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Drag Knifes are really handy for cutting soft materials like vinyl, cardboard, mat board, foam, wood veneer, leather, and many others. With flat sheets, you might use one to create some custom packaging for some product, for example, or at least to prototype the packaging. Commercial drag knifes are readily made, but can be a bit expensive for the hobbyist. I recently came across a great CNCZone post for this drag knife:
Here it is broken down into component parts:
Drag Knife components…
As you can see, it's pretty simple and would be pretty easy to build. The main thing in designing one is to hold the blade so it has a vertical dull edge that is fairly close to the axis of the shaft but still off axis enough to have a little castering effect. There are fancier drag knives available that even put a 4th axis servo to control knife direction, but you can do a lot with a self-steering drag knife. Sometimes the simpler solutions are best.
Programming one of these drag knives may require you to perform what's known as a "corner action". In order to make a tight corner, you want to raise the blade up so the tip is barely touching the material–just enough so the material can barely grip it as it turns in the bearings. Now program the knife to move in a small circle around the tip to re-position it in the direction you want to move. Drop back down to cut depth and you're ready to head out.
If you're willing to radius all the corners, there's no need for the special corner action moves. Without corner actions, most any CAM software will give you a decent result with a Drag Knife. Just use an engraving style toolpath that follows a line in your drawing.
We'll close with a nice YouTube video of the project:
Note his use of WD-40 when cutting aluminum. Good idea!
Tip: Check our library for free DXF files that you can cut out with a drag knife.
No time to make a drag knife?
No worries, they're available commercially. Donek is probably the best known brand.
The video demo shows some pretty amazingly sharp cuts being made at high speeds because the knife orients itself. It takes ordinary utility knife blades and comes in 2 sizes.
Donek founder Sean Martin invented the Donek Drag Knife to cut graphics for the custom snow boards he was making on his Shopbot CNC Router.
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Current Articles
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UCI presidential candidates Pat McQuaid and Brian Cookson have both responded to the release of what is claimed to be a synopsis of the dossier compiled earlier this year by private investigators and alleging corruption on the part of McQuaid, former president Hein Verbruggen and the UCI.
The synopsis was sent by both post and email to VeloNation in recent days, although the sender was not identified.
It was also obtained by the American website VeloNews, and printed there late yesterday.
It is thought that the original dossier, which was spoken about at a management committee meeting in June, has not been released in order to protect the identities of the witnesses who have come forward.
McQuaid has questioned the claims made in the document, which include allegations of unethical behaviour relating to Lance Armstrong, Alberto Contador, unnamed teams, the Vrijman report and other matters.
McQuaid has claimed repeatedly not to have seen the dossier, which the document states was written by two senior law enforcement and intelligence officials who claim to have been assisted by an 'internationally known private investigative firm with offices across the globe.'
Responding to the document's claims, McQuaid has issued a strong denial.
"The claims in this so-called dossier are a complete fabrication. They are totally untrue and are not supported by a scintilla of evidence," said the UCI president.
"This is a scurrilous and libellous attack on my character, with a political agenda that is both nakedly transparent and totally contemptible - and unfortunately one that is completely in character with the tactics of my opponents."
McQuaid said that the UCI Ethics Commission had sought to investigate the matter. "The Ethics Commission asked for a copy of the dossier from Igor Makarov and Mike Plant, but both of them refused to hand it over to the Ethics Commission. That fact alone speaks volumes."
However McQuaid's presidential rival Brian Cookson has said that the allegations echo what were already told to the management committee and need to be investigated.
"These allegations, which appear to be similar to those made to the UCI Management Committee in June, are clearly very serious," he stated today. "For the good of the UCI and cycling, they should be immediately and thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities. I hope that this matter can be fully resolved before the UCI congress on 27 September.
The claims add to the uncertainty over McQuaid as the election approaches. His nomination has been under question as both Cycling Ireland and Swiss Cycling have rescinded their backing of him.
He claims he can rely on nominations from the Moroccan and Thai federations, although the wording of the relevant article of the UCI Constitution, 51.1, has often been interpreted as referring to a candidate's home federation. He is from Ireland, he lives in Switzerland, but he has no direct connection to either Morocco or Thailand.
Last week five federations requested that McQuaid allow the Court of Arbitration for Sport to determine if his interpretation of Article 51.1 is indeed correct. They said that because of the need for transparency in the sport plus the necessity that there is faith in the leadership, that it was vital for the election to be run without questions of improper behaviour.
The UCI has refused this request, saying instead that the matter will be brought up at the UCI's Congress at the end of this month.

subset: commoncrawl


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The Holidays are a great way to spend some quality time with friends and family, but greed and other interests can get in the way. Make this year what the holidays are supposed to represent: love and quality time with family and friends. Of course, we can still enjoy gift-giving by shopping responsibly. Below are a few guidelines to holiday shopping this year.
Make Gifts:
Making gifts are a great way to show someone you care without supporting a big business or spending a lot of money. Try to make something useful. Something as simple as a mason jar filled with origami and memories you've had with that person could be enough for an adorable gift and they can use the mason jar over and over again.
Cook food/bake stuff:
Everyone loves food! Show someone you care (and that you know their different food restrictions) by baking or cooking something for them. A casserole or a tin filled with cookies will come as a lovely surprise. Plus, they can reuse the tin!
Support your friends:
If a friend of yours has an Etsy shop, makes candles, or whatever, buy their products to give to your other friends and family. The best place to put your money is in small business.
Soap Muffin // Organic soaps made out of all-natural materials. They even have a gift pack deal for $20!
Arrowthread // Handmade and vintage accessories
V's Conscious Creations // Handmade dread beads and cute crochet stuff
Arbonne // Mostly natural products and nutrition
Give While Giving Back:
If you're not that crafty, you're a terrible chef, none of your friends are creative, or you'd rather just buy things, try getting stuff from a small business that supports a charity. You may also be able to buy stuff directly from the charity itself! Here are a few charity-based shops that the Barefoot Aya supports:
The Elephant Pants // 10% towards preventing elephant poaching
The Balanced Company // 15% towards American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
Read or Else // Every purchase gives a book to a school in need
Respect The Fin // 20% towards Sharks 4 Kids, saving the sharks
Pura Vida // $1 of every purchase goes towards a charity
Patagonia // 100% of Black Friday sales are going towards environmental charities. 1% of their daily global sales already go towards helping the environment
Why It's Important:
Today, what you purchase may be just as important as who you vote for, if not more important. A lot of this world is run by supply and demand. The capitalistic greed that fuels much of America can be dismantled by giving your money to good businesses with clean practices, by giving to those who want to also give to a cause – whether it be saving the environment, education, or helping those with mental illness. Try buying gifts from these businesses and others whose morals align with yours. Your gift will impact more than the person for whom you're purchasing.
Photo Credit:
- bonappetit.com
- pinterest.com
- beliefnet.com
- http://r.ddmcdn.com/s_f/o_1/w_1024/h_533/DSC/uploads/2015/11/shark-fin-respect-social-1117.jpg
- http://i.imgur.com/BCA2r.jpg


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© 2022
Pacific Tourism Guide and NZTG.
Northern Islands
Vanua Levu is the second largest of the Fiji Islands and together with Taveuni, Qamea, Matangi and Laucala make up Fiji's Northern Islands. Savusavu is the main destination for Vanua Levu. more
Please choose from the main accommodation, attractions, tours, transport or visitor information categories below for Northern Islands, Fiji, Pacific Islands.
Northern Islands Options
Select an option below to narrow your choice.
Related Categories: [Accommodation]
Related Northern Islands Regions: [Coral Coast] [Denarau Island] [Kadavu] [Lautoka] [Lomaiviti] [Mamanuca] [Nadi] [Pacific Harbour] [Sun Coast] [Suva] [Yasawa]
Northern Islands Map
This Pacific Islands map does not display any listings on the map itself but may provide navigation by clicking on map symbol. Alternatively select a category or a region from the main links to find and view tourism businesses.


text: Teeth are the strongest part of the human body but they're still not strong enough. This is why we've found the strongest Teeth in the world. This Denture Bottle Opener can pop the top off any old bottle and be ready for anything you can throw its way. Grandpa always said his teeth would outlast him I just never thought we'd be using them to open Bottles. Chomp, chomp, chomp that bottle cap. - One Denture Bottle Opener per order.


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|(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Cheat 1
Many download links will lead you to a website where you will get to download the software.But the uploader gets money for each download of that file.Lets see a screen shot i took from one of those websites, which claims that it is the payment proof of money making from his 'paypal money generator software'.
Notice that he is getting or 'generating' $2.39 every time.
Now lets see another screen shot from the same page which was located almost at the bottom.
Cheat 2
First of all 99% of the download links posted below a YouTube video will lead you to a survey website(most often it's surveycash.com).The webpage will claim that you have to finish a survey to download the file.But when you finish any one of the survey it won't work.And there will be another message saying "if finishing a survey didn't lead you to the download page,try another one".In reality you will finish all 5 surveys and the guy who provided you the download link makes money.And if you are lucky(?) you will get the software.
Cheat 3
Once you download the software before selecting how much money you need to be added to your Paypal account 'magically',you have to enter your Paypal ID and password in the software.And the videos says it is just for logging into your account.But the truth is once you enter all these details and press the 'enter' or 'send' or 'triple' or 'double' button,your Paypal ID and your password will be send to the person who created that magic software.And he will take all your money.In some videos the condition to increase your Paypal account balance is you should have a certain amount in your account.That means they will steal your money,and they don't want to waste their time by logging into empty accounts.
So my advice is there is no way you can be rich overnight just by increasing your Paypal account by cheating Paypal.And even if you get that money into Paypal account,before you withdraw that money to your bank account,paypal will thoroughly check the source of the money.If they find anything suspicious,they will ban you.
Update : If you see the comment section you will see a netizen,probably another paypal fraud who got angry because of this artile.I'm glad my words has reached at the right place.
Do you want to make money online genuinely?.Then you have to read one of my another post
.Click here to read it


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Here is a list of notes on stuff that I want to work on.
I have put that post here, and added more thoughts:
So, I am following one method of project management for this project. There are two types of tasks:
1. Do now
2. Do later
There are a lot of things that I want to do, but I can't do them all. So, of all the things I want to build, each week or two, I pick a few manageable tasks that I can accomplish in the next week or to and try to accomplish them. Those are do now. Everything else is do later. I don't have to worry about that. I'll do it later. This is a list of all the things I want to do, in not really any order. I may try to order it later.
Generally, I should think about counter play and adding incomparable abilities to this game.
1. Shields (Inspiration, Halo)
Adding this mechanic will change gameplay. It will allow people to get tagged and then hide (unless you fire fast enough). This will change gameplay by making it harder to tag people and get them out if they are behind cover. That may encourage maneuvering.
2. Respawn base (Inspiration: Zombie mods, multiplayer games, capture the flag, etc.)
This will help with tracking tags, number of respawns, capturing areas, etc.
You can add temporary invulnerability to discourage spawn camping.
2.5 - Telegraphing (Inspiration: Dark Souls, Dota 2)
I need to be able to communicate between players in a simple, understandable way what state each one is in. Things like, health, shields, armor, team, stunned, any power ups, etc. This may take the form of LED's, EL wire, LED's in some sort of fiberoptic tube, etc.
Note: Adding RGB's is a good way to telegraph to other players. Adding an LCD may work for giving the player more information. You may need I2C connections to add all of the LED's, LCD, etc. that you want.
3. Classes (inspiration: Team fortress 2, star wars: battlefront 2, Zombie mod)
1. Standard
2. Sniper
3. Shotty
4. Medic
5. Spy/Ninja
6. Heavy
TF2 Game type: You can spawn as any unit from the beginning. You can only change when respawning.
Star Wars Battlefront Game type:
You all spawn as one of the standard classes in the beginning
You can respawn as a hihger leveled player based on tags (would require respawn points to talk for counting tags)
Playing the same character and getting tags unlocks perks (ex: burst fire for standard gun, like in star wars)
Zombie mod:
Same respawning principles as Star Wars Game type, but with asymetric teams (Humans vs Zombies)
No human respawns
Only zombie base
3.5 - Training Missions (Most games, Star Wars Force Unleashed, Dota 2, etc.)
I need a way to introduce players to game play mechanics that is intuitive and teaches them without teaching. I may need to have a series of games that you play, each game unlocking another character to add to the mix or something so that people don't just jump into a game with a lot of different characters and abilities and get too confused.
4. Runes (Inspiration: Dota2)
Adding rune spawns will encourage people to meet at specific areas during designated times and encourage team fights.
1. Invisibility - no lights, purple
2. Invulnerability - white
3. Extended magazine (requires magazines)
4. Rapid fire
5. Regeneration?
6. Double damage
7. Experience (this could level you up. Giving better stats, upgrades, spawn types, etc.)
8. Overshields
5. Active Reloading (Inspiration: Gears of War)
This would make reloading a little more fun to master. It could also help control fire rates for different classes of tag units
You could use an LED bar for this, along with a shift register.
6. Sounds (Castle Crashers, 8 bit games)
7. Abilities (Dota 2, Borderlands, Left 4 Dead)
Corrosive attacks
Electric attacks
Fire attacks
Disarms? (Zombie mod: smoker has a disarm?)
Zombie mod - corrosive attack on death? (Boomer in L4D)
8. Items (Halo, Gears of War (Horde Mode items), Dota 2)
Auto Turret
Mech suit
Manned Turrets
9. Zombie Mode (L4D)
There are a lot of technical issues I will have to overcome before I get to this, but I can add elements of other things to it. Aim for the head.
Note: I can have the zombies wear a glove. Pressure sensor on glove (for zombies to say, "I'm tagging someone"), metal on palm to connect a "switch" on human players (for human players to say, "I'm getting tagged"). I'd need receivers and emitters on people's heads so that the tag units could communicate with each other, but after some sort of acknowledge/return, I can communicate when a living zombie tags a person.
Note: You could use 58 kHz receivers to differentiate between tag types. That may not be necessary, but it is an option.
Smoker (with disarm?)
Spawner (which grants level up to the person who tags it)
Boomer (on death, 'tags' with caustic goo, has an ability to tag everyone around him/her who is below certain health? [or meets some other criteria, like has no shields or something. Think counter play...])
Stealth Zombie
10. Easter Eggs (The Legend of Zelda, Halo)
I can add hidden things that unlock extra skills or abilities. Or extra content. Don't really know how I will encode these yet, but // will probably help. (can you get piezo input?)


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Drugabuse.gov states that in 2013, approximately 24.6 million Americans over the age of 11 used illegal drugs. While your teenager may not seem like the type to use drugs, drug use is a problem that isn't restricted to class, social standing or age. Marijuana is a big problem throughout the United States, with 22.7 percent of high school seniors reportedly used marijuana in 2013.
Prescription drug abuse is an issue among teens as well. More die from using prescription drugs than cocaine and heroin combined.
So, what can you do about it? How can you prevent your daughter from becoming just another statistic?
Talk to Your Teen
Sitting down and having a conversation with your teenager about drug use and its risks may not sound like a lot, but it can actually be very beneficial. According to Dosomething.org, teens who learn about drugs and their risks from their parents on a consistent basis are 50 percent less likely to use them.
Be Involved
Adolescence is a time when teenagers naturally pull away from their parents. It can be hard to stay involved in their lives, but it is important to continue making the effort. Monitor where they are and what they do, pay attention to their behaviors and attitudes and support them constantly. The more involved you are, the more likely you are to notice when drug use is occurring.
Be sure to be available for conversations and open communication. Your teen needs more than a monitor (although this is an important component). They need the freedom to come to you with questions and subjects they are confused about, without the fear of judgement or adverse repercussions.
Offer Alternatives
If your daughter is hanging out with a questionable crowd and potentially using drugs, consider offering alternative options that can provide her with the same feelings of fun and excitement. Activities like competitive sports or charitable activities can provide her with the peer environment she craves while also keeping her safer from temptation. If she's not interested in this, consider making your home the 'place to be.' Invite her friends over to spend time at your home. This will keep her close and give you the opportunity to monitor what occurs.
Wilderness Programs
Before addiction becomes a problem, consider helping your daughter by enrolling her in a wilderness program. This type of outdoor therapy involves various challenges in nature, like backpacking and rock climbing. It also places your teen in a remote setting where she can truly focus on herself and think about the actions she has taken. Most wilderness programs feature experts and therapists that can readily assist your daughter with developing a healthy approach to her life so she can take responsibility for her actions, improve her self-esteem and better her communication skills.
Therapeutic Boarding School
Many troubled teens dealing with substance abuse and addiction often benefit from attending a therapeutic boarding school, either in combination with a wilderness program or on its own. A therapeutic boarding school like Greenbrier provides your daughter with an alcohol- and drug-free environment. Our school also offers addiction recovery therapeutic options. In therapy, your daughter will start to understand how her struggle to form intimate relationships has led to using drugs or alcohol. She will then begin learning how to change her past negative perceptions that have made developing relationships difficult so she can begin creating healthier relationships with others.
Is your daughter struggling with drugs or alcohol? Are you unsure but concerned? Make sure you're taking steps to prevent addiction in her life.


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By Elizabeth McGowan
Mary and Scott Sibley didn't expect that building a rear addition onto their Victorian era home in the Hyattsville National Historic District would be a simple undertaking.
And they were right.
But by hunkering down with architect Mike Arnold, they received the appropriate and far-from-routine blessings from the Prince George's County Historic Commission and the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission. Construction on the family room they have been craving began just this week. In the meantime, the Sibleys are brainstorming about how to properly decorate the 18-feet by 20-feet extension so it flows with the interior of the rest of their three-story, 1906 home.
Hardwood floors are a no-brainer. Eight double-hung, single-pane windows framed with bulls-eye molding will extend almost the entire nine feet from floor to ceiling.
The centerpiece of the addition will be a fireplace. With Arnold's help, the Sibleys found a reproduction of a 19th century cast iron insert. However, they had a devil of a time hunting down a proper mantelpiece.
"We'll scour the whole East Coast to find what we need for this house," Mary Sibley said. "We knew we didn't want one of those fake new plastic mantels that are supposed to look like something Victorian. This time, we shopped all around and still couldn't find what we needed."
That is, until they literally went around the corner to the Community Forklift's 34,000-square foot warehouse a few months ago. Bingo. They scouted out an authentic fit. A yellowing paper tag attached to the back of the double-shelved, oak antique they selected spells out that the Dame Mantel Co. in Harriman, Tenn., delivered the finished product to Washington, D.C., in 1910.
And the Forklift price was right: $225. The Hyattsville couple had expected to shell out $1,500 to $2,000 for a reproduction.
"We were just thrilled to find something we can use so close by," Mary Sibley said. "Our goal is to buy as few new products as possible."
Arnold, their Riverdale Park architect who specializes in historic preservation, casts the Sibleys and others like them who make regular forays to the Forklift into a category he labels "defective consumer." He credits one of his graduate school professors with coining that distinctive phraseology. While such offbeat language might sound like a pejorative to the uninitiated, Arnold actually dishes the two-word term as the ultimate accolade.
What Arnold means is that homeowners such as the Sibleys should be celebrated because they refuse to be brainwashed by the messages that bombard them daily in a throwaway culture that pooh-poohs what appears to be passé. Instead, they reject the consensus that an item must be brand new and out of the box to have any value.
"Forklift shoppers don't follow the status quo," said the 55-year-old, who earned a graduate degree in historic preservation from the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. "They understand that used stuff is actually useful. Fortunately, we're seeing a resurgence of people who get this concept."
Arnold's initiation into architecture and preservation began more than three decades ago when he enrolled at the University of Maryland. Later on, he taught Maryland students the hands-on ABCs of restoration.
When he eventually opened his own architecture business, he opted to focus on preservation, with a focus on pre-World War II homes.
"Clients with old buildings are much more engaged because they've invested a certain amount of love in what they own," Arnold explained, adding that such homeowners understand the legacy they are protecting. "For them, this is about stewardship instead of ownership. It's not about being me-centric. You learn to adapt to your old building instead of expecting it to adapt to you."
He estimates that somewhere around 25 percent of his clients are comfortable with the concept of reuse, so they already know the value of the Forklift and other similar treasure troves. Others, he said, have to be nudged in that direction so they can understand that there is "gold in them thar hills at the Forklift." Sometimes, the challenge can be finding enough reclaimed materials to complete a substantial addition.
It pains him physically and emotionally to watch older homes in nearby neighborhoods be stripped of riches such as irreplaceable pre-1940s, double-hung wood windows because their owners have fallen for the myth of vinyl. Usually, he said, the original windows are trashed before anybody can retrieve them.
Window sashes from the 1920s and 1930s are a premium product because they were machine manufactured from old-growth wood, he noted, adding that covering them with top-notch triple-track storm windows provides the ultimate in energy efficiency and insulation.
"They're just buying into a replacement system that the next owner will pay for," Arnold said. "People make such short-term decisions. Instead of acting like long-term stewards, so many Americans treat their buildings as if they are a 10-year investment."
Arnold doesn't just dole out advice. He also heeds his own sermons. For instance, he is intent on restoring the tasteful grandeur of his office at 6220 Rhode Island Ave., home of Riverdale Park's first post office. Tin ceilings and bits of molding are hints of its 1924 glory. Recently, he installed a pair of interior chestnut doors he uncovered at the Forklift. In addition, he serves as vice chairman of Prince George's County Heritage, an organization dedicated to promoting historic preservation countywide
Arnold's dedication to the preservation cause is echoed by Alfonso Narvaez, chairman of Prince George's County Historical and Cultural Trust.
"It takes a special breed of homeowner to avoid Home Depot," Narvaez said. "It's somebody who cares enough to want it to be just right."
He saluted the Forklift for providing two crucial services. One, it's a repository for materials such as sinks, bathtubs and mantels with defining features of this particular region of Maryland.
"Prince George's County is losing lots of historic buildings," he emphasized. "It's appropriate to keep those items in the county so they can be used locally for authenticity and sustainability. That makes the Forklift a historical resource."
And two, Narvaez said, the Forklift allows homeowners to see a complete house disassembled so they understand how it can be put back together with the appropriate pieces.
"Lots of times, homeowners don't have a clue," he said. "They think something like windows can't be repaired until they go to the Forklift and see the pieces they need to fix it."
Narvaez knows of what he speaks. Professionally, he operates Aeon Preservation Services, a Bladensburg-based business that has tended to such iconic landmarks as the U.S. Capitol dome, the White House grounds, the Jefferson Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial. In that capacity, his company once collected a smorgasbord of brick, marble, granite and terra cotta to teach professional conservators gathered at Arlington National Cemetery how to restore these building materials.
Unique places such as Community Forklift, Arnold and Narvaez agree, become more and more vital as the lumberyards, hardware stores and custom millwork shops of yesteryear disappear.
"If not for the Forklift, all those old building materials and their embedded energy are lost forever in landfills," Arnold said. "It's part of that cradle-to-cradle process."
The Sibleys, who moved to the Washington, D.C., region in the mid-1970s, purchased their current Victorian home in 1989 when their two sons were in elementary school because they "wanted an old house." The couple is still plugging away on their pet project almost a quarter-century later.
Some enterprises during those 24 intervening years are new, such as refinishing banisters and balusters, while others are repeats, such as repainting the entire house and porch with a distinctive green complemented by trim that is dark green, orange and cream.
Scott, a retired federal geologist, and Mary, who built a career in day care and as a special education teacher, are hoping their home is in tip-top shape for the spring 2014 house tour being organized by the Hyattsville Preservation Association. The addition of family room became a necessity with the birth of Jake, their first grandchild, 17 months ago. They expect he won't be the last arrival.
Both Sibleys will continue to haunt the aisles of the Forklift and other local businesses to track down house necessities they can reuse.
"Anyplace that is Hyattsville-based, we like to frequent," Mary Sibley said. "That way we can do our part to see to it that it doesn't go under."


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Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'export'.
Found 2 results
Export 3D mapping projector view?
Fisejs posted a topic in WATCHOUT FORUMHello, is it possible to export 3D mapping projector view? I woul like to make visualization of a show and send preview to a clinet, but I can`t find a way how to export the 3D view... Thank you for answer, Jakub
Watchout Timeline -> EDL or XML?
doctorhandshake posted a topic in WATCHOUT FORUMHi - I'm evaluating Watchout for a deployment of a multi-screen (many many screens) workflow wherein I'd like to be able to make some rough editing decisions in the Watchout timeline and then export those trim / start/end points as an EDL or XML or what have you for the purposes of using them in an NLE or compositing environment upstream of the Watchout playback system. Is there any way to do this in Watchout? Thanks very much, N


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Highlight moderator name in CGFeedback resultsAs the owner or moderator of a CMS Made Simple website using the CGFeedback module, you often reply to questions asked by visitors. But how to let the visitors see *you* are answering and not another person with your name...?
Tips, tricks and tutorials to make it even easier to work with CMS Made Simple. CMSMS is an open source Content Management System. It provides website developers with a simple, easy to use utility to allow building websites.


text:
Original Release Date: August 15, 1998
OS Shipped with: 8.1 - 8.5.1
Processor Type: G3
Processor Speeds: 233MHz
Colors: Bondi Blue
Screen Type: CRT
Screen Sizes: 15"
On May 6, 1998 Steve Jobs introduced the very first iMac to a packed audience at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California.
The iMac (or Internet Macintosh at the time) was described as the "Internet age computer for the rest of us" – an easy way for the average user to get online.
Designed by Brit Jonathan Ive (who later designed the iPod) it was an all in one machine with a Bondi Blue translucent enclosure.
The iMac was the first computer that solely relied on the use of USB as their primary input/output ports.


text:
Bob Lamonica
There is no other country in the world as remotely worthy as the United States of America to maintain military supremacy on planet Earth. If we don"t, somebody else will. China? The UN? Not without our consent, and given the human tendency to deception and treachery, never. The United States must remain sovereign, with unilateral military authority, and must endure as the dominant global military influence.
We are representative of the world"s people, and represent freedom"s promise. The endurance of our great nation has led to this point in world history, where, as it should be, we are the superpower.
We are learning to assume this great mission. Our identity as a nation is being tested for transparency, a principle espoused from the Declaration of Independence forward. This is not to say military actions should be pre-announced. That may have worked in 1941, but is foolhardy and impractical now.
All the same, we shouldn"t be propping up a dictatorship in Bahrain while claiming regime change in Iraq. Covert diplomacy is an oxymoron now. There is no longer propriety, if there ever was, in backroom -arranged truckloads of payoffs to favored despots of repression so we can exploit resources. It"s time to end these opaque extortions so casually justified as stability.
We may apologize for our imperfection, but never for our authority to act through force. No question we will make grave mistakes. As mortally unfortunate as this is, it should not deter from our commitment to risk intervention.
If we are imperialists, as some claim, World War II would have ended quite differently. Let"s venture most present-day Germans, Italians and Japanese are grateful for American-led sacrifice and victory. As well, those dominated by the former Soviet Union are grateful for American perseverance in the Cold War.
We must plan for contingencies, including nuclear attack. We must stay on top of military technology advances and deployment capability, from future battlefields with electromagnetic weapons, to stealth commando operations, autonomous drones and cyber warfare.
It is appalling to witness the wanton disregard for returning veterans in our time, irrespective of one"s opinion on American intervention and unilateral action. This is a national disgrace. As imperfectly achieved, we, the people of the United States, are the only real opportunity to advance the world toward liberty and justice for all. We welcome allies, but they cannot be expected to assume our leadership role in world affairs.
The decades ahead will challenge America"s determination to maintain military supremacy and the umbrella of protection it commits us to globally support. The further we move away from a warrior culture and cope righteously with combat-induced post-traumatic stress, the more difficult this will be. In the 21st century and beyond, the honor of being an American comes with the duty to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us.
Bob Lamonica is a Santa Cruz resident.


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- Case report
- Open Access
- Published:
Pulmonary histoplasmosis presenting as chronic productive cough, fever, and massive unilateral consolidation in a 15-year-old immune-competent boy: a case report
Journal of Medical Case Reports volume 5, Article number: 374 (2011)
8670 Accesses
7 Citations
Severe histoplasmosis is known to be among the AIDS-defining opportunistic infections affecting patients with very low CD4 cell counts in histoplasmosis-endemic areas. Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii is common in West and Central Africa, where it occurs in both HIV/AIDS and non-HIV patients. Few cases of life-threatening histoplasmosis in immune-competent individuals have been reported worldwide.
Case report
We describe a case of pulmonary histoplasmosis diagnosed on the basis of autopsy and histological investigations. A 15-year old East African immune-competent boy with a history of smear-positive tuberculosis and a two-year history of rock cutting presented to our hospital with chronic productive cough, fever, and massive unilateral consolidation. At the time of presentation to our hospital, this patient was empirically treated for recurrent tuberculosis without success, and he died on the seventh day after admission. The autopsy revealed a huge granulomatous lesion with caseation, but no acid-fast bacilli were detected on several Ziehl-Neelsen stains. However, periodic acid-Schiff staining was positive, and the histological examination revealed features suggestive of Histoplasma yeast cells.
Severe pulmonary histoplasmosis should be considered in evaluating immune-competent patients with risk factors for the disease who present with pulmonary symptoms mimicking tuberculosis.
Globally, histoplasmosis is known to be more frequent in the United States than elsewhere, but it is not uncommon in other parts of the world, including Africa [1, 2]. Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii is common in West and Central Africa, where it occurs in both HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients [3, 4]. Despite that fact that life-threatening histoplasmosis (chronic, progressive, or disseminated disease) is reported more commonly among immunocompromised and very elderly patients, it has been shown that up to 20% of severe illnesses result from heavy inoculums in healthy and young people [3–5]. In addition, patients with underlying lung disease may develop chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis with clinical and radiographic findings that resemble those seen in reactivation tuberculosis (TB) [6]. Without treatment, the illness is progressive, causing loss of pulmonary function in most patients and death in about half the patients [6, 7]. The prevalence of histoplasmosis has not been well established in Africa among HIV-negative patients, which could be due to misdiagnosis in this part of the world because of physicians' lack of awareness [8].
We report the presentation, misdiagnosis, and autopsy findings of a 15-year-old immune-competent boy who presented to our facility with a chronic productive cough, fever, and massive unilateral consolidation. In this report, we also discuss the specific challenges related to the diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary histoplasmosis in resource-limited settings.
Case presentation
A 15-year-old East African boy was referred to our hospital with a diagnosis of recurrent TB. Upon review, the patient was found to have a history of productive cough and intermittent low-grade evening fevers for one year and shortness of breath for one week prior to presentation. One year and five months prior to his presentation to our hospital, he had presented to a peripheral hospital with similar symptoms and had been diagnosed with sputum acid-fast bacilli (AFB) and smear-positive TB. He had been treated with anti-TB medications, which brought him only mild relief. Two months after completing anti-TB therapy, his cough and fevers worsened, for which a re-treatment regimen of anti-TB medications, including two months of intramuscular streptomycin, were started on the basis of clinical findings. The sputum examination for AFB had not been repeated. Four months into the course of his second course of anti-TB therapy, the patient stopped taking his medications because he reportedly experienced only mild relief of his symptoms. Repeat Ziehl-Neelsen staining performed two months prior to his admission to our institution was negative for AFB, and no more drugs were given. One week prior to his admission to our hospital, the patient developed progressively worsening shortness of breath, which was even worse while he was lying flat and was associated with dull left-sided chest pain.
His social history was significant for crushing stones (rock cutting) for two years, but he had no history of smoking or working in the mining industry. He had no history of TB or other lung disease in his family.
His physical examination revealed that he was fully conscious, afebrile, slightly wasted, and dyspneic. His oxygen saturation level was 96% on room air, and his other vital signs were normal. His respiratory examination revealed a respiratory rate of 25 cycles/minute and chest bulging on his left side, but his trachea was centrally located. Other findings on the left side included decreased chest expansion, increased tactile vocal fremitus, dull percussion note, and bronchial breath sounds. The rest of the respiratory examination was unremarkable.
The patient was admitted to the medical ward with a diagnosis of recurrent TB with massive left-sided consolidation. A complete blood count revealed a white blood cell count of 8.7 cells/mm3 with a differential of 69% neutrophils, 23% lymphocytes, 6% monocytes, and 1% eosinophils. His hemoglobin level was 10.6 g/dL, and his platelet count was 504 cells/mm3. His erythrocyte sedimentation rate was 20 mm/hour. His renal and liver function tests were within normal ranges. A rapid test for HIV was performed and was negative. Sputum tests for Gram staining and Ziehl-Neelsen staining were both negative. A chest radiograph revealed features of huge left-sided consolidation with complete opacification of the left hemithorax (Figure 1). His chest ultrasound revealed that the left lung was completely consolidated. There was no pleural or pericardial effusion, and his right lung was completely normal. Following these examinations, the patient was empirically re-started on the retreatment regimen for recurrent TB, and the cardiothoracic surgery team was consulted about performing a lung biopsy. The cardiothoracic surgery team felt that the patient was too unstable for surgery and requested that medical management be continued until the patient's condition improved.
On hospital day 3, the patient's condition started deteriorating, with worsening shortness of breath, wheezing, and hypoxia (oxygen saturation 82% to 90% on room air). He was admitted to the intensive care unit, where his anti-TB medications were continued, together with oxygen therapy. On hospital day 7, the patient died before any further intervention could be performed.
A post-mortem examination was performed by the hospital's pathologists. As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the histopathologic examination revealed a huge mass in the left lung with necrosis and suppurative caseation. Microscopic examination of caseous material was negative for AFB. PAS staining was positive and cytological examination revealed yeast cells and capsules of non-viable fungi, suggestive of H. capsulatum. Because of resource limitations at our hospital, no further tests could be performed. The pathologist's impression was that the patient had had pulmonary histoplasmosis.
In this report, we describe the case of a 15-year-old immune-competent patient who presented to our hospital with chronic productive cough, fever, and massive unilateral consolidation. This case illustrates the many challenges that clinicians face in diagnosing pulmonary histoplasmosis among patients who present to resource-limited health facilities.
The endemic fungi which are primarily human pathogens and whose major portal of entry is the respiratory tract include H. capsulatum, Blastomyces dermatitidis, and Coccidioides immitis[3]. Histoplasmosis has been shown to be a benign, self-limiting infection in most cases [9], but fatal cases have been reported [10]. The pathogenesis of African histoplasmosis remains unclear. The main route of acquisition could be airborne contamination from the soil and, rarely, direct inoculation [8].
The mycelial form of H. capsulatum is found in the soil, especially in areas contaminated with bird or bat droppings, which provide added nutrients for the growth of bacillus. Infections in endemic areas are typically caused by wind-borne spores emanating from point sources such as bird roosts, old houses or barns, or activities involving disruption of the soil, such as farming and excavation [11]. In our case, despite our patient's immune-competent status, rock cutting likely led to a very high level of exposure to Histoplasma spores that multiplied easily in his lungs, which had previously been injured by TB.
Despite our patient's different presentation from what has been commonly reported among immune-competent patients, it has already been shown that chronic and severe pulmonary histoplasmosis is associated with pre-existing abnormal lung architecture. Emphysema, for example, has been shown to be a major risk factor for pulmonary histoplasmosis [4]. As in our patient, the symptoms of malaise, productive cough, fever, and night sweats in pulmonary histoplasmosis are similar to those of TB but are usually less severe [4]. Our case therefore illustrates how TB can be a risk factor for pulmonary histoplasmosis and how, in TB-endemic areas, pulmonary histoplasmosis can easily be misdiagnosed as recurrent TB.
Culture remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of histoplasmosis, but it requires a lengthy incubation period (two to four weeks) [4]. Fungal staining produces quicker results than culture but is less sensitive [4]. It has been shown that antigen detection is a sensitive method for diagnosing histoplasmosis, especially in patients with more diffuse pulmonary involvement and those with progressive disseminated disease. Antigen test results vary considerably according to the type of chronic pulmonary disease, with sensitivity ranging from 0% for mediastinal disease, 15% to 21% for chronic pulmonary disease, and 92% for disseminated disease [12–14]. With regard to specimens collected for the diagnosis of histoplasmosis using antigen detection, urine has greater sensitivity than other fluids in the diagnosis of disseminated histoplasmosis; however, optimal diagnostic yield is the result of testing both urine and serum [15]. Histopathological examination, as in our case, typically reveals caseating granulomas whose center, contrary to TB, does not contain AFB but does contain yeast cells or the capsules of non-viable fungi [8, 16]. However, the histopathological examination lacks sensitivity and specificity.
One major limitation in our case was that no further tests could be performed to confirm the identification of the fungal elements seen on histopathologic examinations for fungal infection because of the limited diagnostic facilities at our center. As the structure of the H. capsulatum yeasts is similar to that of other pathogens, such as Penicillium marneffei, Pneumocystis (carinii) jeroveci, Toxoplasma gondii, Leishmania donovani, and Cryptococcus neoformans, misidentification is possible [1]. Limited facilities for fungal identification are a challenge common to many hospitals in resource-limited settings.
Treatment of African histoplasmosis has been discussed elsewhere [8] and can be extrapolated from the guidelines of the Infectious Diseases Society of America established for histoplasmosis due to H. capsulatum var. duboisii[5]. Treatment is indicated in all patients with chronic pulmonary histoplasmosis. Medications which can be used include amphotericin B, especially in patients with more severe manifestations who require ventilatory support [5]. Ketoconazole and itraconazole can be used but have high relapse rates, with a one-year relapse rate of 95.3% having been reported [5]. Treatment with fluconazole 200 mg to 400 mg daily appears to be even less effective than ketoconazole and itraconazole [5]. It has also been shown that the inflammatory response may contribute to the pathogenesis of respiratory compromise, thus prednisolone 60 mg/day for two weeks can be helpful [17]. Mortality associated with severe histoplasmosis without treatment is 80% but can be reduced to < 25% with anti-fungal therapy [5].
Although more common in immune-compromised patients, pulmonary histoplasmosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of immune-competent patients with risk factors including heavy soil exposure and pre-existing lung disease. The presenting symptoms can mimic pulmonary TB. Early diagnosis and treatment are important to improve outcomes.
Written informed consent was obtained from the patient's next-of-kin to do an autopsy and publish this case report and any accompanying images. The WBUCHS/BMC ethics review board provided the approval to publish this case report and any accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal.
Wheat LJ, Kauffman CA: Histoplasmosis. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2003, 17: 1-19. 10.1016/S0891-5520(02)00039-9.
Wheat LJ: Histoplasmosis: a review for clinicians from non-endemic areas. Mycoses. 2006, 49: 274-282. 10.1111/j.1439-0507.2006.01253.x.
McAdams HP, Rosado-de-Christenson ML, Lesar M, Templeton PA, Moran CA: Thoracic mycoses from endemic fungi: radiologic-pathologic correlation. Radiographics. 1995, 15: 255-270.
Kurowski R, Ostapchuk M: Overview of histoplasmosis. Am Fam Physician. 2002, 66: 2247-2252.
Wheat J, Sarosi G, McKinsey D, Hamill R, Bradsher R, Johnson P, Loyd J, Kauffman C: Practice guidelines for the management of patients with histoplasmosis. Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis. 2000, 30: 688-695. 10.1086/313752.
Rubin H, Furcolow ML, Yates JL, Brasher CA: The course and prognosis of histoplasmosis. Am J Med. 1959, 27: 278-288. 10.1016/0002-9343(59)90347-X.
Furcolow ML: Comparison of treated and untreated severe histoplasmosis. JAMA. 1963, 183: 121-127.
Loulergue P, Bastides F, Baudouin V, Chandenier J, Mariani-Kurkdjian P, Dupont B, Viard JP, Dromer F, Lortholary O: Literature review and case histories of Histoplasma capsulatum var. duboisii infections in HIV-infected patients. Emerg Infect Dis. 2007, 13: 1647-1652.
Goodwin RA, Des Prez RM: Pathogenesis and clinical spectrum of histoplasmosis. South Med J. 1973, 66: 13-25. 10.1097/00007611-197301000-00004.
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Gurney JW, Conces DJ: Pulmonary histoplasmosis. Radiology. 1996, 199: 297-306.
Hage CA, Wheat LJ: Diagnosis of pulmonary histoplasmosis using antigen detection in the bronchoalveolar lavage. Expert Rev Respir Med. 2010, 4: 427-429. 10.1586/ers.10.36.
Gutierrez ME, Canton A, Connolly P, Zarnowski R, Wheat LJ: Detection of Histoplasma capsulatum antigen in Panamanian patients with disseminated histoplasmosis and AIDS. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2008, 15: 681-683. 10.1128/CVI.00358-07.
Hage CA, Wheat LJ, Loyd J, Allen SD, Blue D, Knox KS: Pulmonary histoplasmosis. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2008, 29: 151-165. 10.1055/s-2008-1063854.
Wheat J: Histoplasmosis: experience during outbreaks in Indianapolis and review of the literature. Medicine. 1997, 76: 339-354. 10.1097/00005792-199709000-00002.
Saha SP, Mayo P, Long GA, Myers JE: Histoplasmosis: clinical manifestations and surgical management. South Med J. 1979, 72: 1123-1126. 10.1097/00007611-197909000-00011.
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We thank Dr Charles Majinge, Director General of Bugando Medical Centre, for his support.
Additional information
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
RK, SK, RNP, and HJ managed the patient and collected all clinical information. PR and KJ performed post-mortem and histological analyses. SEM performed microbiological analysis and wrote the manuscript. All authors read, edited, and approved the final manuscript.
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This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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Cite this article
Kabangila, R., Semvua, K., Rambau, P. et al. Pulmonary histoplasmosis presenting as chronic productive cough, fever, and massive unilateral consolidation in a 15-year-old immune-competent boy: a case report. J Med Case Reports 5, 374 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-5-374
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1947-5-374
- histoplasmosis
- immune-competent
- consolidation
- acid-fast bacilli
- periodic acid-Schiff staining


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Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions:There are four reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions. For each question there are four suggested answers marked A,B,C and D. You should choose the One best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on the ANSWER SHEET with a pencil.
Passage 1
By the time the Olympics begin in Atlanta this summer, the business world will have spent more than $ 1 billion to link their names and products to the Olympic Games. There are 10 Worldwide Sponsors, 10 Centennial Olympic Partners, about 20 regular sponsors and more than a hundred licensees. The Atlanta Games will boast an "official" scouring pad and timepiece, two official game shows, and three official vehicles: a family car, an import minivan and a luxury sedan.
But what exactly do these companies reap for their huge investment? At the very least, they command tickets to the most popular events, invitations to the best parties and prime hotel rooms. But most of all, according to US Postal Service, it is purchasing the right to spend money.
And the right to spend money is expensive. The biggest backers, Olympic sponsors like Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Mcdonald's and Xerox, commit up to $ 40 million. But, getting the rights to the Olympic rings is only half the battle. The other half is the challenge to sort of wrap their product brands around that image. Often that means TV time. And at roughly $ 400 000 per 30-second spot, some of the biggest sponsors have already locked up every commercial slot in their product categories that NBC has to sell. Not everyone is convinced that the Games are worth the price of business admission. The biggest and most conspicuous naysayer is Nike. Its spokesman says:"If I see a Reebok official who may not be in the best shape firing the starting pistol and Carl Lewis wearing Nike shoes, I'm going to go with Carl because that's the authentic link." Nike's strategy is hard to argue with - instead of sponsoring the Olympics, it sponsors Olympians.
Yet even Nike wants a piece of the Atlantic action. Along with some other nonsponsors, Nike is trying to dot downtown Atlanta with billboards. Advertisement, it's another Olympic event.
1. By "official vehicles", the author means .
A. automobiles for Olympic officials
B. automobiles used in official occasion
C. automobiles that the Olympic participants must drive
D. automobiles that allowed to bear the Olympic symbol
2. Which of the following is not an Olympic sponsor?
A. US Postal Service.
B. Nike.
C. Coca-Cola.
D. Mcdonald's
3. The last sentence of this passage indicates .
A. businesses trying to get publicity is a part of the Olympic Games
B. what the Olympic non-sponsors do is of no interest to the Olympic organizers
C. that businesses must try very hard to earn money from the Olympic Games as if they were themselves competing in the Games
D. that those who fail to sponsor the Olympics this time will try very hard the next time 4. Which of the following is NOT implied in the passage ?
A. Companies use their Olympic sponsorship to promote sales of their products.
B. To provide sportswear for Carl Lewis is a more effective advertisement than to provide suits for Olympic officials.
C. NBC makes great profits from selling advertising time to companies eager to impress potential customers during the Olympic Games.
D. Nike looks down upon the Olympic Games.
5. Which of the following can best sum up the passage?
A. Businesses want to profit from the Olympics.
B. The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
C. The Olympic sponsorship.
D. Importance of the Olympic Games.
Passage 2
Halloween(October 31)
This is a holiday widely celebrated with different names in many countries. Although it originated as a religious holiday, it has lost its religious connections in the United States. It is now celebrated largely as a children's day, and many American children look forward to it for days and weeks beforehand.
The orange pumpkin is harvested at this time of year and is hollowed out, a funny face cut into it, and a candle placed inside as a decoration in the window. City folks, nowadays, sometimes use paper pumpkins for decorations.
Some years ago, the holiday was celebrated by dressing up in strange and frightening costumes and playing tricks on one's neighbors and friends, such as ringing door bells, throwing bits of corn on the window panes, and in other ways making minor disturbances.
More recently, children come to the door to have friends and neighbors admire their costumes and guess who they are behind the false faces and receive treats of candy, fruit or cookies. They say, "Trick or Treat", meaning, "I will play a trick on you will not give me a treat." This practice has even more recently developed into a significant international activity. Instead of or along with candy, the children collect money for UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund). This special collection of money by children for needy children throughout the world is known as "UNICEF Trick of Treat". Begun only recently, it results in several million dollars each year contributed to UNICEF. The collection box is orange, reminiscent of the pumpkin.
6. What cloes Holloween originate from?
A. a chilolren's day
B. a trick or treat
C. a religious day
D. a day for UNI CEF


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Hi. I'm Joseph Earp
I'm a writer, journalist, philosophy student and radio host.
I've written for such publications as The Guardian, Sydney Morning Herald, Junkee, Vice, Penthouse, and Island. My prize-winning short fiction has appeared in publications such as Island and Better Read Than Dead's 2019 anthology.
I mostly write about horror movies, philosophy, video games, contemporary politics, heavy metal, and weird fiction.
Every Sunday night at 11pm, I host This Is A Love Song on FBi radio, a love song dedication show. I'm also the co-host of The Brad Pittcast, a podcast about Brad Pitt.
On this site, you'll find a bunch of my work, links to places that I've appeared, and ways to get in contact with me.


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Whenever I visit Paris, I spend so much time eating and clogging my arteries with so much everything that I'm to sluggish to write blog posts about the trip! Thankfully I have some very awesome and diligent Paris-based friends who write about the food scene–visit Alec Lobrano's, Lindsey Tramuta's, and Paris by Mouth's sites for additional intel. Below you will find a round-up of my favorite spots. Unlike Rome, Paris restaurants book up way in advance so make reservations well in advance.
Verjus: Amazing food. Book yesterday. The wine bar downstairs is walk-ins only and features excellent wines and small plates.
Kunitoraya – Japanese Udon in the heart of the Asian pocket of the 2nd arrondissement. Obviously not French at all but delicious.
Clamato: a seafood and oyster bar from the Septime team. No reservations.
Chez L'Ami Jean
La Buvette: This tiny wine bar requires you to order at least one small plate in order to drink, but the snacks are delicous and the natural wines are even better.
Frenchie: very hard to get into BUT the wine bar doesn't require reservations and is a good introduction to Gregory Marchand's cooking style.
Le 6 Paul bert
Le Mary Celeste: cocktail/oyster/small plates bar. No reservations, you can go early evening and grab a spot. In the Marais


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Special Projects EVO Windscreens - 5 pack (Black)
Product Info
5-pack of Black Oval Windscreens for Special Projects EVO headsets. Although the outer dimensions are larger than the windscreens supplied by Samson, these also fit the Samson Airline 88 microphone headset (AH8) well.
Protect your wireless headset microphone from spit, sweat and the elements. Most headset microphones for fitness are tuned to perform best with a windscreen installed. These oval foam balls are designed to work perfectly with the Special Projects EVO headset-transmitter combo.
- Windscreen size: 1.25" x .75"


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Information and updates for single travellers.
Friendship Travel was founded in 1999 and is ATOL bonded under licence number 6683 (renewed September 2020), which means that your holiday money is 100% safe. We have also been recognised by the Consumers Association Which? Travel magazine for our exceptional service during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Are singles holidays still operating?
We plan to operate holidays from mid May 2021 onwards for single travellers on UK breaks and overseas holidays for much-needed relaxation and sun. As long as destinations are open to UK travellers, and as long as airlines continue to operate their schedules our Hosts will welcome you to our hotels around the Med and across the world.
Will I have to quarantine when I return?
Depending on your destination and the Government's frequently-changing rules, you may have to quarantine on your return to the UK. This is currently 10 days for some destinations though that may be reduced if airport testing is made available. This is frustrating for everyone but beyond our control.
When you book, whether for a last-minute escape or for a holiday several months ahead, you do so knowing that you may have to quarantine, and accepting that possibility.
Can I get travel against FCDO advice?
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office says "No foreign travel can be guaranteed as safe and you take personal responsibility for any trip you make abroad."
The FCDO is currently advising against 'all but essential travel' to most countries worldwide because of the pandemic, but it recognises that travel companies and airlines are not bound to cancel holidays and flights because of this. Further information on FCDO advice may be found HERE https://www.gov.uk/guidance/about-foreign-commonwealth-development-office-travel-advice
Friendship Travel has successfully operated holidays in Croatia, Portugal, Turkey and other destinations which are on the FCDO's 'non-essential' travel lists. You can read some of the comments from guests here on FEEFO.
Can I change my holiday or get a refund?
We continue to offer as much flexibility as possible but may be constrained by the policies of individual airlines and hotels.
If you want to delay your holiday we may be able to re-arrange travel for a future date, as long as you make that request at least 14 days before your departure.
Inside 14 days we lose that flexibility, and Friendship Travel does not cancel holidays or refund monies in the event of a destination being suddenly added to the quarantine list or added to the FCDO's non-essential travel list. For all holiday refunds we aim to make these refunds within 28 days, although in many cases this will be sooner.
What holidays are operating?
We expect to provide Summer 2021 holidays from mid May onwards and should run as per brochure. Our welcoming UK hotels have adapted their arrangements to meet Government rules.
What Covid protocols apply to singles holidays?
All our guests receive complimentary hand sanitiser in their travel packs and are expected to follow airport and airline instructions whilst travelling.
On arrival the Covid protocols of the destination country apply, and this may mean that you have to register your health status before travelling (online), make a health declaration or even undergo a test on arrival. It is your responsibility to comply with such requests.
Our transfer companies carry fewer passengers per journey, hotels provide sanitising points throughout, adapt restaurant layouts and services and clean, clean, clean!
Sunbeds and seating at dinner are spaced at least 1m apart in line with World Health Organisation advice and of course every Friendship Travel guest has his or her own room.
On UK breaks, current Government advice is always followed.
Can I get travel insurance?
Insurance companies are rapidly adapting new travel policies to include the potential impact of Covid-19, including visiting countries on the FCDO's 'essential travel only' list, but every policy is different and you must choose the one that is right for you.
The new European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) scheme starts in mid January 2021 and enables travellers within the European Union to access local health services on the same basis as residents of the destination, but this is not a substitute for travel insurance.
Can I book a singles holiday for 2021 or 2022?
Yes! As well as summer sun holidays, we are able to take bookings for Winter 2021-22. You can book online or over the phone.
I have questions about my 2021 holiday – can I talk to you?
Yes! Our friendly team continue to work from home or the office and are happy to chat with you. Our 'office' hours are 11am to 4pm Monday to Friday. We look forward to helping you.
To sum up
Our guests this summer and autumn say they have really needed their holidays and the benefits of sunshine and relaxation have been well worth the necessary adjustments. If you want to travel and are content to ignore FCDO advice and/or perhaps quarantine on your return, we will be pleased to book a holiday for you.
If you're anxious about travelling against FCDO advice, cannot quarantine, are waiting for airport testing or a vaccine to be available, you may prefer to wait. When you are ready to book, we'll b here to help.
I would like to thank you for your continued support on behalf of Friendship Travel and our partners overseas.
Colum McLornan - Owner of Friendship Travel.


text:
Most issues that occur in the app can be resolved by uninstalling and then reinstalling the app before signing back in. This assures that you are on the most recent version of the app and clears any errors that existed in previous versions.
If uninstalling and reinstalling the app doesn't resolve the issue, our customer success team can help!
Please reach out using the Contact Us form in the app. To expedite the process, please include the following:
- A brief summary of the issue
- A screenshot of any error messages you're seeing or where you're getting stuck
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text:
Apparently, Google isn't done trying to take over the Internet. After announcing the WebM video format earlier this year, the company has now revealed another, similar project: WebP, which is meant to replace JPEG as the standard for lossy image compression on the web. No kidding. Google has written about the endavor on its Chromium Blog, and it's even released some tools so developers can get their hands dirty with the format already.
These two paragraphs from the blog post sum up the endeavor pretty well. In a nutshell, Google says 65% of the data transferred over the web today are images, and it wants to introduce a more efficient format to speed things up.
To improve on the compression that JPEG provides, we used an image compressor based on the VP8 codec that Google open-sourced in May 2010. We applied the techniques from VP8 video intra frame coding to push the envelope in still image coding. We also adapted a very lightweight container based on RIFF. While this container format contributes a minimal overhead of only 20 bytes per image, it is extensible to allow authors to save meta-data they would like to store.
While the benefits of a VP8 based image format were clear in theory, we needed to test them in the real world. In order to gauge the effectiveness of our efforts, we randomly picked about 1,000,000 images from the web (mostly JPEGs and some PNGs and GIFs) and re-encoded them to WebP without perceptibly compromising visual quality. This resulted in an average 39% reduction in file size. We expect that developers will achieve in practice even better file size reduction with WebP when starting from an uncompressed image.
A gallery with some WebP image samples is up, as well. I've gotta say, the WebP shots look pretty darned good considering their purportedly smaller file sizes. The JPEGs seem to look a tad sharper, but it's hard to tell the difference without looking really closely.


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Saying voters are being disenfranchised, two groups are asking a federal judge to void an Arizona law that says ballots have to be received by county officials by 7 p.m. on Election Day to be counted.
In new legal papers filed here Tuesday, attorney Sarah Gonski said the state has "no legitimate interest" in enforcing the deadline, particularly when the state is promoting that people cast their ballot by mail.
"Although Arizona may certainly set a reasonable deadline to receive ballots to ensure the finality of election results, the current Election Day receipt deadline is unreasonable and disenfranchising," she wrote. "It is contrary to voters' reasonable expectations, necessitates that ballots be cast far earlier than they need to be, and is poorly communicated to voters."
What Gonski told Judge Dominic Lanza would be reasonable is to require that ballots be postmarked by the 7 p.m. deadline and received within five business days afterwards.
"After all, Arizona need not complete its total vote count until 20 days after Election Day," she said.
Real Consequences
Gonski said this isn't just an academic question.
She specifically cited the 2016 presidential preference primary where more than 72,000 Republicans cast a ballot saying they wanted Marco Rubio to be the GOP nominee. She said it was that requirement to have ballots in by that 7 p.m. Election Day deadline that caused so many people to "waste their vote on a ghost candidate."
But Gonski also cited figures she said prove that minority voters, particularly those in rural counties, are five to six times more likely than Anglos to have their early ballots uncounted because they did not arrive on time. And she said at least some of the blame for that is "traceable to Arizona's long history of discrimination against minority voters."
"Discrimination in education has led to persistent gaps that have left these minority voters less educated than their white counterparts, which makes them less likely to be aware of the Election Day receipt deadline," she wrote.
At least part of Gonski's lawsuit relies on that disproportionate effect to claim the deadline violates the Voting Rights Act. It generally prohibits states from enacting laws that impair the rights of minorities to vote.
But she also claims that the law is an impermissible burden on the right of all people to vote.
Gonski is representing two groups.
One is Voto Latino, which she said is a nonprofit group that is involved in trying to register Latinos to vote. The other is Priorities USA which she describes as a "nonprofit, voter-centric progressive advocacy and service organization."
It names Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, as the state's chief election officer, as defendant. An aide to Hobbs said she was studying the lawsuit but does not comment about ongoing legal matters.
Central to the litigation is the wide use of mail ballots, with about 1.9 million votes cast that way in the 2018 election out of about 2.4 million ballots cast.
Gonski said while people who get early ballots can bring them to a polling location on Election Day, about 90 percent of people who voted with a mail ballot returned it through the U.S. postal service. She said that personal drop-off option can be "more time-consuming and burdensome" for rural voters who often live many miles from a drop-off location, as well as Hispanic and Latino voters who she said have difficulty obtaining transportation or leaving work during the hours when county recorders' offices are open.
And Gonski said the situation is complicated by a 2016 law that now makes it a crime for volunteers and others to help collect early ballots. Gonski's law firm has been involved in separate legal efforts – so far unsuccessful – to void that ban on what has been called "ballot harvesting."
The result, she said, is borne out by figures from the 2018 election when she said Maricopa County rejected 1,535 ballots for arriving late.
"And Navajo County reported rejecting an eye-popping 3,062 late ballots – over 8 percent of all ballots cast in that county," she told Lanza.
"Clearly, a large swath of Arizona voters believe their ballot is timely even when it is not," Gonski said, with election officials and average voters unable to say exactly how early people need to be dropping their ballots into post office boxes to ensure they arrive on time to be counted.
She said that just last month the Pima County Recorder's Office provided two different "recommended deadlines" for when voters were "required" to mail their ballots for them to be counted.
"Counties' recommendations on when to place a ballot in the mail shift for a simple reason: Those recommendations are purely guesses," Gonski said.
Beyond that, she argued that it is "reasonable" for people to believe that a ballot is timely if it is postmarked by Election Day.
"Postmarks are used to assess the timeliness of payments, applications, and other documents submitted to the government in other contexts," she said, including taxes. And she said using a postmark rule makes good sense.
"Mail delivery times in Arizona are unpredictable, particularly in rural areas where home delivery is not common and even local mail is often re-routed through central processing facilities in far-flung cities," Gonski said.
That issue of the disparate impact on Hispanics, which could be key to getting the relief sought, raises a separate question of why, one that Gonski conceded in the legal papers she cannot answer. But she has some theories of why, and not just that her claim there has been discrimination against minorities in education in Arizona.
She also said there is a lack of language assistance to voters. Gonski said that is coupled with "sustained resistance to bilingual education and mandated English-only education."
"Hispanic and Latino voters are less likely to understand the instructions provided by county election officials regarding the Election Day receipt deadline, particularly when those instructions are inconsistent," Gonski told the judge.


text:
The Story: Don't eat the fruit in the garden, Eden,, It wasn't in God's natural plan., You were only a rib,, And look at what you did,, To Adam, the father of Man.
The Story: You smell like goat, I'll see you in hell
The Story: All the b***h had said, all been washed in black
The Story: And my blunt is my ho now
The Story: At home, drawing pictures, Of mounds of tots, With ham on top
"Waltzing Matilda" Funny Misheard Song Lyrics
by Unknown
Did you or a friend mishear a lyric from "Waltzing Matilda" by Unknown? Click here and tell us!
Misheard "Waltzing Matilda" LyricsAnd he sang as he stowed that dumb f**k
Other Songs by UnknownFamily Guy Theme Song
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I was so excited when my girl Dania (@fluffyjo) told me that there was going to be a Natural hair meet up in Oakland this weekend. "Naturals Night Out" is hosted by Natural Selection and will take place Saturday, April 9th, 2011 at Head Designs Hair Salon. Starting at 7 pm, natural from all over will gather for evening of fun, music, and advice for top hair stylists specializing in natural hair. There will be champagne, there will be giveaways, and even demonstrations. This event is sponsored by Komaza Care Products and NaturallyCurly.com. I think this is dope and I've always wanted to go to a meet up so why not come and network with similar individuals like yourself.
For more DEETS on how you can be apart of this fabulous night please visit Natural Selection Blog
Registration is $25 and it includes lots of goodies you can take home. So share this event with your friends!


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Updated, March 15: And finally, to round out the series, the AlphaGo AI has taken the last game against Lee Se-dol to end the match 4-1.
DeepMind's Demis Hassabis said that AlphaGo made an "initial big mistake," but managed a "mind-blowing" comeback. Lee, at the post-game press conference, said the match had been very difficult from a psychological perspective.
We can probably now conclude that AlphaGo is better than any human player of Go. Or, at the very least, it definitely will be after DeepMind makes a few tweaks following the match.
The final match was a long, drawn-out affair. You can watch it below:
Updated, March 13: Somewhat surprisingly, Lee Se-dol has finally won a game against AlphaGo, taking the current match score to 1-3. With only one game left to be played, Lee can't win the match, but at least Lee has shown there's hope for humanity yet.
Demis Hassabis, chief of the DeepMind group that created AlphaGo, said during the game that the Go-playing AI made a mistake on move 79, but didn't realise until move 87. That mistake was seemingly enough for Lee to eke out a victory.
At the post-game press conference, Lee was greeted by a massive round of applause. "I've never been congratulated so much just because I won one game," said Lee.
"Lee Se-dol is an incredible player and he was too strong for AlphaGo today," said Hassabis at the press conference. "For us this loss is very valuable. We're not sure what happened yet."
The final game of the series begins at 4am GMT on March 15 (00:01am EST). You can watch AlphaGo's first professional loss below:
Original story
Late on Tuesday night, Google's DeepMind AI group began its show down against one of the world's best human Go players, Lee Se-dol of South Korea. Now by the end of the week, the search giant's robotic hivemind has defeated humanity 3-0 in a clean sweep.
The matchup was best of five games in total between AlphaGo (DeepMind's Go-playing software) and Lee, all played at the Four Seasons hotel in Seoul. The winner of the series receives a $1 million (£700,000) prize—so with DeepMind winning, it will donate the proceeds to charity. Lee, by virtue of being a champion prizefighter who has spent most of his life honing his Go skills, still received about £100,000 just for turning up.
Match one
In the very tense initial game seen above, AlphaGo defeated Lee Se-dol. Lee, who is 32, was confident heading into the match that he could beat AlphaGo either 5-0 or 4-1 this time around. "I have heard that Google DeepMind's AI is surprisingly strong and getting stronger, but I am confident that I can win at least this time," Lee said in statement on February 4. In a follow-up interview with the Associated Press on February 22, he added: "But if artificial intelligence continues to advance, in a year or two years, it will be really hard to guess the results."
Speaking after the first game, Lee wasn't shaken and still felt he could win. However, he admitted to being "very surprised... I didn't expect to lose. I didn't think AlphaGo would play the game in such a perfect manner."
Match two
AlphaGo defeated Lee Se-dol again in the second of five games, see above, to take the tally to 2-0.
"Yesterday I was surprised, but today it's more than that—I am quite speechless," said Lee Se-dol at the post-game press conference. "I have to say, if you look at how the game was played, I admit that it was a very clear loss on my part. From the very beginning of the game ... there was not a moment in time where I felt that that I was leading."
DeepMind's Demis Hassabis was also "speechless," adding that "we're very pleased that AlphaGo played some quite surprising and beautiful moves, according to the commentators, which was amazing to see."
During the Q&A section of the press conference, when Lee Se-dol was asked whether AlphaGo had any weaknesses or not, he replied with a smile. "Well I guess I lost the game because I wasn't able to find a weakness."
Hassabis said that's why the match with Lee Se-dol is so useful—to find out what AlphaGo's weaknesses are.
Match three
And to start this weekend, AlphaGo won its third straight game against Lee Se-dol, thus ending the match. The last two games will still be played, however, with the fourth game starting at 4am GMT (11pm EST) tonight and the final showdown happening on Monday night. Lee still has a shot at earning £15,000 for each game that he wins.
At the post-game press conference following his third loss, Lee apologised for not being able to beat AlphaGo and asked people to continue watching the rest of the series.
The third game was notable because AlphaGo had to engage with Lee in a number of ko fights—a scenario that had not occurred in the first two games. There had been some speculation that ko were one of AlphaGo's weaknesses, but that's clearly not the case.
Back in October, AlphaGo beat three-time European champion Fan Hui 5-0. The artificial intelligence community was shocked by the result. Go includes about 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000 possible positions to choose from, and the game can't be won with "simple" brute-force search techniques (with current amounts of processing power, anyway).
Instead, AlphaGo uses a novel mix of deep neural network machine learning and tree search techniques. Without getting into the complexities of it, DeepMind taught AlphaGo how to play the game by watching human Go masters play. The system then honed its strategy by pitching instances of AlphaGo against each other in a process known as reinforcement learning. Thousands (or millions?) of iterations later (with a bit of AI secret sauce), and AlphaGo was ready to, er, go.
Updated, March 12: The piece has been expanded throughout the week to add in and reflect the most recent match results. It originally ran on March 8 to preview everything ahead of the first match.
Listing image by Flickr user LNG0004


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I'm linking this poem to the wonderful dVerse Poets Pub community. It's Open Link Night, which means any kind of poetry form or topic goes!
The Rival
Google in grey-green dawn
search the directory for images of the rival
knowing only her profession and nationality
you stumble on pictures of doting mammas enclutched by wild-eyed bambini,
sunglass posers posting nothing but world travels and bliss
and Facebook status confirms indeed their elevation,
one splendour in tattoos and bikini against an anonymous beach background…
Which to choose?
Which one to spit?
You don't know why you need to stick the thorn in deeper
or dig at the wound oozing with rank pus.
You let their names perform saltos on your tongue,
savour their multiple vowels, feel the firmness of foreign consonants,
their flesh, their purpose, their youth… and cry foul.
You cannot fixate on any one
so they form a togetherness, a ripple army
of seduction and accusation:
'you neglect so he's mine'.
Meanwhile your own dereliction
your ruin, your addiction,
howls night after night
in has beens, what ifs and too lates.


text:
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text:
"Chappie," "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and "Unfinished Business" will square off at the multiplexes this weekend, but alas, futuristic robots, Vince Vaughn and a double dose of Dev Patel won't deliver enough of a spark to reignite the box office.
Ticket sales had been muscular for the first two months of 2015, but business veered off course last weekend after Will Smith's "Focus" failed to deliver the kind of punch the industry has grown to expect from one of its biggest stars. Expect another drop this weekend, because none of the new films hitting the market can match the $45 million that "300: Rise of an Empire" made or the $32.2 million that "Mr. Peabody and Sherman" generated when they debuted in the year-ago period.
Sony Pictures' "Chappie" looks to be the strongest of the new releases. The film which cost $49 million to make, centers on a police droid that learns to think and feel. It's an offbeat science-fiction adventure from Neill Blomkamp, the director of "District 9" and "Elysium." In addition to the lovable robot, Patel, Sigourney Weaver and Hugh Jackman are on hand to lend some Homo sapiens support. Some analysts predict that the film will hit $20 million when it debuts on more than 3,200 screens, but Sony is pegging a debut in the $15 million to $16 million range.
"Chappie" should have no trouble vanquishing "Unfinished Business," which is shaping up to be another box office disappointment for Vaughn. The funnyman has stumbled of late with duds such as "The Internship," "The Watch" and "Delivery Man," and he may have to wait for the arrival of the second season of "True Detective" to get his career back on track. "Unfinished Business" is being distributed by Fox in 2,777 locations and should make between $5 million and $6 million. The film cost $35 million to produce and was financed by New Regency.
Faring better, "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," an unlikely sequel aimed at the AARP set, lands in 1,572 locations. The Fox Searchlight release will kick off to approximately $7 million and should have impressive stamina. The first "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" made $46.4 million domestically, but put up that number without ever showing on more than 1,300 theaters at any one time or making more than $9 million in a single weekend. The look at snowbirds in India brings back Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Patel (he's everywhere!), while adding Richard Gere to the mix. It cost less than $10 million to bring the picture to the screen.
Among holdovers, "Focus" should drop 50% from its debut of $18.7 million, bringing in roughly $10 million in its sophomore weekend of release and grabbing second place on the charts. Look for "American Sniper" to potentially hit $336 million at the Stateside box office after this weekend, which would see it match "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1" as the highest-grossing 2014 release domestically.
In limited release, Sony Pictures Classics will premiere "Merchants of Doubt," a documentary about spin doctors, in a handful of arthouse theaters.
Box office salvation remains tantalizingly close. The following weekend brings Disney's live-action version of "Cinderella," which should make its way back from the ball with roughly $60 million in party favors.