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A Russian, Frenchman, Irishman, and me. Drinking.
Vodka. Lots of different kinds of vodka. And some beer, too.
All for national pride.
Sounds like the start of a joke, but this challenge was for real. I think the four of us covered the hardest drinking nationalities, but we would only distinguish the pretenders from the real men at the end of the last night. Hint: it wasn't the Russian.
I really enjoyed St. Petersburg. I came via the 72 hour visa-free rule, and left regretting not getting a real visa and staying longer. Even one more night would have made a difference. And before you get the wrong idea, the drinking was but a small detour in the reasons I fell in love with this city.
I was excited to go to St. Petersburg. I had been to Moscow before on an "in-and-out" business trip, but that left no impression of the country. I was eager to experience Russia for the first time. Moscow may be the political and commercial capital of the country, but St. Petersburg has always been the cultural center.
Getting a Russia visa is cumbersome and expensive. While researching Helsinki, however, I discovered that Russia offers a visa loophole. Cruise passengers coming from Helsinki to St. Petersburg are allowed to stay in the country for 72 hours without a visa, provided that they are part of a tour group. St. Peter Cruise Line of Russia monopolizes this route. They also provide a sham "City Bus Tour" to solve the tour group loophole issue. The bus simply shuttles passengers to and from the ship to the city center, without any real "tour."
I had my moments of anxiety about travel logistics, but it was about the return as opposed to the entry. I had never been on a cruise before, and I realized that I didn't know how long it would take to disembark and clear customs. On my return, I needed to catch a flight to Copenhagen, but would I have enough time? After a bunch of hand wringing and asking around, I managed to figure things out and headed off to the boat.
Even though I had come three hours before departure, I was surprised to see that two burly Russians were already in the cabin. They stank of stale beer and body odor. They spoke little English but grunted a lot. They stripped off to their underwear, turned off the lights, and went right to bed without a word. I figured they had been partying it up the night before in Helsinki and now wanted to sleep. I wasn't going to disturb them, but I wasn't just going to sit in the dark either. So I left. You know the saying: don't disturb sleeping bears. I took my backpack with valuables, including my laptop, with me, just to be safe.
I found an indoor deckchair, which wasn't easy because the rains had driven everyone inside. I sat down and did work for a couple hours. For dinner, I ate the sandwich I had bought at a grocery store, since the food on this particular cruise line is reputed to be very bad and quite expensive. Finally, I was on my way to Russia.
From this rather complicated beginning, I had the most marvelous of trips. S t. Petersburg is a treasure trove of cultural and historical sites. I tend to avoid museums, but I did two, yes two, in this city. The Russian Museum has the world's largest collection of Russian Art, and I enjoyed it.
The highlight, however, was the Hermitage. Only the Louvre and the Met can rival the Hermitage's collection. To my surprise, I wished that I had even more time than the half day I allotted to the Hermitage. I cannot rave enough about this museum, and I was lucky as they were co-sponsoring an extensive modern art exhibit as well for a few weeks. The exhibits enthralled me. That was even before I saw a Russian woman walking around the exhibits in a sheer skirt with no underwear! What? In a museum? See if you can find the photo in the album. It's hard to miss. On a serious note, I liked the Hermitage more than any museum in a long time, and hope that I can go back soon. It's remarkable when you consider the fact that it was also the Imperial Winter Palace back in the day.
St. Petersburg's other historical buildings, and the overall streets and canals, were both picturesque and full of history. The weather didn't cooperate the first day, so I covered the same route on a later day when the weather turned gorgeous. Compare the photos. It's amazing the difference that good lighting and weather can make.
I also spent half a day wandering the outskirts of St. Petersburg. Tourists rarely venture out this far, largely because of the language barrier and because the core center offers so much for the visitor. I wanted to see how most average Russians live, so pursuant to a Lonely Planet suggestion, I hopped on the metro and explored a couple areas.
One stop had Stalinist era apartments which contrast sharply to the beautiful buildings serving as living quarters in the core city. But then again, I had also discovered that many of those "beautiful" buildings in the core city were mere facades; I snuck into the courtyards of some of the structures and discovered decay, crumbling infrastructure, and beat up elevators. Perhaps on a future trip, I can get to the bottom of all this.
The second stop took me out to the suburbs, where I found that most of the structures were basically shacks that the locals kept up as best as they could. They didn't live in huts, but this view reminded me very clearly that Russia is a country with a developing, not developed, economy. The government wants to project an image as a super power, and the cores of St. Petersburg or Moscow resemble that of any major developed city. However, just as with the buildings and their shabby back alleys, Russia is not yet a modern economy beneath its gleaming, beautiful surface. Traveling beyond the tourist center confirmed that.
The food was also quite good. I tried everything from traditional Russian fare to a Korean restaurant for lunch. The city is neither cheap nor expensive, so it was fun trying different kinds of places, and I found almost all of them worthwhile.
Now for the vodka.
In Russian, vodka is derived from the word for "water." And Russians like to drink it as if it were water. One of my roommates in my hostel was a Russian web game programmer who currently lives in New Zealand. He emigrated from Vladivostok Russia when he was 19, but often returns to the motherland as a tourist. We struck up an immediate friendship when he found out how much of a fan I was of New Zealand's south island.
The World Cup was in full swing. Due to the time difference, however, the games were not on until late. But that's OK, because St. Petersburg was in the middle of their "white nights" summer. In the summer months, the sun sets, but hovers near the horizon for an extended period so that the skies never seem to get quite dark. The nights are white. The locals use this as an excuse to stay out and have a good time until, well, the sun actually rises again. This is reinforced by the fact that St. Petersburg is a series of islands. The metro ceases running and the bridges are raised and uncrossable after a certain hour. Just as in Tokyo, where the salarymen are "forced" to stay out drinking all night if they miss their last train to the suburbs, the local Russians stay out all night if they are "stranded" in the core island.
In any case, we were joined by a primary school teacher from the U.K. and a construction engineer from France. The first night, we went to a local bar and had a hoot of a time watching the game. I don't even recall who won, but everyone was drinking and cheering and booing. Sure enough, by the game's end, everyone in the bar was friends with everyone else. Everyone was also totally s*faced. To their credit, the Englishman and Frenchman held up pretty well. I think I did as well. The Russian? Well, the Russian was definitely teetering. Somehow, we managed to drag his limp body back to the hostel. There was still a lot of touring to do the next day!
The next night was my final night in St. Petersburg. Ahh, the damn 72 hour limitation. The USA would be playing in the World Cup quarterfinals, but not until midnight. We decided to hit some of the more popular non-sports watering holes first. The Russian claimed that he zonked out the prior night because he had been drinking during the day, so had been way ahead of us in alcohol intake when we started that prior evening. As juvenile as this sounds, he boasted he would outdrink us all this night.
Now, I like to drink. And sometimes I get drunk as a result. But my days of drinking just for the sake of getting drunk are long behind me. I think the other two guys felt the same, but we humored him and his bravado. We each beat our chest and boasted about the strength of our nationalities. It was our own mini World Cup of sorts, but with vodka.
We ended up bar hopping and having a blast. We met and made friends with many locals, learned and sang a bunch of Russian songs, and had a generally great time. My favorite bar in St. Petersburg is Fidel (yes, named after that Fidel), but all the bars are largely indistinguishable, including a bar named Barakobama (Russians apparently can't spell). It was just pure, good natured fun.
Somewhere in the middle of the night, however, the Russian disappeared. He wasn't looking too well, so we figured he just went back to the hostel to sleep it off. The three of us continued to bar hop until around 2 am, when we headed back to the hostel. We even caught on the lounge TV the tail end of the USA game which had gone into extra periods. Overall, this was one of the bigger party nights I'd had in awhile, and quickly fell asleep.
I woke up fairly early the next morning to squeeze in my last bit of sightseeing before I had to head back to the cruise boat. I felt hungover, but I've been in worse shape. Alas, I stumbled badly when I tripped over something in the common room. Huh? I looked down, and it was the Russian. He was crawled up like a ball on the floor, moaning softly. I tried to wake him up, but it was hopeless. I had to get going so I reluctantly left him there.
When I returned that afternoon to collect my bags, I found him semi-asleep on the sofa. He stirred as I was checking out. I asked him if he was OK. He replied that he felt really sick and had been throwing up since the prior night. I asked him what happened. He said that he left us because he "met some chicks" at our last bar and disappeared clubbing with them and did a bunch of shots and got wasted as a result. Hmmmm. OK. Sure. Anyway, he was a nice enough guy so I wished him the best and headed out. I hope he survives the rest of his trip. He is a heavyweight drinker in his mind but a lightweight in the real world.
By the way, I think the Frenchman won. I saw him that morning and he looked totally unfazed. The Englishman looked like I did, not terrible but surely showing some wear and tear, and a bit of the bleary eyes. The French guy, however, looked at us with a questioning look, inquiring "what eez the big deal?" So based upon this small sample, France has the strongest drinkers and Russia the weakest. France won our mini World Cup.
Overall, St. Petersburg was a great trip. I feel as though I spent every waking hour on the run, either as a tourist or just out having fun. And yet, I feel like I only scratched the surface of this complicated, interesting, historical city. A common tourist complaint is the unfriendliness of Russians. I found the exact opposite. Whether in the bars, stores, streets or even the suburbs of this wonderful city, I found most Russians to be friendly and approachable. I hope to be back soon to continue my adventures.
***Photos here: St. Petersburg


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Welcome to the Wrath of El Pato! No news this week, lets get right to today's topic:
So I finished Lost Odyssey. Well, slaved away to the end would be more accurate. As much of an advocator of storytelling in video games that I am, this is the first time where I think they could have dumped the story of LO in exchange for something more…well playable.
Let's get things straight, I love the ATB system. As far as turn based RPGs go it creates a good adrenaline rush in between the chaos that isn't the "We hit you, now you hit us" fest. I don't mind turn based games. Old school RPGs are a rarity nowadays. I welcome them but, some games do it right, and some don't. LO doesn't do it right, in fact, it fails miserably.
The only thing that kept me going was its story, which, was original in every way up to the point of the vice-ish bad guy that had absolutely no redeeming qualities in him. You wanna know why Sephiroth was awesome? Because he was a good guy who turned into a complete scumbag, who we identified with. Hate FFIX all you want, but main villain Kuja was fighting for his own survival in that game.
Gongora just wants to tear stuff up and laugh his ass off about it. He's worse than Golbez from FFIV, and that's saying something. Ok, bad-guy comparisons aside, you may notice I am bringing up Final Fantasy games. Might as well, it's obvious the developers want this to be a continuation of Final Fantasy.
We all need to accept it, Final Fantasy is slowly going the way of Tomb Raider.
But back to Lost Odyssey. The gameplay is bad. Anyone who read my blog where I fight a bad-guy in a forced party of mages and he casts reflect on himself knows, that they have bad game design in here. The skill system was broken beyond belief, simply because having SEVEN levels of magic was ridiculous. How about four levels and a bunch of stat bonuses that accessories have? Let's not forget that at the end of the game you can't have any of your mortals selectable for the final battle. While at this point, I am using immortals, it would be nice if they would let me choose my part a la Final Fantasy VI rather than forcing me to use certain characters. What about gamers who slaved away with Jansen or Mack as their favorite character, only to have them snapped away for the final boss battle?
The story was awesome, but it took me a year to slog through this game because I just dreaded every part of it that wasn't a cut-scene, which is sad because I buy video games to PLAY them. Even Metal Gear Solid II, with its faults, was an enjoyable game to play. It had too many cut-scenes, but aside from them, when I played it, it was FUN! Lost Odyssey doesn't do that.
LO starts off promising enough, we have a battle, we have two sides, and we have a bad ass named Kaim going ape-shit through the war-zone. After that you get Seth, an ex pirate who forgets her memory, and Janson, the one character that saves any bad parts of the story.
From there you realize that everyone that is immortal came from another world (cool) they live 1000 years for every year in the other world (ok cool) Gongora got possessed by emotions and power (huh? Well ok) and they need to stop him.
It's just at that fourth disc where everything goes bad for the awesome story, because you are no longer saving a party members life or conducting the funeral for the main characters kid, no, you're just going to a bunch of random places that the developers threw in at the last minute because they could find no purpose elsewhere. Luckily, it ends soon enough and I never worried about it.
This is the problem: Lost Odyssey tells me that JRPG's are in fact, dead. The fact is, they really shouldn't be. If they could invoke a cool combat system and be innovative (which is what I think they try to do with games in the first place), they could keep going. Who doesn't like a huge story, as linear as it is, but some cool battle system to keep it fresh and the pursuit of "What F*cking happens next?". Final Fantasy X did it! Xenogears did it! Did anyone bitch? NO! Reviewers went off on the linearity but I never minded it. Now with a game like this it's linear, with a cool story, but they figured that with a good story they could half ass the system. NO! Much like good graphics do not make a game, the same can be true about a storyline.
Storylines in games are wonderful things. A video game is an awesome medium to tell an original story, but developers need to know to not half ass the rest of the content, much like graphics rich games and take some pride in their work. If they made LO fun to play, I would be going back through it. The problem is, I remember a killer story, but I don't have the energy to play such a bad game again.


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N1.6 billion church donation claim untrue, EFCC insists
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) yesterday challenged the claim that the N1.6 billion linked to a former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan was a donation to the Anglican Communion in Bayelsa State.
Counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, challenged the ex-presidential aide, Dr. Waripamo-Owei Dudafa, to show evidence that any part of the money was transferred to the church.But Dudafa replied that only his former principal, Jonathan, could explain that.
The EFCC is prosecuting Dudafa for alleged fraud of N1.6 billion, alongside Joseph Iwuejo, a banker who the EFCC said was his account officer in Heritage Bank.The respondents opened their defence on Monday after the court had dismissed their applications for no-case submission. Dudafa had, while being led in evidence by his counsel, Mr. Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), contended that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing as alleged by the EFCC.
According to him, the N1.6 billion found in the account of Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited, which the EFCC linked to him, is not proceeds of fraud; but part of the money donated to Jonathan's church in Otuoke to build St. Stephen's Youth Development Centre.
Dudafa explained that following a fundraiser organised in Lagos, the ex-president instructed him to follow up with Prince Arthur Eze, who pledged $10 million (about N1.8 billion).
He said the Jonathan asked him to look for someone in the private sector who could help to keep the $10 million once Eze redeemed his pledge.As a result, he reportedly got an ex-military man, Somprie Omiebi, who lodged the money in the Heritage Bank account of Avalon Global Property Development Company Limited.
However, under cross-examination by the EFCC counsel yesterday, Dudafa was presented with the statement of account of Avalon and was asked to point out if there was any money transferred from the account to the church.
Responding, Dudafa said: "From Exhibit B (the account statement), no fund was transferred to the Anglican Communion of Otuoke Community. I can't see it. It couldn't have been because only the former president could have given directive on what to do."Asked by Oyedepo to name the Bishop of the Anglican Communion of Otuoke Community, Dudafa said: "I don't know; I only related with the former president."
In the course of the cross-examination, Oyedepo asked Dudafa to point out to the court from the statement of account that a sum of N30 million was transferred on November 25, 2013 to The Jakes Fast Food and Restaurant, in which Dudafa had the highest share and often addressed himself as the chairman.
The EFCC counsel also showed Dudafa the statement of account of The Jakes Fast Food and Restaurant with the Guarantee Trust Bank. Oyedepo said: "It is correct that as of today, the funds that are in the account of The Jakes, paid by a Bureau De Change operator, Murtala Bashir, is in excess of N500 million."
The prosecutor also led Dudafa to point out some fund transfers running to several millions of naira to individuals and firms.The case was adjourned till September 7, 2018.
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Why FHICC
Faith Heritage International Christian Centre (aka FHICC) is a Christian Ministry that places an emphasis on making impact in the Society through our emphasis on the uncompromised word of God. Our core focus is Raising Life Champions. We believe that no matter the challenges that you face in Life, you can overcome and you can become the Champion that God designed you to be.
We are Passionate about People, passionate about Life and focussed on helping you discover the reason for your life – YOUR PURPOSE.
We believe that Church should be an interesting and enjoyable place of worship, with other like-minded people. So if you have given up on God, or on traditional Church Services, or think Church is Boring, Sermons are Long and Irrelevant, Christians Unfriendly and Patronising, we will like you to THINK AGAIN, then come and experience the difference.


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The survivor of an attempted beheading began testimony today in Oklahoma City.
"He wouldn't stop," Traci Johnson, 46, said of the assault at a Moore food plant on Sept. 25, 2014. "He was just going back and forth like he was cutting a piece of meat."
She was forced to sit in the same room with the man that murdered one of her co-workers in September 25, 2014 and then attempted to kill her as well. She was only saved when another employee of the Moore Food plant interrupted the attempted murder
In court she identified her assailant as murder defendant Alton Alexander Nolen, who had just been suspended from his job at Vaughan Foods for making racists remarks.
The day of the attack he kept nagging her. At one point he stated that he "hates white people" and that he "beats up white people". Later that same day he attacked and killed her co-worker by beheading, and the later attacked her.
Nolen has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the case. During the proceedings he sat with his head in his hands but expressed little in the way of remorse.
The trial is expected to continue for some weeks.
Nolan is known to be Muslim and his attorney's are using this as part of his defense. They are stating that part of his teachings have warped his mind and that he is technically insane. You can read more about the case here.
This is one of many workplace violence crimes that have been attributed to Muslims in the U.S. in recent years. You can also find more information on violent crimes in Oklahoma here.
The expected sentence in the case is life.


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[Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
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Topic: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion (Read 5390 times)
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #15 on:
April 01, 2010, 07:10:08 AM »
On Survivability
- If you take a look at the history of warfare, you'll notice that at certain periods in the arms race, defensive technology surpasses offensive technology. To name a few, there was the Roman phalanx with their enormous walls of shields, and then in the late medieval period there was plate armor.
Take a look at modern warfare. Two decades ago, armor consisted of a helmet and a flak jacket. Assault rifles made swiss cheese out of them. Then, there was a quarter inch thick steel plate that took a single round then broke. Today, soldiers have vests where you can stick plates into pockets in order to get the level of protection they desire. They can eat a few rounds in their torso and continue fighting like nothing happened. And then there's that Dragon Skin armor that can supposedly absorb a grenade blast.
From this information, I extrapolated that not too far in the future, defensive technology will once again allow high gradients of survivability against small-arms fire to those supported by it. So in Nevercast, yes there are bullet hoses and magnetic accelerator rifles, but there are also high-grade ceramic full-coverage plates with synthetic polymer/carbon nanotube weave underlays. Even 50 caliber rounds can be stopped by quality post-modern armor.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #16 on:
April 01, 2010, 04:02:15 PM »
You need swords just because some a-hole will want to fight with one. Also, though tech is common place, I'm sure there are some pockets of cultures (3rd world countries, street gangs, mercs that are a little 'off') that would use some sword of similar melee weapon. Better to have it all figured out and not use it then try and come up with something on the fly when GMing
How soon till we see a break down of all the core rules? I think you got a real winner of a system brewing.
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #17 on:
April 01, 2010, 06:28:43 PM »
I've decided that traditionalist masters will have swords, but that these weapons are specially commissioned by religious orders for them; doubtful you'll be able to randomly find them out in the world. Even African tribesmen have AK-47s.
As far as a timeline for a beta is concerned, I can't make a judgment with any measure of accuracy. I am prone to hacking away countless hours of work if I believe I can do it better.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #18 on:
April 01, 2010, 08:05:20 PM »
The never ending pursuit of perfection. Good luck!
I'm a bit confused about your point on swords. Are you saying the only people what would have swords are those that train extensively in the Martial Arts? Any other combatant will just use a fire arm of some sort because they are so common? I can understand your reservation about having the feel of the world you are building 'cheapened' by trying to have some one bring a sword to a gun fight and think that it's a good idea, but sometimes you just got to jump a guy with your machete and hope for the best.
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #19 on:
April 01, 2010, 08:35:53 PM »
I don't really regard machetes in the same respect as swords, but I understand the point you're trying to make. Naturally, non-martial hand-held weapons would be ubiquitous as well, including machetes, but not swords designed specifically for martial use.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #20 on:
April 02, 2010, 05:22:55 AM »
So how would the sword differ mechanically speaking?
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #21 on:
April 03, 2010, 07:12:34 AM »
Very high penetrating power for thrusts in order to bypass armor (rigid outer layer; extremely keen tip; tapered edge). Thus, a traditionalist master expects to fight high-powered opponents in close-quarters combat. Against strong armors, a two-handed thrust may be utilized by gripping the blade. The length may also be used as a "feeler" for avoiding the aim of a firearm in a melee and potentially slicing fingers and wrists.
I've been having basic physics discussions with a friend of mine who is educated about physics and guns and body armors and stuff, so I'm *fairly* certain a sword with the right specifications could penetrate rigid armor with a strong thrust by an exponent who can use their body to generate a lot of force, but I'm not sure. If I'm incorrect, then a master may just opt for a knife precisely aimed at exposed underlay and use the sword for lightly-armored opponents.
I'm also hoping I can realistically design the sword to attract the energy of electric weapons and store it into a battery located inside the grip.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #22 on:
April 03, 2010, 08:33:06 AM »
Having a sword penetrate fancy body armour meant to stop 50 cal machine gun rounds might be a stretch. Guess it comes to how superhuman are traditional masters are and what kind of technocheese you are willing to put in your system.
I see a future sword being more like an old school Rapier where the goal was penetrating the weaker armour around joints.
Maybe a long thin titanium alloy body with a depleted uranium tip honed to needle point fineness, with a ribbon of some other material along the titanium frame to act as a cutting edge. The tip could easily have small holes to allow the passage of compressed air if you wanted a WASP type weapon (
) or have some other metal that carries electricity well (how well does urainium carry a charge?) to act like a stun baton.
That could actually be a very effective tool against super armour soldiers, and would require no more technology than what we've had for for the past 50 years. Pin point a weak spot int he armour and disable the soldier inside.
Same could be done with a knife of course. I would imagine a nanofiber weave would act much the same as kevilar in that at acts more like a Net rather than a shield and very sharp things that don't deform their shape can penetrating them with less energy than squishy blunt things like bullets.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #23 on:
April 03, 2010, 08:53:25 AM »
More thoughts on super armour melee.
Short baton covered in serrations that allow a user to snag and control enemies and their weapons. The pommel is super dense hard spike has described above. The Idea being that you can use the baton to close distance from the Medium to Cramped range, grapple to uncover a weakspot, than strike with the pommel like a fist load which shouldn't incur minuses in such close quarters.
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #24 on:
April 03, 2010, 09:34:31 AM »
One idea was to give masters an internal arts technique that allows them to use concentration to make a "chi" strike. Old school tai chi striking techniques were designed to actually transfer force through armor, but now that there's high-quality soft armor available, I doubt I can sell that either.
So far, it seems like the most sensible course of action is to encourage bladed strikes through the weave areas of the armor, especially the armpits where you can puncture a lung. Since masters typically have high-level grappling techniques, it shouldn't be too hard for them to neutralize a firearm while they attempt to strike a weak point.
Idea for traditionalist master's equipment: knife, sword of beauty, sidearm + 2 clips (helps to close distance if necessary), torso body armor (weave+plating). A grandmaster of a technology cult may have entire ornate suit of armor.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #25 on:
April 03, 2010, 10:26:00 AM »
You could still push the Chi Strike angle. Chi is one of those things that is tantamount to magic on whether it exists or not. No one would really have grounds to say what it can or can't do, but it may be easier to suspend belief when someone tries to use it rather than going with the nitty gritty approach of grappling and striking at armpits.
I think it really is all about you wanting the feel of it in your game or not. And i would encourage you to write the rules on how to implement it anyways just so someone that wanted to use your system but have their own setting could have it at hand.
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #26 on:
April 03, 2010, 01:05:33 PM »
The rules for applying internal force are simple: 1 concentration = +1 base effect.
On a side note, I was thinking that for every point of effect, the PSI of force-based damage will increase by 100. This may help me to determine how many points of effect resistance armor should really have and how many points of strength a weapon's attack should really have. My physics buddy was telling me to convert it to newtons for some reason - especially in consideration to travelling bullets - but I'm not sure why yet.
I know that a boxer's punch typically ranges from 800-1000 PSI and kicks and knees from well-trained martial artists can reach up to 1500, so my attribute system (human attributes from 1-10) is already well-suited for the conversion, especially if you consider spinning back kicks and knee strikes as power attacks.
I wonder if I can find PSI measurements for shaolin monks...or Bruce Lee.
Posts: 54
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #27 on:
April 03, 2010, 02:26:06 PM »
I can kinda understand Newtons since it goes into straight force rather than relative pressure. The PSI of a punch would greatly increase if it was say a spear hand, thought the force would remain exactly the same. I prefer thinking in Kinetic energy and Momentum since these fit in nicely with projectile collisions, but these values become hard to logic though with complex motions like punching.
My physics is rusty, but 1000 PSI for a punch would equal about 4448 N/sqinch or 6896000 N/m^2
this might be of use to you
I think that must be a mistake, but who am I to judge? Here is where the value of Force would prove a better comparison since the force between his punches and mike tyson or bruce lee may be very small, but if he has tiny lady hands his PSI would be significantly greater.
Ar Kayon
Posts: 190
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #28 on:
April 03, 2010, 06:37:13 PM »
I don't know if my math is crap, but it appears as if a hard punch exerts more force than an actual bullet. I wish I had a vest handy so I could punch someone in it...for the sake of science of course. Anyway, if this is true, perhaps a master who can generate very high levels of force can inflict concussive damage upon a well-armored target if he follows through. And if he's using his bodyweight to enhance a sword thrust, then that too may penetrate whereas a high-caliber bullet may not.
I'm going to keep researching, but I appreciate the feedback. I see where this is going, though, so maybe newtons does make more sense than psi.
Posts: 46
Re: [Nevercast] - Indepth Setting Discussion
Reply #29 on:
April 03, 2010, 07:34:19 PM »
Quote from: Ar Kayon on April 03, 2010, 06:37:13 PM
I don't know if my math is crap, but it appears as if a hard punch exerts more force than an actual bullet. I wish I had a vest handy so I could punch someone in it...for the sake of science of course. Anyway, if this is true, perhaps a master who can generate very high levels of force can inflict concussive damage upon a well-armored target if he follows through. And if he's using his bodyweight to enhance a sword thrust, then that too may penetrate whereas a high-caliber bullet may not.
I'm going to keep researching, but I appreciate the feedback. I see where this is going, though, so maybe newtons does make more sense than psi.
The person firing the bullet feels all the force it exerts (equal and opposite reaction) so I suspect your math is not crap.
Mobius a.k.a Charles
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text:
This is my favorite slaw! It is full of healthy ingredients, and the dressing is simple and the addition of garlic takes it to a new level of delicious. If you only have green cabbage on hand, by all means go ahead a use it instead of the combination of the red & green cabbage and kale. This salad is addictive and complements so many other dishes, especially fried foods, sandwiches, and stews. I like to have this in my refrigerator at all times!
2 cups each, red and green cabbage
2 cups dinosaur Kale, cut into julienne strips
1 medium English cucumber, cut into thin half-moon slices
1/2 small red onion, cut into very thin half-round slices
1 medium red or green pepper cut into thin strips
1 large carrot, peeled and coarsely shredded
1 large clove of garlic, peeled and minced very fine
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons honey
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
3 Tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
Combine first 7 ingredients in a large bowl (cabbages through carrot).
Place remaining ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together well (garlic through dill).
Add the dressing to the vegetable in the bowl and stir well. Cover and refrigerator for at least an hour, preferably 2-3 hours. Serve.


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Experts on the IRS Whistleblower Program discussed the program's evolution, their own personal experiences in working within the program, what works, what doesn't and what needs to change.
This conference was a 3-day event from 5/1 - 5/3. Mr. Skarlatos presented his topic, "IRS Whistleblower Program: 10 Years on What Works, What Doesn't & What Must Change" on 5/3 at 9:00am.


text: From ramps, fiddeleheads and morels in the spring to an incredible array of heirloom apples in the fall, Gourmet Garage produce attracts the pickiest New York shoppers from near and far including some of the city's top chefs. They love our extensive selection of regional and local produce and well as our outstanding array of organic fruits and vegetables. You'll find all varieties of fresh herbs, and we even feature tropical and exotic selections like Red Treviso and Asian Cucumbers. Our shoppers know our melons are sweet; our suppliers employ a special system to check sugar content. For the best deals, look for our Weekly Wow! Specials.


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Horatio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (24 September 1717 – 2 March 1797), also known as Horace Walpole, was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician.
He had Strawberry Hill House built in Twickenham, south-west London, reviving the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors. His literary reputation rests on the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto (1764), and his Letters, which are of significant social and political interest. They have been published by Yale University Press in 48 volumes.
He was the son of the first British Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. As Horace Walpole was childless, on his death his barony of Walpole descended to his cousin of the same surname, who was created the new Earl of Orford. Read More
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Men are often capable of greater things than they perform. They are sent into the world with bills of credit, and seldom draw to their full extent.
--Horace Walpole, novelist and essayist (1717-1797)
(48:7.4) Few persons live up to the faith which they really have.
(48:7.6) Few mortals ever dare to draw anything like the sum of personality credits established by the combined ministries of nature and grace. The majority of impoverished souls are truly rich, but they refuse to believe it.
(28:6.5) The Memory of Mercy discloses the moral debt of the children of mercy—their spiritual liabilities—to be set down against their assets of the saving provision established by the Sons of God. In revealing the Father's pre-existent mercy, the Sons of God establish the necessary credit to insure the survival of all. And then, in accordance with the findings of the Significance of Origins, a mercy credit is established for the survival of each rational creature, a credit of lavish proportions and one of sufficient grace to insure the survival of every soul who really desires divine citizenship.
(28:6.7) The Memory of Mercy must show that the saving credit established by the Sons of God has been fully and faithfully paid out in the loving ministry of the patient personalities of the Third Source and Center. But when mercy is exhausted, when the "memory" thereof testifies to its depletion, then does justice prevail and righteousness decree. For mercy is not to be thrust upon those who despise it; mercy is not a gift to be trampled under foot by the persistent rebels of time. Nevertheless, though mercy is thus precious and dearly bestowed, your individual drawing credits are always far in excess of your ability to exhaust the reserve if you are sincere of purpose and honest of heart.
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I should dearly love that the world should be ever so little better for my presence. Even on this small stage we have our two sides, and something might be done by throwing all one's weight on the scale of breadth, tolerance, charity, temperance, peace, and kindliness to man and beast. We can't all strike very big blows, and even the little ones count for something. Read More
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Spurned pity can turn into cruelty just as spurned love turns into hate. Read More
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We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor. Read More
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We shall have wars and soldiers so long as the brute in us is untamed. Read More


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The Effects Of Gas MileagEPar autorepairtool dans Accueil le 10 Juillet 2017 à 08:49
Whoever you are, you're bound to feel the effects of the increase in the price of gas. The higher cost at the pump has left many families needing to tighten their purse strings. One way to cut your costs is to increase your gas mileage. Ok, so this may sound like an obvious solution, but there are loads of easy ways to improve your gas mileage.
One of the best ways to improve gas mileage and economy is to keep your vehicle maintained in good condition Autel MaxiSys. Try to make sure the tires are always fully inflated, as too little (or too much) pressure can have a significant impact on your gas mileage. Ensure that when your oil is changed you get your air filter inspected. Having a clean, working air filter also has an impact gas mileage. Making sure your car is well kept not only helps efficiency with gas mileage, but also helps ensure your car lasts that bit longer. With people keeping a closer eye on their budgets, it's a good idea to make you car last that bit longer.
You can also increase your gas mileage by watching your driving habits. There are several routine habits of many drivers that can have an impact on gas mileage Autel Maxidas DS808. The main change one can make to help improve gas mileage is to reduce your speed. By driving at or below the speed limit you can singifcantly improve your gas mileage, not to mention reducing your likelihood of having an accident. When driving in the city, it's a good idea to try and avoid sudden acceleration, which greatly decreases gas mileage. Similarly, quick and excessive breaking can also use more gas. To get the most usage out of each gallon, try to avoid these bad habits at all times. Riding the break is a common practice of younger or new drivers suffering from a lack of confidence and is a bad habit to develop, particularly in relation to fuel consumption.
If you are looking to buy a new car, it is a good idea to consider one of these new hybrid cars which promote efficiency in gas mileage. Nowadays, there are loads of models to choose from, thanks to the recent rise in gas pricing, Several of which get fantastic gas mileage. The hybrid car is not only good for gas mileage, and improving in appearance and performance all the time. The extortionate price of gas has led many manufactures to step up production of hybrid cars to help consumers achieve greater gas mileage. Due to the increasing numbers of hybrid cars, there is no longer the long waiting lists before purchasing such a car. Many dealers will now even have several hybrid cars in their showroom for you to choose from.
As well as changing your bad driving habits, you can also the number of times you use your car to improve gas mileage. Why not walk or ride a bike for shorter distances? Try also to incorporate multiple destinations into the same trip which will inevitably decrease the number of miles you have to drive. By making these small changes you can really save money at the gas pump by improving your gas mileage.
So think about it - with these minimal changes, you really can improve your gas mileage. It won't cost you anything, nor will it cause you any hassle, but it could save you an absolute fortunate.
If you'd like to read more information about gas mileage and vehicles please take the time to visit our website at Automotive Tips
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becoming a member
Super simple! You can cancel your account at any time by emailing us prior to your next renewal at firstname.lastname@example.com and we can do this for you. We hate to see anyone go (you especially), so please let us know if you are having issues and we will do our best to help.
No bloody way. We don't have a fee, you just pay for your underwear each month. We know you like things pretty simple, that's why we've made it the most upfront transparent system with no hidden fees.
All prices advertised are in Australian dollars (AUD).
Sorry, we don't accept PayPal at this time, but hopefully will soon. Only major credit cards. We only accept PayPal in our Shop.
CURRENT memberS
Currently from within your account you can update your delivery address as well as update your credit card details. Manage your account here.
Of course! Just head over to our shop and you'll see what we have available. Not all designs make it here though. If they do, they usually sell super fast – https://knobbyunderwear.com.au/shop
Unfortunately not. But if you're needing more KNOBBYs, just head over to our shop and you'll see what we have available. https://knobbyunderwear.com.au/shop
Sure can! When you first join the club, you'll be given the option to receive your KNOBBY monthly or, every 2nd, 3rd or even 4th month. We've temporarily disabled the option to update the plan on your account while we roll out our new system. In the meantime, If you need update your plan, email email@example.com and we can update it straight away for you.
Check out our Returns Policy here: https://knobbyunderwear.com.au/support/return-policy/
We take great care in ensuring the quality of our products. However, if you find a fault in your KNOBBY, please contact us within 14 days of receiving the product date at firstname.lastname@example.com so we can send you a new pair straight away. Please include a photo and description. This does not include general wear or damage to your KNOBBY by misuse, accident, modification, unauthorized repair or incorrect washing (please refer to our washing guidelines).
If your KNOBBY is returned to us for any reason we will contact you on your email address to notify you they've been returned and confirm your shipping address. If we need to resend your KNOBBY, there will be a small shipping and handling fee of $5 within Australia and $10 International.
Sizing & Prints
Have a look at our size guide here. Still not sure, email us so we can help!
Simply send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com and we can help!
If we have been silly buggers and accidentally sent the wrong size, please contact us within 14 days at firstname.lastname@example.com so we can send you a new pair straight away. Please include a photo of the size label.
You don't… it's a surprise! Each month there is a new unseen limited edition design.
KNOBBY is an underwear membership where you don't know what design you're going to get – it's like a lucky dip! We send out the same design to every member during a calendar month. Therefore, we can never replace them.
Orders are processed right away and we try our best make it leave our warehouse that same business day! However, please allow up to 10 business days.
Express Post: If your order is placed before 2pm AEST we'll ship it that same business day. This option is only available in the online store.
If you selected Priority Shipping, you'll receive a tracking number by email directly from Australia Post.
All shipments in Australia should arrive within 3 weeks or 15 working days. International shipments should arrive within 4 weeks, but they often can take up to 6 weeks to arrive. However, if it takes longer, feel free to contact us at email@example.com to look into the situation.
Nope! Your first order will be shipped within ten business days of your first purchase and then thereafter within five business days of each month.
The Underwear Club
Regular Post:
Australia: 1 Item – Free
New Zealand: 1 Item – $3
Regular With Tracking:
Australia: 1 Item – $4
Australia: 2+ Items – Free
New Zealand: 1 Item – $8
New Zealand: 2+ Items – $3
*For items purchased from our online store, simply enter your location for a quote.
Currently we only offer shipping to Australia, New Zealand, U.S.A and the United Kingdom. Keep an eye on our social media for any updates!
Your order will be charged in Australian (AUD) dollars. Because customs policies vary from country to country, international orders may be subject to local customs charges. Any customs, import duties and associated fees are the responsibility of the recipient.
Damn spam filters! Check your spam folder first and if you still can't find it, contact us by sending an email to email@example.com so we can see if there are any issues. You'll only receive a confirmation email on your first order.
We recommend washing in cold water either on their own or in a delicates washing bag. Never wash with other items that include velco or zippers, such as jeans or boardies.
Now that's a helluva question! You can expect it to last around 50 washes.
We do as much in Australia as possible. So, we do all printing, packaging, designing and packaging here in Australia and then each KNOBBY is assembled in our factory in China.
Each KNOBBY is hand prepared, wrapped and dispatched from our warehouse on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Hell frigging no.
While we currently only sponsor a handful of athletes and amateur beer drinkers, we're always on the lookout for more awesomeness. Email firstname.lastname@example.com with a detailed resume along with any other bits and pieces that you feel would help.
Still can't find your answer? Send us an email.


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Below are guides to St. Timothy's for those who are new to Church, or who have not visited us before. Please feel free to contact us for further details.
If you've never been to Church before, or if you've never been to St. Timothy's before, the following guides are here to provide an overview of what to expect.


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Duke Controller was introduced when Microsoft first went into the console business because of its huge size which was one of a kind. The controller was labeled as 'Duke' because of massive size which wasn't its original name.
Players having small hands found problems with the handling. The problem was quickly acknowledged by Microsoft and went back to a more compatible controller. Smaller Xbox S controller was then first launched in Japan after that, every Xbox controller has been seen with minor changes, but Microsoft never went back to Duke!
While Duke was a long way from being the official controller, essentially condemned for being excessively massive particularly when looking at other controllers, there were many individuals who enjoyed its outline and maybe that is the reason Microsoft was never keen on reproducing it for the newer consoles.
Hyperlink Started working on Duke's remake and distribution. Though Hyperlink finally completed the Xbox One Classic Duke Controller project and announced a release date at the end of March.
At E3 the new release announced but the details on time and price were uncertain. Now we have a release date of late March. Although the price is labeled at $69.99. The controller is a remake of the Duke introduced back with original Xbox. The Xbox One Classic Duke Controller will work on both Windows 10 PCs and Xbox One.
Those who haven't used Duke before the Duke was massive in size, causing issues that lead to complaints. While few liked the unique style. That to me seems, the only reason why Microsoft is going back to its original design.


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Tuesday, January 19, 2016
3 comments:
- Rainey's Craft Room said...
This is a fabulous entry for our Fantasy challenge this week, thank you for joining us at Passion for Promarkers.
Lorraine DT
- January 19, 2016 at 8:54 PM
- Merry said...
What a great layout and perfect sentiment for the image Gail. Thanks for sending through the cat image again. It worked second time round. I have added it to my Digital Stamp folder and hopefully don't take too long to use it. :-)
- January 20, 2016 at 11:23 AM
- Anna Jasiolek said...
Lovely card, great layout and coloring. Thank you for joining our 'fantasy' challenge at Passion for ProMarkers and please come back again.
- February 2, 2016 at 8:12 PM
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text:
Exploring queerness in Hellcat!
NYCC '17 INTERVIEW: Kate Leth talks witches, magics, and queer representation in SPELL ON WHEELS
Kate Leth talks to The Beat about her self-made beginnings and transition to licensed work, which led to her current series Spell on Wheels for Dark Horse.
Leth and Levens bring Spell on Wheels to Dark Horse
Dark Horse has just announced a new five issue supernatural mini series, Spell on Wheels, by Kate Leth (Adventure Time: Seeing Red, Patsy Walker, a.k.a. Hellcat!) and Megan Levens (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10, Madame Frankenstein) with a cover by Ming Doyle (Girl Over Paris, Constantine: The Hellblazer). IT debuts in October but you […]
Kibbles 'n' Bits 3/11/16: Batman '89 and Secrets of Comics coloring revealed
A new column by Marissa Louise is the best thing I've ever read about coloring comics.
The All-New, All-Different Marvel Rundown Week Twelve: Patsy Walker Steals the Show
It's the All-New, All-Different Marvel Rundown, but is it really? Is it really our weekly column where we take a look at all the #1's in the brand new Marvel Universe? Or is it just a Patsy Walker A.K.A. Hellcat! #1 review? The answer it seems is both, as the only #1 from Marvel is […]
Sex Crims #12 Delayed, but Chip Zdarsky Might Have a Morrisonian Tryst with Howard the Duck
So there's good news and there's bad news. Sex Criminals #12 has been delayed, now releasing on September 16th. Happily, however, the delay isn't due to writer Matt Fraction ending up in a MPreg fantasy become reality or artist Chip Zdarsky deciding he's more of a Hemingway than a Singer Sargent, but rather because of "high […]
You can now subscribe to Retrofit's dynamite 2015 lineup
If there's such a thing as "a big micro press" Retrofit Comics might just apply. With a monthly schedule of small, attractive books by the premiere cartoonists working, they've put out some of the most notable comics of the past few years, including Wicked Chicken Queen by Sam Alden, Tom Hart's Daddy Lightning, and Flocks by L. Nichols.
And now you can subscribe to the whole 2015 lineup, which is a stunner, including works by Olivier Schwawen, Matt Madden, Kate Leth and more.
The Valkyries: secret warrior women of comics shops
There was a time not too long ago when you could fit all the "women in comics" at a big table in a coffee shop. Now there re more than 300 women who just work in comics shops. That's the membership of The Valkyries, a private organization for female comics retail employees. and it turns out the group has been instrumental in promoting a coupld of books that have had great success this year, namely Saga and Lumberjanes. Janelle Asselin interviews group founder Kate Leth for all the details:
Submissions Are Open for Erotica Anthology 'Smut Peddler 2014'
Smut Peddler, the lady-led erotic anthology edited by Johanna Draper Carlson and C. Spike Trotman, will be returning in 2014 for a new volume. And to set up for that launch, an open call for submissions from women and female/male creative teams has been put out. The anthology will feature probably quite filthy work from […]
24 Hours of Women Cartoonists: Kate Leth
First off, Kate Leth is a fan of The Spice Girls, so immediately you should be ready to welcome her into your world with open arms. Secondly, her webcomic series Kate or Die! is a fantastical piece of work, with each strip offering something new, but all drawn in her bouncy, glamorous style. Each new […]


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Training and Workshops
DescriptionITS offers a variety of workshops and training sessions for using popular software programs and various IT services.
Blackboard Teaching with Technology workshops are available to faculty across a wide range of topics, and are offered in face-to-face, online and webinar formats.
Computer Applications Workshops are offered for numerous Microsoft products, Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver, and several campus IT services. Special sessions can be offered for offices or departments; ITS may be able to develop courses to address specific needs.
Customized, hands-on training is available for using the Integrated Administrative System (IAS), the University's system for maintaining student and human resources records. To request training, submit a Service Desk Request or call (518) 442-3700.
Unless noted otherwise, all face-to-face classes are held in the ITS Classroom in LCSB 30A. In the event of a cancellation, ITS will notify attendees as soon as possible.
- Blackboard's Teaching with Technology Workshops Schedule
- Computer Applications Classes Schedule
- IAS Training
- iLearn Workshops @ UAlbany Libraries offer instruction in web applications, Adobe applications, audio and video programs and research strategies.
- Institute for Teaching, Learning & Academic Leadership Workshop and Events Schedule
- Learn more about COEUS, the University's Grants Management Pre-Award system. Contact Tam Sayer at email@example.com or (518) 437-4565 for information.
- SUNY Center for Professional Development offers training opportunities to SUNY faculty/staff. Contact John Zelenak at email@example.com for more information.
- SUNY Fact Advisory Council on Teaching & Technology (FACT2)
- Students
- Faculty
- Staff
- Emeriti


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Ask a Bulldog what is favorite food is an he will likely answer, "Yes, please!" Food is one of the most important things in the lives of many Bullies. With such a bewildering assortment of available food types and feeding methods, it's easy to become overwhelmed. To help you with this, Bulldog Domain has compiled some information on feeding your Bullie.
Bulldogs don't just eat dry kibble. Bulldog owners may feed a variety of foods including some special diets.
Look here for some of Goliath's favorite recipes including treats.
Peanut and Honey Bowser Biscuits - submitted by Jillie
What you need:
3/4 cup flour
1 egg
1 teaspoon peanut butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
What to do:
Heat peanut butter and honey in pan or microwave until runny. Add that to the flour, egg, shortening, and salt-mix well. Then you can make cut out treats with cookie cutters or drop treats. You can buy dog bone shaped cookie cutters at Petsmart, Bachmans, or any cooking store. Bake at 350 degrees fahrenheit for about 10 minutes. Enjoy with your bullie!
Here you fill find links various articles about feeding your Bullie.


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It is with great sorrow we report that a world class venue, Double Door in Chicago, has been shuttered. At 11:30 a.m. on Monday, February 6, Cook County Sheriffs posted "No Trespassing" signs on the door and a locksmith was observed changing the locks. The owners were evicted.
This has been a long process with Double Door co-owner Sean Mulroney wrapped up in legal proceedings against landlord Brian Strauss since November of 2015.
According to sources Double Door would have been allowed to stay until June of this year as long as the club paid both the usage fees and the $468,000 appeal bond ordered by Cook County circuit court Judge Orville Hambright. Strauss says multiple deadlines for payment were missed by club owners.
Double Door leaves with a full calendar of live music and events posted on the website. As a matter of fact, tonight's offering was Chicago based No Men along with supporting artists. It remains unclear what will happen with shows and events already scheduled.
Double Door's history stretches back to 1994. So many performers spoke ecstatically of playing the same stage that hosted the Rolling Stones, Sonic Youth, and Rise Against. Double Door has also launched terrific Chicago musicians, hosted tours from around the country and the world.
The staff and listeners of Fearless Radio have spent many a night at Double Door. This is a true Chicago musical home and we will miss it dearly. We look forward to what comes next for club owners and partners. You can post messages of support and ask questions on the venue's Facebook page.


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[JURIST] A military judge Friday delayed the military commission trial of Yemeni Guantanamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan [DOD materials; JURIST news archive] until July. On Thursday, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected [order, PDF] a bid by Hamdan to postpone the start of his military [read more]
[JURIST] Prominent Malaysian lawyer VK Lingam conspired [The Star report] with allies in government, the judiciary, and business to arrange favorable judicial appointments, a Malaysian government inquiry panel announced Friday. The panel was convened to investigate allegations of judicial fixing following the January release of a video [YouTube video; JURIST [read more]
[JURIST] A federal judge ruled [PDF text] this week that a shareholder derivative lawsuit brought against the directors and officers of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial [corporate website] for misrepresenting its financial condition could proceed. The court held that the plaintiffs, including a number of state pension funds, met the requisite [read more]
[JURIST] A South African court delayed the scheduled August corruption trial of South African politician Jacob Zuma [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] Thursday after his lawyer filed an application to have the case declared unlawful. Zuma's lawyers blasted the prosecution's handling of the case after a judge said that an [read more]
[JURIST] The Arizona Court of Appeals struck down [opinion, PDF] a 2006 state program providing government funds for private and religious schools, ruling Thursday that it violated a ban in the state constitution [text] on granting state benefits to private schools. The court rejected arguments that the vouchers benefited low-income [read more]
[JURIST] Former US Army Pfc. Steven D. Green [JURIST news archive] may raise an insanity defense at his scheduled 2009 civilian trial [JURIST report] for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl [JURIST news archive] and the murder of her family in Mahmudiya (also "Mahmoudiya"), according to two [read more]
[JURIST] The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals [official website] has reversed [opinion, PDF] a lower court order denying an injunction against a US Forest Service [official website] plan to allow commercial logging in the Plumas National Forest [USFS materials] in California. The Forest Service had argued that commercial logging [read more]
[JURIST] A jury in the US District Court for the District of Columbia [official website] Thursday convicted [DOJ press release] an Afghan national originally held as an enemy combatant on charges of drug distribution and narco-terrorism. Khan Mohammed was charged [grand jury indictment, PDF] in 2006 with distribution of heroin [read more]
[JURIST] US Marine Sgt. Jermaine Nelson will face a court martial later this year for murder, according to an order given by Marine Lt. Gen. Samuel T. Hellman [official profile]. The murder charge, announced Wednesday, stems from an incident during the Multinational National Force-Iraq's November 2004 offensive in Fallujah [GlobalSecurity [read more]
[JURIST] Convicted Kosovo Albanian war criminal Haradin Bala has been transferred [ICTY press release] to a prison in France to serve out the rest of his 13-year sentence [JURIST news report], the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website; JURIST news archive] announced Thursday. In 2005, Bala was [read more]
[JURIST] The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website; JURIST news archive] filed a civil complaint [PDF, text; SEC press release] in the US District Court for the Central District of California [court website] Wednesday against California-based microchip maker Broadcom [corporate factsheet] in conjunction with a scandal over the [read more]
[JURIST] Former Colombian militia leader Salvatore Mancuso pleaded not guilty in a Florida court Thursday to drug trafficking charges after being extradited [JURIST report] to the US Tuesday on suspicion of organizing violent massacres and drug smuggling operations. Mancuso and 13 other men are suspected of being members of the [read more]
[JURIST] Approximately 2,500 minors under the age of 18 have been detained as illegal enemy combatants by the US military at facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay since 2002, according to a US government report [text, DOC; ACLU press release] made public Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union [read more]


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2017 ESPE Annual Conference
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 13 September 2016 19:27
- Written by Laura Hospido
The 31st Annual Conference of the European Society for Population Economics (ESPE) will take place on June 14-17, 2017 at the Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland. The local organiser is Professor Robert E. Wright. Professor Michèle Belot (University of Edinburgh) will serve as the program chair. The keynote speakers will be Professor Janet Currie (Princeton University) and Dr. Wilbert van der Klaauw (Federal Reserve Bank of New York). The presidential address will be given by Professor Marco Francesconi (University of Essex).


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This orchid looks like Shrek.
Nature has thrown up a series of organisms that strangely resemble other things, including a dog that looks like a human being and a caterpillar which is the double of Iron Man.
But the latest uncanny resemblance could be the best after an orchid was found that looks exactly like the famous orgre.
The rare Ophrys Apifera flower has a green complexion and horns, as well as colouring that makes it look like it is wearing Shrek's trademark brown waistcoat.


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Photojojo has an excellent application called "Photo Time Capsule". Twice a month it'll send you some interesting shots from your flickr photostream that you uploaded about a year back. It's fun to be reminded of stuff you shot earlier… Once you get the capsule, you can leave yourself a message that you'll get back next year.
I've been using it for some time now and it's great to see some old pics I had forgotten all about 🙂
Here's the link – Photojojo's PhotoTimeCapsule


text: When directors of St. Paul's Episcopal Church developed their expansion plan, they called upon White-Spunner Construction to execute. Due to the age of the existing building, new materials and construction were incorporated with expertise. The result was a magnificant structure that complements the original church building. The church continued to operate seven days per week and was open to the public at all times during construction. White-Spunner Construction mandates all construction sites are well maintained to safeguard employees, as well as the general public. The project was completed on time and well under budget, providing unexpected capital for additional renovations.


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There is an urgent need to foster what the great historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. once called the vital centre. In Europe and in North America. There is a pressing need to remember those disquieting lines from "The Second Coming" by W. B. Yeats:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;…
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
TGA's assessment, warning, and behest: "On past form, the woman whose professed heroine is Catherine the Great will see off the immediate political challenge with a combination of ruthlessness and tactical accommodation that has earned the label "Merkevellian". But Merkel is now embattled, and with her the very centre of Europe's centre. I will never forget a photograph of Merkel standing alone in the centre of a vast empty stage with, suspended above her head, a sign saying simply Die Mitte (the centre). Over her 10 years as chancellor she, and Germany with her, have come to be just that: Europe's centre, politically, economically, diplomatically, but also ideologically."


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1 Meter (3.28 Feet) x 12" Black Hook and Loop Spandex Truss Cover or Stretch Shape for Truss Totems.
In stock
- Buy 2 for $43.49 each and save 4%
- Buy 4 for $41.49 each and save 9%
1 Meter x 12" Black Hook and Loop Spandex Stretch Shape, Truss Cover, Truss Sock, Scrim or Sleeve for use with 12" Box Truss Totems. Black. Please see our other truss cover listings for additional colors and lenghs. Free Shipping!
Free shipping! In stock for immediate shipping.
1 Meter x 12" Black Hook and Loop Spandex Truss Cover or Stretch Shape for Truss Totems. Free Shipping
These are made in the USA, are excellent quality and in stock for immediate shipping. 1 year warranty. Buy direct and save.
Description and Specifications:
- This cover is made in a Hook and Loop style, which means it has hook and loop fasteners running the length of the fabric so you can just wrap it around the truss to install.
- This is a high-quality product made in the USA and is not an inexpensive import. Please do not compare what we are offering to the less expensive imported ones being offered at a lower price.
- This listing is for the truss cover only. Any hardware, truss, truss accessories, or lighting shown in the pictures are for display purposes only.
- These are often referred to as Stretch Shapes, Truss Socks, Truss Scrim, Truss Covers, Spandex Covers and Truss Sleeves.
- Our covers are made from 100% polyester Trapeze Plus® stretch fabric and is IFR or inherently flame retardant.
- This item is designed for a 12" x 12" square truss only. Do not attempt to use it on anything larger as it will tear the fabric and void any warranties.
- The high quality fabric is designed with tension, so it stays in place on your truss and always looks nice. These are so easy to use and install, anyone can do it. No tools required.
- Bright white fabric completely masks the truss when not using lighting.
- Create stunning effects on your stage or facility by just adding internal LED lighting. The white fabric takes on whatever color(s) you are projecting. The black fabric will not project the light as well as the white fabric, so if you are looking for stunning lighting effects, you should consider the white.
- You can wash our truss covers with a mild detergent, plus a non-bleach whitener like OxiClean® (for whites only). Tumble dry on low heat, 120 degrees or less, and they will come out looking like new white, retaining their IFR certification. The stretch material will always be wrinkle free. Do not iron.
- All our stretch covers have a one year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. We also guarantee that the seams will not come undone or tear, and the corner mounts will last for the duration of the warranty under normal use and when used on 12" diameter box truss. Do not try to use on larger diameter truss that it is not designed for or it will tear.
- We have Black or White Truss Covers in stock ready to ship. Please call or e-mail with any questions.
- Do you also need trussing? We stock and sell trussing and truss accessories.
Shipping is included in the price total for the continental United States!
For all International, AK &HI Shipping, please call toll free 1-877-783-7373 or email email@example.com.
Write Your Own Review


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Yesterday, Ron Cowen at the New York Times reported on an incredible discovery.
Two wax cylinders, used by Thomas Edison to record sound, had been found in a cabinet in the American inventor's New Jersey laboratory.
Amazingly, one of the recordings was of Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian leader who helped create the German empire and in turn, Germany, the country.
Not only is it the only recording of Bismarck known, but, as the Atlantic notes, it is also the only recording of someone born in the 18th century currently known.
More audio and transcripts from the recordings can be reached at the National Parks Service >
LISTEN TO BISMARCK BELOW ( via the Telegraph)


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Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. While YBC was compensated for the post, we only work with companies whose missions we support and whose products we love. We try to focus our partnerships on small businesses, because we really believe in shopping small, and we thank you in advance for supporting the companies that support YBC.
Years ago, I used to be a Bikram fiend. I couldn't get enough, despite pretty much all but hating it while I was actually practicing. It was miserably hot but that feeling afterward? That was a natural high I rode for the rest of the day! I felt like I had just climbed Mount Everest and there was nothing I couldn't do! Row a tiny little boat around the world? Done. Run a marathon in my bare feet on the hottest day of the year? Yes. I can do anything, I wanted to shout after class.
To this day, I still love that post-Bikram high, but it's not my go-to anymore. This is mostly due to the fact that I don't have a studio close by, and because I'm really happy with my current schedule - working out and traditional yin and power yoga to complement.
Related: How to survive a hot yoga class
Today we're offering up some awesome goods to make your hot yoga class a success!
1. Osmia Organics Recovery soak - This stuff is amazing. It's made with hand harvested sea salt, epsom salt, and a lavender essential oil blend. My baths with this recovery soak feel so luxurious and my skin feels so smooth afterwards. $29. Discount Code: YBCFLOW15 for 15% off the Recovery Salt bath. Valid 10.19-11.19.
2. Fit NorthWest Fitness Headbands Nothing is worse than sweaty hair in your sweaty face when you're trying to not die in the middle of a hot yoga class, so tame that mane with this handmade headband. It's nice and wide and has great stretch to ensure your locks stay put. $7. Discount Code: FITNWLOVESYOGA10 for 10% off any purchase
3. nicepipes apparel Leg Warmers I know what you're thinking. Leg warmers for a hot yoga class? They're actually super helpful if you're someone who sweats a lot. I find they also help in poses like tree, when one leg starts to slip on the other. $42. Discount Code: YOGABYC10 for 10% off first time buyers (*yes it's yogabyc not yogaybc.)
4. VitaGlow Nutrition All-In-One Protein Powder After a rigorous yoga class, my body is depleted. Replenish and revitalize with VitaGlow's all-in-one protein powder
5. Earth Easy Scrubba Wash Bag This is for my people on the go - it's basically a portable washing machine and I would've LOVED to have this as a college student who just wanted to quickly wash one or two things without having to do (and pay for) and entire load of laundry! Discount Code: Scrubba10 valid through 12/1/15.
6. Biokleen Sports Laundry Liquid and the Natural Fabric Refresher. Sweaty yoga clothes are gross and sometimes it's hard to get the sweat out of the clothes - especially if you forget to throw them in the wash right away (believe me, I've been there). That's why I like biokleen sports laundry liquid - it's all natural and smells like delicious, calming lavender, but it actually works. The other item I love from them is their natural fabric refresher. It's like fabreeze but all natural.
7. Flaska Glass Water Bottle I love a good reusable water bottle, and when it's made out of glass I'm psyched because then we don't have to worry about the hazards of drinking out of plastics. This is a great bottle because it also comes with a little neoprene protective sleeve jujutsu in case. Discount Code: Yoga for 20% off any purchase valid until December 31st 2015.
8. Clever Yoga Yoga Towel Set. Another good product for my people who sweat like crazy - here we have a 2 piece towel yet - one for the mat and one for the hands. It's perfect for a toasty yoga class! Discount Code: YBC15off for 15% off
9. Fit Lifestyle Co. Mat and Yoga Towel. This is a super innovative product and I've never seen anything like it. It's a yoga mat but the top is like a yoga towel to help prevent you from slipping while in a heated class. The vibrant palm tree makes it that much more enjoyable to use. Discount Code: 10offPWs for 10% off yoga mats with design Palm or Waterfall.
The Giveaway
This giveaway is open to people in the USA. To enter the giveaway, let's talk about hot yoga classes. Do you love them? Hate them? Never tried? Funniest hot yoga class memory? Once you leave your comment below, click in the rafflecopter widget below to let us know you entered. Can't wait to hear what you think of hot yoga classes! A winner will be announced here next Monday. If you have an email address you use for promotional content, feel free to use that email, as the sponsors will receive your email data for future occasional emails.


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Your shopping cart is empty!
Looking for that perfect gift- Our Spa pack is the gift of indulgence.
Gift pack includes our New Riviera ULTRA Plush Bath Robe with an array of indulgent treats.
Fragrance: A crisp, clean scent of refreshing aquatic notes, musk, and gentle shoreline breezes.
* No further discounts apply


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TED rule 9Posted: May 17, 2011 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Indonesia, Joey L, mentawai, mentawai tattoo revival, siberut, story telling, ted, TED rules, tribes, Wade Davis 6 Comments
Bengkulu, West Sumatra, Indonesia
One year ago, while I was looking online for tutorials on photography, I stumbled upon a video from the young talented photographer Joey L. He had spent 3 weeks in a remote island close to Sumatra, shooting tribes. The pictures were great, landscapes wild, but what touched me was at the end. The shamans were inviting people from all over the world to come to the island and discover their culture. They were saying that their culture will die with them, the young generations being more interested by the "modern" way of life. I decided I will go there. And I'm just coming back from a week with the exact same people.
The island is Siberut, part of the Mentawai island. It's a 8 hour boat trip from Padang, sumatra. At first I went there with no real plan, but I met other people going for a trek to meet the tribes. I joined them, and we went on a 3 hour canoe trip, plus 3 hour walk in the muddy jungle, to finally arrive to the Uma (traditional shaman house). We lived with the Mentawai people 3 days, then went to an other Uma, our guide father's.
Mentawai people are amazing, friendly, with a great humour, speaking a little english from the travelers coming there. They live in harmony with the jungle, respecting each animal they hunt, talking to the spirits, healing with ancestral shamanist knowledge of plants and songs. And it's true, it seems that their beautiful culture is dying. From the Indonesian government with police pressure and official schools, to the Indonesian culture spreading to the young Mentawai with muslim missionaries, fashion and music.
What to do? Find the right TED talk. From Wade Davis, anthropologist from national geographic. What he says in his last TED talk
We're living through a time when virtually half of humanity's intellectual, social and spiritual legacy is being allowed to sleep away. This does not have to happen. These people are not failed attempts of being modern […] and destined to fade away by natural law.
In every case these are dynamic living people being driven out of existence by identifiable forces. That's actually an optimistic observation because it suggests that if human beings are the agent of cultural destructions, we can also be, and must be, the facilitator of cultural survival.
I chose to show you his first talk, much more dense and powerful.
I could quote most of his talk, but I decided to keep the militant part of it:
We believe that politicians will never accomplish anything, we think that polemics are not persuasive but we think that story telling can change the world.
So for this TED rule: I'll create an other blog sharing stories, pictures and videos of the people I meet during my trip.
I haven't much time ( they are closing the internet cafe I'm in), but please watch this other video about a project to keep and finish Mentawai tattoos: Mentawai Tattoo revival. I'll post more info on Mister Jo's facebook and Twitter.
6 Comments on "TED rule 9"
Et un Coucou du vieux monde. o/
Thumb up to Mister Jo..nice pics!waiting for more stories,pics and videos..=)..good jobs!
[…] TED rule 9 […]
[…] TED rule 9 […]


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Aspire People are the UK's leading
Education Recruitment Agency.
1,268,230 Teachers placed
Register with us and we will find you exciting education roles
Office Adminsitrator with Order ProcessingRegister with us
Job Reference: 0000123394
Date Added: 11.04.19
£ £10 - £11 per hour
Job Type: Education and Training
Sector: Office and Technical Support
Duration: Contract
Interviewing: N/A
Aspire People are urgently recruiting for a School Administrator to work in a Primary School based in Stafford, and it is on-going for the time being.
Do you have experience as a school administrator? Are you a quick learner? Apply now to avoid disappointment!
Main Job Tasks and Responsibilities
*answering and directing phone calls
*taking and distributing messages
*handling enquiries and incoming work requests
*checking and distributing documents and correspondence
*receiving, sorting and distributing incoming mail
*compiling records of office activities
*photocopying, scanning and faxing
*sending emails
*preparing and sending outgoing mailings and packages
*updating and maintaining databases
*controlling basic accounting functions such as checking invoices and making deposits
*managing petty cash
Education and Experience
*must have Parent Pay experience
*proficient in use of email and internet
*good numeracy skills
*accurate keyboard skills
*knowledge of administrative procedures
All candidates MUST have a valid DBS certificate or be willing to pay for a new one.
Aspire People take safeguarding children and safer recruitment practices very seriously. You will be required to attend a face to face interview and Aspire People will also undertake a number of vetting checks prior to completing your application. This application process is highly effective and will not prolong you from starting an assignment.
Aspire People are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from instructors, overseas trained teachers and qualified teachers. As long as you have a real passion for teaching and for inspiring the youth of today, you can communicate well with your consultant and go that extra mile for all of our clients we could have the ideal solution for you!
Here at Aspire People you won't just be treated as a 'number' but as a person, your consultant will offer you the personalised service that you deserve.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Aspire People Limited provides services as an Education Agency and an Education Employment Business. Aspire People is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and expects every candidate to share this commitment. Placements are subject, to appropriate Child Protection screening, including checks with former employers and the Disclosure and Barring Checks.


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Well, it seems like almost yesterday (actually a little more than a month ago), that a subsidiary of Mixx, the popular social voting site, launched TweetMixx, a new service that enables companies, brands, politicians, and celebrities collect and aggregate all the mentions about them on Twitter on a single page. "TweetMixx Channels," as the service is branded, enables you to create a branded page, tailored to you – from your own Twitter Tweets and RSS Feeds to comments from customers, reviewers, fans or pretty much anything you like. We'll use "you" generically to mean any label that fits – people, brands, goods, services, you name it.
Ever see those vanity license plates on cars? Now you can have your own vanity Twitter Mixx channel, and the service uses "Tabs" to allow a variety of features and functions. There's one that uses search terms to find links and tweets about you on Twitter, in apparent deference to the new Federal Trade Commission Endorsement Guides (see our post FTC (Revised) Endorsement Guides Go Into Effect earlier today; there's an "Insiders" tab that identifies anyone with a material connection or that is associated with you (e.g., employees, agents, paid endorsers); and other tabs that enable you to customize and populate the channel. In addition, since the service appears to act both as an aggregation and a search tool for content about you, consumers can find all the Twitter traffic and channel information about you in one place, and at the same time, you can use the service to track and monitor conversations and references to you on Twitter. Right for consumers; right for you – clever.
Remember Facebook's personalized URLs just a few months ago (Legal Bytes blog post Facebook Adds Personalization & a (Brand) New Dimension)? This is not simply another social media fad. Already companies are getting on the bandwagon (or should we say birdwagon). Today, the National Hockey League (www.nhl.com) will be among the first few enterprises launching its TweetMixx Channel – its own private label branded distribution platform using the TweetMixx service. TweetMixx even provides you with a widget that can be embedded on other websites (think bloggers, profile pages, etc.). The NHL's "Chatter" tab on TweetMixx, for example, will provide streaming tweets from hockey fans, while a "Links" tab will keep track of the tweets that are retweeted most often, and will rank these favorites by putting them at the top of the TweetMixx Channel web page.
So for advertisers, brand managers, marketing professionals and agencies, this new tool is the beginning of enabling a clearer strategic use of Tweets. Just as branded pages and channels, enabling two-way conversations, have emerged on YouTube and Facebook, allowing brands and celebrities to engage with consumers and fans, TweetMixx seeks to provide an ecosystem for Twitter traffic. Chris McGill, founder and CEO of Mixx, noted that each TweetMixx Channel can be analogized to a "tree." You have TweetMixx plant a customized tree of your choice, then you are given the tools to nurture it, to prune it and to watch it grow. Do it right and you have branches where Twitter users can "flock, sit and sing" about you – the people, products, services and things they care about. TweetMixx owns the forest!
Can you or your brand afford to stay out of the social media arena? Are you afraid of the new risk-reward paradigm and uncertain what to do? Do you know you have to do something, but are suffering from analysis paralysis? Have traditional models got you stuck in the mire? Call us. Our Advertising Technology & Media law practice group and our newly formed Social Media Task Force already have unparalleled depth, experience and bench-strength in understanding, working with, and advising clients in this brave new world. From developing policies to monitoring compliance; from protecting and enforcing your rights to developing relationships and partnerships with others to engage in the conversation. To win it, you have to be in it. If you need help, contact me, Joseph I. ("Joe") Rosenbaum, or the Rimon attorney with whom you regularly work. We are happy to help.


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2 Year Warranty
Newly launched successor to the hugely popular Cardio E1 exercise bike.
(Scroll down to see product features)
Features Continued:
Weights and Measures:
Made from thick gauge steel and precisely engineered to deliver durability and smooth operation for years to come
DELIVERED AS A 'FLAT PACK'. Requiring some final assembly. Full instructions are included
For delivery to other UK Islands, please contacts us for details.
The Mill, Eathorpe, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, United Kingdom, CV33 9DE
Tel. No: 01926 633 500 | Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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How Do You Build A Fashion Store Online Using WordPress
- Blogging Tips
- Updated: May 09, 2019
There is an increasing number of online fashion retailers with multi million dollar valuations. In March of 2015, luxury fashion retailer Farfetch was valued at $1bn. Although, the valuation may be considered a bit inflated by some, Farfetch isn't the only online fashion retailer with multi million dollar valuations. Nasty Gal, The Lucky Group, Shoe Dazzle and many others have had been funded by venture capital funds to the tune of tens of millions of dollars.
So if you have any inclination towards the idea, that you can start an online fashion retail business of your own, I'll point you to a few things that help make an online fashion retailer successful after describing the sort of website you should be looking to build.
How Does A Good Fashion Retailer's Site Look ?
This is the landing page of Farfetch.
Now, since we primarily intend to concentrate on WordPress sites. Let's have a look at how some of the better WordPress themes and see how they compare to Farfetch.
Any one of the themes would work extremely well to create a medium traffic online retail store for fashion or similar retail products.
Here's what many fashion retail themes have in common and what you should be on the look out for while picking a fashion theme.
- Multiple Menu formats for great customizability
- Great visual feel to the landing page
- No clutter what so ever and minimal wherever possible
- Easy order and check out pages
- Compatibility with all eCommerce plugins and payment modes
There's one more thing you should be aware of, some fashion themes specialize in one of two things either blogging or selling. A good fashion retail theme can be used to create powerful blogs, while not compromising on the ability of your website to sell products.
Alternately, you can also start a fashion store with Shopify. Shopify is a great alternate route to create any retail website including fashion websites.
Hosting & The Right Plugins
I'd recommend either WPEngine (Managed WordPress hosting, get 20% using promo code "WPE20") or using Digital Ocean's VPS. And if you decide to go with a virtual private server or a shared hosting, you'll need a CDN service like MaxCDN to serve your images. Fashion sites tend to be media heavy and a CDN will help keep your website lightning quick.
And apart from that, you'll need a couple of plugins that every WP website would find useful. I also think search engine optimization and site caching would be very important. I'd recommend WP Rocket and Yoast SEO to help with caching & search engine optimization.
Cracking The Fashion Industry
I'm concentrating on this, because I do not think that actually setting up and creating a fashion website is the most challenging thing. I feel the greatest difficulty in creating a successful online fashion retail company lies in knowing the business and having the ability to build a strong brand.
Blogging, Marketing And Developing An Organic Community Of Fashion Lovers
If I were to start a fashion blog today, I'd fail miserably. Why ? I'm woefully lacking in knowledge about the fashion industry. You may say, "well! This is true of any industry". May be so, but I do think it is particularly true of the fashion industry and is near damn impossible to feign genuine interest and passion in fashion.
I find that the triad of blogging, marketing and developing a community is very important. Many successful online fashion retail stores owe a great deal of their site's traffic and revenue to their blogs.
Nasty Gal seems to have a great blog.
People do not purchase clothes or fashion products because they necessarily like them. They buy clothes and fashion products because they would like to receive a stamp of approval from their neighbors, their friends and their loved ones. And fashion can to a great extent affect how people perceive you.
The value attached to fashion derives directly from the value of people's perception.
You can increase the reputability of your brand by creating positive associations. As more and more people associate your brand as something they'd like to see their own identities associated with, your brand becomes more powerful. Every step you take on this journey should be designed to increase your brand's marketability value.
Maria Sharapova is a great tennis player and she made $22 million through endorsements and yet only little more than $2 million via actual tournaments.
Because she an extremely marketable athlete and it is the same reason she out earns almost every other female tennis player who may even be better than her at tennis. I take her case because the difference in income via the primary profession to income via endorsements is in the ratio of 10:1. You'll find that the same is applicable to pretty much every other marketable sport. Footballers, World Champions in Chess and Olympic athletes all make a great deal of money through endorsements.
Another common feature among all the successful fashion retailers I've researched – they all have a unique and rather genuine story to convey. Trying to start a fashion retail store without a story and a brand that you can scale effectively is like trying to scale a mountain on crutches.
Read further
You can also read a recent post on WHSR by Gina Badalaty -"6 Effective Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Fashion Blog".
Lastly, I'd like to also point you in the direction of two excellent articles which demonstrate how important marketing is, when it comes to creating a successful online or offline fashion store.
- 34 Things That Amazing Fashion Retailers Do.
- How To Build a Multi Million Dollar eCommerce Business With Almost $0 as Marketing Budget.
If you own a fashion store or plan on creating an online fashion, I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.