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News: You can now apply for Piermont Grand EC online
Piermont Grand, the first executive condominium (EC) to be launched this year, is now open for e-applications, with bookings to be conducted on 27 July.
Developed by City Developments (CDL) and TID, the 820-unit development overlooks My Waterway@Punggol, featuring three-, four- and five-bedroom units.
Unit sizes range between 840 sq ft for a three-bedder and 1,701 sq ft for a five-bedder premium penthouse.
CDL noted that penthouses and selected units will have high ceilings in the dining and living areas as well as the bedrooms, while four- and five-bedroom units will be fitted with a kitchen island.
All apartments are also equipped with a Haiku ceiling fan, bathroom fittings from GROHE, kitchen appliances from Teka and a wireless smart home system, among others.
Piermont Grand boasts over 30 facilities spread across four zones – the Waterfalls, the Cascades, the Hills and the Lakes. These include a children's party pool, gymnasium alongside a 50m lap pool, BBQ pavilions and tennis court.
Keen to buy a home in Punggol? Make sure you check out our AreaInsider guides first for pricing guides and insights!
Located near Nibong and Sumang LRT stations, which are linked to Punggol MRT station and bus interchange, the development is also close to the upcoming Punggol Digital District which will house JTC's business parks, the Singapore Institute of Technology's new campus and digitally-focused companies.
"As the first EC launch in 2019, and likely the only one for the year, the highly anticipated Piermont Grand stands out with its excellent location and desirable attributes," said Chia Ngiang Hong, group general manager of CDL.
"It is not only near two LRT stations and Punggol MRT station, which is hard to come by for an EC project, but also close to the upcoming Punggol Digital District which has an exciting future as Singapore's Silicon Valley."
And given the pent-up demand for ECs, he is confident that the project will receive keen interest from homebuyers.
The Piermont Grand sales gallery at the junction of Punggol Walk and Sumang Link will be open for viewing from today (12 July) starting 10am to 7pm daily.
The development is being marketed by ERA, OrangeTee & Tie, Huttons and PropNex.
Home buyers looking for Singapore Properties may like to visit our Listings, Project Reviews and Guides.
Fiona Ho, Digital Content Manager at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact her about this or other stories, email firstname.lastname@example.com


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A Serious Salad Search: Sylvia Plath's Lost Salad Dressing
Get the Recipe
Of course, Esther Greenwood from The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath had her issues. But at least she didn't pick at her food. In Plath's autobiographical novel, at a particularly dreadful magazine luncheon, Esther says:
I bowed my head and secretly eyed the position of the bowls of caviar.... Under cover of the clinking of water goblets and silverware and bone china, I paved my plate with chicken slices. Then I covered the chicken slices with caviar thickly as if I were spreading peanut butter on a piece of bread. Then I picked up the chicken slices in my fingers one by one, rolled them so the caviar wouldn't ooze off and ate them.... Avocados are my favorite fruit. Every Sunday my grandfather used to bring me an avocado pear hidden at the bottom of his briefcase under six soiled shirts and the Sunday comics. He taught me how to eat avocados by melting grape jelly and French dressing together in a saucepan and filling the cup of the pear with the garnet sauce. I felt homesick for that sauce.
Intrigued by the adventures of this serious eater (despite the fact that Esther gets a spectacular case of food poisoning afterward) I looked and looked but couldn't find the recipe for the French dressing–grape jelly reduction praised by Plath. And I'm not the only SE'r who has wondered about this lost classic.
The closest I could find was Ina Garden's grapefruit avocado salad. But Ina's avocado salad uses mustard, which doesn't even hint at Plath's garnet sauce. However, one of the online commenters on Garten's salad stated that French dressing on avocados and ruby red grapefruit was a popular luncheon staple during the era of Plath's adolescence.
It sounded, from the description, that Sylvia/Esther's grandfather used a commercial red French dressing, also known as Catalina dressing, and grape jelly. I tried combining the two over medium heat and simmering. The result was a pure 1950s concoction, sickly sweet and something more appropriate for a Mad Men–style feast of cocktail meatballs and puff pastry–encased wieners than the delicate flesh of an avocado.
So instead, I decided to eat a tribute rather than a re-creation of Plath's beloved salad. Sliced ruby red grapefruit and avocado, drizzled with the rich, sweet, but more acidic taste of balsamic vinegar. Caviar and chicken on the side is optional.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.

subset: commoncrawl


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The second one is obvious, but I hadn't known sqlite could do that, or that it would be so easy. All you have to do is use ":memory:" as the name of your database file, and it creates the database in RAM. Then a few lines of sample code from sqlite.org gets you loading and saving from the regular disk database file, and suddenly all of your interactions are internal instead of doing a separate disk access for every SQL statement. More on this here.
Prepared statements are compiled SQL queries, of a form looking like "... WHERE id=?;", so that you can compile the query once and run it many times in a loop, changing the variables out every time without having to reinterpret the SQL every time. More on this here.
Since my noticeable access lag time dropped to effectively zero when I went to the cached database, I'm not sure how much the prepared statements are actually helping me, but they're definitely a good thing to know about.
Here is my version of sqlite.org's loadOrSaveDb function, modified to work with the T3D SQLiteObject resource.
Code: Select all
** This function is used to load the contents of a database file on disk
** into the "main" database of open database connection pInMemory, or
** to save the current contents of the database opened by pInMemory into
** a database file on disk. pInMemory is probably an in-memory database,
** but this function will also work fine if it is not.
** Parameter zFilename points to a nul-terminated string containing the
** name of the database file on disk to load from or save to. If parameter
** isSave is non-zero, then the contents of the file zFilename are
** overwritten with the contents of the database opened by pInMemory. If
** parameter isSave is zero, then the contents of the database opened by
** pInMemory are replaced by data loaded from the file zFilename.
** If the operation is successful, SQLITE_OK is returned. Otherwise, if
** an error occurs, an SQLite error code is returned.
int SQLiteObject::loadOrSaveDb(const char *zFilename, bool isSave) {
int rc; /* Function return code */
sqlite3 *pFile; /* Database connection opened on zFilename */
sqlite3_backup *pBackup; /* Backup object used to copy data */
sqlite3 *pTo; /* Database to copy to (pFile or pInMemory) */
sqlite3 *pFrom; /* Database to copy from (pFile or pInMemory) */
/* Open the database file identified by zFilename. Exit early if this fails
** for any reason. */
Con::printf("calling loadOrSaveDb, isSave = %d", isSave);
if (isSave == false)
{//If we're loading, have to create the memory database.
if (!(SQLITE_OK == sqlite3_open(":memory:", &m_pDatabase)))
Con::printf("Unable to open a memory database!");
return 0;
rc = sqlite3_open(zFilename, &pFile);
if (rc == SQLITE_OK) {
/* If this is a 'load' operation (isSave==0), then data is copied
** from the database file just opened to database pInMemory.
** Otherwise, if this is a 'save' operation (isSave==1), then data
** is copied from pInMemory to pFile. Set the variables pFrom and
** pTo accordingly. */
pFrom = (isSave ? m_pDatabase : pFile);
pTo = (isSave ? pFile : m_pDatabase);
/* Set up the backup procedure to copy from the "main" database of
** connection pFile to the main database of connection pInMemory.
** If something goes wrong, pBackup will be set to NULL and an error
** code and message left in connection pTo.
** If the backup object is successfully created, call backup_step()
** to copy data from pFile to pInMemory. Then call backup_finish()
** to release resources associated with the pBackup object. If an
** error occurred, then an error code and message will be left in
** connection pTo. If no error occurred, then the error code belonging
** to pTo is set to SQLITE_OK.
pBackup = sqlite3_backup_init(pTo, "main", pFrom, "main");
if (pBackup) {
(void)sqlite3_backup_step(pBackup, -1);
rc = sqlite3_errcode(pTo);
/* Close the database connection opened on database file zFilename
** and return the result of this function. */
//if (isSave == true) // Actually, cancel this, I'm sure it will happen automatically and if we don't do it here, we can also use
//{ // this function for periodic saves, such as after saving mission.
// sqlite3_close(m_pDatabase);
Con::printf("finished loadOrSaveDb, rc = %d", rc);
if (rc == 0)
return true;
return false;


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We all want to be Snoopy, fighting the Red Baron in our imaginations. And Classic Flights at Lake Wanaka, New Zealand, offers visitors a chance to step back in time and experience the excitement of early flying machines.
I really love donning the old-style leather jackets and flying helmets, the white silk scarf streaming out behind you. There is something special about the smell of aviation fuel and wind in your face.
The company flies vintage Tiger Moth biplanes on flights from Spitfire Lane at Wanaka Airport on the South Island of New Zealand.
The friendly pilots offer 20 minute scenic flights over beautiful Lake Wanaka and Mt. Aspiring National Park in the Southern Alps. Braver lads and lasses can take the 30 minute barnstormer tour that includes many of the aerobatic skills of the bygone era.
After this flight experience, aviation buffs must stop at the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in Marlborough. It's like walking onto a movie set, thanks to the influence of famous movie director Sir Peter Jackson, who is chairman of the 14-18 Heritage Trust.
In the Knights of the Sky Great War Exhibition, famous biplanes are shown in scenes recreating many actual incidents, such as the last flight of Manfred von Richthofen on April 21, 1918. The Red Baron was fatally wounded while pursuing a Sopwith Camel at low level, just as another Camel was trying to attack from behind.
Read more in Rich Irwin's story REDBARON


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AT&T Inc will kick off its home security and monitoring service in 15 U.S. markets on Friday, seeking to develop revenue streams beyond cellphone services.
The No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider expects its Digital Life service to eventually bring in $1 billion in annual revenue.
While AT&T, which reported first quarter revenue of $31.4 billion, still sells a lot of smartphones, growth in this sector is slowing for operators and AT&T posted a net loss of phone subscribers in the first quarter. Cable rival Comcast Corp is also offering home security services in an effort to broaden revenues.
After its initial launch in cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver and San Francisco, AT&T said it will bring the service to as many as 50 U.S. markets by the end of 2013.
For AT&T's most basic home security service, it will charge $29.99 a month and an additional $149.99 fee for equipment and its installation. Comcast's lowest listed price for its security service is $39.95 per month.
Additional options include motion sensors, smoke sensors, live video streaming from the house, water leak detection and remote control of appliances, lights, doors and thermostats.
Source : Reuters


text:
What right to privacy do we expect when we choose to act anonymously on the internet? Is it acceptable to violate the privacy of one class of user over another? Is it the duty of objective journalism to make that decision? The outing of Reddit's ViolentAcrez, "the Biggest Troll on the Web" by Gawker columnist Adrian Chen brings to light those questions and more this week.
Download the full post here on Geeks of Doom
The Drill Down on iTunes (Subscribe now!)
Geeks Of Doom's The Drill Down is a roundtable-style audio podcast where we discuss the most important issues of the week, in tech and on the web and how they affect us all.
Hosts are Geeks of Doom contributor Andrew Sorcini (Mr. BabyMan), VentureBeat editor Devindra Hardawar, marketing research analyst Dwayne De Freitas, and Startup Digest CTO Christopher Burnor. Occasionally joining them is Techmeme editor Lidija Davis.


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Lopez Today
Comedian George Lopez loves cigars— so much so that he has more than 1,500 in humidors scattered around Los Angeles: at home, at a couple of cigar clubs, in his dressing room, at his golf club.
"And they're very easily broken into," laughs his friend, actor Andy Garcia, adding, "George is very generous with his cigars."
But it wasn't always so. Lopez recalls a time in the late 1980s, when he was still a struggling comedian and a novice cigar consumer. While in Toronto for a gig, he spent $100 for three Cuban cigars, then brought them with him to Las Vegas to see a friend's show at a comedy club. At the club, he lit up one of his Cubans, instantly capturing the attention of everyone he was with. When a friend asked if he had another Cuban he could spare, Lopez said he'd get one from his car. As he exited the club, he started thinking fast.
"No way I was giving that guy one of my Cubans," Lopez says with wide eyes. So he went into a nearby gift shop and bought a Dutch Masters: "I trimmed the edges and took it out of the plastic and gave it to him," Lopez says, chuckling at the memory. "He lit it and got a smile on his face and said, 'Yeah, I'm getting a little buzzed. I'm getting a little light-headed.' "
Lopez himself could be excused for being a little light-headed due to the successful premiere of "Lopez Tonight" on TBS on Nov. 9, 2009—a launch that Turner expanded for one night to its affiliates, TNT and truTV, in addition to TBS, reaching an opening-night audience of more than 3 million. Since then, he's regularly reaching 1 million viewers a night—and the number continues to grow.
Despite being on TBS (or, as Lopez puts it, "a cable network in the triple digits"), Lopez believes he can compete with the big four networks with his Monday-to-Thursday show. With late-night TV talk ruled by white guys, Lopez is ready to inject a Latino flavor into the mainstream.
"I'm bringing a new face to late night," Lopez says, echoing his own frequent theme on the show. "It looks like a new America. I'm throwing an inclusive party."
"Lopez Tonight" executive producer Jim Paratore says the only thing that surprises him about Lopez's leap into talk-show hosting is "that George is even more amazing than I thought he'd be."
"Being a pioneer is never easy, but it's something George is comfortable with," says singer Marc Anthony, a friend and golf companion of Lopez's. "I'm looking forward to seeing how he changes late-night TV."
Lopez has been able to reach into his sizable Rolodex and ask friends to stop by for the show—and in the first weeks alone, he had everyone from Anthony to Carlos Santana, Clint Eastwood to Laurence Fishburne, Eva Longoria Parker to Ted Danson, Sandra Bullock to Jessica Alba and Andy Garcia sitting on the overstuffed chairs on the "Lopez Tonight" set, shmoozing, joking and doing his shtick.
Paratore, who helped create talk shows for Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres and Tyra Banks, says, "These are hard shows to do, though they look deceptively easy. The hardest thing for anyone to do is be comfortable in his own skin. To do that and entertain—that's hard to do and look natural while you're doing it. There are very few who can do that, who can put it all together.
"This is as strong a start-up as I've seen. This guy is in control of the show. He owns the room."
That's evident even at a rehearsal before one of his tapings. It's late on a sunny day in Burbank, but inside Stage 29 on the Warner Bros. studio lot, it's meat-locker chilly—so frigid that, during taping, the makeup and wardrobe women who attend to Lopez during commercial breaks wear quilted ski jackets. Empty now, the room will be filled in less than two hours with the second cheering, screaming audience of the day (Lopez tapes both Wednesday's and Thursday's shows the same day, virtually back to back).
When Lopez emerges for the rehearsal, he's like a boxer at the weigh-in, giving nothing away before they ring the bell, eyeing the empty studio cautiously. Dressed in a black hoodie, jeans and black boots (along with a pair of knit black gloves), he runs through his monologue in bare-bones fashion, reading the jokes off the teleprompter as he figures out transitions between gags and tightens or expands upon punch lines.
Rehearsing a recurring comedy bit, an advice segment called "Dear George," he practices offering guidance to an in-studio questioner, a 46-year-old man who wonders whether it's OK to bring a woman home, even though he still lives with his mother. Lopez banters with the writer who's filling in for the actor who will play the geeky mama's boy, then turns to his writers: "I need some harder lines than those. He's 46 and he still lives at home! I need something sharper than this."
An hour or so later, it's showtime—and what seemed skeletal in rehearsal arrives full-bodied for the cameras. The quiet, low-energy Lopez has been replaced by a sharp-dressed man: Lopez in suit and tie, strutting and preening, again, like a boxer trying to intimidate an opponent as he approaches the ring, entering to his theme song, War's "Low Rider."
"One thing I learned from Michael Jordan years ago—and that was to gear yourself to be at the top of your day when it's time to play," Lopez says later. "For years, I was gearing myself for a 9 p.m. show onstage. Now it's a 5:30 show—except on Wednesday, when it's harder because I've got to do two shows. So I have to get up earlier, gear down between shows, then get back up for that second show. But during the day, I'm practically horizontal, in terms of my energy output."
The audience—arranged in sections around the massive soundstage that used to house sets for "The West Wing"—is on its feet, hooting its approval as Lopez asks them, "Are you ready to make some history tonight?"
Throwing his arms wide in a gesture of generosity, he smiles and says to the roaring crowd (and the audience at home), "Mi casa es su casa." Then his eyes pop and, channeling the thoughts of a blond woman in the front row, he says in a Valley Girl voice, "I don't know what that means, but I'm going to Google it."
After his monologue, he easily plays host/interviewer in conversations with guests Ted Danson and comic Bill Engvall. Though he consults with Paratore and the stage manager during breaks (and allows the ministrations of the hair and makeup artists), he also keeps the audience involved, pulling women out of the crowd to get up on stage and dance with him as the band plays throughout what will be a commercial break when the show airs.
"I learned to let the music play in the studio all through the commercial break," Lopez says later. "After all, I'm the host, even when the camera is off."
On this night, his flow is interrupted when, as he gets ready to move on to the show's final segment, Lopez is told that they have to go back and redo a moment in the "Dear George" sequence to pick up a line he missed. One retake turns into three and then it seems to take forever to get set for the final guest of the night, guitarist Orianthi Panagaris (from the Michael Jackson concert movie, This Is It).
When Lopez becomes impatient and asks why it's taking so long, he's told there's a problem arranging a swooping camera move that will bring them out of commercial. Lopez finally calls a halt to the time-consuming setup, either in a bit of temper at the end of a long, two-show day or from a lack of patience for artsy flourishes when he's trying to create a spontaneous party atmosphere.
"Never mind that, let's just do this," Lopez snaps. "C'mon, we don't need that complicated shot. Let's just have fun."
A couple of days later, Lopez reclines in a makeup chair in the dressing room of a Culver City production studio, where he's just finished a photo shoot. Asked about the brief conflict over the camera shot, he says, "Hey, I've got a great performer on the stage waiting to play and they're holding things up to set up a shot that will last two seconds? I said, let's not worry about the camera swooping in. Let's worry about getting it on."
Then he relaxes and starts talking about how smoking a cigar keeps him in touch with his early life as a comedian—the struggles and discoveries, which were shared over cigars and drinks after an evening playing in a comedy club.
"I always thought of cigars as a rich man's thing," says Lopez, 48. "But for me, my best times were sitting around in the Cloud Nine Lounge at Maxim's Hotel, smoking a Macanudo between shows at the hotel. It was a big thing then just to be part of the show. Cigars keep me connected to the stand-up days. How did I know which ones were good? Well, I knew that anything illegal had to be the best, so I knew Cubans were the best.
"Since then, as my career got better, when anyone would say, 'What do you get George for a gift?' someone would always say, 'He loves cigars.' So I'd end up with these boxes of Cubans."
Which reminds him of a recent trip to play golf in Scotland. While shopping in London, a salesman convinced him to buy a box of Cuban Bolivars.
"He couldn't really tell me to buy them because it's illegal to bring them back," Lopez says. "But he was saying things like, 'Well, we could take the bands off. Some people don't care about the bands.' But I like the bands.
"I ended up buying them. I put them in my carry-on and figured, well, if I get caught, I get caught. But when I got to Customs in New York, the security guy takes one look and says, 'Hey, George Lopez, come right this way' and lets me through Customs just like that. I should have bought five more boxes."
He often bases his choice of cigar on what he's doing at that moment: "I look at it timing-wise," he says. "A Churchill is great for vacation, when you can take your time smoking it and you're not in a hurry. When I'm in town, a robusto is the play. I like the robustos and double coronas."
When he and buddy Andy Garcia get together to play golf, cigars are a serious part of the equation.
"I can smoke three in a round," Lopez says. "If I've got a big one, I smoke it down so far I can tell the middle name of the guy who rolled it. When we played the AT&T tournament in 2004, there was a visible haze of smoke following the two of us around the golf course for all four days!"
Garcia chuckles, then denies Lopez's description, saying, "Well, that's why George is a comedian." He and Lopez have been friends for a number of years because, he says, "we share a sense of humor and a simpatico. Familiar things make us laugh. And we're both married to Cuban women.
"He shares his life in his work," Garcia notes. "His material tends to be from his experience, his life, his culture. And George is at the top of his craft. It's beautiful to watch someone who is that in-command."
TBS is hoping that the mass audience shares Garcia's appreciation of Lopez and "Lopez Tonight," the network's first attempt at a late-night talk show. The show is aiming at a younger, more ethnically diverse demographic—and Lopez's humor tends toward the rowdy. He's as willing to go low-comedy (jokes about the Kardashian sisters' taste in jewelry which, Lopez notes, includes "pearl necklaces") as to be provocative (his ongoing list of proofs that Sarah Palin is secretly a Latina: "She's got a baby and a grandbaby that are the same age—Latina!")
"George's whole idea was, 'Let's make it a party,' " says Michael Wright, executive vice president and head of programming for TBS, TNT and TCM. "He said, 'Let's have fun.' He wanted the comedy to be more raw and youthful. This is not a talk show with a guy behind a desk."
Adds Paratore, "Part of George's motivation came while he was working on the Obama campaign in 2008. He felt the energy of this new generation and saw what a multicultural world it had become."
What Lopez brings to the show—what he brings to his stand-up—is a sense of humor about the culture itself, from a viewpoint that doesn't usually get the chance to poke this kind of edgy fun at the majority. Born and reared in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, the Mexican-American Lopez frequently refers to himself on the show as a Chicano, a Latino and a Mexican, and he regularly points out that he's the only Latino hosting a major TV talk show.
Still, Garcia says, it's wrong to pigeonhole Lopez as a Latino-American comedian: "We're all Americans," he says. But he notes that what Lopez's presence on TV represents is invaluable.
"I don't have to be from the same ethnic background as Richard Pryor to get his humor," Garcia says. "It's the same with George. But culturally, it's an important thing for young Hispanics and Chicanos to have that role model. He's someone they can identify with—someone from their neighborhood—and he's a role model."
Some early critics of "Lopez Tonight" sniped at Lopez for leaning on ethnicity in his humor. But, Lopez says, that's part of who he is and it's always been part of his act.
"Look, race has always had a huge place in humor and in drama," Lopez says. "Anybody who is anybody—from Richard Pryor to Chris Rock to Cheech & Chong—has had an agenda. Bill Cosby once said, 'I don't know what the secret to success is but I do know the secret to failure: trying to please everybody.' "
The key to Lopez's humor is his empathy for human foibles. "One thing that stands out is his ability to witness things the average person wouldn't pick up on and find humor in them," Marc Anthony says. "He studies the nuances of life and the crazy shit that people do. He's aware of life constantly going on around him."
Paratore recalls running into Lopez in Chicago in Neiman-Marcus's men's store a few years ago, when Paratore was working in syndication and Lopez was in town to perform.
"That night at the show, he did 10 minutes on a funny guy in the shoe department," Paratore says.
During more than 30 years as a stand-up comedian and actor, Lopez has worked in the solitary manner of most comics: writing material by himself, trying it out onstage, refining it through repeated performances to find out where the laugh is and how to get it reliably. But the talk show demands four fresh monologues a week, most of them running eight to 10 minutes at the top of the show.
It's a massive amount of new material on a daily and weekly basis. But Lopez is famous for going full-out in his stand-up routine; as a headliner, he doesn't feel as though he's given an audience its money's worth until he has been on at least 70 minutes, as he noted in his autobiography, Why You Crying? Still, the nightly monologue is a daily source of pressure on Lopez and the team of writers he's assembled.
"I have them writing the structure of the monologue and then I add the flavor," Lopez says. "It does change my own stand-up. We're always going over it, after the show, first thing in the morning. Essentially, those guys write a bunch of jokes that aren't connected. I make it smooth."
"It feels like watching a great comedian at work when he does that nightly monologue," says TBS's Wright.
It's markedly different from writing "George Lopez," the popular sitcom in which he starred for five seasons and which still airs in syndication.
"The sitcom was about spending five days rehearsing a 22-minute show," Lopez says. "This is about writing that hour for tonight, doing it and having it be gone. It keeps the moment fresh and connected, knowing you're running against the clock. I'm up early every morning. I'm not going to be sleeping until 10 with this show; I'm not even sleeping until eight."
By now, Lopez's history is well-known to his fans, who have watched him turn an early life of hardship and poverty into a comedy act that draws on his own experiences: abandoned by his father before his first birthday and his mother by his 10th, reared by a strict, unaffectionate grandmother whose tough-love approach left the young George bereft of self-esteem. Finding an outlet in stand-up comedy, he struggled for almost a decade, finding breaks where he could get them.
He was launched on "The Arsenio Hall Show" in 1989, where he guested 16 times in its five-year run: "He and I became friendly, which was amazing, because I was just starting out and he was . . . Arsenio! I was spending my whole check on new clothes so I'd look good. And he'd call me into his dressing room everytime and we'd talk. It was like a ritual.
"I didn't think about being famous or popular. Getting on 'The Tonight Show' was my ultimate dream and I made it in 1991."
But while Lopez was working regularly and making money, he wasn't feeling the satisfaction he thought he would.
"I was playing Caroline's in New York and was having a horrible week," Lopez recalls. "This was 1996 and I wasn't comfortable in my own skin. I was doing stand-up I didn't believe in just to make money. None of it meant anything but it got the bills paid. But nothing was really happening for me.
"Chris Rock's manager came to see me and told me afterward, 'Nothing about your act tells me anything about you. You need to get more in touch with that.' "
Lopez took the advice to heart and began talking about his own life: about growing up poor and Chicano in America. In his pinchpenny, withholding grandmother, he found his muse: "Whenever I went onstage and started talking about her, there it was," he says. "I locked into something that wasn't even Mexican in its viewpoint. It was about the social order, about the economics."
He began to develop a following, including actress Sandra Bullock. She happened to see Lopez perform at a point when she and producing partners were trying to find the face for a show that would speak to a Latino audience. She brought Lopez on board, building a breakthrough sitcom around him and his life.
"George Lopez" was a hit, though ABC, the network that aired it, kept moving it into new time slots, including pitting it against ratings powerhouse "American Idol." When ABC announced it was canceling the show in 2007 after five seasons (replacing it with "Cavemen," a show ABC itself owned, unlike "George Lopez"), Lopez took it personally: "TV just got a whole lot whiter," he said then, noting that the network had put 170 people out of work who had been employed by the show.
Meanwhile, the "George Lopez" show itself—or rather, his dedication to it—nearly killed him, literally. Suffering from a degenerative disease that had already cost him one kidney, Lopez waited until after the final episode taped for the 2004-05 season before undergoing a kidney transplant.
"My kidney was so bad it wasn't even showing up on an ultrasound," Lopez recalls. "But I knew that, if I stopped before the end of the season, there would be no one knocking on my door. I'd go on dialysis and they'd cancel the show.
"It was tough rolling the dice on my own life like that. A lot of people said, 'You're too sick.' I was so toxic I couldn't sleep. Nothing about me was fresh. But I went to work everyday. What kept me going was that I was already doing something I never thought I'd do—a sitcom. I didn't want to lose that."
The kidney for the transplant came from his wife, Ann: "Now that's a wife," cracked Arsenio Hall during a visit to "Lopez Tonight." "His wife gave him a kidney. I can't even get my woman to drive me to the airport."
In solid health now, Lopez takes his relaxation from his regular golf game and his enjoyment of fine cigars. He's even gone so far as to put his imprint on a personal line of smokes: the "Lopez Tonight" cigar that will be available this year.
"It's not a novelty cigar. It will be a good cigar in different sizes," Lopez says. "I smoke when I play golf, but I also smoke when I'm by myself and it makes me feel like I'm not by myself. If you have a cigar, it's like a little bit of company."
At 48, Lopez is aware that he's approaching the end of his fifth decade, the big 5-0: "I'm like Sarah Palin. I can see it from my front porch," he jokes. "I even said the other day, 'Not bad for a guy who's almost 50.' That's insane. I'm about today, not about tomorrow."
Four times a week, "today" means creating fresh and exciting TV on a nightly basis. Lopez is thankful that his years on the road gave him most of the tools to handle the job.
"That movie, Slumdog Millionaire, was about how the answers come to you at different times in your life and you have to go through those experiences in order to have those answers," Lopez says. "When I was going through the hard years of stand-up, I got really good at being funny quick. I was funny in 30 seconds because there was no warming up with a lot of crowds. And that helps me now.
"When I was doing the sitcom, I used to get notes from the network that would make me want to strangle people. Instead, I would throw out the script and rewrite it on deadline to get it right. These are all things that make it easier to do a talk show.
"I never imagined I'd be hosting a talk show. Now I want that reward of winning in this genre. That's my goal. I'm trying to be the king of late night—el rey de la noche. That would be historical."
Contributing editor Marshall Fine's work can be found on his Web site,


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Family history is usually shared from one generation to the next. As the information filters down, some of it gets lost or reinterpreted. What, you are wondering, does family history have to do with camp insurance and risk management? Well read on . . . it will all come together.
Each year during the American Camp Association's (ACA's) National Conference, the National Insurance Committee hosts a roundtable discussion with our insurance business partners and other insurers of camps. At the roundtable, we discuss trends in the insurance industry that may impact camp operations, what types of claims were filed the year before, and risk management issues. This year's roundtable discussion, as the ones in the past, has proven to be an excellent source for risk management issues we as camp professionals cannot afford to ignore. The National Insurance Committee has a charge to help educate members in areas related to risk management, and the roundtable provides a starting point for many issues. Following the roundtable, members of the Insurance Committee report what was learned during an educational session at the national conference, which many camp professionals attending the conference find very enlightening. This article spotlights two of the topics covered during the 2007 insurance roundtable, challenge course staff training and medical-related concerns. The fall 2007 issue of The CampLine will feature Part 2 of lessons learned from this important roundtable discussion.
Challenge Course Staff Training
One of the items that has come up for several years is in-house training of challenge course staff. These staff are referred to as second generation trained; if they in turn train someone, they are considered third generation, and so on. History has shown that when a claim is filed related to a challenge course injury, it can usually be traced back to supervision by a second or third generation trained staff member. Many of these claims were the result of avoidable mistakes, mistakes that may not have occurred if everyone had received the same professional training. As we enter a new camp season, here are some things to keep in mind regarding challenge course staff:
- n Have lead staff attend a training by a professional challenge course instructor conducted on your own equipment (it's even better if all challenge course staff are able to do this).
- If necessary, have professionally-trained lead staff train additional challenge course camp staff.
- Professionally trained lead staff should frequently evaluate the performance of the staff they have trained (sounds like a standard to me!).
- Never allow third and fourth generation training; it gets too diluted.
- Every few years have a professional challenge course instructor come to camp to evaluate the skills of the staff running your challenge course—retrain as needed.
Will doing all of these things ensure that you never have another challenge course injury? Most likely no; however, if an accident does occur, wouldn't you want to have peace of mind knowing that the staff you had on duty that day were properly trained?
Medical-Related Concerns
Did that last section cause your heart to do little flip-flops from worry and make you wonder if someone needed to pull out the AED? The Automated External Defibrillator (AED) is a marvelous lifesaving device that almost any adult can use with minimal training. If your camp is not scheduled for an accreditation visit this summer, you may not be aware of standard HW-17, the recently added standard related to assessing the need at your camp for an AED. Some factors to consider when determining the need at your camp for an AED include the age of your campers and visitors, the type of activities that are offered, and how far your camp is from medical response. At the roundtable, it was also noted that AEDs are not often very helpful for backcountry or wilderness trips, as they are intended to give a victim a chance for survival until immediate professional medical assistance can be provided and are not intended to maintain a victim for a long period of time such as when medical assistance might be delayed. The use of AEDs is now included as part of lifeguard training (see the article "ACA Standards . . . the FIRST STEP in Creating a Safer Aquatic Environment for Campers," on page 9 for more information), and the cost of the devices has been slowly going down, but beware, you get what you pay for and the cheapest is sometimes no better than none at all. If you determine that you do need an AED at your camp, be sure to check with your local Emergency Medical Service to see what type they are using, because you should try to purchase a compatible machine.
Portable Oxygen Devices
Another handy device that staff can be easily trained to use and which is relatively inexpensive is a portable oxygen device. At the roundtable, we learned that 20 percent of all near drownings result in permanent neurological damage that can be directly traced to a loss of oxygen. This was a topic of interest and resulted in some great dialogue during the educational session at the conference. If you decide to make portable oxygen available during your camp season, you should consider leasing the equipment from a reputable company. Leasing the equipment allows you the opportunity to have the most reliable, properly-serviced equipment available. If you own the equipment, you must make sure to have it inspected and serviced by a professional at least once a year, especially if you put it in storage for the winter months. (For more information about portable oxygen devices as part of the American Red Cross Lifeguard program, see the article, "ACA Standards . . . the FIRST STEP in Creating a Safer Aquatic Environment for Campers," on page 9.)
Medication Management During Wilderness Trips
How do you record, store, and dispense medication when a group goes on a wilderness trip? Careful consideration should be given to how you will maintain the integrity of medication that must be kept refrigerated or protected from extreme temperatures. Improper storage of these types of medicines could result in disaster when administered. Check with your local doctor, hospital, or pharmacy for suggestions on how you might be able to properly manage the storage of these types of medicines.
Have I got you thinking? Good, that was my intention! The Insurance Committee is pleased to provide members with easily understood and useful educational resources related to risk management and insurance. Questions related to your individual insurance coverage should be directed to your broker or agent. However, if you have an insurance-related question or concern that you would like to dialogue about with an impartial party, feel free to contact one of the Insurance Committee members. Visit www.ACAcamps.org/volunteers/insurance for committee contact information. For a listing of ACA partners and business affiliates in the insurance industry and other helpful risk management and insurance information go to www.ACAcamps.org/vendors.
Originally published in the 2007 Spring issue of The CampLine.


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bottega conticelli unveils vespa wrapped in leather at homo faber
a diverse digital database that acts as a valuable guide in gaining insight and information about a product directly from the manufacturer, and serves as a rich reference point in developing a project or scheme.
the kyoto-based artisan interweaves innovation and tradition to push the boundaries of tatami to adapt to our modern lifestyles.
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designed by mikiya kobayashi for both indoor and outdoor use, ILY-Ai is especially aimed towards those with mobility issues.
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Oscar Pistorius has been involved in a fight at a VIP South Africa nightclub.
The incident happened as the 'Blade Runner' takes a break from his trial while legal teams prepare their final arguments.
He was accused of insulting South Africa's president Zuma and being "drunk and aggressive."
But last night Oscar's spokesperson confirmed he was at the club and there was an incident - but denied he had behaved inappropriately.
She said: "We can confirm that Oscar was at a night club with one of his cousins.
"They sat in a quiet area of the private VIP section when they were approached by the individual you have identified as Mr Mortimer."
Spokeswoman Anneliese Burgess added: "The individual in question, according to our client, started to aggressively engage him on matters relating to the trial.
"An argument ensued during which our client asked to be left alone.
"Oscar left soon thereafter with his cousin. Our client regrets the decision to go into a public place and thereby inviting unwelcome attention," she added.
According to reports in South Africa, Jahed Mortimer, was the man involved in the clash with Pistorius.
He allegedly claims Pistorius was drunk and very aggressive.
He admits he pushed the star over after he was poked in the chest.
Mortimer is said to be friends with former soccer player Mark Batchelor, who has a long-term feud with Pistorius.
It was claimed he became cross with the star after he insulted President Zuma. Moritmer's best friend is Zuma's son Duduzane.
According to celebrity news site Juice, Jared allegedly entered the vip area of the club as he recognised one of his friends, who then introduced him to Oscar.
He reportedly said: "Oscar knew one of my friends and said, 'Oh, you are the infamous Jared Mortimer'.
"He immediately started talking about his friends and how they had backstabbed him.
"He mentioned Justin Divaris and Darren Fresco. He then mentioned one of my friends and claimed he had a lot of dirt on that person."
"He was going on about how influential his family is and how connected they are. He even pulled out his phone to show me pictures of armoured cars.
"He said 'My family owns SANDF. Zuma works for us. I'll p*ss on Zuma."
SANDF is The South African National Defence Force.
It is then claimed Oscar started poking Jared on the chest, aggressivly pulling his neck to talk to him.
"He said you'll never get the better of me. I'll always get the better of you," Jared is quoted as saying.
Jared is then said to have pushed Oscar causing him to fall over and prompting the bouncers to intervene before Oscar left the club.
But one of the club's managers, Perry Mermigas, last night told the Daily Mirror he was with Oscar on Saturday night and said there was no altercation.
"There was no altercation of any sort," he insisted.
"Oscar arrived with his cousin and we gave him a booth. He had a few drinks and left an hour later."
Mr Mermigas said he walked his famous guest out of the club and thanked him for coming.
"That's why I was very surprised with these stories. It was the first time he had been to our club. I just welcomed him then thanked him for coming as he left. "
He added: "I think people are just trying to put a story out there because the case is ongoing."
The double-amputee is just weeks away from hearing his fate after denying the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, 29.
He claims he shot the law graduate through his toilet door, thinking she was an intruder.
The prosecution claim it was after a furious row with Reeva.
As news of the nightclub visit emerged, cricket sensation Kevin Pietersen blasted his fellow sportsman on Twitter.
He tweeted: "Standing trial for murder and he's tweeting and going clubbing...surely this cannot be happening?"
The cricketer also made reference to four bizarre tweets Pistorius had posted the previous day, quoting the bible and showing pictures of himself with amputee children.
"Wow - Oscar Pistorius starts tweeting yesterday and now being reported to be involved in a nightclub incident on Sat. Head down me thinks!"
He appears to reply to one follower who said 'That's South Africa for you' by blasting: "No it's not! It's blatant disrespect for everyone still mourning the tragedy!
The trial resumes on August 8th and 9th for final arguments and then the judge will retire for several weeks to decide the verdict.


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Home - Suspension Components - Shock Absorbers - Circle Track - Bilstein Shocks - Bilstein SZ Series Steel Shocks
Bilstein SZ Series 1.81" (46mm) Steel Shock - 7" Stroke - 160 lb. Rebound, 320 lb. Compression
Shock, SZ Series, Monotube, 13.14 in Compressed / 20.00 in Extended, 1.81 in OD, 3-6 Valve, Steel, Nickel Plated, Each
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Bilstein Digressive Valve 2" Steel Body Shock w/ Ends are designed for Asphalt & Dirt Late Models and IMCA type Modifieds. Bilstein's industry leading digressive valving technology with their patented piston head design delivers a new level of control by damping slow suspension movements more effectively. Also, sharp bumps do not upset the chassis.
Sealed, 46mm steel body, off the shelf digressive valving snap ring groove to accept coil over kit 1/2" eyes Coil-Over Applications require Bilstein Coil-Over Kit sold separately.Pit Stop USA offers Bilstein SZ Series 1.81" (46mm) Steel Shock - Digressive Valve - 7" Stroke - 160 lb. Rebound, 320 lb. Compression S7Z3060 at low everyday prices. Be sure to check out all of our products from Bilstein Shocks including Bilstein Shocks Shocks and Bilstein Shocks Bilstein SZ Series Steel Shocks.
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100% Organic Horse Chestnut tincture is made with the fresh seeds of Aesculus hippocastanum. 100% organic and natural, no synthetics whatsoever. The tincture extraction technique involves pure organic alcohol which draws elements from within the plant into the solution. To remove/lessen the alcohol content, simply add the required amount to an egg cup of freshly boiled water and leave to cool; the majority of the alcohol will evaporate with the steam. Created in the United Kingdom using traditional craft skills and plant knowledge. Certified organic by the Soil Association.
Water, Organic Alcohol, fresh Organic Horse Chestnut Extract.
Take 15 - 30 drops, 2-3 times daily in a little fruit juice or water.
Important - Please read before purchase
While we try to ensure that product information is correct, on occasion manufacturers may alter their ingredient lists. For additional information about a product, please Contact Us on 0800 252 875.
Content on this site is for reference purposes and is not intended to substitute for advice given by a medical practitioner, pharmacist, or other licensed health-care professional. Discontinue use and consult a doctor if adverse reactions occur.
Information stated regarding dietary supplements is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.
Keep out of reach of children. Store in a cool, dry place. Do not use if seal under cap is broken or missing.
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Im really new to this and i want to make a little dos program that will just display a message in a dos window.
But the only problem is when i run it, it shuts the box down really fast before you can even read it.
Here is an example code:
Any ideas?Code:#include <iostream.h> int main() { cout<<"HEY, you, I'm alive! Oh, and Hello World!"; return 0; }
I need it so it will just keep the box open then also when they click enter it will shut it down.
Sorry but im new to this only started learning it a few days ago.
Thank you,


text:
From: Dan Nelson <dprimary@x??????xxxxx.xxxx
Date: Mon Oct 25, 1999 4:56 am
Subject: attachments are now off
I have turned attachments off for the list since most of the responses
asked to turn it off. I have added a file area to the web site that
will allow everyone to upload files with a browser - you will find a
link on the front page of the site. I will have move the files to the
download area, so there will be some delay before they can be
downloaded. Please check your files for viruses before you upload.
Dan Nelson


text:
Cricket Clothing By Triple Play
We may be still developing our Cricket Clothing area of the website, but we are still manufacturing sports clothing for teams all over Australia. If you have an enquiry about the Cricket Clothing we can provide to your team, then call 1800 675 007 or use the easy contact form below to get in touch with us.
Do you have a Cricket Clothing enquiry?
Contacting Triple Play promptly will ensure your gear is ready for your season start. Alternatively you can contact us directly by phoning 1800 675 007 and speak to Mandy who will be able to help you out with any of your enquires.


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|Art of the Dress
|Suited For Success
|Sung by
|Kazumi Evans
|Music by
|Daniel Ingram
|Lyrics by
|Charlotte Fullerton
|Songs of Friendship and Magic
|Season 1
|Suited For Success
|Key signature
|E♭ major
|International versions
- [Rarity]
- Thread by thread, stitching it together
- Twilight's dress, cutting out the pattern snip by snip
- Making sure the fabric folds nicely
- It's the perfect color and so hip
- Always gotta keep in mind my pacing
- Making sure the clothes' correctly facing
- I'm stitching Twilight's dress
- Yard by yard, fussing on the details
- Jewel neckline, don't you know a stitch in time saves nine?
- Make her something perfect to inspire
- Even though she hates formal attire
- Gotta mind those intimate details
- Even though she's more concerned with sales
- It's Applejack's new dress
- Dressmaking's easy, for Pinkie Pie something pink
- Fluttershy something breezy
- Blend color and form,
- [To Opalescence] Do you think it looks cheesy?
- Something brash, perhaps quite fetching
- Hook and eye, couldn't you just simply die?
- Making sure it fits forelock and crest
- Don't forget some magic in the dress
- Even though it rides high on the flank
- Rainbow won't look like a tank
- I'm stitching Rainbow's dress
- Piece by piece, snip by snip
- Croup, dock, haunch, shoulders, hip
- Thread by thread, primmed and pressed
- Yard by yard, never stressed
- And that's the art of the dress!
|Art of the Dress (Reprise)
|Suited For Success
Twilight Sparkle
Pinkie Pie
Rainbow Dash
|Sung by
|Kazumi Evans
Andrea Libman
Shannon Chan-Kent
Rebecca Shoichet
Ashleigh Ball
|Music by
|Daniel Ingram
|Lyrics by
|Charlotte Fullerton
|Season 1
|Suited For Success
|Key signature
|E♭ major
|International versions
- Twilight Sparkle: Now, the stars on my belt need to be technically accurate. Orion has three stars on his belt, not four.
- [Rarity]
- Stitch by stitch, stitching it together
- Deadline looms, don't you know the client's always right?
- Even if my fabric choice was perfect
- Gotta get them all done by tonight
- Pinkie Pie, that color's too obtrusive
- Wait until you see it in the light
- I'm sewing them together!
- Pinkie Pie: Don't you think my gown would be more "me" with some lollipops?
- Rarity: Well, I think...
- Pinkie Pie: Balloons?
- Rarity: Well...
- Pinkie Pie: Do it!
- [Rarity]
- Hour by hour, one more change
- I'm sewing them together, take great pains
- Fluttershy, you're putting me in a bind
- Rainbow Dash, what is on your mind?
- Oh my gosh, there's simply not much time
- Don't forget, Applejack's duds must shine
- Dressmaking's easy, every customer's call
- Brings a whole new revision
- Have to pick up the pace, still hold to my vision
- Twilight Sparkle: That constellation is Canis Major, not Minor.
- Fluttershy: French haute couture, please.
- Rarity: Ugh...
- Applejack: What if it rains? Galoshes!
- Pinkie Pie: More balloons! Oh no, that's too many balloons. More candy! Oh, less candy. Oh wait, I know. Streamers!
- Rarity: Streamers?
- Pinkie Pie: Whose dress is this?
- Rarity: Streamers it is.
- Rainbow Dash: What?
- Rarity: Aren't you going to tell me to change something too?
- Rainbow Dash: No, I just want my dress to be cool.
- Rarity: Do you not like the color?
- Rainbow Dash: The color's fine, just make it look cooler.
- Rarity: Do you not like the shape?
- Rainbow Dash: The shape's fine, just make the whole thing... you know, cooler. It needs to be about twenty percent cooler.
- [Pinkie Pie]
- All we ever want is indecision
- [Rainbow Dash]
- All we really like is what we know
- [Twilight Sparkle]
- Gotta balance style with adherence
- [Fluttershy]
- Making sure we make a good appearance
- [Applejack]
- Even if you simply have to fudge it
- [Main cast sans Rarity]
- Make sure that it stays within our budget
- [Rarity]
- Got to overcome intimidation
- Remember, it's all in the presentation!
- Piece by piece, snip by snip
- Croup, dock, haunch, shoulders, hip
- Bolt by bolt, primmed and pressed
- Yard by yard, always stressed
- And that's the art of the dress!
Other versions
Music Video
Soundtrack Version
- ↑ Daniel Ingram answering a question on Facebook (2012-04-29). Retrieved on 2012 April 29.
- ↑ Name of song on Daniel Ingram's site. Archived from the original on 2012 April 27. Retrieved on 2012 April 29.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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The National Capital Region YMCA-YWCA offers a full range of recreational programs that take place in a non-competitive environment. Recreational activities develop self-esteem and confidence, and help people to work as individuals and as part of a team.
With a passion for recreation, the Y offers a variety of programs designed to appeal to people of all ages – from tiny tots to active older adults. From badminton and basketball to gymnastics and dance, we have something to offer each member of your family at one of our six Health, Fitness and Recreation facilities.
A complete listing of program offerings is available in the Health, Fitness & Recreation Program Guide. Please note that program offerings vary by location.
Recreation makes a real difference to communities. Get engaged and involved at the YMCA-YWCA.


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Men's High diving results: 1. Steve Lo Bue (USA) 397.15 2. Michal Navratil (CZE) 390.90 3. Alessandro De Rose (ITA) 379.65
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And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9 Good morning! It's still cold and raining in Florida. I woke up early today…Read more »
Category: Summer vacation ideas
Liebster Award – 2nd Nomination
I am truly honored to have been nominated a second time for the Liebster Award. This time I was nominated by When I'm with You . . . Whitney Ibe Blog. The author (Whitney) of the Whitney Ibe Blog is upbeat and full of sunshine. Whitney's positive outlook is inspiring and I love to read her posts. If you haven't checked out her blog, I encourage you to do so soon, because her inward and outward beauty sparkles through in her writing. Thank you for thinking of me Whitney . . .
Ask the Lord to Stand with You
A few days ago I was provided an opportunity to do something I have wanted to do and prayed about for many years, teach Sunday School. Isn't that great? I feel like this opportunity is . . .
Forgiveness Thursday – God Fulfills
Have you ever felt empty? Have you felt like no matter what you do, you can't find happiness? Is being content something you can't seem to wrap your mind around? Are you an overachiever, a workaholic, a perfectionist or something similar? . . .
Use Your Gifts to Change the World Wednesday – Radiate God's Love
Do you ever feel like you are unable to make positive change? Do you feel like the world is too big? Then, I have good news. The smallest of changes are viral in the scheme of changing the world . . .
Try Something New Tuesday – The Mix Match Game
Sometimes we get in a rut of going through a day-to-day routine, which can wreak havoc on our relationships and our self-esteem. We can get so caught up in what we are focused on that we lose who we are and what we believe in. At the end of the day we don't feel like we have enough time to enjoy life. We may not even think we are not worthy of God's love. . .
Tell Me Something Good Monday – He Lives in Us!
Do you ever feel like your life is spinning out of control? Like you need to frantically run around and ask everyone to pray for you? Do you feel like you just don't know the answers? Almost every day since I started this blog, I have told you that God is with you. Did you know that God is for you, with you, AND in you? . . .
The Unique Partnership of Prayer and Faith
I've noticed that many people get caught up in the "how to" of prayer. I understand fully, because I've been there. I have been to prayer classes, where books have been passed out on what to pray for in various situations. I have read books trying to understand how to pray publicly and what to pray. I've listened closely and . . .
Spread the Love Friday – Build Each Other Up
Have you ever felt wiped out on the last day of the work week, just completely overwhelmed? Have you ever noticed others in the workplace who feel this way? One way we can make a positive difference in our world is to comfort those around us. Small gestures help the most, like . . .
Forgiveness Thursday – Enjoy the Moments and Teach God's Word
When I think back to when my children were growing up, I often regret not being there for them and providing them more. It was always my dream to be a stay home mother like my mom, which is not always possible in today's world. So, I worked . . .


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The Waiting Game
It's true enough; we do have Vita software, but no Vita hardware, which is alternately worse and better. If I were creating a social media site about this phenomenon, I would call it "tantalizr." I would register it, but the device comes out next week. There isn't really enough time to do the IPO.
I wonder what sort of stimulation this "cartridge" might generate if I pressed the contacts to my tongue.
The Multiplayer portion of the Mass Effect 3 demo told me it was locked until the seventeenth, but then I tried to go in there anyway because I am an iconoclast. It worked, because apparently redeeming an Online Pass for Battlefield 3 is all you have to do, and I did that, and millions of other people have as well. This thing is no bullshit, and I was up way too late playing it.
The Single Player portion of the demo is just stuff I'm gonna have to play all over again, so I wish I hadn't. The second bit has super interesting shit about Krogan society, which I thought was worth checking out, but still: you could restrict yourself to the multiplayer and still have gotten an excellent demo. The game comes out March 6th, so I mean… You could conceivably hold out. No? That's fine, me neither.
Ths multiplayer, though. Holy shit. "Horde Mode" is an insulting characterization. The characters you create in this mode accrue experience and invest in skills just like a single player character would, except here you're earning money that you use to buy what are essentially CCG style Booster Packs of varying quality. These packs contain single use items to help you through tough rounds, weapons and weapon upgrades, along with alien races to play as. It has many, many barbed compulsion mechanisms affixed to tentacles which dance and sway.
Traps for the reptile mind can only get you so far, though, and what surprised me the most about it is how well it comports itself as a shooter. It's not just a weathered sidearm resting on an ornate doily. It's very "heavy" in my own estimation, methodical, a more nimble version of Resident Evil that retains that series' omnipresent gravity. It had dodges, and cover, but when you traverse an area the sense that you are committed to it is impressed upon you. I didn't entirely know what to think when they announced this portion; the rumors I'd heard were that it was intended as a stand-alone product at some point. I tried to imagine what universe such a thing would be desirable in. This universe, actually; it is desirable in this universe, as soon as is humanly possible.
(CW)TB out.


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Oceans could be 150% more acidic by 2100
Most of the cliffs that you see bordering the south of England and the Normandy coast were built by deposition of sediments of shellfish that have grown in steady conditions of carbonate and CO2 available in the oceans at geological scale. It is supposed that this should still continue, as carbon is trapped in the shells of mollusks in a permanent and stable manner, but we suspect that the future will be different.
Rising levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) are causing the ocean to acidify at rates not seen for the last 20 million years. Atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean (at least half of all emissions pass into the seas) increasing the acidity and resulting in "Ocean Acidification".
A more acid ocean affects marine plants and animals by causing calcium carbonate, the stuff of shells and skeletons and the basis of much of the ocean's phytoplankton, to dissolve, thus, probably, greatly affecting marine food webs, causing extinction of species vital to the health and productivity of the earth. Business as usual scenarios for CO2 emissions could make the ocean up to 150% more acidic by 2100. Regrettably these problems are not yet recognised outside the oceanographic research community.
The impacts of ocean acidification on marine life, and ultimately the socio-economic effects, are potentially dramatic. Coastal communities and small island developing states (SIDS), which rely on marine-based ecosystem services for a significant portion of their livelihoods, will be the first to feel the impacts of increased ocean acidification.
The global decrease of coastal marine resources and decline in marine biodiversity will impact countries dependent on coastal fishing, fish-processing industries and tourism causing economic hardship as well as destabilising food security for the 1 billion people who depend on fisheries for most of their protein diet.
Ocean issues are global and affect all Nations. Many developing nations and particularly SIDS still lack the scientific and management technologies and knowledge to effectively manage their marine areas. Raising awareness of the impact of ocean acidification on SIDS and building their capacity to respond to the challenge of impacted marine ecosystems is a top priority of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (UNESCO-IOC). In an effort to increase awareness of this critical issue, the UNESCO-IOC has convened a series of symposia on "The Ocean in a High-CO2 World" and published documents describing the impact and options for remediation of the Ocean Acidification problem.
Because of its potential impacts on the marine food chain, biodiversity, food security and livelihoods of coastal community, we believe Ocean Acidification needs to be recognized as a critical ocean issue and acted upon by the international community in the context of the Rio+20 Conference discussions on sustainable development.
Through the report "A Blueprint for Ocean and Coastal Sustainability" led by IOC/UNESCO, and other UN agencies, a proposal to implement a number of urgent actions to mitigate and adapt to ocean acidification has been tabled for consideration by UN delegates negotiating the Rio outcome document.
One of these actions is to launch a global inter-disciplinary program on ocean acidification risk assessment, which would assist countries in formulating mitigation responses. This will also identify regions most at risk of impact from ocean acidification and forecast 'point of no return' tipping points where increasing acidification could lead to marine ecosystem collapse. In addition, a call is made to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations to include atmospheric carbon dioxide impacts on ocean chemistry and ecosystems in their deliberations.
As we are entering the negotiation phase of the declaration that will be adopted at Rio+20, there are encouraging signals that ocean acidification will be considered. In the zero –draft declaration released on 10 January by the UN, the proposals put forward in the Blueprint Report have been included.
IOC will however continue in the coming weeks to ensure that these issues remain high on the international agenda. Rio+20 presents a unique possibility to bring this critical planetary issue to the attention of the public and global decision makers – it is essential that we take advantage of this timely opportunity.
By Wendy Watson-Wright for RTCC.org (Full article and video).
Wendy Watson-Wright is Assistant Director General and Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
Related links:
This article is part of a series written in collaboration with RTCC.org; other articles include:
- UNESCO: Vital fate of oceans on Rio+20 agenda
- Coastal erosion major threat to West Africa
- Micro-plastic 'soup': the oceans' hidden threat
- 'Coral reefs could recover, but action is needed, say experts'
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New Tween Actions Beta!
Hello, maybe use RPC to set start movement.Another idea, the host set Server Custom property, like bool and all players check it.
The RPC is not heavy at all, if not EveryFrame, same for Properties, sent only once similar as Global Event the movement processed locally on player's side.Photon will update values in Room properties, actions:Set Room Custom PropertyGet Room PropertyThe difference would be, with RPC the elevator would be ordered to move, but with Properties the elevator would check when to move.
Sure no problem, I can speak only of what I have seen/used.So in multiplayer if you want the closest sync with Photon cloud, then use everyframe variable synch. Other than that not sure if there are any more precise measures, except Authoring server setup which is different setup, like all is calculated on server machine and all users get the same behaviour on synched entities. This is not included in Photon cloud and the implementation is different. I have not worked with it.About the difference of things I mentioned. Basically as you say it is the same - level restart or RPC.But if only sync the level restart, the difference with pc and network ping will only match once - at start. but if you use RPC or check for room properties, the example elevator would have more sync checkpoints. Sending RPC on movement start and movement end can speed up or wait for other player's elevator to match its position. Some delay there will be anyway.
I see it as my traffic lights, every X seconds an RPC is called to everybody switch lights. Could do something similar. Can have maybe two events or one event with value like 0 or 1. Host sends 0 - everyone update their elevators at ground floor, if 1 then drive up and stay there. With value in RPC you can even show a number of floor if there are more.
Hi, There will always be latency, it's inherent to the network architecture and data transfer speed of the internet.The most direct and performant way is to fire an RPC when the elevator starts. The latency can be counter indeed by using the server timestamp and do some math to move the elevator where it should be based on the difference between your time and the server time. But really, I doubt this is worth the effort. Can you describe why this affect your gameplay? maybe there is a better way to tackle this?Also, have you checked TrueSync: https://www.photonengine.com/en-US/TrueSync it provided a determinist and 100% accurate simulation of the game on all players, if you are affected by latency so badly, maybe this is worth checking out ( reuqired coding, PlayMaker can not work with TrueSync because of the different way to store numbers) Bye, Jean


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Failed Haryana SEZs set to become lucrative realty projects, Ansal Properties, Parsvnath in list
Written by Admin Tuesday, 17 September 2013( 0 Votes )
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Real estate giants and multinational firms which bought hundreds of acres of land in Haryana to set up Special Economic Zones (SEZs) but could not do so, have been given another chance to put it to use.
The state government has decided to denotify such SEZs and allow the blocked land to be used for other purposes. As a result, nearly two dozen projects � many of them in the lucrative real estate markets of Gurgaon and Faridabad � are expected to be converted into residential and commercial properties.
Haryana had over the years notified 35 SEZs, of which only six have so far been set up. The state government says another seven are likely to be completed, and the remaining 22 are being denotified and will be allowed change of land use.
The 22 include projects promoted by Uppal Housing, Ansal Properties & Infrastructure Ltd, Parsvnath Developers Ltd, Raheja Haryana SEZ Developers and Ascendant Estates.
Although most of the 35 SEZs were notified to focus on information technology and IT-enabled services, many of them were promoted by real estate giants who will now benefit from a change in land use. Documents accessed by The Indian Express show that the largest number of these SEZs were notified between April 2007 and October 2009.
The state government had acquired an estimated 1,452 acres of land from farmers, much of it in Gurgaon and Faridabad, for the 35 projects.
But in May this year, the state cabinet approved the change of land use after it was found that promoters of a large number of SEZs were reluctant to go ahead with their projects.
Analysts said promoters of these projects were finding them financially unviable after the Central government amended the SEZ policy and introduced Minimum Alternate Tax for them in 2010-11. They were said to be looking for a bailout package and state government sources said many of these promoters had begun making enquiries to get change of land use for the SEZ land in their possession.
Haryana Industries Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala, however, claimed the land use change would still benefit the state.
�Haryana is one state in the country where a maximum number of SEZs have been set up. Six have already been set up, while seven SEZs are under implementation. The remaining shall be granted change of land use,� he told The Indian Express.
�The barren land was as such not generating anything for us. I called a meeting of all SEZ promoters and told them that they should either come up with the SEZs or get the land use converted. This change will not only generate industry but also bring in lots of employment to the state,� he said.
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7 年的 Mozillian Dec 2013
Priyam Srivastava
FSA , Webmaker Mentor , Contributor , FxOS App Developer , SUMO
Tagsweb development, webmaker
技能fxos app development, graphic design, php mysql html5 css3 javascript, website design, website development, wordpress development
語言英文, 印地文
- Facebook: priyam.srivastava.921
- Mozilla Webmaker: vivacious
Rahul Talreja
I know Priyam for more than a quarter and he is doing awesome for his community, he has initiated Mozilla's Community in his region GUNA (M.P.) , India. His contributions can be found at : http://vivaciousmoz.blogspot.in/
Vaibhav Bajaj
https://www.facebook.com/groups/631056097011038/?fref=ts https://reps.mozilla.org/e/graphicscamp/ https://mozillians.org/en-US/u/priyamsrivastava29893/ http://vivaciousmoz.blogspot.in/ These are the Contribution by Priyam in the marketing of Mozilla and its Product
Chandan Kumar Baba
Priyam,a Emerging superstar in Webmaker and Firefox OS apps development is doing so much awesome things for spreading Awesomeness .I'm happy to vouch him .


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so heres my problem. i stumbled upon this software on accident and it made my day to see it was free.. but my customers arent very bright and things like "login" and "Password" only confused and scare their techno-phobic minds. so i started searching and found that theres a customizeable file and even a how to. so i did my research and and started playing. i made my custom file with my logo, messages, title, etc. and most importantly 2 very simple connect options. now heres where my problem comes in my links on my exe do nothing.. it acts like it might connect but then does nothing. i got one to work with my repeater using the create server option, i even copied the line from the generated helpdesk.txt file into mine. but still nothing. so does anybody more knowledgeable about this program know what it is im doing wrong.. ive come this far on my own but know im stumped cuz everything seems to be in order.
any help would be great i really hope this doesnt become a lost thread that never gets an answer.. cuz i like this software and i would really like to fix this so i can use it.


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How can I become a film critic?
Well, I'm back for the summer!
Another year of diaconal studies is complete, and my reviewing austerity is over until the fall. Two years down, two to go!
Over the summer, I'll be publishing every week here at NCRegister.com and at Decent Films. I'll also be appearing weekly on "Reel Faith" (when and where to catch "Reel Faith").
Along with my return to regular reviewing, I'll also be bringing back a long-absent feature at Decent Films: Decent Films Mail columns. This week I ran the first Mailbag column in a couple of years, with reader mail on Frozen, God's Not Dead, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and more. Check it out; there's more to come.
One letter I got from a reader I thought deserved special attention, so I'm highlighting it here.
As a Catholic college student and soon-to-be-graduate, I want to express my thanks to you for your work on DecentFilms.com and in the National Catholic Register. I know it must sound like an exaggeration, but your thoughtful commentaries on film and culture are among the many voices in Catholic new media that years ago began to assist me in rekindling my faith, which I pray will remain strong for the duration of my adult life. It's not exactly easy to be a practicing Catholic once you go away to college (even a Catholic one), but you and your peers make it easier for those of us who try.
In particular, I believe that your sincerity in reviewing the themes of films from Pixar and Studio Ghibli are among the most entertaining reviews I have ever read. And like Father Robert Barron of Word On Fire, your ability to tie the themes of the films you review to pressing questions of faith and culture make each of your commentaries a true joy to read.
As a student of Political Science and History, I have no hard background in film. I do, however, possess a lifelong enthusiasm for film, and having proven my writing ability at the university, I am beginning to believe that I should be considering a line of work similar to your own. However, I'm afraid I know little to nothing about how such an endeavor would be accomplished.
Would you happen to have any advice for this aspiring writer?
My reply:
Thanks for your gratifying email. It's humbling to hear that my work has been helpful to you in the way you describe. Reading your email, I think of those whose work has been helpful to me, and I'm moved to think that I've played such a role, however small, in someone else's life.
For what it's worth, my day job is web development. Film criticism is a real job for me (I do a lot of it, and I get paid), but it doesn't pay the bills, and might not even if I were doing it full time. The hard reality is that opportunities to make a living in journalism are in decline, and film criticism probably more so than other forms of journalism.
That doesn't mean film criticism isn't worth doing! But I wouldn't plan on it as a career, if you have any other options.
For a long while now I've been noodling an essay on becoming a good film critic. It's a long way from being finished, but in the meantime here are a few points worth noting:
- Watch a lot of movies. Good movies. Bad movies. Movies you wouldn't ordinarily watch — obscure indies, foreign films, silents, documentaries, anything. Everything.
- Read a lot of film writing. Not just reviews, but film history, formal criticism, critical theory. Make a point of reading critics you disagree with as well as ones you agree with. Try to learn from everyone.
- Write a lot, and don't worry if it's good or bad, especially at first. You may already be a good writer, but good critical writing is a special skill that needs to be honed for a long time before it's any good. Doing a lot of writing is no guarantee you'll be any good, but anyone who ever becomes good does a lot of writing up front that turns out in the end to be mainly practice.
- I can't overstate this one: Be interested in stuff other than movies. Your poli-sci and history majors are a good start; keep it up. Learn about art and music, world cuisine, quantum physics, baseball history, whatever interests you. Travel. Meet people. Play chess, poker, Frisbee golf, Scrabble, anything. Read old books. Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Get a job — any job. (See my opening comments above!)
Movies can be a jumping-off point for learning about all kinds of things, but you also need to bring to them a world of experience in order to get out of them everything they have to offer, to have perspective on them, to having something to say about them.
Nobody gains perspective in a vacuum, or only by watching movies. You have to live and grow as a person. As with watching movies, reading and writing, you can't rush this. It takes time.
- If at all possible, interact with other film writers. Conversation, critical back and forth, is indispensable.
One place I like to do this is Arts & Faith. It's a rewarding place to hang out, chat movies, get to know people, put down roots and share your film writing with others. The board started out as a mainly Christian endeavor, and there are still a lot of Christians (including some Catholics) there, along with some non-Christians and nonbelievers. (Having written all that, it occurs to me that some of the advice I've written here is touched upon in a thread on Arts & Faith about being taken seriously as a critic.)
Hope that helps. If you register at A&F, feel free to introduce yourself in the Introductions thread. Feel free to keep in touch.