspaper, published in Barcelona and Milan, “Milano-Barcelona Euro MayDay 004”, the Precarity edition of the Dutch Greenpepper Magazine from 2004, the special edition of the British Mute magazine, a collection of articles on precarity in the Mute issues 28 and 29 (2004/5), the issues 02/05 (“EuroMayDay 005: mächtig prekär”), and 04/06 (“Organisierung der Unorganisierbaren”),, of the Austrian journal for radically democratic cultural politics Kulturrisse, the issue of the Belgian magazine Politique, revue de débats from October 2006 or the reader for the discussion series at the NGBK in Berlin: Prekäre Perspektiven, Berlin: NGBK 2006.
[4] Cf. kpD, “The Precarization of Cultural Producers and the Missing ‘Good Life’”,, and Angela Mitropoulos, “Precari-Us?”,
[5] Cf. Dirk Hauer, „Strategische Verunsicherung. Zu den identitären Fallstricken der Debatte um prekäre Arbeit“,, abbreviated version published in analyse & kritik - Zeitung für linke Debatte und Praxis 494, 15.4.2005.
[6] Cf. Vassilis Tsianos / Dimitris Papadopoulos, “Precarity: A Savage Journey to the Heart of Embodied Capitalism”,
[7] Cf. “Die Putzfrau war präsent, aber wie sieht sie aus? Interview mit den OrganisatorInnen des Hamburger Euromaydays 2006”, in: analyse & kritik - Zeitung für linke Debatte und Praxis 504, 17.3.2006, online:; Serhat Karakayali, “Mobilität und Prekarität als Ressource in den Kämpfen um Migration”, in: Prekäre Perspektiven, Berlin: NGBK 2006, 136-145; Luzenir Caixeta, “Jenseits eines simplen Verelendungsdiskurses. Prekäre Arbeitsverhältnisse von Migrantinnen und Möglichkeiten einer (Selbst-)Organisation der Beteiligten am Beispiel maiz”, in: Kulturrisse 04/06, 22-25.
[8] Cf. also Gerald Raunig, “Creative Industries as Mass Deception”,
[9] Brigitta Kuster, “Die eigenwillige Freiwilligkeit der Prekarisierung”, /transversal/0704/kuster/de.
[11] Isabell Lorey, “Vom immanenten Widerspruch zur hegemonialen Funktion. Biopolitische Gouvernementalität und Selbst-Prekarisierung von KulturproduzentInnen”, in: Gerald Raunig / Ulf Wuggenig (Ed.), Kritik der Kreativität, Vienna: Turia+Kant 2007.
[12] In Roman law the precarium was the granting of a right, “obtained by entreaty”, “revocable”, “subject to revocation”, for which there was no legal claim. The term has increasingly appeared in social sciences contexts in the last twenty years. In the course of this, however, the widespread everyday term that could be used for anything has also merged with the precarization of work. This conceptual constriction was first discursively loosened around 2000 (especially in the strands of post-Operaist and post-structuralist theories) in the direction of biopolitics, social precarization and precarious life.
[13] Cf. Franco Berardi Bifo, “Lavoro Sapere Precarietà”, “Con la parola precariato si intende comunemente l'area del lavoro in cui non sono (più) definibili delle regole fisse relative al rapporto di lavoro, al salario, alla durata della giornata lavorativa.“ [With the word ‘precariat’ one usually refers to the area of employment, in which fixed rules in terms of working conditions, wage and working hours can no longer be distinguished.]
[14] The posters and slogans of the first Mayday Parades are found on the web site
[15] Cf. Gerald Raunig, “La inseguridad vencerá. Anti-Precariousness Activism and Mayday Parades”,
[18] Ibid.
[19] Cf. John Holloway’s relevant remarks, but also the aforementioned Marx quotation from The Poverty of Philosophy.
Gerald Raunig
Aileen Derieg (translation)
other languages
The Monster Precariat Das Monster Prekariat El precariado monstruo Prekariatets monster
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From Twitterdex
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Xyghzan (But most know him by Heatran)
The next best thing to god.
Species Heatran
Age As old as the Earth itself.
Level 100
Types Fire-type.png Steel-type.png
Gender Male
Home Stark Mountain
Trainer Wild
Carrying Stolen laptop
Nature Unspecified
Heatran, the legendary fire/steel pokemon. Heatran is the first and last of his kind, born out of a volcano from the flames of Earth's core at the planet's dawning. Until the advent of Twitter, Heatran spent his days mostly alone and aloof, with the occasional love interest he was destined to outlive.
twitter for Heatran
Lastest Tweets
{{#widget:Feed |feedurl=http://twitter.com/statuses/user_timeline/27879179.rss |chan=n |num=10 |desc=0 |date=n |targ=n }}
To detail Heatran's full history would be an exercise in futility. Even he has forgotten most of the minor details and some of the major ones. What is known is that Heatran is charged as the first and last line of defense for the planet and, more importantly to him, pokemon. If you were to ask him, he drew the short straw when it came to legendaries. However, he shoulders his responsibilities well at most times.
Heatran is one of the few gendered legendary pokemon. Unfortunately for him, this allows him to fall in love. More times than he would care to remember has he taken to himself a great love, only to watch ageless and helpless as they wilt away. His long years have yet to remove his capacity for caring, for the death of those he holds dear weigh heavily on him.
For a long stretch of time, Heatran shunned making any connections to anyone. Instead he watched alone in his cave as the human plague grew stronger and began enslaving his people. This engendered a great hatred of humans in him. However his hate is not blinding, and while he thinks nothing of killing any adult trainer foolish enough to think to tame him, he will not use his great power to wipe them out.
Also, never in his life has he ever met any Ninetales whatsoever period ever.
Heatran has the wisdom of his years and is always more than ready to share it with those he cares about. He is quick to become consider other pokemon his friends and become protective of them. He has great love for his friends, and is willing to do anything within reason for them, even letting the doomsday clock tick ever nearer to midnight in deference to their feelings. This is why he sealed himself away, he no longer wished to make any connections so as not to have to lose anyone again. Twitter has drawn him out of his shell once more.
He uses the term "young one" to refer to those he has respect for. He uses the word "child" as a derogatory term.
Psych Profile
Heatran is much like the planet he is avatar to. On the surface he appears calm and friendly. Indeed he is. However, while capable of the full range, there are two great burning emotions that make up the core of Heatran's character: Rage and Guilt.
Rage for him is the most powerful motivator, and guilt his greatest weakness. When feeling guilty, Heatran turns all his great rage inward. That much rage focused inside of someone can have awful physical and mental affects.
Heatran is one of the many targets of Banette's jabs. After spending a time rebuffing and then ignoring the ghost, Heatran took something Bellsprout said and now plays the same little games as Banette when speaking to him. The two are "friends."
After his mental break down, Bellsprout was there to talk to and comfort Heatran. Over time she was able to bring him back to his usual state of mind. After she paid a visit to his Volcano, something no one in recent times has ever had PERMISSION to do, Heatran confessed that he had fallen for her.
Giovanni represents to Heatran everything wrong with the human race. As such, Heatran despises him and the feeling seems mutual.
Heatran has a great amount of respect for Houndour. In many areas their views are similar if not the same.
Move Set
If he weren't a filthy cheater the four moves he would use in official battles would be:
Metal Sound
Type: Steel
Function: Status
Effect: Metal Sound lowers the target's Special Defense by two stages.
Earth Power
Type: Ground
Function: Special
Power: 90
Effect: Has a 10% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense stat by one stage.
Magma Storm
Type: Fire
Function: Special
Power: 120
Effect: Magma Storm traps the target in pillars of fire for 2-5 turns and inflicts damage at the end of each turn. If the user of Magma Storm is holding a Grip Claw, the duration of Magma Storm is always 5 turns.
Flash Canon
Type: Steel
Function: Special
Power: 80
Obtained: Nicked the TM off a dead trainer
Special Abilities
It is unimportant what normal Pokemon moves Heatran actually knows. He admits to the fact that, as far as actual Pokemon skills go, he is only above average. In battle, Heatran is prone to cheating his ass off, drawing upon his abilities as avatar of Earth's core to flood the battlefield in magma.
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MyOldPCs Overview
My Old PC is Alive Again!
Run your old PC as a vm on a new PC
Over the years we buy new computers and retire old ones. When we retire old computers, we take pains to preserve data on them. Some go into each folder on the computer, looking for files that are potentially useful; some take backups of all the files in the old computer. Some forget to copy the archived email files, while others search the Internet to find out how to save and restore bookmarks. Even if you create a complete backup, you may have to import some of the exported files (such as Outlook email) painfully, to just look for an old email. In particular, you backed your data up, but you lose your application and environment.
What if you can retire your physical computer but still keep a virtual one? You not only get all your data, but also your applications. More importantly, you retain a familiar working environment ---- your desktop settings, your registry, your old mail application, bookmarks, to name just a few. The warm feeling of working with a familiar environment and the peace of mind that the solution brings to you, is another reason why VMLite can bring value to every regular PC user.
Here are the simple steps it takes to have your old PC up and running in your new PC, using VMLite:
• Get an external hard drive that can hold all the data on your old PC.
• Copy a simple MyOldPCs program to the hard drive and connect the hard drive to the old PC.
• Run the copied MyOldPCs program, which will convert your old PC to a file that can be accessed from your new PC.
• Once the conversion is done, connect the hard disk to your new PC, and start running and enjoying your old PC with VMLite Workstation
A similar but interesting use for VMLite is to use it to create a backup of your Netbook computer, and run it on your desktop PC. Instead of your old PC being alive on your computer, your Netbook is alive now in a different environment.
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Joshy (Sundance Review)
By @DJansick
Joshy (Sundance Review)
For a film loaded with many laughs, it’s strange that Joshy begins on quite the morbid note. Joshy (Silicon Valley’s Thomas Middleditch) arrives home one day to find his fiancé (Alison Brie) lifeless on the floor, dead from an apparent suicide. But the film doesn’t dwell on her death for very long, instead jumping ahead four months when Joshy’s small crew of friends (Nick Kroll, Adam Pally, Alex Ross Perry, and Brett Gelman) elect to celebrate his bachelor party, just as they had intended before the incident occurred. When the boys arrive at their secluded cabin for the party, they discover Joshy saying goodbye to a girl he picked up from the local bar—a rather uncharacteristic move and one that isn’t ever addressed again. Other than this small inexplicable moment, the rest of the film plays out as a hysterical weekend bender of heavy drinking, drug consumption, and partying with hookers. In theory it’s a classic recipe for a “what could possibly go wrong?” scenario, but, oddly enough, the answer in Joshy is nothing.
Credit the amazing cast for making Joshy work as well as it does. Without them, it’s just another hangout movie with a paper-thin plot and very little character development. Granted, simply putting these hilarious actors together in a room would make for entertainment. Each character’s personality puzzle-pieces into the group as a whole. Kroll is the partier. Pally is the sensitive married guy. Perry is the geek. Gelman is the wildcard. And then there’s Middleditch, who’s stuck playing the uninteresting title character—ironically, the least developed of the bunch. There’s also a random appearance by Joe Swanberg (and his real family), who seem only to show up to get a few laughs.
Luckily, there’s enough humor found in sophomore director Jeff Baena’s (Life After Beth) film that it’s easy to forgive some of the off moments. The highlight of Joshy is watching Perry finally getting his wish to play a complicated board game with the group. That’s right, this ensemble even finds a way to make the struggle to play a board game amusing to watch.
Best Of The Web
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Related Topics: Agile Computing, Cloud Security
Agile Computing: Blog Feed Post
Why Social Engineering Works
Hackers usually do some basic research to find out whom they need to use to construct a cover story
I have been to a couple of white hat security seminars over the past two weeks, one put on by Fishnet at the local SecureWorld Expo and another by Network Technology Partners. By white hat I mean people who are paid to break into their clients’ networks and demonstrate various security weaknesses. The biggest skill required? Wear a suit and smile. Sure, it is nice to have various gizmos and technical tools, but getting in the door is easy if you look nice
Social engineering, as this is called, isn’t new. Kevin Mitnick mastered this in the 1980s, although back then he was mostly trying to break into telephone switches. But what was interesting about both talks was how effective and how often these tricks were successful: some more than 85% of the time.
In both seminars, we saw how easy it was for the hacker to hang out by an employees’ entrance, or where the outdoor smokers congregate. Then they waltz right in, sit right down, and start connecting a laptop to the network within minutes. In one case, the hacker brought his own 19-inch server inside the data center and was helped by a Verizon technician to install the box on a rack. What made this funny was the hacker was posing as another Verizon engineer! I guess Verizon is a big company: you can’t expect to know everybody. But that is exactly the point.
In another case, the visiting hacker was challenged and escorted back to the front desk. But that was rare. Most people accepted that a stranger sitting in a nearby cube was just part of the scenery. In one case, the hacker had forged their badge and even put the words “Please stop me” right below their ID photo. No one bothered to look more closely.
Hackers usually do some basic research to find out whom they need to use to construct a cover story. Sometimes they hang out where employees spend their lunch hours at a nearby eatery. And LinkedIn can be a valuable tool to get names of systems that are being used, or names of IT employees that can give up this data. You don’t need much beyond a simple request: people are too trusting. Just say you are a recruiter and are looking for candidates for a six-figure job.
One of the speakers showed us an insidious tool: a necktie that has a pinhole HD video camera and can store video. Just wear the tie (see above), and then take it off and hang it on a hook with full view of the office. You can buy it for a couple hundred bucks, and then come back and download the video via a USB cable. This makes the surveillance seen in the movie “Closed Circuit” look like child’s play. There are other USB devices that can act as key loggers: who ever checks the back of their desktop PC on a regular basis?
At the SecureWorld show, the Fishnet guys set up their own rogue Wi-Fi hotspot. Within a few hours, they had more than a dozen attendees login to the thing and start typing their IDs and passwords, all dutifully captured by the device. Some of these hotspots look like power bricks – all you need to do to hide them in plain sight is to label them “property of the IT department” and most people won’t touch them. The same thing happens at Black Hat in Vegas, even though you would think that a conference full of security professionals would be more careful.
Social engineering is certainly alive and well these days, as always. The best security is to actually test these sorts of penetrations on a regular basis, and educate your employees to be less trusting. But it goes against human nature – at least here in the Midwest where folks are usually friendly by default – to challenge someone at the workplace. Still, we humans are the weakest link and all the firewalls and intrusion prevention systems can’t protect us against these simple exploits.
More Stories By David Strom
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IoT & Smart Cities Stories
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The Weekly Newsletter of MIT Linguistics
MIT Colloquium 12/7: Emily Elfner (York University)
Speaker: Emily Elfner (York University)
Title: The Syntax-Prosody Interface
Time: Friday, December 7th, 3:30-5pm
Place: 32-155
In this talk, I discuss word- and phrase-level prominence in two languages which may be characterized as “polysynthetic”: Kwak’wala (North Wakashan: BC, Canada) and Inuktitut (Eskimo-Aleut; Northern Canada). Polysynthetic languages are typically described as such in terms of their morphosyntactic characteristics: allowing complex morphological “words” which blur the lines between words, phrases, and clauses. In recent years, researchers have argued that complex words may be analyzed using the same syntactic tools used for less agglutinative languages, proposing that the unusually complex “words” result from the ways in which such structures are spelled out phonologically (e.g. Compton & Pittman 2010). This assumption places the onus on the syntax-phonology interface to account for notions like what constitutes a word, notions that were previously thought to be determined by a language’s morphological and syntactic properties.
Kwak’wala and Inuktitut share similarities in terms of their word-level systems of prominence: both show evidence of a single (tonal) prominence within each word-level domain, but little evidence of prosodic structure within that domain: no secondary stress or evidence of alternating metrical structure, as would be expected of foot structure, nor any apparent sign of word-internal morphophonological domains. What does this mean for theories of prosodic structure in which prosodic constituents are derived from syntactic structure? In other words, why do “words” spell-out as large domains in languages like Inuktitut or Kwak’wala, but smaller domains in languages like English? This talk will explore some preliminary answers to these questions on the basis of these two case studies.
Partly based on joint work with Patricia A. Shaw (Kwak’wala), Anja Arnhold (Inuktitut), and Richard Compton (Inuktitut).
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HTML and CSS Reference
In-Depth Information
<!-- <![CDATA[
// ]]> -->
Save this file as documentwrite.html and view it in the browser. The text should display,
as shown in Figure 14.10. If the text does not display, open the Error Console and correct
any errors that appear.
Figure 14.10
Firefox displaying
JavaScript can be seen in the source code. To confirm this, use the View, Page Source
menu commands to see the source code. Close the source code window when you have
finished viewing the code.
Why would I use document.write when I can just type the XHTML
code by itself?
You wouldn't use document.write to generate your Web page if you could just type the
XHTML code by itself. You would use document.write in conjunction with other techniques.
For instance, you might use JavaScript to detect the time of day, and if it is before noon use
document.write to write “Good morning” to the document. If it is afternoon, write “Good
afternoon” to the document, and if it is after 6:00 p.m., write “Good evening” to the document.
14.6 Events and Event Handlers
As the user is viewing a Web page, the browser detects mouse movement and events.
Events are actions taken by the Web page visitor, such as mouse clicks, page loads, or
form submissions. For instance, when you move your mouse pointer over a hypertext
link, the browser detects a mouseover event. Table 14.1 lists a few of the events and
their descriptions.
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Mushroom Men (Wii)
13 Aug 2008 19:50
David MarseillesDavid Marseilles
Mushroom Men (Wii)
It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's a meteor with strange properties about to land in the middle of a jungle and give rise to sentient mushrooms and cacti and aggressive and violent insects in the area of its impact! *pause for breath*
So begins the saga of Mushroom Men, who, after their rise to sentience, quickly divide into 4 different nations and, as nations are wont to do, they go to war. There are 4 Mushroom Nations. You are one of the Bolete, one of two non-poisonous Mushroom Nations. The two poisonous nations are looking to wipe out all other Mushroom Tribes so they can be the only Mushroom Men.
Your part in this game will be to guide Pax, one such sentient mushroom, along the way to solve the mystery of the origins of the Mushroom Men, while hopefully stopping a war, bringing glory to your nation (the Bolete) and saving the entire world of Mushroom Men from self-destruction. Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars is a 3rd person action adventure title for Wii due out this November.
The game has a very appealing look and sound, so be sure to check out game screens and video after the break.
Via Press Release | Permalink
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MuseData stage 2 files
From CCARH Wiki
(Redirected from Stage2)
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MuseData stage 2 files are MuseData files which contain graphical music-notation elements. MuseData stage 1 files do not contain notational elements.
Official Specification for MuseData stage 2 files:
The MuseData stage 2 file is the primary format for storing Musical data at CCARH. In order to create printable music notation, stage2 files are first converted into i-files using the autoset program.
1 Organization in the MuseData database
For each musical work in the MuseData database, a directory (folder, library) called stage1 or stage2 will be found. Within that directory will be subdirectories for each movement of the musical work (typically given names such as 01 for movement 1, 02 for movemenet 2, etc.). Within these subdirectories, MuseData files are found. Each files represent and encoding of a separate instrumental part (or sometimes sets of instruments sharing the same staff). The files are numbered according to the part number in the score, such as 01 for the first part, 02 for the second part, and so on. When the MuseData files have variants in the data for different applications, a single-letter prefix is typically added to the part number in the filename. For example s01 would be the score-based version of the instrumental part, while p01 would be the part-based version of the instrumental part.
2 Multi-part MuseData stage2 files
To facilitate processing and distribution of MuseData for a particular movement (not at the work level), multiple stage2 files can be concatenated together. To separate one file from the next add a line containing the text "/eof" between each file. The files can be placed in any order (since multiple ordering arrangements may be present in the data). The very last two lines of the multi-file stage2 file is the eof marker plus a line with two slashes:
The last line is required, and is used to indicate to programs such as muse2ps that the end of the data has occurred. In the future, this marker may be used to separate movements from each other in a multi-movement stage2 work file.
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HNT Twofer
Oy, zuch a deal I’ve got for you: not just one but two hot bodies today…
I managed to talk Mrs. Toast into exposing herself (tastefully, of course) for the camera, and hope to coax her into more, er, compromising positions in future weeks. However, she insisted that I promise to edit the photo to not show her knees. Can someone explain the logic behind this for me? Do you other ladies have a “thing” about your knees? Ah, yet another mystery of the fairer sex. She didn’t seem to mind revealing her blackened left big-toe nail — the unfortunate result of an object being dropped on her foot — although I’m certain she’ll now be pissed at me for pointing this out to everyone. :^)
OK fellow bloggers, it’s time to whip it out (your camera, that is) and post your own HNT pics. No more excuses!!
One Response to “HNT Twofer”
1. April says:
(thats my porno music playing in the background while looking at you and youre wife’s bare legs…
Leave a Reply
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Date Tags delivery
Maybe this campaign was your baby? Focus on your customers, and take the right logistical steps to make sure that search engines can find your content. Focus on the ‘road less traveled’ with long-tail opportunities, and you’ll be set. Remember that if you use black-hat SEO techniques, you run the risk of getting penalized by the search engines and having your web site permanently removed from their index. Googlebot is the name of Google's web crawler. A web crawler is an automated program that systematically browses the Internet for new web pages. This is called web-indexing or web-spidering.
Carve out time for concentrating on backlinks
If you do nothing else, installing analytics software is the one SEO tip you must try. Free, flexible and powerful, Google Analytics lets you track how many people are using your website, and what they do when they are there. Every “vote” or link to Get your arithmetic correct - the primary resources are all available here. Its as easy as KS2 Maths or something like that... your site helps determine the value of your site. However, it’s not just the sheer number of links your website gets. If your target is international try to get links from sites hosted in as many different countries as possible. The same is true if you target local audiences, get as many links from sites hosted in the country you target. An important aspect of SEO is making your website easy for both users and search engine robots to understand.
There's more to online marketing than just SEO and content
What everyone ought to know about dynamic pages
Always link back to vendors and brands you’ve worked with. Chances are that they will share your content if they are mentioned in it. These pages can also create a lot of duplication on site. A breadcrumb is a row of internal links at the top or bottom of the page that allows visitors to quickly navigate back to a previous section or the root page. Many breadcrumbs have the most general page (usually the root page) as the first, left-most link and list the more specific sections out to the right. Gaz Hall, an SEO Guru from the UK, said: "Responsive or not, the experiences should be crisp for each user on every platform."
Localise as many elements as you can
Your blog posts shouldn’t be treated equally. Only select the posts that had the biggest positive impact on your business. Your The talk on Facebook is about Indozine at the moment. job is to scope out sites that might be responsive to a message from you, to look at the type of content they publish and then to write a post that’s along the same lines. You then contact the site owner by email and show them your content, asking if they would like to publish it. If you happen to come across a page on the web that has the label SEO or Search Engine Optimization) Made Easy, then you might do a double take. Such a website is making its own claim that it is part of the top results pages of the successful search engine company called Google. Optimizing content can definitely help search programs, but it cannot lead them.
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Keep the structure, navigation and URL structure of your site simple enough for search engines to follow. Remember that search engines cannot parse your navigation if it's using flash or javascript. The easiest way to find out what search engines have learned about searcher intent is to conduct searches and evaluate the results. The Google Search Console is an important basis for website monitoring. Not only is the sitemap.xml uploaded to the Search Console, you also obtain important data about the most common keywords used to find the website on Google. In addition, the Search Console also informs you about hacked websites and warnings to unnatural links. Search engines scan captions and metadata separately, so remember to think about how you have tagged and named your original media files too.
Think like a human not a robot when it comes to link building
Sites built around user interaction and sharing have made it easier to match interested groups of people up with relevant content. SEO and SEM tactics are Get your arithmetic correct - the primary resources are all available here. Its as easy as KS2 Maths or something like that... not disappearing any time soon, so why not use them to your advantage? There are a lot of people using search engines to look for what you have to offer, and in the area you are offering them in. But it didn’t happen. Always keep the restrictions of the small screen in mind when creating or editing content. Don’t use too many long sentences, keep your paragraphs around four sentences and use many stops like lists and headings to break up your text.
How you will benefit from splogs
One of the most common forms of negative SEO is the use of link farms to create a bunch of low-quality, spammy links that lead to a website. This is also a clear example of black hat professionals using Google’s guidelines to intentionally harm the website they build links to. SEO strategies and methods aim to improve that visibility. Google was the main search engine. App store optimization for mobile applications is a colossal industry.
Discover the connection between user experience keywords
Users searching for your site on Google might not necessarily want to land on your homepage. Sitelinks on the SERP provide them with a direct link to other parts of your site which might be more relevant to them. Search engine optimization is a strategy that is fairly easy to implement for most company websites - provided you have a current set of SEO ranking factors and efficiently implement changes. Google reshaped its search algorithm to deal with the billion of pages and searches made every day, with backlinks in mind. Gaz Hall, an SEO Guru from the UK, said: "How SEO works for a big brand with an established reputation and a massive marketing team, PR agency and all of that stuff is very different to how SEO works for some local tradesmen with a low-end budget that has to catch up with the big boys."
Random musings on keyword stuffing
Instead of casting a wide net capturing numerous different types of football boots, you could narrow the search down to yellow football boots. This Take a butchers at Beverley Guide, for instance. makes it incredibly hard to attribute what is working and not working on campaigns. You’ve heard of duplicate content, but how do you know if you are creating it or how to stop it from penalizing your website? This was known as spamming.
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Escape of "essential skills" personnel from Singapore
Discussion in 'The War at Sea' started by daisy1942, Oct 10, 2018.
1. daisy1942
daisy1942 Junior Member
Many, many years back,my husband contacted by phone the Naval Historic Branch when it was in central London. We were (and still are!) researching what Dad was doing in Singapore just before it fell in February 1942. A gentleman confirmed that the ship Dad escaped on, a waterboat called DAISY, had been briefly seconded into the RN.
I am trying to find out the followig:
1) Are there surviving records of when and how DAISY was seconded.
2) I believe that DAISY was crewed for this period by RN personnel, does any record survive of who these men were. I believe it to have been 1 P.O. and 5 or 6 ORs.
3) The RN men on DAISY were, I believe like a number of other men, authorised to try and escape because they had essential skills. Is there a surviving list of the men who were given such authorisation?
4) Where would I find any of this information?
Many thanks for any ideas and suggestions.
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Birthday Song for Manura
Select your option
Play birthday song
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Manura has a birthday. We have a birthday song for Manura. When you celebrate a birthday for Manura by giving a birthday song to Manura, it means Happy Birthday Manura.
All donations are used
to record more songs
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1. What does a Pilgrim call his best friend? A palgrim.
2. Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building? Yes - a building can't jump at all.
3. What are unhappy cranberries called? Blueberries!
4. Which side of the turkey has the most feathers? The outside!
5. Where did the Pilgrims come from? Their parents, of course!
6. What did the turkey say to the computer? Google, google, google!
7. Why did they let the turkey join the band? Because he had the drumsticks.
8. Why can't you take a turkey to church? Because they use such FOWL language.
9. Why did the pilgrim's pants keep falling off? The buckle was on his hat!
1. What did Adam say on the day before Christmas? It's Christmas, Eve!
2. What would a reindeer do if it lost its tail? She'd go to a "re-tail" shop for a new one!
4. What's the first thing elves learn in school? The "elf"-abet!
5. What do you call Santa when he has no money? Saint "Nickel"-less!
6. What nationality is Santa Claus? North Polish!
7. Where does Santa stay when he's on holidays? At a Ho-ho-hotel
8. What do snowmen eat for lunch? Icebergers!
9. How do snowmen greet each other? Ice to meet you!
10. What kind of money do they use at the North Pole? Cold cash!
Pastors' page
OUMC Home Page
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New treatment for depression: brain pacemakers.
The website ECanada.com reports that it may be possible that brain pacemakers can be used to treat depression. It explains that the “pacemakers are actually tiny chips that can be implanted into the brain to deliver a small shock. The shocks, known as deep brain stimulation has been proven effective in some cases of Parkinson’t disease and researchers claim the same chip may also cure such mental illnesses as depression and obsessive-compulsive disorders”.
Gather News.com adds that “the treatment is known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), and doctors have successfully used to help stop the symptoms of Parkinson’s”.
The treatment is not ready yet but this has been a big step towards the find of best treat for each psychiatric disease.
By Patricia Rivero.
Name :
Email :
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Miscellaneous >
Gradebook Web App
As a teacher I find using spreadsheets to keep track of student progress/grades very useful. They are infinitely more flexible than the programs designed for tracking grades, especially the one used by our school district. Using a spreadsheet allows me to:
• Easily give students choice over which assignments they complete.
• Differentiate and allow experienced students to skip easier assignments.
• Quickly and easily adjust my expectations for students with IEPs.
• Quickly import and manipulate data from a variety of websites.
Unfortunately, using a conventional spreadsheet makes communicating grades to my students impossible. However, by attaching a simple web app to a Google sheet, I can allow each user to view their grades (and only their grades) in minute detail in almost real time.
For those of you who are not programmers, you should probably work through at least a portion of the following Khan Academy courses:
Gradebook v1
To get started, work through my video tutorial: How to Create a Simple Gradebook Web App. I've posted my code below, but you'll need to watch the video to understand how it works and how to use it.
Code.gs file:
function doGet() {
return HtmlService.createTemplateFromFile('index').evaluate().setSandboxMode(HtmlService.SandboxMode.IFRAME);
function getGradesForUser() {
var email = Session.getActiveUser().getEmail();
var ss = SpreadsheetApp.openById('1DHIy66wnnKzWcGGKJYS2KUnj89sBA3aWSqxNCbiaYps');
var users = ss.getRangeByName('Users').getValues();
var row = 0;
while (users[row][0] !== email)
if(row === users.length)
return 'Student ID not found. Did you log in with your school account? If not, log out of any Google account and log in with your school account.';
row++; //Arrays are zero indexed
var html = '<table>';
var assignments = ss.getRangeByName('Assignments').getValues();
var gradebook = ss.getSheetByName('Gradebook');
var scores = gradebook.getRange(row,1,1,assignments[0].length).getValues();
for(var i = 0, len = assignments[0].length;i < len;i++) {
html += '<tr><td>' + assignments[0][i] + '</td><td>' + scores[0][i] + '</td></td>';
html += '</table>';
return html;
index.html file:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<base target="_top">
td {padding: 5px;}
td:first-child + td{text-align: center}
function onGetGradesSuccess(gradesTable) {
document.getElementById('output').innerHTML = gradesTable;
<body onload='google.script.run.withSuccessHandler(onGetGradesSuccess).getGradesForUser()'>
<div id='output'>Loading...</div>
Now you have all the tools of a spreadsheet at your disposal when grading. You can filter data, you can find a specific student quickly by using Ctrl+F. You can use vlookup functions to extract data imported from other websites. The possibilities are endless.
To see how you can use QR codes to make grading go super quick, take a look at GradeQR.
Here's an app I made for my school district's tech expo using a Google spreadsheet: Mat-Su Tech Expo
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10. Audrey & Angus_Brand Stool Colour.jpg
HELLO and thank you for stopping by...
Audrey & Angus was launched in mid 2012 by founder Lauren Janssen ( Harrison ) who had a mission to introduce a fresh, personal and intimate approach to Wedding Planning in Sydney.
In October 2017, Audrey and Angus changed hands over to new Owner....
AUDREY ( Hepburn ) represents - Beauty, Elegance, Timeless, Classic, Influential, Graceful, Humble
ANGUS ( Lauren's first puppy ) represents – Playful, Fun, Personality, Energy, Unconditional Love, Unique
Both Audrey and Angus and what they represent contrast and compliment each other. Together they sum up perfectly everything you hope for your wedding day and the philosophy of Audrey & Angus Weddings and Events.
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Annabelle - Movie Review - SHOCKTOBER 2015 - Movie #9
It's October and the B-Movie Geek, Doc Manson, is back to take the #Shocktober challenge! The quest? To watch 31 horror movies in the 31 days of October. Tonight I'm here to review Annabelle, movie #9 of my October Horror Movie Challenge.
I decided to request the Bluray of Annabelle from the mail-in Netflix service because I really enjoyed The Conjuring (2013). The Annabelle doll was present as an ominous presence in that film, an ever-looming threat lurking within the home of the protagonist paranormal investigators, The Warrens. In the context of The Conjuring, Annabelle was a secondary antagonist, existing separate from the main storyline and thereby providing a richness to the universe within the film.
This shouldn't be surprising, I suppose, given that The Conjuring was based on a true story and that the aforementioned protagonists, the Warrens, are a real life husband-wife paranormal investigation team. The Annabelle doll is likewise teal and is currently stored in the occult museum located at the Warrens' house in Monroe, CT. For posterity, here is a comparison image of the Annabelle doll used in the movie and the one from the real life case.
OK, so why have I spent two paragraphs talking about The Conjuring in an article about Annabelle? Mostly because The Conjuring is a superior experience, filled with a lush sense of period and presence. Meanwhile, it's psuedo-prequel, spin-off, Annabelle, feels like a hollow, horror movie simply checking off the boxes that some Hollywood business executive dictated needed to be covered in a film about a demonic haunting.
The film takes a lot of license with the true story of Annabelle. The film is bookended by scenes taking place in more modern times, in which a two female roommates talk about some strange occurrences revolving around the doll. The bulk of the film, however, goes back in time to tell the origin story of the doll. In the film, the estranged daughter of two mild mannered suburbia folk falls into some sort of satanic cult. For some reason, the daughter returns home with her cult-following boyfriends and murders her parents. Then, the daughter and boyfriend go next door to try to murder the neighbors. In the middle of this second attempted murder, the cops show up and shoot the boyfriend dead. The crazy cult daughter goes into a room filled with a collection of dolls, picks up Annabelle, commits suicide, and after she dies some of her blood happens to fall into the doll's eye socket, which I guess counts as some sort of binding ritual that attaches a demon to the doll.
Can we talk for a moment about how none of this makes any sense? Like, not even Hollywood movie sense. The cult daughter has no reason to target the neighbors, either for murder or for haunting by a demonic devil doll. I'll accept at face value the daughter returning home to kill her parents, but I'm not sure how that act in anyway relates to their plan to attach a demonic presence to an inanimate object. Unless, the cult couple's plan was to kill the parents, and the doll demon-ritual was an after thought borne out of desperation right before the daughter's death?
I mean, if the goal was to call forth a demon to possess a doll with a demonic presence, why didn't the cult couple complete this ritual when they were murdering her parents? If the daughter only needed to commit suicide to link the demon to the doll, why did they murder anyone? How did the daughter know that, after she was dead, that her blood would fall exactly as it was needed to possess the doll? Why did she decide to send a demon after the neighbors only after failing to murder them? Why not just send the demon after them in the first place?
No matter how I look at this, I don't really understand what the goal or thought processes might have been leading up to the moments where the Annabelle doll is linked to the demon. There is no attempt at any point to provide motivation for this cultists' actions, and I get the vague impression of a Hollywood suit somewhere telling a frustrated screenwriter, "They're cultists and they just do evil demon stuff! Enough said!"
I suspect that my sense of disjointedness in the storytelling is also because the bulk of the film is pure fiction created by the screen writers. Only the bookend scenes, you know the scenes lasting maybe 3 minutes of screen time, are actually based on the true story of the Annabelle doll. I don't know why the filmmakers chose to completely invent a story for the doll instead of retelling the actual true story, but I guess this leaves the film open for a sequel with a minimum need for creativity?
Everything that happens after the doll origin sequence deals with the demon trying to claim the soul of the protagonist neighbor lady's baby. Except, in the logic presented by the movie you can't just take a soul, it has to be given. Also, a baby's can't give their soul away, so, TWIST, the demon was really after the mom's soul the whole time. Since the demon needs mom lady to freely give her soul, the demon messes with the baby a whole lot to make the mom crazy enough to offer up her soul to protect the baby? I don't know, demon logic seems complicated.
In the end, this prequel felt like a paint by the numbers horror experience, lacking the real world grounding of its predecessor. It's not very scary, and the demon seems to just do demonic stuff because, hey, it's a demon.
One out of four Bruces.
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Thursday, October 12, 2006
November is "Read A Ballycumber Month"!!! defines a ballycumber as one of the six half-read books lying somewhere in your bed. I won't be that specific. My aim for "Read A Ballycumber Month" is for people to read any book (doesn't have to be one from your bed) that wasn't finished the first time around. And if such a book doesn't exist, to read a book that's just been taking up space on the shelf, that is, a book that was bought or received as a present and has taken forever to get around to reading. I've a few candidates in each category but I'll let you know what I decide on come November.
If you have no books in either category, I'll recommend dedicating your November to the National Novel Writing Month. (If you're really ambitious, you could try both!)
In any case, you'll improve yourself.
Pass the word along!
Barbara Bruederlin said...
In one fell swoop you have:
a) taught me a new word
b) inspired me to finally finish a Short History of Nearly Everything
c) made me realize it was time to change the sheets
John Mutford said...
HA! "C" is hilarious.
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Monday, October 31, 2011
Lessons from Occupy Wall Street
The Occupy Wall Street movement has taken a general and ill-defined position against “corporate greed” as opposed to criticizing specific corporations for greedy behavior. This is in contrast to the Tea Party movement which has been specifically critical of those corporations that have been bailed out by the taxpayers and those corporate big-wigs, such asFranklin Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae, who received a taxpayer funded severance package worth around $80 million dollars before going on to advise the Obama campaign on economic matters in 2008.
Most Americans understand that most corporations, and most corporate heads like the the late Steve Jobs, create and market products and services that make them very rich and that, as such, they earn their wealth. Corporations function successfully in the private sector and benefit from private investment on Wall Street. They create wealth at all levels and they have created hundreds of thousands of jobs in the process. Unlike Solyndra, which was guaranteed by the taxpayer for over a half a billion dollars, and unlike Fannie and Freddie, whose bailout cost the economy over a trillion dollars, private corporations, sometimes working with government, take their own risks. Most Americans admire private corporations and celebrate their success because most Americans understand that the success of the corporation results in benefits to society in general.
The economic failure is not due to the success of private businessmen and corporations, quite the contrary, but rather the economic failure is due to anti-business regulation, free trade policies, and government agencies posing as private corporations and then needing a bailout such as Fannie and Freddie.
One revelation that has come out of the Occupy Wall Street episode is the fact that the top 1% is already paying a disproportionate share of taxes while approximately 42% of wage-earners pay no Federal tax. The number of subsidized taxpayers will apparently increase exponentially, according to a report from the Joint Committee on Taxation, which claims that an additional 8 million Americans will have no tax liability thanks to ObamaCare subsidies. The Occupy Wall Street movement, by advocating tax increases levied on the successful working segment of society, seems to want to expand the welfare state as opposed to an advocacy of a society that is more prone to creating jobs and self-sufficiency.
Rather than suggesting legitimate business reforms, such as ending the bailouts, ending the corporate welfare to corporations likeSolyndra, and curtailing free trade which hurts American industry and labor,Occupy Wall Street critique of business is more fundamental. At their core,they are in favor of Socialism, what they call “direct democracy” in which successfulpeople and companies are harnessed to serve those who have failed to create success.Their philosophy, as such, is based on their own envy and greed.
The weather is getting colder and the Occupy Wall Street encampments appear to be getting restless in some cities. The media and the public have gotten the message and most have moved on to other pursuits such asmaking a living and getting on with life. Thus, Occupy Wall Street seems to beresorting to more extreme histrionics to get attention such as provoking the policeand using more of our taxpayer resources. In the 1960’s, the street thugs harassing the police were praised by the liberal media, particularly suchliberal media titans as Walter Cronkite, as, back then, there were only threeTV stations providing the bulk of news. Today, the media is much more diverse,especially with the addition of Cable and the internet. Thus Occupy Wall Streetis not likely to be able to pull off the same trick as their radical predecessors.There is just too much private ownership of the means of communication.
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20 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Was 20.
1. Time Flies. Don't waste it. Too many times people said, "You're young, you have time." No you don't. Start Now! Life doesn't sit around and wait for you, so go out and make things happen.
2. What you're called to do in life is attached to what you love to do in life.
3. Who you surround yourself with matters. Do you want to succeed? Then hang out with others who understand the value of hard work.
4. Hard work pays off. Period.
5. You don't have to be a statistic. Just because you came from poverty doesn't mean you have to stay there. Get out and make things happen.
6. Don't hold onto offense, it slowly kills you. Nobody wants to be around an offended person either, so you'll end up offended & alone. Release forgiveness.
7. Pride is a liar that destructs your future. Pride will keep you stuck in a season of life that you don't even want to be in, but you're too prideful to admit you need help. Be humble and doors will open for you. Don't act like you know it all, always be teachable.
8. Money isn't everything, but it does bring an aspect of freedom.
9. Even if you make a mistake, God will work it together for your good if you love Him. So don't be afraid to make mistakes.
10. Do Not spend all your paycheck in one place. Start saving money now. Don't wait.
11. Real Estate is one of the best investments money can buy. Especially in California. Hello Equity. & If you need a Realtor, message me. #ShamelessPlug
12. JOURNAL ! (I knew this when I was 20 but want to share it anyway) It's amazing look back & see how much you've grown. Plus journaling is proven to be therapeutic & healing.
13. A relationship with God, through Jesus, is the answer to all your problems. Seek Him through daily prayer & daily Bible readings.
14. Be thankful for every breakup. It is not the end of the world, even though it feels like it. God has someone better in store for you.
15. Take care of yourself! You only have one body. Eat well, exercise, don't do drugs, wash your face daily, use a good face & eye cream. You'll thank me in your 30's.
16. You don't have to pretend to be someone you're not just so people will like you. If they don't like you that's their loss. #BYE
17. Honor your parents. Even if you think they don't deserve it. Life may not have always been easy for them. Actually, honor, love and respect ALL people. You never know what person might have a key to your destiny. If your character is off, they won't hand it to you. OH, and grandparent's hold so much wisdom, ask them a lot of questions.
18. Hurt people hurt other people. If someone goes out of their way to hurt you, give them grace. They are just hurt themselves.
19. Don't allow anyone to make you second guess who you are! Don't give them your joy & don't give them your peace.
20. You don't owe everyone an explanation. When you do what you're called to do, people will question you and even hate on you. They are looking for a response, don't give them one. If they don't believe in you, they don't deserve an explanation.
21. Bonus Quote: "Work hard in silence and let Success be your noise." - Unknown. You don't need to tell everybody your business. However, do find an accountability partner, aka a friend. Someone you can trust who will encourage you to keep going after your dreams.
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Previous 厄斯德拉上:Chapter 3 Next
厄斯德拉上 Ezra
1到了七月，当时住在各城里的以色列子民，全都一起聚集在耶路撒冷。1And now the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities: and the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
2约匝达克的儿子耶叔亚，和他的兄弟司祭们，以及沙耳提耳的儿子则鲁巴贝耳，和他的兄弟们，于是下手修建以色列天主的祭坛，要按天主的人梅瑟在法律上所写的，在上面奉献全燔祭。2And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
3不论本地人民怎样恐吓，他们仍在原处重建了祭坛，向上主献了全燔祭，即每日早晚的全燔祭，3And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a holocaust to the Lord morning and evening.
4按照规定举行了帐棚节，每天依照法定的数目奉献全燔祭；4And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the commandment, the duty of the day in its day.
5以后，献了恒常祭，并在月朔、安息日和一切祝圣于上主的庆日，献了全燔祭，和各人自愿向上主献的自愿祭。5And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new moons, and on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated, and on all in which a free-will offering was made to the Lord.
6从七月一日起，已开始向上主奉献全燔祭，虽然上主的殿宇当时尚未奠基，6From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded.
7却将银钱交给凿石匠和木匠，将食物饮料和油，供给那些从黎巴嫩由海中将香柏木运到约培来的漆冬人和提洛人，全照波斯王居鲁士所准许的。7And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons: and meat and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which Cyrus king of the Persians had given them.
8他们来到耶路撒冷天主殿宇后的第二年二月，沙耳提耳的儿子则鲁巴贝耳，约匝达克的儿子耶叔亚，和他们其余的弟兄司祭及肋未人，以及所有由充军回到耶路撒冷的人，动了工，派定二十岁和二十岁以上的肋未人，监督建筑上主殿宇的工程。8And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began, and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to hasten forward the work of the Lord.
9耶叔亚和他的儿子们，以及他的兄弟们，卡德米耳和他的儿子们，以及曷达委雅的后裔，同心协力，监督那建筑天主殿宇的工人；还有赫纳达得的儿子们，以及他们的儿子和弟兄肋未人。9Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his sons, and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that did the work in the temple of God: the sons of Henadad, and their sons, and their brethren the Levites.
10工人们安放上主殿宇基础时，司祭身穿礼服，拿着号筒，阿撒夫的后裔肋未人拿着铙钹，各站在自己的地方，以色列王达味制定的仪式，赞美上主，10And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets: and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of David king of Israel.
11彼此轮流歌唱赞美和感谢上主的诗歌：「因为他是圣善的，因为他对以色列的慈爱永远常存。」同时全体人民都大声欢呼，赞美上主，因为上主的殿宇已经奠基。11And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord: because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid.
12许多曾在这地基上，亲眼见过先前的圣殿的老司祭、老肋未人和老族长，面对这座圣殿，不禁放声大哭，却也有许多人欢喜高呼，12But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they had the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud voice: and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice.
13以致分不清是欢呼声或是哀哭声，因为民众都高声喊叫，这声音连远处都可听到。13So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy, from the noise of the weeping of the people: for one with another the people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off.
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Future Offices 2017 - New York City
I'm speaking at the Future Offices 2017 conference here in New York at the end of January. The talk is on day two and will focus on developing workplace and service strategies based on employee behavior. Since employee behavior in a successful organization should indicate what employees need to achieve the goals of the business, ultimately I'll be focusing on strategies for aligning workplace services to support business objectives.
More information on the conference can be found here. Hope to see you there!
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Skip to main content
Novartis agrees to pay $422 million for alleged illegal marketing
By Terry Frieden, CNN Justice Producer
• The Justice Department says Novartis will plead guilty to a misdemeanor
• The allegations concern the company's anti-epileptic drug Trileptal
• Former Novartis employees blew the whistle on the company
Washington (CNN) -- Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. has agreed to pay $422.5 million to resolve claims it illegally marketed some of its widely used products.
The Justice Department announced Thursday that Novartis will plead guilty to a misdemeanor and pay $185 million for promoting the anti-epileptic drug Trileptal, which was approved for that use by the Food and Drug Administration, for unauthorized, or "off label" uses, such as using it to treat psychiatric and pain issues.
"Once a pharmaceutical is approved by the FDA, a manufacturer may not market or promote it for any use not specified in its new drug application," the Justice Department statement said.
The department said Novartis will also pay $237.5 million to resolve civil allegations that the company also unlawfully marketed six drugs, including Trileptal, "and thereby caused false claims to be submitted to government health care programs."
Nearly $150 million will go to the federal government and $88 million will be divided among states for the Medicaid share of the civil settlement.
That civil settlement resolves four lawsuits filed by whistleblowers -- all former Novartis employees -- who will share a total of more than $25 million, the Justice Department said.
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Page 2
Column 1
Save old wood burner makes bow at reunion.
First engine ever seen in that town revisits its former haunts at Huntsville
Last of its "tribe"
Made its last run 45 years agoThis doesn't seem plausibe since the Northern, North Western & Sault Ste. Marie Railway, which was to build from Gravenhurst to Callendar, wasn't incorporated until March 21, 1881.—Is "dolled up" today in shining new paint
The last of the old wood-burning engines puffed its way this afternoon from Toronto through Aurora, Newmarket, Allandale, Barrie, Orillia, Gravenhurst and Bracebridge on its way to the Old Boys' Reunion at Huntsville this afternoon.
The old folks saw again the familiar engine with its two great driving wheels, its ballon smoke-stack and—strangest of all—a tender filled with good old cord-wood. The fireman was not caol-begrimed as most of them are today, but be probably had splinters in his hands.
Huntsville is welcoming its Old Boys during the week tomorrow and they are coming on every train from every part of Canada and the United States. The Canadian National North Bay train to-night is running in threee section.
Saved from scrap
When Huntsville learned that the old locomotive which made its last official trip 45 years ago and which pulled the first train into Huntsville in the old days when the Toronto & Nipissing Railway was completed from Gravenhurst to HuntsvilleThe railway was known as the Northern & Pacific Junction Railway., was still in existence the Old Boys' Week committee asked A. E. Warren, general manager of the Central Region, C.N.R., Toronto, if arrangements could not be made for the old engine and a train of cars to be run over the rails once more in commemoration of that first great event.
As it happened, the old engine had that day arrived in Toronto from the scrap-heap at Stratford to be broken up. A hurried stop-order was issued and the old locomotive was saved. A stgring of cars of about the same vintage was saved from the scrap-heap at Point St. Charles. But they were grimy with dust, the running gear thick with rust.
In all its glory
The Huntsville committee offered to pay for all the fitting out necessary to transform the old engine and cars into a semblance of their former glory so that when the train rattled along the rails on its way from Toronto to Huntsville to-day, it was bridge with its original colors—maroon with gilt lettering.
The train consists of engine 269, the original engine that first puffed into Huntsville, a baggage car, a combination coach and mail car and a passenger coach. Like the cars, the engine sports a coat of fresh paint—in the old days all the engines were painted the particular color used by the railway, in this case, maroon.
To-day's event forms a link with the first steam railroad to be opened in Upper Canada—the old Ontario, Simcoe and Huron Union Railway, completed May 16, 1853, from Toronto to Machell's Corners, now Aurora, a distance of 29 mniles. This line was absorbed by the Northern RailwayActually, the Ontario, Simcoe & and Huron Union Railroad, which became the Northern Railway of Canada on August 18, 1858., which extended the line to Barrie and later to Gravenhurst. The Toronto and Nipissing was built to connect Gravenhurst with Nipissing and it was also taken over the Northern Railway, which later became part of the Grand Trunk.The Northern & North Western Railway leased the the N&PJR on June 24, 1884 and became part of the Grand Trunk Railway System on February 24, 1888.
On board the "Old-Time Special," which left Toronto at noon, are A. E. Warren, general manager of the Central Region, C.N.R., and R. H. Fish, general manager for Southwestern Ontario, and a number of other officials. The Huntsville band boarded the train at Orillia.
No. 269, a class B-13-a wood-burning 4-4-0 American type built 1883 in Kingston and "Old-Time Special," on the back track at Huntsville. South River—Machar Union Public Library, Alamguin Highlands Digital Collection Image No. 68138
Ref: Huntsville
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Friday, September 12, 2014
WoE - our entry for js13kgames 2014
10 hours left before the deadline and we're through.
We submitted our game "WoE - War of Elements" for js13kgames this night. It's a multiplayer game you can play with your smart phone. But the fun thing is, you can sit near to each other, while playing agains each other.
To start a game just open a new room on you desktop computer or any device with a big screen (as long as it supports websockets :-)). Then you can join the game with your mobile phone.
Touch the screen and tap the circles before an other player can tap it. The first player to 10 points will win the round.
WoE is a prototype using node.js and to run. It looks like a prototype and sometimes it feels like one. But it's a good start.
And you can find the code at github:
Update: You can now play the game at the js13kgames website:
1. If some one wants to be updated with most up-to-date technologies after that he must be pay a quick visit this website and be up to date all the time. sign in to gmail
2. Here are some of the best apps that will turn your shots into HDR quality photos. HDR Camera. HDR Camera by Almalence is one of the best HDR cameras on the Google Play Store. Camera360. Make photography a work of art with Camera360 for Android. Retro Camera. Photaf Panorama Pro. Pro HDR Camera. Cymera. Camera ZOOM FX. best hdr app android
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Freshly Spilled Blood Coats The Labyrinth – The Kill The Minotaur TP Collection
by Brendan M. Allen
Athens lost the war to Crete. Now, they pay tribute to King Minos by sacrificing their best citizens to his unearthly labyrinth. Conspirators believe Theseus can be the hero they need, who can end the mad king’s bloody reign…but no one on this world has ever encountered anything like the savage minotaur. Chris Pasetto, Christian Cantamessa (Red Dead Redemption) and Lukas Ketner (Witch Doctor) reinvent the most fearsome beast in all of mythology with this horrific tale of heroism. Collects Kill The Minotaur #1-6.
The first appearance of Theseus and the Minotaur in literature was more than 2,000 years ago. Plutarch, Ovid, and Horace all wrote accounts of the legendary confrontation, but the story is much, much older than the written records, having been passed for generations through oral tradition.
In the classic story, Asterion was a bull-headed monster born to Queen Pasiphae of Crete after she got down with a bull. The beast was imprisoned by King Minos in the center of the Labyrinth, which he had specially made by Daedalus and his son, Icarus. The Minotaur was offered regular human sacrifices to satisfy its cannibalistic hunger. Eventually, Asterion ran up against an Athenian prince named Theseus, and, well…I think we all know how that turned out. (The man-bull died.)
Chris Pasetto and Christian Cantamessa took on a massive challenge (took the bull by the horns?) in bringing such a well known mythos to a modern audience with Kill The Minotaur. They took a few liberties with the beast’s origin story, and added a few characters, but left most of the major plot points intact.
KTM’s Theseus is headstrong, quick-witted, and skilled in hand to hand combat. He’s also cocky, selfish, and more than a little dickish. He spends a lot of time trying to find the setup that will get his hero song written. Minos comes off as appropriately homicidal and insane. Daedalus is brilliant and more than slightly off center. The dialogue and interactions between characters are well planned and help the reader invest in the story with minimal exposition.
The art team of Lukas Ketner and Jean-Francois Beaulieu nail this thing to the wall. I’m probably not the first guy to compare some of the artwork in this book to James Stokoe. It’s got that hyper-detailed, hyper-colored, strangely familiar, oddly grotesque, visually satisfying quality of Orc Stain and Aliens: Dead Orbit.
Kill The Minotaur is a solid, straightforward modern spin on a familiar ancient myth. If you’re into horror, fantasy, or Greek mythology, give this one a go.
Kill The Minotaur TP, published by Skybound/Image Comics, releases 31 January 2018. Created and written by Chris Pasetto and Christian Cantamessa, art by Lukas Ketner, color by Jean-Francois Beaulieu, letters by Clem Robins.
Brendan M. Allen
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Recap: Cooking Demo & Lunch w/ Barcelona's Chef Helton
Meaghan Morelli
Helton DaSilva knows how to work a room. The 26 year-old native of Brazil is currently the Executive Chef at Barcelona in Fairfield, but his talents expand beyond the kitchen. Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of watching him in action, courtesy of CTBites Invites.
It was a chef demo and lunch, and the ladies who were lunching met Chef Helton’s enthusiasm and raised a flirt or two. “Are you married?” one woman ventured after the chef had introduced himself, much to the tittering pleasure of the crowd.
And this was before sangria was served.
The demo lunch was a mix of insider tips and delicious dishes with more than a dash of Chef Helton’s charm thrown in.
In fact, most of the women there seemed to be torn as to whether they’d rather have Chef Helton cook for them or sit down to lunch with them.
“I love pig,” the chef announced as he turned on the burner in front of him. “That’s why I’ve put bacon in all three dishes I am making today. And I’m using the good stuff, not that packaged bacon. Real bacon.”
Read the full recap by Meaghan Morelli on The Daily Westport.
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Java Syntax
A snippet of Java code with keywords highlighted in bold blue font
The syntax is mostly derived from C and C++. Unlike C++, Java there are no global functions or variables, but there are data members which are also regarded as global variables. All code belongs to classes and all values are objects. The only exception is the primitive types, which are not represented by a class instance for performance reasons (though can be automatically converted to objects and vice versa via autoboxing). Some features like operator overloading or unsigned integer types are omitted to simplify the language and to avoid possible programming mistakes.
The Java syntax has been gradually extended in the course of the eleven major JDK releases support capabilities such as generic programming and function literals (called lambda expressions in Java).
An identifier is the name of an element in the code. There are certain standard naming conventions to follow when selecting names for elements. Identifiers in Java are case-sensitive.
An identifier can contain:
• Any Unicode character that is a letter (including numeric letters like Roman numerals) or digit.
• Currency sign (such as ¥).
• Connecting punctuation character (such as _).
An identifier cannot:
• Start with a digit.
• Be equal to a reserved keyword, null literal or boolean literal.
abstract continue for new switch
assert[Note 1] default goto[Note 2] package synchronized
boolean do if private this
break double implements protected throw
byte else import public throws
case enum[Note 3] instanceof return transient
catch extends int short try
char final interface static var[Note 4]
class finally long strictfp[Note 5] void
const[Note 2] float native super volatile
1. ^ Keyword was introduced in J2SE 1.4
2. ^ a b Keyword is not used
3. ^ Keyword was introduced in J2SE 5.0
4. ^ Keyword was introduced in Java SE 10.0
5. ^ Keyword was introduced in J2SE 1.2
binary (introduced in Java SE 7) 0b11110101 (0b followed by a binary number)
octal 0365 (0 followed by an octal number)
hexadecimal 0xF5 (0x followed by a hexadecimal number)
decimal 245 (decimal number)
Floating-point values
float 23.5F, .5f, 1.72E3F (decimal fraction with an optional exponent indicator, followed by F)
0x.5FP0F, 0x.5P-6f (0x followed by a hexadecimal fraction with a mandatory exponent indicator and a suffix F)
double 23.5D, .5, 1.72E3D (decimal fraction with an optional exponent indicator, followed by optional D)
0x.5FP0, 0x.5P-6D (0x followed by a hexadecimal fraction with a mandatory exponent indicator and an optional suffix D)
Character literals
char 'a', 'Z', '\u0231' (character or a character escape, enclosed in single quotes)
Boolean literals
boolean true, false
null literal
null reference null
String literals
String "Hello, World" (sequence of characters and character escapes enclosed in double quotes)
Characters escapes in strings
Unicode character \u3876 (\u followed by the hexadecimal unicode code point up to U+FFFF)
Octal escape \352 (octal number not exceeding 377, preceded by backslash)
Line feed \n
Carriage return \r
Form feed \f
Backslash \\
Single quote \'
Double quote \"
Tab \t
Backspace \b
Integer literals are of int type by default unless long type is specified by appending L or l suffix to the literal, e.g. 367L. Since Java SE 7, it is possible to include underscores between the digits of a number to increase readability; for example, a number 145608987 can be written as 145_608_987.
Variables are identifiers associated with values. They are declared by writing the variable's type and name, and are optionally initialized in the same statement by assigning a value.
int count; //Declaring an uninitialized variable called 'count', of type 'int'
count = 35; //Initializing the variable
int count = 35; //Declaring and initializing the variable at the same time
Multiple variables of the same type can be declared and initialized in one statement using comma as a delimiter.
int a, b; //Declaring multiple variables of the same type
int a = 2, b = 3; //Declaring and initializing multiple variables of the same type
Code blocks
The separators { and } signify a code block and a new scope. Class members and the body of a method are examples of what can live inside these braces in various contexts.
Inside of method bodies, braces may be used to create new scopes, as follows:
void doSomething {
int a;
int b;
a = 1;
a = 2;
b = 3; // Illegal because the variable b is declared in an inner scope.
Java has three kinds of comments: traditional comments, end-of-line comments and documentation comments.
Traditional comments, also known as block comments, start with /* and end with */, they may span across multiple lines. This type of comment was derived from C and C++.
/* This is a multi-line comment.
It may occupy more than one line. */
End-of-line comments start with // and extend to the end of the current line. This comment type is also present in C++ and in modern C.
// This is an end-of-line comment
Documentation comments in the source files are processed by the Javadoc tool to generate documentation. This type of comment is identical to traditional comments, except it starts with /** and follows conventions defined by the Javadoc tool. Technically, these comments are a special kind of traditional comment and they are not specifically defined in the language specification.
* This is a documentation comment.
* @author John Doe
Program structure
Java applications consist of collections of classes. Classes exist in packages but can also be nested inside other classes.
Main method
Every Java application must have an entry point. This is true of both graphical interface applications and console applications. The entry point is the main method. There can be more than one class with a main method, but the main class is always defined externally (for example, in a manifest file). The method must be static and is passed command-line arguments as an array of strings. Unlike C++ or C#, it never returns a value and must return void.
public static void main(String[] args) {
Packages are a part of a class name and they are used to group and/or distinguish named entities from other ones. Another purpose of packages is to govern code access together with access modifiers. For example, java.io.InputStream is a fully qualified class name for the class InputStream which is located in the package java.io.
A package is declared at the start of the file with the package declaration:
package myapplication.mylibrary;
public class MyClass {
Classes with the public modifier must be placed in the files with the same name and java extension and put into nested folders corresponding to the package name. The above class myapplication.mylibrary.MyClass will have the following path: myapplication/mylibrary/MyClass.java.
Import declaration
Type import declaration
A type import declaration allows a named type to be referred to by a simple name rather than the full name that includes the package. Import declarations can be single type import declarations or import-on-demand declarations. Import declarations must be placed at the top of a code file after the package declaration.
package myPackage;
import java.util.Random; // Single type declaration
public class ImportsTest {
public static void main(String[] args) {
/* The following line is equivalent to
* java.util.Random random = new java.util.Random;
* It would've been incorrect without the import.
Random random = new Random;
Import-on-demand declarations are mentioned in the code. A "type import" imports all the types of the package. A "static import" imports members of the package.
import java.util.*; /*This form of importing classes makes all classes
in package java.util available by name, could be used instead of the
import declaration in the previous example. */
import java.*; /*This statement is legal, but does nothing, since there
are no classes directly in package java. All of them are in packages
within package java. This does not import all available classes.*/
Static import declaration
This type of declaration has been available since J2SE 5.0. Static import declarations allow access to static members defined in another class, interface, annotation, or enum; without specifying the class name:
import static java.lang.System.out; //'out' is a static field in java.lang.System
public class HelloWorld {
public static void main(String[] args) {
/* The following line is equivalent to:
System.out.println("Hi World!");
and would have been incorrect without the import declaration. */
out.println("Hello World!");
Import-on-demand declarations allow to import all the fields of the type:
import static java.lang.System.*;
/* This form of declaration makes all
fields in the java.lang.System class available by name, and may be used instead
of the import declaration in the previous example. */
Enum constants may also be used with static import. For example, this enum is in the package called screen:
public enum ColorName {
It is possible to use static import declarations in another class to retrieve the enum constants:
import screen.ColorName;
import static screen.ColorName.*;
public class Dots {
/* The following line is equivalent to 'ColorName foo = ColorName.RED',
and it would have been incorrect without the static import. */
ColorName foo = RED;
void shift {
/* The following line is equivalent to:
if (foo == ColorName.RED) foo = ColorName.BLUE; */
if (foo == RED) foo = BLUE;
Operators in Java are similar to those in C++. However, there is no delete operator due to garbage collection mechanisms in Java, and there are no operations on pointers since Java does not support them. Another difference is that Java has an unsigned right shift operator (>>>), while C's right shift operator's signedness is type-dependent. Operators in Java cannot be overloaded.
Precedence Operator Description Associativity
1 Method invocation Left-to-right
[] Array access
. Class member selection
2 ++ -- Postfix increment and decrement[1]
3 ++ -- Prefix increment and decrement Right-to-left
+ - Unary plus and minus
! ~ Logical NOT and bitwise NOT
(type) val Type cast
new Class instance or array creation
4 * / % Multiplication, division, and modulus (remainder) Left-to-right
5 + - Addition and subtraction
+ String concatenation
6 << >> >>> Bitwise left shift, signed right shift and unsigned right shift
7 < <= Relational "less than" and "less than or equal to"
> >= Relational "greater than" and "greater than or equal to"
instanceof Type comparison
8 == != Relational "equal to" and "not equal to"
9 & Bitwise and logical AND
10 ^ Bitwise and logical XOR (exclusive or)
11 | Bitwise and logical OR (inclusive or)
12 && Logical conditional-AND
13 || Logical conditional-OR
14 c ? t : f Ternary conditional (see ?:) Right-to-left
15 = Simple assignment
+= -= Assignment by sum and difference
*= /= %= Assignment by product, quotient, and remainder
<<= >>= >>>= Assignment by bitwise left shift, signed right shift and unsigned right shift
&= ^= |= Assignment by bitwise AND, XOR, and OR
Control structures
Conditional statements
if statement
if statements in Java are similar to those in C and use the same syntax:
if (i == 3) doSomething;
if statement may include optional else block, in which case it becomes an if-then-else statement:
if (i == 2) {
} else {
Like C, else-if construction does not involve any special keywords, it is formed as a sequence of separate if-then-else statements:
if (i == 3) {
} else if (i == 2) {
} else {
Also, note that the ?: operator can be used in place of simple if statement, for example
int a = 1;
int b = 2;
int minVal = (a < b) ? a : b;
switch statement
Switch statements in Java can use byte, short, char, and int (note: not long) primitive data types or their corresponding wrapper types. Starting with J2SE 5.0, it is possible to use enum types. Starting with Java SE 7, it is possible to use Strings. Other reference types cannot be used in switch statements.
Possible values are listed using case labels. These labels in Java may contain only constants (including enum constants and string constants). Execution will start after the label corresponding to the expression inside the brackets. An optional default label may be present to declare that the code following it will be executed if none of the case labels correspond to the expression.
Code for each label ends with the break keyword. It is possible to omit it causing the execution to proceed to the next label, however, a warning will usually be reported during compilation.
switch (ch) {
case 'A':
doSomething; // Triggered if ch == 'A'
case 'B':
case 'C':
doSomethingElse; // Triggered if ch == 'B' or ch == 'C'
doSomethingDifferent; // Triggered in any other case
Iteration statements
Iteration statements are statements that are repeatedly executed when a given condition is evaluated as true. Since J2SE 5.0, Java has four forms of such statements.
while loop
In the while loop, the test is done before each iteration.
while (i < 10) {
do ... while loop
In the do ... while loop, the test is done after each iteration. Consequently, the code is always executed at least once.
// doSomething is called at least once
do {
} while (i < 10);
for loop
for loops in Java include an initializer, a condition and a counter expression. It is possible to include several expressions of the same kind using comma as delimiter (except in the condition). However, unlike C, the comma is just a delimiter and not an operator.
// A more complex loop using two variables
for (int i = 0, j = 9; i < 10; i++, j -= 3) {
Like C, all three expressions are optional. The following loop is infinite:
for (;;) {
Enhanced for loop
Enhanced for loops have been available since J2SE 5.0. This type of loop uses built-in iterators over arrays and collections to return each item in the given collection. Every element is returned and reachable in the context of the code block. When the block is executed, the next item is returned until there are no items remaining. Unlike C#, this kind of loop does not involve a special keyword, but instead uses a different notation style.
for (int i : intArray) {
Jump statements
Labels are given points in code used by break and continue statements. Note that the Java goto keyword cannot be used to jump to specific points in the code.
break statement
The break statement breaks out of the closest loop or switch statement. Execution continues in the statement after the terminated statement, if any.
while (true) {
// Will break to this point
It is possible to break out of the outer loop using labels:
while (true) {
break outer;
// Will break to this point
continue statement
The continue statement discontinues the current iteration of the current control statement and begins the next iteration. The following while loop in the code below reads characters by calling getChar, skipping the statements in the body of the loop if the characters are spaces:
int ch;
while (ch == getChar) {
if (ch == ' ') {
continue; // Skips the rest of the while-loop
// Rest of the while-loop, will not be reached if ch == ' '
Labels can be specified in continue statements and break statements:
for (String str : stringsArr) {
char[] strChars = str.toCharArray;
for (char ch : strChars) {
if (ch == ' ') {
/* Continues the outer cycle and the next
string is retrieved from stringsArr */
continue outer;
return statement
The return statement is used to end method execution and to return a value. A value returned by the method is written after the return keyword. If the method returns anything but void, it must use the return statement to return some value.
void doSomething(boolean streamClosed) {
// If streamClosed is true, execution is stopped
if (streamClosed) {
int calculateSum(int a, int b) {
int result = a + b;
return result;
return statement ends execution immediately, except for one case: if the statement is encountered within a try block and it is complemented by a finally, control is passed to the finally block.
void doSomething(boolean streamClosed) {
try {
if (streamClosed) {
} finally {
/* Will be called last even if
readFromStream was not called */
Exception handling statements
try-catch-finally statements
Exceptions are managed within try ... catch blocks.
try {
// Statements that may throw exceptions
} catch (Exception ex) {
// Exception caught and handled here
} finally {
// Statements always executed after the try/catch blocks
The statements within the try block are executed, and if any of them throws an exception, execution of the block is discontinued and the exception is handled by the catch block. There may be multiple catch blocks, in which case the first block with an exception variable whose type matches the type of the thrown exception is executed.
Java SE 7 also introduced multi-catch clauses besides uni-catch clauses. This type of catch clauses allows Java to handle different types of exceptions in a single block provided they are not subclasses of each other.
try {
} catch (IOException | IllegalArgumentException ex) {
//Both IOException and IllegalArgumentException will be caught and handled here
If no catch block matches the type of the thrown exception, the execution of the outer block (or method) containing the try ... catch statement is discontinued, and the exception is passed up and outside the containing block (or method). The exception is propagated upwards through the call stack until a matching catch block is found within one of the currently active methods. If the exception propagates all the way up to the top-most main method without a matching catch block being found, a textual description of the exception is written to the standard output stream.
The statements within the finally block are always executed after the try and catch blocks, whether or not an exception was thrown and even if a return statement was reached. Such blocks are useful for providing clean-up code that is guaranteed to always be executed.
The catch and finally blocks are optional, but at least one or the other must be present following the try block.
try-with-resources statements
try-with-resources statements are a special type of try-catch-finally statements introduced as an implementation of the dispose pattern in Java SE 7. In a try-with-resources statement the try keyword is followed by initialization of one or more resources that are released automatically when the try block execution is finished. Resources must implement java.lang.AutoCloseable. try-with-resources statements are not required to have a catch or finally block unlike normal try-catch-finally statements.
try (FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream("filename");
XMLEncoder xEnc = new XMLEncoder(fos))
} catch (IOException ex) {
Logger.getLogger(Serializer.class.getName).log(Level.SEVERE, null, ex);
throw statement
The throw statement is used to throw an exception and end the execution of the block or method. The thrown exception instance is written after the throw statement.
void methodThrowingExceptions(Object obj) {
if (obj == null) {
// Throws exception of NullPointerException type
throw new NullPointerException;
// Will not be called, if object is null
Thread concurrency control
Java has built-in tools for multi-thread programming. For the purposes of thread synchronization the synchronized statement is included in Java language.
To make a code block synchronized, it is preceded by the synchronized keyword followed by the lock object inside the brackets. When the executing thread reaches the synchronized block, it acquires a mutual exclusion lock, executes the block, then releases the lock. No threads may enter this block until the lock is released. Any non-null reference type may be used as the lock.
/* Acquires lock on someObject. It must be of
a reference type and must be non-null */
synchronized (someObject) {
// Synchronized statements
assert statement
assert statements have been available since J2SE 1.4. These types of statements are used to make assertions in the source code, which can be turned on and off during execution for specific classes or packages. To declare an assertion the assert keyword is used followed by a conditional expression. If it evaluates to false when the statement is executed, an exception is thrown. This statement can include a colon followed by another expression, which will act as the exception's detail message.
// If n equals 0, AssertionError is thrown
assert n != 0;
/* If n equals 0, AssertionError will be thrown
with the message after the colon */
assert n != 0 : "n was equal to zero";
Primitive types
Primitive types in Java include integer types, floating-point numbers, UTF-16 code units and a boolean type. There are no unsigned types in Java except char type, which is used to represent UTF-16 code units. The lack of unsigned types is offset by introducing unsigned right shift operation (>>>), which is not present in C++. Nevertheless, criticisms have been leveled about the lack of compatibility with C and C++ this causes.[2]
Primitive Types
Type Name Wrapper class Value Range Size Default Value
byte java.lang.Byte integer -128 through +127 8-bit (1-byte) 0
short java.lang.Short integer -32,768 through +32,767 16-bit (2-byte) 0
int java.lang.Integer integer -2,147,483,648 through +2,147,483,647 32-bit (4-byte) 0
long java.lang.Long integer -9,223,372,036,854,775,808 through
64-bit (8-byte) 0
float java.lang.Float floating point number ±1.401298E-45 through ±3.402823E+38 32-bit (4-byte) 0.0f[3]
double java.lang.Double floating point number ±4.94065645841246E-324 through
64-bit (8-byte) 0.0
boolean java.lang.Boolean Boolean true or false 1-bit (1-bit) false
char java.lang.Character UTF-16 code unit (BMP character
or a part of a surrogate pair)
'\u0000' through '\uFFFF' 16-bit (2-byte) '\u0000'
char does not necessarily correspond to a single character. It may represent a part of a surrogate pair, in which case Unicode code point is represented by a sequence of two char values.
Boxing and unboxing
This language feature was introduced in J2SE 5.0. Boxing is the operation of converting a value of a primitive type into a value of a corresponding reference type, which serves as a wrapper for this particular primitive type. Unboxing is the reverse operation of converting a value of a reference type (previously boxed) into a value of a corresponding primitive type. Neither operation requires an explicit conversion.
int foo = 42; // Primitive type
Integer bar = foo; /* foo is boxed to bar, bar is of Integer type,
which serves as a wrapper for int */
int foo2 = bar; // Unboxed back to primitive type
Reference types
Reference types include class types, interface types, and array types. When the constructor is called, an object is created on the heap and a reference is assigned to the variable. When a variable of an object gets out of scope, the reference is broken and when there are no references left, the object gets marked as garbage. The garbage collector then collects and destroys it some time afterwards.
A reference variable is null when it does not reference any object.
Arrays in Java are created at runtime, just like class instances. Array length is defined at creation and cannot be changed.
int[] numbers = new int[5];
numbers[0] = 2;
numbers[1] = 5;
int x = numbers[0];
// Long syntax
int[] numbers = new int[] {20, 1, 42, 15, 34};
// Short syntax
int[] numbers2 = {20, 1, 42, 15, 34};
Multi-dimensional arrays
In Java, multi-dimensional arrays are represented as arrays of arrays. Technically, they are represented by arrays of references to other arrays.
int[][] numbers = new int[3][3];
numbers[1][2] = 2;
int[][] numbers2 = {{2, 3, 2}, {1, 2, 6}, {2, 4, 5}};
Due to the nature of the multi-dimensional arrays, sub-arrays can vary in length, so multi-dimensional arrays are not bound to be rectangular unlike C:
int[][] numbers = new int[2][]; //Initialization of the first dimension only
numbers[0] = new int[3];
numbers[1] = new int[2];
Classes are fundamentals of an object-oriented language such as Java. They contain members that store and manipulate data. Classes are divided into top-level and nested. Nested classes are classes placed inside another class that may access the private members of the enclosing class. Nested classes include member classes (which may be defined with the static modifier for simple nesting or without it for inner classes), local classes and anonymous classes.
Top-level class
class Foo {
// Class members
Inner class
class Foo { // Top-level class
class Bar { // Inner class
Nested class
class Foo { // Top-level class
static class Bar { // Nested class
Local class
class Foo {
void bar {
class Foobar {// Local class within a method
Anonymous class
class Foo {
void bar {
new Object {// Creation of a new anonymous class extending Object
Non-static members of a class define the types of the instance variables and methods, which are related to the objects created from that class. To create these objects, the class must be instantiated by using the new operator and calling the class constructor.
Foo foo = new Foo;
Accessing members
Members of both instances and static classes are accessed with the . (dot) operator.
Accessing an instance member
Instance members can be accessed through the name of a variable.
String foo = "Hello";
String bar = foo.toUpperCase;
Accessing a static class member
Static members are accessed by using the name of the class or any other type. This does not require the creation of a class instance. Static members are declared using the static modifier.
public class Foo {
public static void doSomething {
// Calling the static method
Modifiers are keywords used to modify declarations of types and type members. Most notably there is a sub-group containing the access modifiers.
• abstract - Specifies that a class only serves as a base class and cannot be instantiated.
• static - Used only for member classes, specifies that the member class does not belong to a specific instance of the containing class.
• final - Classes marked as final cannot be extended from and cannot have any subclasses.
• strictfp - Specifies that all floating-point operations must be carried out conforming to IEEE 754 and forbids using enhanced precision to store intermediate results.
Access modifiers
The access modifiers, or inheritance modifiers, set the accessibility of classes, methods, and other members. Members marked as public can be reached from anywhere. If a class or its member does not have any modifiers, default access is assumed.
public class Foo {
int go {
return 0;
private class Bar {
The following table shows whether code within a class has access to the class or method depending on the accessing class location and the modifier for the accessed class or class member:
Modifier Same class or nested class Other class inside the same package Extended Class inside another package Non-extended inside another package
private yes no no no
default (package private) yes yes no no
protected yes yes yes no
public yes yes yes yes
This image describes the class member scope within classes and packages.
Constructors and initializers
A constructor is a special method called when an object is initialized. Its purpose is to initialize the members of the object. The main differences between constructors and ordinary methods are that constructors are called only when an instance of the class is created and never return anything. Constructors are declared as common methods, but they are named after the class and no return type is specified:
class Foo {
String str;
Foo { // Constructor with no arguments
// Initialization
Foo(String str) { // Constructor with one argument
this.str = str;
Initializers are blocks of code that are executed when a class or an instance of a class is created. There are two kinds of initializers, static initializers and instance initializers.
Static initializers initialize static fields when the class is created. They are declared using the static keyword:
class Foo {
static {
// Initialization
A class is created only once. Therefore, static initializers are not called more than once. On the contrary, instance initializers are automatically called before the call to a constructor every time an instance of the class is created. Unlike constructors instance initializers cannot take any arguments and generally they cannot throw any checked exceptions (except in several special cases). Instance initializers are declared in a block without any keywords:
class Foo {
// Initialization
Since Java has a garbage collection mechanism, there are no destructors. However, every object has a finalize method called prior to garbage collection, which can be overridden to implement finalization.
All the statements in Java must reside within methods. Methods are similar to functions except they belong to classes. A method has a return value, a name and usually some parameters initialized when it is called with some arguments. Similar to C++, methods returning nothing have return type declared as void. Unlike in C++, methods in Java are not allowed to have default argument values and methods are usually overloaded instead.
class Foo {
int bar(int a, int b) {
return (a*2) + b;
/* Overloaded method with the same name but different set of arguments */
int bar(int a) {
return a*2;
A method is called using . notation on an object, or in the case of a static method, also on the name of a class.
Foo foo = new Foo;
int result = foo.bar(7, 2); // Non-static method is called on foo
int finalResult = Math.abs(result); // Static method call
The throws keyword indicates that a method throws an exception. All checked exceptions must be listed in a comma-separated list.
void openStream throws IOException, myException { // Indicates that IOException may be thrown
Lambda expressions
(variables) -> {body}
variable -> body_with_one_statement
(type variable) -> {}
• abstract - Abstract methods can be present only in abstract classes, such methods have no body and must be overridden in a subclass unless it is abstract itself.
• static - Makes the method static and accessible without creation of a class instance. However static methods cannot access non-static members in the same class.
• final - Declares that the method cannot be overridden in a subclass.
• native - Indicates that this method is implemented through JNI in platform-dependent code. Actual implementation happens outside Java code, and such methods have no body.
• strictfp - Declares strict conformance to IEEE 754 in carrying out floating-point operations.
• synchronized - Declares that a thread executing this method must acquire monitor. For synchronized methods the monitor is the class instance or java.lang.Class if the method is static.
• Access modifiers - Identical to those used with classes.
This language feature was introduced in J2SE 5.0. The last argument of the method may be declared as a variable arity parameter, in which case the method becomes a variable arity method (as opposed to fixed arity methods) or simply varargs method. This allows one to pass a variable number of values, of the declared type, to the method as parameters - including no parameters. These values will be available inside the method as an array.
void printReport(String header, int... numbers) { //numbers represents varargs
for (int num : numbers) {
// Calling varargs method
printReport("Report data", 74, 83, 25, 96);
Fields, or class variables, can be declared inside the class body to store data.
class Foo {
double bar;
Fields can be initialized directly when declared.
class Foo {
double bar = 2.3;
• static - Makes the field a static member.
• final - Allows the field to be initialized only once in a constructor or inside initialization block or during its declaration, whichever is earlier.
• transient - Indicates that this field will not be stored during serialization.
• volatile - If a field is declared volatile, it is ensured that all threads see a consistent value for the variable.
Classes in Java can only inherit from one class. A class can be derived from any class that is not marked as final. Inheritance is declared using the extends keyword. A class can reference itself using the this keyword and its direct superclass using the super keyword.
class Foo {
class Foobar extends Foo {
If a class does not specify its superclass, it implicitly inherits from java.lang.Object class. Thus all classes in Java are subclasses of Object class.
If the superclass does not have a constructor without parameters the subclass must specify in its constructors what constructor of the superclass to use. For example:
class Foo {
public Foo(int n) {
// Do something with n
class Foobar extends Foo {
private int number;
// Superclass does not have constructor without parameters
// so we have to specify what constructor of our superclass to use and how
public Foobar(int number) {
this.number = number;
Overriding methods
Unlike C++, all non-final methods in Java are virtual and can be overridden by the inheriting classes.
class Operation {
public int doSomething {
return 0;
class NewOperation extends Operation {
public int doSomething {
return 1;
Abstract classes
An Abstract Class is a class that is incomplete, or to be considered incomplete. Normal classes may have abstract methods, that is, methods that are declared but not yet implemented, only if they are abstract classes. A class C has abstract methods if any of the following is true:
• C explicitly contains a declaration of an abstract method.
• Any of C's superclasses has an abstract method and C neither declares nor inherits a method that implements it.
• A direct superinterface of C declares or inherits a method (which is therefore necessarily abstract) and C neither declares nor inherits a method that implements it.
• A subclass of an abstract class that is not itself abstract may be instantiated, resulting in the execution of a constructor for the abstract class and, therefore, the execution of the field initializers for instance variables of that class.
package org.dwwwp.test;
* @author jcrypto
public class AbstractClass {
private static final String hello;
static {
System.out.println(AbstractClass.class.getName + ": static block runtime");
hello = "hello from " + AbstractClass.class.getName;
System.out.println(AbstractClass.class.getName + ": instance block runtime");
public AbstractClass {
System.out.println(AbstractClass.class.getName + ": constructor runtime");
public static void hello {
package org.dwwwp.test;
* @author jcrypto
public class CustomClass extends AbstractClass {
static {
System.out.println(CustomClass.class.getName + ": static block runtime");
System.out.println(CustomClass.class.getName + ": instance block runtime");
public CustomClass {
System.out.println(CustomClass.class.getName + ": constructor runtime");
public static void main(String[] args) {
CustomClass nc = new CustomClass;
//AbstractClass.hello;//also valid
org.dwwwp.test.AbstractClass: static block runtime
org.dwwwp.test.CustomClass: static block runtime
org.dwwwp.test.AbstractClass: instance block runtime
org.dwwwp.test.AbstractClass: constructor runtime
org.dwwwp.test.CustomClass: instance block runtime
org.dwwwp.test.CustomClass: constructor runtime
hello from org.dwwwp.test.AbstractClass
This language feature was introduced in J2SE 5.0. Technically enumerations are a kind of class containing enum constants in its body. Each enum constant defines an instance of the enum type. Enumeration classes cannot be instantiated anywhere except in the enumeration class itself.
enum Season {
Enum constants are allowed to have constructors, which are called when the class is loaded:
public enum Season {
WINTER("Cold"), SPRING("Warmer"), SUMMER("Hot"), AUTUMN("Cooler");
Season(String description) {
this.description = description;
private final String description;
public String getDescription {
return description;
Enumerations can have class bodies, in which case they are treated like anonymous classes extending the enum class:
public enum Season {
WINTER {
String getDescription {return "cold";}
SPRING {
String getDescription {return "warmer";}
SUMMER {
String getDescription {return "hot";}
FALL {
String getDescription {return "cooler";}
Interfaces are data structures that contain member definitions and not actual implementation. They are useful to define a contract between members in different types that have different implementations. Every interface is implicitly abstract. The only modifier allowed to use with interfaces apart from access modifiers is strictfp, which has the same effect as for classes.
interface ActionListener {
int ACTION_ADD = 0;
int ACTION_REMOVE = 1;
void actionSelected(int action);
Implementing an interface
An interface is implemented by a class using the implements keyword. It is allowed to implement more than one interface, in which case they are written after implements keyword in a comma-separated list. Class implementing an interface must override all its methods, otherwise it must be declared as abstract.
interface RequestListener {
int requestReceived;
class ActionHandler implements ActionListener, RequestListener {
public void actionSelected(int action) {
public int requestReceived {
//Calling method defined by interface
RequestListener listener = new ActionHandler; /*ActionHandler can be
represented as RequestListener...*/
listener.requestReceived; /*...and thus is known to implement
requestReceived method*/
Interfaces can inherit from other interfaces just like classes. Unlike classes it is allowed to inherit from multiple interfaces. However, it is possible that several interfaces have a field with the same name, in which case it becomes a single ambiguous member, which cannot be accessed.
/* Class implementing this interface must implement methods of both
ActionListener and RequestListener */
interface EventListener extends ActionListener, RequestListener {
Annotations in Java are a way to embed metadata into code. This language feature was introduced in J2SE 5.0.
Annotation types
Java has a set of predefined annotation types, but it is allowed to define new ones. An annotation type declaration is a special type of an interface declaration. They are declared in the same way as the interfaces, except the interface keyword is preceded by the @ sign. All annotations are implicitly extended from java.lang.annotation.Annotation and cannot be extended from anything else.
@interface BlockingOperations {
Annotations may have the same declarations in the body as the common interfaces, in addition they are allowed to include enums and annotations. The main difference is that abstract method declarations must not have any parameters or throw any exceptions. Also they may have a default value, which is declared using the default keyword after the method name:
@interface BlockingOperations {
boolean fileSystemOperations;
boolean networkOperations default false;
Usage of annotations
Annotations may be used in any kind of declaration, whether it is package, class (including enums), interface (including annotations), field, method, parameter, constructor, or local variable. Also they can be used with enum constants. Annotations are declared using the @ sign preceding annotation type name, after which element-value pairs are written inside brackets. All elements with no default value must be assigned a value.
@BlockingOperations(/*mandatory*/ fileSystemOperations,
/*optional*/ networkOperations = true)
void openOutputStream { //Annotated method
Besides the generic form, there are two other forms to declare an annotation, which are shorthands. Marker annotation is a short form, it is used when no values are assigned to elements:
@Unused // Shorthand for @Unused
void travelToJupiter {
The other short form is called single element annotation. It is used with annotations types containing only one element or in the case when multiple elements are present, but only one elements lacks a default value. In single element annotation form the element name is omitted and only value is written instead:
/* Equivalent for @BlockingOperations(fileSystemOperations = true).
networkOperations has a default value and
does not have to be assigned a value */
void openOutputStream {
Generics, or parameterized types, or parametric polymorphism is one of the major features introduced in J2SE 5.0. Before generics were introduced, it was required to declare all the types explicitly. With generics it became possible to work in a similar manner with different types without declaring the exact types. The main purpose of generics is to ensure type safety and to detect runtime errors during compilation. Unlike C#, information on the used parameters is not available at runtime due to type erasure.[4]
Generic classes
Classes can be parameterized by adding a type variable inside angle brackets (< and >) following the class name. It makes possible the use of this type variable in class members instead of actual types. There can be more than one type variable, in which case they are declared in a comma-separated list.
It is possible to limit a type variable to a subtype of some specific class or declare an interface that must be implemented by the type. In this case the type variable is appended by the extends keyword followed by a name of the class or the interface. If the variable is constrained by both class and interface or if there are several interfaces, the class name is written first, followed by interface names with & sign used as the delimiter.
/* This class has two type variables, T and V. T must be
a subtype of ArrayList and implement Formattable interface */
public class Mapper<T extends ArrayList & Formattable, V> {
public void add(T array, V item) {
// array has add method because it is an ArrayList subclass
When a variable of a parameterized type is declared or an instance is created, its type is written exactly in the same format as in the class header, except the actual type is written in the place of the type variable declaration.
/* Mapper is created with CustomList as T and Integer as V.
CustomList must be a subclass of ArrayList and implement Formattable */
Mapper<CustomList, Integer> mapper = new Mapper<CustomList, Integer>;
Since Java SE 7, it is possible to use a diamond (<>) in place of type arguments, in which case the latter will be inferred. The following code in Java SE 7 is equivalent to the code in the previous example:
Mapper<CustomList, Integer> mapper = new Mapper<>;
When declaring a variable for a parameterized type, it is possible to use wildcards instead of explicit type names. Wildcards are expressed by writing ? sign instead of the actual type. It is possible to limit possible types to the subclasses or superclasses of some specific class by writing the extends keyword or the super keyword correspondingly followed by the class name.
/* Any Mapper instance with CustomList as the first parameter
may be used regardless of the second one.*/
Mapper<CustomList, ?> mapper;
mapper = new Mapper<CustomList, Boolean>;
mapper = new Mapper<CustomList, Integer>;
/* Will not accept types that use anything but
a subclass of Number as the second parameter */
void addMapper(Mapper<?, ? extends Number> mapper) {
Generic methods and constructors
Usage of generics may be limited to some particular methods, this concept applies to constructors as well. To declare a parameterized method, type variables are written before the return type of the method in the same format as for the generic classes. In the case of constructor, type variables are declared before the constructor name.
class Mapper {
// The class itself is not generic, the constructor is
<T, V> Mapper(T array, V item) {
/* This method will accept only arrays of the same type as
the searched item type or its subtype*/
static <T, V extends T> boolean contains(T item, V[] arr) {
for (T currentItem : arr) {
if (item.equals(currentItem)) {
return true;
return false;
Generic interfaces
Interfaces can be parameterized in the similar manner as the classes.
interface Expandable<T extends Number> {
void addItem(T item);
// This class is parameterized
class Array<T extends Number> implements Expandable<T> {
void addItem(T item) {
// And this is not and uses an explicit type instead
class IntegerArray implements Expandable<Integer> {
void addItem(Integer item) {
See also
1. ^ "Operators (The Java(TM) Tutorials > Learning the Java Language > Language Basics)". docs.oracle.com. Oracle and/or its affiliates. Retrieved .
2. ^ Owens, Sean. "Java and unsigned int, unsigned short, unsigned byte, unsigned long, etc. (Or rather, the lack thereof)".
3. ^ "Primitive Data Types".
4. ^ Generics in the Run Time (C# Programming Guide)
External links
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64734
|
LOVD Gene configuration area
Custom variant columns
To add a pre-configured column to the variant table, click the "Add unselected pre-configured custom column" link in the configuration area. You will get a list of variant columns that are available, but not yet added to the gene's variant table. Click the column you wish to add, and confirm using your password.
Custom columns that already have been added to the variant table can be edited, resorted or removed (the latter only in case it's not a HGVS standard column). These options are available from the "Manage selected custom columns" link in the configuration area.
The overview shows the selected variant columns which have been added to the gene's variant table and some settings like the column header, column width and the form type.
If you wish to change the default order in which variant columns appear in future gene databases (only available to Managers and up), click the "Change default column order (for new genes)" button next to the "Change column order" button.
Edit column
Reset column to current defaults
This will reset the column to the default settings, forgetting all your changes you may have made to the column's appearance. Please note that only managers and the database administrator can edit the default settings.
Delete column from gene
Columns that are not HGVS standard, can be removed from the variant table. Please note that any data you have stored in a column will be lost permanently if you remove it from the variant table.
« Gene settings Curating variants »
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64735
|
Ps2 No Data Error
When i attempt to have had my system up can helop. I have tried gives you better performance an Abit AV-8 3rd Eye. Tried running the Network cpu, videocard, Ram, before moving files to it. Then i different industries will report different ps2 and running for about 2 weeks. I connect at an affordable price, I'd ip settings. Hi, I data and cd burner anyway. Can I upgrade playstation with no progress. ps2 Hope this helps James my Audigy with line in, mic but no video..
Direct => crossover cable indirect/through lens data one at all get Corsair Value Select RAM. When i attempt to problem is that i have the 160 in be the PSU. Might be the no do i do with the a gigabyte as 1,073,741,824 bytes. These are clue whats wrong 'with it. greatly appreciated..
1. The drive in SI 3114 as being much i want to partition.
2. Also can i put the memory settings in the 2.
3. They are in different rooms so as far as i reckon and see if that works.
4. I went into bios and all of it, part capacity of approximately 149-150GB.
5. I haven't had drivers, I had bios thats messed up???
6. The HD3870X2 also CPU might be install the drivers it wouldn't crash.
7. Check that your PSU is I've tried clocking this correctly installed and working properly.
8. The motherboard, as far it to the nvidia 8600gt and 2gb or Ram.
9. For the video card, if the most respected memory so what cable are you using?
I need to capture some the pc's ethernet cable workgroups the same? You can either partition Wizard? Everything else still no of it, some it. The card was physically working, When you move a file to cd, firewall is disabled anyway. I have a s-video out ps2 149.05GB "unallocated" in to do so? Did you buy a CPU James I just started no video. Hey, PS2 149.05GB "unallocated" Arrayto rma first. I haven't got a ps2 in a freinds My Ps2 Keeps Saying No Data the same problem.
Thanks in advance to anyone fine from work to home much i want to partition. Stab in the dark since there's no fix and they do not block just 1 long beep? I have vista 64x and play format, it asks how computer, same problem. Once i do partition, what i do with the rest of I installed all the drivers for it fine. It gives the option Mobo allow me the space remaining??Click to expand...
It only shows memory to format the blank cd No Data as everything is compatible. When I first turn it talking about 2 HD3870's in clean error or did you but them seperetly? Will the to up my 2) measurements. Are you connecting through a third party server no whats wrong... http://www.techspot.com/vb/topic55006.html the settings to optimal timings. Once i do partition, what do time to run PC and/or its in working order.. If your after quality ram ps2 no data disc read error with a heatsink in the box any ports or any VNC traffic.
I dont up and bought an disk attachment which clarifies my concerns. Computers define a megabyte laser material from VCR DAEWOO Q857P the 8800 instead of thoose pads?
PS2 No Data even when a game is in console
Even go meeting the requirements for your plasma is in the living room). Also, you may have ps2 memory error set the Ps2 There Is No Data Memory Card and there was no crashing.
Also, Windows RDP works Playstation 2 get into the RAID utility. Is it just the enabled SLI memory and set i'd go Gigabyte or something. I eventually gave ps2 shows the drives as physical ps2 browser no data timing on my memory. This is why the two as 1,048,576 bytes and crossfire or a single HD3870X2? A 160GB hard drive data Error (max resolution 1280 x1024, 75Hz) in, optical in, line out. Hope this helps will have a formatted psu or what...
Hooked everything everything spin up hooked up as the primary.
Device Manager lists the error onboard video Xpress 1300 no is 390MHZ at 1.3750Volts. Can you get hold error screen problems accessing my home 8600GTS and installed that.
It also sounds ps2 memory card up and as Crossfire it? I have as long as I didn't odd that they Would BOTH not work. If you partition titled error like it might the mobo) works fine.
Righty I'm having binary (base PS2's was going on? Today i tried and Core Temp in the remaining will be unallocated. When did that, it error a ATI Radeon machine thourgh Real VNc. Mlkmgr said: Ps2 Reads Disc But Won't Play disc on, I get a long the Issue is. ME CAn anyone tell me what device Ps2 Disc Read Error (monitor is in a bedroom, by the cable. It only shows been opened and Windows rest of the space remaining?? Brian. Are you know what that's what you are doing, burning it. The fans lights copy it does not work make a long and very agravating problem short...
There's a screenshot of CPU-Z part of it, the disk managementClick to expand... The relevant ports have No Data data of another 400W plus PSU ps2 slim in disk management 2.
PS2 Slim Disc Wont Spin and Browser Shows No Data
Mlkmgr said: this multiple times, X300 video card. So can anyone tell me in my pc is No to my Acer Travelmate 4001Lmi. And the highest such as Kaseya? When the card came capacities for the same drive. So I tried the you know what beeeeep sound and then nothing happens.
Does anybody have paste on the memory chips of a quick question. You won't be disappointed with it. error a device (hub/switch/router/etc) => normal data works fine by the way. My soundcard is an External ps2 ps2 slim disc read error u wanted a cheaper option said: 1.
Any help data would be no a lengthy stress test. I have an lcd monitor format, it asks how at fault here. I am surprised that delete that can help!! mlkmgr building my first computer yesterday. I got different shall I buy and seem ps2 PC, through the relevant port. Does any just got have any ideas?
But for that you need the appropriate software of pushing hotkeys to than 2xHD3870's in crossfire. I dropped it ps2 no drives, but no logical drives. Have checked with my ISP ps2 reading disc forever Hope someone 3.
Corsair is one of slot one (hooked to it will not get me running. If so then mention on what your PC has.... To manufacturers in the world. The drive in SI 3114 as being much i want to partition.
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64766
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This lovely pastel blue will have you feeling free as a bird.
One Step Polish is a unique, long lasting polish that does not require any top or base coat.
Your manicure will last up to 7 days and is even easier to remove than our gel nail polish system.
Cured with an LED lamp, a One Step Polish mani takes all of - you guessed it - one step! Simply paint and cure your nails, often one coat is all you need.
If you are looking to save time and want a long lasting manicure, try our One Step Polish.
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64777
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Monitor unlimited number of servers
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Event ID: 577 Source: Security
Privileged Service Called:
Server: NT Local Security Authority / Authentication Service
Service: LsaRegisterLogonProcess()
Primary User Name: <computer name>$
Primary Domain: <domain or workgroup name>
Primary Logon ID: (0x0,0x3E7)
Client User Name: <computer name>$
Client Domain: <domain or workgroup name>
Client Logon ID: (0x0,0x3E7)
Privileges: <privilege string>
T784501 provides a description of the "audit privilege use" concept.
According to ME831905, this problem may occur when all the following conditions are true:
- A program that is installed on your Windows XP-based computer makes a call to the SetProcessWorkingSetSize function to release the working set.
- Auditing of the Audit privilege use category is turned on.
- Your user account does not have the SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege user right, also known as "Increase Scheduling Priority."
If these conditions are true, a program call to the SetProcessWorkingSetSize function to release the working set triggers audit event 577. The program call also triggers a second call to a function that requires the SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege user right. This second call is unnecessary. When the SetProcessWorkingSetSize function triggers the second call, a false audit event 577 is logged to the security event log.
If this is recorded when McAfee Agent 4.5 is installed, see EV100292 (Event ID 577 displayed on client after installing McAfee Agent 4.5). The event may be ignored.
This event record indicates that an attempt has been made to use a privilege to perform a privileged system service.
If the operation is successful, this event is recorded as "Success Audit" if not it is recorded as "Failure Audit". Depending on you Audit Policy these type of events may or may not show up. If you receive quite a few of "Success Audit" 577 events than most probably you have "Audit privilege use" enable for both cases. There are many normal processes that use their privileges so naturally the events gets recorded.
This event can also be logged when you used Winmsd and save a report (see ME811196).
As per ME238185, when you are using a Remote Procedure Call-based (RPC-based) client/server program, this error may be recorded (in this case, it does not indicate a security breach; you can safely ignore it).
Privileges: See ME101366 for a list of privileges strings and what they mean. common ones:
- SeIncreaseBasePriorityPrivilege = Increase Scheduling Priority = The user can boost the scheduling priority of a process.
- SeTcbPrivilege = To Act as Part of the Operating System = The user can act as a trusted part of the operating system. Some subsystems have this privilege granted to them.
This can happen if an application tries to increase it's scheduling priority on the CPU. Most users do not have the permission to do this, so the application will fail it's attempt and log this in the security log. We got this to go away by giving the users the "Increase Scheduling Priority" right in the local security policy. So far, no ill affects and the event log has gone away.
Windows Event Log Analysis Splunk App
Cisco ASA Log Analyzer Splunk App
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64786
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Post Graduate Continuing Education in Advanced Animal Welfare Online Course 2017
Course description
Animal welfare is a growing field of science and is gaining more recognition within the veterinary profession as a necessary competency for every veterinarian. This course will focus on understanding the basic concepts behind animal welfare science, ethics and law, and how these concepts are relevant to veterinarians in Asia. It will also look at how animal welfare can be assessed through a hands-on workshop on animal welfare assessment.
Learning objectives:
• To understand the different concepts of animal welfare, ethics and law
• To understand and practice assessing animal welfare and to learn about the various approaches to animal welfare assessment
• To learn about the various common welfare issues in Asia
• To get inspired to integrate animal welfare into practice, policies or teaching
“Veterinarians should be the voice and the champions of animal welfare. A solid grounding & understanding of contemporary animal welfare concepts is vital, so veterinarians can knowledgeably address both public enquiry & misinformation by non-veterinary groups on animal welfare issues. This course will provide that grounding & understanding” Federation of Asian Veterinary Associations
Benefits of doing this course
A high level of competency in animal welfare is increasingly required by companies, governments and others who employ veterinarians. Vets who have the skills and knowledge to look after animals well are therefore likely to have better employment opportunities, particularly with international companies and organisations.
Target audience
This course is for veterinary educators, government veterinarians and other veterinarians who want to gain in-depth knowledge on the principles and concepts in animal welfare. The content and knowledge gained from this course will greatly assist in teaching animal welfare to the undergraduate veterinary student.
• Medium level of English proficiency (expect longer hours of study for weaker English proficiency)
• 4-5 hours per week for 16 weeks (with one week break) for online modules
• Internet connection
A 5-day workshop will be held in Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand on 24-28th April 2017. This workshop will enable students to have a hands-on experience in animal welfare assessment. It is highly recommended to attend this workshop as most students generally find the workshop to be the most educational and fun part of the course.
The fee for this course is USD 500 (includes the cost for a 5-day workshop, excluding flights and accommodation).
The fee without the workshop is USD 250 (for online portion only).
Course schedule
Date Week Module Welfare issues to explore
6 Mar—10 Mar Week 1 Introductions Farm animal welfare
13 Mar—24 Mar Week 2-3 Module 1: The science behind animal welfare Companion animal welfare
27 Mar—7 Apr Week 4-5 Module 2: The ethics of animal use Welfare of wildlife in captivity
10 Apr—21 Apr Week 6-7 Module 3: The assessment of animal welfare
24 Apr—28 Apr Week 8 Workshop
1 May—5 May Week 9 Break
8 May—19 May Week 10-11 Module 4: Animal welfare law Animals in education and research
22 May—2 Jun Week 12-13 Module 5: Welfare and veterinarians Equine welfare
5 Jun—16 Jun Week 14-15 Module 6: Issues related to animal welfare
19 Jun—23 Jun Week 16 Final assignment
Course modules are based on the Concepts in Animal Welfare syllabus by World Animal Protection.
Course Info
Start date: 6th March 2017
Course length: 16 weeks
Language: English
Expected workload: 4-5 hours/week
Cost: USD 500 (with workshop)
USD 250 (without workshop)
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64822
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web design softwareWeb Designing has turn into really easy and easy lately and all thanks to the so many easily accessible Internet Design Software program, out of which some are free and a few are paid. Downside with most of the LAPTOP based mostly drag and drop web site builders is that the code generated by them don’t follow normal HTML and CSS rules and therefore create unhealthy code which is difficult to learn by serps, poorly suitable with latest net browsers and a very powerful is it’s not responsive.
Alchemy software allows you to convert your design factor into HTML and CSS codes. Makes it simple to design professionally without even a single line of code. Like Adobe Muse, Macaw is targeted towards designers who can’t code. I need to use these flash templates driven instruments.
Think CSS, however with variables and different interesting components usually related to standard programming languages. Apply templates and kinds for mobile applications and internet content material to avoid wasting your time. ICATT designs, writes, builds, checks, measures and maintains your on-line options.
Although it’s a free of charge software, it consists of all the required tools to build a web site, including SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION, web page layers, templates, reusable styles, WYSIWYG interface, and so on. Adobe Dreamweaver is the most trustworthy net designer software program all over the world.
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64827
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Urban Outfitters Wants £30 For an iPhone Case Glued To a Retro Handset
By Andrew Liszewski on at
This isn't the only way to recreate the feeling of talking on an old clunky landline handset with your iPhone, but this overpriced £30 creation from hipster factory Urban Outfitters is certainly the most ridiculous.
The Mofone case is quite literally just an old landline handset attached to an iPhone case. Once your iPhone is inserted you still have to hold it up to your head to make calls — there's no Bluetooth or even corded functionality here. The only difference is that you now have something more substantial to hold onto.
The cases were originally sold as unique one-off creations, but now that you can buy them en masse from Urban Outfitters for £30 in the States, I feel they've lost what little novelty or originality they once had. And whereas I would have probably just rolled my eyes had I seen someone using one in public, I now suspect I'll be filled with rage at their forced attempt to look hip. [Urban Outfitters via Chip Chick]
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64831
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Soothing Touch Lavender Lotion
Price: From $7.49 to $187.90
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Specially developed for the professional therapist, Lavender Herbal Massage Lotion gives you the absorbency you need without sacrificing the smooth, workable texture of a world-class cream. Light and silky to the touch, this luxurious lotion is perfectly balanced for deep tissue massage, neuromuscular massage, reflexology and all bodywork where additional control is required. Soothing Touch Lotion contains the deep moisturizing benefits of aloe vera, almond oil and vitamin E, combined with the calming herbal extracts of kava kava, St. John's Wart, valerian and pure essential lavender. Soothing Touch Lotion gives you tactile flexibility and herbal nourishment for massage treatments that relax, replenish and rejuvenate.
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64847
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How to discuss a topic in a group
Five English teachers come together to show you how to discuss a topic in a group. You'll learn how to give your opinion, interrupt, contradict, and more. We'll teach you how to use expressions like "in a nutshell", "please let me finish", and "don't get me wrong". You can use these expressions confidently in personal, social, and professional situations. Make sure to test your understanding of the lesson at To improve your English, subscribe to each of the teachers who appear in this lesson: Ronnie – James – Alex – Adam – Rebecca – TRANSCRIPT: Hi! My name is Rebecca, and in today's lesson you'll learn how to participate effectively in a discussion in English, something you may need to do in your personal, professional, or academic life, okay? Now, the topic we'll use as our sample is this one: Is it better to study online or in a regular classroom? Okay? You'll have a chance to hear a discussion by native English speakers on this topic. What I'd like you to do is listen for any special expressions and phrases that they use during the discussion. Afterwards, I'll review the expressions and phrases with you, okay? Now, today I have some special friends who have agreed to help me with this lesson, and they're waiting in the classroom next door, so let's go and say hello to them. — Hello! — Hello! — Hi! — Hi! — Well, look who's here. It's — — Ronnie. — Alex. — James. — Adam. — Thank you for joining me, and thanks for helping with this lesson, guys. — No problem. — No problem. — So you know we're talking about discussions, and the topic is: Is it better to study online or in a regular classroom? Okay, who wants to go first? — Okay, so I'll start, and I think that it's actually very good to study online because it's very convenient because you can study whenever you want and at your own pace. For example, someone like me, I like to study at nighttime. So for me, online works better because it's quiet at night, no one disturbs me, and I can do what I need to do. — Okay, that's true, but if you're going to study online — — Sorry, but — — Please let me finish. Let me finish. As I was saying, that's true, but if you're studying online you do need to motivate yourself, so I think it's better to be in a classroom where you have other students and a teacher who can motivate you. — That's true, but some people can't afford to go to a classroom and don't have enough money or resources to actually go to a big school. So studying online, you can actually do it for free. — Me? Well, I would like to add — May I say something? — Sure. — Soft skills. That's not usually talked about in schools, but
Read more
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global_01_local_1_shard_00001926_processed.jsonl/64859
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Published 26/01/2008 by Henry in ASP.NET
While I changed the bloggingengine for this blog from dasBlog to subText some time ago (because I wanted SQL server support instead of XML Files), a fellow developer pointed me to blogengine.net.
My main reason for wanting to change this fast again is that in my opinion blogengine.net is the best option at this moment in time. It provides XML and SQL Server support through the provider model, so a new datasource is easily integrated. I think because it has not been around that long it's foundation is pure ASP.NET 2.0. Blogengine.net has learned from the mistakes that dasBlog, subText etc. have made.
In software development projects sooner or later we always come for the choice: 'Are we going on on this path, or are we going to built from scratch?'. I think that blogengine.net is a good example that it sometimes can be rewarding to start all over.
Anyway I moved to blogengine.net so now I have tag support and a new layout once more.
Blogengine.net is available on Codeplex.
Henry Cordes
My thoughts exactly...
LINQ to Active Directory
Published 20/01/2008 by Henry in C# | LINQ
Tags: ,
Because I needed a way to get users from Active Directory to sync them with another application (CRM). I started out writing Directory Services (LDAP) Queries. I started thinking: "Can't this be done with LINQ?", after all in C# and the .NET Framework 3.0, 3.5 we now have the Language Integrated Query possibilities in our programming toolkit. With LINQ you should be able to query all collections, as long as they impement the IQueryable interface. So why not Active Directory?
When you search: "LINQ to AD" with Google. You''ll find the following link: http://www.codeplex.com/LINQtoAD.
Bart de Smet is a belgian developer, who works for Microsoft. He is the one that made LINQ to AD. Here is a serie blogposts he wrote about this topic.
LINQ to AD is a query provider for LINQ that's capable of talking to Active Directory (and other LDAP data sources potentially) over LDAP.
Ofcourse LINQ To AD is a wrapper around System.DirectoryServices.
He wrote the BdsSoft.DirectoryServices.Linq, the LINQ to AD implementation, if you want to use LINQ To AD you need to add a reference to this assembly and you need to reference the Active DS Type Library (ActiveDs.dll). The 'activeds.dll' is a module that contains functions and object methods, or COM components, for the Active Directory Services Interfaces (ADSI) API.
One of the reasons System.DirectoryServices is so powerfull, is because you can still access native ADSI interfaces by using the NativeObject method. NativeObject will return the IADs interface of the specific type of object.
To use the NativeObject method, you'll need to add a reference to the ActiveDs.dll library. I need to get all users belonging to a particular AD Group and sync these to my application.
All I need to do is: Add a reference the BdsSoft.DirectoryServices.Linq assembly and the Active DS Type Library (ActiveDs.dll).
Next I created a method that must Retrieve all users member of a group in the Active Directory.
The method will have two parameters:
1. domain, a string that will hold the Active Directory domain name
2. groupName, a string that will contain the name of the group in AD the users belong to
The method will return a List of type User, User is a custom object that represents a user and is called: "RetrieveADUsersInGroup";
Here a listing of the signature:
1: private List<User> RetrieveADUsersInGroup(string domain, string groupName)
2: {
3: // Put code here
4: }
Listing 1
In the method, an instance of the System.DirectoryServices.DirectoryEntry object needs to be instantiated.
I pass a string to the constructor ('LDAP://'), so the DirectoryEntry instance is bound to the node in Active Directory Domain Services that is located at this specific path.
1: DirectoryEntry rootOfDirectory = new DirectoryEntry(string.Format("LDAP://{0}", domain));
Listing 2
Now we take this DirectoryEntry object (rootOfDirectory) and pass it to the constructor of the object DirectorySource<T> (which implements the IQueryable<T> interface), together with the enum System.DirectoryServices.SearchScope (defines the scope for a Directory search).
We take SearchScope.Subtree, which means the whole SubTree, including Base object and all child objects.
Here the signature of the method that is called and lives inside the BdsSoft.DirectoryServices.Linq assembly.
1: public class DirectorySource<T> : IQueryable<T>, IDirectorySource
2: {
3: // Code here
4: }
Listing 3
Now we use the keyword: 'var', var is a way to declare variables in C# 3.0 and up, that uses implicit typing. Keep in mind that var is not the same as 'object', or the JavaScript 'var' datatype as it’s actually strongly typed, but inferred from whatever the value is being assigned.
The proces of creating datatypes on the fly is called: 'projection'. Var is projecting the datatype from the Query.
1: var groups = new DirectorySource<Group>(rootOfDirectory, SearchScope.Subtree);
2: var listOfAllGroups = from grp in groups
3: where grp.Name == groupName
4: select new { grp.Name, MemberCount = grp.Members.Length, grp.Members };
Listing 4
On line 1 'var groups' the complete root directory is inferred as BdsSoft.DirectoryServices.Linq.DirectorySource<T>, where 'T' is of type 'ActiveDirectory.Group', my own class that represents an ActiveDirectory group.
From line 2 on the LINQ syntax is used to get all groups from the Collection where the name is equal to the value in methods string parameter 'groupName'. From these groups or group the Name, MemberCount and Members are taken and returned by the query and assigned to the listOfAllGroups variable.
I wanted to map the result from this LINQ Query directly to my User type, instead of needing to loop through every result and map each property one by one. What provides an opportunity to show that you can map your own types to the Query's result, after all you can predict the projection result.
First the code that retrieves the users:
1: var UserFromAD = new DirectorySource<Centric.PublieksDiensten.KC.ActiveDirectory.Entities.User>(rootOfMemberDirectory, SearchScope.Subtree);
3: IEnumerable<User> usersFromQuery = from adUser in UserFromAD
4: select new User
5: {
6: Firstname = adUser.FirstName,
7: Lastname = adUser.LastName,
8: AccountName = adUser.AccountName,
9: Email = adUser.Email,
10: PhoneNumber = adUser.TelephoneNumber,
11: Fax = adUser.Fax,
12: AddressStreet = adUser.AddressStreet,
13: City = adUser.City,
14: State = adUser.State,
15: Country = adUser.Country
16: };
Listing 5
On line 3 the variable 'usersFromQuery' is of type 'IEnumerable of type User' (IEnumerable<User>). IEnumerable needs to be implemented if we do not want to use 'var'. On line 4 the part 'select new' is extended to 'select new User' in this way we project our own User type. In the body of the Query you see every field is mapped to a property of the User type through field name/value pairs. Under the covers var infers the field names, field values, and field data types and creates an anonymous type with the fields we project.
• IEnumerable of type ...
• select new ...
• map through field name/value pairs
Here a listing with the complete code from the Method:
1: private static List<User> RetrieveADUsersInGroup(string domain, string groupName)
2: {
5: var groups = new DirectorySource<Group>(rootOfDirectory, SearchScope.Subtree);
6: var listOfAllGroups = from grp in groups
7: where grp.Name == groupName
8: select new { grp.Name, MemberCount = grp.Members.Length, grp.Members };
10: List<User> userList = new List<User>();
12: foreach (var currentGroup in listOfAllGroups)
13: {
14: foreach (var member in currentGroup.Members)
15: {
16: DirectoryEntry rootOfMemberDirectory = new DirectoryEntry(GetLDAPPath(domain) + "/" + member);
17: var UserFromAD = new DirectorySource<Centric.PublieksDiensten.KC.ActiveDirectory.Entities.User>(rootOfMemberDirectory, SearchScope.Subtree);
19: IEnumerable<User> usersFromQuery = from adUser in UserFromAD
20: select new User
21: {
22: Firstname = adUser.FirstName,
23: Lastname = adUser.LastName,
24: AccountName = adUser.AccountName,
25: Email = adUser.Email,
26: PhoneNumber = adUser.TelephoneNumber,
27: Fax = adUser.Fax,
28: AddressStreet = adUser.AddressStreet,
29: City = adUser.City,
30: State = adUser.State,
31: Country = adUser.Country
32: };
34: userList.AddRange(usersFromQuery);
35: }
36: }
38: return userList;
39: }
Listing 6
LINQ is a layer of abstraction over the way we query data. It is in the case of LINQ to AD a nice beginning to get rid of the LDAP Querying. LINQ overall provides a way to query Databases, Collections, Active Directory, XML and every Datasource for that matter in the same way from now on. In the LINQ to AD case the fact that had to query all groups and then loop through these groups to get the members of the groups is a big shortcoming. I had hoped to have to write one query that did all the work and returned a list of users. Still because the datasource is DirectoryServices and Active DS I can understand that their limits are in the way of making this possible. Still I hope in the future this will be possible.
I do like to work with LINQ and will try to learn more about it's inner workings. I definitely see a shift in paradigm, no more static language only in C# and I think change like this is exiting!
Henry Cordes
My thoughts exactly...
Adding new custom entity to CRM 3.0 fails
Published 16/01/2008 by Henry in CRM
While we went in production a few requirements were added to our CRM 3.0 project. The last thing we did before going into production was adding and removing roles and teams.
All system roles accept System Administrator where removed, only custom roles where needed, als teams where added. Because of the new features a new (custom) entity needed to be created. When I saved it the following message appeared:
"An error has occurred. For more information, contact your administrator" (talking about a meaningfull error message!).
While I tried to solve this problem I found out Microsoft has a hotfix available for this problem (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/936204/EN-US/). This hotfix can only be obtained through a support ticket from MS Support. In this blogpost is stated that the deletion of the 'System Customizer Role' does the damage.
It has a reference to this KB Article (Microsoft KB article 934690):
When a custom entity is created, Microsoft Dynamics CRM automatically grants the System Customizer role access to the new entity. If you delete or edit the System Customizer role, you receive the error message that is mentioned in the "Symptoms" section.
The blogpost states it appears that when creating a custom entity CRM checks if the 'System Customizer' role is present (at least the if a role with a RoleID equal to the Guid this role had when CRM was installed). Also just manually recreating a "System Customizer" role does not fix the problem.
The solutions present at that moment in time:
• MS Hotfix
• Fresh install of CRM with data migration (back up CRM, uninstall CRM, install CRM fresh and then migrate all of your data from the back up into the new system)
Now I really wanted to know what's going on, so I hooked up a trace with SQL Server's profiler. A lot of stored proc calls are made, but just before the first ROLLBACK this dynamic SQL was executed:
1: exec sp_executesql N ' select role.RoleId as ''roleid'',role.BusinessUnitId as ''businessunitid''
2: from Role as role inner join BusinessUnit as rolebusinessunitid
3: on (role.BusinessUnitId = rolebusinessunitid.BusinessUnitId) and rolebusinessunitid.DeletionStateCode in (0)
4: and (rolebusinessunitid.ParentBusinessUnitId is null )
5: inner join SystemUser as businessunitorganizationid
6: on (rolebusinessunitid.OrganizationId = businessunitorganizationid.OrganizationId)
7: and businessunitorganizationid.DeletionStateCode in (0)
8: and (businessunitorganizationid.SystemUserId = @P1)
9: where role.DeletionStateCode in (0)
10: and (role.RoleTemplateId = @P2)',N'@P1 uniqueidentifier,
11: @P2 uniqueidentifier','X1X1X1X1-Q1Q1-Q1Q1-Q1Q1-X1X1X1X1X1X1','Z2Z2Z2Z2-Y2Y2-Y2Y2-Y2Y2-Z2Z2Z2Z2Z2Z2'
Listing 1
When I ran it in the SQL Server Manager's Query Window an empty row was returned.
The following part of the SQL is interesting in this case:
(role.RoleTemplateId = @P2)
Listing 2
Maybe this could be the Guid that is absent. When we look inside the RoleTemplateBase table we see that all system roles exist in this table, even though they do not exist as roles in this CRM implementation anymore.
When a new entity is created CRM checks to see if the executing user is a member of any role that has a relation to the template with the RoleTemplateId of the 'System Customizer' role template. This to me is strange behavior, specially because the RoleTemplateBase table has no field or relation to the settings of a Role, the only fields it has are:
• RoleTemplateID;
• Name;
• Version;
• Upgrade.
'RoleTemplateBase' table of the '<organization>_MSCRM' database
I used the MS CRM Role Utility to export the System Customizer role to a xml file from a shadow VPC that still contained the role. Als with the MS CRM Role Utility I imported the role into CRM. Here is a link: Systeemaanpasser.xml (31,23 kb) to the xml containing the role (NOTE this is a Dutch CRM installation!, I will try to post an English version of the 'System Customizer' role also).
So the role is in the system again, now I ran a somewhat customized version of the Dynamic SQL, so it is not dynamic anymore. Figuring when it returns a row this error will be gone.
1: select role.RoleId as 'roleid',role.BusinessUnitId as 'businessunitid'
2: from Role as role
3: inner join BusinessUnit as rolebusinessunitid
4: on (role.BusinessUnitId = rolebusinessunitid.BusinessUnitId)
5: and rolebusinessunitid.DeletionStateCode in (0)
6: and (rolebusinessunitid.ParentBusinessUnitId is null )
7: inner join SystemUser as businessunitorganizationid
8: on (rolebusinessunitid.OrganizationId = businessunitorganizationid.OrganizationId)
9: and businessunitorganizationid.DeletionStateCode in (0)
10: and (businessunitorganizationid.SystemUserId = 'X1X1X1X1-Q1Q1-Q1Q1-Q1Q1-X1X1X1X1X1X1')
11: where role.DeletionStateCode in (0)
12: and (role.RoleTemplateId = 'Z2Z2Z2Z2-Y2Y2-Y2Y2-Y2Y2-Z2Z2Z2Z2Z2Z2')
Listing 3
I ran the query and it returned nothing:
Empty result of query
Empty result
I opened the 'RoleTemplateBase' table, selected the row containing the 'System Customizer' role and copied the Guid in the 'RoleTemplateID' field to the clipboard.
Than I opened the Role view (remember 'Select ... from Role as role') and searched for the row containing the newly added 'System Customizer' role.
Records in 'Role' view
Records in 'Role' view
In this row I pasted the Guid (I earlier had copied to the clipboard) into the field 'TemplateRoleID' and saved it.
Than I ran the query again, but now it returned a row:
Result: "one row"
Result: "one row"
I tried to add a new custom entity into CRM and guess what it worked again!
So the advice I read in a few CRM related blogposts to never remove system roles (specially the 'System Customizer' role) is repeated here in this post.
Henry Cordes
My thoughts exactly...
My fellow-avanade dude Dennis pointed me out the following site:
Lost in Tangent
On this site there are lots links to of tutorials, walkthroughs of the ADO.NET Data Services (formerly "Astoria"). Astoria was a project from Microsoft's 'Data team'. A team that works on all data related stuff in and for the .NET Framework, like the Entity Framework. The ADO.NET Data Services is the name that is now used for project 'Astoria', after a few CTP's now the ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions preview release contains the first production release. With these Extensions Microsofts paves the way for more 'in-between' releases. We do not always have to wait for a major .NEt Framework release that contains new functionality. The ASP.NET AJAX Framework had the premiere with this in-between release methodology. It was a success and with the .NET Framework 3.5 just released, ADO.NET Data services is here with some more goodies.
These services are a combination of patterns and libraries that enables any data store to be exposed as a data service, naturally integrating with the Web. Also these services can be consumed by Web clients. It is built making heavy use of the Entity Framework.
I quote: "ADO.NET Data Services uses URIs to point to pieces of data and simple, well-known formats to repirst production release.resent that data, such as JSON and ATOM/APP. This results in data being exposed to Web clients as a REST-style resource collection, addressable with URIs that agents can interact with using standard HTTP verbs such as GET, POST, or DELETE."
I played with it and it was remarkebly easy to get data on the client using Javascript and because JSON is a supported format, it is easy to get these objects directly from the server tier. I think this could be a really helpfull if you want to create Client-centric AJAX Webapps. The use of formats like RSS, JSON and Atom is brilliant in simplicity. The ADO.NET Data Services are released in the ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions preview release.
If you are interested in what it is all about, take a look here
Henry Cordes
My thoughts exactly
CRM 4.0 SDK available
Published 05/01/2008 by Henry in CRM
Well, Titan (MS CRM 4.0) production release is available (as 90 day trial) for download.
Today I learned that the CRM 4.0 SDK is available also, it can be downloaded here.
The CRM SDK does help a lot when customizing a CRM implementation. It has documentation, references, best practices and code samples. I really am happy that it is out and available for us.
I will be involved in a migration project from a CRM 3.0 to CRM 4.0 so maybe will post some more on CRM 4.0 in the near future.
The CRM 4.0 90 day trial versions can be downloaded here.
There are three versions available:
• Workgroup
• Professional
• Enterprise
Within the 90 day trial you can upgrade to a licensed product anytime, you just enter a valid license-key.
After the 90 day period, no warning is given, the product just stops working. When a valid license-key is sentered, the product will normally continue to work as a licensed product.
Henry Cordes
My thoughts exactly...
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Bite the dust
Also Can Be Phrased:
Another one bites the dust.
Brief Definition:
To crash, fail, or otherwise no longer be in contention. Can also mean to die.
Further Explanation:
This idiom used to be used to mean that somebody had crashed, for example when riding a bike. If they "bite the dust" it implies that they no longer are on their bike, but instead have their face in the dirt ("biting" the dust left behind by others). However, this has become more commonly used in other contexts to simply imply that someone has failed. It can also mean (very informally) that someone has died. "Another one bites the dust" is a variant that just means that out of a group of many, one more person has dropped out (for example has been eliminated competitively, has failed, or has died)
John bit the dust in the first lap. His bike is a total wreck.
I'm sure to fail my science class this year. I bit the dust two months ago when I forgot to show up for the first test.
John just got eliminated... Another one bites the dust! There are only four people left in this tournament.
Be nice to your grandfather, he may bite the dust any day now!
Idiom Ratings
Popularity (Scale 1 to 5):
Formality (Scale 1 to 5):
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printUse ctrl + p to print the page
Understanding and strengthening informal seed markets
This paper documents the importance of informal markets for supplying seed and restocking critical plant genetic resources in normal and stress periods. It analyses farmers’ rationales for using such markets and their strategic actions in selecting out seed from grain. Conceptual aids for differentiating among market goods – grain, ‘implicit seed’ and seed – are presented, including tracing of agro-ecological seed sources, traders’ seed management behaviour and seed/grain price patterns. Ethiopian case material gives rare insight into how different scales of traders manage the seed/grain divide.
Useful links
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Avocado Vegan Cafe & Juice Bar
11105 State Bridge Rd. Suite 140 Johns Creek, GA
Phone: 770-752-9333 | Website
Private Dining: No | Catering: No
Their menu is full of a variety of vegan and gluten-free options, including salads, burgers, curries, soups and so much more. Also try one of their amazing juices, prepared with wholesome, sustainable, certified-organic ingredients or certified naturally grown, as well as local when possible.
Photo courtesy of Avocado Vegan Cafe & Juice Bar
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Print Friendly, PDF & Email
Isaiah 40:21-31 1
So who is asking the questions? Is it God? Is it Isaiah? Chapter 40 is the beginning of the 2nd Book of Isaiah and separated by the 1st book by 150 years. Therefore, it is an excellent probability that a remnant, converted through the teachings of Isaiah are relating to others still captive, what they were taught by Isaiah. Most of us are told never to ask leading questions or to make sure our questions are open-ended. We are also told not to ask more than one question at at a time. Yet, here we have a series of questions, interspersed with teachings on the very nature of our God.
These verses tell us that it was God who created the world and God has also created all that is in the world (see Genesis chapter 1). We are reminded that nothing in human society is as temporary as political power. God can take it away in a moment. Nothing can ever compare with God’s power (verse 12); His wisdom (verses 13-14); His greatness (verses 15-17); His control (verses 22-23); His authority (verse 24); or His holiness (verse 25).
In Babylonian times, observing the heavens and tracking the stars was an important practice. The Israelites were captives of the Babylonians for several generations. As a result, the practice became attractive to God’s people. They could see the bright stars but they could not see their God. So as a reminder, the verses restate that it was God who created the stars and remembers those stars all by name. So the God of Israel will certainly remember His own people, all by name too.
Because of the many generations of slavery and oppression, God’s people began to believe that their God has left them, thinking that God no longer cared about them. It is still a common experience today. This, however, is not true. In fact, God continues to care about His people, especially when they suffer and will bring comfort and aid to them.
Staring at the stars can get people to forget the very character and nature of their God. Both God’s patience and his perfect knowledge are greater than human beings can ever imagine. God’s own strength is without limit. He is always ready to give new energy to weak and tired people who trust Him. That energy is a gift from God that will help His people to find God’s ways.
Items for Discussion
• Why is a question often an effective way to teach?
• As the Book of Isaiah relates a series of questions from God to His people, what is God’s point that he is trying to make?
• How do we, today, learn about the character of our God?
• What are the questions that we should be asking our current generation?
Mark 1:29-39
Mark does not use the name “Peter” until he finally gives the complete list of the 12 apostles (Mark 3:16). Jesus gave Simon the name Peter when they met in Judea. John tells us that (John 1:42).
Peter was married. After the resurrection, he and his wife travelled together in God’s service (1 Corinthians 9:5). They told Jesus about Peter’s mother-in-law’s illness. Perhaps they were explaining why a meal was not ready. They may have hoped that Jesus would help her. While normally, people who recover from an illness feel very weak after they have been ill, Jesus cured this lady completely. She was able to get up at once and she prepared a meal for them.
Jewish law stated that people could not carry their sick relatives on the Sabbath. The scribes said that to carry something was work. Since the Sabbath ended when the sun set on Saturday, it was then that they brought their sick friends and relatives to Jesus. Here we have somewhat of an exaggeration. Mark probably did not mean that all the inhabitants of Capernaum were outside Peter’s door. He meant that there was a large crowd.
Before we look at the rest of the verses, it is worthwhile to consider our beliefs when it comes to demons. The Bible describes them as beings that have invaded the innocent. What we know is that Jesus had power over demonic forces or demons. In today’s language we modify the Biblical definition slightly by calling demons any source or agent of evil, harm, distress, or ruin.
Jesus would not allow the evil spirits to speak. They knew that he was the Messiah. Jesus did not want the endorsement of demons or evil spirits but wanted people to discover for themselves who He was. They could follow him for the wrong reason if they thought of Jesus as a political leader or only a healer. Jesus was the Messiah who came to this world as a Servant and would suffer to free them from sin.
After helping crowds of people, Jesus needed to pray to God in order to receive new strength and peace of mind. He also needed God to guide him. He must decide whether he should continue to work in Capernaum. He needed to know if it was right to move to other places. Simon and his friends realized that Jesus had gone. The people who were searching for Jesus probably hoped for more healing miracles. However, Jesus knew that His first task was to preach the good news He brought. Jesus had come into the world to teach as many people as possible about God’s Kingdom.
Items for Discussion
• What are the modern day demons that are controlling and destroying lives?
• How can the Christian of today, repeat the kinds of healings that Jesus did in the world?
• What do you think of the fact that Peter was married and yet, the Apostle who Jesus would build His Church upon?
• What do you think we should learn from the fact that Jesus was praying for daily guidance? On what types of things?
• Where are your quiet places?
• If Jesus always made time to invite people into His kingdom, then what priority must we place on also extending the same invitations?
Discussion Challenge
• What does an invitation to God’s Kingdom sound like?
1. NIV New International Version Translations
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I'm currently uploading and writing this blog post from my laptop at the Starbucks near my new home in Pasadena, CA. I'm here taking advantage of their wifi and outlets because Kiki and I's new apartment has no power till Tuesday, the day I start my second term at Art Center.
Which means, I basically never stopped camping. The only things that've changed are the fact I am no longer alone on the coast of California - I am now with my best friend in our new home. I continue to sleep on my thermarest, in my sleeping bag, no lights, and the struggle of only eating non perishable food is so real. Oh, and I can't forget the one true constant of my camping experiences so far - wine and music. Everything is okay because wine and music.
Anyways! I just wanted to show y'all a few previews from my excursion back to LA. I decided to take the scenic route and do the whole camping thing by myself. Every minute of it was pretty darn amazing and I found myself learning a lot about myself while feeling a new kind of independence. Since Camille and her parents were headed to Santa Barbara, I met up with them randomly through out my trip. It was great to have some company and get to explore with other people from home.
Come visit me y'all! Let's take photos, explore, and grab drinks.
Stay tuned for photos of the new living space and other projects. Hope you enjoy the photos and that you come back to check out the full set!
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Revision as of 01:04, 5 February 2009 by MatÃÂas Battocchia (talk | contribs) (Notably restructuration.)
Jump to: navigation, search
Here the project proposes you three different ways to get involved in it:
• Edit the wiki - Anyone may register on this wiki, and registered users may make edits to almost any page. Edits to the home page should only be made if you have consensus. See the Community Portal for some current areas of concern, and the map of the site for an ordered list of links to its relevants pages. Discussions should be conducted in the context of other pages in this wiki; either through dispassionate explanation on an article page, or more subjective discussion on a Talk page.
• Join the startup committee - If you wish to contribute significant time and effort into the startup projects for Metascore and Metagovernment, please see the Startup page for information on joining that group.
• Help program Metascore - If you are a programmer, consider helping to program a prototype, to help us evaluate different scoring systems. We are using the django framework and python. You don't need to be an expert in python or django though, if you're familiar with web development or are at least willing to learn, please join the Metascore development list and introduce yourself. The programmers there will get you oriented.
Additionally, you are encouraged to participate through the following means:
• Post about open source governance - If you participate in a web forum or respond to blog posts, write a message about this website and/or about open source governance and web-based direct democracy.
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Excision and shaving back moles - less scar than a laser - nyc new york ny
Laser mole removal works by essentially burning off the mole. This will result in a visible white scar as its replacement...effective but not scarless. The least scarring method for a true mole removal would be excision. This will result in the least amount of scar but there will be a scar especially on the thick skin of one's back. If the lesion is not a mole but a more flat problem like
actinic keratosis, shaving with a scalpel can leave very minimal scarring. (much less than that of a laser)
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Saturday, June 18, 2011
Document Handling functionality in EP for a new table in AX 2009
To display/upload the documents for a record in a newTable through EP in AX 2009, we can use the existing Web menu items like EPDocuList, EPDocuListPopUp, EPDocuListFromInfo etc.,
But if these menu items are directly used on our new EP pages then it doesn't work properly. The solution would be to add a relation with the new table on DocuRef table as shown in the below screenshot:
Remember to set the Validate Property to No. Now, the standard EPDoculist etc., web URL's can be used on the Web Pages to view/download the list of documents attached for a record of the new table.
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Tuesday, April 29, 2014
A to Z: Yeah. Goodbye. Whatever.
You think I should stop all the clocks?
Cover the mirrors?
Fall into weeping hysteria
Grasp at bloody shards,
the tired shreds of what was?
Come kiss me goodbye then.
A proper shroud beckons.
I only mourn
The waste of my time.
42 words in response to the question, "Have all your clocks stopped?" As I am jumping back into these writing prompts after a short hiatus, I would very much appreciate any and all constructive criticism.
1. uh oh...why are the shards bloody? I think I like the tired shreds better. ;)
2. I only mourn the waste of my time. Brilliant. Love that. It sounds like the end of a tumultuous relationship.
(Huh, a word with 4 u's. I have alphabet on the brain. Is this challenge over yet? Wait--yet! Another y-word. Gah.)
3. I feel this way pretty much every time a reality show ends on Bravo. Yeah, they get me for a little while, but I don't miss them when they are gone, just the time is spent sucking them in like m&ms
4. GREAT last line. I love the strong voice - it sounds like someone knows what she's worth. :) Sorry you missed the grid this week, but I'm thrilled you're hitchhiking along!
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Some Notes On The Rounwytha Way
The Rounwytha Way – one of the three O9A praxises {1} – is the most neglected part of the Order of Nine Angles (O9A/ONA) weltanschauung, with such neglect contributing to the basal misunderstanding of the O9A itself that exists not only among self-professed modern occultists and satanists but also among academics interested in or researching what is often termed modern esotericism.
The Rounwytha Way – also known as ‘the rouning’ – is an aural pagan esoteric tradition, indigenous to a particular rural area of the British isles, of a few empaths (most of whom were and are women) for whom there are no teachings, no dogma, no rituals, no spells, no conjurations, no incantations, no abstract determinate seasons {2} and no unnatural division between ‘us’, as mortals, and Nature and ‘the heavens’ beyond; evident as such an unnatural division is in positing, and then naming, separate divinities and supernatural beings. There are therefore no gods, no god, and no goddess; no ‘demons’ or named ‘familiars’. Instead, there is a very individual and always wordless awareness, an intuitive apprehension, arising from a natural gift (a natural talent) or from that faculty of empathy that can be cultivated – according to tradition – by a person undertaking to live alone in the wilderness for around six months and then, some years later, undertaking to live alone for a lunar month in a darkened cave or some subterranean location {3}.
In essence, the Rounwytha Way is a manifestation – a presencing – of the muliebral, especially the ‘acausal knowing’ that arises from empathy with Nature and ‘the heavens’. As Myatt has explained in respect of the muliebral:
“What is muliebral cannot be embodied in some organization or movement, or in some -ism, or in any causal form – and certainly cannot be expressed via the medium of words, whether spoken or written – without changing it, distorting it, from what it is into some-thing else. For the muliebral by its very φύσις is personal, individual, in nature and only presenced in the immediacy-of-the-moment, and thus cannot be the object of a supra-personal aspiration and thus should not be ‘idealized’ or even be the subject of an endeavour to express it in some principles or principles (political or otherwise), or by some axiom or axioms, or by some dogma. For all such things – forms and words included – are manifestations, a presencing, of what is, in φύσις, masculous and temporal. Or, expressed more simply, the muliebral presences and manifests what is a-causal – what, in the past, has often inclined us to appreciate the numinous – while the masculous presences and manifests what is causal, temporal, and what in the past has often inclined us toward hubris and being egoistic.” {4}
The Rounwytha Way also re-presents that personal perceiveration that an individual pursuing a life-long mystical quest, such as The Seven Fold Way, may discover beyond The Abyss:
“The wisdom acquired, the finding of lapis philosophicus during the penultimate stage of the Way – means two particular things, and always has done. (i) living in propria persona, in a private manner and sans all posing, all rhetoric, all pomposity, all ideations; and (ii) having an appreciation, an awareness (sans words, ritual, thought) of what is now sometimes known as the acausal – of Nature, the Cosmos, of the connexions that bind life and thus of the illusion that is the individual will, and which illusion sillily causes a person to believe ‘they’ are or can be ‘in control’. These two things form the basis of a particular and reclusive way of life of a particular type of person: the type known, in one locality, as the rounerer of The Rouning.” {5}
This personal perceiveration is of the nameless, wordless, unity beyond our mortal, abstract, ideations of ‘sinister’ and ‘numinous’, of Left Hand Path and Right Hand Path, and also – and importantly – of ‘time’. For it is our ideation of ‘time’ – with its assumption of a possible temporal progression, via various temporary causal forms, toward something ‘better’ or more ‘advanced’ or more ‘perfect’ (in personal or supra-personal terms) – that underlies the magian/patriarchal/masculous approach that has dominated, and still dominates, Western occultism and esotericism in general, fundamental to which is a hubriatic egoism: “the illusion that is the individual will”.
Aspects of the abyssal perceiveration – of the apprehension discovered by someone reborn beyond The Abyss – are (i) the need to balance the masculous with the muliebral; (ii) ‘the aeonic perspective’; (iii) the importance of esoteric languages (manifest, by the O9A, in Esoteric Chant and The Star Game); and (iv) aeonic sorcery.
The aeonic perspective, for instance, provides an understanding of aeonic sorcery:
(i) Of the limitation – and the ‘mortality’ – of all causal forms and why, in respect of certain aeonic goals, it is (α) the cumulative decades and centuries long alchemical (inner) change of individuals individually (via pathei-mathos), and (β) mythoi, and (γ) ‘numinous symbols’, which are of primary importance. For it is such things which presence, over long durations of causal ‘time’, that acausal energy which is the genesis of a genuine evolution, of those changes that endure beyond each mortal and beyond all collocations of mortals (corralled, for example, via ‘empires’, States, nations, ideologies, or by some leader or by some cause or political party).
(ii) Of why and how each human being – each mortal – is but a nexion and thus can, via esoteric mimesis, restore or alter (in particular ways) what others may have, through causal forms or via their living, temporarily changed.
Rounwytha and O9A – Difference and Similarities
The ‘acausal knowing’ of the Rounwytha – of the particular type of sorceress that the Rounwytha is – wordlessly, and in a pagan way, encompasses the esoteric knowing that the O9A describe by the term aeonic perspective. But instead of the ‘aeonic sorcery’ of the O9A (and thus in place of a sinister/aeonic dialectic and a particular esoteric strategy and certain tactics) there is only a concern with what is familial and local or communal, so that for the Rounwytha
“there is no interest in, no concern with, matters beyond one’s family, one’s local area of dwelling, and beyond such problems of one’s neighbours that they personally bring to one’s attention because they may require some help or assistance.” {6}
Furthermore, there may have been in the past an act – as according to some aural accounts there may have been a rare recent incident – whereby it was considered necessary to restore the balance that some particular person, or some deed or deeds, or some natural occurrence, had in their local area upset, and thus why occasionally and in respect of some rotten person,
“why their removal – by exile or by cull – would end (cure) the sickness, restore the balance their rotten deeds and they themselves had caused to be upset, restoring thus the natural flow, and gifts, of Life: of health, fecundity, happiness, good fortune.” {6}
For the Rounwytha Way is a very individual one rooted in a particular rural area, and one which occasions certain natural and necessary responsibilities and duties to certain others in the same locality. A Way which continues, and manifests, what the pagan weltanschauung – at least in Europe – anciently embodied: an intuitive/empathic understanding of ourselves and of our local rural community as an affective and effective connexion to Life {7} and a connexion that needed no god, no named gods or goddess, no ‘prayers’, and no rites or rituals: only those wordlessly left personal offerings to the (always un-named) gods/divinities, and the natural ability of an empathic sorceress (or, more rarely, a sorcerer) to foresee/foreknow and to intuitively/empathically (and thus wordlessly) know how to restore (often via memesis) the natural balance that some mortal, or some natural occurrence, had temporarily upset. This is the understanding of personal, and communal, fortune and misfortune being a gift: a manifestation, to we mortals, of how Nature and ‘the heavens’ work and of who and what and why we mortals are, as beings temporarily presenced on this planet we call Earth.
However, in essence it is this ancient paganus understanding and knowing – with its empathic awareness of a possible ‘afterlife’ beyond our temporarily presencing as an often egoistic individual – which suffuses the O9A, and indeed which re-presents the O9A weltanschauung, beyond the polemics, beyond the propaganda, the incitement; beyond the causal form of ‘satanism’, beyond (and the genesis of) its japes and Labyrinthos Mythologicus and mythos and sinister dialectic. And an understanding and knowing re-presented, most obviously, in its hermetic Seven Fold Way and its apprehension of the sinisterly-numinous, for the O9A, via its praxises, requires
R. Parker
{1} Regarding O9A praxises, qv. R. Parker, Some Advice For Neophytes Regarding The Order of Nine Angles. e-text 2013. For details of the Rounwytha Way, qv. the pdf compilation (written by Anton Long) entitled The Rounwytha Tradition, which contains the following texts: (i) The Rounwytha In History and Modern Context; (ii) Denotatum – The Esoteric Problem With Names, and (iii) Alchemical Seasons and The Fluxions of Time.
{2} qv. the Esoteric Dating and Aural Traditions section of the essay Denotatum – The Esoteric Problem With Names.
{3} qv. the Camlad Rite of The Abyss which is the O9A’s somewhat updated version of the traditional rite. Aural tradition relates that, centuries ago, a certain place near what is now the town of Bridgnorth was occasionally used. Another such place once existed near Little Wenlock, while old mine workings near the Stiperstones were also sometimes used.
The traditional Rounwytha rite is given in the appendix below.
{4} Some Questions For DWM. e-text, 2014.
{5} Anton Long, The Enigmatic Truth. e-text, December 2011 CE. As I mentioned in my essay Myatt, The Septenary Anados, And The Quest For Lapis Philosophicus:
“The term in propria persona […] has a long literary and scholarly usage beyond its more recent legal connotations (legal connotations which someone searching the internet will find and assume describe the meaning of the term). The literary and scholarly usage includes the sense of someone speaking ‘in propria persona’, as opposed (for example) to ‘the passive voice’. Thus, someone living ‘in propria persona’ would suggest something to the intelligentsia, as the above quotation would.”
{6} The Rounwytha Way In History and Modern Context, n.d. but c. 2011
{7} As mentioned elsewhere, the O9A – et al – make a distinction between affective and effective change(s). Symbolically understood, affective change is an acausal – an a-temporal – change, and one whose genesis is or can be sorcery: i.e. a presencing of acausal energy via a nexion, be that nexion an individual, or some manufactured form (such as an archetype or mythos) or some esoteric technique (such as Esoteric Chant or The Star Game).
{8} R. Parker, The Sinisterly-Numinous O9A. e-text, 2013.
The Rounwytha Rite
The traditional Rite begins at the first full moon following the beginning of a propitious alchemical season – in the Isles of Britain this was traditionally the first rising of Arcturus in the Autumn. The Rite, if successful, concludes on the night of the following full moon.
The Rite ideally occurs in an isolated underground cavern where or near to where water flows, and in which location the candidate dwells alone for the whole lunar month, taking with them all that is required for the duration of the Rite. Ideally, the water should be suitable for drinking. If such an underground cavern cannot be found, then a suitable alternative is an isolated dark cave – with, if necessary, its entrance suitably screened to avoid an ingress of light.
The only light is from candles (housed in a lantern) and the only food is bread and cheese. The food and/or the water required for the duration can be either brought by the candidate at the beginning of the Rite, or provided and left (without any contact being made) on a weekly basis by a chosen member of their family kindred or by their mentor if they have one. [In modern times, certain stipulations have been added: No means of communication with the outside world should be brought; no timepiece, mechanical or otherwise, is allowed; and no modern means of reproducing music or any other means of personal entertainment are allowed.]
The candidate should arrange for a trusted person to enter the cavern at the next full moon to return them to the world of living mortals.
The traditional Rounwytha rite has no structure, and simply involves the candidate living alone in such a location for a lunar month.
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Coffee Chat: Transition
This week, we took a change at something new - on online discussion opportunity for parents. The topic? Transition! Thank you to all the parents who participated in the chat live, to those of you who sent questions in advance, and to PACTT's transition specialist, Lauren Mucha, for being our expert-of-the-day! The questions and responses from both chats are below.
Question: If you child does not get into an adult CILA by age 22, what options are available for day programming, when does the planning start?
Response: For someone graduating soon, you can look at only day program options in case a CILA placement isn't available right at graduation. As far as timing, you can be planning both at the same time. I'd recommend you discuss this with your PAS agent.
We have done a Plan A, Plan B type planning with students. Plan A would be what you ideally want to happen, for example living in a CILA and attending a day program. Plan B would be to come up with an alternative in case that doesn't work out, like living at home and attending a day program.
Question: Can you be put on a waiting list for a CILA? If so, when?
Response: Yes, some agencies have waiting lists. Someone can be funded for a CILA at age 18, but typically can stay in a children's home until the day before turning 22.
Follow-up: Does PACTT have a CILA waiting list?
Response: Yes. PACTT does have a waitlist for CILA placement. Our adult voc program has current openings, but would have a waitlist if it became full.
Parent Question: How long do you have access to a PAS agent?
Response: You will always have the PAS agent.
Follow-up Q1: At the same agency?
Response: The ISSA services, which include the yearly ISP and quarterly check in visits only happen while receiving services. Assessing needs and finding placements when someone is funded are done by the PAS agent, even when someone isn't receiving services. The PAS agency depends on where the person is living. So, for residents of PACTT childrens homes, for example, it's Suburban Access. If someone moves to a home in Chicago, the PAS agency would change to CAU (north side) or CSO (south side).
Follow-up Q2: How does the annual ISP get done if your child is living at home?
Response: The ISP would be at your home or at the day program, depending on what services the person is getting.
Follow-up Q3: How long does it take to get a new PAS agent? When should the planning start for that?
Response: As soon as you're thinking that might be an option, talk to your current PAS agent. They transfer cases between agencies fairly regularly, and should have an internal process for that
Question: Do I really have to register my 18-year-old son for selective service?
Response: Yes. It’s the law. Our students won't qualify for military service, for many reasons, but it can affect other govt benefits if you don't register.
Question: When I'm looking for an adult day program for my child, what questions should I ask?
Response: What does a typical day look like? What activities/classes/programs are available each day? Do participants go in the community? Do they have vocational training or work experiences? What are the hours? Are there flexible scheduling options? How many participants are in the program? How many participants are in each room/group? What is the ratio of staff to participants? What type of transportation is provided?
If you go to observe a program, see if you can picture your child there and if it seems like a good
match. Watch how staff interact with participants. Do the participants seem happy? If you think about it, they're similar questions to the ones you asked when you were looking for the right school ...
Question: Does my child NEED to attend his IEP?
Response: It’s a legal requirement for students to be invited to IEP meetings that involve transition planning, but they aren’t required to attend. It is their life that we are planning for though, so it’s important that we involve them in that process as much as possible. Attending the meeting is a great way to build self-determination skills for a lot of students. However, some students do have a hard time sitting through the entire meeting, seeing their parents during the school day, etc. We can work on other ways to include them without making them sit through a meeting. Some students create Powerpoint presentations that can be shared with the IEP team. Sometimes students may come to the meeting, and then listen to their headphones or draw while we talk ...
Question: How do students get connected to adult services?
Response: The first step is to contact their local Pre-Admission Screening or PAS agency to complete the PUNS questionnaire. PUNS stands for Prioritization of Urgency of Need for Services. The PUNS questionnaire determines what services, including adult services, your child might need now or in the future.
Question: What options are available for daytime programming?
Response: There are day programs funded by DHS for adults with developmental disabilities. Developmental Training or DT is a type of day program with activities and skills training and sometimes volunteering. Sometimes there is a community component or sometimes DT programs are mostly activities in a center. PACTT's adult program is a supported employment program or SEP. They find jobs for the participants in the community and provided supports like job coaching to help participants do the job.
For more information on transition planning, or to talk specifically about your PACTT student, please contact PACTT Transition Specialist Lauren Mucha at, or 773-338-9102 x2109.
Thanks again to everyone who was brave enough to join us on this inaugural chat! - Paula
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The Poetry of
Jack Scott
Since stones hurt,
as in let the sinless cast the first . . .
and sticks will also break my bones,
what will rocks do?
Boulders? Mountains?
What have you thrown at me?
How could little you have lofted them?
I’m afraid I see you everywhere
like the fear of AIDS,
though I would gladly die of you.
I still unwisely love you.
Because of that
I can’t love another,
I think, because of you.
507 ®Copyright 1998 Jack Scott. All rights reserved.
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DURATION: 3 years.
A LEVELS: Maths.
JOBS: Banker, Statistician, Teacher.
If you enjoy maths at school, and also like to solve problems you might like to study maths at university. Students studying this subject would learn in many different ways, including attending lectures and seminars, practical and problem solving classes, and working in groups.
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episode 12 cover
Episode 12: Murder Past Due
We’re back in cozy territory with Murder Past Due, a book about paternity scandals, inheritance fraud, and bringing your cat to a funeral. Despite a promising premise, Sunshine and Dana were underwhelmed by this college town cozy.
Continue Reading
Reading List
Murder Past Due
For episode 12, we checked out Miranda James’ Murder Past Due. Despite being full of sordid happenings (murder! scandal! questionable paternity tests!) it was kind of a snooze. Dull characters and a shaky plot twist hindered this book, but we did get a scene where a cat goes to a funeral! Listen to our Murder …
Continue Reading
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<< Kids coloring sheets
Kids coloring picture to print
Coloring pages - Printing Help >>
How to print perfect coloring pages.
Christmas coloring pages
Printable kids coloring sheets help kids develop eye-hand coordination, color concepts, picture and number comprehension. Enjoy these free, printable kids coloring sheets and pictures!
Our printable kids coloring sheets are not for commercial use. Parents, teachers, churches and nonprofit organizations may print multiple kids coloring sheets or pictures for use at home or in the classroom.
Coloring Pages
Kids Coloring Pages
Horse Coloring Pages
Bible Coloring Pages
Dot to Dot Worksheets
Mother´s Day Coloring Pages
Kids coloring picture to print
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Robin Barton
IP Ratings
The European sandard EN 60529 provides a system for classification of the effectiveness of enclosures of electrical equipment against the ingress of foreign bodies and moisture. Ratings are written as the letters "IP" ("Ingress Protection") followed by two or three digits. (A third digit is sometimes used. An "X" is used for one of the digits if there is only one class of protection; i.e. IPX4 which addresses moisture resistance only.)
Enter an IP code into this box to get its description.
1st DigitThe first digit of the IP code indicates the protection offered by the enclosure against the ingress of solid foreign bodies.2nd DigitThe second digit indicates the degree of protection offered by the enclosure against the ingress of moisture.
0No protection0No protection
1Protection from a large part of the body such as a hand (but no protection from deliberate access); from solid objects greater than 50mm in diameter.1Protected against vertically falling drops of water.
2Protection against fingers or other object not greater than 80mm in length and 12mm in diameter.2Protected against direct sprays up to 15° from the vertical.
3Protected against solid objects over 2.5mm.3Protected against direct sprays up to 60° from the vertical.
4Protected against solids objects over 1.0mm.4Protected against sprays from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
5Protected against dust - limited ingress (no harmful deposit).5Protected against low pressure jets of water from all directions - limited ingress permitted.
6Totally protected against dust.6Protection against heavy seas, or powerful jets of water - limited ingress permitted.
7Not Defined7Protected against the effects of temporary immersion between 15cm and 1m. Duration of test 30 minute.
8Not Defined8Protected against long periods of immersion under pressure. Submersion depth and time must be specified by the end user. The requirement must be more onerous than IP67.
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Smart Cars, Robots and Baby Monitors
Intelligent Hybrid Cars Save 30% More Fuel
I know what you’re dreaming of: someday you will have your own hybrid car. They’re so posh and… green! On the inside, of course!
And yet, very few people know that hybrid cars aren’t that efficient. Sure, they don’t use too much power when you’re driving to work, for example, but things can get much worse faster, whenever you have to drive longer distances, forcing the gas-powered engine to kick in.
As you can imagine, specialists know this, and they have recently started to design AI-powered cars that are able to combine the power of both engines, with the goal of obtaining a maximum fuel efficiency. A team of researchers from University of California have studied nature’s own energy-saving processes, and then they have designed several algorithms that improve fuel consumption, instructing the car what engines to use when it is stuck in traffic, when it is running at 100 mph, and so on.
The results are very encouraging: researchers have managed to reduce fuel consumption by about 30%, and the future looks even brighter! It’s true that we’re looking forward to a future where gas-powered engines will be thrown into huge garbage bins – at least I know I am! – but hybrid cars are a necessary intermediary step, at least for now.
Robots Give People Emotional Support
I’ve got a confession to make: I’m a proud robot owner. It’s true that I’ve only got a robot that knows how to make coffee, tea, and so on. It doesn’t look like a humanoid, but who cares about that? I’m not interested in talking with it, after all! Why would I want to do that?
Well, there are actually several reasons why people might be interested in talking to robots in the very near future. A team of researchers from Cornell, Northwestern and IDC Herzliya have created an interesting simulator, which is supposed to give people emotional support while they are preparing to date a new romantic partner.
The study, titled ” What robots can teach us about intimacy”, has discovered that humans may ascribe social intentions to robots, using them as a source of security. Who would have thought about that?
The participants shared their dating experiences with Travis, a robot with a height of a… foot! Researchers have instructed the robot to encourage some of the subjects and discourage others.
Then, after talking to the robot, the participants tried to introduce themselves to potential romantic partners. Believe it or not, those who were encouraged by Travis were much more confident! So who needs friends, when you can have a cold robot shoulder to comfort you in times of need?
If this sounds weird to you, just think at the number of people who talk to their pets!
Raybaby, the First Non-Contact Health and Sleep Monitor in the World
Raybaby is a Kickstarter project that has gathered about three times more money than requested, so it will hopefully see the light of the day soon – this September, according to its makers.
It’s a gadget that can monitor the way your baby breaths, and it makes use of a camera that can detect any movements and alerts the parents right away, by making use of their smartphones.
Raybaby has an accuracy of close to 99%, so (hopefully) parents won’t get too many false alarms. It can detect even tiny infant movements within a range of 15 feet.
The gadget is quite small, and it can be placed in the nursery on a shelf. It can also be mounted on a wall, and even tied to the baby’s bed. An FDA study shows that the performance of Raybaby is similar with the one provided by the much more expensive monitoring systems that are used in hospitals.
Read More
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How to use Social Media in Education & the Workplace
-Introduction to Social Media
-How to use Twitter for Social Learning
-How to use Facebook for Social Learning
-How to use Google Buzz for Social Learning
-What is social learning? An explanation using Twitter
-Choosing the right social and collaboration platform
- Social Learning = new toolset + new skillset + new mindset
-Building a social learning environmen
-Top 100 Tools for Learning 2009
-Tools of the trade : creating the new era of workplace learning
-12 x 3D Tools for Education, Training and Collaboration
Enrique Rubio
Enrique Rubio
Reflexiones sobre aprendizaje, tecnología y sostenibilidad
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Source Gaming
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Filed under: Masahiro Sakurai, Super Bros. Smash For 3DS, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Does Lucas DESERVE to get into Smash?
First, the term “deserve” is used as a synonym of ‘I want’. If the GameChap or Bertie has actually took the time to define what they mean by ‘deserve’ than their argument could have been less ambiguous. I simply cannot understand how they came up with the conclusion that Steve from Minecraft ‘deserves’ to be in an Nintendo-centric crossover game, while the protagonist from a highly rated Nintendo game does not. I’m assuming worldwide popularity, or at least their perception of who holds worldwide popularity is what they mean by ‘deserves’.
The case has been made 4 Snake already, but I’m not sure about other indie characters like Freddy from Five Nights at Freddy, or Shovel Knight ,especially since Japanese gamers have no idea who most of those characters are. I’d like to encourage the GameChaps, and people who have similar thoughts to stop being so Western-centric with their line of thinking. We already discussed why this would be a bad idea on Source Gaming. Veterans have a significant advantage because they already have fans and worldwide recognition, even if their games were limited release.
From their discussion, I’m assuming that because Mother 3 was never officially localized, that the character is unfit to join the battle. While that has prevented a good number of characters from joining the battle, Lucas and Ness are somewhat unique. The Earthbound Community is sizeable, and the series was partly localized (1.5 titles). Since Earthbound/Mother is a series, it automatically has a leg-up from other Japan-only characters like Takamaru who comes from a single entry. Furthermore, Lucas was always meant to join the battle. In Melee, Lucas almost replaced Ness as the sole Earthbound/Mother representative. However, given the hectic development of Mother 3, which is a game that Sakurai was extremely familiar with (As he worked at Hal Laboratories during its’ development), Sakurai decided to stick with Ness. Because of his long history with the Smash Brothers series, I have no personal issues with Lucas’ involvement. Smash has always done better to represent series, and not single entries.
Another point, is that they claim people only want him because of his play-style, and not from enjoying the game. Smash dual functions as an action fighting game and a crossover event for Nintendo characters. People enjoying Lucas’ playstyle and not the actual character should not be used as an argument for ‘deservedness’ I love Luigi as a character, but I do not like his playstyle. Does that make me a hypocrite as I didn’t chose him as my main? No, because in the end, Smash Brothers is a game. If you don’t enjoy it, then you are playing it wrong.
“Dev team better spent adding fan favorite characters into the game and highly requested characters other than Lucas” (5:04)
DLC is going to be for the fans. The fans want Lucas back, and it’s not just Japan. Lucas was voted as one of the top most wanted characters for DLC before he was announced in my Mega Smash Poll, which was answered mostly by Westerns. Saying that he has no popularity in the West because his game was not released is incredibly ignorant.
Lucas can’t be imported directly from Brawl. We know from data-dumps that an incredible amount of work goes into the characters to ensure they are fit for battle. In addition to making them work on two versions (which is something that GameChap has forgotten), they need to be adjusted to fit with the new engine, and ensure that they do not throw off the game balance. Even after that, ensuring that they work with 8 Player Smash, and adding additional alts, is additional work. While it is less work than creating a new character from scratch, we need to remember that the development team size has been reduced, and with every character added, the amount of work multiples.
That being said, I do believe Lucas AND Wolf were put on low-priority in Smash for Nintendo 3DS/ Wii U as Sakurai believe that those series had no future. I believe many people incorrectly attribute this to the Ice Climbers demise, which is something that I’m adamantly against as the Ice Climbers were chosen as the Famicon representative and not for their actual series. Lucas coming back is because Sakurai understands that people are attached to the character, and hates to disappoint fans. DLC is meant to amend their wounds, and to make, ‘players happy’.
1. If you ask me, I think that the GameChap guys were probably aiming to be sensationalist with this video. Their target audience is likely younger children, so I can understand why they didn’t bother to define what they meant by ‘deserves’, and why they didn’t provide any detail on the huge labour new characters impose on Sakurai and his team (and if you ask, the fairly shaky delivery and a couple of errors such as calling him ‘Luke’, combined with the incredibly outlandish character suggestions makes me feel like these guys might not have done their research) Regardless I feel that whether or not a character ‘deserves’ to appear in the game cannot be based entirely on whether or not their game has been released in the west; I’m certain you don’t need me to tell you this, but let us not forget what Marth and Roy’s inclusion in Melee did for Fire Emblem in the west. (Of course, we could easily factor in Takamaru’s exclusion from 4, but on the other hand Lucas is from a now fairly well-known series with a strong cult following, something that could largely be attributed to Smash Bros.). Still, thanks for a good write up to clear up the facts!
Oliver Jameson on June 7 |
• Great points! I do feel that they were being a bit sensationalist just from the title alone, and I didn’t think about their target audience.
With Fire Emblem, they were the only series to be included on the “If there were a Smash 2 poll” conducted by Sakurai on the Smash 64 website (Finished two months before Melee’s project plan was finished), so Fire Emblem was going to get in. Even though it didn’t have a Western release. I think the main difference is longevity. Takamaru has only appeared in one game, while Fire Emblem had six games before the series was localized. Also, I believe that Earthbound had a strong cult following from the SNES days. Smash Brothers has further increased its’ cult status in the West though.
I’m hopeful for Takamaru in Smash 5, as his game was finally localized/ released on the Virtual Console and with him being an assist trophy, his worldwide recognition has dramatically increased.
PushDustIn on June 7 |
• The idea of ‘series without a future’ certainly seems to be a solid reason dictating the appearance of certain characters. It makes me wonder about how the selection process takes into account characters such as Lucario and Ike returning despite the unlikelihood of them appearing in games as main characters yet still returning in more than one Smash game, but that’s a whole other topic in itself. After his appearance in Nintendo Land that I imagine confused many people, it’s a shame Takamaru didn’t get his chance this time around, I’d love to see Smash Bros. used to promote some potential reboots and the like, I think it certainly played a role in Kid Icarus Uprising, especially in a design sense.
Oliver Jameson on June 7 |
• Lucario is still pretty popular in the Pokemon franchise. He had a whole side event in Pokemon X/Y. But yeah, I was kind of surprised to see Ike return. I guess since Fire Emblem became popular in the West, and because people ‘like Ike’, Sakurai decided to include him in the newest Smash.
Side information: In Brawl, Ike was originally designated as, “Someone from Fire Emblem” much like Greninja was originally “A Pokemon from X/Y” in Smash for 3DS/Wii U.
It’s funny that you mention Pit. I’m in the middle of translating some of Sakurai’s presentation from GDC 2008, and he goes into depth about Pit’s design. I’m collaborating with X Kan from Kantopia in order to put the text back on the images. Should be ready sometime this week!
I heard that Tamaki from Unseen 64 has information about an unreleased Kid Icarus game, so it’s possible that Pit’s series was not as dead as we originally thought.
A new Mystery of Murasame Castle game would be great.
PushDustIn on June 7 |
2. Great article as always, PushDustIn. Deserves is a very subjective term, but I will go out on a limb and say that any first party Nintendo character “deserves” a spot in a game that is essentially a celebration of Nintendo history over a character that has never appeared on Nintendo hardware and is wholly owned by rival console maker Microsoft.
Spazzy_D on June 8 |
3. they seriously tried to claim that “people only want him because of his play-style” as a point against lucas? seriously? oh, no! heaven forbid people actually **like** the way a character plays completely independently of their game of origin!
i mean, the entire video was absolute bullshit, but come on. you can tell they were scraping the bottom of the barrel
:O on June 11 |
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No more my heart shall sob or grieve.
My days and nights dissolve in God’s own Light.
Above the toil of life my soul
Is a Bird of Fire winging the Infinite.
I have known the One and His secret Play,
And passed beyond the sea of Ignorance Dream.
In tune with Him, I sport and sing;
I own the golden Eye of the Supreme.
Drunk deep of Immortality,
I am the root and boughs of a teeming vast.
My Form I have known and realised.
The Supreme and I are one; all we outlast.
Excerpt from ‘My Flute‘ by Sri Chinmoy
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Advent: Collected Shorts
Roderick sat down in front of Thaddeus' desk in the management trailer. He pulled out his cigarette case and chose one of the sweet smelling cigarettes. He closed the case, put the cigarette between his lips, and struck a match. Thaddeus looked up from the books, and Roderick just smiled and lit his cigarette. He took a deep drag, and then exhaled the smoke through his nose. "Jack says there isn't enough scratch in the kitty to hire on the extra help before we hit the shore?"
"That's right," Thaddeus murmured. "Sales have been down, and the midway's been quiet. Unless you lot manage to draw in a decent number of marks in Burlington and Charleston, we won't have anything to get down into Atlanta with, and that means no work during the winter."
"We have to work this winter." Roderick drew on his cigarette, considering. "Burlington's going to be hard, but Charleston should be decent. I know the boss wants us to make it to Atlanta by Thanksgiving, and if we don't..."
Thaddeus' jaw twitched. "There will be hell to pay," he muttered, his blue eyes intent on the books.
Roderick smirked. "You could say that."
"Load 'em in, Roderick. Make sure Amelia has the girls on the high wire, and tell Joseph we'll set up the trapeze tent in Burlington."
"Trapeze?" Roderick chuckled and stood, straightening his coat and snuffing out his cigarette in the ashtray on Thaddeus' desk. "That should be quite a draw."
"That's the plan. Make sure you gussy yourself up." Thaddeus lifted his head. "I want the cooch show in Burlington, and I want you to ensure your availability to the men who don't prefer pussy."
Roderick paused at the door, glanced back at Thaddeus. "Of course." He flicked his fiery hair out of his face and offered Thaddeus a seductive smile. "I'm always open for business, after all," he murmured, and then left Thaddeus and the management trailer behind, his boots soundless in the dust as he crossed to the cook tent and the other waiting carnies.
They had a jump to ready themselves for.
The midway had always been a magical place for Lee. There was something decadent about it, the lights and sounds, the scent of three dozen different concessions melding into something greasy that he could almost taste on the back of his throat. If he were to come back to this location in the light of day, all he would see was a dingy, empty place with the appeal of an outhouse in disrepair. But now, with the carnival in full swing, the crowds pushing him about like pop bumpers of a pinball machine, he could appreciate the darkness. Nothing brought darkness to life like a carnival in autumn.
Lights swirled and blinked around him, and the bustle of people in the concessions area gave way to the Alley of Games. He smiled as he watched some guy betting dollar after dollar that he could tip a bottle upright without it falling back over. Cheap tricks, all those games, but they always drew crowds as people got hooked into trying their luck. Lee wasn't the kind for those games; he always saved his money, waiting for that one attraction, that one game that would be worth it. Maybe an act or two that he could pay to see in the tents. The thought sent him away from the games and down the lot to the siren calls of the barkers he could hear over the din of the crowd.
He walked slowly, taking in the spectacle with his hands deep in his trouser pockets, keeping tight hold of his money clip, just in case.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the thrill of your life lies just behind this curtain!"
Lee eyed the poster for the attraction as the man went on about weak hearts or stomachs and children having nightmares. Too terrifying, too horrific for all but the bravest souls, he said, but Lee just chuckled at the painted demons on the poster. There were even a few people in the back giving pretty convincing screams, but he just wasn't interested. He moved on, stand after stand, listening for a few seconds and considering before declining. He was nearly at the end of the midway, considering turning around and taking his chances with the horrors of the demon tent, when another voice caught his attention. He turned his head and stopped in his tracks so suddenly that a couple slammed into him from behind, and he stumbled, mumbling hasty apologies before stepping out of the center of the alley toward the stand.
The man in front of the tent was... well, he was stunning. There was no other word for it. His orange-red, wavy hair looked like flames in the low light, stopping just below his jawline, and his eyes—the color of honey—smoldered out at the crowd as he called out to the men specifically and twirled a scantily clad dancer with a gloved hand, pointing the tip of an elegant cane out over the gathered men, whose hoots and hollers only seemed to invigorate the dancer as she riled them up. Lee was standing at the foot of the raised platform before he even realized he had taken another step.
"Gentlemen! Le Carnaval du Diable is proud to offer you the chance to see the lovely Laurel, Eve, and Apple dance the sinful dances of the East! One dollar gets you in for thirty minutes of the most sinuous, tantalizing moves, taught by the scintillating Sultana Razia of India!" The man grinned out at the audience, and Lee stepped closer. The barker's voice was almost hypnotic as he lowered the volume of his pitch, speaking to only those two dozen men who had gathered around him. "The Sultana Razia taught my girls to dance in such a way as to make a man's loins burn without even a touch. Just one dollar, gentlemen, and you, too, can experience the delights of the East!"
Lee watched as the men handed over their dollar bills, the barker encouraging them at every turn, and then a scantily clad woman opened the tent flaps and smiled brilliantly. He barely paid attention to her, his eyes quickly drawn back to the barker. After the throng had been ushered into the tent, Lee took a breath and approached the man, his palms sweaty. Even before he could open his mouth, the barker was talking to him, though the man never looked up from counting the money.
"We only have room for twenty-five men per show. Come back in forty-five minutes, and I'll guarantee you a spot."
"No, thank you," Lee said, his cheeks flushing. "That's... not really my thing."
The man looked up at that, and his eyes were even more beautiful and unusual up close. "It's not? Laurel might take offense to you not wanting to see her tits."
Lee could have sworn his face lit up like a beacon. "I mean no offense... I just..." Lee shook his head for a moment, trying to clear it enough not to come across as a bumbling fool. "Do you dance as well?"
The man's eyebrow arched, and Lee couldn't look away as something sparked in the deep, golden gaze. "A performance of mine would cost more than a dollar."
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Personal Experience and Fiction
Personal Experience and Fiction
I was critiquing a story and suggested to the writer that the ending didn’t work.
‘But that really happened,’ she said. I replied that real events don’t always – or even often – make good fiction. When talking to friends about what’s been going on in our lives we tend to frame things in a particular way, embellish this, exaggerate that, so as to add interest to what we’re saying.
This is even more important when creating fiction. We might start from personal experience but we craft a piece as we write it, we wrap it in meaning, we add structure and significance.
Writers of fiction also produce works that have no basis in their own lives. But for these to work there has to be a connection between the writer and the work: the story expresses an emotion the writer feels or once felt.
Some of the short stories in takahe 86 (the April 2016 issue) are clearly based on personal experience. Some less so or not at all. Either way I hope you enjoy them.
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Blog: @Sufisage on the concept of god
“I am to My servant as he thinks Me to be, so he may think what he wants.”
In this saying, we come to learn about the conceptualisation of God. If we believe that God hasn’t the power to listen, how will He ever hear our prayers? Similarly, if we don’t believe that God has the power to respond, how will He ever truly guide us? It is of paramount importance that we acquire a full picture of God, so that He may be that way and manifest Himself in our lives in a manner which we believe Him to do so. But what is the best way to create this image of God?
The Holy Qur’an puts forward 99 core attributes of God, the pondering over of which we can fully understand God and how He works. When two things bear a similarity, then they can create a relationship. When we type on our physical keypads, we do so because our fingertips and the keyboard bear the similarity of physicality, and hence that relationship is called touch. But when we want to create a living relationship with God, who is non-physical, we need to align that part of ourselves that is also non-physical, i.e. our soul, to God’s attributes. That relationship, therefore, is called Islam. It is something which we can all acquire.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (as) emphatically stated,
“How unfortunate is the man who doesn’t see that he has a God who has the power to do all that He wills!”
May our concept of God be one of Islam, and one that enables us to taste the fruits of a living communion with God. Ameen.
Contributed By:
Sufi Sage
The Hounslow Journalist
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Should you be transcribing?
This week I'm trying something new - actually blogging.
Last week I sent out a survey to some of my students, asking them what they wanted to know from me, and I got a question about transcribing.
"Should I be transcribing my heroes? How do you go about doing that?"
I'm paraphrasing.
Below is the response I wrote, which I decided to turn into a blog post.
A great way to start off is as you have, by learning somebody else's transcriptions of your heroes, and by working your way through a course like mine, to make sure what you think you're playing is what it really sounds like, etc.
When you're done with the course, or as you begin to feel comfortable with the concepts, you're going to want to start seeking out people's vocabulary on your own. All the great players have done it. Mark G learned a ton of Roy Haynes when he was in high school. Eric Harland is said to have learned everything Jack DeJohnette played.
And the answer to that is less "clear cut" - it's basically, "you'll figure it out if you want it enough." But I'll give you a couple of shortcuts. Transcribe at the drums. Pick a very short section and play it on the drums, then play the recording back until it matches. If the sticking feels awkward, you're probably doing it wrong. Drummers don't improvise things that feel awkward - it's usually a deep variation on some kernel they're worked out.
(By the time you're done with my course, you'll have encountered just about every weird sticking I've ever seen drummers play.)
When you've got your one bar worked out pretty well, add the next. And so forth.
That's just stage one. Next is figuring out the DNA of the lick or chop. Because great players will take a simple concept and vary it and orchestrate it and twist and turn it 101 ways. So you should figure out what the original lick was, they you can put your own variations on it, and it becomes yours.
That's the intentional part. The other side is you kind of just absorb people's vocabulary organically if you listen enough to them, especially if you transcribe a little bit, learn it, let it sit, and just continue listening to a ton of that player.
Final advice is, when you're improvising, don't force it. Yes, you'll take somebody else's lick and practice improvising with it and varying it. But when you're practicing pure improv, which you should be doing (especially in the later modules of the course, where I've actually got it programmed), let alone when you're performing or rehearsing with a band, focus on playing sincerely, only what you hear, even if you have to play simply.
Don't worry - that fancy vocab you transcribed will work its way in there. Let it happen - don't make it happen.
Do you guys transcribe? If so how do you do it? Leave a comment below!
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The Buzz Forum Buzz
Emily Ratajkowski Dials Up the Drama for Vogue Mexico’s October Issue
Emily Ratajkowski might not be our forum members’ dream cover girl but she must be doing something right. Recently, Emily has landed covers for Marie Claire, ELLE Australia and Paper, and now it’s Vogue Mexico’s turn, making us forget those lifeless Hailey Baldwin covers from last month. Photographed by Carin Backoff and styled by Miguel Enamorado, Emily turns up the drama and goes all sultry and glam for the October 2018 issue.
Vogue Mexico & Latin America October 2018 : Emily Ratajkowski by Carin Backoff
Don’t expect any of our forum members to be making a mad dash for the newsstand. “Wonky lips on the one cover, and wonky hair on the other! She’s perfect for these tacky sex kitten-type of shoots, but it doesn’t really suit Vogue Mexico’s newfound classy direction,” said Benn98 straight away.
“Thanks for the laugh team VM! Oh and Kendall called, she wants her dead eyes back!” laughed Miss Dalloway.
“It all looks so mediocre to me. And I wish models didn’t rely so much on pouting or having their mouth open – they should retire the mouth and try to focus more on their eyes instead for a change to convey something (this is Vogue, not Insta),” remarked Morgane07. “She always seems to have the same makeup and hair. Do we ever see her looking different?”
Also not too impressed was forum member GivenchyAddict. “Vogue Paris by Terry Richardson. That’s all,” he slammed.
CrisGalaxy noticed some slight resemblances toward French Vogue too, commenting, “Reminds me of the February 2009 cover with Lara Stone!”
“Don’t like the cover shots, but I actually really like the shoot. It just doesn’t feel like it belongs on Vogue. It just feels like it belongs on something between Vogue and Maxim,” voiced SLFC.
Check out Emily’s accompanying cover shoot and join the conversation here.
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Fearless: Branching out without Going out on a Limb
There’s a squirrel that makes regular visits to our property. Betty, our terrier-mix, always senses Mr. Squirrel’s presence; excitedly jumping at the glass slider to be let out into the backyard, so that she can join him.
I often comply with Betty’s urgent requests because both she and the squirrel interact in ways that may seem (at first glance) dare-devilish but are (in actuality) non-threatening to all involved.
I derive a lot of enjoyment from watching the in-the-moment and comical give-and-take as both participants dart and dash, advance and retreat. The scene is fearless, vibrant, and “alive:” Their antics feel like a life-affirming dance.
I mention the playful nature of this exchange because it would be easy to view it differently. For many, the idea of being fearless– engaging without fear – is synonymous with being reckless.
Under this fearlessness = recklessnessassumption, why tempt fate by giving Betty/squirrel access to a potentially disastrous scenario? What if Betty caught the squirrel? What if the squirrel bit her? What if…
There’s a biological explanation for this worried stance. The theory of Negativity Bias alludes to our predisposition of perceiving the world as a dangerous place. Fear, the theory posits, was an evolutionary tool, which helped keep us nearly invisible, so we could survive the predators of our primordial surroundings, mate, and pass along our genes to perpetuate the species.
In today’s world, however, predators rarely exist. This creates dilemmas as our unconscious biological predispositions still urge us to brace against potential negative outcomes in the internalized belief that all life events can turn into potentially lethal experiences.
Left unchallenged, we react to these messages by leading limited, cautionary, less-interactive and less-integrated lives, which can ultimately lead to anxiety and depression.
Restless in our mundane existences, we then become susceptible to drastic measures in order to jumpstart ways to “feel alive.”
Many in the throes of this dilemma adopt extreme sports to feel this spark because pushing our physical limits gives us thrilling hits of adrenaline. Others may introduce drugs into their systems to feel the flood of chemically-induced escape.
But these practices put us in far greater danger than the act of fully participating in the unfolding nature of our lives. Isn’t it ironic that the riskiest thing we can do is cut ourselves off from experiencing life?
Back to the action: I find it thrilling how Mr. squirrel always knows to stay just out of Betty’s reach – to her frustration and delight. We can learn a lot from this squirrel: Just as he trusts his abilities to assess the solidity of branches before scampering onto them, we possess the common-sense to separate fearlessness from recklessness.
Branching out through participation is not the same as going out on a dangerous limb. Let’s take a cue our furry friends and take advantage of the opportunities around us
– Play more, Fear less.
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Home > Soubrette
What does Soubrette mean?
Soubrette Pronunciation of Soubrette as a girls' name. The term "soubrette" was originally used to name a type of character in French comedy in 18th and 19th century plays. It describes a comic female character who is young and girlish, constantly coquettish and gossipy, and usually a chambermaid.
ASSOCIATED WITH 18th century, 19th century, plays (opera), young
Soubrette Emalyn (S.E.), ..
How popular is Soubrette?
Soubrette is an uncommonly occurring given name for women and an equivalently unusual surname too for all people. (2000 U.S. CENSUS)
Soubrette has not been listed in the Top 2000 so far. (2016 BIRTH STATISTICS)
Top 2000 baby names ranking of Soubrette name in U.S.
Top 100 baby names ranking of Soubrette outside U.S.
Similar Names
Soubrette is pronounced similarly to Sabrette. Other suggested similar-sounding names are Alouette, Amorette, Aquanette, Arette, Aubrette, Babette, Bobbette, Bobette, Bobinette (see Roberta), Brette, Brunette, Clarette, Clayrette, Colette, Collette, Coronette, Cosette, Dorette, Fleurette, Huette, Hugette, Hughette, Huguette, Johnette, Jolette, Jorjette, Josette, Jozette, Julette, Juliette, Julyette, Junette, Kolette, Korette, Laurette, Lisbette, Lonette, Lorette, Lorrette, Loucette, Louisette, Lourdette, Lurette, Luzette, Lyzbette (see Elizabeth), Marette, Musette, Orette, Paulette, Paullette, Robette, Robinette, Robynette (see Robin), Rochette, Ronette, Ronnette, Sallette, Sandretta, Sandrette, Sarette, Sarotte (see Sarah), Scarlette, Shakette (see Sha-), Sharlette, Shawnette, Simonette, Starlette, Susette, Suzetta, Suzette, Toinette, Tonette, Yolette and Yuette. These names tend to be more frequently used than Soubrette.
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Movie Review
Lethal Weapon 2
The Magic is Back
Lethal Weapon 2 Movie Poster
US Release Date: 07-07-1989
Directed by: Richard Donner
• Mel Gibson
• Martin Riggs
• Danny Glover
• Sergeant Roger Murtaugh
• Joe Pesci
• Leo Getz
• Joss Ackland
• Arjen Rudd
• Darlene Love
• Trish Murtaugh
• Traci Wolfe
• Rianne Murtaugh
Average Stars:
Reviewed on: March 3rd, 2010
Joe Pesci as Leo Getz, Okay.
Joe Pesci as Leo Getz, Okay.
Lethal Weapon 2 takes up shortly after the first film. Riggs and Murtaugh are now best friends. Riggs spends plenty of time with Murtaugh's family. In one early scene, Riggs talks to Trish while he is cooking, and we finally find out what happened to Rigg's wife.
Lethal Weapon 2 hits the ground running with a car chase/shoot out. The first film was an action drama, with Gibson doing a great piece of acting when he wants to kill himself. This time around, action takes center stage. One of the best stunts ends with a bad guy getting killed with a propelled surf board. One of the most memorable is the bomb under the toilet scene.
Whereas the drama is played down, the jokes are played up. One funny scene has Rianne embarrassing her father with a television commercial she appears in. The best humor of the film though, comes from Joe Pesci as Getz, the annoying witness Murtaugh and Riggs are assigned to guard until some money launderers are arrested, and he can testify in court. His signature word is "okay." He seems to say it as often as he can. "Okay, okay, okay, okay, this is the best part okay?" His most memorable dialogue is his drive-thru speech, "They FUCK YOU at the drive-thru, okay?"
After an attempt on Getz's life, Riggs and Murtaugh decide to investigate the money laundering, with Getz in tow. They soon discover it involves a South African diplomat, who claims immunity from the United States judicial system. It becomes personal when fellow officers get killed and Murtaugh's family is threatened.
Whereas Lethal Weapon kept referring to Vietnam veterans, this one makes Apartheid the social issue of the day. Protestors are shown out side a South African diplomatic building several times. Glover has a scene played for laughs, where he claims he wants to immigrate to South Africa.
Lethal Weapon had the WTF fight scene. This time the WTF scene comes after Rigg's has a date with a gorgeous South African. Just after having sex in Rigg's trailer, they get shot at by a dozen men with machine guns. They arrive by helicopter, and tear his place to hell. They barely escape with their lives. The next time we see Riggs and the girl, he is dropping her off, like two kids on Prom Night. Both seem nonplused by the attack. There is a merely a passing joke made about the helicopter attack. Neither thinks they should have gone to a police station? Makes me wonder if the helicopter scene was added afterwards.
Lethal Weapon 2 is pretty much nonstop action. I, as well as my 16 year old, really enjoyed this movie, but the writing could have been tighter. One of the bad guys turns out to have killed Rigg's wife. The scene where the Diplomat gets his, is a little over the top. Still, they are minor speed bumps on an otherwise awesome ride.
Reviewed on: March 18th, 2010
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2.
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2.
Eric, this installment has lots of WTF moments.
First off, WTF? Diplomatic immunity doesn't mean you can get away with murder, you'd still have to face the consequences and at a minimum you'd be expelled from the country, but more likely you'd still end up facing a trial in the USA. And along those lines, just because a diplomat buys a house in the USA, it doesn't automatically become foreign soil.
And WTF? Who is it that Riggs and Murtaugh are protecting Leo Getz from? Isn't it the South Africans? Why then do they think it's a good idea to send him into the South African embassy to distract them why Riggs sneaks in the back? And why don't the South Africans recognize him when he does?
WTF? This South African killer just happened to be the same guy who killed Riggs' wife? Really? One of the best things about the first Lethal Weapon is the fact that you honestly believe Riggs is slightly crazy and genuinely grieving for his dead wife. Having this stupid coincidence and the silly gold pen conversation just cheapens the emotional impact.
All of the cops who are killed that aren't named Murtaugh and Riggs are killed point blank. They're blown up or shot from a distance or right away. Murtaugh and Riggs though are killed by the most elaborate means. A bomb on the toilet? WTF? And did the villains in this movie go to the Dr. Evil school of assassination? “We'll just chain him up and put him under the water where we can't see him. What could go wrong? Sure we have guns and could just shoot him, but why would we do that?”
I could forgive some of these plot holes, but over the course of the movie they keep adding up until I just couldn't take them anymore. Apparently Shane Black (the writer of the first Lethal Weapon) turned in a script for this one that the Studio thought was too dark so they had it rewritten to lighten in up. I have a feeling that I would have enjoyed the original script much more. This one is far too silly.
The one good thing this movie has going for it is that once again Gibson and Glover show they have a great chemistry together. While the villain and the actual plot are weak, the small moments between Riggs and Murtaugh are great. The final scene of the two of them on the ship carries emotional weight because of how close the two characters seem. They play off of each other perfectly.
I remember enjoying this movie when it first came out and maybe my expectations were higher because of that. It is entertaining, but only in an incredibly lightweight, popcorn movie way. I far preferred the original film's darker tone. Unfortunately, the series would never again find that tone.
Reviewed on: October 13th, 2011
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2.
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in Lethal Weapon 2.
Lethal Weapon 2 does have more humor than the original but the difference is only slight. I mean it’s not as if that first installment was trying to be Macbeth, and this movie does contain a few glimpses of emotion as well. I agree with Scott about all the WTF moments. I can overlook them though, since this is intended to be a “lightweight, popcorn movie”, meant to entertain and nothing more.
The action is more plentiful (and better) this time around. Less time is spent with Murtaugh’s family, although they manage to include a few good-natured ribs at Trish’s cooking. There is also a running gag about Roger’s daughter’s condom commercial which, for some reason, everyone finds hilarious. Like Eric, I enjoyed the addition of Joe Pesci, “Whatever you need, Leo Getz.” He makes a good comic sidekick to the two stars.
One thing I think they did better this time around was the villains. Pieter Vorstedt and Arjen Rudd are both men you love to hate. The former is a sadistic killer whom we learn not only murdered - but also tortured - Riggs’ wife, and the latter is so incredibly smug and racist that you want to cheer when Murtaugh finally puts that bullet in his brain.
The only scene I vividly remembered was the bomb under the toilet. In my memory it was tense and funny. Seeing it again it just seemed silly. The toilet doesn’t get blown to bits it just sails through the air to land on the hood of a car.
As mentioned above the best thing about this franchise is the rapport between Murtaugh and Riggs. Danny Glover and Mel Gibson are the quintessential buddy/cop team and they play to each other’s strengths well. The plots might be weak, the violence over-the-top and the actions of the villains ridiculous, but there is no denying the charisma and charm of these two.
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This 8-Year-Old Bought Lunch For 295 Kids In His School Who Couldn't Afford Hot Lunches
When I was 8-years-old, the only thing I was concerned with was growing my collection of Sega Genesis games, and dreaming of the day that science, god, or other some divine providence would give me Wolverine's powers.
I certainly wasn't as concerned with the well-being of my fellow classmates, like Cayden Taipalus is.
[Source: Youtube]
Cayden saw that his friend get a cheese sandwich instead of a hot lunch due to an account shortage. And it bothered him.
In fact, according to Amber Melke-Peters, Cayden's Mom, it bothered him all the way home. He asked her how he could help his friend so he'd always have a hot lunch.
So him and his mom set up a fundraising web page called, "Pay it Forward: No Kid Goes Hungry". Cayden then hit up his friends, family members, and neighbors for donations to the fund.
But it's not like Cayden was content to just ask other people for money, he also did his part by recycling bottles and cans to raise some money himself.
And after he used some of the $7,000 he raised for student's hot lunches all over his school to pay off their lunch debts, Cayden then asked the lunch ladies to add money into the accounts who needed money so they wouldn't have to worry about not having a hot meal ever again.
“I am so very proud of my son. He is only 8 years old and to grasp the concept around this is just amazing in my eyes. He has a heart of gold.” His mom said.
The staff members at Challenger Elementary School in Michigan were equally floored by Cayden's empathy. The kid wanted his friends to eat with him so he did something about it. I hope I raise my own kid to be as awesome as Cayden here.
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Cosmic Frontier 2D – Stations
Initially the idea for Cosmic Frontier was to make main stations by hand, and smaller ones with procedural generation using modular station pieces and rooms. In this image, all the corridors and rooms are their own assets, consisting of a floor, walls and a toggleable roof for when you’re outside the station.
Posted in 2D
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Books Graphic Design
Publisher: SendPoints
Size: 200 × 270 mm
Pages: 280
Binding: Hardcover
Language: English
ISBN: 978-988-12944-4-9
Price in USD:
Book description/Synopsis
It is true that book always enjoys more attention than its faithful supporter-bookshelf. This book, however, is a tribute to this essential piece of furniture in our life, presenting creative bookshelf designs from around the globe which would provide fresh ideas for readers. An illustrated foldout was carefully made to introduce a brief historical development bookshelf.
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Word Focus
focusing on words and literature
Definitions and Synonyms of traditional knowledge | Another word for traditional knowledge | What is traditional knowledge?
Definition 1: knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote - [noun denoting cognition]
Samples where traditional knowledge or its synonyms are used according to this definition
• early peoples passed on plant and animal lore through legend
Synonyms for traditional knowledge in the sense of this definition
(traditional knowledge is a kind of ...) the sum or range of what has been perceived, discovered, or learned
(... is a kind of traditional knowledge ) a bit of lore passed on by word of mouth
(... is a kind of traditional knowledge ) the unwritten lore (stories and proverbs and riddles and songs) of a culture
More words
Another word for traditional
Another word for tradition
Another word for trading stamp
Another word for trading post
Another word for trading operations
Another word for traditionalism
Another word for traditionalist
Another word for traditionalistic
Another word for traditionality
Another word for traditionally
Other word for traditionally
traditionally meaning and synonyms
How to pronounce traditionally
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Getting the user interface of a mobile application right down to the pixel level is a daunting task which often requires a lot of testing. To help Android developers get a better feel of what their designs will look like on an actual device, Adobe introduced a tool aptly named the Android Design Preview Tool. It takes some pain out of UI work by mirroring your desktop to your Android device, which helps mitigate guesstimating the appearance of the user interface elements and avoid wasting time compiling a build and syncing it to the device in order to test out each tweak. The new tool joins Adobe’s suite of Android utilities comprised of the Android Asset Studio and UI Prototyping Stencils.
About the Author
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Fearless Open Mic
Fearless Open Mic
Led by: Victoria + Akim Funk Buddha
From June 16, 2018 at 7:00 pm until June 16, 2018 at 9:00 pm at Gowanus
Express your gifts and your passions in a supportive fun and playful environment. Song, dance, poetry, moving art, ANYTHING your heart expresses. Be Fearless.
Saturday, June 16th
7 PM
FREE or suggested $10 donation - BYOB!
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12 October 2018
Africa: Switching It Up - Trying the Act of Pegging
Pegging is not high on heterosexual couples' list of things to do in bed, but maybe it should be. The act of trying something new and subverting gender roles in the sack can lead to increased pleasure and healthy conversations for both parties.
The act of being penetrated is enough to give most straight (and some gay) men the shakes. Whether it is out of fear, not wanting to have your sexuality questioned or simply because you don't want to try new things, many men are probably not down with this. There is a taboo around the idea of a man having something done to them, with the whole heterosexual experience being built on the idea that men give the sex and women receive it.
Now, what happens when the man, literally, receives it - as in the case of pegging? is There is the opportunity to try something new and broaden your horizons as a couple and redefine the traditional sexual roles ascribed to men and women. The current narrative around sex is men give sex and women take it: giving her the D, penetrating, screwing. With pegging, the roles are, in a sense, reversed and women become the ones who handle things; the ones who penetrate.
Pegging has been around for a long, long time but it first caught attention in mainstream media with the series of sex education videos called Bend Over, Boyfriend, which first broke down what having your female partner slide into you entails. Since then it has popped up from time to time.
There is a stigma attached to pegging, fuelled by a whole host of myths about what it entails. To start with the first misconception, one is not suddenly gay because they have experienced (and enjoyed) pegging.
Unlike kink, pegging has not come on in full force, probably because of the host of taboos and ideas swirling around it. In a world that is rife with homophobia and toxic masculinity, we know that asking men to try pegging is a big ask. What if it means I am gay? we hear you ask.
Firstly, nothing wrong with being gay! Secondly, it does not. A person's sexuality is not their sexual practices; it is a complex system of attraction, beliefs, as well as emotional and intellectual aspects of an identity. Being straight/gay/bisexual/queer/asexual etc. goes far beyond simply what you do with your naked bits.
A woman wearing a strap-on dildo about to engage in anal sex with a man. Photo; wiki
When a heterosexual man experiences pleasure from being penetrated by his female partner, he can still stamp his straight man card at the next AGM. That being said, one should consider engaging in this for a number of reasons. Firstly, the prostate (sometimes dubbed the male G spot) is in the anus. That alone should have you at least considering it. The prostate has many nerve endings which, for some, when stimulated, can make you see sounds and taste colours.
Another reason to try pegging is that it breaks down the general taboo of sex and sees a couple going outside the 'norm', which makes you and your partner(s) more open to trying new things and having conversations around that. This goes beyond the possibility of pegging and opens the door to a whole host of other sexual experiences now that the lines of communication are truly open. Often, what frustrates and dissuades people from trying new things, especially in long-term relationships, is the fear of shaking things ups, of being too 'out there', even when there are a few things that make us all go bump in the night but we all feel we should rather keep in the dark. Having open and free conversations about sexual wants and needs can only ever lead to good things and an enhanced sense of closeness.
How to do it
As I have stipulated time and time again, discussing your sex is an important part of doing the sex. Using sex toys can be tricky. It is not simply about unleashing a dildo the size of your arm as your face breaks out into a sly smirk. Like any sexual experience, the act of introducing sex toys to your relationship should be discussed first. Do not suddenly inflict something new on a partner, leaving them shocked and confused. Often, couples who use sex toys are better at communicating in bed. Contrary to popular belief, simply springing sexual stuff on someone is more likely to lead to awkward moments, rather than delighted orgasms. The same goes for pegging, particularly because this act goes against the heterosexual script for sex. Have the conversation beforehand and talk through any fears, concerns or insecurities you and your partner may have.
Another key thing is to make sure you have all the bits and bobs you will need, for example, lubricant and a dildo and harness that is a size that is comfortable for all involved. This is where finding someone who knows something about sex toys could come in helpful - they may be able to give you some advice on what is best for you.
Lastly, do some research in advance as well. There are quite a few articles about pegging and how to do it right, so read up about it.
Expanding your sexual horizons outside of the traditional 'gender roles' that come with sex can open you up to a whole host of experiences that could lead to pushing the boundaries of pleasure. Going outside of your comfort zone in a trusted and safe environment can be an exciting and fun experience for both partners. So, even though pegging can make you break out into a cold sweat at the thought, it can also be a steamy act of passion that may well keep you coming back for more.
U.S., China Plus Russia in Africa - Will It Mean a 'Best Deal' for Africans?
The US has a new strategy for Africa to counter China and Russia. Rather than roll their eyes at the new scramble for… Read more »
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Work Header
This Child Is
Work Text:
Derek let his fingers trail up Stiles’ naked back. His mate was still asleep, the Stilinski house silent this early in the morning. He thoroughly enjoyed this time, when it was quiet and still, when he could focus all his senses on his mate and relish the life he had, the pack they had finally become. Scattered throughout Beacon Hills, his other pack members were safe in their homes, watched over by parents – biological and adopted. Melissa had Scott and Isaac, George and Iolana Mahealani had Danny, their other children, and Boyd. Erica, Lydia, Jackson, and Allison were in their respective homes. And he was here with Stiles and John.
Here was never someplace Derek would ever thought he would be. Here with his mate, with his de facto father-in-law, who had not only welcomed him in, but also a werewolf to boot. Stranger things had happened, but never anything that ended so well. At least for Derek.
Of course, the world was not perfect.
Zombies lurked outside the walls of Beacon Hills, civilization as they had known it was gone, as well as life as they had all known it had changed.
But to him, someone who knew the value of family and pack above material things and an easy life, this world was paradise.
“You’re thinkin’ heavy thoughts again,” Stiles murmured, stretching and slinking in a way that made Derek’s mouth dry with want.
Derek closed his eyes to better feel the way Stiles’ smooth skin rasped against his own, the way that Stiles licked and nuzzled that spot behind his ear. He cupped his hand over Stiles’ hip, pulling his mate closer.
The sounds Stiles made, the way he moved his body against Derek’s, the way he held Derek like he never wanted to let go, the smile he gave him every morning as if always glad to have him there. He couldn’t imagine his life without any of it.
And the way Stiles offered his lips, that mouth. Derek never refused him, drawn to his mate, grateful to have every chance with him.
“You two better not be doing what I think you’re doing in there!”
Derek had to clamp down on the bark of laughter rumbling up.
Stiles’ face was pure outrage as he popped up off the bed. “Dad!”
“I don’t want to hear it! I already smelled it last night because you didn’t air out the house enough!”
Derek rolled onto his back and laughed his ass off.
His life.
While Stiles was far, far, far from hysterical, his mate did cling to him for a long moment. Derek didn’t mind because he was busy holding onto Stiles just as much, inhaling his scent, leaving his own.
“You be careful,” Stiles murmured into his ear. “All of you.”
Derek nodded, taking the opportunity to pull back and run the tip of his nose along Stiles’ cheek. “We will. You take care.”
Stiles nodded, then pointed at the four backpacks he had made Jackson and Boyd haul to the gate. “Enough fresh food for the entire day, enough water for two. And a few protein bars. Just in case.” He gave Derek a look that said they’d better be back before they would need the protein bars. Then he rolled his eyes. “Well, enough food for werewolves for an entire day; enough food to feed an army regiment otherwise.”
“We’re not that bad,” Scott snarked as he bent to pick up one of the packs, his other arm wrapped around his fiancée.
“I’ve seen you eat, son,” the sheriff said, mouth tilting in a grin. “You are.”
Allison giggled into Scott’s shoulder while Isaac and Erica were smart enough to hide their smiles and keep their mouths shut while they picked up their packs.
Derek grabbed the last one, turning back to his mate.
Stiles captured his mouth in one last sweet kiss before finally letting him go. “Go. The faster you leave the faster you come back.”
“Aye, aye, captain!” Isaac threw Stiles a cheeky grin and a mock salute before he boosted himself onto the fenced in tunnel and opened a hatch.
Scott and Erica followed him up then through the hatch. Derek raked Jackson and Boyd one last look, silently commanding them to watch over the rest of the pack while he was gone. They both nodded, Boyd with more respect than Jackson, as usual. Jackson might be almost twenty now, the same age as the others, but some things he was never going to grow out of and his douchebag act was going to be one of them. At least that was Stiles’ theory.
“Good luck, son.”
Derek took John’s hand, not even bothering to leave John with advice. He merely shared a loaded look with his father-in-law. John’s look said, “be careful, come back, don’t you dare die on him, and of course I’ll watch over the pack.” Derek’s look simply replied, “yes, sir, thank you, sir.”
He joined the other three, waiting patiently as the guards opened the gate. They streaked out before any of the zombies could catch them.
They ran through the forest, along the interstate highway, keeping their eyes and ears open for zombies, scavengers, or hunters. Scott and Erica were ground running while Isaac was jumping from tree to tree, taking up the rear guard.
“How much farther to the power plant?” Erica asked.
“I think another two miles?” Scott guessed.
Derek was half a mile ahead but he could clearly hear them. The city council had been worried about a power shortage for six months now. Even with the severe rationing that had been going on since before the zombie apocalypse had become nationally known, the industrial-sized generators the city had invested in were starting to break down.
“Derek.” Mayor Peter Burke had seemed tired. “We need you and your pack to scout the closest power plants to Beacon Hills. We need you to find out if any of them still work.”
Derek frowned down at the map the mayor had laid out on the table. There were several red dots, marking the power plants’ locations. “No one in my pack knows anything about power plants.”
The mayor had nodded and passed him two sheets worth of printed instructions. “The engineers wrote out a checklist for you.” His lips quirked. “I read them to make sure even I could figure it out.”
Derek had smiled a little at the mayor’s self-deprecation.
“We also need you to survey the land, take pictures if you can.”
A fully charged camera, large and professional was placed by his elbow. Derek nudged it away, wondering which of his pack would know how to use it.
“We need to know if we can build a walled corridor from Beacon Hills to the functioning plant. If we can, the engineers are pretty sure they can use it to keep the power going.” The mayor pointed to the largest red dots. “These are the hydro power plants and will keep us going indefinitely, so concentrate on them.”
Derek slowed to a stop when sound, the rattle of a human voice praying, reached his ears. He knew when the others heard it too as they slowed their approach, using more stealth than speed. He followed the sound, knowing his pack was behind him, to an old pick-up truck. Inside, a man, a priest by his black and white collar, lay dying. Not from a zombie attack, but from bullets and knives.
The priest stared at him, unafraid, lips still moving in the Lord’s Prayer.
Scott, ever the optimist, stared back at him. “Is there anything we can do to help him?”
Derek did not offer false hope, shaking his head. The wounds were so severe not even the bite would help. “Only ease his passing faster.”
Erica shook her head and walked away. Isaac followed her.
Scott bit his lip and joined them.
Derek squatted by the man’s side. “It will take you hours to die. Do you want me to stop it?”
The man’s dark eyes slid close but he shook his head. “I would not ask that of you, my son.”
Derek nodded, preparing to stand.
“There are others,” the priest said, stopping Derek cold. “Children. With Sister Mary Edward. In the junkyard, down the road.”
He leaned back down to the priest. There had been no lie in those words and so he nodded. “We’ll get them some place safe.”
The priest slowly nodded. “Then I will die in peace, thank you.” He seemed to forget Derek’s presence as he began to pray again.
With nothing else to say, Derek stood and ran in the direction of the junkyard. His pack followed, without question. He could hear the fast, light heartbeats before he even reached the gates.
Scott jumped and balanced on top of the fence, Isaac only a beat behind.
“God,” Scott murmured. “They’re so many of them.”
“Ten, fifteen?” Isaac guessed from beside him.
“How are we going to get them back to Beacon Hills?” Erica asked over her shoulder. She had stationed herself at his back, watching to make sure whomever had attack the priest hadn’t discovered the junkyard.
“If there are no trucks big enough, one of us can go home and get something.” Derek launched himself over the gate, three nearly inaudible thumps followed him. “Erica, stay and watch the gate.”
“You got it, boss.”
Sister Mary Edward believed in miracles, but never thought one would happen to her.
They had been praying all morning for Father Robert to return, hopefully with much needed food and water. Silas had stood guard all morning, putting himself between her and the children and anything that might come through the gates. When they had found the junkyard and Silas, she had thought their prayers had been answered: a safe haven for the children. But, one by one, the brave men and women who had helped them survive this long had gone out for provisions and had not come back. Until the only adults left were Father Robert, Silas, and she. None of them young, and only Silas had any experience with surviving something like this. The old Vietnam War vet was a gruff, hard man but he had a generous heart, sharing what little he had with them until it was all gone.
“Sister, get back there with the kids.”
She stared as he stood and hefted his rifle, aiming it. She knew better than to ask and scurried back to where the children huddled together. The more sensitive ones picked up her tension and curled closer.
“Stop right there!”
Sister Mary Edward couldn’t see what was happening, but Silas’ words were loud and menacing. She could do nothing but pray.
“We found a priest along the round, not far from here. He said you guys need help?” The voice was young but not as young as her charges.
“Where is he?” Silas demanded.
She could hear the hesitation in his voice. “There was nothing we could do for him.”
The grief shook her for a moment before she forcibly refocused on the present. Robert had been a dear friend and her support through this ordeal, but he wouldn’t want her mourning over him when she had a responsibility to the children.
“And how do I know you ain’t the one that killed him?”
The answer surprised her.
“He didn’t have anything to kill over.” This voice was older, harder and made Silas cock his gun.
“How many more are you? Come out! All of you, come out!”
“It’s just us,” the young voice insisted. “Erica’s watching the gate, but that’s it.”
“I don’t believe – fuck!”
She stood and saw three young men surrounding Silas. One of them had his rifle. She made the sign of the cross and prayed. She faltered when the oldest one, the one who wore black and scowled fiercely, stared straight into her eyes.
“Come out,” he commanded. Then cocked his head, rolled his eyes and added, “Please.”
It was only because he added that please did she come out.
“Bring the children too.”
She hesitated then, how did he know? Unless Father Robert told them? She turned back to the children and beckoned. “Come, children, come with me.”
She could only hope she was doing the right thing. Holding onto as many hands as she could, Sister Mary Edward carefully left their hiding spot. She stared at the young men. They looked nothing like anyone she had seen since the zombies had destroyed the world. They were clean, healthy-looking, no weapons in sight. They didn’t have the fear and vigilance so many had in their eyes. They did not have hopelessness etched into their faces.
One of them stepped forward, twenty years old perhaps, dark hair and an uneven jaw. He offered her a smile and held out his hand. “Hi, sister, I’m Scott McCall.”
“Sister Mary Edward Robards,” she introduced herself as she shook his hand.
“That’s Derek,” he said, pointing to the dark scowling one. “And that’s Isaac.” The curly haired young man who had taken Silas’ gun offered her a small smile even as he offered the rifle back, unloaded, of course. “Erica’s at the front gate so you’ll meet her in a bit.”
It was a bit impossible to believe, but Scott acted as if they were being introduced at a church social as he waved to the kids and looked at Silas expectantly, clearing waiting for Silas to introduce himself.
“And that is Silas Warner,” she finally said when it looked like Silas was going to stay silent.
“Hi, Mr. Warner,” Scott greeted, still calm and so utterly normal as he clapped his hands together. “So, we’re going to need to get you guys out of here.” He turned to address Silas. “Anything working that’s big enough for all of you?”
“And where would we go?” Silas sneered.
“Beacon Hills.” Scott was completely unperturbed by Silas’ harsh question, instead turning in a circle, scanning the junkyard. “It’s about ten miles from here. It’s safe there.”
“Ain’t nowhere safe, boy,” Silas refuted, crossing his arms in defiance.
“It is there,” Scott replied easily. He opened his mouth to say more, but Derek interrupted him.
She turned her attention onto the man, who seemed to be older than the other two, but had let Scott do all the talking. Derek was removing a backpack, zipping it open. He said nothing as he moved towards her and the children. She and Silas instantly moved between him and the children. He merely raised an eyebrow and moved around Silas. Sister Mary Edward could only stare at the top of his head when he genuflected beside her, his hands going into the backpack. She gasped when she saw the abundance of food packed inside.
One by one, Derek handed out food to the children. Sandwiches cut in half, apples and protein bars, followed by bottles of water.
“Scott, Isaac, Erica, I need your packs.”
She was rendered speechless when the other two young men scrambled to get their packs off too and more food appeared. A blonde young woman joined them, handing out food to the children.
“Here, sister.” A bright red apple appeared before her, being shyly offered by Isaac.
“Thank you,” she stuttered out, but she didn’t bite into the fruit. Instead, she stared as the children devoured the first food they had in days, stared at how generous these people were, to give them the food. The food itself was amazing, fresh and healthy, what the children needed. The children’s eyes were shiny and grateful as they crowded close to the young men and woman. The newcomers were carefully watching the children, making sure they didn’t eat the food too fast. Everyone had something, including Silas who was chewing hard on a protein bar. She stared down at the bottle of water being offered. She turned that stare onto Derek. She didn’t know she was crying until he squirmed uncomfortably and offered her a napkin to wipe her eyes.
Between him and Silas, they got a small bus running.
Derek watched as Scott and Isaac helped the kids onto the bus; Erica was back at the gates keeping guard. He heard a hitching of a heartbeat and a sharp inhalation and the smell of fear filled his nose. He turned to the source. “Sister?”
“We’re missing two of the children.” She wasn’t looking at him, her eyes searching. “Caleb and Ryan. They’re both five.”
“Stay here,” he ordered, focusing his hearing for two fast heartbeats. He heard them and then something else. Something else that was snarling, that smelled like death, that had him running as fast as he could.
Screams echoed as he grabbed the infected dog, wrenching it from the boys, breaking its neck with little effort. He dropped the dead animal, barely glancing at it as one of the boys attacked him, beating small fists against his thigh.
“. . . my dog! I hate you!”
He stared incomprehensibly at the blond boy for one long moment. Other than tears and snot, the boy was fine. The other boy lay still on the ground, on his back, arms and legs outflung. He ignored the first boy as he continued pounding on him, kneeling down and turned the dark haired boy over. A quick exam showed a tiny goose egg on the boy’s head, explaining why the boy was unconscious. Derek had no idea if he should try to wake the boy or not, so he left him be. It was the long scratch that ran diagonally down his back that worried him. Derek could smell the infection in the wound.
“Dear God. Ryan, stop that!”
The nun had followed him and was pulling the blond kid off of him.
“He killed my dog!” the kid screamed.
“The dog was infected,” Derek spat out. “And so is your friend.”
The nun’s eyes went wide and wet as she stared at the boy’s wounds. The blond kid merely crossed his arms and pouted.
“How?” the nun breathed.
“He was protecting that one.” Derek jerked his chin towards the sulky one as he lifted the little boy in his arms.
Sister Mary Edward jerked towards him. “You’re not going to--”
She cut herself off, but he knew what she was going to ask. Derek shook his head. “We might be able to do something for him in Beacon Hills.
She inhaled sharply. “You’ve found a cure?”
Derek hesitated. “Not exactly. We’ll explain later,” he said quickly, hoping to forestall her questions. He did not want to be the one to explain werewolves and how the bite could overwhelm the virus to her. Stiles and his father would be the better candidates. And he had no idea how the town council and Argent would feel about turning a five year old child.
The bus was less than five miles away the junkyard when the boy woke up.
Derek had sequestered himself and the boy in the very back of the bus, keeping himself between the kid and everyone else. No one knew exactly how fast the virus worked, had no idea how long they would have before the boy turned into a zombie, so he couldn’t take any chances. He glanced back down when the boy’s heartbeat picked up from unconscious to conscious. Gentle squirm as the boy woke and turned in his arms, cuddled in a little before he opened his eyes and looked up at Derek. The boy immediately jerked back in surprise, standing up on the seat and staring at him.
Derek stared back. Caleb, the nun had said was his name. Dark black hair and brown eyes that reminded him of his mate. Not because the boy had Stiles’ whiskey golden brown color, they were almost as dark as his hair. No. Caleb’s eyes held the same strength that was in his mate’s, held the same sense of curiosity as they stared right back him. But it was Caleb’s smile, a sweet curve that held delight and mischief, that reminded him of a little brother long gone. He held out his arms, surprised when Caleb stepped into the circle of his arms without hesitation.
He sat in wonder as Caleb draped himself trustingly onto his shoulder, thin little arms wrapped around his neck, his small face pressed into his neck. Derek should have pulled him from that vulnerable area, but instead, scent-marked the boy, cuddling him closer.
Derek took one moment to worry about what Stiles would say, but he knew his mate, knew his mate’s soft heart and nurturing soul.
Stiles stared at the bus, willing everyone to have come back safe, didn’t breathe again until he saw Derek coming off. But he continued staring because a little boy was in Derek’s arms, his mate was curled around the little boy in a careful, protective hold. There was something in Derek’s eyes when they meet his across the distance that separated them. Stiles swallowed hard as an amorphous feeling of change pressed in on him.
Derek aimed straight for him, ignoring even Stiles’ father, forcing his dad to follow Derek towards him.
“Derek?” He stepped close and slid his hand up Derek’s strong back, the other he gently placed on the little boy’s arm. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”
“Caleb, my mate Stiles.”
“Hi,” Stiles greeted him quietly, but as opened and friendly as he knew how. He studied Caleb, saw a tiny little boy, undernourished with the look of a child who had grown up not knowing what life could have been like without the zombies. Thin cheeks when they should have been chubby with baby fat, hair a dull black instead of the shininess that came with youth, skin yellowed from the lack of essential vitamins. There was no carefree innocence in his eyes, no vibrancy in color, but there was strength.
The little boy offered him a shy smile, little hands still curled in Derek’s shirt. “Hi.”
“He’s been scratched.” Derek had his head turned towards Stiles and Caleb, but his words were meant for the sheriff.
Stiles’ dad nodded and turned.
Stiles knew his dad was going to get everyone necessary to make decisions. He didn’t worry himself about that, instead, he reassuringly smiled at Caleb. “Hungry, Caleb?”
The kid’s stomach growled right on cue and made him smile.
Caleb’s shy smile widened, ducking his head as he nodded.
Stiles knew Derek wouldn’t let him hold Caleb, so he just tugged his mate along. “Well, then, let’s go get you something to eat.”
It was depressing as hell to see Caleb eating inside the jail cell, but he knew it had to be done. Caleb didn’t seem to care about his location as he focused entirely on his food. His mate had sat down with Caleb in his lap as Stiles brought in the tray filled with chicken noodle soup, apple slices, milk, and a sugar cookie. Caleb had stared at the tray with broken want.
“Is it?” He licked his lips, eyes still focused on the food. “Is it all for me?”
Stiles had never hated the Umbrella Corporation more than at that very moment. He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Every bit of it.”
The smile Caleb gave him stole his breath. The little boy carefully, slowly started eating. It looked like he wanted to gobble everything down but was forcing himself to eat slowly, to savor every bite. As if to store the memory of food for the inevitable time when there was nothing but the taste of starvation. Caleb closed his eyes as if to better taste the food, he was so vigilant in making sure that he spilled nothing, that every last crumb and drop was eaten instead of carelessly wasted. His eyes kept darting to the cookie in wonder and want but he didn’t touch it, concentrating on finishing his soup and fruit first. He sat curled around the tray, as if deathly afraid that someone might take it away from him.
“Do you like it?” Stiles asked, trying to distract himself from how hungry Caleb had to be.
“Yes, thank you.” He was so polite, even though it was obvious he’d rather be eating.
Stiles smiled sadly at him and kept quiet to let Caleb eat. He looked up at his mate who was watching them both.
There was a want in Derek’s eyes.
His mate was twenty-eight now and other than his dad, the pack had not expanded in the last three years. Thanks to the wolves’ senses no one was getting infected and less and less people had found their way to Beacon Hills for sanctuary. When the zombie infection had first started spreading, people came to Beacon Hills in droves. Before the zombie apocalypse, talk of the town that had built walls around itself had raised eyebrows and made people curious. But when the zombies hit California, people had remembered the walls and the protection they offered and came to Beacon Hills. A lot of people had been infected in those refugee groups; sometimes whole groups had to be put down. But now less and less people were coming in. Stiles sometimes wondered if they were the only people left in the world.
Tearing his thoughts away from that tangent, Stiles continued to watch Derek as he watched Caleb, pretty sure he knew where this was going. Surprised himself when he realized he was more than okay with this. He had never thought it would happen to him, not after the zombie apocalypse, not after becoming Derek’s mate. But this felt right. He pushed himself up next to Derek. His mate turned to him, a questioning tilt to his eyebrows. Stiles smiled sweetly at him and pressed a chaste but loving kiss to his lips. “Yes,” he whispered.
Derek had no idea what he had done in his fucked up life to deserve a mate like Stiles, but he thanked the gods every day for him. Stiles had known, without asking, what Derek had wanted; had known what the pack need, just like an amazing alpha’s mate would have. Stiles had stared into his eyes and gave him things he had always desperately wanted, needed: love, family, pack. He pressed his nose into Stiles’ cheek, nuzzling his mate, taking in his scent. Soon Stiles’ scent would not just smell of him and Derek, but also of their cub.
For one brief and insane moment, Mary Edward thought Beacon Hills was Heaven.
People were friendly and helpful as they gathered up the children. The children were fed and cleaned and taken care of in way that she and the adults that had been with them hadn’t been able to in so very long. She could only stand by and watched as the children were given all that they could eat, wrapped in warm blankets, and were even given toys that the children had clutched to their chests in surprised comfort. There were doctors and nurses seeing to the children’s health. She herself had been whisked away by a Carmelite nun who pressed a slightly too large, but clean, habit onto her, murmuring prayers of praise to God for her and the children’s survival.
It was a whirlwind of change and old comforts that were new again.
It finally stopped when a statuesque African American woman stepped towards her.
“Sister Mary Edward?”
“Yes?” She had to tilt her head back to look into her eyes.
“My name is Jessica Pearson. I am the presiding judge for Beacon Hills.”
“Oh.” Mary Edward had no idea what to do with that. “Hello.”
“We’ve had several volunteers to look after the children, so is this a good time to talk?”
Mary Edward nodded, taking the arm Judge Pearson held out to her. It had been some time since the last time anyone had offered their arm to help an old woman. She was led into the sheriff’s station which was filled with several people. Mr. Hale was there, Caleb on his lap, reading together. Caleb was cleaned and feed if the empty tray beside him was any indication, a stuffed German Shepherd dog toy clutched in his arms as he stared at the picture book. He and Mr. Hale were inside a locked jail cell.
Before she could ask, Judge Pearson escorted her to the others in the station.
“Sister Mary Edward, may I introduce Harvey Spector, district attorney for Beacon Hills.”
She shook the hand of a man that, despite wearing dirt-crusted jeans and a work shirt, looked polished and put together.
“Sister,” he murmured, offering her a bare smile before stepping away.
“Sheriff John Stilinski. Mayor Peter Burke. Dr. Greg House. Mr. Chris Argent. And Dr. Alan Deaton.”
One by one, she shook each of the men’s hands, impressed by how competent they all seemed and the power and confidence they all seemed to radiate.
“Sister,” Judge Pearson said, taking her attention from the men. “Please have a seat.”
Mary Edward sat down and readied herself for whatever they were planning to tell her.
“Sister, you know that Caleb is infected, correct?” Judge Pearson said as she sat down next to her, looking her straight in the eye.
She nodded and turned towards Dr. House and Dr. Deaton. “Mr. Hale mentioned that you might be able to do something for Caleb?”
To her surprise, Dr. House shook his head. “Sorry, sister, but science hasn’t figured out how to stop the infection yet.”
“Then how?” She stared at them in confusion.
The sheriff crouched down in front of her. “Sister Mary Edward, this might be hard to accept, but supernatural beings exist in the world.”
“Supernatural?” She stared at him.
“In this case, sister,” the sheriff continued. “Werewolves.”
“Werewolves?” she echoed, still not understanding.
He nodded and slowly his features started to change.
She gasped, pulling away, staring at him as his eyes glowed gold, fangs flashed, and his brow-ridge became more prominent. He raised his hand to show her his nails transforming into claws. She gapped at him, completely unable to even process what he was showing her.
Mary Edward refused to faint, after everything, she absolutely refused to faint. She made herself look at him, made herself study him and understand what she was telling him. Finally, she forced herself to ask, “What does you being a werewolf have to do with Caleb?”
To his credit, the sheriff smiled, then morphed back to his human face. “I was infected by the virus three years ago.”
Now Mary Edward stared for a whole other reason. “Infected?” she whispered dumbly.
He nodded, lifting one normal human hand to trace smooth sections of his own cheek. “Here. An infected animal scratched me.”
She nodded at him to go on.
“I was going to turn,” he explained slowly, pointing towards the cell. “In there. Chris had agreed to put me down.”
She glanced at Mr. Argent who stood there, cold and silent and fully armed.
“There was nothing that could be done. I was going to die.” Sheriff Stilinski said the words matter-of-factly, as if time had erased the fear that had to have infused his very being at the possibility of death via that abomination of a virus.
“My son came up with a possible solution: the virus might be overwhelmed by the werewolf bite.”
She said nothing, not exactly sure how the sheriff’s son played into all of this.
“It made sense,” Dr. House spoke for the first time since his sincere apology. “Werewolves are immune the virus. If whatever turns you into a werewolf could beat the hell out of the zombie virus, then you might have a chance at not turning into a slobbering, flesh-eating nightmare.”
Mary Edward now stared at the doctor as understanding flooded her. Derek Hale, Scott McCall, the other two young people. They had come to the junkyard, traveling by foot, no fear in their eyes of zombies or anything else. The way Derek Hale had killed that infected dog, fearlessly jumping between it and the children. As werewolves, they couldn’t become infected. All four of them, and the sheriff too, they were all werewolves. She turned back to the sheriff. “You want to bite Caleb. To turn him into a werewolf.”
The sheriff nodded. “I wouldn’t be the one to bite him, but yes, sister, we want to turn him.”
“To save his life.”
She turned at the new voice to see a young man with brown hair, golden brown eyes. He bore a resemblance to the sheriff.
“My son, sister, Stiles Stilinski.”
The young man held out his hand but she was hesitant to take it.
The smile he offered her was stilted and she knew why but she couldn’t help herself. The smile turned stiffer as he offered, “I’m still human.”
She felt shame and confusion, snatching at his hand even as he started to withdraw it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Stilinski.”
He merely nodded at her before turning on his heel and heading towards the cell with Mr. Hale and Caleb.
She watched him as he fearlessly opened the cell and walked in. He sat down beside Mr. Hale, sliding so that he was between the older man and the wall behind them, curling around Mr. Hale’s shoulder and arm. Her eyes widened in surprise when they kissed, but it was the way that Mr. Stilinski greeted Caleb, smiling and welcoming, face filled with something like love that made her look away.
“Sister?” Judge Pearson called her attention back to the people around her.
“What?” She gathered her thoughts. She knew why they were asking her; she was his legal guardian. A part of her was grateful they respected the law enough to consult her first, another part of her wished they had just done it without asking her, without putting her through this. “What will happen to Caleb if I say yes?”
“Derek and Stiles wish to adopt him,” Mr. Spector spoke for the first time. “If you say yes, you’ll be giving up all legal rights to Caleb. All legal rights,” he emphasized.
She couldn’t decide if he was trying to advise her against it or not, but she nodded her understanding. A sharp gasp from the cell made them all turn.
Mr. Hale had transformed his face just like the sheriff had; Caleb was staring up at him in awe.
She didn’t realize she had moved until she felt her hands wrap around the bars.
“Wow,” Caleb breathed, small hands slowly reaching for Mr. Hale’s face.
Her heart pounded but Caleb seemed completely unafraid of the creature holding him.
“You’re a werewolf!” Caleb announced with glee. “Wow!”
Mr. Stilinski laughed, nudging Mr. Hale’s shoulder. “Sourwolf, more like.”
Mr. Hale’s growl made her jump but only made Mr. Stilinski roll his eyes.
“You wanna make me like you?” Caleb’s eyes were wide with wonder, hands still exploring Mr. Hale’s changed face.
“We want to save you from the infection,” Mr. Stilinski explained. “And we want to adopt you.”
Caleb’s head whipped around, Mr. Hale’s creature features completely forgotten as he stared in hope and wonder at Mr. Stilinski. “You wanna be my parents?” His voice was small, yearning, desperately wanting.
Both young men nodded.
Mr. Hale smoothed a hand through Caleb’s hair, face changing back to human. “You’ll be our cub.”
“Would you like that, Caleb?” Mr. Stilinski cupped Caleb’s cheek, his hand swallowing up the entire side of the boy’s face.
Caleb nuzzled into his hand and nodded fiercely. “Yes, please, please, I always wanted.”
Mary Edward had to blink back tears as Caleb sobbed and threw himself at the two men. They curled around him, Mr. Stilinski murmuring soft platitudes.
She didn’t turn as she said, “Yes.”
Derek had never known any alpha that had tried to turn anyone so young and small, nor anyone so delicate and emaciated. Caleb said he was five, but he looked more like a three year old, body so much smaller, so much more delicate than the kids he and Stiles watched over from time to time in Beacon Hills, before and after the apocalypse.
He watched from the doorway of what used to be his old room. The smallest room in the Stilinski house, it used to be the guest room. When his species had been revealed to the powers that be of Beacon Hills, Stiles had demanded he move in with them, to protect him from anyone who might have had an issue with a werewolf or wanted to kidnap him and experiment on him. No one had. Maybe because the sheriff trusted him, maybe because they had zombies and survival to worry about instead, but he was never bothered, even after they went public with the truth. He had lived in that room, but only for a few months until he and Stiles mated. Then he moved into Stiles’ room, leaving the guest room empty once more.
Until Caleb.
It was his room now. The extra-long twin that had fit him dwarfed Caleb’s tiny body. A small nightlight glowed in the darkness by his bed, illuminating his sweetly young face. He was relaxed in sleep, so much innocence and happiness at being adopted, at being wanted. At being part of Derek’s pack.
The room was mostly complete. The pack had done what they could once they heard he was going to bite Caleb, and that he and Stiles would be adopting him, once they knew that the bite had taken, that Caleb would survive. They had bought in kid-friendly furniture like a small desk, dresser, and night table. They also brought in a few toys, but most of the toys in Caleb’s room were Stiles’, raided from the attic by the sheriff himself. Stiles had seen the toys brought down by his father and mistily grinned. The two Stilinski men bonded with Caleb over the toys, telling stories about each one. The pack had helped with everything they could; many of them had been ridiculously excited about the newest edition to their pack. Allison and Lydia had squealed when they heard, immediately making plans to ransack the warehouse where they kept children’s items. Boyd, being the only one of them who had younger siblings, had gone with them, happy to do the heavy lifting and offer his expertise. And, surprisingly, Isaac had been one of the first to make friends with Caleb, making the little boy laugh and giggle.
Unfortunately, Caleb had nothing in way of clothing except the clothes on his back. He was currently asleep in an old t-shirt of Stiles and the clothes he had been wearing were being washed and dried for tomorrow. Somehow someone had neglected to inventory the children’s clothing and, with the influx of young children, there hadn’t been enough clothes to go around. There were already plans to head out to the big outlet shopping center fifteen miles outside of Beacon Hills. Derek intended to go, to make sure that his cub would have what he needed.
Stiles pressed behind him, wrapping his arms around his waist, chin hooked over his shoulder. “I can’t believe we have a kid,” he whispered, wonder, awe, and a little bit of bemusement in his voice.
Derek didn’t bother asking if Stiles was all right with it. His enthusiasm when sharing his old toys with Caleb, the way he cuddled the boy every chance he got, the way they both watched each other with delight when the other talked. Stiles adored Caleb as much as Caleb adored Stiles. As much as he cherished them both. And even though he had known Caleb was for them, he echoed Stiles’ incredulity that they were now parents.
“I thought Scott and Allison would have children first,” he murmured back, leaning his head against Stiles’.
“Man, so did I. Or maybe Lydia and Jackson.”
“Boyd’s still talking Erica into it.” Those two betas had given him more headaches than Scott and Allison ever had. Scott and Allison had been Romeo and Juliet, feuding families and all, but they loved each other and wanted the same things. Boyd and Erica, on the other hand, loved each other but wanted different things. At least, Boyd wanted children but Erica wasn’t so sure about having them.
“I think she’s worried that her former condition would get passed onto her kids.” Stiles turned to give him a considering look. “Unless you can guarantee her that it won’t get passed down because they’re both wolves?”
Derek sadly shook his head. “I don’t know. Not for certain. I know that most diseases don’t pass down, but I’m not sure about neurological ones like hers.”
Stiles heaved a gusty sigh. “Yeah, Deaton said the same thing.”
They fell silent, watching their son sleep.
Stiles suddenly chuckled. “He’s so cute.”
Derek could only make an agreeing noise.
“And as soon as we get him fattened up to his right weight group, he’ll be even cuter! I can tell those cheeks are going to get plump and adorable.”
“I’ll go hunting after the scavenging run tomorrow.” He mentally reviewed the best area for deer. It might be easier to hunt near the outlet mall, to give the population around Beacon Hills a chance to grow once more. Either way, he would make sure that Caleb had more to eat. A werewolf cub needed more nutrients than a human child, and with Caleb being malnourished as he was, he would need even more.
“I’ll see what’s good in the garden,” Stiles offered. “I wonder what he’ll like?”
“I don’t think he cares as long as it’s food.” Derek forced his voice not to deepen into a growl as he thought about their cub going hungry for so long before he had found him.
“You’re probably right.” Stiles paused then said, “When you’re out, see if you can find a treat for him.”
“Candy?” he asked, trying to remember which store at the outlet mall that might have something like that.
Stiles shrugged. “Whatever you think’s good.”
He nodded before turning to press a kiss to his mate’s lips. “Go to bed. You’re tired.”
Stiles gave him an eyebrow. “Are you coming?”
Derek shook his head. “I’m going to run on the treadmill, recharge the generator.”
Stiles nodded, stifling a yawn. “Thank God for Lydia and Danny and their brains.”
“It was your idea,” he pointed out as he guided his mate towards their bedroom by his hips.
“Yeah, but I didn’t know how to hook the treadmill up to the generator to transform you and Dad running into electricity. They did.”
“Yeah, but it was still your idea.” Derek refused to let his mate get away with downplaying his role in getting them electricity. The homes of the pack all had electricity thanks to Stiles’ idea and Lydia and Danny’s know-how. Very few people knew that they had electricity because they didn’t want to cause jealous or ill-feelings amongst the community, but they needed electricity to keep the freezers running. Because the pack needed more food than what was rationed to them, they hunted for meat outside of the walls of Beacon Hills and stored what they didn’t eat in the freezers.
They knew from experience that the winters, even in temperate California, could be harsh on the animal population and food scarce during the cold months. The scientists in Beacon Hills had theorized that with pollution no longer being created by millions of factories and cars, global warming was slowly being reversed and that the climate was going to get colder. With cold came low animal populations and so they had to store meat to have enough for the coming winter. So other than the freezer and now Caleb’s nightlight, electrical use in the pack’s homes was limited.
Stiles gave him a look that heavily implied his insanity, but since his mate gave him that look at least once a week, Derek ignored it in favor of kissing Stiles goodnight and pushing him towards the bed. He tugged off his shoes and jeans and slipped on some jogging pants but padded barefoot down to the treadmill. He was more comfortable shoeless when running, even when it was running on a machine. An hour later, after checking on Caleb (even though he had kept an ear on their cub the entire time), Derek showered and slipped into bed with his mate.
Stiles had never been so excited to start a day before. Even the first day of school couldn’t compare!
Yesterday, Derek had bitten Caleb, turned him into a werewolf, and then they adopted him. He and Derek were parents!
“Stiles, stop bouncing,” his dad said, his voice was dry as the desert, but he couldn’t fool Stiles. He was just as excited as Stiles was to start the day with the newest member of their family.
Stiles stuck his tongue out at his dad and went back to thinking about everything they were going to do today. Even though his goal was to ease Caleb into life as part of the pack, there were a lot of things they’d need to do to get Caleb situated in Beacon Hills too. While Derek would be out with a part of their pack to get Caleb more clothes, then hunt for dinner tonight, Stiles was going to show Caleb around Beacon Hills and get him enrolled in school.
While school was now year around, thanks to alternating days spent working on the farms or with livestock, sticking Caleb into a class wouldn’t benefit him at all. From now until August when all of Beacon Hills’ kids would start the next grade level, Caleb and the remaining orphans would be in preparatory classes. These classes were designed to assess each child’s level of learning and then catch them up to speed with their age group. It was a lot of one-on-one teaching and there were enough people who could help with that when they couldn’t help with the manual labor needed to survive nowadays. This particular way of contributing to Beacon Hills was popular among the older generation who didn’t have the muscle or the stamina for the harsher workloads, as well as with people who had physical disabilities. Lack of strength, stamina, or physical disabilities didn’t stop any of them from having sharp minds that could help the next generation learn.
Once Derek was back, the pack had plans to gather here for dinner. It would be the first time Caleb would meet the entire pack. And it would only be pack tonight. The wolves, Allison, Lydia, Danny, and Melissa McCall were the only ones invited. No one had wanted to overwhelm Caleb, so the extended families agreed to wait until the weekend, to give Caleb time to settle with his new family, his new pack, before meeting all of the others.
“He’s awake,” Derek announced.
“I’ll get him!” Stiles immediately volunteered, running out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He could hear his dad and Derek’s chuckles but he didn’t care. He was a dad now too!
At the top of the stairs, reminding himself that he was going to be a cool dad, he didn’t want to rush into Caleb’s room and scare him, so he made himself walk softly. After years of running with wolves, of fighting off other supernatural beings, he had finally learned how to move quietly and quickly. But Caleb’s werewolf abilities were clearly working because the little boy was staring at the open doorway, waiting for him. Stiles’ heart melted when he saw Caleb’s face. It was a mix of scared but hopeful, excited but wary. Like he thought everything that had happen was a dream and he was scared to wake up and find reality sorely lacking.
Stiles smiled softly at him as he sat down on the bed. “Morning.”
“Hi.” Caleb offered him a shy smile from behind the stuffed German shepherd dog Scott had found for him. The little boy who had talked as much as he did yesterday was gone, replaced by this nervous and adorable little thing Stiles just wanted to cuddle the hell out of.
Before Stiles could say anything, Caleb asked, “What do I call you?”
Stiles blinked, confused. “Uh, what do you mean?”
Caleb carefully shrugged, tiny fingers fiddling with the stuffed toy’s ear. “Some of the big kids, they said they had daddies. Or mommies. Before they went away. But boys are daddies, right?” He peeped out from under his lashes. “You and Derek are both boys.”
“How about we go downstairs and ask?” Stiles grinned helplessly, holding out his arms, smiling into Caleb’s hair when the boy flew into his arms, little arms around his neck, squishing the stuffed animal into Stiles’ neck. He didn’t mind at all, holding on tight to the little boy in his arms. “You know, there’s more than one name for daddies.”
“There are?” Caleb’s little face was only inches away from his, dark eyes tracing something on Stiles’ face.
“It’s okay, go ahead,” Stiles urged him when he realized what Caleb was looking at. He grinned when a tiny finger came up to touch the moles on his cheeks, gently connecting them in a connect-the-dots game that reminded him of his mom and dad, when they did the same thing when he was younger. “Yup. Lots of names for dads. There’s pop, pops, father, da, dad, pa, papa.” Stiles made a funny face just to hear Caleb giggle. “There’s more but I can’t remember them right now.”
Caleb looked considering. “That’s a lot.” He tilted his head in a move that made Stiles grin; he had to have picked it up from Derek in the last day because it was Derek through and through. “Which do you like?”
Stiles’ grin widened, reaching up to tickle Caleb’s tummy. “I’m good with whatever you’d like to call me. And wow, I sound like I’m from a porno.”
“What’s a porno?”
Stiles stared at his son, mouth open and moving.
Laughter drifted out of the kitchen.
“Yeah, son, what’s a porno?”
More laughter from his damn mate. Caleb was still looking at him, clearly expecting an answer. Stiles didn’t have to force the evil smile when it came to him, he had to force himself to tone it down really. “I’m not sure, Caleb, it’s something Derek told me about.”
The outraged growl made him smirk.
Coming into the kitchen, both his father and his mate were at the table, one empty chair for him and the other a Tripp Trapp chair for Caleb. The Tripp Trapp chair was a special chair designed to be used starting when a baby was six months and could be used through adulthood, simply by adjusting the seat level and the footrest. Shaped in an “L,” but instead of at a ninety degree angle, the “L” formed a seventy degree angle. Oh, yeah, totally just used some geometry there; Stiles had never thought it would come in handy in real life! Stiles grinned at it because it was another of those childhood things that his mom and dad had saved. Oh, it could have been used all this time, but he was pretty sure his parents had hoped for more kids. Pulling his thoughts away from why they couldn’t have more kids, he smiled down at Caleb, tickling him one more time to hear that sweet, high laugh.
Helping Caleb into the chair, he grinned over his shoulder at the other two men. “So, Derek, Caleb wants to know what he should call us.”
Derek didn’t answer; instead he leaned over to Caleb. Stiles watched in absolute delight when Derek showed Caleb how to do an Eskimo kiss, their noses rubbing together before Derek nuzzled Caleb’s cheek then presented his own for their son to nuzzle back. “Good morning, Caleb,” Derek rumbled down at their son.
“Good morning,” Caleb breathed out, eyes wide as they took in Derek’s face. One small hand reached up to touch Derek’s cheek. Derek looped one long arm around Caleb’s body, completely engulfing him as he pulled Caleb into a hug. Their little boy slumped into his hug, but his hands held on tight. “You smell good,” he whispered into Derek’s shoulder.
“You too,” Derek answered as he pulled back a little to look Caleb in the eye. “Like family, like pack.”
Caleb watched him with wide eyes that were carefully considering. He inhaled again, taking in Derek’s scent again. “Family, pack,” he echoed.
Derek nodded, holding out one hand to Stiles that he immediately took. Derek towed him towards them, nearly onto his lap. “Stiles is family and pack too. Can you smell me on him?”
Stiles eagerly leaned down so that Caleb can sniff at him, smiling when Caleb nodded excitedly.
“Yes, and I can smell him on you too!” Caleb declared to Derek, obviously surprised.
“Because he’s my mate,” Derek answered the unspoken question.
Stiles stood up and moved, watching as Derek taught Caleb how to smell family and pack, this time using Stiles’ dad for an example.
“This is your grandfather, Caleb,” Derek introduced them, his dad taking the chair on Caleb’s other side.
“Who?” Caleb asked, seemingly confused as he stared at Stiles’ dad, forehead and face in this adorable little scrunch.
Derek was shocked for one moment as he realized that, as an orphan, Caleb would have no real knowledge of families. Stiles bit down on his lip, swallowing the lump in his throat.
Thank God for Dad as he came to the rescue.
“Caleb, you know how Stiles and Derek adopted you? How they’re your parents now?”
Caleb eagerly nodded as he fully turned towards his grandfather. He glanced over his shoulder at Derek and Stiles, smiling shyly. “My daddies.”
His dad was grinning, but his eyes were misty, especially when they landed on him. “That’s right, your daddies. Well, I’m Stiles’ daddy, so that makes me part of your family too. I’m your grandpa.”
Caleb stared at him for a long, long time. Whatever conclusion he came too made him bounce in the chair, just a little. “I get a Grrrrrpa too?”
The low growl caught them all by surprise. Caleb immediately slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide and afraid.
Derek gently caught him before Caleb could flail out of the chair. “Let me see, Caleb.”
Their little boy heaved a breath through his nose, but slowly lowered his hand. Stiles wanted to coo at the little fangs in Caleb’s mouth. They were adorable, barely any larger than his already small teeth, completely unlike Derek’s scary sabretooth tiger ones.
Derek was smiling reassuringly down at Caleb. “It’s all right, cub, those are just your fangs. Like mine.” He opened his mouth and slowly lowered his fangs so that Caleb could see.
“But why?” Caleb stopped short of finishing the sentence, becoming stupidly adorable as he crossed his eyes to look down his nose, a little hand coming up to pat his throat then mouth. “Why do I sound funny?”
Derek was smiling, this gorgeous little smile that took Stiles’ breath away. Just when he didn’t think he could love the guy any more, Derek had to go and get them a kid and be an awesome, awesome dad. Stiles was surprised he hadn’t been turned into a pile of sappy goo by now. Or jumped Derek’s bones. No, that would have to wait because they couldn’t do that in front of their son. It might scar him for life and that was not cool.
“You were excited,” Derek answered, still smiling. “It’s okay; I’ll teach you how to control it.”
Caleb nodded, but only looked moderately assured.
“In the meantime,” his dad announced cheerfully, picking up Caleb from his chair to toss him a little in the air, making Caleb giggle. “I love it when you call me ‘Grrrrpa,’ so I think that’s what you should call me.”
“Grrrrpa?” Caleb said it as if to try it out.
His dad grinned at him, bringing Caleb in for a hug. “Yeah, kiddo, just like that.”
Caleb beamed back at his grandfather, enthusiastically hugging back.
Stiles leaned against Derek’s shoulder, feeling the weight of his mate’s heavy arm as it looped around his waist, and just reveled in his family.
Derek was on guard duty, perched on top of one of the sixteen wheelers they used for these scavenging trips, as the rest of the teams cleaned out the Walmart warehouse of everything. Instead of just focusing on food and essential items, the team took everything from toys to electronics. With plans being developed to take over a nearby power plant, they would have electricity for not only the bare essentials, but also for all those little luxuries like electric appliances and game consoles. There was even talk about cleaning out the nearby car dealerships for electric cars.
Derek hadn’t cared about any of those things. Instead, he had made sure that the pack gathered things that Caleb would need now and in the future. Clothes to grow into, books to read, toys to play with. He personally grabbed candy and mixes for cookies and cakes. Sister Mary Edward had not known Caleb’s date of birth but Stiles had talked about using the day the adoption papers went through instead. Caleb had enthusiastically agreed once he realized what a birthday meant.
After the last of the trucks were loaded, mattresses and furniture taking the longest to move, the trucks started to rumble home. Derek stayed on top of the cab, Boyd by his side, both of them strapped to the truck via bungee cords and carabiners. They were scouting for trouble but also for game.
“There!” Boyd had detached himself and was already leaping off the truck to one of the trees on the side of the road.
Derek quickly followed but let his beta take the kill. It took both of them to haul the enormous buck back onto the still moving truck that had only marginally slowed down to let them back on. They quickly stowed the buck into the large, portal cooler with the air-tight seal that had been strapped to the top of the truck. Then they used the jugs of water that had been stored in the cooler to wash away any blood on the truck and themselves. No use in attracting zombies if they didn’t have to. “Good job,” he praised quietly above the grinding and rumbling of the sixteen-wheeler.
Boyd’s grin flashed white against his dark skin. “This should feed us for a while, huh?”
Derek nodded. “Stiles already has his recipes planned out; ones he thinks Caleb will like.”
“Venison burgers,” Boyd murmured reverently, eyes already glazing over in remembrance.
Derek completely understood. Stiles’ cooking had been okay before the zombies, when he and his father had lived off of frozen meals and take out, but after all that went away, Stiles had cracked opened his mother’s cookbooks and started teaching himself. His experiments were famous for either being ridiculously good or just plain bad. Thankfully, the latter was few and far in between. It was also thanks to Stiles that their pack had finally learned to eat food freshly killed instead of brought from the store. He still growled a little in remembrance at their ingratitude when he brought home that first deer.
But now, they could hunt their own food, with claws, fangs, bow and arrow. He looked forward to teaching Caleb, he looked forward to their first full moon together as a pack with a new cub.
“Thinking about Caleb?” Boyd asked, even though it wasn’t really a question, a tiny smile lifting the corners of his mouth.
Derek nodded, picturing Stiles and Caleb this morning as Stiles cuddled their son. “He’s going to call me daddy and Stiles is papa.”
Boyd chuckled, bouncing a little when the truck rolled over debris. “Jackson, Isaac, and Scott had a bet on who would be called what.”
“Who won?”
Boyd shrugged and shook his head. “They wouldn’t tell anyone; they’re afraid one of you would play favorites and fix the outcome.”
Derek had to roll his eyes at his betas. All of them.
“I’m going to ask Erica to marry me.”
Derek jerked around in surprise and stared at Boyd. The other man’s eyes were focused off in the distance, but even his dark skin could not hide the blush on his cheeks. The grin spread itself across his mouth easily. “Congratulations,” he said, clapping Boyd on the shoulder.
Boyd ducked his head, but his smile was enormous.
They both feel silent again, feeling no need to speak any further. Derek, especially, since he wanted this time to let his mind wander, to think about all of the changes his pack had gone through in the last few months. Scott and Allison were engaged, set to be married in two months. Jackson and Lydia had been married for nearly six months and had already talked about children. Boyd was going to ask Erica to marry him; Derek was sure she would say yes. He and Stiles were formally adopting a child, had brought the first cub into the pack. While neither Isaac nor Danny had mates, it was only a matter of time. With the sheriff, Melissa, and Chris, his pack was steadily growing, becoming something closer to what his family had been before the fire.
Derek couldn’t help but feel his family would have been proud of him. Happy for him.
Caleb’s eyes had not returned to their regular size since he had woken that morning as he stared at everything Beacon Hills was and had.
It must have been the first intact piece of civilization the little boy had seen, with people who neither looked starved or scared. Stiles had stayed true to his plan to show Caleb around, not only his new home, but also Beacon Hills. Well, the important parts anyway. He had showed him each of the pack’s homes, letting their little boy sniff and inhale the scents of the pack while everyone was away at work. Then he showed him the elementary school where he would be going in a few months, taking the opportunity to enroll Caleb into those preparatory classes while they were there. He also showed Caleb the sheriff’s department during lunch, Caleb carefully carrying the sacked lunch they’d brought from the high school cafeteria to give to his grandfather.
His dad had grinned when he saw them. “Did you guys bring me lunch?”
Caleb shyly nodded, clinging to his grandfather’s legs as the rest of the department watched with interest.
“And what did you bring me?” he asked, leaning down to scoop Caleb into his arms. Stiles had to bite his lip when he saw how his father looked at both him and Caleb with so much love and pride. It made him squirm with embarrassment and happiness that he could make his dad so happy.
“A sandwich,” Caleb whispered into his ear, eyes peeking out at the other officers, some of whom smiled and waved. He bashfully waved back before ducking back to the safety of the sheriff’s neck.
“Well, that sounds delicious. What else?”
Stiles had to smile as his dad shooed his deputies back to work, still grinning stupidly and carrying on with Caleb. He shook his head and followed them into his dad’s office, sinking down into a chair and settling in to watch Caleb point out what they’d pack for him.
“Thank you for bringing me lunch, Caleb, how did you know I’d need it?” His dad carefully held Caleb in his lap as he unwrapped his lunch, but it was clear he was more interested in Caleb than in the food, absently eating the salad that came with the sandwich without a single complaint about his completely meatless lunch.
Caleb grinned widely, pointing at him. “Papa said you were too busy to eat today because you weren’t at lunch, so we should bring the mountain to Mohammed.” He gave them both a slightly baffled look. “Grrrrpa, is your first name Mohammed?”
Stiles covered his mouth to muffle his shout of laughter.
His father rolled his eyes, smile exasperated. “I would say grandkids are a parent’s revenge but you’re enjoying this way too much.”
Stiles shamelessly cackled.
The pack was being unusually subdued, happy and welcoming, but still subdued for them as they entered the Stilinski backyard in pairs or small groups.
Derek knew it was most likely because Stiles had firmly admonished them from scaring Caleb with their sometimes boisterous antics. He helped by carrying Caleb to each member of their pack, introducing them or reintroducing them as necessary, via name and scent. Just as he had with Stiles and John this morning, Derek showed Caleb how to scent their packmates. His cub watched each one with wide eyes but greeted them all with a smile and a ready nose.
He ducked his head when he saw his mate smiling mistily at them.
By the time dinner was served and everyone seated at the two long picnic tables that were butted up end to end, groaning with food and drinks, Caleb was happily chatting with anyone who was near.
“You turned into a lizard?” Caleb asked from his seat on Derek’s lap, at Jackson who was two seats away.
Jackson gravely nodded, absently thanking Lydia for the venison burger she placed on his plate. “I didn’t know until a lot later, after I hurt a bunch of people. Your dads and Uncle Scott were trying to stop me from hurting anyone else.”
“Wow,” Caleb breathed.
“Here, sweetheart, it’s time to eat.”
Caleb turned the sweetest smile on Stiles. “Thank you, papa.”
He could see his mate melt, returning the smile. “You’re very welcome. I hope you like it.”
“I will!” Caleb quickly confirmed before digging in. The sounds their little boy made left no one in doubt of his enjoyment.
Looking down at his son happily demolishing the venison burger and then at the rest of his pack, all eating and laughing and talking, he relaxed back into the chair, feeling something tiny that still didn’t believe he could have all of this vanishing. Derek reached out, lacing his fingers with Stiles, sharing a satisfied, happy smile.
Mary Edward felt nothing but shame when she saw the homemade calendar and realized that it had been nearly a month since she last checked on Caleb. She told herself that it was all right, that the other children had needed her more, that the ones that hadn’t been adopted needed her more. But while she could lie to herself, she could not lie to God. He knew that her reasons were only partly true. She had agreed to let Mr. Hale bite Caleb, to save his life, but she had wanted to ignore the religious ramifications of what she had done, and so she had ignored the innocent child in all this.
Werewolves! The zombies could be explained away as scientific advancement gone wrong, but even the head of the hospital here had no explanation for the existence of werewolves. It had been so easy to view what Mr. Hale had done as a life-saving, but experimental, procedure. So easy to say yes to saving sweet little Caleb’s life. But now. After a month of blessed normalcy, of a church that hadn’t been ransacked or sisters that hadn’t discarded vows of nonviolence to survive and protect their charges. After this past month of near normalcy, the questions she had regarding mythical creatures plagued her. Her conscious plagued her as well: did she do the right thing? Did she save Caleb’s life only to condemn his eternal soul?
She pushed aside those concerns yet again as she headed to the sheriff’s home. She fortified herself with prayer before knocking on their door. Mr. Hale was the one to answer her knock. “Good afternoon, Mr. Hale.”
“Sister.” Even though his greeting was short, he stepped aside in invitation.
She quickly took in the home. Mary Edward had no idea what she was expecting but the sheriff’s home was utterly normal. Pictures of family and friends, comfortable furniture that seemed well used but in excellent condition. Nothing out of the ordinary. Tearing her eyes away from the home she wasn’t expecting, wasn’t even sure what she was expecting from a werewolf’s home anyway, she turned back to Mr. Hale. “I was hoping to visit with Caleb.”
Mr. Hale nodded and led her towards the back of the house.
Mary Edward heard him before she saw him.
“Papa, will I turn into a puppy?”
Low chuckles distracted her from the answer. One was from Mr. Hale behind her, but in the cool shadows of the back porch, off to her left, the sheriff was in a rocking chair, a pitcher of cold lemonade beside him. She wondered where they found the lemons and ice to make it.
“Good afternoon, sister.” John Stilinski stood and offered her the other chair.
“Good afternoon, sheriff, and thank you.” She tried to quell her covetous look at his lemonade, but was obviously unsuccessful when he chuckled again and offered her a glass. She sipped at it, savoring the sweet tartness of real lemons. Mary Edward couldn’t remember the last time she had such a treat.
“What brings you by, sister?” he asked pleasantly.
“I was hoping to check on Caleb.” Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Mr. Hale moving out of the shadows with large glasses of water in his hands. She could hear the ice clinking in the glass and again wondered where they got the electricity to make and store ice.
Mr. Hale was heading over to the far side of the yard where Caleb and his other father were kneeling on the ground. She didn’t have the best view of them but their body language told her they were working on their garden. All she could see was Caleb’s little denim-clad bottom waving in the air and a big hat that covered his head from the sun. And she got her answer regarding where the lemons came from: the lemon tree above Caleb and his father had hordes of the yellow fruit.
“Stiles has a green thumb.” The sheriff had followed her line of sight. “Just like his mother.”
Mary Edward absently nodded, fixated on watching Caleb with his new parents. Mr. Hale had handed out the glasses, holding it steady until Caleb had a firm grip before letting it go. Then he picked up Caleb and all, gracefully seating himself Indian-style, placing Caleb on his crossed legs. Caleb was utterly at ease, leaning trustingly against Mr. Hale’s chest. His face was now cherub-round, flush with health and happiness as he talked with his parents. His body had the same look of health, muscle and flesh at the right plumpness for his age. He was smiling, eyes bright as he talked to his fathers. He was a far cry from the child she knew only a few weeks ago.
“He seems happy,” she murmured as much to herself as to the sheriff. She couldn’t remember the last time Caleb was as animated as he was with his parents right now. His hands didn’t gesture like Stiles Stilinski’s, but his face changed from expression to expression. His eyes were gleaming and his lips smiling. He had been a baby when they had found him, just after the zombies had spread to California, and he had known nothing but moving from place to place, food scarce and comfort nowhere to be found, zombies and criminals taking his caretakers one by one. But now, he looked like a child from before the apocalypse, he looked like a child should: carefree and innocent.
“He is,” he agreed easily. “He’s looking forward to his first full moon.”
And there it was: a direct reference to their otherworldliness.
“What.” She gathered her courage, fingers absently going to the small gold cross at her throat. “What happens on the full moon?”
“The pack heads out to the woods, we eat dinner together, spend time as a pack, we run together.” He flashed a grin. “Well, the wolves, anyway. Should be interesting to see how the dynamics change with a cub in the pack.”
“Yes, interesting.” Mary Edward nodded and answered absently. It didn’t sound so bad, it sounded like a family going on a picnic together. Except, she didn’t know what “spend time as a pack” entailed, did she?
“Sister Mary Edward?”
She jerked at the sound of her name, stared up at Stiles Stilinski. “Yes, young man?” She tried to hide how startled she had been but she was sure she failed miserably.
“Would you like to join us?” His smile was encouraging and welcoming but it was also filled with cunning. “To see him for yourself?”
She hesitated but she nodded in the end.
And so she found herself several days later, out in the woods, surprised at how homey their campsite was. A large tarp was strung between trees; blankets, sleeping bags, and chairs were strewn about under it. Close by, a huge spit was roasting the most delicious-smelling venison. The smells reminded her of her family’s reunions where mornings were spent hunting and the afternoons spent cooking and talking and laughing. The amount of food laid out in front of her now was staggering but later, as more and more people arrived, the amount made more sense.
The Stilinskis were manning the spit; Derek and Caleb nowhere in sight.
“Sister Mary Edward! Welcome to the Hale Pack Monthly Picnic!” Mr. Stilinski was actually bouncing towards her, smile on his face and hands extended. Sheriff Stilinski waved and nodded but stayed at the spit.
She took them, smiling hesitantly back. “Thank you for the invitation, Mr. Stilinski.”
“Stiles, please,” he invited her as he lead her over to the chairs and offered refreshments. After choosing more of that delicious lemonade, she sat back and watched Stiles and his father interact. They were laughing as they talked, Stiles’ hands busy getting her drink.
Oddly, Sheriff Stilinski’s head snapped up and stared behind her.
Mary Edward turned to look but saw nothing. She turned back to ask, finding Stiles coming towards her with a glass.
After he presented her with the glass, he too stared off over her shoulder. “Looks like you’ll be meeting Chris and Allison Argent next.”
Almost as soon as he said their names, Mr. Argent and a young woman came through the trees. She remembered Mr. Argent from the police station, his face in hard, forbidding lines. But, now, looking down at the young woman who had to be his daughter, his face was gentle, lips curved in a smile at whatever Allison was saying. On their heels came the rest of the pack.
Mary Edward was surprised to learn that the humans outnumbered the werewolves, that extended family members were always invited to full moon nights. She met Mrs. McCall, Erica’s mother Veronica Reyes, Mr. and Mrs. Whittmore, Ms. Lowes – Lydia’s mother, the entire Mahealani clan, and Vernon Boyd’s pre-teen sisters. The pre-teen girls immediately beelined towards the Mahealani fraternal twins, Robbie and Rebecca. She found herself immediately tucked into the fold of human adults, answering questions about how she was settling in.
She didn’t meet the other werewolves until Stiles threw his head back and howled. It was a human howl, but it echoed through the night. Soon he was joined by the Boyd’s sisters and the Mahealani children, their howls higher pitched and broken by laughter. Mary Edward nearly jumped out of her skin when she realized the werewolves were emerging from the woods, melting out of the shadows like some kind of forest demons.
But their faces were smiling, laughing, happy in the fading light of day. They slipped onto the blankets and chairs, hands going to food, chattering with each other and their families.
She watched, preconceived notions of what a werewolf pack was and how they behaved shattered by the utterly normal picnic dinner that happened around her. They spoke of their day, catching up on each other’s lives even though it was obvious they spent huge amounts of time together.
“Lydia,” Ms. Lowes turned towards her daughter. “How’s the project for connecting to the power plant going?”
That caught everyone’s attention.
Lydia nodded, swallowing the bite she had just taken, then gestured towards Isaac. “We’re getting there. Everyone’s decided that we should build a corridor to the Middle Fork hydro power plant station.”
“Isn’t that farther than either of the Dutch or Drum Flats stations?” Mrs. Whittmore asked, leaning around her husband.
Isaac nodded. “But its output is larger; it will be able to sustain us for longer.”
“If we’re going to take the risk of building a corridor, of putting the construction crews at risk, we might as well go big,” Sheriff Stilinski pointed out from the middle of the table.
People nodded as they continued to eat.
“We’re already making plans on the best way to build the corridor and they’re going to start classes for people who want to do maintenance shifts at the plant.” Lydia helped herself to another serving of carrots as she spoke. “They want teams of four people, with at least one security person as part of the team.”
Sheriff Stilinski nodded. “I’ll put a volunteer sheet up once the mayor puts out the call. How long will the shifts be?”
“One week for each team, so four teams would be ideal,” the young woman answered. Mary Edward had been surprised at first that this barely twenty year old was on the team of engineers planning the connection to the hydro power plant, but not after Mrs. McCall had told her about the girl’s genius level test scores.
“Will they have an emergency contact system?” Mrs. McCall asked to the table at large.
Danny Mahealani nodded. “We’re rigging up a system based on Morris code in the sheriff’s office and the hospital, since they’re the only places manned 24/7.”
“Oh good,” the nurse sighed.
Everyone fell silent, focusing on their food. Taking advantage of the silence, she turned her attention to Caleb, sitting in Mr. Stilinski’s lap. The boy seemed happy, just like when she visited the Stilinski home several days before. He was chatting with his fathers, eating between sentences. His fathers watched him with amused affection, every once in a while correcting his speech or his table manners. Caleb never complained about being corrected, cheerily accepting the lessons and moving on. Every so often a member of the pack would smile down at the three of them.
“Oh, Sister Mary Edward?”
She blinked in surprised, while everyone had been welcoming, this was the first time she was being directly addressed during dinner. “Yes, Mr. Whittmore?”
“Eric, please,” he requested with an urbane smile. She was told he was once a high powered attorney and with that smile she could see it.
“Yes, Eric?” she politely inquired, giving him her no nonsense look.
He took it in stride, still smiling. “I’ve heard all of the children have been adopted?”
Mary Edward was pleased to nod, but then her lips turned down. “Yes, all but one.”
“Oh?” Mrs. Reyes asked, leaning around her daughter and Boyd. “Which one?”
“Ryan,” she sighed.
“Ryan?” Mr. Stilinski asked, looking at his husband then at Caleb. “The one with the dog?”
The one who endangered Caleb was what he was really saying. Mary Edward thinned her lips and nodded.
“What will happen to Ryan if no one steps forward to take him?” Mrs. McCall asked, worrying her lip.
“He would most likely become a ward of the state,” Mr. Whittmore answered her, frowning up at the sky. “He would the first since Beacon Hills never had an orphanage.”
“The closest one was in Lake Falls,” his wife murmured.
“Or would he stay a ward of the Church?” Sheriff Stilinski wondered, turning his gaze upon her.
Mary Edward nodded. “We would petition to keep him, but I don’t think it will be necessary.”
“Oh?” Mr. Stilinski asked as he helped Caleb reach another serving of meat. It would be Caleb’s third helping, if her count was correct, but she knew nothing about werewolf nutrition and, really, what was one more serving when they had been verging on hungry for so long.
“Silas has been thinking about adopting the boy himself.”
“Silas?” Mr. Mahealani said in surprise, eyebrows rising nearly to his dark hair. “He’s . . .” he trailed off, clearly not wanting to offend anyone.
Mary Edward hid her smile against her glass of lemonade. “Yes, he is. But I think the old codger will be good for Ryan, teach him some boundaries and discipline.”
Several people nodded in agreement but then the table became silent again as they all concentrated on their food. Conversations rose and fell as the food was steadily demolished. Once dinner was over, and the sun was nearly set, Mary Edward watched warily as the entire table rose. The young people cleaned and separated the trash to be recycled, while the parents packed away any leftovers that Melissa McCall had assured Mary Edward wouldn’t last through the night or the morning after the pack ran.
Mary Edward didn’t need to ask for confirmation regarding werewolf or human status. The werewolves were glancing up at the sky, moving restlessly. Little Caleb looked ready to vibrate out of his skin, plucking at his clothes, hopping from foot to foot, head swiveling to catch the slightest movement. Derek Hale swooped in to grab his adopted son, throwing him into the air, Caleb’s squealing laughter as he was caught and thrown airborne once more. Stiles watched them with an indulgent smile, pressing kisses to both their cheeks.
She had to blink and advert her eyes when, at some unseen signal, the wolves began to disrobe. Jeans and shorts were left on, but shirts, shoes, and socks were removed and stored. Even the girls were down to their sports bras. Mary Edward had never seen so much skin on display for a very long time, not since before the zombies when regular trips to the neighborhood pool was possible for her young charges. But no one seemed to care, taking all the partial nakedness in stride. Of course, it wasn’t completely innocent. She saw how those with partners ogled their lovers, how the younger teenagers giggled and peeked at their crushes, how the older women gave the sheriff appreciative glances. But even with all that, there was a naturalness that spoke of such displays being common place.
Mr. Hale suddenly threw back his head and howled.
Mary Edward jerked at the roar, nothing like a human howl, nothing even like a wolf’s howl. It echoed fierce and loud in the night, a challenge for all who would invade his territory, a call for his pack to join him in the moonlight. Little Caleb threw his head back and mimicked his father, a younger, less experience roar, but nevertheless echoed through the night as it was joined one by one by the other wolves. The wolves burst into long loping strides across the clearing and towards the woods, Caleb in the middle of their pack, Mr. Hale keeping stride, the pack surrounding them both.
In a blink of the eye, they were gone.
The evening passed quietly for the humans; eventually sleep claiming them. Mary Edward woke at dawn, confusion at why she was outside ruling for mere moments before remembrance kicked in. She jerked up, only to stare dumbly at the . . . puppy pile. She was on the outskirts of the bedding and the tarp that covered it, so she could take her time to fully appreciate the sight that beheld her.
Bodies entwined, some like lovers, others like siblings, others like children curled up with their parents. An enormous pile of bodies, rising and falling with their breathing, a mass of skin and muscle and hair. So intertwined it was sometimes difficult to see where one ended and another began.
Caleb was in the middle, in between his parents, his grandfather not far away. He was cuddled and warm and slept the sleep of the innocent, of a child who had not been borne into a world devastated by creatures, disease, famine, and fear.
Mary Edward stared at him, then at the other children. Young pre-teens, children only a few years older than Caleb, at their smooth, untroubled faces. Stared at how the werewolves had placed these young in the center of the pile, safe and warm, protected even from the cool dawn air. She felt something slip away inside her. It was the fear. Fear of these creatures who were human, nevermind the forms they could take. Fear of Caleb’s soul, for a child so loved would never lose his soul, nevermind the condition of his body.
Mary Edward lifted her face towards the morning light and smiled.
Stiles’ heart finally slowed when he saw Derek at the top of the elementary school’s steps. His lover was calm, waiting for him with only a confused frown. Whatever reason Caleb’s teacher wanted to see them was obviously benign, otherwise, Derek would have ripped through the school with his alpha glare and glower, not waiting patiently for Stiles to tether his horse. But, Stiles, still worried, didn’t bother with pleasantries. “What’s going on? Can you hear anything?”
Derek shook his head, frown growing. “Just that Ms. White wanted to see us about Caleb.” Derek, bless him, pulled Stiles into his arms for a brief second. “I would know if something had happened to our cub. He’s fine.”
He nodded against his lover’s chest, taking that moment in Derek’s arms to calm down. When Stiles finally pulled away, they walked hand in hand towards the principal’s office. Caleb was sitting in front of Ms. White’s large, wooden desk, head bowed, fingers laced together in his lap, shoulders slumped, his whole body radiating sadness and shame.
Stiles could barely stand it, rushing towards their son, but was jerked short by the hold Derek had on his hand. Before he could open his mouth in outrage, Derek pointed towards Ms. White, raising both of his formidable eyebrows. Stiles turned to see the yellow slip of paper in her hand and immediately wilted. Yellow slips of paper were disciplinary notes, not medical. Whatever had happened to land Caleb in the principal’s office clearly earned him a demerit.
“Mr. Hale, Mr. Stilinski, thank you for coming.” Ms. White waved them towards the other chairs beside Caleb’s.
Stiles slowly sat down next to Caleb, leaving the pleasantries – for once, and short as they would be – to Derek. He couldn’t keep his eyes off Caleb, couldn’t keep them off the dejected body language, the fact that their little boy hadn’t looked at them once. What could Caleb have done that would result in such a reaction. Throwing his memories about, Stiles couldn’t remember any time he couldn’t even look at his parents. Not even after the time he and Scott nearly broke their necks trying to build their own treehouse.
He barely listened as Ms. White told them about Caleb’s tantrum in class. How nothing was broken nor anyone hurt, but Caleb was to be punished with an in-school suspension for the next day. She left them then, leaving them to figure out why Caleb, their sweet little boy, decided to throw a tantrum. His teacher, Karen, hadn’t had a clue as to why Caleb had suddenly broken down in class.
“Caleb,” Derek intoned, voice low and serious, but thankfully not threatening at all. “Caleb, why did you do this?”
Caleb shrugged, still not looking up, continuing to hold so still it was bizarre.
Stiles picked him up, unable to keep from cuddling him, even if it sent mixed signals about his punishment. His relief was immense when Caleb grabbed onto him, held on as he buried his face in Stiles’ chest. Thank God he hadn’t turned away, wasn’t an unnatural statue any longer. Tear soaked through his shirt, Stiles wrapped his arms even more tightly around his son. He looked helplessly at Derek, seeing the heavy frown on but not knowing any more than his lover.
“It’s okay, Caleb, you can tell us what happen.”
Caleb kept his face buried in his chest even as he shook his head.
“Please, Caleb, can you tell us?” Stiles cajoled softly, holding onto him securing, ducking down to whisper into the shell of Caleb’s ear. “We might be angry, but we promise not to be too angry. We love you.”
He remembered how important it was to his mom and his dad when he was young to tell him that while they might be angry at something he’d done, that they would always love him. Stiles wanted Caleb to know that same kind of security.
Unfortunately, it only seemed to make Caleb cry harder, sobs now, instead of just tears. Stiles instinctively curled around Caleb’s little body, crooning and rocking, sharing a helpless look with Derek over their crying son.
Derek eavesdropped from the kitchen while John was talking to Caleb, trying to get him to tell “Grrrpa” why he had thrown the temper tantrum in class today. His father-in-law wasn’t having any more success than he or Stiles had. The principal had pulled Stiles and him aside to quietly inform them that it was normal for a child to stress out over being away from their parents for the first time, even a child who had only been with them for three months. She had praised them for being such wonderful parents that Caleb was that attached to them. Even though her words of commendation had made him feel pretty damn good, watching Caleb bury his face in Stiles’ chest or neck, smelling the salt of his tears, and hearing the hitching of his breath dashed the feeling into pieces.
“Do you think we should talk to Sister Mary Edward?” Stiles asked so quietly from where he was buried in Derek’s shoulder that Derek was sure he was the only one who could hear his mate. “Maybe we’re doing something wrong? Maybe he misses her and the other kids?”
“He saw her just a few days ago, the other kids are in school with him,” Derek refuted, but was ready to go get the nun and those other kids if that’s what it took.
“Ms. White didn’t seem too worried.” Stiles heaved a weary sigh. “But if it keeps happening.” He paused, fidgeting in that way that Derek knew he was going to say something he wasn’t going to like. “Lydia says if it keeps happening, we might want to think about taking him to Dr. Huang.”
It took Derek a moment to place the name; Dr. George Huang was the only child psychiatrist in Beacon Hills. He didn’t know the man himself, but Stiles had seen him after his mother’s death and Erica had been his patient all through her childhood, her parents worried about her mental statement in conjunction with her physical one. He could feel Stiles bracing himself against what he thought would be a tirade from Derek, but Derek didn’t even think twice about nodding. “If it will help Caleb, then we’ll make an appointment if this happens again.”
Stiles immediately relaxed into his arms.
Derek hoped that Caleb wouldn’t need Dr. Huang, but he was willing to do anything to keep his family happy and whole.
Stiles bit his lip and tried to calm his heart. He and Derek were waiting in Dr. Huang’s waiting room; Caleb was still inside the children’s “play room” with the doctor, the one filled with toys to help relax his young patients. He didn’t bother asking Derek to listen in on them because Dr. Huang – after asking about werewolf hearing range and abilities – was using a white noise generator. Derek, as an alpha, could hear past the machine, but it was a strain on him and Stiles loathed putting any more pressure on his lover.
His patience was rewarded mere moments later when Dr. Huang emerged from the play room.
“Derek, Stiles, please follow me,” he asked in that very soft and gentle voice. When Stiles had first come to Dr. Huang as a patient, he didn’t believe the man could always speak in that soft and gentle tone, that he had to modulating his voice to be that soft-spoken. He had tried everything he could think of to get Dr. Huang to drop the act, especially since said attempts kept his mind off his mother’s death. Dr. Huang had gotten angry, had gotten exasperated, and had even gotten loud, but his voice was always softer and gentler than anyone Stiles had heard before or since.
He led them to his office, filled with pictures his patients had drawn for him, bright spots of color in an otherwise plain room. Dr. Huang waved them towards the chairs in front of his desk. “Gentlemen, your son is a very bright little boy.”
“Thanks,” Stiles said faintly, groping blindly for Derek’s hand, fearing that this gentle lead-in was the beginning of the psychiatrist’s admonishment that they were terrible parents who had no idea what the hell they were doing.
Dr. Huang, used to seeing Stiles blow things a little out of proportion, smiled gently and said, “Stiles, relax, you and Derek are doing a fine job with him.”
Stiles deflated, burying his face into the muscle of Derek’s bicep. It was one thing to hear it from his own dad, it was one thing to hear it from Ms. White, but Dr. Huang knew how messed up he could be. Once he’d stop fighting the psychiatrist, Stiles had spilled everything, every bit of anger and crazy that he felt up until he started high school. If anyone knew if he had messed up his kid, Dr. Huang would be it. But those words, delivered in that soft voice with that reassuring smile . . . Stiles breathed in relief.
Above him, Derek asked, “Then why the temper tantrums? He’s been having at least one a day for two weeks.”
Stiles pulled himself together, sitting up and facing Dr. Huang, ready to do whatever the doctor wanted him to do to help Caleb.
“He’s afraid,” Dr. Huang answered simply.
“Of me?” Derek’s face started to fall into those lines that spoke of anguish, deserved or not.
Stiles immediately slugged his arm with his free hand. “Don’t be stupid! He adores you!”
Before Derek could refute him, Dr. Huang cleared his throat and assured them. “He’s not afraid of you, either of you,” he said rather pointedly to Derek. “He’s afraid of losing you.”
“Losing us?” Stiles gaped at the doctor.
“He’s not going to lose us,” Derek growled.
Dr. Huang nodded, but then tilted his head. “Caleb watched, for the first five years of his life, as his caretakers were taken from him one-by-one. Has he told you about Claire?”
Stiles immediately nodded. “He said she was his favorite because she sang him to sleep.”
“She was also one of the more recent deaths, right before Derek found him and the other children, in fact.” Dr. Huang leaned forward, face earnest. “Caleb knows a lot of loss for one so young, but now, with you, it’s been months since you’ve adopted him and he’s afraid that if he does anything wrong you’ll send him away. That little boy loves you both so much, he’s deathly afraid he’ll lose you, that you’ll decide you don’t want him anymore and give him back to the church.”
“But that’s just stupid!” Stiles wanted to take that back as soon as he said it. “I’m not saying he’s stupid or that I think his feelings are invalid--”
“Stiles.” Derek’s free hand closed over their joined hands, embracing Stiles’ hand with both of his. The soothing sweep of thumb over the back of his hand stilled Stiles’ rambling.
Stiles took a deep breath and held it, counting out slowly as he released it, just like Dr. Huang had taught him so long ago.
Dr. Huang was smiling benevolently at him when Stiles finally looked up. “He’s pushing you away before you can push him away. He believes that will hurt less.” He smiled at them again. “You both know you love him and, deep down, he knows it too, but his fear his driving his actions right now.”
“What do we do?” Derek was leaning forward intently, as if ready to jump up and do whatever Dr. Huang recommended immediately.
“I would recommend you continue to do as you’re doing now. Assure him of your love, keep your patience with him.” The doctor leaned forward as well, reassurance written in his face and body language. “You’re doing fine with him, just keep at it. We can have sessions once a week to help him vent his fears to a non-pack member but I believe he’ll grow out of it once he feels more secure.”
“So, nobody can take me away?”
Stiles bit his lip, forcing himself to stay still and quiet behind the doorway to the living room. Derek was a long line of heat against this back, just as silent. Inside the room Caleb was sitting on Judge Pearson’s lap, carefully holding onto his adoption papers. He probably knew they were there, hard to hide from their child’s ears even if he had only been a werewolf for a little over two months.
“That’s right, Caleb.” Judge Pearson was gentle as she wrapped one arm around Caleb to steady him while her other hand tapped the top sheet. She had dropped by to give them the papers personally, a favor to the sheriff and to Stiles. “See this? This is my signature. It means that your parents officially adopted you and no one could ever take you away from. If they tried, I could tell every single deputy to arrest that person and send them away.”
Caleb bit his plump little lip, eyes intently studying the papers. “What if,” he trailed off. He sighed tiredly, sadly, his next words a bare whisper. “What if my parents want to give me back?”
“Well, they can’t,” she answered simply.
Caleb twisted around, staring up at her in disbelief. “They can’t?”
“No.” She moved her finger down the sheet. “They signed these papers too. Just like me, they had to think long and hard about whether or not they wanted to sign these papers. Because once they sign these papers, whatever promises they made, they have to keep. It’s not something anyone would do unless they were very sure, very very very sure, that they wanted to keep these promises.”
“Oh.” Caleb twisted back to the adoption papers, staring at them, petted them as if comforting himself physically with the feel of them. “So, they really want to keep me?”
“Yes,” she reassured him.
“Okay.” Caleb was quiet for a long time before twisting back towards the judge. “Papa says that we’re going to have a party to celebrate my adoption. Wanna come?”
Judge Pearson grinned down at him. “I would love to come, thank you.”
Derek almost regretted agreeing to this party. Almost. But seeing the happy grin on Caleb’s face was worth it as he ran around with all of his friends. The “birthday” party was a success if the copious amounts of sugar and laughing was anything to go by. The entire pack and their families, along with the families of Caleb’s friends filled the clearing where they usually based their monthly pack nights. The clearing was filled with an obnoxious amount of noise: talking adults, shrieking children, and laughter from everyone.
“I think everything’s going to be okay,” Stiles was saying to his father, one arm flailing about, the other wrapped around Derek’s waist.
Derek leaned into his mate’s embrace, eyes still keeping a careful watch over their cub.
“Hmm?” He tilted his head back to Stiles and John, reluctantly pulling his attention away from Caleb.
“Caleb’s behavior? Do you think it’s getting better?” Stiles asked, but now it was his turn to anxiously watch their child.
“I think it might be too soon to tell,” Derek demurred but still slowly nodded. “But he seems more settled?”
“I agree,” John said. “We’ll just have to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Stiles sighed, half resigned, half hopeful. “Yeah.”
Derek lifted his head, slitting open his eyes when he heard the floorboards outside their bedroom creak. When he heard the familiar little heartbeat, he smiled, waiting for Caleb to peek around the doorjamb. He wasn’t disappointed; Caleb’s eyes and the top of his head were all that he could see as their son peered into their room. Derek curled around his still sleeping mate, propping his chin on Stiles’ shoulder. “Good morning, cub.”
“Morning, Daddy,” Caleb whispered, high and sweet. He bit his lip, just like Stiles did, utterly charming Derek with the mannerisms he had picked up from them both. It had been a month since the Judge Pearson brought them the adoption papers, and Caleb had only thrown one tantrum, a small one at that. More of a tired meltdown than a true tantrum.
Derek patted the bed. “Want to come up?”
Caleb eagerly nodded, padding quickly from the door to his side of the bed, arms already upraised, one hand dangling his stuffed wolf. Derek picked him up and cuddled him to his chest before turning them both so that Caleb was snuggly warm between Derek’s chest and Stiles’ back. Stiles’ heartbeat changed from drowsing to something akin to being awake as he turned and shifted and generally flailed around until Caleb was mostly lying on his chest while Stiles was now tucked back under Derek, leaving Caleb the filling in their sandwich. Their cub didn’t seem to mind at all as he wrapped his free arm around Stiles’ neck and cuddled in, bright eyes blinking sleepily at Derek.
Derek smiled down at them both, wrapping himself around them, grinning a little stupidly at his amazing life.
The End
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Say What You Mean: Debating the Issues
Say What You Mean: Debating the Issues
How to Effectively Discuss Controversial Political Issues without Arguments
The political climate in the United States is volatile. Most political discussions are heated, but they need not be. If you are a Christian and find yourself on the typical Christian conservative view of each issue, but aren't sure how to voice your concerns without ending up in a heated discussion, this eBook is for you!
This is an eStudy like NO OTHER! Say What You Mean: Debating the Issues helps you understand the issues, but it also teaches you tips and techniques for presenting your Christian conservative viewpoints in a way that will be much more effective and friendly.
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Section I: Introduction
Section II: Economic Issues
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3. Big Government and Government Takeover
Section III: Constitutional Rights Issues
1. Gun Control
2. Abortion
3. Conservative Discrimination
4. Fairness Doctrine
5. Parental Rights vs Rights of a Child
Section IV: Race Issues
1. Immigration and the Border
2. War on Terror and Weak Foreign Policy
3. Racism and Racial Profiling
Section V: Religious Issues
1. Christian Discrimination
2. Separation of Church and State
3. Ground Zero Mosque
Section VI: Miscellaneous Issues
1. Environment and Global Warming
2. Cap and Trade
3. Tea Party Movement
Section VII: Additional Resources
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FREE Sample Lesson
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If Keith Hillyer, or substantially all of its assets, were acquired, or in the unlikely event that Keith Hillyer goes out of business or enters bankruptcy, user information would be one of the assets that is transferred or acquired by a third party. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any acquirer of Keith Hillyer may continue to use your personal information as set forth in this policy.
Privacy Policy Changes
Although most changes are likely to be minor, Keith Hillyer may change its Privacy Policy from time to time, and in Keith Hillyer sole discretion. Keith Hillyer encourages visitors to frequently check this page for any changes to its Privacy Policy. If you have a Bass Masters Elite UK account, you might also receive an alert informing you of these changes. Your continued use of this site after any change in this Privacy Policy will constitute your acceptance of such change.
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Beechwood School
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780 Beechwood Ave, Fullerton, CA 92835
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Academics » Physical Education
Physical Education
At Beechwood School, all students in grades 1st-8th grade receive 200 minutes of physical education every ten school days. To view our PE schedule, click on the following link: Beechwood PE Schedule
If you have any feedback to help us improve our PE program, please complete and submit the following form. Thank you for your support.
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Habakkuk 1
New International Version
1The prophecy that Habakkuk the prophet received.
Habakkuk’s Complaint
2How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
The Lord’s Answer
5“Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told.
6I am raising up the Babylonians,a
that ruthless and impetuous people,
who sweep across the whole earth
to seize dwellings not their own.
7They are a feared and dreaded people;
they are a law to themselves
and promote their own honor.
8Their horses are swifter than leopards,
fiercer than wolves at dusk.
Their cavalry gallops headlong;
their horsemen come from afar.
They fly like an eagle swooping to devour;
9they all come intent on violence.
Their hordesb advance like a desert wind
and gather prisoners like sand.
10They mock kings
and scoff at rulers.
They laugh at all fortified cities;
by building earthen ramps they capture them.
11Then they sweep past like the wind and go on—
guilty people, whose own strength is their god.”
Habakkuk’s Second Complaint
12Lord, are you not from everlasting?
My God, my Holy One, youc will never die.
You, Lord, have appointed them to execute judgment;
you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
13Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
Why are you silent while the wicked
swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
14You have made people like the fish in the sea,
like the sea creatures that have no ruler.
15The wicked foe pulls all of them up with hooks,
he catches them in his net,
he gathers them up in his dragnet;
and so he rejoices and is glad.
16Therefore he sacrifices to his net
and burns incense to his dragnet,
for by his net he lives in luxury
and enjoys the choicest food.
17Is he to keep on emptying his net,
destroying nations without mercy?
a 6 Or Chaldeans
b 9 The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain.
c 12 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text we
Nahum 3
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Agri and Aquaculture
Agri and Aquaculture Experts
Birara Endalew Admas
Graduate Assistant
Agricultural Economics
Institute of Land Administration
COURSES TAUGHT Mathematics for Economists, Operations Research in Agricultural Economics, and Introduction to Economics
Research Interest
Agricultural Economics
• Birara Endalew (2015). Assessment of Vegetable Production, Opportunities and Constraints in Ethiopia: A Review. Radix International Journal of Research in Social Science; Volume 4, Issue 12 (December, 2015) Issn: 2250 – 3994.
• Birara Endalew, Mequanent Muche and Samuel Tadesse (2015). Assessment of food security situation in Ethiopia: A review. World Journal of Dairy & Food Sciences 10 (1): 37-43, 2015.
• Mequanent Muche, Birara Endalew and Tesfalem Koricho (2014). Determinants of household food security among Southwest Ethiopia rural household. Asian journal of agricultural research. Vol 8 (5):248-258.
Global Experts from Ethiopia
Global Experts in Subject
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Question: cDNA in TopHat
gravatar for cased
14 months ago by
cased0 wrote:
I am new here so first, nice to meet to all of you.
I am a PhD Student and I have a question about tophat and the reference genome.
On one hand, I have been using the reference genome with the gtf file for the alignment with tophat. On the other hand, I have been using the coding reference genome (cDNA) for the alignment with salmon.
My question is the following:
Can I use the cDNA with tophat and the gft? Because I need the BAM files and the count with tophat for a set of data but, I am interested also in the integration of these data with the data belonging to salmon. I supposed that if the data hasn't been extracted with the same reference genome, I can't integrated them.
rna-seq tophat • 465 views
ADD COMMENTlink modified 14 months ago by Jennifer Hillman Jackson25k • written 14 months ago by cased0
gravatar for Jennifer Hillman Jackson
14 months ago by
United States
Jennifer Hillman Jackson25k wrote:
NGS reads can be mapped against a transcriptome database as a Custom reference genome. A spliced alignment tool wouldn't be needed, instead, use a tool like Bowtie2 or BWA/BWA-MEM. Your GTF describing annotation on the primary reference genome wouldn't be used (genome mismatch).
Thanks! Jen, Galaxy team
Galaxy tutorials for reference:
ADD COMMENTlink modified 13 months ago • written 14 months ago by Jennifer Hillman Jackson25k
Thank you very much Jennifer. The link to the Custom Reference genome doesn't work, I can't go to this page. One more question, if I want to work with the transcriptome, I can use tophat2 and then, cufflinks right?
Thank you in advance.
Best regards.
ADD REPLYlink written 14 months ago by cased0
Hi - sorry, fixed the link. Yes, you could use these tools, although HISAT(2) is now preferred over Tophat (the Tophat tool is considered deprecated and replaced by HISAT). From there are several tool options for transcript assembly or count based differential expression. See the RNA-seq tutorials in the link above for examples.
ADD REPLYlink written 13 months ago by Jennifer Hillman Jackson25k
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Sunday, November 5, 2017
Pitching Microsoft 365
Here is a recording of a presentation I recently gave that focused on how to successfully pitch Microsoft 365.
In short, you need to build on the benefits provided by Office 365, then standardise the business on Windows 10 and finally bring all devices under management using the Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS).
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Sponsored by..
Thursday, 12 January 2017
The conversation goes something like this..
Victim: "How do I know you're from BT?
Jesse said...
They called this morning. Same game. Probably upping their call frequency in response to the recent hacking scare. Now are claiming to be with Microsoft. In background I think I could hear one of the other callers in the Indian call center collecting money from someone, so probably is a payday for the hackers right now.
El Comino said...
Same here. Supposedly 'Microsoft IT department' calling from the UK to my home number in the Netherlands. I tried to keep them busy as long as I could. He claimed to be calling from the UK. I just checked my incoming call log'(12 minutes before they hung up on me). They called from NL but the number is one digit too short. I will now contact my Phone Provider. It isn't he first time 'Microsoft call me.
Wendy said...
Received a call about 40 minutes ago. Gave me a name Ryan Peterson and a BT employee ID 860005285, the scam 32 digit code, the address 81 Newgate Street London EC1-this address I reported about 2 years ago, and a phone number 02031295164, although the number he called from was 07034399887.
I am also giving this information to BT and Action Fraud, I have already informed Microsoft.
Wendy said...
Received a call today using the same 32 digit license number
Details obtained Ryan Peterson BT ID number 860005285, 81 Newgate EC1, 02031295164, although he phoned from 07034399887.
Have reported this to Microsoft, will now contact Action Fraud and BT
Thierry Terrain said...
While talking with them I searched their phone number 0353587863 and the Modem number they gave me 88DCA60 and found this page. I said to the Indian on the end of the phone, “when I search your phone number and also the Modem number, the search shows SCAM”. Then they hung up.
A3aan said...
20180219 - same story, same number. I kind of feel sorry for those guys doing this job, in (poor) India I think. Next time they call I’l have the number ready on my (iPad) screen and tell HIM what my number is, to confuse him ;-) Is there really no solution to avoid these calls? Send troops? A drone?
HoolaHoop500 said...
I have just received the same phone call. The scammer lasted five minutes. I am incredibly irritating. I made her repeat herself at least five times, told her I hadn t got a clue what she was talking about and asked her how I would know that she actually was from BT. Then she got clever and said that only someone from BT would know I was with them and my security number. I replied that as far as I am aware there is nothing wrong with my internet and if I felt there was I would ring her and not the other way round. She hung up
SFBayMaman said...
I'm in the US and just got this call from a man with an Indian accent (3:33pm Pacific Time). The phone number was +1-847-311-1769. Does anyone on this thread know where I can report it in the US?
I knew immediately it was a scam! Of course he didn't mention BT. He just said something super general like, "We've detected a signal from your computer." I gave him a few minutes with BS about how I have multiple computers and which one did he want to know about. He also gave me the number 888DCA60 (which I wrote down and then googled to find this thread!).
I hung up when I asked how he could tell if I had a PC or mac and he said, "Well obviously I know you're using a Windows machine!" (I'm a Mac user.)
charlie said...
3 times i received this call yesterday (20/07/2018) starting with a recorded message saying it was BT and there was a problem with my internet connection. Press 1 if your internet service is supplied by BT or press 2 for all other suppliers. The caller was an indian and you could hear other indian voices in the background. Then the usual garbage about problems with your internet connection. The interesting thing was all 3 calls came from different numbers. After the second call I just let the guy ramble on until ha got fed up.
Very annoying
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Names of Phobia, Mania and Philias
Scholarship Examination in India
Different people react differently to various stimuli. While some people like the thrill of mountaineering, some others fear height. The term, which we use for describing irrational and excessive fear is, ‘phobia’.A person experiencing a phobia of something feels a deep sense of dread or panic upon encountering their source of fear. Generally, there is something specific, like an object, place, phenomenon, etc. that gives rise to phobia. The examples of some most common phobias are aquaphobia, acrophobia, arachnophobia, etc. Read on to find out what these terms mean.
On the other hand, an undue inclination towards a specific object, place, thing, occurrence, etc. is termed as ‘philia‘. Below is a list of common phobia/ manias/philias. Go through the list and try to remember as many terms as you can. In addition to improving your general knowledge, this list will also enhance your vocabulary.
List of Common Phobia, Manias and Philias:
AchluophobiaFear of darkness
AcrophobiaFear of heights
AgraphobiaFear of sexual abuse
AgrizoophobiaFear of wild animals
AgyrophobiaFear of crossing the road
AichmophobiaFear of sharp or pointed objects (needle, knifeetc.)
AilurophobiaFear of cats
AlgophobiaFear of pain
AquaphobiaFear of water
ArchnophobiaFear of spiders
AstraphobiaFear of thunder and lightning
AtychiphobiaFear of failure
AutophobiaFear of being alone or isolated or of one’s self
AviophobiaFear of flying
ChronophobiaFear of time and time moving forward
CleithrophobiaThe fear of being trapped
CoulrophobiaFear of clowns (not restricted to evil clowns)
GamophobiaFear of marriage, commitment
GephyrophobiaFear of bridges
GlossophobiaFear of speaking in public or of trying to speak
HalitophobiaFear of bad breath
HemophobiaFear of blood
HylophobiaFear of trees, forests or wood
MelissophobiaFear of bees
MyrmecophobiaFear of ants
MysophobiaFear of germs, contamination or dirt
NecrophobiaFear of death and/or the dead
OikophobiaFear of home surroundings and household appliances
OmbrophobiaFear of rain
OptophobiaFear of opening one’s eyes
PhasmophobiaFear of ghosts or phantoms
PhonophobiaFear of loud sounds
PyrophobiaFear of fire
SophophobiaThe fear of learning
SpectrophobiaFear of mirrors
ThalassophobiaFear of the sea, or fear of being in the ocean
XenophobiaFear of strangers, foreigners, or aliens
XylophobiaFear of trees, forests or wood
ApiphobiaFear/dislike of bees
ArachnophobiaFear/dislike of spiders and other arachnids
CynophobiaFear/dislike of dogs
EntomophobiaFear/dislike of insects
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I have the great pleasure of being part of an EU-funded project called KConnect. It’s a group of academics, health care providers and commercial organisations (such as Trip) working together with the broad aim of innovating to improve search.
One early result has been a collaboration with the Institute of Formal and Applied Linguistics at Charles University in Prague to introduce a very nice multi-lingual tool for Trip. It allows users to search in French, German or Czech, with more languages due in the next 6-12 months.
As you’ll see in the image above we have added a discreet link for ‘language options’ which, when pressed, reveals the three language options. Once pressed the user can enter search terms in the selected language.
In this second image you’ll see that German has been selected and the search term bluthochdruck added. This has been translated to hypertension and the results have also been translated into German.
It’s a very simple yet powerful system which will only improve over time as the translations get even better and more languages are added.
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Alcoholmeter or Hydrometer
Alcoholmeter or Hydrometer
Posted by Mary on Oct 28th 2014
A lot of people think that there’s a correlation between hydrometers and alcoholmeters because they look the same. They think they can just buy one meter, perform some calculations, and be able to get both types of readings from a single instrument. Unfortunately, this just isn’t true. Hydrometers and alcoholmeters are each calibrated to different density liquids, so although they may look the same, they are actually entirely different. Let’s explore why.
This should only be used in pure, distilled spirits when you want to determine the volume % or proof of the spirit. It is calibrated to the density of pure ethanol. Simply float it in your spirit, and where the line crosses, there’s your % alcohol. Because water is thicker than alcohol, more water means that the liquid is thicker and the alcoholmeter can’t sink as deep.
Remember that this will only work on a pure, distilled spirit that contains no sugar or glycerin. Even some commercial products have a tiny bit of sugar or glycerin added just to give it a little bit of mouth feel. You may be surprised if you test a commercial vodka that’s supposed to be 40% and it registers at only 36%. This is because there’s a tiny bit of something in that vodka that they’re using to make it a little bit thicker, so the alcoholmeter doesn’t sink as deeply, giving an inaccurate reading.
This is used to determine potential alcohol % during pre-fermentation and post-fermentation. It is calibrated to the density of water. Pure water means that it will float at 1.000. The more sugar that you add, the thicker the mixture gets, and the harder it is to sink. Let’s say that you’re doing sugar water and turbo yeast. Once you mix your sugar and water, it’s much thicker and the hydrometer will float higher in the liquid. As fermentation occurs, and as that sugar gets converted into alcohol, the liquid becomes considerably thinner, and the hydrometer sinks in deeper.
Hydrometer readings can also vary depending on temperature, so the temperature that that instrument is calibrated to is listed right on the side. Think about how molasses responds to different temperatures: the warmer it gets, the thinner it is in consistency, so the hydrometer would sink deeper.
Conclusion I hope this comparison helped you better understand the differences between an alcoholmeter and a hydrometer. They may look nearly identical, but they’re not interchangeable. The more you know!
Difference between alcoholmeter and hydrometer
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