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Wow, 2018 was a wild year! It was a year of personal challenges that presented some challenges to my reading schedule. But, in the end I persevered (lol) and it was another stellar year for this book lover! 😅 Thank goodness for audiobooks to help feed my passion for Romance books when I don't have the time to read! Some of the following books have been reviewed on the blog and some of the reviews are still to come. Without further ado, I present my list of 2018 Besties!
#1 – Trailer Park Heart by Rachel Higginson
Stunning, emotional, fulfilling story set in Nebraska! I love this story and these characters!
#2 – The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
This is the book that I gushed about on All About Books on NET Radio! Just a fantastic, wonderful, emotional, moving story! Definitely check this out!
#3 – Wanderlust by Lauren Blakely
This is hands-down the BEST audiobook that I have ever had the pleasure of listening to! The story is phenomenal, but it is made so much better by the incredible narration of Grace Grant and Richard Armitage. This will make anyone an audio lover!
#4 – The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Sweet and stunning. The most unique characters I've read in a long time. Heartfelt and hopeful!
#5 – My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Julia Whelan has long been one of my favorite narrators. But, hearing her narrate her own story and characters was one of my favorite book experiences of the year. This book is exceptional!
#6 – The Idea of You by Robinne Lee
This book was as much of a group experience as you can get with a book. It's fresh and lovely and slightly taboo. I enjoyed the book and am obsessed with Robinne Lee's narration, but more than anything I have loved talking about this book with other #HayeSolNuts and developing an obsession with Harry Styles!
#7 – Royally Yours by Emma Chase
This is the prequel that I didn't even know I wanted! I adore this series and this is one of my most favorite stories in this series. It's historical with a modern feel and characters that are absolute perfection!
#8 – Banking the Billionaire by Max Monroe (The Year of Max Monroe)
2018 is the year I devoured everything written by the hilarious duo. But with all of the great stories to choose from, I have to pick Banking the Billionaire (#2 in the Bad Boy Billionaire series) because Thatcher Kelly is my most favorite hero ever written. Period. He does it for me. He's sweet, kind, caring, independent and co-dependent, confident, crazy in love with his heroine, but not so much that he's willing to sacrifice who he is! He's AMAZING! I've listened to this audio twice this year!!!
#9 – Tinfoil Heart by Daisy Prescott
I'm a believer! How about you? This is another complete unique story unlike anything else you've read. And, it's thoroughly enjoyable! This is an absolute gem!
#10 – Steadfast by Sarina Bowen (The Year of Sarina Bowen)
Another "Year of" Author! It started with the amazing Bittersweet and I've devoured all of the books in the True North Series, the Brooklyn Bruisers Series and Him/Us, I have a few more on my list to enjoy. Everything she writes is fantastic! Steadfast has stuck with me more than any of the others. Jude broke my heart and mended it back together!
AND Now the Next Besties
I can't just leave it at 10, so here's 8 more stellar books to make it an even 18 for 2018!


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If you're a Starbucks fan, you're likely well aware of their "secret menu." While it's not a real menu, fans and baristas have developed dozens of drinks that can be made with ingredients at the coffee chain, posting the ordering instructions online for all to enjoy.
There was the unicorn frappuccino in 2017, then the Cinderella latte in 2019 and just last month, a '"Ghostbusters" frappuccino and candy corn frappuccino. And now that the holidays are approaching, there is a Christmas-inspired drink to get your hands on: a Santa Claus frappuccino!
This frappuccino is red, white and, of course, has Christmas sprinkles. As always when ordering a secret menu item, you'll have to give the barista specific substitution instructions since the drink isn't actually on the menu.
So, what does a Santa Claus frappuccino taste like? You can see exactly how to order it on Totally the Bomb's website, but it's basically a vanilla bean frappuccino with strawberry puree, so the look of the drink is more holiday-inspired than the taste.
Fueled By Munchies posted the drink's ordering instructions on Facebook last year right around this time, showing that this is a returning favorite from the secret menu.
If you'd rather order a festive drink off the actual menu, you can now: Starbucks' holiday drinks and cups have returned and will be around through the holiday season.
If you're looking for a classic holiday flavor, the peppermint mocha is back for its 18th year. Made with Starbucks signature espresso, steamed milk, sweet mocha sauce and peppermint-flavored syrup, it's topped off with whipped cream and dark chocolate curls.
Or, you can instead order the caramel brulee latte, toasted white chocolate mocha, chestnut praline latte or eggnog latte, which is made with steamed eggnog and espresso. It is topped off with a dusting of ground nutmeg.
There are also four new holiday cup designs, all with the theme "Carry the Merry," an invitation to enjoy the little moments of brightness around you. The green, red and white designs feature polka dots, stars and even a pattern inspired by Christmas sweaters.
Here's to more merry!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.

subset: commoncrawl


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It's been two decades since Michael Milken, a.k.a. the junk-bond king, pleaded guilty to securities fraud following a blockbuster insider-trading investigation that shined a light on bad Wall Street behavior during the go-go 1980s. At the time, federal prosecutors hoped the Milken guilty plea, and the conviction of fellow Wall Street titan Ivan Boesky, would send a powerful message to Wall Street that there are serious consequences for insider trading. (Milken was never convicted of insider trading. He pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud and ultimately served two years in prison.)
Since then, however, insider trading has continued unabated, with a series of high-profile cases, including the conviction of lifestyle guru Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison for trading shares of ImClone Systems based on material, nonpublic information she received from her broker. In short, whatever message federal prosecutors thought they'd been sending to Wall Street does not appear to have gotten through.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, working together with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is aiming to change that. Since taking office in 2009, Bharara has charged 75 people with insider trading and obtained 69 convictions or guilty pleas, according to the New York Times. (Six cases are still pending, and there are surely more to come.) Bharara's probe has already led to the convictions of former Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam and former Goldman Sachs director and former McKinsey managing director Rajat Gupta. Rajaratnam is currently serving an 11-year prison sentence, and in October, Gupta was sentenced to two years in prison. (Earlier this year, TIME featured Bharara in a cover story and later named him to the TIME 100.)
(MORE: Preet Bharara — the Street Fighter)
Bharara's latest target appears to be SAC Capital Advisors, the giant hedge fund run by billionaire Wall Street titan Steven A. Cohen. Last month, federal prosecutors charged Mathew Martoma, a former portfolio manager at SAC subsidiary CR Intrinsic Investors, with acting on confidential information he received from a neurology professor who played a key role in a major pharmaceutical trial. Martoma is the seventh former SAC employee to be linked to insider trading. In a parallel civil complaint filed by the SEC, Cohen is referred to as "Portfolio Manager A." Cohen has not been charged with a crime, but federal prosecutors say Portfolio Manager A worked closely with Martoma on the allegedly fraudulent trades. Days after the charges were unsealed, SAC acknowledged that the hedge fund itself is under investigation by the SEC.
It's no secret on Wall Street that Cohen, one of the most successful hedge-fund managers of the past two decades, has a target on his back. The feds have been investigating the hedge-fund mogul, who has a net worth of $8.8 billion, for five years, with little to show for it other than the convictions of a handful of his underlings. But in recent weeks, it's become clear that federal prosecutors have intensified their scrutiny of SAC — and on Friday, Reuters reported that U.S. authorities are investigating SAC for possible insider trading involving shares of diet company Weight Watchers. According to the news agency, the probe "potentially could implicate" Cohen. A spokesperson for SAC did not return a TIME request for comment on the Weight Watchers report.
If the feds can pin charges on Cohen, it would be one of the most high-profile insider-trading cases in U.S. history. The reclusive hedge-fund titan is one of the most legendary figures on Wall Street, famed for his trading prowess, as well as his gargantuan 3,300-sq-m mansion in Greenwich, Conn., and his vast art collection, which is reportedly worth $1 billion and includes works by Picasso, Monet, de Kooning, Bacon and Warhol.
(MORE: SAC Capital: Feds Are Probing Insider-Trading Scandal)
Like other federal prosecutors before him, Bharara aims to send a message to Wall Street that insider trading carries heavy consequences. "What we're trying to accomplish is deterrence," Bharara told the New York Times recently, adding that jurors in the Gupta trial wept as they delivered the guilty verdict that destroyed Gupta's once sterling reputation. "I want smart people to see that and say, 'I never want that to happen to me.'" In an interview with TIME earlier this year, Bharara declared: "Securities fraud generally and insider trading in particular should be eminently deterrable crimes."
But is that really true? If insider trading really is a "deterrable crime," why does it continue — on a rampant basis — two decades after Milken and Boesky, and nearly a decade after Martha Stewart? The simple fact is that most folks on Wall Street are pretty smart, and risk-vs.-reward calculations constitute a sizable chunk of what they do every day. As long as bad actors on Wall Street believe the rewards of insider trading outweigh the risks, it will continue, according to veteran Wall Street securities lawyer Bill Singer, a partner at New York–based securities-law firm Herskovits.
Look at Martoma: he earned a $9 million bonus for his alleged insider trading, enabling him to purchase a garish mansion in Florida. Martoma, a graduate of Stanford Business School, fainted when FBI agents showed up on his front lawn.
"We can all agree that insider trading is a pernicious evil," says Singer. "It is corrosive, and it undermines confidence in our capital markets. But if you think that putting Steven Cohen in jail is going to deter or prevent the next Steven Cohen or Michael Milken, good luck." Singer says he would prefer to see federal authorities using their limited resources to target predatory scammers like Ponzi masterminds Bernie Madoff and Allen Stanford, whose devious machinations wiped out the life savings of thousands of ordinary investors.
(MORE: Insider-Trading Scandal: Are the Feds Closing In on Billionaire Hedge-Fund Mogul Steven Cohen?)
In a provocative recent post for Forbes, Singer went so far as to suggest that insider trading should be decriminalized. "Given the inability to outlaw insider trading, it's probably best to legalize the practice so that the public gets the message, once and for all, that Wall Street is not a level playing field and that you must enter the casino knowing that some or all of the games of chance are fixed," he wrote.
That's not going to happen, of course, but Singer makes a good point. Given the fact that insider trading continues unabated, even after all of the high-profile cases and convictions, it's worth asking just how effective the federal government has been in attempting to deter the practice.
Like all crime, insider trading will never be completely eradicated. There's just something about human nature that compels people to seek unfair advantage over others, even when they rationally understand that their actions could result in hefty fines or incarceration. The Wall Street hedge-fund community is particularly susceptible to insider trading because Wall Street's entire raison d'être is to seek "an edge" over the competition in order to generate profit.
Bharara and his colleagues should be commended for their aggressive campaign to crack down on insider trading. (To get an idea of the scope of the federal insider-trading crackdown, take a look at the list of recent SEC cases.) Singer is right: insider trading is pervasive, pernicious, dishonest and disgraceful, and it undermines public confidence in the capital markets. But Bharara may be a tad optimistic if he thinks his crackdown is actually going to substantially reduce insider trading on Wall Street. Realistically, 10 years from now, we'll still be talking about the deterrent value of insider-trading investigations, as unscrupulous Wall Street actors continue to seek advantage over others by just about any means necessary.
Correction: An earlier version of this story implied that Michael Milken was convicted of insider trading. He was not. Milken pleaded guilty to six counts of securities fraud in 1990.


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2009.08.12: Welcome to the new RantRadio site.


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Video shot by Brian Trow, of Mossy Creek Fly Fishing.
Please click on the gear icon and select the higher resolution (1080p), and/or make the video bigger by clicking on the lower left icon, in order to see the line and technique more clearly.
I took a group out for a tenkara clinic in a spring creek, Mossy Creek in Virginia. I don't get to fish spring creeks all that often but tenkara can be super effective in those waters, particularly because you can keep the main line from touching the water (if one doesn't it to), therefore avoiding spooking fish. My very favorite technique for spring creeks, and something that has worked in just about every spring creek I have fished so far, is the "pause-and-drift" technique. For this technique, one casts across, or slightly down, and pauses the fly in place for a second and lets the fly drift, pauses and lets it drift.
To perfect this technique, you can look for a few things (it may be hard to notice these in this video, but they are being done, or were being done on other fish):
– Strive to keep the line tight (no big slacks).
– As the fly drifts downstream, try pushing your arm out (away from your body) and downstream along with the fly. This will get the fly to go in a straighter line according to the current, rather than swinging it out of a fish's field of strike. It is important to start with your arm close to your body so you can push the arm out. Also, pay attention to get the fly in the main feeding lines by using the current (e.g. if the stream was bending towards me and I cast inside the curve of the current the fly wouldn't reach the feeding lane, in that case I would cast on the outer portion of the current so the fly would then come into the current/feeding lane).
– Get some of your main line in the water to keep things anchored in the current and to keep the fly from riding too high, which could make it easier for the fish to miss your fly or spit it out quickly.
– I find one of the easiest ways to achieve a "pause and drift" effect is to rotate your rod tip in circles with the circular motion towards upstream. As the rod tip reaches the top of the circle, slightly upstream, the fly will pause, as the rod tip descends in the circle (in the video it was being done as a clockwise motion, but not as well defined as I probably would have done if the current was stronger).


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Traffic pressure facing data center interconnect (DCI): Cloud services are a shared economy in the IT industry, while data centers are the carriers of these services. Due to limited land resources and equipment room space, data centers are increasingly deployed in a distributed manner, requiring WDM technology to connect them to provide unified services. As more and more services are migrated to the cloud, DCI traffic constantly increases, presenting great challenges to DCI solution. In this intensive economic era, cloud operators continuously pursue maximum utilization of land, equipment room space, energy, and optical fiber resources. Many customers opt to rent optical fibers and cabinets, with the monthly rental of optical fibers in an Asia Pacific metro network coming to US$70 to US$85 per kilometer, while the rental of optical fibers of backbone networks even reaches US$150. Meanwhile, the rental of each cabinet can often cost between US$850 to US$1150 (including electricity and air conditioning fees). Maximizing the value of optical fibers and cabinet space is a requirement from DCI.
Continuous pursuit of DCI solutions with higher integration: Data centers, subjected as they are to high traffic, are also the subjects of technological innovation. The primary goal is to construct high-speed and non-blocking DCI networks.
On the one hand, fiber spectrum resources need to be fully utilized by expanding from the current C band to the Super C band, upgrading from 80 wavelengths to 120 wavelengths in the process. This requires technical breakthroughs in hardware design, algorithms, and system components such as chips, lasers, receivers, and amplifiers.
On the other hand, the transmission capacity of each wavelength needs to be improved. Currently, single-wavelength 100G/200G is the mainstream commercial DCI technology, while single-wavelength 400G/600G has been successfully put into commercial use. Single-wavelength 800G is expected to be put into commercial use sometime in 2020. The key to implementing high-speed transmission on a single wavelength is to improve transmission performance and deployment capabilities on physical channels using algorithms. In terms of integration, the industry favors deploying the optical layer and the electrical layer in separate chassis. The capacity of each unit (1 U) is between 1.2 Tbit/s and 2.4 Tbit/s. In the future, with the increase of the single-wavelength rate, equipment density will be doubled. Simplifying the optical layer and exploring DCI device forms with optical-electrical integration is also an area for future development.
Personnel deficiencies in DCI deployment: While existing enterprise DCI O&M personnel are proficient in information technology (IT), they are less so in professional WDM knowledge. In addition, available DCI O&M manpower is often insufficient. For example, some ISP DCI O&M teams have only a dozen personnel managing thousands of devices worldwide. Third-party personnel are usually outsourced, who in turn lack the professional WDM knowledge necessary for remote site deployment, capacity expansion, and routine onsite maintenance.
Time-consuming deployment of traditional WDM equipment: Site installation, fiber connection, configuration, commissioning, and service provisioning takes significant time. According to typical customer statistics, this can often extend to several weeks. Meanwhile, cloud services are rapidly developed and rolled out, while reconstruction and capacity expansion is a daily task. This is extremely problematicfor O&M personnel. The probability of errors in traditional manual fiber connection begins to reach 5%, and once a fiber is incorrectly connected, service availability is interrupted. Troubleshooting, cross-checking, and verification all become more time-consuming and labor-intensive. Once physical fibers have been placed correctly, logical fibers also need to be connected on the network management system (NMS) one by one.
Due to the complex and precise nature of optical systems, service rollout requires dozens of professional configuration and commissioning steps. Configuring basic communication parameters for NEs on the NMS, configuring wavelengths, commissioning optical power, and adjusting optical power flatness mutually affect sites and modules in an end-to-end WDM system. This requires professional knowledge and extensive experience. Manual commissioning is also refined and time-consuming, and often these tasks are impossible for enterprises. As a result, less complex operations are required.
Reducing specialization for faster deployment: Ideally, O&M personnel need to be free from complex and professional deployment requirements. Every step in the deployment process should be simplified and automated, including the optical layer, and unnecessary fibers should not require connection. In addition, logical fiber connections on the NMS should be automatically discovered, parameters such as wavelengths automatically matched, and professional commissioning automatically performed. In the future, fiber connections, configurations, and commissioning will be simplified and automated as much as possible in order to implement one-click deployment, shortening the deployment period from weeks to minutes and supporting quick service cloudification and frequent capacity expansion.
Slow fault identification and severe fault impact: More and more applications are running on the cloud, while cloud service providers are themselves launching hundreds of services. In such a scenario, the impact of DCI faults is a serious concern. As was recently reported, a multinational cloud service provider encountered a global multi-node fault, resulting in the failure of multiple SaaS providers to deliver their services. In the customer's IT system architecture, the DCI network, as the basis of support, is connected to DCN switches, storage servers, and IT applications upstream. They usually detect service interruption first. Once a fault occurs, various departments will immediately raise complaints. The DCI side, however, is late to detect the fault.
Need for more intelligent O&M modes: To change O&M from manual to automatic, and from passive to active, intelligent O&M is the optimal choice. Big data needs to be imported first, and ubiquitous optical sensors need to be deployed to implement second-level real-time network monitoring. In addition, powerful chip computing capabilities and decision-making algorithms need to be deployed to predict network health status. Once a fault occurs, the capabilities can be invoked with matching algorithms to determine the root alarm, thereby implementing accurate fault locating. The intelligent O&M framework can provide more applications in the future, enabling easy O&M for IT personnel.


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This silky, lightweight lip stain provides beautiful long-lasting color. Lips stay hydrated with Avocado oil which provides comfort and nutrition. Don't worry! Glameselle Liquid Matte Lipstick is Paraben-free and vitamin E infused creating glamorous lips that feel soft and moisturized.
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Stevie Nicks Year by Year: Photos 1973-2019
Whether fronting Fleetwood Mac or basking in her successful solo career, Stevie Nicks has been one of the most photographed people in rock. In the below gallery, we've collected photographs of the singer from every year between 1973 and the present day.
Nicks first entered the public eye in 1973 thanks to an album she made with her boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham. But she wouldn't become a star until after the pair joined Fleetwood Mac on New Year's Eve 1974. The first album the Americans made with the veteran British band, Fleetwood Mac, and its 1977 follow-up, Rumours, helped establish Nicks' "bohemian chic" style and bewitching onstage persona, which she admitted was necessitated by genetics.
"The reason I wear the ponchos and the big shawl-y chiffon things," she told Rolling Stone, "is because I realized from a very young age, if you were 5 foot 1, and you wanted to make big moves and be seen from a long way away, if you weren't twirling a baton of fire, you needed something that was gonna make you show up. Like a Las Vegas showgirl, really. You need big moves. If you're gonna dance, you gotta really dance."
"She always wears little-beaded jackets or a bolero-shaped jacket for the summer," her longtime stylist Margi Kent said in 2009. "Mostly, she wears blondy, beigy, creamy and mahogany colors. ... Black is a main thing, but we pop it with other things."
You can see more than 40 years worth of that style below, in photos ranging from album covers to concert stages to press photos. You'll see her with touring partners Rod Stewart and Chrissie Hynde, her longtime friend Tom Petty, Taylor Swift and even her mother, who was her guest at the 1978 Grammy Awards.


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Use #ColumbiaSEconf to tweet about the conference.
Please click here to view session summaries and videos.
Please join us on Friday October 5th for the 2012 Social Enterprise Conference.
As we move into the second decade of the new millennium, we live in an increasingly networked world powered by technological innovations that are redefining connectedness and transforming business. For social enterprise, these changes have the potential to produce groundbreaking business models, introduce innovative approaches for scaling enterprises, reach new audiences and mobilize additional resources to improve society:
- How have social enterprises leveraged new channels to improve existing business models and create platforms to better enable, amplify and capture social, economic and environmental value?
- What emerging technologies and ideas will drive the social enterprises of the future?
- How can businesses better manage socially relevant issues in a ubiquitously networked world?
By bringing together industry experts, thought leaders and practitioners, the 2011 Social Enterprise Conference will examine how the social enterprise sector has and will continue to explore and capitalize on new avenues of business brought to light by technological innovation.
Sponsored by |
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Silver Sponsors |
Young-Cantarella Memorial Lecture SponsorsMarcia Cantarella |
Social Venture Pitch Session SponsorsSerious Change, LP |
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25 Health Benefits of Cinnamon – A Miraculous Spice
5 min readCinnamon is one of the world's oldest known spices. The tree is native to Sri Lanka where it was found thousands of years ago. It is the best spice available in terms of its nutrition and health. It contains unique healthy and healing property comes from the active components in the essential oils found in its bark. Cinnamon has extremely high anti-oxidant activity due to which it has numerous health benefits. Aside from being used as a medicine by other cultures since ancient times, the health benefits may also come from eating it which can be listed as follows:
1. Lowers Cholesterol:
Studies have shown that just 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon included in a daily diet can lower cholesterol.
Also Cinnamon may significantly lower LDL "bad" cholesterol, and triglycerides (fatty acids in the blood) and total cholesterol.
2. Reduces blood sugar levels and treating Type 2 Diabetes:
Several studies have shown improved insulin sensitivity and blood glucose control by taking as little as ½ teaspoon of cinnamon per day. Improving insulin resistance can help in weight control as well as decreasing the risk for heart disease.
3. Heart Disease:
Cinnamon strengthens the cardiovascular system thereby shielding the body from heart related disorders. It is believed that the calcium and fiber present in cinnamon provides protection against heart diseases.
Including a little cinnamon in the food helps those suffering from coronary artery disease and high blood pressure.
4. Fights Cancer :
A study released by researchers at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Maryland showed that cinnamon reduced the proliferation of leukemia and lymphoma cancer cells.
Besides, the combination of calcium and fiber found in Cinnamon can help to remove bile, which prevents damage to colon cells, thus prevents colon cancer.
5. Tooth decay and mouth freshener:
Cinnamon has traditionally been used to treat toothache and fight bad breath. Small pieces of cinnamon can be chewed, or gargled with cinnamon water which serves as a good mouth freshener.
6. Cures Respiratory Problems:
Cinnamon is very useful home remedy for common or severe colds. A person suffering should take one tablespoon of honey with 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon powder daily for 3 days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold and clear the sinuses.
Cinnamon also found to cure flu, influenza, sore throat and congestion.
7. Brain Tonic:
Cinnamon boosts the activity of the brain and hence acts as a good brain tonic. It helps in removing nervous tension and memory loss.
Also, studies have shown that smelling cinnamon may boost cognitive function, memory, performance of certain tasks and increases one's alertness and concentration.
8. Infections:
Due to its antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral, anti-parasitic and antiseptic properties, it is effective on external as well as internal infections. Cinnamon has been found to be effective in fighting vaginal yeast infections, oral yeast infections, stomach ulcers and head lice.
9. Eases menstruation cycles:
Cinnamon has also been found useful for women's health as it helps in providing relief from menstrual cramping and other feminine discomforts.
10. Birth Control:
Cinnamon also helps in natural birth control. Regular consumption of cinnamon after child birth delays menstruation and thus helps in avoiding conception.
11. Breastfeeding:
It is also believed that cinnamon aids in the secretion of breast milk.
12. Reduces Arthritis Pain:
Cinnamon spice contains anti-inflammatory compounds which can be useful in reducing pain and inflammation associated with arthritis.
A study conducted at Copenhagen University, where patients were given half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder combined with one tablespoon of honey every morning had significant relief in arthritis pain after one week and could walk without pain within one month
13. Digestive Tonic:
Cinnamon should be added to most recipes. Apart from adding flavor to the food, it also aids in digestion. Cinnamon is very effective for indigestion, nausea, vomiting, upset stomach, diarrhea and flatulence. It is very helpful in removing gas from the stomach and intestines. It also removes acidity, diarrhea and morning sickness. It is often referred to as a digestive tonic.
14. Reduces Urinary tract infections:
People who eat cinnamon on a regular basis report a lower incidence of urinary tract infections. Cinnamon is diuretic in nature and helps in secretion and discharge of urine.
15. Anti clotting Actions:
A compound found in Cinnamon called as cinnamaldehyde has been well-researched for its effects on blood platelets. [Platelets are constituents of blood that are meant to clump together under emergency circumstances (like physical injury) as a way to stop bleeding, but under normal circumstances, they can make the blood flow inadequate if they clump together too much]. The cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon helps prevent unwanted clumping of blood platelets.
16. Natural Food Preserver:
When added to food, it prevents bacterial growth and food spoilage, making it a natural food preservative.
17. Headaches and migraine:
Headache due to the exposure to cold wind is readily cured by applying a thin paste of powdered cinnamon mixed in water on the temples & forehead.
18. Pimples and Blackheads:
Cinnamon helps in removing blood impurities. Therefore it is often recommended for pimples.
Also external application of paste of cinnamon powder with a few drops of fresh lemon juice over pimples & black heads would give beneficial result.
19. Thinning of the blood and improves blood circulation:
Cinnamon is a blood thinning agent which also acts to increase circulation. This blood circulation helps significantly in removing pain. Good blood circulation also ensures oxygen supply to the body cells leading to higher metabolic activity. You significantly reduce the chance of getting a heart attack by regularly consuming cinnamon.
20. Toning of tissues:
Considerable anecdotal evidence exists to suggest that cinnamon may have the ability to tone and constrict tissues in the body.
21. Muscle and joint pain relief:
Those who eat cinnamon on a regular basis often report that their muscle and joint pain, as well as stiffness, is reduced or even eliminated.
22. Immune System:
Honey and cinnamon paste is good for boosting the immune system, removing regular fatigue and increasing the longevity of an individual. It is also known to have anti-aging properties.
23. Itching:
Paste of honey and cinnamon is often used to treat insect bites.
24. It is a great source of manganese, fiber, iron, and calcium.
25. Healing: Cinnamon helps in stopping bleeding. Therefore it facilitates the healing process.
Indeed, cinnamon has several health benefits as highlighted above that can be used to improve one's health and boost one's immune system. This is a great reason to keep some cinnamon around. Sprinkle it in your tea or coffee, over oatmeal or a sweet potato and, this will do wonders to your health.
[However, there's a word of warning to be taken that over dosage of cinnamon may be unwise. Also it is not recommended for pregnant women.
Also, people who have been prescribed medication to manage their blood sugar should not reduce or discontinue their dose and take cinnamon instead, especially without consulting your doctor.]


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Text::Xslate - Scalable template engine for Perl5
This document describes Text::Xslate version 3.3.9.
use Text::Xslate qw(mark_raw);
my $tx = Text::Xslate->new();
my %vars = (
title => 'A list of books',
books => [
{ title => 'Islands in the stream' },
{ title => 'Programming Perl' },
# ...
# mark HTML components as raw not to escape its HTML tags
gadget => mark_raw('
...
'),
# for files
print $tx->render('hello.tx', \%vars);
# for strings (easy but slow)
my $template = q{

<: $title :>

: for $books -> $book {

<: $book.title :>

: } # for
print $tx->render_string($template, \%vars);
Xslate is a template engine, tuned for persistent applications, safe as an HTML generator, and with rich features.
There are a lot of template engines in CPAN, for example Template-Toolkit, Text::MicroTemplate, HTML::Template, and so on, but all of them have some weak points: a full-featured template engine may be slow, while a fast template engine may be too simple to use. This is why Xslate is developed, which is the best template engine for web applications.
The concept of Xslate is strongly influenced by Text::MicroTemplate and Template-Toolkit 2, but the central philosophy of Xslate is different from them. That is, the philosophy is sandboxing that the template logic should not have no access outside the template beyond your permission.
Other remarkable features are as follows:
High performance
This engine introduces the virtual machine paradigm. Templates are compiled into intermediate code, and then executed by the virtual machine, which is highly optimized for rendering templates. Thus, Xslate is much faster than any other template engines.
The template roundup project by Sam Graham shows Text::Xslate got amazingly high scores in instance_reuse condition (i.e. for persistent applications).
- The template roundup project
- Perl Template Roundup October 2010 Performance vs Variant Report: instance_reuse
There are also benchmarks in benchmark/ directory in the Xslate distribution.
Smart escaping for HTML metacharacters
Xslate employs the smart escaping strategy, where a template engine escapes all the HTML metacharacters in template expressions unless users mark values as raw. That is, the output is unlikely to prone to XSS.
Template cascading
Xslate supports the template cascading, which allows you to extend templates with block modifiers. It is like a traditional template inclusion, but is more powerful.
This mechanism is also called as template inheritance.
Easiness to enhance
Xslate is ready to enhance. You can add functions and methods to the template engine and even add a new syntax via extending the parser.
Creates a new Xslate template engine with options. You can reuse this instance for multiple calls to render()
Possible options are:
path => \@path // ['.']
Specifies the include paths, which may be directory names or virtual paths, i.e. HASH references which contain
$file_name => $content
pairs.Note that if you use taint mode (
), you have to give absolute paths topath
. Otherwise you'll get errors because they depend on the current working directory which might not be secure. cache => $level // 1
Sets the cache level.
$level == 1
(default), Xslate caches compiled templates on the disk, and checks the freshness of the original templates every time.If
$level >= 2
, caches will be created but the freshness will not be checked.$level == 0
uses no caches, which is provided for testing. cache_dir => $dir // "$ENV{HOME}/.xslate_cache"
Specifies the directory used for caches. If
doesn't exist,File::Spec->tmpdir
will be used.You should specify this option for productions to avoid conflicts of template names.
function => \%functions
Specifies a function map which contains name-coderef pairs. A function
may be called asf($arg)
or$arg | f
in templates.Note that these registered functions have to return a text string, not a binary string unless you want to handle bytes in whole templates. Make sure what you want to use returns either a text string or a binary string.
For example, some methods of
might return a binary string which is encoded in UTF-8, so you'll want to decode their values.# under LANG=ja_JP.UTF-8 on MacOSX (Darwin 11.2.0) use Time::Piece; use Encode qw(decode); sub ctime { my $ctime = Time::Piece->new->strftime; # UTF-8 encoded bytes return decode "UTF-8", $ctime; } my $tx = Text::Xslate->new( function => { ctime => \&ctime, }, ..., );
Built-in functions are described in Text::Xslate::Manual::Builtin.
module => [$module => ?\@import_args, ...]
Imports functions from $module, which may be a function-based or bridge module. Optional @import_args are passed to
.For example:
# for function-based modules my $tx = Text::Xslate->new( module => ['Digest::SHA1' => [qw(sha1_hex)]], ); print $tx->render_string( '<: sha1_hex($x).substr(0, 6) :>', { x => foo() }, ); # => 0beec7 # for bridge modules my $tx = Text::Xslate->new( module => ['Text::Xslate::Bridge::Star'], ); print $tx->render_string( '<: $x.uc() :>', { x => 'foo' }, ); # => 'FOO'
Because you can use function-based modules with the
option, and also can invoke any object methods in templates, Xslate doesn't require specific namespaces for plugins. html_builder_module => [$module => ?\@import_args, ...]
Imports functions from $module, wrapping each function with
. input_layer => $perliolayers // ':utf8'
Specifies PerlIO layers to open template files.
verbose => $level // 1
Specifies the verbose level.
$level == 0
, all the possible errors will be ignored.If
$level >= 1
(default), trivial errors (e.g. to print nil) will be ignored, but severe errors (e.g. for a method to throw the error) will be warned.If
$level >= 2
, all the possible errors will be warned. suffix => $ext // '.tx'
Specify the template suffix, which is used for
in Kolon.Note that this is used for static name resolution. That is, the compiler uses it but the runtime engine doesn't.
syntax => $name // 'Kolon'
Specifies the template syntax you want to use.
$name may be a short name (e.g.
), or a fully qualified name (e.g.Text::Xslate::Syntax::Kolon
).This option is passed to the compiler directly.
type => $type // 'html'
Specifies the output content type. If $type is
, smart escaping is applied to template expressions. That is, they are interpolated via thehtml_escape
filter. If $type istext
smart escaping is not applied so that it is suitable for plain texts like e-mails.$type may be html, xml (identical to
), and text.This option is passed to the compiler directly.
line_start => $token // $parser_defined_str
Specify the token to start line code as a string, which
will be applied to. If you giveundef
, the line code style is disabled.This option is passed to the parser via the compiler.
tag_start => $str // $parser_defined_str
Specify the token to start inline code as a string, which
will be applied to.This option is passed to the parser via the compiler.
tag_end => $str // $parser_defined_str
Specify the token to end inline code as a string, which
will be applied to.This option is passed to the parser via the compiler.
header => \@template_files
Specify the header template files, which are inserted to the head of each template.
This option is passed to the compiler.
Specify the footer template files, which are inserted to the foot of each template.
This option is passed to the compiler.
warn_handler => \&cb
Specify the callback &cb which is called on warnings.
die_handler => \&cb
Specify the callback &cb which is called on fatal errors.
pre_process_handler => \&cb
Specify the callback &cb which is called after templates are loaded from the disk in order to pre-process template.
For example:
# Remove withespace from templates my $tx = Text::Xslate->new( pre_process_handler => sub { my $text = shift; $text=~s/\s+//g; return $text; } );
The first argument is the template text string, which can be both text strings and
byte strings
.This filter is applied only to files, not a string template for
$tx->render($file, \%vars) :Str
Renders a template file with given variables, and returns the result. \%vars is optional.
Note that $file may be cached according to the cache level.
$tx->render_string($string, \%vars) :Str
Renders a template string with given variables, and returns the result. \%vars is optional.
Note that $string is never cached, so this method should be avoided in production environment. If you want in-memory templates, consider the path option for HASH references which are cached as you expect:
my %vpath = (
'hello.tx' => 'Hello, <: $lang :> world!',
my $tx = Text::Xslate->new( path => \%vpath );
print $tx->render('hello.tx', { lang => 'Xslate' });
Note that $string must be a text string, not a binary string.
$tx->load_file($file) :Void
Loads $file into memory for following render()
. Compiles and saves it as disk caches if needed.
Text::Xslate->current_engine :XslateEngine
Returns the current Xslate engine while executing. Otherwise returns undef
. This method is significant when it is called by template functions and methods.
Text::Xslate->current_vars :HashRef
Returns the current variable table, namely the second argument of render()
while executing. Otherwise returns undef
Text::Xslate->current_file :Str
Returns the current file name while executing. Otherwise returns undef
. This method is significant when it is called by template functions and methods.
Text::Xslate->current_line :Int
Returns the current line number while executing. Otherwise returns undef
. This method is significant when it is called by template functions and methods.
Text::Xslate->print(...) :Void
Adds the argument into the output buffer. This method is available on executing.
$tx->validate($file) :Void
Checks whether the syntax of $file is valid or invalid as Xslate. If it detects the invalid factor, this method throws the exception.
Exportable functions
mark_raw($str :Str) :RawStr
Marks $str as raw, so that the content of $str will be rendered as is, so you have to escape these strings by yourself.
For example:
use Text::Xslate qw( mark_raw );
my $tx = Text::Xslate->new();
my $tmpl = 'Mailaddress: <: $email :>';
my %vars = (
email => mark_raw('Foo <foo at example.com>'),
print $tx->render_string($tmpl, \%email);
# => Mailaddress: Foo <email@example.com>
This function is available in templates as the mark_raw
filter, although the use of it is strongly discouraged.
unmark_raw($str :Str) :Str
Clears the raw marker from $str, so that the content of $str will be escaped before rendered.
This function is available in templates as the unmark_raw
html_escape($str :Str) :RawStr
Escapes HTML meta characters in $str, and returns it as a raw string (see above). If $str is already a raw string, it returns $str as is.
By default, this function will automatically be applied to all template expressions.
This function is available in templates as the html
filter, but you're better off using unmark_raw
to ensure that expressions are html-escaped.
uri_escape($str :Str) :Str
Escapes URI unsafe characters in $str, and returns it.
This function is available in templates as the uri
html_builder { block } | \&function :CodeRef
Wraps a block or &function with mark_raw
so that the new subroutine will return a raw string.
This function is used to tell the xslate engine that &function is an HTML builder that returns HTML sources. For example:
sub some_html_builder {
my @args = @_;
my $html;
# build HTML ...
return $html;
my $tx = Text::Xslate->new(
function => {
some_html_builder => html_builder(\&some_html_builder),
See also Text::Xslate::Manual::Cookbook.
Command line interface
The xslate(1)
command is provided as a CLI to the Text::Xslate module, which is used to process directory trees or to evaluate one liners. For example:
$ xslate -Dname=value -o dest_path src_path
$ xslate -e 'Hello, <: $ARGV[0] :> wolrd!' Xslate
$ xslate -s TTerse -e 'Hello, [% ARGV.0 %] world!' TTerse
See xslate(1) for details.
There are multiple template syntaxes available in Xslate.
- Kolon
Kolon is the default syntax, using
<: ... :>
inline code and: ...
line code, which is explained in Text::Xslate::Syntax::Kolon. - Metakolon
Metakolon is the same as Kolon except for using
[% ... %]
inline code and%% ...
line code, instead of<: ... :>
and: ...
. - TTerse
TTerse is a syntax that is a subset of Template-Toolkit 2 (and partially TT3), which is explained in Text::Xslate::Syntax::TTerse.
- HTMLTemplate
There's HTML::Template compatible layers in CPAN.
Text::Xslate::Syntax::HTMLTemplate is a syntax for HTML::Template.
HTML::Template::Parser is a converter from HTML::Template to Text::Xslate.
There are common notes in Xslate.
Nil/undef handling
Note that nil (i.e. undef
in Perl) handling is different from Perl's. Basically it does nothing, but verbose => 2
will produce warnings on it.
- to print
Prints nothing.
- to access fields
Returns nil. That is,
produces nil. - to invoke methods
Returns nil. That is,
produces nil. - to iterate
Dealt as an empty array.
- equality
$var == nil
returns true if and only if $var is nil.
Perl 5.8.1 or later.
If you have a C compiler, the XS backend will be used. Otherwise the pure Perl backend will be used.
Context controls. e.g.
<: [ $foo->bar @list ] :>
.Augment modifiers.
Default arguments and named arguments for macros.
External macros.
Just idea: in the new macro concept, macros and external templates will be the same in internals:
: macro foo($lang) { "Hello, " ~ $lang ~ " world!" } : include foo { lang => 'Xslate' } : # => 'Hello, Xslate world!' : extern bar 'my/bar.tx'; # 'extern bar $file' is ok : bar( value => 42 ); # calls an external template : include bar { value => 42 } # ditto
A "too-safe" HTML escaping filter which escape all the symbolic characters
WEB: http://xslate.org/
PROJECT HOME: http://github.com/xslate/
REPOSITORY: http://github.com/xslate/p5-Text-Xslate/
Please make a file on http://github.com/xslate/. Patches are always welcome. =head1 SEE ALSO
Xslate template syntaxes:
Xslate command:
Other template modules that Xslate has been influenced by:
Template (Template::Toolkit)
http://www.cs.usfca.edu/~parrt/papers/mvc.templates.pdf - Enforcing Strict Model-View Separation in Template Engines
Thanks to lestrrat for the suggestion to the interface of render()
, the contribution of Text::Xslate::Runner (was App::Xslate), and a lot of suggestions.
Thanks to tokuhirom for the ideas, feature requests, encouragement, and bug finding.
Thanks to gardejo for the proposal to the name template cascading.
Thanks to makamaka for the contribution of Text::Xslate::PP.
Thanks to jjn1056 to the concept of template overlay (now implemented as cascade with ...
Thanks to typester for the various inspirations.
Thanks to clouder for the patch of adding AND
and OR
to TTerse.
Thanks to punytan for the documentation improvement.
Thanks to chiba for the bug reports and patches.
Thanks to turugina for the patch to fix Win32 problems
Thanks to Sam Graham for the bug reports.
Thanks to Mons Anderson for the bug reports and patches.
Thanks to hirose31 for the feature requests and bug reports.
Thanks to c9s for the contribution of the documents.
Thanks to shiba_yu36 for the bug reports.
Thanks to kane46taka for the bug reports.
Thanks to cho45 for the bug reports.
Thanks to shmorimo for the bug reports.
Thanks to ueda for the suggestions.
Fuji, Goro (gfx) <email@example.com>.
Makamaka Hannyaharamitu (makamaka) (Text::Xslate::PP)
Maki, Daisuke (lestrrat) (Text::Xslate::Runner)
Copyright (c) 2010-2013, Fuji, Goro (gfx). All rights reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.


text:
Concentrations Within the Government Department
Which concentration is that course in?
What's a concentration?
A concentration is a set of courses taken in a particular subfield of political science. In the late 19th century, when political science began to emerge as a distinctive area of scholarly inquiry, American politics was the dominant subfield in the United States. By the middle of the 20th century three additional subfields had evolved: comparative politics, international relations, and (normative) political theory. As the discipline matured, most political science departments began to use the subfields to organize their curricula and faculty recruitment. Meanwhile, some of the larger departments at major research universities evolved additional subfields in public policy, public law, and/or research methodology (including quantitative and systematic qualitative analysis).
Today, questions about government and politics cut increasingly across disciplines as well as subfields. Many research topics in comparative politics, for example, are relevant to political theory, international relations, and American politics. Moreover, individual political scientists often rely on theories of motivation and behavior that emerged originally in the disciplines of economics, sociology, or psychology. These presuppositions about action and agency embodied in these theories have created competing approaches to each subfield, as well as commonalities across the subfields and cross-fertilization across disciplines.
As a Government major at Wesleyan you will have the opportunity to develop expertise in a particular subfield by choosing one of the four concentrations listed below. In most cases, you complete the concentration by taking its introductory course as well as three of its upper-division courses. Certain courses may be applied to alternative concentrations, but each course may count only once toward the major. First-year initiative courses (usually numbered in the low 100s, e.g., GOVT110 and GOVT121) count toward the 32 credits you need to graduate, but may not be counted toward the Government major or toward any concentration within the Government major.
Concentration descriptions
American Politics
American politics specialists study politics and government in the United States, analyzing the ways in which the inhabitants of a large nation-state committed to the principles of constitutional democracy have sought to govern themselves. Among other things, the concentration is concerned with the ways in which constitutional and democratic values have shaped public institutions and how these institutions have affected, and been influenced by, policy choices. American politics courses focus mainly on the contemporary United States, but they also provide historical and comparative perspectives without which the nation's current political system cannot be fully understood. At Wesleyan, as in political science departments at most other universities, American politics includes several sub-specialities: national institutions (the presidency, Congress, Courts and the executive branch); political mobilization (parties, elections, interest groups, social and political movements); state and local government (state politics, urban politics and intergovernmental relations); public law (constitutional law, civil rights and civil liberties); and public policy (policy analysis, substantive policies). The American Political Science Association recognizes public law and public policy as separate subfields of political science (alongside political methodology and the four subfields described here), but at Wesleyan, as at most other smaller universities in the United States, public law and public policy are incorporated into the American politics subfield.
Comparative Politics
Comparative politics involves the systematic analysis of political regimes, as well as the systematic study of cultural, social, economic, and historical factors that shape and constrain political institutions, ideologies, and public policies. Most comparativists focus on nations within geographical regions that share important elements of language, culture, or history, with special attention to political institutions, political culture, and political economy. Among political scientists, comparativists are those most likely to staff and contribute to regionally-focused interdisciplinary programs such as (at Wesleyan) East Asian Studies, Latin American Studies, and Russian and East European Studies. Comparativists tend to focus on politics within countries (especially countries outside the United States), rather than on interactions among countries, which is mainly the purview of the International politics subfield. Necessarily, however, comparativists need to be aware of interactions among nations, just as international relations specialists need to be aware of domestic politics.
International Relations
International relations specialists tend to focus on interactions among nations, rather than (like many comparativists) on particular regions or specific historical periods. They also study the structure of the international order that shapes and constrains interactions among countries. Within the international relations subfield the major specialties include international political economy, international security, and international law and organization. International political economists examine economic relations among nations at the regional and/or global level. International security specialists study the causes and consequences of war, including the foreign policies and weapons systems that promote or deter conflict, as well as nuclear proliferation and nuclear diplomacy, the use of conventional weapons, and ethnic and national conflict. Emerging areas of scholarly interest within the international security specialty include the causes and consequences of disease, gender bias, environmental challenges, human migration, water supply, and food availability. Specialists in international law and organization examine institutions and norms that affect relations among nations.
Political Theory
Political theory is engaged with current political issues and is self-reflective about political life. It has a strong ethical component and develops alternative conceptualizations of how we might organize social and political relations. Political theory thus understood is an aspect of the whole discipline, interwoven with each concentration; it also has its own tradition of discourse, from ancient to contemporary theorists. The tradition focuses on the ethical bases for relationships of authority among individuals, those invested with legitimate and illegitimate power. It studies the forces that expand and limit human potential. In Western political theory, theorists tend to have research specialties in one or more of three historical periods: ancient (the Golden Age of Greece and Rome); modern (from Machiavelli and Hobbes through Marx and Nietzsche); and contemporary. Theorists read and teach broadly across these historical periods.
Concentration requirements
A concentration requires either the introductory concentration course (GOVT 15X) and three upper division courses in the concentration, or four upper division courses in the concentration.
Listed below are courses that correspond to each concentration. Additional courses may be added to each concentration in the future, and some of the courses noted below may eventually be dropped. Our "Which Concentration Is That Course In?" webpage has the most up-to-date list of which courses count toward which concentration(s).
American politics: GOVT151, 201-259, 350, 371-380. This concentration includes the introductory course (GOVT151) and the following upper-division offerings: sophomore-level survey courses (GOVT201-209); advanced upper-division courses (GOVT210-259): and seminars (371-380). GOVT366, Empirical Methods for Political Science, may be credited toward the concentration. Group or individual tutorials (a maximum of 1 credit) can be counted towards the concentration with the approval of your advisor. Honors thesis tutorial credits cannot be counted towards the concentration. Ideally, prospective American politics concentrators should take GOVT151 in their first-year. One or more of the sophomore-level courses, GOVT201-209, should ideally be taken next.
Comparative politics: GOVT157, survey courses (GOVT270, 271, 274, 278, 284, 296, 297, and 302), and seminars (GOVT301, 304, 305, 381, 382, 383, 384, and 385).
International relations: GOVT155, 311-333, and 386-390.
Political theory: GOVT159, 337-359, and 391-398. Two of the upper-division courses must come from the GOVT337, 338, 339 sequence. This sequence of courses (classical political theory, modern political theory, and contemporary political theory respectively) surveys the work of major theorists in the Western tradition.
Which concentration is that course in?
FYS: First Year Seminar. Counts for graduation but not for major
AP: American Politics
CP: Comparative Politics
IR: International Relations
PT: Political Theory
Course No. | Course Title | FYS | AP | CP | IR | PT |
108 | It's (Not) a Laughing Matter | X | ||||
116 | Good Books on Bad Wars | X | ||||
158 | Writing World | X | ||||
151 | American Government and Politics | X | ||||
155 | International Relations | X | ||||


text:
Dear Friends in Craft:
Please join us for the first Church of Craft meeting of the fall on Sunday, November 22nd. We'll be having our holiday craft supply swap, so bring anything you're done with craft-wise and see if someone else can use it. (Please remember that there's not too much room where we meet. No U-Hauls, please!)
Come on down (or up, depending on where you live).
Grab your knitting needles, crochet hooks, embroidery thread, yarn, paper, pens, pencils, anything you need to make something cool and join us Sunday, November 22nd for the next Church of Craft meeting.
Meeting details:
Where: The Coffee Table in Eagle Rock
1958 Colorado Boulevard
When: Sunday, November 22nd
2:00 pm until 5:00 pm or so
You can park on the street or in a lot across the way for free.
For those of you taking public transportation, many bus lines
and the DASH serve this street. Check out the trip planner on
MTA.net to plan out your specific route.
Email me with any questions or comments at: email@example.com
Also, if you have any suggestions for future meetings or things you'd like to do, let me know.
Peace Through Craft,


text:
Molesey Archives - Liverpool Wedding Photographer DJC
Surrey wedding
- By David
- No Comments
This was a brilliant Surrey wedding, as it was between my Uncle Brian and his new partner Sue. So I travelled down from Merseyside to cover their special day in north-east Surrey, near London. Their ceremony was at the Weybridge register office on Oatlands Drive and it was really nice to see so many family members that I hadn't seen for a while. Including my cousins and their rapidly growing children. The service was lovely and the weather held off for us, so we could get a few garden photographs.
Then of course it was off to the reception venue in the Royal British Legion club near my Uncle's house in East Molesey. Brian has been a member of this club for many years and I have fond memories being here with my Grandmother on a number of ocassions. In particular my Uncle's 50th birthday party, where a selection of jellied eels and other fish dishes were served ! And it turns out this was where the happy couple met, so it was a great celebration with all the guests and staff joining in the fun. So a few highlights below from a super family wedding.
So if you are looking for an affordable Surrey wedding photographer or generally in the London area, please get in touch. Even adding in travel expenses I will be cheaper than most local photographers, so don't delay !
Visit my online print store for copies or check the little Surrey wedding photography video on YouTube I made of a few of my favourite images.


text:
Personalised wooden glitter birthday cake topper Football goal soccer Any Name Age
Qty available: 237
Personalised Cake Topper
Wooden Birthday cake topper
Add any name and any age
Available in plain wood or glitter front
Different sizes available
Please note as these are lasered wood, we recommend putting clingfilm around the stick before placing in the cake.
Please message with the details you require.
If you would like matching items please take a look at my listings or message me for custom orders
Please allow 1 day to make your order


text:
12th January 2009
Sweater Vintage Silk Tunic, Bag Topshop Tights mytights.com Platformless-uncomfortable-as-butt-4-inch Boots Asos.com Skirt Dorothy Perkins
So my gas and electricity bills came. To tell the truth I have been naughty and kept the boiler running for hours and hours until I was sweating and turned on all the lights so my flat would look like some office supplies superstore (FLUORESCENT WHITE LIGHT). Except, when I opened the bills, trembling, I found out I happen to have CREDIT for low gas/electricity usage. I guess I don't have to sell the landlord's leather sofa after all.
The heels on those boots are so high that after dismount the Russian judge gave me a score of 8.6.


text:
Whilst receiving the GB3VHF and IT9X beacons using JT65B mode I sometimes noticed a curved trace on the spectrum display. I guess this was a reflection from a meteor trail. This put the idea into my head to see if I could receive some meteor scatter signals on 6m or 2m with my stealth attic antenna system.
It took some research to find out where to listen, and in what mode, as it seems that meteor scatter enthusiasts use different modes (FSK441, JT65M and fast CW) and different frequencies depending on which band you use and whether you are in Europe or the USA. I'm still not sure where to listen for activity on 2 metres, but on 6m it appears that there is a lot of activity using JT6M mode centered on 50.230MHz, so I tuned my K3 to that frequency, started WSJT going and went for my dinner.
On my return, I found that I had bagged CQ calls from two stations, S51YZ and IW1AYD. WSJT thoughtfully stores the received signals as WAV files, so I was able to play back the recordings for those 30-second periods to see and hear what it heard. The program display from IW1AYD's call is shown above. It's a nice example of overdensed meteors according to the examples on Hans Meyer OE1SMC's web page.
This is very exciting and I am interested now to see whether I can make an actual meteor scatter contact using my stealth amateur radio station and indoor dipole with 100W. Before I can do that I need to figure out the correct protocol, as well as how to get the WSJT software to transmit. I don't imagine that people will be queuing up to make skeds with my QRP station (I think 100W counts as QRP in MS terms) but the big Perseids meteor shower is only a few weeks away so I shall probably try to make some random contacts during that. In the meantime, any advice or tips from experts in the mode will be greatly appreciated.


text:
Our mission is to be a resource for historical oil and gas production data for New Mexico, and to provide this data in a quick, accurate, and easy-to-use manner. We have been helping producers and stakeholders access data for well over ten years now, and are always trying to improve our delivery.
Oil and gas production data on our web site has been provided primarily by the New Mexico Oil Conservation Division, and is updated on a monthly basis. Data for the New Mexico State Land Office Data Access pages is provided by the New Mexico State Land Office, and is updated weekly. Other information on our web site has been collected and compiled by the Industry Service Outreach Group here at the Petroleum Recovery Research Center and is updated on an as-needed basis. You can find more information about using our web site by clicking on the Instructions button on any page that has one, and you can find other resources and useful information in our Help section.
We hope you enjoy the site. If you have questions, do not hesitate to telephone us at (575) 835-5685. We also have a feedback form - for awhile this was not functioning correctly but is now back in order. We only check this mail account on a weekly basis at best, so if your problem is urgent, just call.


text:
This website is a companion to Algorithmic Cryptanalysis. It contains hints and solutions to the exercises marked with an h in the book, programs available for download and various auxiliary material.
Should your web browser be incompatible with the left-hand side menu, you can go to the sitemap page .
Credits for page styles: Dynamic Drive CSS Library


text:
The Mercer County ODA is dedicated to improving public safety and the wellbeing of individuals struggling with substance use and mental health disorders. We provide communities with education, guidance, and resources to develop deflection and pre-arrest diversion strategies and support those in need. Contact us to learn more about our outreach services and how we can help your community.
Mercer County Resources:
Coming Soon


text:
The previous Devlan Mud and Badab Black washes were staples in almost every single painter's tray. Their uses were endless and I'd venture to say that those two washes have helpd more painters improve their work more than any other two colors out there.
So what do you do now that they are gone?
With GW releasing their new paint line recently, they've replaced the old colors with new "shades" and in doing so, the colors are not the exact same. For most of us, it's no big deal, but for those painters who rely on accurate color matching, the change can be problematic to say the least.
The question then becomes, if the new colors aren't the same, what can you do to match the previous colors. And buying as much of the old stuff as you can doesn't count as one day those supplies will be gone. Joel from over at Mordian7th sent me two bottles of Army Painter Ink (Strong Tone and Dark Tone) and told me these would do it. He told me my search for a match to the old washes was done.
Putting the two inks to the test
Since Joel sounded pretty confident and sent me the inks for free, I knew I had to test them out and come up with a honest observation. He's already given them a quick review on his blog, but I wanted to see for myself.
It took me a minute to find something I could use and settled on a skull base from Secret Weapon minis. I figured it was big enough and had plenty of texture I could use to compare the washes with. A quick coat of white for the most contrast and it was off to the races.
I divided the base into four sections and applied each one to a section. Both of the old GW washes and then the Army Painter Inks next to their counterparts.
So what's the verdict?
I'm sold. These are almost exact matches (so close you can't tell) for the previous GW washes. At first I thought the Devlan Mud replacement (Army Painter Strong Tone Ink) was going to be a bit off, but once it dried, it was absolutely spot on. I'd even go so far as to say the Army Painter inks have better flow characteristics than the old washes had. They went over the base nice and smooth without any trouble at all. They had a nice flow into the recessed areas and no pooling in any unwanted areas leaving tide marks. Of course part of that is application, but I was impressed by how smooth they went on.
So if you're still missing the old GW Devlan Mud or Badab Black and you wish you still had some, do yourself a favor an pick up these inks. You will not be disappointed in how well they work.
Make sure to check out these posts as they might help:
How I go about getting exact color matches between brands
Converting the old GW paint range to the new one... and other paint lines


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To a large extent our mission's success relies on you the reader. The spread of Christianity has always depended largely on personal relationships. With the advent of social networking and other related technologies the way we relate and communicate with others has changed, but our call as Catholic Christians has remained the same.
By taking what you find here and bringing it back to your own sphere of influence you can help create "opportunities for grace" in other's lives.
Here are just a few ways you can help spread the word...
1. Email our stories to those you know who would benefit from them.
2. Share our stories on Facebook.
3. Link to one of our stories on your blog or website.
3. Link to our website on your blog or website.
4. Share our mission with individuals in your parish or community who may be interest in getting involved.


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Why a leap year?
It takes the earth about 365.25 days to go around the sun. To be more precise, it takes 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, and 46 seconds. This means that every 4 years the calendar will be one day out. To stop that happening a year is added each fourth year to counteract the difference between the calendar year and the astronomic year. This method of fixing the problem was first imposed by Julius Caesar in 45 BC.
So a day is added every February 29, easy peasy.
Well, that's not all. The extra day every four years doesn't exactly equal the 6 hours x 4, there is also the matter of the missing 11 minutes x 4 when rounding up. After 128 years, that 11 minute difference will equal a full day that the calendar is out, 3 days each 400 years, but this time in the other direction. The adjustment of one extra day each 4 years counteracts the additional 6 hours but the rounded off 11 minutes needs to come off. Enter Pope Gregory in 1582 with his Gregorian Calendar. Dispensing with the Julian Calendar, he decided that every 100 years there would not be a leap year. Therefore 1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, to allow for the missing 11 minutes added by rounding up.
Okay, I can understand that, but then why was 2000 a leap year?
There are also the 14 seconds that are added each year for which allowance must be made. As noted above, every 100 years there is no leap year. However, to adjust for the seconds, every 400 years is a leap year. Therefore 2000 was a leap year, as was 1600.
And so that's it. A bit complicated but I think I understand it. Thanks for explaining it, I'll be off now.
Err, well, there is one other thing. To fine tune it even more, every 4000 years the century years will not be leap years. Therefore 4,000, 8,000 etc will not be leap years.
If all that's too much, use this guide:
To sum up:
· Every year divisible by 4 is a leap year
· EXCEPT the last year of each century, such as 1900, which is NOT a leap year . . .
· EXCEPT when the number of the century is a multiple of 4, such as 2000, which IS a leap year
· EXCEPT the year 4000 and its later multiples (8000, 12000, etc) which are NOT leap years.


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First, make sure your device is DLNA-compatible.
Your device's user manual or manufacturer can verify if your device supports DLNA. Your DLNA-compatible device must be connected to the same network as the computer where DivX Media Server is installed and running.
Then, set up DivX Media Server.
First, Open the DivX Player. After that, go to Tools > DivX Media Server. DivX Media Server is capable of streaming videos in AVI, DivX, MKV, or MP4 format. Your DLNA device must also be able to play those file formats, so check your device's file support to confirm compatibility. Make sure you have your computer on, then turn sharing on and add folders to DivX Media Server.
Lastly, find DivX Media Server on your DLNA device.
This process can vary between devices, so we'll only discuss the most common methods here. If the instructions below don't apply to your device, check your device manual for instructions on finding DLNA servers.
Turn on your PS3 and go to the Video icon. Scroll down under the Video menu to find your DivX Media Server. Once you select the server, your shared videos will be displayed and you can select one to play it back. For more details, see Playstation's Media Server Connection guide.
Samsung HD TVs
Turn on your Samsung TV and click the "Input" or "Source" button on your TV's remote. Or, click on the WiseLink icon on your TV menu. Once you're in the WiseLink menu, go to Movies. There you will see the videos available for playback. To learn more about Samsung's DLNA setup, see their Guide to DLNA.
LG HD TVs
For most recent LG TV models, simply click the "Input" button on your remote control, or from the Home screen click on the "Input" icon. On the Input screen, select DLNA/Network, and then select your DivX Media Server from the list of servers. For other methods, see LG's guide to DLNA setup.
Once you've found DivX Media Server on your DLNA device, just open the server to browse your folders and select a video to play!
Note: these are just a few of the options available for finding a DLNA media server on your device. Regardless of the brand of DLNA-compatible device you're using, check your user manual to verify compatibility and for the exact steps for your specific model.


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Our hotels in Barcelona
A city with an international profile
Barcelona is widely recognised as a global city, because of its importance in culture, finance and trade and as a centre of tourism, among other reasons. It has one of the largest and most important ports in the Mediterranean and is also a key point for communications between France and Spain thanks to motorway links and high-speed trains. Over 35 million passengers used Barcelona airport in 2012, showing its importance not only in Europe but also on a world scale.
Ideal location
Barcelona stands on the Mediterranean coast, on a small coastal plain bounded to the east by the sea, to the west by the Serra de Collserola range, to the north by the River Besós and to the south by the River Llobregat. It is also known as the Ciudad Condal, as it was formerly the capital of the County of Barcelona.
A cosmopolitan city that hosts world-class events.
During its history, various world famous events have taken place in Barcelona that have contributed to the development of the city's current layout and increased its international standing. The most notable were the Universal Exhibition of 1888, the 1929 International Exhibition, the 1992 Olympic Games and the Universal Forum of Cultures held in 2004. Barcelona is also the seat of the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Visited by travellers of all ages and cultures
During the year, large numbers of travellers come to Barcelona by land, sea and air to spend a few days enjoying the city's cultural and leisure attractions. As a result, over the years many hotels have opened in the centre of Barcelona, offering warm, comfortable and exclusive accommodation so that travellers can experience the city in comfort. The Silken hotels are a clear example, with centrally located hotels that are used by thousands of visitors each year: Silken Ramblas and Silken St. Gervasi (the latter is located in a quieter area a little further from the centre).
Barcelona, city of finance
Another important aspect of the city's life, also related to hotels, is finance. Every day, work and business meetings are held all over the city, dealing with a vast range of business issues. The hotels in the centre are normally the most popular venues for this activity, as they have meeting rooms in locations close to many of the city's main places of interest. Hotel Ramblas is a clear example: although its guests include families with children and couples of all ages, a large proportion of its clientele is from the business world.
Cultural facilities
Barcelona has an impressive range of cultural facilities for all visitors, including world famous venues like the Picasso Museum and the Joan Miró Foundation. However, it is in the city's streets, with their characteristic charm and legendary past, that one particularly appreciates its artistic atmosphere. Walking along them a visitor can come across one of Barcelona's icons at any moment, Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Familia Cathedral, for example, or Parc Güell.
The best hotels in the centre of Barcelona
Silken offers you the finest hotels: in the centre of Barcelona, Hotel Ramblas, and in Sarrià, in a quieter area in one of the city's most exclusive districts, Hotel Sant Gervasi. Both boast distinctive premises full of amenities, enabling visitors to enjoy an insuperable hotel experience, full of memorable details.


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Ancillary Justice
Author: | Ann Leckie |
Publisher: |
Orbit, 2013 |
Series: | Ancillary Universe: Imperial Radch: Book 1 |
0. Night's Slow Poison |
Book Type: | Novel |
Genre: | Science-Fiction |
Sub-Genre Tags: | Galactic Empire Space Opera Artificial Intelligence |
Awards: | |
Lists: | |
Links: |
Avg Member Rating: |
On a remote, icy planet, the soldier known as Breq is drawing closer to completing her quest.
Breq is both more than she seems and less than she was. Years ago, she was the Justice of Toren -- a colossal starship with an artificial intelligence linking thousands of corpse soldiers in the service of the Radch, the empire that conquered the galaxy.
An act of treachery has ripped it all away, leaving her with only one fragile human body. And only one purpose -- to revenge herself on Anaander Mianaai, many-bodied, near-immortal Lord of the Radch.
The body lay naked and facedown, a deathly gray, spatters of blood staining the snow around it. It was minus fifteen degrees Celsius and a storm had passed just hours before. The snow stretched smooth in the wan sunrise, only a few tracks leading into a nearby ice-block building. A tavern. Or what passed for a tavern in this town.
There was something itchingly familiar about that out-thrown arm, the line from shoulder down to hip. But it was hardly possible I knew this person. I didn't know anyone here. This was the icy back end of a cold and isolated planet, as far from Radchaai ideas of civilization as it was possible to be. I was only here, on this planet, in this town, because I had urgent business of my own. Bodies in the street were none of my concern.
Sometimes I don't know why I do the things I do. Even after all this time it's still a new thing for me not to know, not to have orders to follow from one moment to the next. So I can't explain to you why I stopped and with one foot lifted the naked shoulder so I could see the person's face.
Frozen, bruised, and bloody as she was, I knew her. Her name was Seivarden Vendaai, and a long time ago she had been one of my officers, a young lieutenant, eventually promoted to her own command, another ship. I had thought her a thousand years dead, but she was, undeniably, here. I crouched down and felt for a pulse, for the faintest stir of breath.
Still alive.
Seivarden Vendaai was no concern of mine anymore, wasn't my responsibility. And she had never been one of my favorite officers. I had obeyed her orders, of course, and she had never abused any ancillaries, never harmed any of my segments (as the occasional officer did). I had no reason to think badly of her. On the contrary, her manners were those of an educated, well-bred person of good family. Not toward me, of course--I wasn't a person, I was a piece of equipment, a part of the ship. But I had never particularly cared for her.
I rose and went into the tavern. The place was dark, the white of the ice walls long since covered over with grime or worse. The air smelled of alcohol and vomit. A barkeep stood behind a high bench. She was a native--short and fat, pale and wide-eyed. Three patrons sprawled in seats at a dirty table. Despite the cold they wore only trousers and quilted shirts--it was spring in this hemisphere of Nilt and they were enjoying the warm spell. They pretended not to see me, though they had certainly noticed me in the street and knew what motivated my entrance. Likely one or more of them had been involved; Seivarden hadn't been out there long, or she'd have been dead.
"I'll rent a sledge," I said, "and buy a hypothermia kit."
Behind me one of the patrons chuckled and said, voice mocking, "Aren't you a tough little girl."
I turned to look at her, to study her face. She was taller than most Nilters, but fat and pale as any of them. She out-bulked me, but I was taller, and I was also considerably stronger than I looked. She didn't realize what she was playing with. She was probably male, to judge from the angular mazelike patterns quilting her shirt. I wasn't entirely certain. It wouldn't have mattered, if I had been in Radch space. Radchaai don't care much about gender, and the language they speak--my own first language--doesn't mark gender in any way. This language we were speaking now did, and I could make trouble for myself if I used the wrong forms. It didn't help that cues meant to distinguish gender changed from place to place, sometimes radically, and rarely made much sense to me.
I decided to say nothing. After a couple of seconds she suddenly found something interesting in the tabletop. I could have killed her, right there, without much effort. I found the idea attractive. But right now Seivarden was my first priority. I turned back to the barkeep.
Slouching negligently she said, as though there had been no interruption, "What kind of place you think this is?"
"The kind of place," I said, still safely in linguistic territory that needed no gender marking, "that will rent me a sledge and sell me a hypothermia kit. How much?"
"Two hundred shen." At least twice the going rate, I was sure. "For the sledge. Out back. You'll have to get it yourself. Another hundred for the kit."
"Complete," I said. "Not used."
She pulled one out from under the bench, and the seal looked undamaged. "Your buddy out there had a tab."
Maybe a lie. Maybe not. Either way the number would be pure fiction. "How much?"
"Three hundred fifty."
I could find a way to keep avoiding referring to the barkeep's gender. Or I could guess. It was, at worst, a fifty-fifty chance. "You're very trusting," I said, guessing male, "to let such an indigent"--I knew Seivarden was male, that one was easy--"run up such a debt." The barkeep said nothing. "Six hundred and fifty covers all of it?"
"Yeah," said the barkeep. "Pretty much."
"No, all of it. We will agree now. And if anyone comes after me later demanding more, or tries to rob me, they die."
Silence. Then the sound behind me of someone spitting. "Radchaai scum."
"I'm not Radchaai." Which was true. You have to be human to be Radchaai.
"He is," said the barkeep, with the smallest shrug toward the door. "You don't have the accent but you stink like Radchaai."
"That's the swill you serve your customers." Hoots from the patrons behind me. I reached into a pocket, pulled out a handful of chits, and tossed them on the bench. "Keep the change." I turned to leave.
"Your money better be good."
"Your sledge had better be out back where you said." And I left.
The hypothermia kit first. I rolled Seivarden over. Then I tore the seal on the kit, snapped an internal off the card, and pushed it into her bloody, half-frozen mouth. Once the indicator on the card showed green I unfolded the thin wrap, made sure of the charge, wound it around her, and switched it on. Then I went around back for the sledge.
No one was waiting for me, which was fortunate. I didn't want to leave bodies behind just yet, I hadn't come here to cause trouble. I towed the sledge around front, loaded Seivarden onto it, and considered taking my outer coat off and laying it on her, but in the end I decided it wouldn't be that much of an improvement over the hypothermia wrap alone. I powered up the sledge and was off.
I rented a room at the edge of town, one of a dozen two-meter cubes of grimy, gray-green prefab plastic. No bedding, and blankets cost extra, as did heat. I paid--I had already wasted a ridiculous amount of money bringing Seivarden out of the snow.
I cleaned the blood off her as best I could, checked her pulse (still there) and temperature (rising). Once I would have known her core temperature without even thinking, her heart rate, blood oxygen, hormone levels. I would have seen any and every injury merely by wishing it. Now I was blind. Clearly she'd been beaten--her face was swollen, her torso bruised.
The hypothermia kit came with a very basic corrective, but only one, and only suitable for first aid. Seivarden might have internal injuries or severe head trauma, and I was only capable of fixing cuts or sprains. With any luck, the cold and the bruises were all I had to deal with. But I didn't have much medical knowledge, not anymore. Any diagnosis I could make would be of the most basic sort.
I pushed another internal down her throat. Another check--her skin was no more chill than one would expect, considering, and she didn't seem clammy. Her color, given the bruises, was returning to a more normal brown. I brought in a container of snow to melt, set it in a corner where I hoped she wouldn't kick it over if she woke, and then went out, locking the door behind me.
The sun had risen higher in the sky, but the light was hardly any stronger. By now more tracks marred the even snow of last night's storm, and one or two Nilters were about. I hauled the sledge back to the tavern, parked it behind. No one accosted me, no sounds came from the dark doorway. I headed for the center of town.
People were abroad, doing business. Fat, pale children in trousers and quilted shirts kicked snow at each other, and then stopped and stared with large surprised-looking eyes when they saw me. The adults pretended I didn't exist, but their eyes turned toward me as they passed. I went into a shop, going from what passed for daylight here to dimness, into a chill just barely five degrees warmer than outside.
A dozen people stood around talking, but instant silence descended as soon as I entered. I realized that I had no expression on my face, and set my facial muscles to something pleasant and noncommittal.
"What do you want?" growled the shopkeeper.
"Surely these others are before me." Hoping as I spoke that it was a mixed-gender group, as my sentence indicated. I received only silence in response. "I would like four loaves of bread and a slab of fat. Also two hypothermia kits and two general-purpose correctives, if such a thing is available."
"I've got tens, twenties, and thirties."
"Thirties, please."
She stacked my purchases on the counter. "Three hundred seventy-five." There was a cough from someone behind me--I was being overcharged again.
I paid and left. The children were still huddled, laughing, in the street. The adults still passed me as though I weren't there. I made one more stop--Seivarden would need clothes. Then I returned to the room.
Seivarden was still unconscious, and there were still no signs of shock as far as I could see. The snow in the container had mostly melted, and I put half of one brick-hard loaf of bread in it to soak.
A head injury and internal organ damage were the most dangerous possibilities. I broke open the two correctives I'd just bought and lifted the blanket to lay one across Seivarden's abdomen, watched it puddle and stretch and then harden into a clear shell. The other I held to the side of her face that seemed the most bruised. When that one had hardened, I took off my outer coat and lay down and slept.
Slightly more than seven and a half hours later, Seivarden stirred and I woke. "Are you awake?" I asked. The corrective I'd applied held one eye closed, and one half of her mouth, but the bruising and the swelling all over her face was much reduced. I considered for a moment what would be the right facial expression, and made it. "I found you in the snow, in front of a tavern. You looked like you needed help." She gave a faint rasp of breath but didn't turn her head toward me. "Are you hungry?" No answer, just a vacant stare. "Did you hit your head?"
"No," she said, quiet, her face relaxed and slack.
"Are you hungry?"
"When did you eat last?"
"I don't know." Her voice was calm, without inflection.
I pulled her upright and propped her against the gray-green wall, gingerly, not wanting to cause more injury, wary of her slumping over. She stayed sitting, so I slowly spooned some bread-and-water mush into her mouth, working cautiously around the corrective. "Swallow," I said, and she did. I gave her half of what was in the bowl that way and then I ate the rest myself, and brought in another pan of snow.
She watched me put another half-loaf of hard bread in the pan, but said nothing, her face still placid. "What's your name?" I asked. No answer.
She'd taken kef, I guessed. Most people will tell you that kef suppresses emotion, which it does, but that's not all it does. There was a time when I could have explained exactly what kef does, and how, but I'm not what I once was.
As far as I knew, people took kef so they could stop feeling something. Or because they believed that, emotions out of the way, supreme rationality would result, utter logic, true enlightenment. But it doesn't work that way.
Pulling Seivarden out of the snow had cost me time and money that I could ill afford, and for what? Left to her own devices she would find herself another hit or three of kef, and she would find her way into another place like that grimy tavern and get herself well and truly killed. If that was what she wanted I had no right to prevent her. But if she had wanted to die, why hadn't she done the thing cleanly, registered her intention and gone to the medic as anyone would? I didn't understand.
There was a good deal I didn't understand, and nineteen years pretending to be human hadn't taught me as much as I'd thought.
Copyright © 2013 by Ann Leckie
No alternate cover images currently exist for this novel.


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Two Ryanair planes have been damaged in a collision at one of the country's busiest airports.
Passengers faced delays of up to three hours after a Warsaw-bound plane and an aircraft from Frankfurt Hahn that had just landed, collided in the parking area of Stansted Airport at about 6.45am.
The crash occurred when the wing tip of one plane and the tail cone of another "made contact", Ryanair said.
Essex Police said routine breath tests on both pilots returned zero readings and no one was hurt.
Both of the planes were Boeing 737-800 models, which can carry up to 189 passengers, a Ryanair spokesman confirmed.
One passenger on the Warsaw-bound flight said on Twitter: "Huge loud crashing noise and totally felt the crush sitting at the back. Thank God it only hit the wing as if it was the body of the plane it'd been apocalypse."
Ryanair spokesman Robin Kiely said: "This morning at London Stansted the wing tip and tail cone of two Ryanair aircraft made contact while one aircraft was taxiing to stand and the other was commencing pushback from stand.
"Customers were disembarked and boarded two replacement aircraft which departed Stansted with a delay of approximately three hours.
"Our Stansted based engineering team are currently investigating and will repair both aircraft and return them to service as soon as possible.
"Ryanair sincerely apologises to affected customers for any inconvenience."
Stansted airport spokesman Chris Wiggan said: "We can confirm two aircraft were involved in a minor collision while on the ground at Stansted this morning. Both planes suffered some damage but there were no reported injuries to passengers or crew.
"The airport is operating as normal while an Air Accident Investigation Branch investigation takes place.
"Passengers from the outbound flight were offloaded onto an alternative aircraft to continue their journey."
An Essex police spokesman said: "Two Ryanair aircraft struck each other on the ground at Stansted Airport shortly before 7am on Saturday.
"Officers from Essex Police carried out routine breath tests on both pilots who returned zero readings.
"No one was injured on the ground or in either aircraft."


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Goodbye 1167627600 –1199167140 1199163540.
[Justin] is having fun telling everyone that an exploit has been found for the Archos 605 media player. The hack gets you remote root access on the player… need I say more?
[Gene] sent in his polar coordinate based LEGO 3d printer. He's still working on the driver end, but it's an interesting project.
[Kyle] sent in the gutting of his flip video camera.
Need some new storage? [forrest] sent in his price/GB price comparison script. It scrapes New Egg and graphs out the results.
Despite the link on our old post being dead, [Txoof] built his own CCFL macro light from a dead laptop LCD.
[Dan] sent in his LED cube matrix. The LEDs are wired in a matrix, so he can actually address them individually.


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Unconditional Dog Love
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How to start a great discussion
Thank you for starting new discussions and asking questions. The more you contribute, the better this forum becomes.
Here are a few tips to help you create great discussions:
- Make the discussion title or question as descriptive as possible. A good discussion title is a short preview of your post and is what gets people to click and read. A well written title is also going to help search engines better index your post which will bring more people into the discussion. For example, instead of 'Won't Connect', try 'Help, I'm having problems getting my Acme modem into bridge mode.'
- Proof read. Spelling mistakes, typos, and bad grammar will distract readers from the point you're trying to make. Vanilla automatically saves drafts as you type. If you're writing a long post, save it as a draft and come back to it after a few minutes or as long as it takes your brain to forget what you had written.
- Use minimal formatting. Overly formatted posts can also distract from the message and it encourages others to do likewise and you end up with a hard to read thread.
- Put your post in the right category. The right category can be the one that has a relevant category name or it can be a category where this kind of post is often made.
- Use tags. Tags are helpful for others to find keyword related posts. It also helps the site admins get a sense for what topics are popular.
- If you want responses, ask for them. In marketing this is called a 'call to action'. If you want others to comment, you can encourage them by asking them to do so. If your post is just an FYI then don't.
- Go easy on the insider jargon. Inside jokes and inside references can be fun and make the community unique but too much of it can turn off new members.
- Add an image. Images add visual interest and make your post look great when shared to social networks. You can embed an image using the button bar or you can upload one from your desktop or phone.
- Mention others. Credit other members if you are building off their previous comments or if you want to draw them into the discussion. Put the @ before a username to mention someone.
- Take ownership. Most important of all, take ownership of the discussions that you have created. Respond to comments promptly and thoughtfully. Thank others for commenting on your discussion and help with moderation if things get heated.
Thanks for posting! Have fun!
Great stuff @Victorine Courtois, thank you for posting these helpful tips!
Howdy, Stranger!