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Both government and opposition heads of finance to participate in secretive confab
Steve Watson
June 3, 2013
Both the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, and his opposition counterpart are scheduled to attend the secret elite meeting of the Bilderberg group this weekend.
Chancellor George Osbourne and Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, often painted up as bitter political rivals in the British media, will be buddying it up behind closed doors at The exclusive Grove Hotel in Watford with over 100 of the world's elite.
Bilderberg's own attendee list confirms the attendance of Osbourne and Balls. The list has been released on the group's otherwise sparse website for the past three years, primarily because it was constantly being leaked to researchers anyway, and as a way of feigning transparency.
While Obsourne and Balls have regularly attended the annual gathering for the best part of a decade, critics have continually asked why the British taxpayer should be paying for elected politicians to attend an undisclosed meeting, completely closed off to media scrutiny, and in the company of private bankers and other foreign finance politicians.
Bilderberg delegates attend in an informal, off-the-record basis and are not bound by their public, "pre-agreed" positions, according to the group's website. Quite how that marries up with Osbourne and Balls' attendance, as acting financial heads of Britain's government, is anyone's guess. British MP Kenneth Clarke, a long time attendee, is also once again reporting to his masters.
If anyone still actually read the London Times, which they don't, they would see an article today arguing that Bilderberg is merely a talking shop where no policies are set or agreed upon.
Such detractors routinely contend that the annual elite gatherings are nothing more than an outdated irrelevant get together of aging has-beens whose power on the international stage has long since withered.
Take one look at the attendees at this year's confab in Watford, however, and it immediately becomes clear that this is the absolute polar opposite of the truth.
Debating policy at this year's meeting will be Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, Craig J. Mundie, senior advisor to the CEO of Microsoft Corporation, and Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com. Another notable attendee is Peter Thiel, the man who provided the financial muscle for online ventures like Facebook and Paypal, as well as LinkedIn and Friendster.
There you have luminaries involved with some of the biggest online and social media companies on the globe, all in attendance together at a secret weekend getaway, due to discuss "How big data is changing almost everything."
That alone should be enough to focus the attention of the mainstream media. But no.
Then factor in that also in attendance are José Barroso, the President of the European Commission, and Christine Lagarde, the much scrutinized Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. Still no media coverage?
OK, how about the disgraced former CIA head and retired US General David Petraeus, currently embroiled in the centre of the Obama administration scandal regarding the Benghazi intelligence failures. Nah, that's not interesting to the mainstream media.
Perhaps representatives from major US think tanks would perk interest? You like to have them on your news output every single day right mainstream media? You know, the guys from the Hudson Institute, the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Enterprise Institute, the Hoover Institution, the Peterson Institute for International Economics, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies – all at Bilderberg.
Bilderberg also has the Vice Chairman and former Chairman of Barclays bank, the Deputy Chairman, Group Chief Executive and Group Chairman of HSBC, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Goldman Sachs, and the CEO of TD Bank Financial Group.
Bilderberg has other senior figures from major banks, finance houses, and insurance companies all over the globe, including the Deutsche Bank of Germany, the Oesterreichische Kontrollbank AG Bank of Austria, the Swiss National Bank, the Dutch National Bank, the Zurich Insurance Group, AXA Group, Prudential plc, and Novartis AG.
Not one but TWO Former US Secretaries of the Treasury are attending, as well as several acting European finance ministers and other elected representatives. Both the Dutch Prime Minister and the monarch Princess Beatrix will also be in attendance.
Also present will be executives from major energy companies such as Shell and BP, representatives from huge defense contractors including BAE, officials with bio-medial and pharmaceutical giants including Novartis, and monolithic agriculture producers like Syngenta.
Add a dose of professors, lecturers and researchers from major Universities and colleges all over the globe and you literally have a small gathering of people that oversee everything on the planet.
Yet, according to the mainstream media it's all just one hell of a round of golf.
Previously leaked documents from meetings, as well as other innumerable examples, have illustrated how the Bilderberg Group, contrary to the media-generated myth that the confab represents a harmless talking shop, actually has a direct influence on world affairs, and sets the consensus for policy decisions sometimes decades in advance.
A clear example is the 1955 Bilderberg meeting held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany. Documents read by the BBC and later released by Wikileaks divulge how Bilderberg members were discussing the creation of the euro single currency nearly 40 years before it was officially introduced in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty.
It is clearly asinine to suggest that this group of people hold no power and do not have any sway on the international stage. Their influence is irrefutable.
Ask anyone if they believe banks and corporations have more influence on world affairs than politicians and close to 100% will say yes, so why is it that the G8 summits garner wall to wall media coverage yet Bilderberg does not?
British citizens, as well as citizens of the other countries from around the world, should en mass demand to know why democratically elected Members of Parliament and government, including the heads of national Treasuries, are meeting in secret with private financiers, bankers, defense contractors, oil multinationals, food giants and drug companies.
Steve Watson is the London based writer and editor for Alex Jones' Infowars.com, and Prisonplanet.com. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from the School of Politics at The University of Nottingham, and a Bachelor Of Arts Degree in Literature and Creative Writing from Nottingham Trent University.
The Infowars Life Lung Cleanse Plus is back in stock at 50% off with double Patriot Points and free shipping!


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On August 16, 1907, a member of the Women's Improvement Club of Richmond proposed with enthusiasm that the Club establish a public library. Cheers of approval greeted this motion and the Richmond Public Library Club was formed. The members gathered books, built bookshelves, diligently solicited donations and put on fund-raising entertainments, including raffles and whist parties.
The little library, called the "Richmond Public Library," opened for business on November 10, 1907. It was housed, temporarily, in the office of the Richmond Record, a local newspaper, with more than 400 volumes, all carefully cataloged and marked. It was a circulating library- -there was no reading room- -and the membership fee was one dollar per year!
Early in 1908, the Club gained title to three lots on Nevin Avenue between Fourth and Fifth Streets, paying for them, from the profits of country fairs and additional raffles. The City Board of Trustees later purchased two additional lots adjoining these for the future city library, thus providing a full quarter block for the building. A monumental step forward was achieved when Andrew Carnegie, in 1901 pledged $17, 500 to erect a free public library building if the citizens would contribute the balance of the funds necessary to complete, furnish and stock the library.
While all this was going on, in another section of Richmond, a second women's club was also active. In January 1909, the West Side Women's Improvement Club, established the Point Richmond Library in the old city hall building on Washington Avenue. Within a few months it had a collection of 500 volumes. A year later, this collection became a branch library for the proposed city library. This "branch" library became officially as the West Side Branch of the Richmond Public Library in January, 1910.
After May 21, 1910, the little circulating library of the Women's Improvement Club of Richmond was closed and its 1,150 volumes became the nucleus for the City's new library.
In the midst of all this activity, the Carnegie library building was being constructed at Fourth Street and Nevin Avenue. In August of 1929, the Richmond Public Library, a classic-style building with a capacity for 12,000 volumes, an encompassing lobby, a children's room, a reference room and a reading room, was officially opened to the public as the City's Library.
The Stege Branch, established in July of 1913, was located on South 41st Street and Potrero Avenue and later moved to South Wall Street.
The Grant Branch, opened in 1924, was located in the Grant School building.
The Main Library on Nevin Avenue, rapidly grew. In March of 1924, a $42,000 addition to the building was completed, doubling the size and capacity of the original building.
Over the years, the Library increased its services to the public and pioneered several developments, which later were adopted by other libraries in California: (a) In 1947, the first large bookmobile, west of the Mississippi River; (b) In November of 1945, the first 16mm film service in California.
In 1975, when the two-year Federal grant ran out, the City took over the project and MOP (now known as the Mobile Outreach Program) became an official segment of the Library's program to the public.
The Library pioneered once again in 1975, as being one of the first public libraries in California to install and place in operation a computerized circulation control system, thereby increasing the efficiency of the circulation process and producing statistical reports, which were not readily available previously. To cite just a few benefits of this new computerized system, it provided automatic handling of overdue notices and billings, detailed patron statistics, immediate information on reserved materials, prompt notice of a book's current location and the number of reserves on a particular book. In addition, the computer eliminated much clerical work, which previously had been needed to amass the data that the computer was able to collate and systematize for later use.
In 1976, through its membership in EBIS and a grant of Federal funds, the Library gained interlibrary-loan access to the multi-million-volume library collection of the
In keeping with its increasing emphasis on outreach service to community organizations, neighborhoods and citizens of the City, the Library in 1975 established an Extension Division to coordinate and intensify the activities of its branch libraries, bookmobile, and MOP van; and in 1976 this Division moved into new quarters in the
In an atmosphere of bustling activity and innovation and continuing progress, the Richmond Public Library offers a multi-faceted program of service, a service that draws not only Richmond residents, but patrons as well from surrounding areas -- Pinole, San Pablo, El Cerrito, Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Concord, Alameda County, Marin County, San Francisco, the Peninsula, Vallejo and other localities in the Bay Area, drawn to the Library by such offerings as (a) an extensive audiovisual service -- more than 400 16mm films ranging from children's cartoons to full-length features; cassette tapes; filmstrips, slides, screens, 8mm films; slide, 8mm and 16mm projectors; (b) one of the most complete collections of automotive repair manuals in the Bay Area; (c) a book collection of some 236,000 volumes; (d) periodical holdings exceeding 700 titles; (e) more than 11,000 phonograph record albums; (f) a lively program in the children's room, featuring story hours, puppet shows, handicraft activities, school visitations, dial-a-story telephone story telling, phonograph records and exhibits; (g) microfilm holdings of newspapers and periodicals exceeding 4,000 reels; and (h) Sunday hours during which the Library is open to the public.
Some 70 years after that initial beginning with the Women's Improvement Club's little library, the Richmond Public Library, now composed of a main library, two stationary branches and one mobile unit, looks back with affection to that modest start, recalls with pride the growth of the Library through the years and faces the future with full confidence and expectation of still greater advancement, to serve even more completely the citizens of Richmond and the Bay Area.
Edward G. Berenson 1977

subset: commoncrawl


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Nothing celebrates this gracious time of year quite like a homemade fall wreath. Tree Classics features five gorgeous wreath projects that you can make yourself to help you add a statement of hospitality to your front door.
1. Fall Wreath with Fancy Bow from Tidbits & Twine
Elegant yet inexpensive, this fall wreath can be transitioned from season to season. You can use a bare twig or grapevine wreath as the base, and just wire in accent pieces that depict the season. For autumn, faux berry stems, pussy willow branches, faux hydrangea, pine cones, a small sign, and a fancy burlap bow are just perfect! Learn how to make this gorgeous décor from Tidbits & Twine.
Photo from Tidbits & Twine
2. Moss and Pumpkin Wreath from 320 Sycamore
Inspired by a pricier counterpart from Williams Sonoma, this wreath by 320 Sycamore captures the festive spirit of autumn with its pumpkin patch appeal. Best of all, it's easy and affordable to make. All it requires is a crown, reindeer moss, faux pumpkins, plus a rustic burlap ribbon!
Photo from 320 Sycamore
3. Dried Hydrangea Wreath from Julie Ree
Enjoy these beautiful flowers well after they blossom with this dried hydrangea wreath. With its browns and whites and touch of green, this wreath by Julie Ree gives your front door the perfect autumn look that is subtle and romantic.
Photo from Julie Ree
4. Potpourri Wreath from Sweet Something Designs
Unique and rich with the stunning colors of autumn, this wreath by Sweet Something Designs is a gorgeous way to add warmth to your home décor. Old potpourri in red and orange hues is upcycled to replicate a vibrant fall palette that would look great in both traditional and contemporary homes. A beautiful checkered bow makes a nice finishing touch.
Photo from Sweet Something Designs
5. Wheat Wreath from Thrive
Bring natural beauty into your door front with a simple yet elegant wheat wreath. This traditional harvest wreath may look challenging to make, but it's really very easy to. The base of the wreath is nothing more than cardboard wrapped in scrap fabric. Wheat was attached using generous beads of hot glue. Make this at home with DIY instructions from Thrive.
Photo from Choose to Thrive
Celebrate autumn with Tree Classics' selection of five gorgeous DIY wreath projects and fill your door front with warmth and style.


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According to Wikipedia "The 404 or Not Found error message is a HTTP standard response code indicating that the client was able to communicate with the server but the server could not find what was requested". But that's a tad mechanical I know. So in a more eye-friendly(!) version, here's my take:
There are times when we mistype a Uri or perhaps the page we wanted to access might have been moved somewhere else by the time we tried to gain access. In those situations, the server returns a HTTP status code of 404 signifying that the requested resource is not available for one reason or the other. This internal error message or page for that matter which is served up by the web server is not very helpful in most cases. This is highly de-motivating from the user's point of view for all the user wanted was the content and not the reason why the web server can't find the page. This is frustrating for the visitors which might prevent them from returning again to your site even if that was not a fault of yours.
Hence, it would have been nicer, if you provided the visitor a landing page from where he/she could have re-searched for the page. Or perhaps you could redirect/guide them to the main page from where they could navigate their way to the desired content. This act of re-engaging the visitors ought to go a long way.
Thus, from a web designer or a developer's point of view, although you can't prevent the incident from happening, you still can do some sort of damage control by trying to educate & inform the visitors as to the cause of the problem and at the same time guide them towards their desired content. They are, surely, going to be grateful to you and in turn might visit your site more often as opposed to leaving your site permanently having a disgruntled feeling when confronted with a default ugly looking page.
There are literally tens of thousands of such custom made 404 error pages but here are few resources I found exemplary:
Few funny examples:
And here is a compilation of suggestions for developing your 404 error pages:


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New tsunami forecasting model developedUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Sea Grant College Program
HONOLULU - Tsunamis pose a severe threat to coastal communities and often give very little warning prior to arrival. Real-time analysis of seismic records does not always give clear a indication of the tsunami hazards, so Dr. Kwok Fai Cheung, a University of Hawai?i Sea Grant College Program funded researcher, has been looking into ways to forecast tsunami impacts during the early stage of the event.
Using data from tide gauges and deep-ocean pressure sensors, Dr. Cheung and his graduate students developed a computer algorithm to reconstruct the earthquake rupture and estimate possible tsunami hazards across the Pacific Ocean. They have validated the formula with data from the 1964 Prince William Sound and 1996 Andreanov earthquakes in Alaska, the 1944 Tonakai and 1994 Kuril earthquakes near Japan, and the 1995 Antofagasta earthquake in Chile.
"This method has taken the guesswork out of the tsunami warning procedures," Cheung said. "Instead of looking at water-level data near the tsunami source and trying to figure out what might happen several thousand miles away, we can actually use the water-level data to calculate the tsunami waveforms anywhere in the Pacific basin."
The research is having far-reaching impacts. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, its center for tsunami research, has adapted this mathematical formula into a tsunami forecasting tool. The Chilean Navy is now implementing this tsunami forecasting method and, starting this month, has an oceanographer at the University of Hawai'i working directly with Dr. Cheung.
The threats from tsunamis are far-reaching and have the potential to cause devastating loss of life and property. This research has provided emergency managers with an effective tsunami forecasting system, and a tool to reliably estimate tsunami waveforms in advance.
The University of Hawai?i Sea Grant College Program supports an innovative program of research, education and extension services directed to the improved understanding and stewardship of coastal and marine resources of the state, region and nation. Science serving Hawai?i and the Pacific for 40 years.


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A Jacksonville man is facing multiple statutory rape charges after being accused of having sex with a teenager.
A Jacksonville man is facing multiple statutory rape charges after being accused of having sex with a teenager.
Brian Scott Callendar, 32, of Robin Hood Drive in Jacksonville was charged Thursday by Jacksonville Police Department with three counts of statutory rape with a child at or above the age of 6; two counts of indecent liberties with a child; three counts of misdemeanor child abuse; and crimes against nature.
Callendar is accused of committing sexual acts with � and attempting to commit suicide in front of � a child who was 13-years-old at the time of the incidents, according to warrants.
His bond was set for $430,000.
Callendar was in custody at the Onslow County Detention Center Thursday afternoon.
According to Beth Purcell, the Jacksonville Police Department spokeswoman, Callendar was arrested without incident and Naval Criminal Investigative Services assisted in the investigation.
Purcell said the investigation still is open and no additional information was available.
Anyone with any information about the case is asked to contact JPD Detective Richard Bean at 910-938-6413 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Or call Crime Stoppers at 910-938-3273. Callers do not have to reveal their identities.


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Height 6-5, Weight 190, B/T: R/R, DOB: 9/2/1991
2010 Redlegs Baseball Prospect Ranking: N/A
When the Big Red Machine was really rolling, it was driven in no small part by players acquired out of Latin America. The Machine had a real international flavor. The Reds signed Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion as international free agents, while Pedro Borbon and Cesar Geronimo were originally international free agents acquired by the Reds from other teams. Fortunately, the Reds have rededicated themselves to international free agents and the organization is all the better for it.
The Reds made a noteworthy splash in the international market three times in the past few years, marking the organization as one of the biggest players in the market. The biggest splash was clearly Aroldis Chapman, but before Chapman there was Yorman Rodriguez and Juan Duran. Yorman was more polished and has earned more hype, but Duran took a step forward in 2010 to reclaim his prospect status and earn the distinction of "one to watch."
Signing and International Free Agency
When the Reds brought him into the organization, Juan Duran was a 16-year old outfielder from the Dominican Republic. He had the blend of youth, size, and athletic skills that scouts dream on. The Reds found a loophole in the rules that allowed them to sign Duran earlier than was commonly believed by the competition. The Reds signed him for $2M and immediately assigned him to the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League, though that was merely a paper transaction, as they had no intention of having him play there that year.
At the time of the signing, reports on Duran were really positive:
One AL international scouting director called him "one of those guys who don't come around very often."
"He's got all the tools," he said. "He's a pretty good player, very advanced for his age. I think it was a good investment. He's a good athlete, he has above-average power right now and he has a chance for 80 power (on the 20-80 scouting scale). He demonstrated every ability that you like to see in a kid. He's a very outgoing kid, good swing. There's no doubt about his approach, bat speed and power . . . he has all the common denominators you like to see, good balance, rhythm and a pretty good idea of what to do at the plate."
The Duran signing was a shrewd one by the Reds and demonstrated the type of organizational intelligence that was lacking in previous years. If Duran can continue to develop and approach his ceiling, then the Reds will have been justifiably rewarded for outperforming the competition. In 2010, Duran took a step towards doing just that.
2010 Season
A cursory look at Duran's 2010 numbers won't blow your mind. He hit .244/.309/.393/.702 with 17 extra base hits (10 2bs, 1 3b, 6 HRs) and a 71/19 K/BB ratio in 201 ABs for the Billings Mustangs of the rookie Pioneer League. While he only hit 6 homers, a few of them were prodigious enough to open up some eyes around the league. In addition, digging a bit deeper and adding a dash of context makes things appear just a bit rosier.
Here is Duran's performance by month:
June: .108/.195/.216/.411 with 1 homer and a 15/4 K/BB ratio in 37 ABs
July: .294/.362/.435/.797 with 2 homers and a 27/9 K/BB ratio in 85 ABs
August: .263/.309/.447/.756 with 3 homers and a 26/5 K/BB ratio in 76 ABs
If you throw out a miserable June, then his production is pretty solid across the board, especially in light of the fact that he was only 18-years old during the 2010 season. He has a late season birthday of September 2nd, so his performance warrants a bump in value for age-vs.-level. Despite his youth and continuing adjustment to the American culture, he held his own against more advanced competition.
In June, he struck out in 41% and walked in 11% of his ABs. In July, those numbers improved to 32% strikeout rate and 11% walk rate. In August, 34% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate. Generally speaking, if you are striking out more than once out of every 3 ABs, then you'll struggle to be productive, as there just aren't enough balls in play to bring about positive outcomes. Obviously, Duran still has a bit of work to do in that regard, but he took a step forward after an abysmal June.
Taller hitters are more prone to strikeouts for two distinct reasons. First, as a taller hitter, they have larger strike zones, so there is a much greater area to protect at the plate. Second, they have longer limbs, which makes for longer levers in their swing. Longer levers take a bit longer to get moving and can make them susceptible to being tied up on pitches on the inner half, as it's simply more difficult for taller hitters to pull their arms in and stay inside the ball.
A larger sample size will reveal a great deal about Duran. His 2010 performance was rife with unusual splits, but the sample size was just too small to draw definitive conclusions. His OPS was .476 against lefties and .745 against righties. His OPS during the day was .923 and .672 at night. Clearly, we need statistics from a full season league before we'll have any useful splits, but it's probably not a stretch to think that Duran is struggling against lefthanders and under the lights. He's still a raw prospect, so he may be adjusting to various elements of American professional baseball.
Despite some highs and lows and some unusual splits, it's hard not to see a bit of progression out of Duran in 2010. In addition to his production, the manner in which he produced it is also worthy of mention.
Swing Mechanics
As a hitter, Duran will continue to be defined by his height. Not only will he have more strike zone to protect, but he'll also have to work harder to keep all the moving parts in sync. Tall hitters like Richie Sexson, Adam Dunn, Dave Kingman, and Frank Howard have all had their struggles with their contact rate and strikeouts. However, Duran has the makings of a solid swing on which to begin building his offensive game.
Duran's pre-pitch position is strong and fundamentally sound. He stands with a significantly wider than shoulder-width stance and uses a high back elbow. His stance is also slightly open, which may be designed to ensure that he doesn't get tied up by pitches in on his hands. Taller hitters have longer arms, which can make them susceptible to pitches on the inner half. By opening up his stance, Duran makes the inner half easier to protect, but may also limit his ability to cover the outer half. Obviously, he'll need to be able to cover both sides of the plate at the MLB level.
One potential problem with the wider stance is that it may impair lower body action in the swing. Generally speaking, the hips are what generate the power in the baseball swing. And, to properly generate power, a hitter must cock the hips. This is done through the stride, which shifts the weight to the back foot long enough for the hitter to rotate his hips inward ever so slightly. This movement creates tension and builds up potential energy. By cocking the hips, the hitter loads up before firing the hips to generate power in the swing.
When you have a hitter who utilizes a wide-spread stance like Duran, it may become more difficult to cock the hips. Obviously, some of the best hitters in history (i.e. Joe DiMaggio, Albert Pujols, etc) have utilized such an approach with little difficulty. And, fortunately, Duran has shown little difficulty generating power to this point. In fact, power remains one of his calling cards as a prospect, as he can crush the ball when he gets a hold of it.
To cock his hips, Duran draws his stride foot back before moving forward beyond it's original position. Additionally, his stride doesn't operate to close his stance up, but rather stays on the original line of the stance. Once his stride foot plants, Duran fires the hips and starts the swing. He gets good extension on his swing, which follows an uppercut swing path. Due to his longer arms, Duran's swing has a tendency to get long, which may be exploited by more advanced opposing pitchers. As he climbs the ladder, he may be forced to shorten up his swing to improve his contact rate.
Once the bat leaves the hitting zone, Duran finishes with an unusual abbreviated follow-through. He typically finishes with one-hand on the bat, but that hand stays up around helmet height. Oddly enough, when he lofts the ball, he sometimes finishes with both hands above shoulder level. In essence, he doesn't rotate his left arm to let the bat finish down around the ground in Will Clark fashion, rather he keeps it up high like Fred McGriff.
There is one additional aspect of Duran's swing that bears watching as a potential red flag. Perhaps due to his height and his lack of comfort therewith, Duran has a tendency to finish his swing with his body leaning significantly in one direction or the other. That speaks to a swing that's occasionally out of balance, as ideally a hitter shouldn't be falling in one direction or another on the swing. If you have to reach for a pitch, then you may be in such a position out of necessity, but Duran seems to find this position too often.
It may simply be the result of a lack of experience and poor pitch recognition. He simply may not have seen enough pitches to avoid being fooled and put off balance. Hopefully, additional experience will help him improve the balance in his swing. Below is a comparison of Duran with two of the best right handed hitters in Major League history, who not surprisingly demonstrate better balance in their swings:
Overall, I like Duran's swing mechanics, but he's still raw and needs to refine the rough edges on his game. He'll have to learn how to effectively counteract the drawbacks of his size, namely to protect the zone and be quick to the ball when necessary. Still, he's on the right track and his power potential remains prodigious.
While Duran will have to deal with the drawbacks of height, he does possess solid speed and moves well for a taller player. The Reds used him primarily in right field last year, but he also spent a few games in left. He is a solid defensive outfielder with solid range. When Duran runs, he utilizes a long, loping stride that doesn't make it look like he's moving all that fast, but he actually chews up the ground pretty well. Obviously, at his size, he'll never be a big threat on the bases like Yorman Rodriguez, but he is equally unlikely to be a significant liability.
Final Thoughts
Almost by definition, Duran is a high risk/high reward prospect. When you are signed to a professional contract almost before you can legally drive a car, then chances are there is significant projection involved. And, the farther you have to project out into the future, the greater the downside risk. However, Duran's raw athleticism and impressive tools are enough to land him at #18 on the list.
Despite the overflowing toolbox, Duran remains raw and unpolished. Time is definitely on his side, which should enable him to develop the skills necessary to utilize his tools. He has a long way to go, but his ceiling is substantial. If he can reach it, then he could be an impact player at the Major League level.


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Food for Thought
McClements's research has led to healthy food products, more efficient use of agricultural commodities, and technical practices that improve U.S. food companies' viability in the global market.
In particular, his research aims at using natural ingredients—proteins and polysaccharides—to create foods that look and taste good, but that are also healthier than their current counterparts.
McClements's research utilizes the fundamental principles of physics and chemistry to understand, design, and fabricate foods with increased quality, stability and healthfulness—for example, preserving nutrients during food storage and optimizing their delivery to the human body.
Eric Decker, professor and head of the UMass Amherst food science department explains that McClements's research has benefited the food industry by leading to high-quality and healthy food products, by making more efficient use of agricultural commodities, and by developing technical practices that improve U.S. food companies' viability in the global market.
McClements's current project involves working on food materials less than 100 nanometers wide, a measurement many thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair. He's experimenting with nanoemulsions, a combination of two liquids with small particles of one liquid suspended in the other, to protect and encapsulate healthy food components for targeted release in the digestive tract. These nanoemulsions have the potential to increase the amount of nutrients or other health-promoting compounds that can be absorbed by the body.
Understanding both the challenges and benefits of working on such a small scale and making sure these new delivery systems are safe for consumption are what's next for McClements and his research group. "We are investigating both the potential risks and benefits of using nanoscopic particles in foods," McClements explains. "Smaller particles increase the bioavailability, which means the body absorbs the compounds in these particles better. When materials become more bioavailable it's possible they might behave differently, such as become more potent."
The Fergus M. Clydesdale Endowed Professor of Food Science, McClements is also the recipient of numerous research awards, including the 2010 Marcel Loncin Research Award from the Institute of Food Technologists, the top award in the field. He is nationally recognized as one of the most frequently cited authors in agricultural sciences, with 425 total publications and over 8,400 citations. In addition, his work has brought over $6 million in research grants to the campus.
Karen J. Hayes '85


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Biodiversity threats traced through their supply chains
7 June 2012
Thirty percent of threatened species are at risk because of consumption in the developed world according to University of Sydney research. The study mapped the world economy to trace the global trade of goods implicated in biodiversity loss such as coffee, cocoa, and lumber.
"Our findings can be used to improve the regulation and product labelling of thousands of internationally traded products," said Professor Manfred Lenzen, lead author of the research published in Nature today.
Professor Lenzen is from the Integrated Sustainability Analysis group at the University's School of Physics.
The study evaluated over five billion supply chains connecting consumers to over 15,000 commodities produced in 187 countries. This was cross-referenced with a global register of 25,000 endangered and vulnerable species.
"Until now these relationships have only been poorly understood. Our extraordinary number crunching, which took years of data collection and thousands of hours on a supercomputer to process, lets us see these global supply chains in amazing detail for the first time," Professor Lenzen said.
There is increasing awareness that developed countries' consumption of imported products can cause a biodiversity footprint that is larger abroad than at home. The study shows how this is the case for many countries, including the US, Japan, and numerous European states.
Among exporting countries, where the species losses actually occur, on average 35 percent of recorded threats can be linked to export-led production. In Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka and Honduras, this figure is 50 to 60 percent.
Papua New Guinea, for example, has 171 listed species threatened by export industries including mining, timber, coffee, and cocoa, to a few large trading partners, including Australia.
Agricultural exports from Indonesia, another Australian trading partner, affect 294 species, including tigers.
Australia's trove of unique species means that despite its high consumption, it is a net exporter of implicated goods including mining and agricultural products whose production often drives habitat loss and pollution that threaten particular species.
The researchers say the findings can be used to better protect biodiversity. On the consumer side, they hope sustainability labels become be the norm, not the exception, helped by the information this study makes available.
"We shouldn't let retailers make sustainability labels a premium product. We should ask that they always stock products that are made responsibly, from the bottom shelf to the top shelf," said Barney Foran, a co-author of the study also from the School of Physics.
On the production side, they recommend companies be required to make foreign suppliers accountable to the same production standards they hold at home, as leading manufacturers do with their Asian manufacturers. The authors also say countries should harmonise environmental laws so producers don't simply relocate to the country with the least protections.
Biodiversity will be a major focus at the upcoming Rio+20 Earth Summit Conference later this month.
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GCH CH PalaceGarden Malachy
(Photo courtesy of Amy Rutherford)
(Photo courtesy of Amy Rutherford)
Exhibitors at today's Wine Country Kennel Club were greeted by one of those golden days they get in the Napa Valley and fanciers who stayed for W Everett Dean Jr's final were treated to one of those great moments we get in the dog world when a dog you have heard about all year shows up in your back yard. Today it was the Pekingese, GCH CH PalaceGarden Malachy, who is usually shown on the east coast showing up to take the BIS. Joining Malachy were the Weimaraner, GCH CH Silhouettes LifeInTheFastlane, the Whippet, GCH CH Starline's Chanel, the Alaskan Malamute, GCH CH Catanya's Latin Lover, the Airedale, GCH CH Sherwood's King Arthur, the Tibetan Terrier, GCH CH Players Just Like Butter, and the Bouvier des Flandres, GCH CH Avalon Frontier Sleepnlady Webber. We will bring you the rest of the finalists just as soon as we confirm them.
Malachy and owner/handler have now put together a string of seven BIS in a row in their all our assault on the Number One Dog All Breeds title and we love having a front seat one all the excitement. Check with us frequently for all the news.


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Check out the latest RPG news | Podcasts | Twitch Streams
Shadow - Final Fantasy VI. Mysterious warrior. Not a big talker, but was there when most needed.
he's actually a hero martyr grooming a successor. The very fact that the power of Lea Monde only served those who did not desire the power proved that he had been living under a great burden the entire time he shouldered his responsibility.


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Chexx- Coral Lumi
6 x 6mm Czech Two-Hole Coated Bead
Unit: pkg
With two holes, Chexx is the cutest thing that has come our way in a long while. It has charm and the little beads beg to be stacked and laddered with leather. Measuring 6x6mm and 3mm thick, this little honey of a bead with two holes is a fun addition to the the Czech glass bead category. And in a glazed, pumpkin color with a Picasso-style finish, it really has curb appeal. Holes sizes will fit Tuff Cord #1, Micro C-Lon and KO, however, all beads made in the Czech Republic can vary, so expect some beads to fit snugly on your thread or wire and some to glide on smoothly. That's just Czech glass!
Sold in packages of 24-25 beads. When strung, the beads will measure 3 inches.


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10 - 14 May
Obel-P Automation
HF-Press for the production of laminated shapes from veneer. The product is curred by seconds and few minutes. We offer presses in various sizes.
Packing lines for doors and furniture components. Automatic lines with stacking and unstacking machines.
Robot handling . Robots for autotisation of CNC machines, for stacking and unstacking of products on pallets.
Obel-P delivers a wide range of turning units, roller conveyors, band conveyors as well as complete transport systems.Turning units for boards as well as complete stacks.
Obel-P delivers a wide range of various halfautomatic and fully Automatic machines for the window and door industry. Machines for inserting of fittings, tables for ...
Fully Automatic machine for the cutting and machining of aluminium profiles.For optimization of 6 aluminium profile in length of 6000 mm. Fully Automatic change system of tools.
Automatic machine for the inserting of gaskets into single components of window frame and sashes. Alternatively we deliver machines for inserting af gaskets into ...
Machine for the feeding of layers ( lamellas, boards, sheets). The layer feeder can be used for automatic feeding of sanding machines, lacquering machines as well as sanding machines.
Complete profile wrapping line. Fully automatic line for the production of drawers. High speed stacking system is Integrated.
Complete stacker lines with Automatic stick feeder. They are delivered for length up to 16000 mm. High speed stacking systems for up to 10 layers pr. minute.
Stacking- and unstacking with vacuum portal systems. Lines for up to 12 layers pr. minute are delivered.
HF-Scarf Jointing Press for container- and truck floors. The press is equipped with an Obel-P HF-Generator and the glue line is curred within seconds.
Flowcoater for impregnation. They are an Integrated part of our lacquering lines for window and doors.
Complete painting lines for window and doors. We produce the flowcoaters, dryers, scanners as well as the complete lacquering programe which means that approx. 80-90 ...
Galsing and gluing robot. The robot is equipped with a special designed vacuum gripping head for precise inserting of the glas panes.
Clipsmounting for sashes, frames and components. The clips mounting machines are delivered with the high quality Böllhoff screwing unit. We offer manuel, semi automatic ...
HF- Contipress for the production of glue board. The line is equipped with an automatic vacuum feeding unit, lamellas grading unit, HF-press with a speed of up to ...
HF-Generators with output from 5-200 kW. the Generators and HF-Controlsystems are devellopped and produced by us. All Generators work on the frequency 13,56 MHz. ...
Hot presses for the production of glueboard. The hot press is delivered in dimensiones up to 7500x2000 mm. The lay up units are mostly dlivered according to our customers whishes and demands.
High Frequency generators and pressing lines. The Presses are delivered in various sizes. Pressing lines for the production of window profiles, laminated beams and ...
High Frequency Presses for Laminated Beams, CLT, solid glue boards and window scantlings
Obel-P manufactures Presses for cross laminated timber or gluelam. In our combi press both products can be produced in the same pressing line.
Stored items


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The route climbs good rock up an interesting mix of cracks, slabs and overhangs. Only in three sections is the rock slightly friable, namely on the three crux pitches. Due to the bad weather we established the route after a series of attempts in May and June. Apart from the few in-situ pegs, the route needs protecting with trad gear. All things considered Agoge is a beautiful route but to climb it you need a good dose of courage, determination and route-finding skills to climb the long sections which don't have pegs.
Approach the Cima Scotoni by walking from the Capanna Alpina up the path no. 20 to the rifugio Scotoni and continue past the small lake along a trail to the base of the mountain. Scramble up the left-hand side of the broken pedestal to the first bolt (50m III). Allow at least an hour for the walk-in. The route starts circa 50m right of Via Lacedelli
P1: IV+, 55m
P2: V, 35m
P3: VIII, 30m
P4: VIII/VIII+, 30m
P5: VII+, 35m
P6: VI-, 40m
P7: IV+, 55m
P8: V-, 20m
P9: VII, 35m
P10: VI-, 20m
P11: VIII-, 35m
P12: V+, 25m
P13: VI-, 35m
P14: V, 30m
Traverse along the second ledge and descend easily to the Torre del Lago pass. Descend along the path from here.
Take a rack of nuts and camming devices, as well some pegs. belays are equipped with 2-3 in-situ pegs.
8 - 10 hours for a repeat.


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Two of Jennifer Aniston's friends were M.I.A. at her surprise wedding.
"Friends" co-stars Matt LeBlanc and Matthew Perry were not among the many stars to receive an invitation to the event, which was veiled as a surprise birthday party for Justin Theroux. In fact, LeBlanc hasn't even been able to congratulate the happy couple. "They took off on their honeymoon," he told E! News Monday at a Television Critics Association event in L.A. "I'll see her when she gets back."
LeBlanc said he is "really happy" for Aniston. "They're a good match, those two."
U.S. & World
Much like LeBlanc, Perry admitted to being taken aback by Aniston's wedding to Theroux. "It was a surprise to me as well." That said, he added, "They're a lovely couple, and I'm happy for them." Asked if he was sorry to miss the wedding, the 45-year-old "Odd Couple" actor told People, "I wasn't invited. So what can you do?"
"Friends" stars Courteney Cox and Lisa Kudrow, however, did attend Aniston and Theroux's wedding on Aug. 5. It's unknown–although seemingly unlikely–if their other co-star, David Schwimmer, attended the stars' surprise nuptials.
Jimmy Kimmel officiated the ceremony, and Howard Stern made a toast. Guests included Jason Bateman, Emily Blunt, Sandra Bullock, Courteney Cox, Whitney Cummings, Ellen DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Chelsea Handler, John Krasinski, Lisa Kudrow, Rachel McAdams and Tobey McGuire, among others.
VIDEO: Does Jennifer Aniston want a "Friends" reunion?
"I think they're a great couple. I think she's happy. And that's all I care about is that Jen's happy. If she wanted me there, I would have been there," LeBlanc, 48, told People, adding that he missed her first wedding to Brad Pitt in 2000 because he was working in Austria. "She called me, and she was like, 'You're really not coming to my wedding?' And I was like, 'I asked them if they could change the schedule. I would fly and clap and fly out.' And they said, 'We can't do it. It's too tight.' It was a small-budget movie in Austria you've never heard of," the actor recalled. "Probably should have left anyway, but s--t happens. What are you going to do?"
PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux's road to the altar
Neither actor is mad at Aniston, 46, or Theroux, 44. "Jen's like my little sister," said LeBlanc, who was promoting "Episodes." "Courteney and Lisa are like my big sisters, but Jen's like my little sister. Matthew's like my little brother, and David's like my big brother. That's how it all broke down. And it's literally just like chronological."


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RSS feeds are a great way to keep up with the latest headlines and also to find out when a web site has been updated. Fresh Feed is a lightweight feed client that will alert you when your favourite feeds are updated. A menu bar icons provides easy access to post headlines and from here you can easily access the full versions of any stories you want to read.
Whether you are used to working with RSS or Atom feeds, Fresh Feed supports both formats. As you are browsing the web and encounter feeds that are of interest, they can be easily added to the app so you can continue to monitor them in future and receive and audio alert when new posts are made.
Fresh Feed is unlikely to act as a complete replacement for a dedicated RSS reader or even a web based reader such as Google Reader, it is a great way to keep up to date with a selection of your favourite feeds. If you need to keep abreast of the latest updates from a few web sites, Fresh Feed may be the solution you have been looking for, although as a general reader it is slightly limited.
The Pro version of Fresh Feed adds a number of interesting options including social network integration. This makes it possible to share the stories you have read with your friends and contacts on Facebook and Twitter. Fresh Feed Pro also includes additional feed customisation options such a visual preview of articles and there is also support for Magic Trackpad for more efficient feed navigation.


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Only 14.5 more hours until I go to see my plastic surgeon and get these damn drain tubes and all these sticky, constricting, claustrophobic feeling bandages removed. Finally, I will get to see what is underneath all of this. I'm so excited!
Monday, November 08, 2010
Posted by Shrunk at 5:53 PM
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It's been a few weeks since I posted on Stanmore Politics so here is a brief update of local news:
Bye Bye Briggs
Professor Tim Briggs, the surgeon in charge at Stanmore's Orthopaedic Hospital will not be challenging Labour MP Tony McNulty in the upcoming election. The scientist had suggested he might run back in January, angry that he had not secured funding for a much needed upgrade to the facilities.
However now that the Department of Health have found a way to come up with the £60 million required, there will be no such challenge. Just shows the merit of a good publicity stunt.
Criticising what he saw as a 'pork-barrel' plan, Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph notes the funding has dealt 'a possibly fatal blow' to Conservative candidate Bob Blackman, who has been vociferously promising the money if he were elected.
Hot Cross Travellers
As an extra Easter present the good people at TfL have ensured that both the Jubilee and Met lines will be down for the Bank Holiday Weekend, driving more Harrow people back into their cars. The whole of the Jubilee line is down until Monday and the Met line is partially stopped.
Angry Pensioners
Pensioners have been expressing their anger at Harrow East MP Tony McNulty for letting them down in a key vote on for fair compensation for those who lost out with the collapse of Equitable Life. Campaigners demanded an apology but McNulty said he remains 'fully committed to secure justice for Equitable Life victims' and his vote was about not giving into a Lib Dem publicity stunt on the issue.
Problems in Pinner
The Evening Standard is reporting the chaos in Pinner after a feud at a GPs surgery led to it closing its doors, and forcing some 7,000 people to find an alternative.
Rachel Writes
On her blog would-be Harrow West MP Rachel Joyce has been voicing her upset over Labour smears regarding Tory cuts to cancer services. She rightly challenges the allegation, saying: 'Scaring elderly ladies suffering from cancer is about as low as politics can get', thoughwith respect, her indignation is somewhat weakened by the post below, which features a scaremongering Conservative campaign poster.


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Android: Allowing users to pick 3D objects
I have published some apps on android but up until now I have never done anything with OpenGL, so thought it was about high time I get started. Bring on my first 2d game, I read a book and followed the examples.. and let me tell you that was fun. Then I decided I wanted to do my first 3d game, bring on cube destroy!! (not yet released or finished).
I was not far in to programming my first 3d game before I wanted users to be able to click on objects in 3d space, I was not able to find a complete tutorial on how to do this. After some time I used any resources I could and managed to get it working.. hence this blog to save you time!
So the basic process is broken up as follows:
- Create a ray in 3d space based on a user click
- Transform any of your 3d objects using the Model view matrix.
- Check what objects are in the same space as the ray.
- Find the closest object that was clicked if any.
The first thing you need is the coordinates of the click on the screen (screen ordinates and not 3d space ordinates). For those who are unaware the following on method on your view class will get these.
@Override public boolean onTouchEvent(MotionEvent e) { // MotionEvent reports input details from the touch screen // and other input controls. In this case, you are only // interested in events where the touch position changed. float x = e.getX(); float y = e.getY(); switch (e.getAction()) { case MotionEvent.ACTION_UP: // do something with them... break; } }
To use these new coordinates we need to convert them to space coordinates. Lucky for us there is a GLU method that will do this for us (http://developer.android.com/reference/android/opengl/GLU.html). Unlucky for us its not so easy to use, it requires the Model Matrix and View Matrix in order to do the conversions.
The hard part is getting hold of these Matrices, once again the developers at google have come to the party. If you open up the API demo's you will find a package com.example.android.apis.graphics.spritetext, open it and "borrow" the follow classes:
- MatrixGrabber
- MatrixStack
- MatrixTrackingGL
To be able to use these classes you are going to have to set a GL Wrapper on your view. So do the following in your Activity:
/** Called when the activity is first created. */ @Override public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) { super.onCreate(savedInstanceState); view = new MyView(this); view.setGLWrapper(new GLSurfaceView.GLWrapper() { public GL wrap(GL gl) { return new MatrixTrackingGL(gl); } }); setContentView(view); }
So now getting the Model and View Matricies respectivly is as easy as follows:
MatrixGrabber matrixGrabber = new MatrixGrabber(); matrixGrabber.getCurrentState(gl); matrixGrabber.mModelView; matrixGrabber.mProjection;It will get the Matrix at the current state of OpenGL, so you need acquire them after doing your transformations.
Now we can almost use GLU.gluUnProject. The argument we do not have but will need is the viewport. You would have set your viewport in your Renderer:
public void onSurfaceChanged(GL10 gl, int width, int height) { gl.glViewport(0, 0, width, height); //if you set your viewport as above then the argument for GLU.gluUnProject would be. int[] viewport = {0, 0, width, height}; //rest of method
So now we can obtain our ray, all we need is to find the far and near points on the Z axis. I just created a Ray class to hold the near and far vector which had a constructor to create the points.
public Ray(GL10 gl, int width, int height, float xTouch, float yTouch) { MatrixGrabber matrixGrabber = new MatrixGrabber(); matrixGrabber.getCurrentState(gl); int[] viewport = {0, 0, width, height}; float[] nearCoOrds = new float[3]; float[] farCoOrds = new float[3]; float[] temp = new float[4]; float[] temp2 = new float[4]; // get the near and far ords for the click float winx = xTouch, winy =(float)viewport[3] - yTouch; // Log.d(TAG, "modelView is =" + Arrays.toString(matrixGrabber.mModelView)); // Log.d(TAG, "projection view is =" + Arrays.toString( matrixGrabber.mProjection )); int result = GLU.gluUnProject(winx, winy, 1.0f, matrixGrabber.mModelView, 0, matrixGrabber.mProjection, 0, viewport, 0, temp, 0); Matrix.multiplyMV(temp2, 0, matrixGrabber.mModelView, 0, temp, 0); if(result == GL10.GL_TRUE){ nearCoOrds[0] = temp2[0] / temp2[3]; nearCoOrds[1] = temp2[1] / temp2[3]; nearCoOrds[2] = temp2[2] / temp2[3]; } result = GLU.gluUnProject(winx, winy, 0, matrixGrabber.mModelView, 0, matrixGrabber.mProjection, 0, viewport, 0, temp, 0); Matrix.multiplyMV(temp2,0,matrixGrabber.mModelView, 0, temp, 0); if(result == GL10.GL_TRUE){ farCoOrds[0] = temp2[0] / temp2[3]; farCoOrds[1] = temp2[1] / temp2[3]; farCoOrds[2] = temp2[2] / temp2[3]; } this.P0 = farCoOrds; this.P1 = nearCoOrds; }
Something to note here is that the result is homogeneous so x,z,y,w. Just divide the arguments by w to get the arguments.
Ok now we have our ray!! now could be different depending on what objects you are displaying. After doing any transformations to your object you will want to obtain the Model View matrix. Once you have this matrix you can take the vectors that make up your object and multiply them by the Model View matrix, this will transform them to where they are in space when rendered.
My game was made up of cubes, this is how I convert the coordinates:
float[] convertedSquare = new float[Cube.CUBE_CO_ORDS.length]; float[] resultVector = new float[4]; float[] inputVector = new float[4]; for(int i =0; i < Cube.CUBE_CO_ORDS.length;i = i+3){ inputVector[0] = Cube.CUBE_CO_ORDS[i]; inputVector[1] = Cube.CUBE_CO_ORDS[i+1]; inputVector[2] = Cube.CUBE_CO_ORDS[i+2]; inputVector[3] = 1; Matrix.multiplyMV(resultVector, 0, matrixGrabber.mModelView, 0, inputVector,0); convertedSquare[i] = resultVector[0]/resultVector[3]; convertedSquare[i+1] = resultVector[1]/resultVector[3]; convertedSquare[i+2] = resultVector[2]/resultVector[3]; }Now we have our converted square and our ray, we need to check if the exist anywhere in the same space. Its been a while since Linear math at uni so I looked it up on the net, I managed to find a C implementation. So I converted it to Java and hey presto we just call the method for the intersection. Here is a link to the page I got the implementation off: http://softsurfer.com/Archive/algorithm_0105/algorithm_0105.htm#Segment-Plan
Here is the code for intersections:
public class Triangle { public float[] V0; public float[] V1; public float[] V2; public Triangle(float[] V0, float[] V1, float[] V2){ this.V0 =V0; this.V1 = V1; this.V2 = V2; } private static final float SMALL_NUM = 0.00000001f; // anything that avoids division overflow // intersectRayAndTriangle(): intersect a ray with a 3D triangle // Input: a ray R, and a triangle T // Output: *I = intersection point (when it exists) // Return: -1 = triangle is degenerate (a segment or point) // 0 = disjoint (no intersect) // 1 = intersect in unique point I1 // 2 = are in the same plane public static int intersectRayAndTriangle(Ray R, Triangle T, float[] I) { float[] u, v, n; // triangle vectors float[] dir, w0, w; // ray vectors float r, a, b; // params to calc ray-plane intersect // get triangle edge vectors and plane normal u = Vector.minus(T.V1, T.V0); v = Vector.minus(T.V2, T.V0); n = Vector.crossProduct(u, v); // cross product if (Arrays.equals(n, new float[]{0.0f,0.0f,0.0f})){ // triangle is degenerate return -1; // do not deal with this case } dir = Vector.minus(R.P1, R.P0); // ray direction vector w0 = Vector.minus( R.P0 , T.V0); a = - Vector.dot(n,w0); b = Vector.dot(n,dir); if (Math.abs(b) < SMALL_NUM) { // ray is parallel to triangle plane if (a == 0){ // ray lies in triangle plane return 2; }else{ return 0; // ray disjoint from plane } } // get intersect point of ray with triangle plane r = a / b; if (r < 0.0f){ // ray goes away from triangle return 0; // => no intersect } // for a segment, also test if (r > 1.0) => no intersect float[] tempI = Vector.addition(R.P0, Vector.scalarProduct(r, dir)); // intersect point of ray and plane I[0] = tempI[0]; I[1] = tempI[1]; I[2] = tempI[2]; // is I inside T? float uu, uv, vv, wu, wv, D; uu = Vector.dot(u,u); uv = Vector.dot(u,v); vv = Vector.dot(v,v); w = Vector.minus(I, T.V0); wu = Vector.dot(w,u); wv = Vector.dot(w,v); D = (uv * uv) - (uu * vv); // get and test parametric coords float s, t; s = ((uv * wv) - (vv * wu)) / D; if (s < 0.0f || s > 1.0f) // I is outside T return 0; t = (uv * wu - uu * wv) / D; if (t < 0.0f || (s + t) > 1.0f) // I is outside T return 0; return 1; // I is in T } }
Here is a utility class for Vectors:
public class Vector { // dot product (3D) which allows vector operations in arguments public static float dot(float[] u,float[] v) { return ((u[X] * v[X]) + (u[Y] * v[Y]) + (u[Z] * v[Z])); } public static float[] minus(float[] u, float[] v){ return new float[]{u[X]-v[X],u[Y]-v[Y],u[Z]-v[Z]}; } public static float[] addition(float[] u, float[] v){ return new float[]{u[X]+v[X],u[Y]+v[Y],u[Z]+v[Z]}; } //scalar product public static float[] scalarProduct(float r, float[] u){ return new float[]{u[X]*r,u[Y]*r,u[Z]*r}; } // (cross product) public static float[] crossProduct(float[] u, float[] v){ return new float[]{(u[Y]*v[Z]) - (u[Z]*v[Y]),(u[Z]*v[X]) - (u[X]*v[Z]),(u[X]*v[Y]) - (u[Y]*v[X])}; } //mangnatude or length public static float length(float[] u){ return (float) Math.abs(Math.sqrt((u[X] *u[X]) + (u[Y] *u[Y]) + (u[Z] *u[Z]))); } public static final int X = 0; public static final int Y = 1; public static final int Z = 2; }
Ok so now all we need to do is call the method above and store the intersection, the shortest intersection vector will be the object they clicked!
sorry this is a bit rushed, I will come back and brush it up soon. Hope it helps someone?


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Coffee supervisor and farm owner evaluating the bushes (photo courtesy Oslo Coffee Roasters).
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October 2005
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The Dutch were also growing coffee at Malabar in India, and in 1699 took some to Batavia in Java, in what is now Indonesia. Within a few years the Dutch colonies had become the main suppliers of coffee to Europe. Today Indonesia is the fourth largest exporter of coffee in the world.
Venetian traders first brought coffee to Europe in 1615, around the same time hot chocolate arrived in France and Italy. Imagine what life was like then: cacao, in the form of a cold spiced beverage, was brought back to Spain from Mexico by Cortès in 1527 and only around 1615 had arrived in France and Italy in the form of hot chocolate.
Tea, which was brought back from China by Portuguese missionaries and traders, was first sold on the Continent in 1610. And, for more than two centuries after that, these beverages were available only to the wealthy!
The Arabs were known to drink so much coffee that the Christian church denounced it as "the hellish black brew." But Pope Clement VIII found it so delicious that he baptized it and made it a Christian beverage, saying "coffee is so delicious, it would be a pity to let the infidels have exclusive use of it."
At first coffee was mainly sold by lemonade vendors and was believed to have medicinal qualities. Coffeehouses appeared as meeting places for men.
Lloyd's of London, the world-famous insurance company, began business as a coffeehouse!
The largest insurance company in the world, Lloyd's of London, began as a coffeehouse. It was started in 1688 by Edward Lloyd, who prepared lists of the ships that his customers had insured.
In 1607, Captain John Smith founded the Virginia Colony at Jamestown. It is believed that he introduced coffee to North America: It was grown as a crop alongside tobacco.
In the 1660's, coffee houses were established in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and other towns. The Boston Tea Party Of 1773 was planned in a coffee house, the Green Dragon.
Both the New York Stock Exchange and the Bank of New York started in coffeehouses, in what is today the financial district known as Wall Street. Coffee was declared the national drink of the then colonies by the Continental Congress, in protest of the excessive tax on tea levied by the British crown.
Coffee spread through the world when, along with the increase in popularity of coffee in Europe, the Dutch began to cultivate it in their colonies during the 17th century.
In 1715, the Jesuits started coffee cultivation in Haiti. In 1723, a French naval officer, Gabriel Mathieu do Clieu, transplanted a coffee tree to Martinique, and within 50 years an official survey recorded 19 million coffee trees on the island.
Coffee was taken to Hawaii in 1825, to Indochina in 1887, to Australia in 1986, to New Guinea in the 1950's. The espresso maker was invented in France in 1822; the Italians perfected the machine and made the beverage part of their culture.
North Americans are the world's largest consumers of coffee. Seattle gave birth to the new coffee movement in the 1970s, introducing the "latte" culture which has swept the country and dramatically improved the general quality of the coffee we drink.
This new "coffee culture" has begun to spread to the rest of the world—somewhat abetted by the expansion of Starbucks overseas, even to countries in Europe with a heritage of fine coffee.
Coffee is one of the most valuable primary products in world trade, and in many years is second in value only to oil as a source of foreign exchange to developing countries. It is crucial to the economies and politics of many developing countries. Coffee is a traded commodity on major futures and commodity exchanges, especially the major exchanges in London and New York.
There are now organic coffees, fair trade-certified coffees, coffees with health benefits...a coffee for every psychographic and every demographic.
Today, coffee ranks second only to petroleum in terms of dollars traded worldwide; as a global industry, it employs more than 20 million people. Coffee is the world's most popular beverage, with more than 400 billion cups consumed every year. Kaldi, the Ethiopian goatherd, would be amazed.
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But first up is the card that I created for the blog hop. I seriously just love this sweet little card...it's kind-of scrumptious! I happened upon a sketch blog that I hadn't heard of, so I used Tuesday Morning sketch #82 for my card as well! Here it is:
Until later,
~Lea L.


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IDOLM@STER Series Merchandise
THE IDOLM@STER has become one of the most popular raising simulation and rhythm video games out there. It was created by Bandai Namco Games, and its first release was in 2005 as an arcade game directed by Akihiro Ishihara. In addition to its manga and anime adaptations, the series' various ports, sequels, and spin-offs can now be found on everything from Nintendo DS, PlayStation 4, and Xbox 360, to Android and iOS! Its bright cast of characters want nothing more than to become top idols, and the player takes on the role of their producer, training their idol to reach their full potential.
Rin Shibuya, Anzu Futaba, Uzuki Shimamura, Mio Honda, Miku Maekawa, Ranko Kanzaki, Anastasia, Minami Nitta, Kanako Mimura, Miria Akagi, Kaede Takagaki, Rika Jougasaki, Kirari Moroboshi, Arisu Tachibana, Chieri Ogata, Riina Tada, Mika Jougasaki, Sachiko Koshimizu, Fumika Sagisawa, Shiki Ichinose, Nana Abe, Nao Kamiya, Karen Hojo, Miki Hoshii, Syuko Shiomi, Frederica Miyamoto, Mayu Sakuma, Yoshino Yorita, Hibiki Ganaha, Aiko Takamori, Chihaya Kisaragi, Syoko Hoshi, Koume Shirasaka, Anna Mochizuki, Mirei Hayasaka, Kanade Hayami, Takane Shijou, Kaoru Ryuzaki, Chie Sasaki, Airi Totoki, Asuka Ninomiya, Takumi Mukai, Shin Sato, Sae Kobayakawa, Yui Ohtsuki, Miho Kohinata, Tsubasa Ibuki, Yuuki Otokura, Hajime Fujiwara, Yuki Himekawa, Sanae Katagiri, Momoka Sakurai, Miyu Mifune, Kyoko Igarashi
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Seamless bra with modern cuts and comfortable-wear elastic straps
Close fit
Regulated hook and eye closure on the back
French fabric
Be well undressed!
S - underbust 60-75 cm*, cup size A) XS - underbust 65-80 cm*, cup size A/B) M - underbust 70-85 cm*, cup size B/C) L - underbust 75-90 cm*, cup sieze C/D)
Undress Code More products
If you are not satisfied with your online purchase, you can return the unused articles within 14 days after delivery.
In order to claim a refund, log onto your SHOWROOM account, pick the correct order from the list and fill in the return form. Enclosing the printed return form together with the shipment is not required.
Send your return to the address provided in the return form.
Refund will be processed immediately after the return is delivered to Undress Code. You will be refunded for the product to the bank account you provided.
All orders placed on SHOWROOM are delivered directly from the designers. This way we minimize your waiting time. Undress Code will send the product in 3 days from placing your order.
Undress Code creates a perfect definition of lingerie. Using top quality French and Italian fabrics, Undress Code designs unpretentious underwear that highlights female individuality. The collection is composed of minimalistic, geometric bras and briefs that flatter the figure...