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15 themes/skins available for your browsing pleasure. A variety of looks, 6 AC2 exclusives - Featuring SMACX, Civ6 and Firaxis themes.[new Theme Select Box, bottom right sidebar - works for lurkers, too]
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
Maybe they like sustaining the creativity of a whole community;
maybe they make enough money at their day jobs,
and want the pleasure of creating something to help other people.
If you've never modded Civ2, you don't have a good feel for how it becomes an open-ended canvas. And this makes that canvas vastly more open-ended.
I looked at FreeCiv once, but it didn't look like it was designed with modding in mind; it's designed to replicate the experience of vanilla Civ2.
I guess I can answer that question by going over there and seeing what this fellow's view and download counts are.
People spent more than a decade feverishly modding Civ2 to make it about hobbits or ancient Romans or Nazis or Klingons or eldritch undead terrors beneath the earth.
If you don't like that, well, that's your business.
But people get their rocks off in different ways.
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Falling Flat?
This story appears in the January 2005 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Bill Gilmer runs his 16-person commercial printing company with as few managers as possible. "We're an extremely flat organization," says the owner of Wordsprint Inc. in Wytheville, Virginia. Gilmer, 48, has made big investments in technology to make sure each of his press operators and other key employees has all the information he or she needs to make decisions without a supervisor.
"Everything is in the system, from schedules to the latest breaking news about a job, so every worker has access at their keyboards to the same information as management," Gilmer says. "So why have management?"
Why, indeed? The answer is that an organization can be too flat. Sometimes managers are necessary. The key is to make sure your organization doesn't have too many managers-nor too few. When you have too little hierarchy, decisions don't get made or are made wrongly by employees who lack experience, accountability or motivation to do the work of the missing managers.
Under Control?
"Hierarchies are going to be with us whether we like it or not because hierarchies are effective for getting things done," says Harold Leavitt, professor emeritus of organizational behavior at Stanford University and author of Top Down: Why Hierarchies Are Here to Stay and How to Manage Them More Effectively. "I'm all for humanizing organizations, but they can flatten so much that you lose control."
Leavitt's thesis highlights one inescapable fact about flatter organizations: The more you flatten, the less you control. To some extent, technology can be used to oversee employees by, for instance, monitoring their productivity using job-tracking systems. It can also be used to empower employees to make their own decisions, as in Gilmer's case. Gilmer also gives employees incentives to take responsibility for decisions that might otherwise be made by a manager, by basing much of their pay on individual, departmental and company productivity.
But even flattening can go too far. "We skate the edge all the time," Gilmer says. He knows he's gone too far when decisions are not made or are made improperly. Sometimes, the problem is that the employee isn't up to the self-management job, an issue Gilmer tries to avoid while hiring. "You have to have people who are willing to make decisions and [who] are interested in the big picture," he says. "We have that now, but at times we haven't."
Gilmer spends most of his day on business development, but a certain part of many days is spent dealing with management matters. If too much of his day is consumed with that type of work, he begins to suspect he's too flat. But the solution of having a manager oversee production staff is one he's rejected.
For Leavitt, the issue is not so much whether a company is flat, too flat or not flat enough. It's that the entrepreneur is aware of the issue and prepared to grapple with it as part of a growth plan. "Small companies often don't like the idea [that] they are going to formalize and get hierarchical as they get bigger," he says. "They can do it well or badly, but it's going to happen."
Gilmer anticipates Wordsprint expanding in sales and employment as the economy rebounds. He believes that incentives, a corporate culture that prizes self-starters, and a good dose of IT will help Wordsprint get bigger without getting more hierarchical. Only if he can't continue to find good employees does Gilmer plan to add more layers. "When you have [lower-quality employees]," he concedes, "you need a supervisor to tell them what to do."
Mark Henricks writes on business and technology for leading publications and is author of Not Just a Living.

subset: commoncrawl


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Legs for a gas burner 11 kW, 21 kW, 25 kW.
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Very stable short legs for paella burner.
Pan cover, protects a pan against humidity and dust.
A comfortable carrying bag made of textile fabric for transporting and storing a pan or a pan set.


text: This industrial, retro styled stool has the ability to totally transform the feel of your room. The stool is designed with a solid iron frame and comes equipped with rubber stoppers to protect your floor. This retro stool is easily adjustable by simply spinning the chair left or right. The seat can be adjusted as high as 65cm or as low as 45cm. Once you have reached your desired height, simply tighten the hasp to lock in the height.


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Armed men cross into Afghanistan from Iran
According to intelligence, the group of armed militants crossed the border from Iran into Afghanistan in Farah's Anardara district.world Updated: Jun 19, 2007 13:10 IST
More than 20 armed men crossed the border from Iran into Afghanistan and entered a town, a police commander said in the first such blunt claim by a high-ranking Afghan official.
Colonel Rahmatullah Safi - police commander in the three western provinces of Farah, Badghis and Herat - said according to intelligence information, the group of armed militants crossed the border on Monday in Farah's Anardara district.
"Two pickup trucks with over 20 armed people riding in them crossed the border from Iran to Afghanistan," Safi said in his Border Police headquarters, 15 km outside Herat city.
He said according to intelligence information, the men were heading towards Zirkoh area in Farah province, which has been the site of escalating militant activity in recent months.
Safi said the police did not have the opportunity to track down the vehicles but said he had informed President Hamid Karzai and international forces in the country.
"I can say with certainty that the vehicles came from Iranian soil, and if they came from Iran with ammunitions and explosives, of course, they are supported by the Iranian government. If the Iranian border forces really want to stop them, they can," he added. "They have one outpost every five to 10 km."
Safi's report of the infiltration comes at a time when US officials have linked Iran's government to large shipments of weaponry to militants in Afghanistan, but Karzai and other Afghan officials have ruled out Iran's involvement and Tehran has also strongly denied funnelling weapons to Afghan militants.
Safi also revealed that during fighting Saturday night between Afghan police and insurgents in the Shindand district of Herat province, which left nine suspected Taliban and two police officers dead, police found the remains of Iranian-made bullets.
He also showed DPA five anti-tank mines that had Iranian markings, which he said were seized at the Afghan-Iran border about two weeks ago.
Safi said his police forces had information that former mujahideen fighters, who forced Soviet forces from Afghanistan and later plunged the country into a bloody civil war, were receiving training in Iranian territory and were sent back to Afghanistan to carry out attacks against the government and international forces.
In April, US officials said Iranian-made weapons had showed up in the hands of the Taliban. The Pentagon's top general, Peter Pace, said NATO forces in Afghanistan had seized Iranian-made mortars and explosives destined for the Taliban.
Last week, a top US State Department official charged in a CNN interview that the US has "irrefutable evidence" that Iran is arming Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.
Although not mimicking the strong nature of Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns' remarks, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said a day later that large weapons' shipments were crossing from Iran into Afghanistan and it was unlikely Tehran did not know about them.
"Given the quantities that we're seeing, it is difficult to believe that it is associated with smuggling or the drug business or that it's taking place without the knowledge of the Iranian government," Gates said.
Afghan Defence Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak, however, rejected Iran's involvement in supplying militants in a media interview, arguing that Kabul and Tehran have good relations and a stable Afghanistan is in Iran's interest. He said there was evidence weapons were coming from Iran but suggested they were from the Al Qaeda terrorist network or drug traffickers.
Gates also mentioned the good relations between the Afghan and Iranian government. "Whether Iran is trying to play both sides of the street, hedge their bets, what their motives are, other than causing trouble for us, I don't know," the US defence chief said.


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Sea Monsters (Catapult)
Pulsing to the soundtrack of Joy Division, Nick Cave, and Siouxsie and the Banshees, Sea Monsters offers an intoxicating portrait of Mexico in the late 1980s.
One autumn afternoon in Mexico City, seventeen-year-old Luisa does not return home from school. Instead, she boards a bus to the Pacific coast with Tomás, a boy she barely knows. He seems to represent everything her life is lacking--recklessness, impulse, independence.
Tomás may also help Luisa fulfill an unusual obsession: she wants to track down a traveling troupe of Ukrainian dwarfs. According to newspaper reports, the dwarfs recently escaped a Soviet circus touring Mexico. The imagined fates of these performers fill Luisa's surreal dreams as she settles in a beach community in Oaxaca. Surrounded by hippies, nudists, beachcombers, and eccentric storytellers, Luisa searches for someone, anyone, who will "promise, no matter what, to remain a mystery." It is a quest more easily envisioned than accomplished. As she wanders the shoreline and visits the local bar, Luisa begins to disappear dangerously into the lives of strangers on Zipolite, the "Beach of the Dead."
Meanwhile, her father has set out to find his missing daughter. A mesmeric portrait of transgression and disenchantment unfolds. Sea Monstersis a brilliantly playful and supple novel about the moments and mysteries that shape us.
Chloe Aridjis is a Mexican-American writer who was born in New York and grew up in the Netherlands and Mexico. After completing her Ph.D. at the University of Oxford in nineteenth-century French poetry and magic shows, she lived for nearly six years in Berlin. Her debut novel, Book of Clouds, has been published in eight languages and won the Prix du Premier Roman Étranger in France. Aridjis sometimes writes about art and insomnia and was a guest curator at Tate Liverpool. In 2014, she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. She lives in London.
Photo by Homero Aridjis
Merritt Tierce was born and raised in Texas, graduated from college at 19, and waited tables for ten years while working as an abortion rights activist with the Texas Equal Access Fund. After earning an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop she received a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Award in 2011, and was a 2013 National Book Foundation "5 Under 35" Author. Doubleday published her debut novel LOVE ME BACK in 2014 to great acclaim; she has most recently written for the Netflix show Orange is the New Black. She lives in Los Angeles.


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Jingle and MingleJoin us for the First Annual WiSHES Christmas Luncheon. All program participants and their immediate family are invited to our Trotwood Location to enjoy lunch, wonderful Christmas music, and the company of the WiSHES Family.
Please complete the registration form below and submit it
to Ms. Osley by Saturday, December 3, 2016


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Welcome to our
Check Out Our Local Morrill County Town Sites:
Click Here for More Morrill County News
The F.I.P.S. code is 31123.
Latitude: 41.8962, Longitude: -103.0736.
There are more sites for other counties and towns across the State of Nebraska available.
In fact, we host pages for every State, County and Town in the U.S.!


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Normallly when your hard disk storage is running low, you will come out with all sorts of methods to see if there is anyway to clean up junk or duplicated files before deciding to upgrade to a bigger size storage drive. If you tends to keep mostly picture files but are mixed up in unorganized manner with potential that some duplicates have occupied quite a huge portion of your hard disk space, then this software tool may be able to help you. Named as VisiPics, it is a free tool that can help you to scan through your system memory for all types of the picture files and figure out if there is any duplication and eventually allows you to delete them to save some hard disk space.
The software utility is quite powerful that can scan through various types of media files such as BMP, JPG, PCX, TIFF and even RAW files and list down duplicated files side by side for easy comparison. Users can select to manually delete them or do a predefined criteria such as just delete smaller size files so that it will do whatever is necessary to clean up your hard disk space. Some of the files that are saved in different resolutions or those that already being converted to different formats will also be considered as duplicated files. That is not all, there is a way to customize the similarity levels based on own preference.
Take note that there is a minimum system requirement in order for this software to work accordingly. Your system must be a Pentium system with 128MB or above, running with Windows 2000/2003/XP or Vista OS (Operating Systems). Do try to download here to see how much it can help you.


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Click to enlarge images
PRESENTATION OF THE PROPERTY 'Majestic Bali land for sale on prime location of Umalas'
We will present you first a short description of this Bali land for sale before approach more this property and finally discuss about the environment of this property.
This convenient flat land for sale is located in the heart of Umalas, Bali, but it's near the famous La Laguna Bali Restaurant & Beach Bar which is reachable within 5 minutes drive.
A couple of minutes 'drive from the entrance to Umalas area is the available flat land. Nearby are a wide range of businesses as well as residential developments.
Likewise, this land plot for sale in Umalas, Bali is just the best location to build your villa.
Bali Island is an idyllic destination for all ages and also offers something for everyone. First of all this tropical paradise proposes all facilities for modern public. In conclusion, as an investment or private home you will not regret to buy a land here.
Best deal guaranteed
|Property Type
|Ownership Title
|Land Size
|1050 m² (10.5 Are)
|Currency of the owner
|605.769 USD (negotiable)
|Equivalence in IDR
|Pondok Wisata
Environment of the Bali land for sale
Initially this captivating neighborhood is in development with few accommodation and exclusive villa properties in the area.
This is a fantastic area to build a private villa or business living residence here in Umalas, Bali.
Beside that all commodities are around this area: white sandy beaches, nice restaurants, convenience and souvenir stores, supermarket, bars, and also the ATMs.
Also large asphalt road facilitates the access to the land.
Likewise this land is in a very peaceful and relaxing area and in the same time very close to Bali tourism attractions and only 5 minutes drive to Batubelig and Kayu Putih beaches.
Nowadays Umalas, Bali is an area in development where the government already facilitates all investment.
For more information about this Bali land for sale
We are here to assist you to buy your Real Estate in Bali. And we will offer you the best Bali Luxury real estate.
For more information about our Bali property for sale, don't hesitate to contact us. And we will give you the best advice about Bali real estate.


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This weekend two special Events / Benefit for Sandy Paws at the Water Tower in Oaks/ Grand reopening at Nicks Roast Beef in Phila
Two events we have our eyes on for the weekend are:
Sandy Paws Benefit at the Water Tower in Oaks Pa., on Saturday…with 6 bands …2pm to 2am / Make a donation to help out Animal Relief and they do need the help -f or all the animals that lost their homes and families…money raised will help the Animal Shelters and also help buy food for the animals caught up in the mess that the Hurricane created for all.
Grand Re-opening of Nicks Roast Beef on Cottman Ave in NE Phila… Party Weekend for this great are location. Saturday night See the Insiders with their brand of good time, fun time shore music…and have fun over a the all new NICKS! We say now Nick's@ Night…
* FOR MORE INFO on both of these great events GO TO www.ootonline.com and key into the latest Out On The Town Entertainment Guide!


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The goal of the ALA Sports Office is to bring together Latvians through sports. We have the opportunity to work with the younger generation, to whom sports has a greater meaning. The Sports Office includes many sports. Our individual sports representatives work to inform those who are interested about what we are doing in the sports. We also have representatives from each of the geographic areas: east coast, midwest and west coast. Every year we organize the Latvian championships in men's and women's volleyball, basketball and hockey. We want to involve as many young people we can and maybe the change in date will help this.
Questions or comments? Please contact Miķelis Ģiga.


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Teaching Kids How to Cook
December 18, 2012 | in Nannies
By Erin McNeill Children are typically very picky eaters by
nature. But what if you let a child become part of the cooking process? When children help prepare a meal they are more likely to eat that meal than if they had not helped cook it! So, what have you got to lose? You will get some assistance in the kitchen, your children will gain a few cooking skills, and you all will prepare a delicious meal for your family that everyone will eat. Here are some ideas to help guide you through the cooking process with children. Planning the meal – Sit down as a family and have your kids help plan the menu
for a meal during the upcoming week. It's best to have a few choices available to them to choose from, and the meals should be both healthy and well balanced. Have them create a grocery list for the meal and, if possible, include them on your shopping trip to the grocery store. Allowing children to plan a meal for the family creates a sense of helpfulness and selflessness in them. Plan your meal for an evening that isn't packed full of activities or rushed, because kids tend to take longer to cook a meal since they are just learning. Wash your hands and produce – Always start any meal prep by washing your hands (adults too!) and any produce that you'll be using to cook your meal. Read the recipe – Read the recipe together and make a plan on how you're going to tackle all of the prep work and actual cooking of the meal. Kids who can read enjoy being in charge of reading the recipe and informing everyone what steps are next. Get to work – Depending on the age of your children, you may have to assign tasks to them if they are younger, or you can let them decide who is going to do what if you have older children. Make sure that all of the tasks are age appropriate, but at the same time are tasks that will captivate your child and engage them in the cooking process. Young children can help chop soft vegetables with plastic knives; older children can help open and drain cans, measure out ingredients, and use sharper knives to help chop; and your oldest children can help cook at the stove and remove things from the oven. Safety – Always supervise children who are cooking in the kitchen. Teach them about stove and oven safety, including when they are not allowed to use it. Instruct them on the correct way to use a knife, a peeler, a grater, and other sharp objects. By teaching children the correct and safe ways to use items in the kitchen you can avoid cuts and burns and create a safe cooking environment. Work surfaces – Provide a safe and stable work surface for your child to prepare food on. If your child can't reach the counter consider using a stool to give them some height or having them prepare food at the table rather than the counter. Use prep bowls – Instead of having children crack eggs or throw chopped vegetables directly into what you are cooking, have them put their prepped food into individual food prep bowls. That way, if they throw a scrap into the food or crack a shell into the eggs it's easy to fish out, rather than attempting to find it in the big dish. It may create more dishes in the end, but it will also allow you to make sure only food ends up in the completed dish. Make it a learning experience – What better way to practice those math skills than with measuring and adding? Measuring cups can teach fractions, doubling recipes can encourage addition and multiplication, timers help children recognize time, and reading recipes encourage children to follow steps in order! Cooking with children can be a highly rewarding experience for everyone when it's done correctly. It's important that you are patient with your children as they learn to cook. There will be eggshells in the eggs, flour on the floor, and vegetable peels all over the counter, but the sense of accomplishment from your children will be worth the mess!← How To Negotiate A Nanny Salary | 10 New Year's Activities for Kids →
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Faculty Advisor
Bar-On, Isa
This Major Qualifying Project utilizes published reports on fuel cell performance to analyze the potential for fuel cells to power Auxiliary Power Units (APU) for large trucks. Information was gathered from the available scientific literature, idling reduction technology manufacturers, fuel cell manufacturers, press releases and sales information. Basic fuel cell construction is outlined, and an analysis of fuel cell configurations and fuel sources is performed. Market potential and maximum performance requirements are explored for a fuel cell based APU. Conventionally powered APU solutions are compared to a fuel cell powered solution. Future developments that could affect the potential for a fuel cell powered APU competing in this market are outlined.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Date Accepted
January 2002
Mechanical Engineering
Project Type
Major Qualifying Project
Copyright Statement
Access to this report is limited to members of the WPI community. Please contact a project advisor or their department to request access
Restricted-WPI community only
Advisor Department
Mechanical Engineering


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What's included:
Calming Cleanser – A gentle creamy soap free cleanser. Coconut based with soothing botanicals including Aloe Vera, Lavender, Rose, Soy extract and Orchid that leaves your skin clear and hydrated. May also be used as a makeup remover.
C-Serum Lite – A powerful anti-oxidant serum that repairs the visible signs of aging and protects the skin against further damage. Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid) in its most potent form works to repair and prevent the appearance of ageing including fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation and skin roughness. In order for Vitamin C to be stable it needs to be in an oil base, C Serum Lite has a finer oil base, suited for oilier skin and more humid environments.
Enlighten – A tyrosinase inhibitor (4-n-butylresorcinol) and antioxidant (Niacinamide) based cream to lighten and brighten skin appearance and provide a more even skin tone. Niacinamide provides visible improvements within 3 weeks. 4-n-butylresorcinol significantly improves outcomes after 2 – 3 months of continuous use. For management of hyperpigmentation and age spots.
Zinc Shade – Zinc based daily moisturiser. Zinc Shade provides the protection you need from both UVA (ageing) and UVB (burning) rays. UVB (burning) rays are strongest in summer in the middle of the day and are what causes sunburn – a major risk factor for skin cancer. UVA (ageing) rays of the sun which are constant throughout the year and the day and can even penetrate glass (reaches indoors). UVA not only prematurely ages the skin, but may also lead to and exacerbate melanoma – a deadly form of skin cancer. Zinc Shade may also
Smooth Serum – Smooth Serum – Hydroxy acid exfoliating serum for use at night. Renews the skin by promoting skin cell turnover. The result: a more balanced and smoother skin and a more even skin tone.
B Calm – A light moisturising cream, for skin that is sensitive, oily or acne prone. Vitamin B3 (5%) is an effective multipurpose ingredient, having evidence for managing the skin's natural oil production, Acne and Rosacea. It also has evidence for improving the skin's barrier function, reducing hyperpigmentation. and acting as an anti-inflammatory agent.


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It seems spiders are right up there in our Top 10 of phobias. But was Miss Muffet overreacting? True or false? We have the answers to some big arachnid asks…
1. Spider bites are extremely common
FALSE. Perhaps not if you're another insect – but for us humans, bites are rare. With a few exceptions, spiders are very shy. They'd almost always rather run away rather than bite us. In addition, misdiagnosis of insect bites as spider bites is very common.
2. If you throw a really large spider out of the window, it won't survive
FALSE. The spider would almost certainly live to spook you another day! A spider isn't heavy – even a large one – so though all falling objects accelerate as they descend, they're much less likely to splat than a heavier object. And, if you throw them onto a garden, grass or plants provide a soft(ish) landing.
3. Spiders are good parents
TRUE. Many spiders are – for example, a female wolf spider, above, may carry an egg sac containing her young for weeks. Once the spiderlings hatch, she hauls as many as 100 or more of them on her back for another week or so.
4. Spiders always run towards you
FALSE. The critters have very poor sight and can see for only about one or two meters. But they are, however, very fast. If one of them runs towards you, it's probably safest just to step swiftly out of the way!
5. Every spider sheds its exoskeleton, the inflexible outer shell, several times during its life
TRUE. Most stop molting once they reach maturity, though females from some relatively primitive families of spiders continue to do so throughout their lives. One question that occurs is… where does all that surplus spider outerwear go?
6. There are more spiders in autumn
FALSE. There aren't actually any more spiders around in the autumn, it's just that we're more likely to see them, either because some of the ones who've been living outside might come in as it gets chilly, or because it's the mating season and males can be seen hurrying around looking for a lady lurve…
7. Spiders come into the house by climbing up drainpipes and out of the plughole
FALSE. They don't particularly like baths – and definitely not getting wet – it's just that they fall in and usually can't climb out. This is especially true of large spiders, which can't scale smooth surfaces. Just like Incy Wincy, water will wash them away – but they may climb up the overflow again.
8. Spiders are not aggressive
TRUE. Spiders don't seek us out just to terrorise us for fun. Nor will they bite us – even when they have the opportunity to do so. They only kill other insects for food and even the most venomous of spiders are not usually aggressive.


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World's Best Road Trips01/05/2018
Ticlio Pass, Peru
This 132 km journey is not for the faint hearted, with a number of hairy sections winding through the beautiful Andes landscape. At almost 5,000 metres above sea level, this three hour mountain pass has views to die for - sometimes quite literally. Rocky landslides and shear mountain drops have taken more than a few weary travellers, so be careful and enjoy the view from the right side of the ledge.
The Atlantic Road, Norway
This jaw-dropping road section might be just 8 km long, but what it lacks in distance it makes up for in amazing scenery. While not quite as dangerous as the Ticlio Pass, this road is technical and definitely tricky, especially during a storm. The overpass section can be experienced between Kristiansund and Molde, with the dark 80-meter long Bremsnes Cave at Bremsneshatten Mountain a definite highlight.
Route 66, The United States
Perhaps the most famous road trip in the world, this journey has inspired countless movies, books, and questionable music recordings. In its prime, this road ran from Chicago through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before ending at Santa Monica, California. While this road was officially removed from the United States Highway System in 1985, it is still a prominent part of modern day Americana.
Amalfi Coast Road, Italy
A road trip down the Amalfi Coast manages to merge the culture of picaresque Italian villages with the natural beauty of the pristine coastline. While the dramatic cliffs and hairpin bends will get your heart racing, the timeless beauty of the bays and villages below will take you back to a time long ago. This journey is only 75 minutes long, so make sure you appreciate every second.
Great Ocean Road, Australia
Sometimes you don't realise what you've got on your very own doorstep. The Great Ocean Road is a spectacular four hour drive between Torquay and Allansford, with the 244 km journey featuring mountains, oceans, rainforests, and more than its fair share of dramatic cliffs. Highlights include Bells Beach, the Great Otway National Park, and the breathtaking Twelve Apostles, an incredible collection of natural limestone rocks that tower 65 meters above the water.
Milford Road, New Zealand
While Milford Sound is famous across the world, Milford Road doesn't always get the attention it deserves. This 90 minute, 120 km journey is jam-packed full of spectacular scenery, including snow-capped mountain ranges, majestic lakes, and beautiful waterfalls. The Avenue of the Disappearing Mountain is a particular delight, as is Eglington Valley and the Mirror Lakes.
Image source: Troy Wegman/Shutterstock


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The director-general of the Northern Ireland Office will be formally appointed as National Cyber Security Centre CEO in October.
Digital transformation must be accompanied by strong regulation to protect privacy and civil liberties.
Coronavirus must be the health service's top priority, but its response should not leave it open to cyber attacks.
Is the global pandemic forcing firms to become more cyber aware?
Technology has never been so important.
The coronavirus crisis has created a range of new attack surfaces.
An argument has been raging about the choice between centralised and decentralised contact tracing apps. What's preferable for privacy?
A strategic approach to cyber security will help the UK through the coronavirus crisis.
Sponsored by University of Surrey
The future of web authentication is complex and exciting.
Sponsored by Cyber Technology Institute, De Montfort University
Cyber attacks against Industrial Control Systems are rapidly increasing, and our response needs to adapt to keep up.


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TRAILER | Ice Cream 1.5
Ice Cream 1.5 documents six English wakeboarders through one year of riding, travelling, highs, lows, injury and recovery at home and beyond.
Featuring the Peacock brothers Liam and Ryan, Matty Muncey, Joe Battleday, Mikey Bland and multiple World Champ Nick Davies.
Thanks to Liquid Leisure, Sungod and Bro! Clothing for the support.
Catch the premiere of Ice Cream 1.5 this Saturday at Plastic Playground Stop 2 – Liquid Leisure, in Datchet, England at 6pm, straight after the Superfinal!
If you can't make it tune into the afternoon Plastic Playground Superfinal Livestream on the Plastic Playground facebook page (@Plastic Playground) as the film will be playing right after the riding ends! (more info at ppworldseries.com)
Available online in August on your favourite online store (iTunes, Vimeo, Google, Amazon etc).


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Bella sat in the backseat of the car beside Oliver as Diggle drove them to Verdant. She wasn't a big fan of personal drivers and she continued to stare at the back of the man's head from her side of the vehicle through narrowed eyes, silently plotting some way to get something to hold over him for his intrusion that Oliver had shared with her that morning.
"I'm going to put cockroaches in his shoes," she muttered under her breath, quite decidedly, right after he had increased the volume on the radio to distract himself from her staring.
"He's only doing his job," Oliver pointed out at her. "That, and if he actually doesn't chauffeur me around, I'd never get into the office of my own free will."
"I believe it. If I end up having to put my money into Queen Consolidated as well, I'd have to send one of my men to drive your ass into the office to make sure you get you to make me some money too," she retorted as she shifted her attention onto him for a moment. Turning back to Diggle, she asked, "How many are at the club already?"
Diggle turned down the volume of the radio. "How many, what, Ma'am?"
"Reporters. I don't care about the police. The issue right now is damage control for the club – which right now might be best that I handle any talking from what you all have said already. No offense to you Ollie, but we need to put the fire out quickly. They'll see me more as the victim than you so it'll be easier to paint that picture to get them to lay off the safety angle, considering I've only been in the papers for a couple weeks," Bella explained. "I've been down this road already. I know their game and their cues on what they will be trying to push. With everything that just changed last night – you'll be a live grenade for them."
"Yeah, I know…" Oliver said with a nod. "It's fine. I know they don't like me," he grinned. "It's the usual, really. I'll make myself scarce."
She shook her head emphatically. "Oh no. You'll be there – standing behind me. Supporting the woman that they had labeled you in a relationship with after such a traumatic event. When they do ask you questions, your response is to offer any support for the victims of this attack. We will do whatever we can for everyone who has been involved. In the meanwhile, Alfred – while I deal with the vultures, can you get in touch with Derek at my company and tell him to find a counselor to have on retainer so that we can offer professional services to anyone interested?"
"Sure, I was planning on calling one myself, but if you want to do this out of your company, that's fine with me, ma'am," Diggle smiled at her. "We're fortunate that the only people who died were upstairs with you last night and that the party goers weren't physically harmed."
"It's not like Verdant can really afford it right now with the repairs that have to be done. While no one was harmed, it was still stressful and the effects on the mind can be just as harsh."
"I was also thinking that maybe, for a while, we'd have one door open instead of the entire wall for entrance. That way people can feel safer and can be easier checked. In case of emergency, all doors can open so everyone can leave safely."
Bella nodded as she liked that idea. "We can look into the options available for new hardware later. Mention that to Derek as well. I know we have a few catalogs of suppliers that he can have delivered to the club. Maybe there is something in there for new doors and windows that might be useful, not just for the club but also other sections?"
"I like the way your mind works, ma'am, finally someone who I can talk to about proper security measures without giving the blank slate of 'just do it'."
"Queen Consolidated has a few subsidiaries that make and sell secure things, so if you want anything, I'm sure that a call from me would get us things for free," Oliver chipped in, which was met with a raised eyebrow from Diggle. "What?"
"Let Miss Swan handle this, Oliver."
She only sat there with a smile on her face as she looked out the window, letting the two men hash out their current disagreement. She was aware of what the problem was and knew that Diggle was familiar with her field of expertise. It made her curious as to his background and debated asking him later. But not now.
"Am I missing something here? I mean, our security has always worked, you know how I am."
"Yes, I know how you are, that's why you told Bella to go upstairs yesterday instead of downstairs to the more secure basement. Because you think like the Oliver who was stuck on the island for five years; the higher the ground, the better advantage you have, but it wasn't safe."
"She didn't know about me being the Arrow yet, Diggle."
"Either way, you would have taken anyone of us upstairs, admit it."
Oliver set his jaw and crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly as if he was a small child.
"And then you start moping because you're being told that you're not logical," Diggle chuckled. "Relax, Oliver, we still like you but let us handle the security of keeping you, us and our patrons safe so you can focus on other things, that's why you retained me and adopted Felicity."
Bella reached over and took his hand in hers as she smiled at him, trying to soothe the tension out of it as she held it in her lap. "We'll be there soon. You'll understand soon enough. You want me to trust you, right? Sometimes, I need you to trust me. Okay?"
"I do trust you, it's just that…" Oliver sighed. "I don't know…"
Diggle fake coughed. "Control freak." The comment earned an amused smirk from Bella as she winked at Oliver, remembering their conversation on the same topic.
Letting out a sigh as the club started to come into view, she turned to him. "All I can tell you for now is that I have access to some things that not even Queen Consolidated can get their hands on. That's what your friend here meant about letting me handle things. Trust me Oliver. I'm in this with you now. It's not just your ass that's on the line here. I have myself I need to keep out of trouble as well so buck up Bruce and put the big boy pants on now."
"Alright, Babs," Oliver smiled at her. "Big boy pants are on. You can help me get them off later."
A devilish grin slipped onto her face as she stared forward, her hand reaching over his leg, sliding between to his groin and cupping his package. "Oh! I will," she agreed before pulling back and straightening her face for the cameras as they were ready to pounce as soon as they pulled up to the front doors of the club.
Diggle rolled his eyes. This chick had balls, either that, or she was mentally unstable. She was going to be a nightmare for everyone, especially for Oliver. Which was good because even though Oliver was great as the Arrow, as a person, he still had a lot to learn.
"You're mean," Oliver smiled to her as they stepped out of the car after Diggle opened the door for them.
She shrugged her shoulder at him indifferently, but her eyes told a different story. "Showtime," she said as she heaved a deep breath and straightened her pantsuit before taking Oliver's arm and leading him up to a waiting officer.
The officer had lead them to Detective Lance, who was waiting for them at the bar with a cup of coffee. "So, you are alive then."
Bella saw her cousin and grinned at the sight of him. Between the move, their jobs, and her personal issues at home that she only recently learned the truth of, she hadn't been able to see the rest of the family since her arrival beyond Laurel. "Uncle Gordon!" she exclaimed as she broke away from Oliver and ran up to give the man a hug.
"What…" Quentin Lance said confused as he returned the hug.
"Just roll with it," Oliver said with a nod.
"Hmm… so from the media coverage I know you two were here last night but when I arrived here, both of you were gone, can you tell me what happened?"
Bella huffed as she pulled back but stayed in a half hug with the man as she eyed Oliver. "We came to relax as I was having some issues at home that Oliver had been so kind to help me sort through. We agreed that some time away from the house might be good so we came here. We were dancing when the club started being attacked, but we managed to slip out the back in the commotion. With everything, I just couldn't handle the stress and wanted to get away from it to decompress before having to deal with the press."
Detective Lance had just looked at her with an incredulous look on his face as he listened to Bella. Even though she had a pretty story, a believable one at that, he wasn't a fool. "Witnesses stated that they saw Oliver push you up the stairs to the office. Security footage seems to agree with that statement, so try again, Bella," he smiled at her.
Statements could have been dismissed in the heat of the moment but her eyes glared over at Diggle and Chuck as they knew well aware that they should have scrubbed details such as that. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Good girl," he smiled at her. "The gunman conveniently used a hacking device to erase all footage of them, and of the daring rescue the man in the hood came to bring. I was just curious on how the two of you are still alive because you should be dead, according to all the bulletholes in the office upstairs, not to mention that there's a circle of bullets on the floor that's currently puzzling our crime techs."
"We had a riot shield. A bullet proof riot shield. Bella had given it to me as an example of what her firm has for toys," Oliver said with a nod. "It worked brilliantly."
Her eyebrow raised slightly with a smile to her uncle. "It's actually a prototype so I wouldn't doubt that one of my men took it back to the office for security reasons. I'll have them make it ready for you if you like?" she offered sweetly as she pulled out her phone to make the call.
Lance looked at Oliver and sighed. "I'll hand in the usual paperwork. Boom, boom, flash of green, arrows, dead bad guys. I don't even want to know the rest."
"That would be quite convenient, thank you," Oliver smiled at him. "Is there anything else you require of me and Miss Swan?"
She eyed him for a moment before turning to look at her uncle, as if there was a puzzle piece there just waiting to be pieced together but she was looking at it wrong. Replaying his last words, she narrowed her eyes on the old man. "You know!" she screeched at him before turning to Oliver. "And you were just letting him play me as well! Of all the arrogant-!"
"No, I wasn't," Oliver laughed. "This is a prime example of how he cleans up the Arrow's messes and he didn't know you know so he played it safe. Now that he knows that you know… well…"
"You know?" Lance blinked at Bella. "How?"
"Yes I fucking know! I was fucking there!" she screamed. "What else do you know?!" she questioned in nearly a panic as the riot shield was a knee jerk cover that worked out rather well, and thank god she didn't have to follow through on – so far.
"Uhm, I have no idea, but I do wish to see that riot shield when it's fit for consumption, if it ever reaches that stage," he said with half a shrug.
Bella fidgeted nervously as she looked over at Oliver, not sure what to say, because she didn't know how much she should tell her own uncle if he knew about the Arrow. If she should share about her ability. Laurel knew, and she didn't know if she had already told her father since he seemed aware of everything else so far.
"It actually shattered after the carnage so… it didn't really work as well as they had hoped. It might be just a fluke, you never know though. Maybe in a few years…" Oliver put his hand on Bella's back to calm her.
"Hey, that's fine, can't blame an old man for hoping," Lance smiled. "Right, I think I got it all. We'll send the crime scene report – minus the obvious things and the riot shield – to your insurance so maybe you can get a bit of aid from them to clean this mess." He then turned to Bella. "And you, young lady, should come over so we can have dinner with Laurel and Sara as a family."
She forced a smile on her face as she nodded. "Of course," she replied as she glanced back at Oliver. "I'll find some time soon, I promise. There's a lot going on as you are obviously aware."
Lance glared at Oliver, narrowed his eyes just a little to make him realize that they were going to have the talk – again. He then looked at Bella and smiled. "Of course, once everything has calmed down, of course." He finished his coffee and hugged his cousin. "Have a good day, Mr. Queen, Miss Swan."
Bella waved her goodbye as she stood still, watching him leave. She waited until Oliver finally made his way closer to her before she threw a punch into his arm for allowing his people to play her the way they did. "That was a shitty move," she complained. "Don't pull it again. I don't care if you didn't know about it."
"Know about what? I didn't tell him that you know, because I want you to stay safe. Anyone who knows about me and wasn't in the basement do not require to know that you know. That conversation between me and Lance was the usual conversation we have after something like this, just for appearances sake, because he knows what to report and what not to." Oliver put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Same as your secret, he doesn't need to know. Yes, more people know now because they were in the basement yesterday, but whatever is being discussed or discovered there, stays there. I want you to stay safe because God knows what could happen to and with you if the wrong person ends up hearing about you."
She nodded as she accepted his explanation, wrapping her arms around him as she leaned her head against his chest. A small smile crept to her face as she thought about her cousin that she thought more of like an uncle and Oliver's alter ego. "I could just imagine him being completely obsessed with trying to arrest you for all of the crap you would have pulled in costume," she grinned.
He kissed the top of her head as he held her close. "Well, he was trying to, in the beginning. And he knows about me, but doesn't want to know so he just… you know… it's a grey area."
The moment was interrupted when Diggle came over, looking apologetic. "Sorry guys, but I need to borrow Miss Swan. There is some paperwork that requires your signature and Mr. Queen – your presence has been requested downstairs," he informed them.
Oliver smiled at Bella, let go of her and headed towards the basement. "Tell me what you've got, Felicity."
"Uh… Peter Warren's not home," Felicity said as she quickly closed a window on her computer as Oliver walked down the stairs. "Roy checked it out, he's still there, keeping an eye on the place."
"Alright, I'll join him later. What were you doing?"
"Oh, nothing." Felicity said innocently as she absentmindedly stroke the keys on her keyboard. "Any idea if Bella is going to join us now that she knows?"
"Give her some time. Now, why did you need me here?"
"I requested your presence," Sara said with a smile on her face as she emerged from the shadows followed by Laurel.
"Don't tell me that you've brought trouble with you," Oliver groaned. "I so can not take more of it right now."
"Well, nice to see you too, Oliver," Sara walked up to him and caressed his cheek. "Laurel sent me a message that Bella's in trouble, I figured you could use some extra help, so here I am." She then snaked her arms around Oliver's neck and tiptoed to press her body against his. "It's funny how most of my family knows about you now."
"Yeah, and she doesn't know about you so I'd rather have you gone so I can tell her later when everything's settled," he replied, deliberately not touching her.
Bella cleared her throat from the landing on the stairs where she was watching the little show with Diggle. While she could see Oliver's reluctance in her cousin's presence, she still did not trust the woman for anything. No matter what the man, or Laurel, told her. She already knew that Sara, like Oliver, had survived the boat accident and learning now that she also had a mysterious life that the others were aware of – she was quickly getting in the mood to cause some harm to someone's pretty face. Not her new boyfriend's this time luckily, as he had saved his own by admitting to planning on telling her more truths, just not in a timely manner.
"Hi," Sara smiled at Bella while still hanging from Oliver before looking back at him. "I was thinking about me going to the mansion in her place to draw that asshole out so you and Roy can take care of him. We're similar height and build."
"Yeah, sure, can you let go of me now?" Oliver asked as he started to pry her arms off of him.
Sara smiled at him and let go of him before pulling him close. "Tonight?" she asked suggestively.
"No." Oliver turned around and had Felicity pull up his diary for Queen Consolidated. "I think that for now, we should all return to our normal duties and meet back here at 1800 hours for food and planning."
"That sounds great. Mind if I tag along with someone because I already handed over duties today to one of my guys that I've been grooming for taking over one of my other branches. Figured it's time he steps up and see what kind of balls he really has," Bella spoke. "The paperwork and everything else that we discussed with Alfred has already been sorted out."
"Those batman analogies really get annoying, you know," Laurel remarked with a chuckle. "I suppose you could tag along with me, I could use some help sorting out some paperwork at the office."
Her eyebrow twitched at the thought of unnecessary paperwork. After all, she got herself out of it for the day even though she knew she would be overwhelmed with it when she returned. She also didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings at the same time so she wasn't sure how to turn her down without bringing out the bitch in her.
"Maybe," Felicity spoke up as she saw the doubt on Bella's face. "Maybe you need a day to just deal with what you've learned in the last two days, what you've experienced and just decompress. What do you like to do for fun, Bella?"
Letting out a breath, she smiled at the thought. "Right now? I'd really like to break someone's neck," she replied with a ridiculous amount of enthusiasm as she turned her eyes over to Sara. "Long time no see."
"Great, that's settled then," Felicity smiled. "You stay here and spar with Sara!"
"Are you shitting me? I'll break her!" Sara whined, not really looking forward to babysitting duties or beating up her cousin.
Oliver shared a look with Diggle, they both thought the same thing; there were too many hormones in one room and too many exes. This was a dangerous place to be. Diggle had already backed away to the door, it wasn't really fair that Oliver was currently standing in the middle of a big hormonal cloud with boobs. "No, I actually think it's a great idea," Oliver said with a nod. "But let's meet for that after lunch. I do need to show my face at the company for at least a little while. You two are not going to spar without a babysitter." He had seen what Bella could do, knew what Sara was capable of, and they definitely needed a referee.
Bella pouted as she looked at him. "Not even with weapons?"
"Definitely not with weapons." Oliver shook his head. "And you, missy, take the morning to process the impressions and information gathered in the last few days, just as Felicity said. Go shopping or go to the spa."
"Party pooper. I have a delusional guy capable of controlling the weather that was hired to fuck with my head who obviously knows about my biggest fears after me. What the fuck is there to evaluate?"
"Yes, make a list of your biggest enemies, the easier it will be for us to narrow down who would do this to you," Oliver said with a nod. "But you know what? Come with me to the office, I'll give you your own little space where you can work on that."
She looked at him much like the first day she saw him. Like an idiot man that he might be. "You do know the kind of company I own. I make enemies every day that I never even meet."
"Are you refusing to take this challenge? Wow, Bella," Oliver grinned.
"It's pointless and a waste of time!"
"No, it's not."
"I couldn't find any information on Peter Warren's bank transfers. I think he was paid with bitcoins," Felicity said softly. "I could really use a list of names."
Bella glanced over at her and scowled. The woman was a double edged sword in her side. She had come up with a great suggestion that allowed her to work on some of her issues with her cousin and now she was pulling this. Some way to try to make friends with her. "You and I are going to be having a discussion one of these days about taking sides," she muttered as she dragged a chair over and pushed the girl away from the computer so that she could log onto her company's network.
"I'll work from here, Oliver," Felicity said with a nod, not wanting to leave her supercomputer alone with Bella. Not that she didn't trust Bella, it was that she didn't trust Bella in leaving things alone and not hurt it.
Oliver made his way over to Bella and gently squeezed her shoulder as he kissed the top of her head. "Just a couple of hours, then you can beat the crap out of Sara, I promise."
"Isn't it going to be the other way around?" Sara whispered to Laurel.
"Maybe, but you'll have a hard time beating her," Laurel smiled at her sister. "She has her own security firm, remember?"
"Chateau Latour, 1999," Bella replied to him with a smirk on her lips. "It's going for about $600 a bottle."
"Oh, I know what it goes for, believe me," he smiled at her. "Alright, I'll get us a crate."
"On it," Felicity said with a nod as she typed away on her tablet.
"I said that I would get me and Bella a crate, Felicity," Oliver said gently to her. "I can do things myself too, you know," he argued.
"Not on it then…"
He planted another kiss on top of Bella's head. "See you later," he said before following Diggle out.
"Hold on," Sara said after a moment of silence, as if she had been thinking about something. "I know that look on his face."
"Yep," Laurel said with a nod as she gathered her things. "Come on, Sara. You're going to help me and you can come back here after lunch."
Bella had been sitting indian style on the desk chair as she worked on a large burger and fries that was resting on her lap as she watched Felicity typing away on the computer. "That list isn't going anywhere you know. I mean, I'll be the first to admit to being a workaholic at times, but even I know when it's time to take a step back when it comes to food. Mmm, this is really fucking good…" she added as she took another huge bite.
"Yes, stay away from the sensitive areas of the computer, it was pricey to replace them all," Felicity said as she eyed the list carefully. The names that Bella had put up there weren't going anywhere.
"I'll write you a check," she shrugged in response with a mouthful. "Anything else I can help with? I feel a bit useless right now."
"Yes, do these people know about your fear of lightning?" Felicity pointed at the screen. "Because this list is useless if they don't."
Bella thought about it for a moment before shaking her head. "Doubtful. I really didn't start having issues until after high school and the problems started after we moved from Forks."
"So what's in Forks then?"
"I'm sure you already know enough of my history Robin," she snorted as she dragged a fry through some ketchup.
"I know about that business man, Aaron, but he's squeaky clean and he doesn't have a history of holding a grudge. From your time in Forks, I only know what I could access through your high school yearbook. I know that it was probably a traumatizing experience with whatever you had to deal with, but are there people in Forks that know about your fear?"
Rolling her eyes, Bella let out a sigh as she wiped her hands and set the tray aside. "My high school boyfriend dumped me in the woods behind my house and I got lost trying to find my way home. There was a storm coming on, which was warned about for awhile that week. My father even reminded me to stay close so that I wouldn't be caught in it, but it was Edward. Anyway, I went and of course got lost. I ended up getting pretty sick – bacterial pneumonia, and was in the hospital for nearly two weeks and spent about three months on continuous antibiotics just to kick it completely from my system. The insurance company didn't want to cover a lot of it and by the time Edward's dad found out and came to kiss ass, I saw red. I tried taking as much as I could from them because all that asshole cared about was his family's money and status."
"I'm so sorry to hear that, Bella, that sounds awful," Felicity said empathically as she pulled up a file. "I'm glad that I was right about Edward because I had managed to piece together his family and they're pretty shady people. Do they know about your fear?"
Growing irritated, she shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. I doubt it. I haven't talked to them like that since. Daddy Cullen tries getting in contact to try to talk me into getting back with Edward every now and then, but I just have my receptionist take a message. The only one I talk to is Rosalie anymore but I know she doesn't have anything to do with them herself after that incident because it was too much like an incident she had and she couldn't condone their behavior so she cut herself off from them."
"This… Carlisle Cullen is a doctor, right?" Felicity said with a naughty grin on her face and started to boot up a system that would spoof her phone number and make them untraceable. This was an airtight system, she had made it herself.
"Yeah? What are you doing?" Bella asked, eyeing her curiously.
"Gathering information. Now, shush." Felicity said as she hooked up her phone to the computer and started to dial Carlisle Cullen's office.
"Doctor Cullen's office, how can I help?"
"This is Doctor Adrienne McClusky from Starling City memorial, can I speak to Doctor Cullen please? It involves one of his old patients." Felicity said, causing Bella's eyes to widen as she jumped from her chair and bit her lip to keep from speaking out.
"Certainly, please hold."
Felicity looked at Bella and mouthed 'relax' to her as she patiently waited for Carlisle Cullen to come to the phone.
'You're crazy!' Bella mouthed back to her, but was also slightly amused at the same time.
"Good morning, Doctor Cullen, this is Doctor McClusky from Starling City Memorial. I'm sorry to bother you."
"That's alright, doctor. My assistant said you're calling on behalf of one of my old patients?"
"Yes sir, I need some more information on an… Isabella Swan? She's been admitted to psychiatrics with acute hysteria. She's catatonic and I'm wondering if you knew something about what might have caused it. As there's nothing in her file."
Felicity didn't like the quietness on the other end of the phone, it was almost as if he was checking to see if there truly was a Doctor McClusky on staff at the hospital. There was, it was one of Felicity's aliases. "Miss Swan was quite the hysterical teenager, Doctor McClusky."
"But what could have caused this state she's in now? I want to help her, Doctor."
"Have there been any storms in Starling City lately?"
Felicity looked at Bella and raised her eyebrow. 'Bingo' she mouthed. "Yes sir."
"Then that could be your problem, doctor. Just get her to a room with no windows and she'll be fine in a couple of days."
She stood there with her arms folded around her as she stared at the phone, almost as if she wished she had laser vision that she could incinerate the device after hearing what was being said. This Peter and Carlisle's knowledge was more than a coincidence because Charlie and her had never told anyone about these problems because of the damage it could cause with her status in her company.
"Thank you for your time, Doctor Cullen. It's certainly something I can work with." Felicity hung up the phone and looked at Bella. "If you want my opinion, I think, with all the information I uncovered on him, he can be the one responsible. Shall I check his account for large deposits?"
"I'd be more curious for withdrawals. Look into it. How much longer until everyone comes back?" she asked, her voice more cold and detached than it was minutes before.
"Half an hour, tops, but if you want me to call Oliver to come over now, I could do that for you."
Bella nodded decisively. "Tell him to bring me some workout clothes to keep here. I am feeling the need to do some damage right now," she said as she walked away, heading for the stairs. "I'm going to go see if what I can do upstairs. Hollar if you need me Robin."
Fifteen minutes later, Oliver walked into Verdant carrying a bag with sporting clothes in them. Felicity had filled him in on what had happened and he was furious. It made sense that Carlisle Cullen had hired Peter Warren, seeing as that man had continuously tried to get Bella back for his son, but to go this far? All Oliver needed now was a confirmation from Peter and then he'd go after Carlisle. He found Bella at the bar, drowning herself with a bottle of whiskey beside her. "Hey, are you alright?"
She let out a breath as she looked up into the mirror at their reflections before answering. "Let's see. My ex-boyfriend that I haven't spoken to since he dumped me back in high school, his father seems to have a sick obsession with me and has been trying every way imaginable drive me crazy. My cousin, who for lack of a better term, is a little whore that appears to have no shame whatsoever in front of her own sister with the same man who I happen to be sleeping with now. And you – ooh, don't let me get started on you. I really don't want to go there because you are so damn lucky that you said that you were planning on telling me about Sara eventually otherwise you and I would really be having problems. Now tell me where in all of this, am I supposed to be alright?"
He didn't know where to begin with that, but instead held up the bag with the clothes. "I'll tell you about Sara while you're beating the shit out of me." He knew she needed to vent her frustrations – desperately. Sex was one way to get the tension out of her system, but she was annoyed and frustrated now, so he was going to see if she liked to hit him with a bo-staff – if she was even able to. He wasn't going to make it easy on her, but he was sure as hell going to give Bella a great workout while getting one on his own, because she had already proven to him that she knew a lot about weapons.
Grabbing her new friend Jack, Bella rolled her eyes at him as she complied. "Sure. You're just a glutton for punishment, aren't you? I mean, Laurel and Sara? And now you're pulling me in there? Talk about jumping into a shark tank," she muttered.
"You need to relax," Oliver said as he took her hand and pulled her towards the basement door. "You have nothing to worry about when it comes to Laurel and Sara, I promise."
"Oh I know I have nothing to be concerned with when it comes to Laurel. She's all talk. Sara – on the other hand…I saw everything she tried to pull down there so don't yank my chain. I'll behave but don't try to butter me up for her," she warned.
"Are you jealous?" Oliver snorted as he opened the door and let her in.
"I don't do jealous," she said sharply.
"Yes, just like I don't do dates."
Bella turned to look up at him with a smirk. "Exactly. We haven't been on any, so no worries there."
"I thought last night would have been the perfect date, until we got disrupted."
"Would have been – if you had asked me properly. But I seemed to recall getting away from the house was my idea."
"You asked me, so it was a date." He stuck out his tongue to her.
"Not a date Oliver," she sighed.
"Alright, once this is all over, I will ask you out on a date. Flowers, chocolate, wine, the works."
Bella smiled to herself as she stepped off the stairs to join the rest of the group. "I'm sure you will," she said.
"Ollie will what?" Laurel piped up, overhearing the end of their conversation as she looked up at the two. "Why do you two look like that?"
"No reason," the girl responded as she took a pull from her bottle, shooting an irritating glare at Sara who was minimally dressed as she was standing around, playing with some of her weapons.
He playfully pushed her towards the fenced off area after snatching the bottle out of her hand. "Go get changed." He then walked to a cupboard to get some comfortable clothes as well, he was not going to do this in his suit.
"Sir, yes sir!" Bella snapped, pouting at the loss of her alcohol but grinned as she reached out to pinch his ass as she passed behind him and scampered off to change as she laughed.
Diggle couldn't help but to let a small laugh out at the display and shook his head with some disapproval. In a low voice so that their newest addition couldn't hear, even if she didn't officially agree, he eyed Oliver. "As much as I like this girl, she's going to be a real handful," he pointed out. "While I agree that she is an extremely valuable asset in more ways than one, you need to figure out what is setting her off."
"I know exactly what is pissing her off, Diggle," Oliver replied softly. "And I do realize she's a bit volatile, but wouldn't you be with after all the crap she's been through? Give it some time."
"Did Bella just pinch your ass?" Laurel questioned, seemingly just coming out of the fog of not quite believing what she saw.
"Yes," Oliver said as he discarded his suit jacket and started to unbutton his shirt.
"And you let her?"
"Yes," he repeated and got rid of his shirt.
"Oh my god! What the hell is that on your neck?!" Laurel screeched, causing Sara and Felicity to look up from their work in curiosity and make their way over. "Were you attacked by a vampire or something?!"
"No attack and yes to the or something," Oliver deadpanned as he pulled on his t-shirt.
Diggle grinned as he leaned against one of the pillars with his arms crossed over his chest. If only the girls knew in what state he found Oliver that morning.
Laurel continued to stare at the man as she tried to make sense of everything. It wasn't just the bite mark. He also had a number of scratches that went down his shoulders and arms… "Isabella Swan! You told us you weren't going to have sex with Oliver last night!"
Her voice rang out from behind the partisan while she was in the middle of changing. "I lied!"
"Bella! Why would you not call me after!" she whined.
"Because you're being a little bitch right now and I don't care to compare notes like I know you are thinking about," Bella replied as she stepped out as she held her head. "I need some Advil. Your voice is giving me a headache."
"Bella," Laurel repeated, softer this time.
"Harley," Bella mocked back. "You're irritating me. Shut up."
"Oh my god," Felicity said. "The both of you, shut up! I can't believe I'm the only woman in this room who hasn't had sex with Oliver!"
"Who had sex with Ollie?" Sara said confused as she looked at her sister, who nodded towards the hidden Bella. "No way! Bella, you need to be careful around him, you know."
"For the love of God, get out." Oliver said with a whine as he changed his pants. "What are we, in high school?"
Laurel pouted before throwing more fuel on the fire, "And she gave him one hell of a love bite."
"Laurel!" Oliver warned her as he turned around and looked at Sara and Laurel. "You two stop it right now if you want to stick around here, you got that?" he threatened.
"Or what?"
"I'll have you go a round against Bella." With that, he took two bo-staffs and headed to the arena where Bella was waiting for him. "How drunk are you?"
She looked at him with a bored expression. "Not enough to deal with these idiots. Am I going to get you underneath me again or what?" she smiled sweetly.
"Okay, good," Oliver said, ignoring her remark as he threw one of the bo-staffs her way. "Catch."


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Yellow Spartans are LEGO Games microfigures released in 2009 in the set 3841 Minotaurus. They are made up of one piece being part 85863pb016, they are Greek warriors who were yellow armor and helmets, they have heavy armor with a ringed necklace on it, a belt, and knee pads. They fight off the Minotaur.
- 3841 Minotaurus (3)
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I was assigned new opportunity again to work with the same complex delivery expert and I was already worrying up too much for the same. Now, the other team who was supposed to work with us for this opportunity completely ignored us due to the bitter experience happened for earlier opportunities. Without much fuss the other team had just dropped off mail note requesting my team to share the questionnaire for the opportunity. Again there was too much fuss created by the delivery expert and I had to work hard for coming up with few questions based on my understanding. The delivery expert was again creating too many issues about sending few mails for clarification, finally had to drop mail to other team, who had already raised the same concern which we had. They replied in most diplomatic way possible to my mail, as they were tired of answering to stupid questions raised by this complex delivery expert. Finally, the accounts team owning the opportunity shared my questionnaire and the mail requesting leadership to give opinion on the same, pointing out the constraints we have. So, the accounts team for one time has agreed to listen up on the suggestions shared by our team and other teams and decided to drop off the opportunity. I was the most relieved person of all the opportunity owners and finally I can have a break from this complex delivery expert for few more days. Continue reading at "G R Team Sites"
A complete review in all fields also a collection of all information from the world. G Ragu Review describes about everything in the world. It is also known as Check list of all information.
Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Dropped off opportunity with same
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Saturday, August 11, 2018
Moderate movie and worst match
Post my lunch and India's test cricket match, I had enough time to watch a movie. I was confused about which movie to watch, after a long time I decided to watch Telugu movie named "Arjun Reddy" as the movie has been one of the most talked about movie in recent times and reviewers has been praising about the movie. With all these expectations I decided to watch the movie "Arjun Reddy", I have Amazon prime subscription and decided to stream it on my chrome cast. The move started, I switch the definition of the movie to highest ever to utilize my fiber net and was enjoying the movie. I liked the movie to the moderate level since I watched the movie after all these expectations and movie slightly affected my mood. I completely forgot about India's test cricket match and I wanted to enjoy, because India was in a good situation to create history in England. I switched back from Chromecast to my television to enjoy the match. The channel was showing some other match highlights and I thought either there would have been rain or India would have won the match. Continue reading at "G R Team Sites".
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Labels: Entertainment
Sunday, August 5, 2018
Merchant Account and Review Information
A merchant accounts are a contract under which an acquiring bank extends a line of credit to a merchant, who wishes to accept payment card transactions of a particular card association brand. Without such a contract, one cannot accept payments by any of the major credit card brands. Flagship Merchant Services are an established leader in the transaction processing industry and is powered by First Data Independent Sales. As the largest registered ISO for First Data Independent Sale's ISO program, they are able to offer their merchants a truly competitive advantage. Flagship Merchant Services has maintained an outstanding track record of offering groundbreaking products, services and technology to market. Experience and expertise has helped Flagship remain at the forefront of the merchant service industry. Flagships merchant accounts Services believe in the promise and value small to medium-size businesses offer the marketplace. Through innovation and experience, Flagship helps guide these businesses in managing the opportunities and risks associated with establishing and expanding their payment processing capabilities. Flagship has the one of the highest approval rates in the industry, with most applications approved within two business days. In addition, their technological advances have effectively harnessed and exceeded the growing demands in the processing industry - allowing us to support nearly every vertical market with increasing and profitable business solutions. Whether opening a new business or expanding an established one, merchant services provide flexible and reliable products and services that enable merchants across the nation to accept nearly all types of electronic payments.
Anyone familiar with this series? It's geared toward teens (but even as an adult, I still love children's lit), and it was not the best-written series of fantasy books I've ever read, and yet, I became hooked. Premise: A group of teenagers gets sucked into Ever world by a witch/friend/enemy (it's complicated) and try to save her while trying to save their own skins. It's full of mythical creatures, gods, and heroes - which I guess is why it appealed to me - with interesting interactions among the kids and the residents (and physics) of Everworld. It had a rather unsatisfactory ending, to me. And yet I wanted to keep reading. I hate books like that. But I really dug this series. Love/hate relationship I guess.
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Monday, July 30, 2018
Miscellaneous information
How can you save your identity your hard earned money from the intelligent thieves of the modern world? You can do it by using one of the modern services available in your country. They very often come as immigrants into the dreamland of opportunity and they need new identification to get into any job opportunities. They do not have any legal papers and they use false ID of any other available documents from their agents. So the real ID of any other persons are lost. The lifelock scheme helps their customers to save their identification and it is the leading Identity theft prevention program. You can read about the program from lifelock.com. By being a customer of Lifelock, lifelock promotion code RD32 will be supplied and they become safe under the US Legislation. Recent loss of digital data from Arizona storage facility puts thousands of children at the risk of losing their identity. People may use your id to rent a car from a travel agency and it will be found to have a bomb at the back seat and the police get details from the Travel agency which will directly lead to you. Think a while and make use of this opportunity to save your identity. LifeLock will guarantee your identity up to $1,000,000. People often lose their bank accounts and they can't even protect their identity.
Languaging becomes part of our medium and so anything we say is not trivial since it becomes part of the domain in which our co-onto genes structural drift takes place. That is, our co-drifts are contingent on our languaging. Languaging interactions are as powerful as a physical interaction example pushing someone hard. If we say "How beautiful you look" - this has certain consequences in terms of a "particular configuration of structural perturbations." This statement is like a caress. Equally, if we say "you look terrible" this is another particular configuration of structural perturbation. Such an interaction Maturana calls "like hammering in the head," i.e., it is painful.
Languaging becomes part of our medium and so anything we say is not trivial since it becomes part of the domain in which our co-onto genes structural drift takes place. That is, our co-drifts are contingent on our languaging. Languaging interactions are as powerful as a physical interaction example pushing someone hard. If we say "How beautiful you look" - this has certain consequences in terms of a "particular configuration of structural perturbations." This statement is like a caress. Equally, if we say "you look terrible" this is another particular configuration of structural perturbation. Such an interaction Maturana calls "like hammering in the head," i.e., it is painful.
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Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Boss Safety through Pelican
There are many ways to ensure Boss Safety. A site which provides boss-safety measure is boss-safety.com Boss-Safety is a privately held corporation founded in 1999 to distribute quality safety supplies and first aid products. They are the leading manufacturer of customized disaster and safety preparedness kits. Their comprehensive line of products includes items you need, to keep your employees safe and your facility in compliance. Boss Safety has built a staff of experienced and knowledgeable personnel to ensure their customers get the right product for the right application. By maintaining day-to-day relationships with the leading manufacture of PPE, they keep their customers up to date with product developments and market trends. Boss Safety offers a wide range of protector cases from Pelican, the leading manufacturer of high quality protector cases. They offer cases in all sizes; from micro and small cases, to medium and large cases, from cube and long cases, to first aid and laptop cases. The pelican cases are easy to use and affordable priced, Pelican protector cases are durable and designed to protect your equipment at all costs. To know about their complete range of Pelican Safety cases visit boss-safety.com or call 1-800-418-0150 to seek detailed information.
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Social Sciences
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Organisation profile
This socio-economic unit focuses on the sustainable development of the agricultural industry as well as rural areas in general. We have expertise in resilience, production and market systems, measurement and coaching for sustainability and profitability, strategic development and policymaking, dynamic change processes, participative learning processes, spatial properties and planning, and perception analyses.
Contact information
Burgemeester van Gansberghelaan 115 bus 2
- Phone: +32 9 2722340
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Bovine Beef Innovation Network Europe
Project: Research
Climate actions with economic potential on farm
Project: Research


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The Internet of Things (IoT)
The convergence of hardware and services creating a world in which everything is connected is something Motorola released whitepapers about back in 2006; today it is mainstream reality and something that will revolutionise how we eat, sleep, work and play.
A study undertaken by researchers from the Institute of Technology Management at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland concludes that these hybrid services are particularly lucrative for traditional manufacturers. Considering the example of a papermaking machine, they note that the sale of the machine itself generates a margin of around one to three percent, while selling a related service yields five to ten times as much. The ratio is much the same for many other industries too.
Many have talked about "adapt or die" as a marketing slogan for a couple of decades now, but this collision of physical devices and the online world takes that philosophy to a whole new level. Not only does this capability enable brand new products and services, but the evolution of existing practices could see your own product or service left in the dark if it too does do not adapt and evolve.
The LayerX Group Capability
It is no accident that the core of the LayerX Group of companies is a trio of capability making up the Internet of Things "Hardware + Software + Services" stack. Our embedded systems tea are at the forefront of innovative hardware design, pushing the limits of battery life and miniaturisation to enable the devices of tomorrow to run for longer and be small enough to use almost anywhere.
Subsidiary vGRID operates enterprise grade, on demand, compute and storage platforms in multiple geographic locations providing the capacity, reliability and performance needed to cope with mass-market and high-demand data collection and reporting services.
Providing the software smarts and binding these two worlds together is the LayerX software development team. Our software engineers develop smart, lean and reliable solutions using industry best practices and technologies. These same engineering teams are heavily involved in the development of the online services that bring the solution to life.
It is this cross-involvement that allows LayerX to deliver a more broadly considered solution, one that takes into account the requirements of both on-chip and on-server environments, to avoid compatibility or complexity issues arising out of assumptions.
If you have an idea for an Internet of Things device or you have a business problem than requires an entirely new approach to be considered, we would love to hear from you.


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For a collection of years across the 2000s, Jason Kidd was Team USA Basketball.
Having amassed a collective record of 56-0 in International play, Jason is one of few who can speak to the honor of playing for Team USA in multiple eras. With a new era dawning, one where once again players are hesitating when asked to represent their country internationally, J-Kidd recently spoke to the way he felt when asked to wear the red, white and blue.
"Being able to represent your country is something you never take for granted," he said. "You've got one goal, to win the World Cup or the gold medal."
To his credit, Jason is a two-time gold medal winner. He helped maintain the legacy of USA Basketball in the 2000 Olympics where the Men's National Team surged to their third straight gold. Four years later came an uncommon dose of failure for Team USA at the 2004 Olympics, which Jason missed while rehabbing from knee surgery performed that summer.
J-Kidd returned to Team USA in 2007, helping them to qualify for the 2008 Olympics by winning the 2007 FIBA Americas tournament. Then in 2008, as the veteran on a team brimming with young superstar talent, Jason played a key role in restoring glory to USA Basketball in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where the Americans won gold once again.
"Being able to win the gold medal here with Team USA, it's always special to come back here," Jason said while spending time in China earlier this summer. "A great event was put on by Beijing, the Olympics, and China. They put on a great, great show."
He has many fond memories of his time spent in China, including getting to mingle with some of the best athletes in the world in the Olympic village and during opening and closing ceremonies.
"Just being able to walk into the village with all the athletes from around the world," he said. "You have the best athletes from each country in one spot. So it was just remarkable to be able to walk with them in the village and then also for the opening ceremony, into the Olympic arena was remarkable."
This month, Beijing has been one of the host cities for the 2019 FIBA World Cup basketball tournament, being played across China. It marks the city's first tournament of this magnitude since those Olympics.
It's also a tournament many American superstars opted out of, leaving the USA roster lacking and the team's unbeaten streak truly vulnerable for the first time since that 2004 debacle in Athens. Team USA already lost a friendly to Australia late last month, the Men's National Team's first loss in International play in 13 years, and J-Kidd sees an uphill climb for the young and internationally inexperienced USA roster.
"When you talk about FIBA, [because of the time], there's less possessions, so it's understanding that each possession means something," Jason said. "In the NBA, there's 48 minutes, so some of those possessions can get lost with turnovers, or you might not be as focused. But when you talk about FIBA, you have to be focused from the jump ball because each possession means something and on any given night you can be beaten. That's what makes FIBA Basketball exciting."
Team USA begins tournament play in the FIBA World Cup on Wednesday with a quarterfinal matchup against France.


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If I have this correctly, the New Acropolis Museumofficially opens tomorrow in Athens.
Last week there was an article about it in the NY Times art section, with a slide show. It's one of the most breathtakingly lovely buildings ever created. This ediface is also harmonized with its location, which faces the Acropolis itself.
A fine place for the Elgin Marbles, and Greece is again demanding their return.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The New Acropolis Museum
Labels: New Acropolis Museum
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