text:
Scilab, key pillar technology to share and run metallurgical models: from R&D studies to industrial implementation
By Stéphane Jimenez, ArcelorMittal
ArcelorMittal R&D has developed a solution for use, share and distribute metallurgical models world wide. The Diabolo platform is based on Scilab / Xcos and relies on three main principles:
- A standardization of models interfaces (external function and data types),
- A repository hosting for each model an executable library along with its technical specification and scientific documentation,
- A simulation environment giving access to models either as an Xcos block or a Scilab gateway function.
Once a model is published in the Diabolo repository all XML files, Scilab scripts and 'C' functions needed to make a Xcos block are automatically generated. Then the model will be available as an Xcos external module (including companion gateway functions) in an in-house ATOMS server. Every user of the Diabolo simulation platform (coming as a complementary Xcos module) is then free to install the model block then use it in block-diagram simulations by dragging it from his palette and have access to online help and direct link to the full documentation in models repository.
Diabolo blocks are not atomic blocks but Xcos super blocks generated thanks to an inner function. Each super block contains the main functional block (either model or source or sink module for data access and result presentation) but also an advanced multiplexer block coming with its java GUI and permitting to fully rearrange the setting of IN and OUT data ports.
A strong particularity of Diabolo simulation platform is that the user is not supposed to explicitly manipulate time. When needed by the inner blocks, the generated Diabolo super block will integrate the sample clocks with the right setup required for the simulation to run.
Once published in the repository, every model is also available as a gateway function in Scilab. We designed an original architecture lying on the use of Scilab as a computational engine (Scilab Minimal) for developing 'C' GUI applications (Qt framework) that allows implementing our models in a very efficient and reliable way for off line use in industrial facilities.
We will end the presentation with a short live demonstration of the Diabolo platform.
ArcelorMittal-ScilabTEC2013.pdf 2.15 MB


text:
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Wakinyan Records is a new independent pow wow recording company based in the state of North Dakota on Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation in the town of Fort Yates.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Last night was fun. Let's do it again!
The live blog starts in the comments section. We'll go through the Dolphins pick.
Please understand that I am not going to sit here throughout the evening. There are interviews to be done, phone calls to be made, and I have a column to write. So the smart-alecks that ripped me for not being around all night last night, I hope you now understand why.
The names to look for in the second round, in my opinion?
Koa Misi, the outside linebacker from Utah. Robert Johnson, the safety from Utah. Ricky Sapp, outside backer from Clemson, Reshad Jones out of Georgia and Morgan Burnett of of G-Tech.
Darkhorses? Toby Gerhart of Stanford. I keep hearing the Dolphins want a RB out of this draft although the round remains uncertain.


text:
Meh. I once saw a man state that the Christians are right and that they (and only they) will go to heaven and witness perfection. He said this several times, in fact. And more than a hundred people, all congregated around him, continued taking him seriously without any difficulty at all.
Was it Jesus?
This has been the case with *any* RAD (rapid app development) tool since the dawn of frameworks. Nobody has figured out how to solve this barrier.
I don't believe this to be the case. Every problem I've found with Rails is conceivably fixable. A lot of it is just due to the Rails devs stuffing things into the bloated maw of ActiveRecord that really shouldn't be in there, and not separating out their methods properly. I have great hopes for some of the up and coming Ruby ORM libraries to replace AR with something rather leaner.
Their dependencies between each other need to be fairly light so that that you don't have to buy the whole barn if you just want a cow. This generally requires a scriptish language that is not anal over types.
Being anal over types isn't a bad thing, so long as you have a sophisticated enough type system to offer the developer. A goo
5. Rails is extremely flexible
The fifth is the only one that seems to have any sort of Rails-specific content to it...
And it's too general, still. It's like saying, "The Honda Element is a versatile automobile." Really? Maybe it is - what do you mean by versatile? Would you happen to know if there are some other automobiles that are versatile?
Do you think that's the issue, or something else?
OK, I'm not going to list ever language I've ever used or otherwise enter a bragging contest, but please just take me at face value when I say I've been around the block a few times. To me, Ruby "feels" like it's trying to be clever. I hate clever, not at first - no, it's fun when you're writing it! - but a year later when I have to maintain something.
Put another way: my wife isn't a programmer but she can read a lot of my Python code. I'm perfectly at home with C, Perl, and various assemblers but I
A lot of Ruby tutorials do try to be overly clever. But really, quite a bit of C code was/is overly clever, also. People cramming so much stuff onto a single line that the code is unreadable and difficult to support.
But that's not really a problem in the language. That's a style thing. I very frequently when coding in C, Java, or C# split things onto multiple lines that could be expressed in a single line. I often take intermediate values and put them into variables with good names, instead of ramming the values all together.
I remember when I was a wee lad, learning C, and being utterly baffled by a lot of the code I read. Casting pointers to other things, doing math, switching to array notation, then suddenly treating the whole expression as a function pointer, and feeding a stream of other things as arguments into the function... That kind of thing is amusing, but has no place in typical production applications code. Something far more common is huge expressions with the ternary operator that are just one element in a more complex expression. I saw this kind of thing in most of the C code I read, and felt like I must be a noob if I didn't do that. Then one day I decided I just would write code that was simple and made sense, and that's what I do-- it's a style choice.
The point is, writing code that's easy to understand is up to the programmer, and less to the language. People used to defend COBOL because it was more readable. But one huge problem with COBOL is you've gotta write a lot of lines of drivel to get anything done, compared to say C. The price we pay for the comparative expressiveness of C is we have to be more careful with the code to keep it understandable. From C to Ruby is a similar jump in expressiveness, with a commensurate risk of it being less understandable. But it's possible to write difficult to understand code in any language.
Ruby does have some things in it that make it quite different from other languages, most notably closures and metaprogramming. But honest, you do get used to it. You can even avoid the elements you're not comfortable with, and ease into them later.
But over time you start to find there's quick and dirty ways of doing things in very few lines of code in Ruby. And things like testing kits and the way Rails helps you structure your code make it so that your code is spread out nicely, and it's easy to isolate bugs quickly, even if some of your code is a little overly terse.
I recommend not starting with Rails. Spend a few hours alone with Ruby before trying to wrap your head around the way Rails works. Write a tic tac toe program on the console, or something. Get to where you've made peace with Ruby before you get into rails.
Because starting off directly with Rails and Ruby, not understanding either one can be very difficult. They are both such different approaches from what many developers are used to that it's a bit like learning Pig Latin and Chinese at the same time.
Imagine if Perl had special syntax for passing anonymous subs as arguments, and idiomatic Perl code used them for everything all the way down to most looping constructs...
@sorted = map { $_->[0] }
sort { $a->[1] cmp $b->[1] }
map { [$_, foo($_)] }
Now back to work with you! I want a ruby runtime that doesn't suck already.
Simply didn't mean anything to me; map? What are those {}'s doing? What's |e|? What the fuck's %w{}?! It's bit of a triple-whammy really; first you've got a bit of perlish shorthand (%w{foo bar} == ['foo', 'bar']; make an array containing these words), second you've got a code block with slightly Smalltalkish parameter syntax, and third you've got an unfamiliar verb "map".%w{foo bar}.map {|e| e.upcase }
Only it doesn't fall to bits when you want to do non-trivial things to the elements. After that, it's mostly getting familiar with what the other methods do and getting used to using/chaining them. If it doesn't go from confusing to obvious or even useful outside Ruby in an hour or two, you're probably doing it wrong.array_map('strtoupper', array('foo','bar'));
module Enumerable # included in most things that respond to each()
def mymap
raise ArgumentError, "No block given" unless block_given?
a = []
for item in self # equivilent to self.each do |item|
a << yi
I'm thinking that this will be one of those languages where I'll actually have to buy a book or two on the basics, and really read them
If you are averse to buying a book, the first edition of the main Ruby language reference book (Programming Ruby, aka "the Pickaxe") is available online for free (a few things have changed since then, but unless you are using 1.9.0 you probably won't run into many of them).
If your concern with learning Ruby is just for Rails (which sounds like it may be the case), you might
Dijkstra defined the best criteria I've ever seen for what makes it possible to reason about a chunk of code (embodying an algorithm) successfully: can you point to any execution point and write down a correct invariant expression of what must be true whenever that execution point is crossed? This is the reason why I adopted the practice of writing code like this...
For me it makes a language like Eiffel, which actually lets me write down invariants (for loops, for functions, and for objects) as part of the code that will (1) get used in testing (2) properly get handled in inheritance cases etc. (3) get used automatically in the API documentation. It makes things nicer for all involved (your assumed invariants will get checked in testing, and anyone else using your code will get the benefits of your documented invariants both in the documentation and in testing.
The Rails core team also doesn't owe you anything. They are all volunteers who work on it for free. You owe them.
So stop thinking that Rails owes you something. Rails owes you nothing. You owe Rails.
Now back when I got involved with computers, in the 70s, it wasn't like this. We didn't have frameworks, we had libraries. Either a library met you needs and you used it, blessing its authors, or it didn't and you didn't use it. Of course people didn't expect much from applications back then, either. Programs by in large just started up, did something useful, then went away. There was a whole "software tools" philosophy built around this very idea: write programs that do one thing (usually some kind of filt
$ ruby script/generate model person name:string birthday:date
[... some output
... ]
$ cat app/models/person.rb
class Person < ActiveRecord::Base
The thing is, from what I can tell, it's really specialized. I never had this problem with PHP or ModPython.
Stop comparing Rails to languages, you fucking morons *headbutts wall until you all stop*
Of course it's specialized, it's an opinionated web framework for writing web applications in a certain style; on "rails", if you will. If it doesn't suit you, use a different framework, or no framework like you'd do with PHP or Python. Why is that so difficult to grasp when it comes to Ruby?
But how does it fair for more general apps?
You mean, without a database? Stateless, or what? Chances are you have data; you can just disable/not use ActiveRecord and h
Yes, but as far as I know, RoR is the main package people use for Ruby, versus Python which has 5-6 packages that I know of.
I suggested at least that many alternatives for Ruby, and there are more. You don't base all your decisions on how popular or well marketed something is, do you?
Part of the reason for this is that Ruby's language has some unique features that make it favorable to RoR's style
Perhaps, but it's also perfectly favourable to various other "styles". Metaprogramming is quite a general tool, as you might have guessed
I was assuming that most readers would be smart enough to figure out I meant the standard way you do things in PHP or Python
It's akin to calling PHP development Cake. Names of frameworks are not interchangable with generic terms for web development in a language, and I assumed you'd be smart enough to recognise that. I've used
Yes, but as far as I know, RoR is the main package people use for Ruby
If by "package" you mean "web framework" ("web application development" and "programming" aren't the same thing), you are probably right that RoR is, if not the most frequently used, at least the most widely-talked-about Ruby "package".
versus Python which has 5-6 packages that I know of.
Assuming, again, you mean "web frameworks" when you say "packages" (Ruby and Python each have thousands of packages available, most of which are not web
One of the big things that worries me is that there are a lot of files generated. That scares me. What if I made a mistake at the beginning? Is it easy to go back? Do I need to start from scratch?
The generation script doesn't actually generate anything especially complex - it's literally like 10 or 12 lines of code. Further, the framework doesn't remember what it's generated, so you can rename / delete stuff to your heart's content without causing any problems.
For us unenlightened, *when* is the proper ti
As other posters have noted, many of these complaints/thoughts come from RoR being a framework. I wonder if it would be possible to re-create RoR, but in a more library-form. User has to do more work (no generated files), but more flexibility in the long run?
You don't have to use the rails generators (including the "rails project-name" command that sets up the initial files and directory structure) if you don't want to. ISTR seeing some tutorials on building rails apps that way (along with ones on doing the
1. Protect the code. I need to be able to deploy it without the code being easily copied and reviewed. I know, I've seen it all on this topic: I don't really need to protect it, whatever I'm doing isn't that hard to figure out, etc. Trust me, I really need to protect the code. I write products for a living, and my customers will unfairly pirate/sell/give my code away, and it will cut into my income if I can't keep control of who gets my code. This is why I'm using C# and Mono. And yes, I realize that can easily be decompiled. But it's still more than adequate protection in my business space.
2. Make it faster. Ruby is too slow for what I need to do. My customers can only afford around $100 USD/mo for hosting my special purpose application, and for the number of people they get hitting the site, Ruby doesn't cut it. I know, I know, do more caching do more magic, get more computers, build a server farm, etc. Whatever. I just rewrote the thing in C# and I could support way more users per $100 of server. It made me cry to have to do it.
Please, if there's ways to do better on those 2 areas, let me know! But trust me, I really do need to protect the code.
I'm thinking I might be able to solve both of these problems using JRuby some day, but I'm not sure yet.
However, locking code down is an interesting problem in that a lot of the more modern high-level languages have no way to really lock down the code.
I agree, and I was kind of surprised about this. At first I thought that surely I must be missing something. Near as I can tell your options for writing Web code without releasing the source are Java,
As you say, it could just be that most web apps are one-offs.
That's probably a factor. I think also (and both of these are related to them being one-offs, to a degree) a lot are either:
1) Works-for-hire where the customer is owns the code.
2) Custom development provided by someone who also is paid to manage the application once it is deployed, and the customer doesn't control the servers.
In either case, trying to obscure the code from the customer is unnecessary (also, some incorporate code that is released
More than anything I'm worried about speed.
The standard story for dynamic language development applies:
The most common optimization that's used with Rails is it's built-in support for caching, which can speed things up by quite a bit. You can get the same sort of results with a hand-optimized memcached setup any other dynamic language - but Rails gives it to you almost for free.
Always leave room to add an explanation if it doesn't work out.


text:
SYS-CON.TV Webcasts
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Top Links You Must Click On
From the Wires
BEAR Data Solutions Named to CRN's 2013 List of Tech Elite 250
By: Business Wire
Feb. 22, 2013 11:42 AM
BEAR Data Solutions today announced it has been named to CRN's third annual list of the Tech Elite 250. Companies on the 2013 Tech Elite 250 list represent an elite group of IT solution providers that have invested in the training and education needed to earn the most advanced technical certifications in the IT Channel for data center or cloud.
In compiling the list, CRN editors worked with the UBM Tech Channel research group and a team of outside experts to define the most customer-beneficial technical certifications in the IT channel. These technical certifications have enabled solution providers to deliver the most premium products, service and support to their North American customers.
BEAR Data Solutions is one of the recognized solution providers that holds hundreds of technical certifications for over 100 different technology products and requires their sales and engineering staff to complete 5 training sessions per year to effectively consult on public and private cloud infrastructures.
"The 2013 Tech Elite 250 list recognizes an exclusive group of solution providers that have invested in training and technical know-how to help their customers understand the benefits of some of the most sophisticated technology deployments in the market – and have shown a dedication to helping customers innovate while reducing costs," said Kelley Damore, Senior Vice President, Editorial Director at UBM Tech Channel. "By identifying and adapting to the skills and training needed to best serve today's customers, members of the Tech Elite 250 have proven their commitment to delivering the products and services that today's customers value most."
"BEAR Data Solutions is honored to be named on the CRN 2013 Tech Elite 250 list," stated Don James, CEO of BEAR Data Solutions. "We pride ourselves on providing superior service to our customers and that wouldn't be possible without concentrated technical expertise and premier certifications."
To view a sample list of winners visit www.CRN.com or view the February issue of the print magazine. View the full list in the CRN Tech News app, available for the iPad at http://go.crn.com/TE250-13 and for Windows 8 devices at http://go.crn.com/CRNWin8.
About BEAR Data Solutions
BEAR Data Solutions, Inc., a San Francisco-based global IT service provider with 11 offices throughout the U.S. and around the globe, helps enterprise clients design, optimize, and support mission-critical IT infrastructures. By combining expert engineering resources, best-of-breed technologies, and superior customer service, BEAR Data delivers high-performance IT solutions and services including cloud, virtualization, unified communications, networking, storage, database, security, managed services, wireless, staffing, and support contract management. For more information, please visit www.beardatasolutions.com.
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UBM Tech Channel is the premier provider of IT channel-focused events, media, research, consulting, and sales and marketing services. With more than 30 years of experience and engagement, UBM Tech Channel has the unmatched channel expertise to execute integrated solutions for technology executives, managing partner recruitment, enablement and go-to-market strategy in order to accelerate technology sales. UBM Tech Channel is a UBM company. To learn more about UBM Tech Channel, visit us at http://www.ubmchannel.com. Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ubmtechchannel.
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text:
The Phillies Night Before Christmas 2012
The Phillies Night Before Christmas
Twas the night before Christmas, when all over the field,
Not a player was stirring, as the 2012 season had been sealed.
The bats were stacked in the clubhouse with care,
In hopes that a Championship soon would be there.
The Phillies were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of trophies danced in their heads.
And Charlie with his new line-up tucked under his cap,
Had just settled down for a long off-season nap.
When outside of his house, there arose such a clatter,
Charlie sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window he stumbled, half asleep,
Having woke from a nightmare of his bullpen being taken deep.
The moonlight lit up the old '08 trophy, causing it to glow,
Giving the illusion of a night game on the grass down below.
When what to his wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh filled with ballplayers in good cheer.
With his General Manager and ace pitchers in tow,
He knew in a moment it must be Ruben Amaro.
More rapid than the trade deadline, forward they all came,
And he grumbled, and shouted, and called them by name!
"Now, Hamels! Now, Howard! Now, Rollins and Utley!
On, Brown! On, Halladay! On, Papelbon and Lee!
To the top of the National League! To the top of them all!
Now run away! Run away! And play some baseball!"
And then, in a twinkling, Charlie heard, "You The Man!"
From the shouting and cheering of each happy fan.
As he drew in his head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney, Ryan Howard came with a bound.
He was dressed all in pinstripes, from his head to his foot,
Having tossed his old ankle brace, which was tarnished, with ashes and soot.
But he arrived with a smile and Charlie gave him a pat on his back,
Surely the fully healed Achilles would put him right back on track.
Howard spoke many words, and after tightening his shoe lace,
He welcomed Michael Young, who will now man third base.
And with thunderous joy, the fans clapped their hands,
With a few shiny new toys, 2013 is sure to be grand!
Howard then sprang to the sleigh, and to his team gave a call,
"You guys are the best ballplayers of all!"
But Charlie heard him exclaim, as he drove out of sight,
"Happy Holiday's to all and to all a good night!"
"LIKE" us on Facebook for more updates & photos!
Photoshopping and re-wording by Jenn Zambri Photography


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Clip+ memory reading problems and radio noise increases
Hi everyone,
I have a Sansa Clip+ 4GB, a replacement for my earlier one which lost signal in one headphone channel and its clip.
- Problem 1:
When I boot it into Rockbox, it often doesn't seem to recognize the internal memory, as it doesn't find the .rockbox directory and does not find any other files, either. If I then plug in the USB cable it starts to charge, but when I unplug it again it results in a kernel panic.
When I take out the muSD card, the problem is fixed temporarily, even with the card back in, but after a while it picks up again.
In the same "problem phase", under the regular firmware it often can not read the muSD card. When I unplug it after charging, it freezes for a while, before showing the menus or the "media library updating" status bar. A while ago, it also used to freeze for quite a while reading from the muSD card, although not failing completely (so that playback might start after a while, but be interrupted shortly after).
- Problem 2:
When I listen to the radio, the noise increases with time, so the sound goes from crystal clear to unintelligible over the course of half an hour or so. When I retune the radio when it is noisy, that is tune away and then back to the original frequency, I'm back at the beginning with clear sound.
What's the matter? As I listen to the player to fall asleep, it has been uncharged a few times, and also lain on in a sweaty bed.
Kind regards,
Edit: Combined both questions into a single post.
Last edited by Kamiocandy; 08-05-2012 at 04:47 AM.
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I've placed your two threads together. It's one player with multiple problems so there's no sense in multiple threads.
If it's not reading the card properly in either Rockbox or the OF it would seem to be a hardware problem. You could try a different card to see if that's the source of the problem. I wonder if the repeated contact with moisture may be causing an internal problem with corrosion. I'm careful to keep mine dry so I haven't had to check on that before. Someone may have some ideas on how to deal with that possibility.
I've no idea on the radio noise problem. I only use mine long enough to get weather updates and don't have any problems in the ten minutes or so that usually takes. Is that also a problem with both Rockbox and in the sandisk firmware?
BTW if you're reporting a problem with Rockbox it's best to report which build you're using. If it's the release version you'll want to update to a development build. There's always a possibility one of the dozens of updates added since the release fixes your problem.
A Glossary For Newbies Why Rockbox? FLAC or MP3? How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
I'm sorry, I thought that different problems warranted different threads.
Yes, the radio problem doesn't depend on firmware. My Rockbox version is 3.11.2, but they don't seem to be Rockbox problems. I was wondering whether someone knew these specific problems and their origin.
And before you ask, there is no way of outwardly telling which one is inside the player you may currently be holding, so if you're thinking about getting another one and wanting to determine which FM chip is inside beforehand to avoid the issue, forget it.
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text:
Did you read today's front page stories & breaking news?
From the Wires
Operation Homefront Kicks Off Holiday Meals for Military Events
By: PR Newswire
Dec. 7, 2012 10:44 AM
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 7, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Operation Homefront, the national non-profit dedicated to providing emergency financial and other assistance to the families of our nation's military, today kicked off the first of seventeen events taking place across the nation through December 19 to distribute holiday meals to military families.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110623/DC25541LOGO)
The Holiday Meals for Military Program began Thanksgiving 2009 as a result of a chance encounter in a supermarket in Utica, N.Y., near Fort Drum. A soldier, his wife, and infant had a handful of grocery items they could not afford, so a Beam Inc. employee picked up the $12 cost for the groceries. Since that time, the program has grown from initially providing 500 meals kits to military families in 2009 to providing 5,200 this holiday season.
The 5,200 meal kits, which include all the grocery items necessary for a full holiday meal, will be distributed to lower and mid-grade ranking military families, E-1 thru E-6, at seventeen bases nationwide in December 2012, including Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Fort Benning, Ga.; Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Carson, Colo.; Fort Drum, N.Y.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Knox, Ky.; Great Lakes Naval Base, Ill.; and MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.
"Military families are not only dealing with the effects of war, but also the current economic difficulties," said Jim Knotts, President and CEO of Operation Homefront. "So often these families are split up during the holiday season from deployments. This year, we are helping them bring the celebration home, and show that we are thankful for the sacrifices that they have made for our country."
Distributing these meals is an important undertaking that will be carried out in military communities and at local Operation Homefront Field Offices across the nation. For more information on how to volunteer or donate to the cause, please log on to www.HolidayMealsForMilitary.org.
In addition to Beam Inc., sponsors for the program include Chinet, Cargill, Southern Wine & Spirits, Mrs. Smith's®, and Nestle Waters North America, Inc.
About Operation Homefront: A national nonprofit, Operation Homefront leads more than 4,500 volunteers with nationwide presence, and has met more than 590,000 needs of military families since its inception in 2002. A four-star rated charity by watchdog Charity Navigator, nationally, 94 percent of total revenue donated to Operation Homefront goes directly to assist service members. For more information, go to www.OperationHomefront.net.
SOURCE Operation Homefront
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Two generatons of Service men...........both share the same Birthday. My Father turned 80 and our Nephew turned 21 last Sunday. This FANTASTIC weekend spent in West Point, NY would not have been possible without the use of an RV ....... THANK YOU CRUISE AMERICA !!!
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text: I agree with you, but I'm guessing they are doing it because Riddle has a better chance of getting beaten than Fitch. I mean, Riddle could beat Askren, but I really think Fitch would beat Askren (or at least has a much better chance). It's a gamble, but it's more likely for Riddle to lose. If Riddle does beat Askren, at least he'll be slightly more exciting. Something you can't really say with Fitch.


text:
Friday, February 15, 2013 4:31 pm
Obama giving Allen time to decide posting
By DARLENE SUPERVILLEAssociated Press
Allen, just back from a 19-month Afghanistan command, was linked to -- but then cleared of -- a sex scandal that ended David Petraeus' job as CIA director.
Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said Allen wants time with his family.
"We're happy to give him the opportunity to consider what he wants to do next," Earnest said.
He said Obama has a "ton of confidence in Gen. Allen."
Allen's nomination to the top European command was shelved during an investigation into emails Allen exchanged with a woman connected to a Petraeus affair. Allen was cleared.


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Perhaps this Article will help you understand what Christ endured, when he didn't have to and he died in our place.
Perhaps this Article will help you understand what Christ endured, when he didn't have to and he died in our place.
My favorite scripture: Malachi 3:16
"Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name!" (Every time we speak of the Lord, or even THINK of him--its written down in a book of remembrance!)
James is citing that if one is saved they will show forth the new life produced by the new creature who is in and of Christ. Saying you are saved and living like the devil is an evidence of false profession.
For the cause of Christ
Jas 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
They just won't obey.
Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
Amen Roger.Originally Posted by notuptome
Works do not save nor can they keep you saved. We are created in Christ to do good works but the works flow from our salvation not into our salvation. Christ is all sufficient in the matter of salvation. James is citing that if one is saved they will show forth the new life produced by the new creature who is in and of Christ. Saying you are saved and living like the devil is an evidence of false profession.
Faith without works is dead, yet the source of life in our faith is not the works; rather, the life in our faith is the source of the works. Does a dead faith produce good works in order to become a living faith or because it's a living faith? Does a dead tree produce fruit in order to become a living tree or because it's a living tree? What do good works demonstrate about our faith? What does good fruit demonstrate about a tree?
In James 2:19, nobody is questioning the fact that the demons also "believe" that there is "one God" but where in this passage does it say that demons believe or trust in the Savior sent for redemption? The faith of demons is only "mental assent." Their trust and reliance is in Satan, not in Jesus, as demonstrated by their rebellion in heaven and continuous evil works. This is why they do not obey Jesus.
If "water" is arbitrarily defined as baptism, then we could just as justifiably say, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living baptism" in John 7:38. If this sounds ridiculous, it is no more so than the idea that water baptism is the source or the means of becoming born again. Water baptism is not the reality, but is the picture of the reality. Water baptism is not the only "water" mentioned in Scripture. There is a spiritual application to water in Scripture as well: "washing of water by the word,' "washing of regeneration." This is not accomplished by H2O.
Hi there
Umm, a couple things, I had mentioned them before, but it seems they became lost. I am not criticizing anyone, but I think it is important that when someone writes, we actually read it all. My example of what happens is when Roger responded to me telling me that I needed to believe as Romans 10:9-10, 13 after I stated that I believe that anything I have done in my life was not me but Jesus. That is actually Romans 10:3, but I did also state that, " I accepted Jesus into my heart, mind, life, soul, being when I was being raised Catholic and did not know what being born again was." I think perhaps the competition thing is kicking in a bit, my apologies for being honest about the time in my life when I came to realize Jesus is real. I am not here to compete with anyone. I am not competing with anything you believe, and I believe it is evil to boost oneself to raise self over others. This is not what I was doing. I am going through allot in my life, and since I have never really fit in anywhere, I am just trying to find a place where I can sort of fit in at least a little.
I do not believe in ladder society, this is what happens. I donate allot of flights in my airplane to religious functions. Though we never actually talk about anything but flying I like to give the gift of seeing the world from a different perspective especially to young people because it is seeing their joy I look for as my reward. Once I took 3 kids up and we received a call that an airplane had crashed. I asked them if they would like to help in finding it, and since they agreed we headed over and found the airplane. The following week I was at work and the president of the company I work for came over to me and said, "Hey did you hear about that airplane crash?" When I told him I found the airplane he said, "Yea that's terrible, I am glad it was not you but that was the CEO of a company." You can see now why I think if everyone in the world saw eachother as equal with Jesus above us it would be a better place. This equality is why I do not bother competing.
Sorry Roger you said, "You do well to believe these things but so do the demons" as a writer I read this, and as a complete sentence, me being a demon was exactly what you said. Sorry it is basic sentence structure, so being one complete thought per sentence makes me a demon in your eyes. I honestly do not have a problem with people thinking I am evil, about 99% of the people I know judge me harshly so I am very used to it. A few years ago I wrote an article about writers putting how they really are into writing and being able to feel exactly what they say by what they write. I guess it is what it is. Perhaps "I see what you are saying that you do the right thing. So you are aware; demons also say they do good acts." That would separate me from them, but like I said, we write how we feel knowingly or not.
As far as the demon thing I do not believe demons are little monsters sitting on our shoulder. We all have free will, as I realize now, to accept Jesus into us so that he can do the right things in our lives through us, so Jesus can move us. When people hurt eachother again and again they mimic the writings in the Bible about demons and even other stories like vampires where they do not see themselves in the mirror because they are evil. People do not see what they do, they see what everyone else does. I believe that humans can be demons because humans do evil works and do not see it. Even when it is shown to them they continue to do them and reject the fact that when they hurt people or are thoughtless of them again and again, that is evil. I see running a light, changing lanes without seeing the car next to you as mistakes. I also see saying things mistakenly as mistakes. Evil is doing them again and again, or manipulating people over and over, or judging people over and over, these to me anyway are demonic qualities, and humans have these qualities. I am sure if I told the president of my company that I realized he was saying that that CEO had more of a right to live than I did because of his position in society he would have even forgotten what he said altogether to make it right to himself.
I do believe that when we accept Jesus into ourselves, he takes over and we do the right thing because this is what he is doing. I do not remember saying anything about doing good acts, but doing the right things to the best of my ability before I understood that it was not me doing the right thing it was Jesus. I did say however that I understand that anything good I do is what Jesus is doing through me, and that with the help of the wonderful people here I just became aware of this. I also thought it was clear that I was not doing the right thing to open the door of heaven. To clarify this more I wrote something when I was in high school, and I have lived by it. "Lord Jesus, I know you are here with me and all around me. I understand so very little of you, please show me. I want to do the right things to make you happy, and if at the end of my life I have done the wrong thing or the wrong way I will understand my judgment by you. If you decide that I cannot make you happy I will surrender my soul because your happiness is all that matters to me." What I realized was that because Jesus is in my heart, doing the right thing is not my doing it is the work of Jesus. I thought I clearly stated that I now see that it was not me doing good the right thing, being faithful to my wife for over 24 years, and that it was actually Jesus that gets the credit. I am so totally good with that!
That should, again, clarify that I believe as it is written in all of Romans and not just 2 verses. I am sorry if Jesus did actually show me more, and I am also sorry that you might think I am competing, I could care less about competition. That is probably why I have never gotten into sports of any kind.
I also now understand about being baptized, God commands us to be baptized and with this we are doing what we are told. Since we are all children I have to agree that we need to be guided, all of us. God told us we need to be baptized of water so we must be baptized of water. Even if we do not know the reason in it's entirety, we must be baptized because we are told to. Thanks for the info I thought it was about symbolism to make it real for us, but as a commandment we need not understand it, we simply must do it.
Jesus was born a man on earth, but He was never born as an angel in heaven. He has always existed.Is my thought on this wrong that Jesus was born like an Angel and then born on Earth?
I believe that being born of water is the physical birth, and born of the Spirit is a spiritual birth. Being born of the Spirit is the second birth or being born again. The Spirit is the Holy Spirit. Why do we need to born of the Spirit? Because we all were dead spiritually because of our sins. Ephesians 2:1 says that Jesus quickens us (makes us alive) even when we are dead in our sins.Is Jesus telling us that to be born of water is that your born here on Earth, and born of spirit means that you have died?
When Paul says dead in our sins, he did not mean dead physically, he meant dead spiritually. To be spiritually dead means that we were cut off and separated from God, just as being physically dead means that we are separated from our body. So we were cut off and separated from God, and through the Grace of Christ we are brought back to God. In John 17:3, Jesus defines "eternal life" as knowing the Father and the One that He sent, ( Jesus). The word "know" means to know in a personal way, to have an intimate relationship with God. So we are born spiritually when we repent, ( turn to God from our sins ), ask God to forgive us, and trust Jesus who died for us and rose again. At this point we are born again or born from above and we become a new creation.
2 Corinthians 5:17- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
The old man, ( who we were before we believed), dies, and we become a new person, forgiven, set free, adopted into God's family, and on our way to heaven. We become new people because Jesus comes to live in us through the Holy Spirit. We receive the Holy Spirit when we come to God for forgiveness and new life through faith in Christ.
We are not born again when we die physically, we are born again when we come to God, trusting Jesus for salvation, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.This last part leads to my actual question. Is Jesus saying that things are so complex then when we die we are going to be as if we are born again, like babies, in need of Jesus to literally raise us in a place beyond this one?
Acts 20:21- testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
A good example of the New Birth is found in Acts 9, with the conversion of Saul, ( who became Paul).
1 John 1:7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
2 Corinthians 7:1- Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
"My heart was once hard and dark. Then God turned on the Light and the Water."
Thank you, I am aware of that now. We are born again and because of this Jesus rules our lives, therefore we do the right things because it is Jesus doing the right things through us. Without being born again of spirit we could never do the right things because only Jesus can do the right things in our lives.
Oh, also I did not say that what I read was that Jesus was born in heaven as an angel. I was making a humanly simplistic comparison that like angels Jesus was born in Heaven and descended to Earth, as like to ask if it was that God created Jesus and sent Jesus to save us and to teach us. Sorry for that misunderstanding.
John 10: 27 = ( Jesus said) ...My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. 30 I and My Father are one."
Romans 8: 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.
God Bless.
1 John 1:7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
2 Corinthians 7:1- Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
"My heart was once hard and dark. Then God turned on the Light and the Water."
1 John 1:7- But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
2 Corinthians 7:1- Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
"My heart was once hard and dark. Then God turned on the Light and the Water."
For the cause of Christ
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Nov. 2, 2006
The Yale women's fencing team is poised to improve on last year's 8-6 regular season record. It will certainly miss Carly Guss '06 but can expect strong performances from a group of six freshmen. The sabre team will likely see the most improvement of any of the squads from last year. The Bulldogs will rely on the epee squad to set the tone.
The epee squad boasts the most experience of any of the three weapons. Seniors Anne Nguyen and Tejas Srinivas return to lead the way. Nguyen placed 23rd in the region last season and Srinivas took 20th. They will look for support from junior Eugenia Poland and sophomore Abigail Freeman.
The team has extremely high hopes for freshman Rebecca Moss, who tied for third in foil in the 2006 Junior Olympics. She will be a major strength of the epee squad and the entire Bulldog team.
Senior captain Alisa Mendelsohn will lead the foil squad. The team's strongest returning competitor is junior Diana Schawlowski. Schawlowski placed in the top 16 at last year's IFA's in Philadelphia, making her Yale's highest foil finisher. Newcomer, freshman Lidia Gocheva, will likely round out the Bulldogs' starting three. And sophomore Jennifer Cohen will add much needed depth.
Three freshmen additions -- Katherine Arden, Jennifer Ivers, and Farrah Kimovec -- make the sabre squad the most likely to show improvement. Senior Genevieve Tauxe and junior Umi-shakti Ausar-Sahu return to lend experience. The squad's strongest returner, however, is junior Erin Frey, who placed 16th in the region last season. It will be tough, however, to compensate for the loss of national qualifier Carly Guss '06.
Report filed by Nicholas Thorne '08, Yale Sports Publicity


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Question about 2000 Bimota SB8R Special
Hey all well I wanted to give you guys an update. I got a new back tire on today. I did plug the rear. It held fine but in the back of my head it worried me that I had a plug in it. Pluse my girl told me to replace it or she wouldn't ride with me anymore. So I had to do it. The shop also fixed my rear brake today. They said it was air in the line. Anyway I'm in the USA in VA and the high temp here is 70F Low temp is 40F. I have noticed that the bike is runining alot better with the cooler temp. I mean I had a problem with it jerking alot and now it is really smooth. Has anyone else noticed this?
SOURCE: I have freestanding Series 8 dishwasher. Lately during the filling cycle water hammer is occurring. How can this be resolved
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By Peter Becker
Managing Editor
Employees of Pike County Advanced Life Support (ALS) have asked the Palmyra Township Supervisors to designate Pike ALS as the primary ALS provider, in light of what they view as competition.
They expressed concerns that they are being eclipsed by the growing presence of Atlantic Health System, a New Jersey - based company operating in Pike.
At the Supervisors' meeting, Jan. 22, Michael J. Scovil, Clinical Coordinator with Atlantic Ambulance Paramedics, gave a quick overview of their operations. He said he was there to simply introduce themselves to the Supervisors. The Pike ALS people, in the audience, shared their concerns afterward; the Atlantic Ambulance representatives had already exited the meeting.
Scovil stated that Atlantic Health System opened the urgent care facility in Milford about two and a half years ago. They had three vehicles at this location. One of their ALS trucks was relocated to Blooming Grove Township, where it operates from near the entrance to Hemlock Farms.
He said that they have already responded a couple times to Palmyra Township (Pike). He said they are dispatched by the Pike County Communications Center- by way of the 911 system, depending on the criteria of the call. He stated that they serve Blooming Grove Township and portions of Lackawaxen and Greene townships.
A license is pending for a medic helicopter, which would be based in northern New Jersey. Atlantic has owned Newton Medical Center for about a year and a half, he stated.
Afterward, Jeanie Hartzell shared her thoughts to the Supervisors. She said later that she was speaking as a private resident, although she is an employee with Pike County ALS.
She asked that the Township would designate Pike ALS as their paramedic provider. Pike ALS has a station in the Township, off Route 6. Hartzell commented that Atlantic, which is a big corporation, is likened it to "a Home Depot opening by Gumbles."
She explained that Pike ALS struggles to keep going, and pay its employees. She added that Pike ALS was able to respond quicker to local emergencies.
Supervisor Ken Coutts replied that the Township needed all the facts, including the figures and costs. "We need to decide what is best for the residents," Coutts said.
Douglas Carrick told the Supervisors that Pike County had not upgraded to use GPS coordinates to track the closest emergency medical service to respond to an incident. Chairman Tom Simon replied that the Supervisors would investigate the concerns about dispatching.
Messages left for Michael J. Scovil, for additional comment for this story, had not yet been returned.


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COVINGTON, Ohio — Authorities say two motorists were injured and six horses killed in a series of crashes after the horses got loose from a western Ohio farm.
WHIO-TV reports that Miami County authorities say as many as 20 horses were still at large today. Three had been captured and one injured.
Miami County sheriff's deputies say there were at least five separate crashes, the first one at about 3:30 a.m. Two drivers were taken to a hospital and are expected to recover.
Deputies are warning motorists in the area around Covington, north of Dayton, to be alert for roaming horses.
WHIO reports that the horses came from a family farm, possibly getting through a hole in a fence. A phone message left for the farm owner wasn't immediately returned.


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0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
... at least if they weren't confident in their own abilities, they didn't operate on you. Would you really want someone who had concerns about their skill in getting your safely through operating?
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- Employment:
- I run LIZAL, Inc.
- Industry:
- Other
- How many hours I work:
- More than 40 hours a week
- How much I like my job:
- I love it
- How stressful I find my job:
- Pretty stressful
- Best thing about my job:
- I can do it from any where in the world at any time.
- Worst thing about my job:
- I have to travel a lot and usually my work day starts at night due to time differences with Asia.
- My dream job:
- I would like to have my business pretty much running itself, so I could form a Non-Profit Organization that collects and donates shoes to homeless shelters and orphanages.
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The uneven qualifying format for the Asian Cup is generating debate around the region, with doubts raised about giving the continent's best teams a bye while denying smaller nations a chance to learn from playing against their more accomplished neighbors.
This week's preliminary qualifying draw for the 2015 Asian Cup did not include the top nations — they are given passage through to the final tournament — while the smaller countries were locked out. That removed the kind of David versus Goliath clashes that can clutter European qualifying for major tournaments, but which can also provide the occasional upset result.
Only 20 of the Asian Football Confederation's 47 members came out of the hat in Melbourne in the qualifying draw.
As usual, the hosts do not have to qualify. In this case, it is Australia, although the Socceroos would not have had to qualify, anyway, after reaching the final of last year's edition.
Defending champions Japan and South Korea have also been given a bye thanks to their performances at last year's tournament.
It is more streamlined, but it does not sit well with everyone.
Thailand coach Winfried Schaefer, who saw his team drawn in a tough group with Iran, Kuwait and Lebanon, is among those who prefer a system where all of the confederation members enter the same qualifying tournament.
"It should be like Europe," Schaefer said. "Why can Japan and [South] Korea go directly? At Euro 2012, Poland and Ukraine were the hosts, but Italy, England and Germany had to qualify."
"It is good for us to play good teams — even if we have Korea and Japan in the same group," he said. "That is okay, that is football. Korea and Japan should have to earn their place at the Asian Cup just like everyone else."
South Korea, two-time continental champions, can plan more high-profile and lucrative friendlies, rather than qualifying for the Asian Cup, which takes place just six months after the 2014 World Cup.
"Generally, it has pros and cons," said Park Yong-soo, head of Planning and Management at the Korea Football Association.
"If you look ahead to the 2014 World Cup, the host Brazil suffers in its FIFA rankings because it can't play competitive games. Overall though, for us, not participating in Asian Cup qualification gives us the chance to play friendly games against stronger nations all around the world," he said.
"We can even take part in some tournaments. Of course, the level of the teams in Asia is improving all the time ... but when we can, we want to play teams that are stronger than us and this gives us a broader perspective," Park said.
For the lower-ranked teams in the confederation, their only route to the Asian Cup is by winning the AFC Challenge Cup, held every two years. India and North Korea won the 2008 and 2010 tournaments respectively to qualify for last year's Asian Cup.
North Korea have already qualified for 2015 after winning this year's AFC Challenge Cup, leaving the rest of Asia's lower-ranked teams focusing on the 2014 tournament.
Nonong Araneta, president of the Philippine Football Federation, said he accepted the three-tier qualifying system and his nation's place in the lowest tier.
"We are prepared to play any team as we are finding ways to improve," he said.
"This week, we are in Bahrain to play a friendly and then we go to Kuwait, and these are difficult games," Araneta said "At the moment, we are at the highest ever FIFA ranking [No. 147] behind Vietnam [No. 140] and Thailand [No. 139] in southeast Asia and we are climbing step by step."
"Perhaps the next time, we will be in the top 20 ranked teams in Asia, but at the moment, we are happy to try and qualify through the AFC Challenge Cup, it is a good opportunity for us."


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Another game is going back to its roots. After a ton of copy pasted Lara Croft Tomb Raider games, EIDOS decided to change the (dull) game concept and return to the original one. The game is almost finished, and it should be launched June 5th (this year).
Based on the TR:Legend engine, the new TR game should offer best from the first and last game. This means that you will enjoy in beautiful scenery while using your brain to try to find a way out.
The first Lara game was a smashing hit and it sold in over seven million copies. The mind boggling puzzles, and constant action was the key to a success. EIDOS has abandoned the mind boggling part in all the other installments turning the Tomb Raider game into a rather dull platform game. A lot of games today are going back to their roots. For instance Test Drive: Unlimited, Settlers 10th anniversary edition, and Sam&Max (old school adventure in 3D).


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Clickslide Datadipity API - Comments
Datadipity allows users to combine APIs from multiple sources into a ready-to-use JSON API which can be used with any Javascript Library. It also creates an XML API endpoint with the mashup for connecting to app servers. Datadipity can integrate any API into the system with a simple form based tool. Users have the ability to restructure APIs as they please, allowing them to unify multiple APIs into a standardized format. Mashups or restructured APIs can be published for others to see or kept private.


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Kids will probably chuckle if you tell them blueberries are a superfood, especially boys conjuring up images of Superman. While they can't make them fly, rest assured this is one fruit you want your little ones to become best friends with for life.
Superfoods are considered to be rich in antioxidants. Nutrients naturally occurring in certain foods are categorized as antioxidants and help prevent and repair cell damage caused by free-radicals, basically the by-product of our bodies using oxygen. Adults are often told how important it is to eat a diet rich in antioxidants, but what about children?
In short, the answer is yes, you should make sure your kids get their fair share, and blueberries are a great way to meet their daily needs. They're rich in Vitamin C and packed with potassium. Right now the deep bluish-purple berries are flowing into farmers' markets, and make for delicious eating all on their own. Fill a reusable container with some for long trips and strolls for a healthy, naturally sweet snack.
Some fun and favorite recipes featuring blueberries:
Old-Fashioned Blueberry Cake from 101 Cookbooks
Lemon Blueberry Muffins from In Jennie's Kitchen


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Difference between revisions of "Khachmaz"
Revision as of 10:41, 28 January 2008
Khachmaz is a major city in Northeastern Azerbaijan's Khachmaz region. It is located about 10km from the Caspian Sea, below Khudat, and to the east of Quba. It is located at 41-28N, 48-48E at an elevation of 27m.
The most northeastern region of Azerbaijan, Xaçmaz (or Khachmaz/Khachmas) is sandwiched between the Caucasus Mountains in Quba and Quzar (Gusar), regions to the west, and the Caspian Sea to the east. The southern border greets Devechi and the region stretches north to Russia. Khachmas city is located toward the bottom third of the region. It is about 10km from the Caspian Sea and the border to Devechi. About half that distance to the Quba border to Khachmaz's west. It is substantially greater distance to the northern border.
Khachmaz is one of the most ancient regions of Azerbaijan. The antiquity of the city is evidenced by its wealth of cultural and historical monuments. The region was densely inhabited in the earliest times of human history and settlements, mounds, and barrows of the Bronze Age have been found throughout the region. Throughout its long history, Khachmaz has been a part of the Caucasian kingdom of Albania, the Shirvanshahlar state, and the Quba Khanate.
In 1810 the Quba Khanate was liquidated and, according to "Gulustan Treaty " in 1813 between Russia and Persia, all khanates of Northern Azerbaijan were occupied by Russia except the Talysh, Nakhchivan, and Irevan Khanates (they were occupied by Russia later after signing Turkmenchay Treaty with Persia in 1828, which divided the territory of Azerbaijan and its people into two parts).
The climate is generally moderate to warm, subtropical, and semiarid steppe. Khachmaz sees an average yearly precipitation of 300-350 mm and average temperatures of 25-35 °C in July and 1-2 °C in January.
Get in
By taxi
The fastest transport between Baku and Khachmaz is by taxi. It takes two (2) hours. Going via Lada from Baku to Khachmaz costs 4-5 AZN per seat (4 persons) and going via by Mercedes costs 5 AZN per seat. To take a cab by yourself, expect to pay around 20 AZN.
By bus or marshrutka
Buses and marshrutkas depart from Shamakhinka bus station in Baku every hour starting at 8AM. Buses and marshrutkas are a comfortable option, but take longer than taxis. The trip from Baku to Khachmaz takes 3 hours via bus and costs 3 AZN. The marshrutkas or minibuses usually depart every half an hour starting at 8 in the morning. It takes 2.5-3 hours to get to Khachmaz.
By train
There is an electric train service that runs between Baku and Khachmaz. The price of the ticket is 0.60 qepik (coins). The train leaves Baku at 8AM. The night train Baku-Yalama costs 0.60 qepik and leaves Baku at 8PM.
Get around
Taxis are quite convenient if you know where you want to go within the city. The are many taxis in Khachmaz. Service within the town generally costs just 1 AZN.
The Khachmaz region is very rich with monuments of history, culture and architecture. Some of the most significant are Sarkartapa, the ancient city-fortress Khudat, a fourth century Albanian mosque, the sixteenth century mosque-madrasa of Shah Abbas of XV-XVI centuries in Garaqurtlu, a village in Khachmaz, ancient settlements and the barrows of the Bronze Age, the famous "Iron gate" of Derbent fortress becoming a symbol of its inaccessibility. The fortifications "Baba-al-Abvat" were constructed in VIII-VII centuries B.C and protected from invasion the northern boundaries of Azerbaijan. Today Khachmaz borders with Russia here. In the village of Shykhlar the tourists can see the earliest monument of the mausoleum of the Middle ages- a mosque of Sheikh Yusif ( XV century ). At the top of the mountain Galadag the ruins of Gaurgala fortress have been kept.
Historic sites
This mosque dates back to the III-IV centuries and the kingdom of Albania. There is a similar mosque in Qabala, which served as the capital of Albania for centuries.
The Bronze Age Sarkartapa monument outside Khachmaz (also called Sarkar gishlaghy "Sarkar winter camp") is an important and particularly fruitful archaeological site.
The early medieval Bostanly Village is one of the more interesting places for Khachmaz visitors. There is a hill 20-25 meters high called "Maidens' Hill" and very close to this monument there is another interesting place called the "Seven sisters" tombs, covered with Arabic manuscripts. If you dive deep enough, you may be treated to some of the many legends about the seven sisters preserved in the local folklore. Numerous archaeological findings from Bostanly are displayed at the Regional Ethnography Museum.
Khudat (meaning Charisma) was the capital of the Quba Khanate in early eighteenth century. Following Fatali-Khan's move from Khudat to Quba in 1735, the city lost its importance and turned into ruins.
This Mosque is one of the earliest monuments in the mausoleum style widely used throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries that has been preserved in the nearby village of Shikhlar. Sheikh Yusif, an outstanding scientist-philosopher of his day, was buried along with his wife and son and four of his followers in this mosque.
8,739 Khachmaz residents fought in WWII for the Red Army and some 2,800 of them perished. This museum also remembers 230 people who died in the ethnic conflict with Armenia during the early 1990s.
This is the obligatory personality cult shrine to independent Azerbaijan's first ruler.
This open sky museum is one of the most pleasant places in Khachmaz, located as it is in a nice park filled with fountains and numerous statues of prominent Azeris.
Carpet museum is also one of the wonderful places to have a look. Despite it's recent founding, there are many ancient carpets in the museum along with carpet weaving tools like ( kargyla, khava,qyr, scissors etc) interesting carpet designs, dolls dressed in ancient national style, picture gallery and other interesting exhibits. Both of the Museums ( Fighting's Glory Museum and Carpet Museum) are located in the Park of Culture and Rest.
A rather nice park with green trees, flowers, fountains, lights, cafes, and tea-houses. The Heydar Aliyev Museum, the Khazar Cinema-Club, and the Chess school are all located in this park.
This park is full of statues of different animals, artificial ponds stocked with colorful fish, rivers, and fountains full of green frogs (both artificial and live). Some people call this place the Zoo Park due to its zoological theme. One of the favorite places of the local children is the "Café Cirtdan-Dwarf." The Veterans Museum, Carpet Museum, Post Office, and several cafes are located within the park.
Cultural Centres and other places to see
The House of Culture Music School Youth Sport Complex Club of Railwaymen Chess School Mosques Church (Russian) The Entertaining Centers Football stadium Khazar Cinema Club Central Library Children's Rest and Amusements Center Carpet Plant Old tradition of carpet weaving still is flourishing in the Khachmaz region and local carpet masters successfully continue its further development. Their artwork products always give a plentiful material for researchers as well as for creative adaptation and usage in various related branches of culture. Vocational School Railway Station Gulalan Reserve Modular Power Station Khachmaz modular type power station produces on average 1,6-1,8 mln kw/hour of electricity daily. All 10 generators of the station have been connected to the network in December, this year. Having produced 1,607 megawatt electricity on the first day, the modular station raised the output up to 1,821 megawatts two days later on December 10. 35-40 megawatts and 45-50 megawatts of the electricity produced in this power station is diverted via electro conductive lines to Quba-Qusar and Khachmaz-Davachy regions respectively to supply a need of residents. Source: www.azregionaldevelopment.org
Qafqaz Tinned Food Factory As the continuation of the policy - meeting consumers needs on the top level according to strategical activity program of "Azersun Holding" in Xachmaz region of Azerbaijan Republic "Qafqaz Konserv Zavodu", began operation on 12.09.2003. The whole volume of total capital investment of "Qafqaz Konserv Zavodu" increased to roughly 17 million dollars. "Qafqaz Konserv Zavodu" holds the power of processing 30-32 thousand tons fruit and vegetable and 6 thousand tons meat in a season. It works as the buyer of the agricultural products of the northern region of the Country. Tomato paste, tomato puree, green pea, cucumber and cayenne pickles, eggplant caviar, different meat and vegetable tins are produced at the Cannery. 50-60% of products is sold inside the country, the other part is exported. Source: www.azersunholding.com
Most consumer goods are available throughout Khachmaz and in larger quantities than many of Azerbaijan's smaller cities. The Bazaar carries most goods at very affordable prices (though quality may be suspect - typical for Azerbaijan) and some craftsmen are available.
Below is a list of Khachmas restaurants and cafés.
This is a list of restaurants and cafés near Khachmas city
In Khachmaz like most towns and cities in Azerbaijan, a Çay Xana (a tea house) is easy to find. In summers, cold beer is easy is also easily accessible. Some places will serve instant coffees.
Məkan: Only serves beer and chickpeas, but the beer is cold and the service is good - which can be hard to find.
Stay safe
All hospitals either state or private are located in the city center.
Be sure to carry a valid passport or ID when traveling in the northeast regions of Azerbaijan. It is common for police to stop foreign travelers and ask for identification. If you do not have an ID handy, you are susceptible to bribery.
Emergency Contact Numbers
Get out
By taxi: The are 2 (two) Auto Stations in Khachmaz city. First one is Minibus station from where you can get out mainly to Baku and other cities. There you can get different kinds of cars The price to Baku will be around 5 AZN for a shared cab.
marshrutka (vans) and bus: The are 2 (two) Auto Stations in Khachmaz city. First one is Minibus station from where you can get out mainly to Baku and other cities. There you can get a marshrutka for 3-5 AZN. The telephone number is: 050 471 65 25. The second one services the transport mainly to the villages of the city. The prices are different depending on the distance from city. Weekends buses can be harder to come by and can cost more than the usual 3 AZN.
By train: The Railway Station is located very close to the city center. There is an electric and night train service that runs between Baku and Khachmaz. The first one leaves Khachmaz at 08.00 AM and the second one at 05.45 PM. The price is 0,60 qepik.
* Xaçmaz – Çarxı (distance 11 KM). scheduled times 09:00; 13:00; 15:00. cost 0,30. * Xaçmaz-Tikanoba (distance 21 KM). scheduled times 07:00; 13:00. cost 0,50. * Xaçmaz-Aşağızeyid (distance 18 KM). scheduled times 9:00; 13:00. cost 0,50. * XaçmazNağıoba (distance 23 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,60. * Xaçmaz-Qıraqlı (distance 23 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,60. * Xaçmaz-Əhmədoba (distance 18 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,50. * Xaçmaz-Xəzərli (distance 22 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,60. * Xaçmaz-İnqilab (distance 23 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,60. * Xaçmaz-Alekseyevka (distance 15 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,40. * Xaçmaz-Xudat (distance 21 KM). scheduled times 7:00 and bus leaves every 20 minutes after the hour. cost 0.50. * Xaçmaz-Nabran (distance 25 KM). scheduled times 8:00 and bus leaves every hour. cost 0,60. * Xaçmaz-Yalama (distance 23 KM). scheduled times 7:00; 13:00. cost 0,60.


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In one of popular music's most sublime ironies The Kingston Trio with their polished harmonies, conservative matching stage attire, and milquetoast clean-cut image turned a true 19th century story about lascivious promiscuity and murder into a chart-topping hit that briefly changed the economic trajectory of folk music.
Just before the trio's first album was recorded they had heard the song "Tom Dooley" for the first time during an afternoon audition at the Purple Onion, a San Francisco folk club. They don't remember who performed it but it was the version first published in Alan Lomax's 1947 songbook "Folk Songs USA" that had been collected by musicologist Frank Warner who introduced it to the folk world at a concert in New York City in the 1940's. Warner's rendition was later adapted and arranged for publication by Charles & Ruth Seeger. The trio recorded this arrangement for their album.
Capital Records originally didn't release any singles from the album and the song's success was not the result of any kind of pre-planned commercial marketing strategy on the part of Capital Records. Rather it was word-of-mouth (ie. the folk process) that brought the song to a wider audience and commercial success. At their concert performances the trio would sell copies of the album. After a show at the 'Hungry i' in San Francisco a record store owner from Salt Lake City took a bunch of copies to sell in her family-owned record store. A Salt Lake City DJ purchased a copy and played "Tom Dooley" repeatedly on his show. He sent copies to DJ friends in Boston and Miami who also played the tune and soon enough other stations picked it up and as the album's sales increased Capital Records eventually released that song as a single. It reached #1 on the charts just before Christmas and won a Grammy for "Best Country & Western Vocal Performance of 1958" much to the chagrin of real Country & Western performers. The album stayed on the charts for four years and even inspired a Hollywood movie, "The Legend of Tom Dooley" starring Michael Landon.
The folktale "Tom Dula" has a long history and is found in many forms throughout the south; in oral and written prose, poems, and in ballads. It can be entitled "Tom Dula" or "Tom Dooley" or "The Death of Laura Foster." The story is simple: Tom murders his girlfriend Laura and runs away only to be caught by a sheriff named Grayson. He is convicted and is to be hanged. Most versions are told from the perspective of the murderer who admits his deed and laments his fate on the night before his execution. In some versions the murderer laments his fate while playing his banjo. In a few versions the murderer points to drink and women (of course!) as the source of his ruin.
The actual events surrounding Tom Dula and Laura Foster took place in 1866. They were recorded in the court records and by tabloid journalists who traveled all the way from cities in the north to cover the steamy and tragic story as it unfolded in the courtroom. Folklorist John Foster West used the court records, newspaper stories, historic documents (such as military records and county census information), oral histories, and the folklore record (songs, poems, and narratives) to separate out the facts from the fiction as best as he could. This is the story:
On Friday May 25, 1866 Laura Foster left her home in Caldwell County North Carolina on her father's horse and was never seen alive again. A few weeks later a drunken Pauline Foster (probably no relation to Laura) told others that she and Tom Dula had killed Laura. As this revelation spread throughout the county Dula disappeared. He went to Johnson County, Tennessee using the name of Hall and got a job working briefly on Col. James Grayson's farm. While he was gone the Caldwell County Sheriff began questioning Pauline who denied involvement but implicated Dula and Ann Foster Melton. A warrant was issued and the Sheriff sent two deputies on the trail of Dula. They eventually made contact with Col. Grayson who helped them overtake the fugitive. The deputies returned with him to the Wilkesboro Jail and in early September as Dula sat in jail, Laura's body was found buried near his home. She had been stabbed. With Pauline as the State's key witness Dula and Melton were indicted. Tom had two trials and was defended by Zebulon Vance the ex-Governor of North Carolina who provided his services pro bono, perhaps because Tom had been a Confederate soldier. He was convicted anyway and sentenced to hang. The night before his execution on May 1, 1868, he wrote out a confession that exonerated Ann Foster Melton. At her trial the following fall Ann was found innocent.
Tom had been a Confederate soldier since age 17. He was 22 years old in 1866 when he returned home to Reedy Branch in the hill country above the Yadkin River near the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. His family was not land-owning gentry of the fertile valley. They were hill people, the folks who worked the land owned by the gentry; "hillbillies" to outsiders. They were poor, unschooled, hardscrabble laborers, scratching a living from their homestead gardens or as tenant farmers, and from whatever work they could do for their well-off neighbors in the valley. When Tom returned home, he returned to all of this and to the loving embrace of Ann Foster Melton.
Ann and Tom had begun their affair when they were 14 or 15 years old. Ann was married at the time to James Melton, an older man, apparently a cobbler and a pretty handy worker who was relatively well off for a hill person. Ann was still married to James when Tom returned from war. They picked up where they left off romantically and James looked the other way…literally. Court testimony detailed how all three shared the same bedroom. And just as Ann's long-term relationship with husband James didn't keep her away from Tom, Dula's long-term relationship with his lover Ann didn't stop him from becoming involved with Ann's cousin, Pauline Foster.
Pauline had moved to Reedy Branch in
1866 to work for James and Ann to earn money. She needed to pay for medicine to
treat her case of syphilis. She admitted on the witness stand that she had
sexual relations "on occasion" with Tom. On the witness stand Ann's
brother also admitted to having sex with Pauline. Along with her promiscuity,
the court record also revealed her alcoholism. Meanwhile, the big city tabloids
were marveling at (and embellishing!) the depravity of these back wood's
hillbillies. As one 'journalist' reported (without any real factual evidence):
""Pauline….is remarkable for nothing but debasement, and may be dismissed with the statement that she has since married a white man and given birth to a Negro child!"
So who was the murder victim Laura Foster? Possibly she's related to Pauline and Ann in some way but the record isn't clear on that. The court record and the tabloid coverage established that she lived 5 miles away in German's Hill and was 22 years old. The folklore presents her as sweet, young, and virtuous, but the documentary evidence suggests that she was of "easy virtue." On the witness stand Laura's father Wilson Foster described how he had caught Tom and his daughter in bed "on one or two occasions." Others also testified to having "intimate relations" with her. The local doctor testified that he treated Tom for syphilis and that Tom told him that he got it from Laura Foster.
Pauline and others testified that Tom
said that he was going to kill Laura because of the infection. Pauline also
testified that Ann Melton wanted to kill Laura, although it wasn't clear
whether it was because of the venereal disease or out of jealousy. By the end
of the trial the evidence showed that all the individuals involved were
promiscuously involved and infected (at one point a witness blurts out "yes,
we all have the pox!") but it was unclear about who infected who. In the
end Laura was murdered, perhaps a scapegoat, perhaps out of jealousy, either by
Tom Dula alone or with Ann Melton's assistance. Laura is buried in German's
Hill. Her gravestone is still there.
The evidence against Dula was purely circumstantial and hearsay. The prosecution's key witness against him was Pauline; clearly alcoholic, possibly infected by Tom, and not very reliable or sympathetic. He was convicted anyway and was hanged in Statesville. He stood on a cart that was pulled out from under him, and died suspended from the makeshift cross beam placed between two uprights. His family claimed his body and took him to Elksville, North Carolina for burial. There's a monument along the old Lenoir-Wilkesboro Road that supposedly marks his grave. It's been heavily vandalized and on it the date of his death is incorrect. But that's all okay. His real and lasting monument is a song that made it to #1 on the Hit Parade.
Source: "The Ballad of Tom Dula" by John Foster West. Published by Parkway Publishers, Boone, North Carolina. 2002.
On American Pastimes: Versions by the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Frank Warner, Paul Clayton, the Kingston Trio, and Snakefarm.


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Sam Houston (10-8, 5-2) rallied from six points down with 10:16 to play to tie the game 53-53 with 2:56 to play and outscore the Roadrunners 14-2 in the final two-and-a-half minutes.
UTSA (7-12, 3-3) was led by Kamra King with 13 points. The Roadrunners had more success at the free throw line than from the field as UTSA was 24-of-30 from the charity stripe (80 percent) and only 14-of-53 from the field (26.4 percent).
Sam Houston out-rebounded UTSA 46-43 and outscored the Roadrunners in the paint 24-16.
UTSA did not score its first field goal until the 10th minute of the contest on a layup by Judy Jones. But the Roadrunners, down by 10 13-3 early, roared back to take a 24-23 lead at intermission.
The victory marked only the second time this season that the Bearkats have trailed at halftime and come back to win the contest.
The Bearkats, who hit 20-of-59 from the field (33.9 percent) and 20-of-31 from the line (64.5 percent), also received nine points apiece by Jasmine Johnson and Jasmin Wiley.
Khamra Echols started the Kats' 14-2 run in the final 2:39 with a three-pointer.


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Kingdom Come
Taking on the likes of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is no easy task, but EA, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games think they've got the necessary mojo to move the metaphorical mountain and dethrone the current king of big-budget RPGs.
We had a chance to sit down with Lead Designer Ian Frazier to talk about the team's star power, creating new IP, and why Reckoning will be a definitive experience for role-playing fanatics:
EGM: You've joined quite the star-studded project in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. We know about some of the big names attached to this game, but what's your specific background?
Ian Frazier: I came out of the mod world, doing mods for Dungeon Siege and a few other things. Then I moved to Iron Lore Entertainment, where I was a level designer for the Titan Quest series. Then I was lead designer on Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War—Soulstorm. Then I came to Big Huge, where I've been working on various incarnations of RPGs that eventually became this project.
"Various incarnations," eh? That sounds interesting. Can you tell us anything more about that?
I can't say a whole lot, but the short version is that, once upon a time, we knew we wanted to make an RPG that had action combat in it. We started building out that game while we were owned by THQ, and over time, we established the engine and a lot of the guts to be able to make a game like that. But the game wasn't done, and ultimately, THQ decided to let go of Big Huge. We were then acquired by 38 Studios, where we kept the core technology we had built but completely took a new direction and put it into the world of Amalur.
In a weird way, it feels almost like we're making a sequel, because we built so much technology before we started this. But that makes it easier.
So what's it been like to graft this project on to a brand-new franchise like Reckoning?
It hasn't been hard at all. We had a lot of things in the same vein as what the folks at 38 were interested in doing. One of the first things we did was to take some characters from their MMO and put them directly into our engine. They saw how well it fit in to some of the things we're doing here, and they got really excited. That foundation we'd built was extremely well-suited to building within their universe.
How will you get players who don't know anything about this world excited about jumping in?
It's tricky with any new franchise, and ours has an extra challenge, because there's an MMO in development as well. The big thing for us has been showing what about this particular game is good and why you'd want to buy it. We're trying to show our combat, our colorful art style—just the sheer size of the world. If we do that—if we get people more excited about the game itself—I think that will naturally lead into more interest in the property.
You've got such an all-star team: former athlete and 38 Studios owner Curt Schilling, veteran RPG designer Ken Rolston, author R.A. Salvatore, and artist Todd McFarlane. What have they brought to the project? Has it been easy to integrate their contributions?
Honestly, I came into the acquisition and thought, "Um, I dunno, that's a lot of big names…it sounds like this might be bad." But I've been pleasantly surprised.
R.A. Salvatore, his big thing is that he wrote a 10,000-year story bible. So, before we even started building into what Reckoning is, we had this massive framework of narrative over the course of a very large stretch of time. It's been incredibly valuable, because we're not pulling things out of our butts on a daily basis. It helps our concept artists, our environment teams, and our enemy designers to root things in a world that feels believable.
Todd's involvement has been all over the place, but his biggest focus has been animation. He's given a lot of advice to punch up a sense of drama. If you've seen our demos, there's a lot of pauses and slowdown moments—extra little bits of flair. Those very small details come from Todd's feedback. A lot of Todd's thing is, "Make it more awesome!"
The one point where we do occasionally see a conflict between them is during the traditional artist-versus-designer debate, where the artist says, "Let's make this look awesome" and the designer says, "Let's make this make sense." We try to find compromises that do both.
Meanwhile, Ken Rolston's been doing RPGs for 26 years, from the tabletop era to today. His big thing is the "I don't give a crap about your design" player. As designers, we tend to focus on a cool story or quest or combo we want you to use. What Ken consistently reminds us is that a lot of players don't care. Even if you wrote the best story in the world, they may just not want to play that story; they may want to deliberately screw it up. Ken reminds us to do the little things to make that player happy.
You mentioned Ken's tabletop background. In the case of those pen-and-paper RPGs, you have a dungeon master right there on the table to adapt to the choices the players make. Is that something you're keeping in mind?
I think there's certainly a thread of that. For Ken, that's very literally his background. I actually DM for a crew of our level designers, and the way we've built those campaigns definitely feeds into the way we've built Reckoning, especially the Destiny system—our class system. It stems from the core RPG problem of choosing a character class before you have any idea what you're doing. For Ken, that's been an annoyance for a quarter of a century.
Some of the unique items in Reckoning are actually based on the characters and events in our D&D campaign. We wondered if it was professional to do that until we found out that the character Minsc from Baldur's Gate II was based on a character from their lead designer's D&D game. Then we felt OK about it.
Tell us a little more about the Destiny structure and getting around that issue of character regret you mentioned.
When the game starts off, you pick your race and gender and patron god, but you don't pick a class at all. As you play the tutorials, you get to throw around a basic-level spell; you use one-handed swords, daggers, bows, and a little bit of stealth. So, by the end of that experience, you know what the core gameplay styles are. At that point, you level up and start investing points into the three skill trees—Might, Finesse, and Sorcery—which are more or less your traditional fighter, rogue, and mage trees.
If you decide you want to, say, swing a big hammer and tank your way through things, that's fine—you can dump points exclusively into the Might tree, and you'll unlock the warrior Destiny. A Destiny is basically a class you can equip; you can only have one Destiny equipped at a time. And that gives you bonuses specific to that playstyle. Same goes for Finesse or Sorcery.
As you progress in the game, you'll get more skill points to throw around. So, you might want to spread your points between trees, and that's where Reckoning gets really interesting, because it'll give you a Destiny appropriate to those choices. One of my favorite builds in the game is the fighter-mage—he's kind of paladin-esque. So, I put some low-level points in Might to unlock skills like a shield bash or some sword techniques, and then I start throwing points at Sorcery, like the ability to heal or buff. That'll unlock a Destiny that's a combination of the two.
The idea is that, wherever you decide to put your points, the game will give you a name to apply to that. And it balances your character to be playable, no matter what your mix is. The traditional issue in RPGs is that you kind of have to minmax if you want to be effective. That's a huge thing that we're seeing in D&D. Multiclassing is interesting, and there are a lot of people who want to try a little bit of everything. But in most game systems, doing that screws you. So, the dirty secret for us designers is that Destinies are a balancing tool. They let us make it so that a crazy hybrid character is just as effective as a pure warrior.
Do noncombat skills play into these Destinies as well? If you unlock a certain Destiny, will it allow you to get around certain obstacles in a noncombat way?
Normally, your non-combat skills are totally distinct from abilities and Destinies. In most RPGs, you have to choose between being good at picking locks and talking your way through trouble or just killing things. We're trying to separate that into two different decisions. We're coming to you and saying, "You're going to be a badass. Tell us what kind of badass you want to be." And then we separately ask, "You're going to be good at some other stuff, too. Tell us what you want to be good at on the noncombat front."
The one exception to that is the jack-of-all-trades Destiny. If you choose to split your points evenly across all three ability trees, you'll unlock different destinies that actually do buff your noncombat skills. We figure that the person who dabbles in everything probably wants to dabble in everything.
One of the things that kept me from getting into Oblivion was its combat; the first-person sword swinging just didn't do it for me. It looks like Reckoning's combat is a lot more fast-paced.
It's definitely more akin to an action game. Many RPGs let you queue up an action when you press a button, and if you press another button, you have to wait for the first action to finish. Our model is more like buffering your inputs. If you're in the middle of a sword swing and you hit the sword swing button again, the moment that the first part of the animation is done, you can chain to the next attack. We want instant—or near-instant—response to those button presses.
And you can change your mind, too. If you're in the middle of swinging your hammer and you need to block or roll, you could cancel out of that animation and do that. One of the big differences between God of War and other action games of that ilk is the ability to get out of an attack by taking evasive action. We feel like, for our players who maybe aren't as experienced on the action side of things, it's really nice to have an out.
We try to avoid the word "combo," because people assume we mean a button combination, like X-X-Y-B or something. But we have built a lot of our abilities and attacks to fit together. For example, we have an ability on the Finesse tree called Shadowflare that momentarily staggers enemies. That buys you time to get off a bigger attack. We have another ability in the Sorcery tree called Tempest where you have to kind of mash a button to get it powered up, but once you do, it blows up this huge area with lightning. So, if you were doing a jack-of-all-trades character, you could combine those abilities together, using the Shadowflare to buy you enough time to mash up the Tempest and zap everyone.
Finally, what's one thing about Reckoning that you're most excited about, and one thing you're still concerned about?
I'm in the minority here, but I'm most excited about the Destiny system. I think most people focus in on the graphics of the game, the environments—which are, to be fair, beautiful—but the Destiny system solves a lot of problems that have been in RPGs for years. Seeing our testers get into that and use it as we intended has been really satisfying.
If you'd asked me six months ago, I would've said I was worried about people not getting the Destiny system, because it's so different from the norm. And in some of our early tests, people did react weirdly; they were like, "Where's my class? I don't know how to deal with this." But we started tutorializing it better, and that problem went away.
Due out Feb. 7, 2012, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning will be a significant debut for 38 Studios, but the question remains: Will this RPG upstart give Elder Scrolls a run for its money, or will it fail to make it's mark?


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Marketing and Career Pathway students at Ross Collins Career and Technical Center set up their annual Christmas store inside Queen City Nursing Center Thursday morning. This store has been done for the past several years and is a way for the students to get involved in the community and help those who may be lonely at Christmas.
Deidre Bland, an instructor at Ross Collins, explains, "The kids come and bring $5 to class, and then we go to the dollar store and buy items. We give the residents Monopoly money, and then the residents come and go shopping at our store, and we also wanted to just come and give because this is the time for giving and to put smiles on the residents faces seeing as though they don't have a lot of family and friends that might come to visit them."
While the students brighten the residents' day, the students don't leave empty-handed as they also receive something for spending time with the residents.
Antoine Watts, a senior career pathways student, says, "We get a lot out of this experience. It's just giving back to the people that really paved the way for us. That's pretty much it. It's fun, and just to be around the residents and all. They say they really like it because they get to be around the people, talk to them, see how it was in their days and all different kinds of good things like that."
This store is the only way some of these residents will be able to get gifts for those closest to them.
Chandra Collier, activities director for Queen City Nursing Center, tells us, "I think they're really looking forward to being able, because some of them don't have money and family, just being able to get their hands on gifts and prizes to give away to close friends they have in here or staff or family. It really touches them just to be able to receive those items and things like that."
Students gladly gift wrapped the items the residents purchased.