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I normally prefer to believe that I am independent-minded and stylistically unique. If you ask me who I think the best-dressed starlet is, I'd tell you I don't know, because they all look the same anyway. Well, that's not entirely true. There is one person (well, TV character) out there that has my heart, and I'm ready to admit it.
Gossip Girl's Serena van der Woodsen (nee Blake Lively) could wear a paper bag over her head and I would fall rear-over-teakettle trying to determine the grocer from whence it came, in hopes of being the first to acquire one for my very own. She could wear Crocs and I'd be on my laptop, ordering them from…well, from wherever it is that one ACQUIRES Crocs…immediately. If Serena is wrong, I don't want to be right.
When the Gossip Girl season starts in September, I'll be bringing out a weekly roundup (since it's easily the most fashionable show on television), as I do now with Project Runway. For now, though, we'll have to settle for paparazzi photos of the actors, filming on-location all over New York City. Personally, I think Chuck Bass is the most entertaining in these sorts of photos since his outfits are the most outlandish of the cast, but we'll get into that in more depth after the season starts.
Today, I bring you my favorite fictional fashionista, Serena van der Woodsen, sporting the Celine Watch Me Work bag in what appears to be grey leather. I've talked much about grey in the past few weeks, so today, I'm going to have to show you the version of this bag that I believe to be truly glorious: the red patent one. Its lines are simple and clean, a look for which Celine is known, but the punky material, chain (anyone think it's a tad Stam-y?) and hardware put it over the top and into the 'covetable' category. Also, that name – "Watch Me Work" reminds me of a club-banging hip-hop anthem, territory that Celine has certainly never trod before. If this bag is any indication, though, they seem to feel right at home. Buy through Net-A-Porter for $2,100.
P.S. Please consider supporting our small, bag-loving team by clicking our links before shopping or checking out at your favorite online retailers like Amazon, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, or any of the listed partners on our shop page. We truly appreciate your support!


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In America, they say again that NATO will not be able to prevent Russia's invasion of the Baltic countries. But now there are very different reasons why Americans will not be able to save Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania: bad roads and unreliability of European allies. It is not possible to protect the Baltic from occupation by NATO forces; hence the conclusion inevitably follows: is it not better to immediately give it to Russia?
"NATO has forces of reduced composition on the front lines at the borders with Russia. The reserves will have to overcome hundreds of kilometers. And any delays due to bureaucracy, poor planning and dilapidated infrastructure will allow Russia to seize NATO territory in the Baltics even before the US military fills all 17 forms necessary for crossing the border of Germany and Poland, "writes one of the most respectable and influential publications USA – The Washington Post.
Chief of the European Bureau of the Washington Post in Brussels, Michael Birnaum transmits information from Polish Suwalki about one of the White House military games, which analyzed the possibility of responding to Russia's aggression in the Baltics.
According to the results of the game, NATO will lose to Russia a war for the Baltic states.
And he will lose for discouraging reasons.
"Army ATVs will be dragged along the narrow roads for slow-moving freight wagons, moving eastward across Europe. Rusted bridges can collapse under the weight of American tanks, because they are too weak. And the transfer of troops can be delayed by annoying passport controllers and stubborn railway companies, "writes the Washington Post.
The White House military game, to which the publication refers, proves that the military protection of NATO in the Baltic is useless in principle and this is due to systemic reasons.
In order to effectively protect the Baltic States from possible aggression, the Alliance forces, whose help the allies count on, must first be in the Baltic states.
The NATO contingent at Russian borders should be comparable to the US military presence in West Germany at the peak of the Cold War. Then one American grouping, a few kilometers from the border of the eastern bloc, numbered 200,000 people-it's not for you four rotational battalions of a thousand people each in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Will the North Atlantic alliance have enough human and material resources for such a military contingent on the Russian border – a controversial issue.
For Americans, a more important and even more controversial question is whether the US should spend enormous resources to ensure the security of countries that do not represent any value to them?
After all, we are talking about the fact that hundreds of thousands of American citizens must settle on the shores of the Baltic Sea and live in countries whose own citizens flock in large numbers. Moreover, to ensure that this entire crowd repulsed the Kremlin's attack without falling into the road pits and not collapsing into the Daugava and the Niemen from rusty bridges, America must repair the Baltic roads and build new bridges.
Only the United States is not the Soviet Union to deal with such things. Even in the "golden" times for Eastern Europe, the times of Clinton and Bush, when Washington turned the former socialist camp into a "sanitary cordon" from Russia, America did not build ports, bridges and roads for its satellites.
What can we say about the era of Donald's "America first" Trump, when investing billions of dollars in US allies instead of helping his dying "rusty belt" is considered a crime in the American society against the nation?
So placing hundreds of thousands of American marines in the Baltics in practice is unrealistic. But it is unrealistic and time to help Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia before they are occupied by Putin. And not only because of the "dead" roads of Eastern Europe, rusty bridges and a narrow railway track in the Baltic states, different from the European one.
European allies on NATO can simply betray the Baltic states and prevent the Americans from coming to her aid in time to avoid a full-scale war in Europe.
"So, Germany allows trucks with tanks and other heavy equipment to be transported on motorways only at night and on weekends. Sweden, not part of NATO, but working closely with it, requires notifying it in three weeks about sending troops and military equipment to its territory, "writes the Washington Post and quotes the story of US Major General Stephen Shapiro as to how he fill out 17 forms to obtain permission to transfer troops from the German port of Bremerhaven to their destination in Poland.
Appeal to bureaucracy in the European Union is frankly comical. One can imagine an anecdotal situation: Russian tanks are already approaching Riga and Tallinn, and Americans can not go through border control. Migration services are interested in them for the purpose of the visit, and customs officers ask how many soldiers carry cigarettes with them and do not hide prohibited substances in their "abrams".
In fact, it's a different matter. The Germans or Swedes least of all need a big war in the Baltic Sea region, so Europeans can allow Putin to quickly seize Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and slow down the movement of American troops to the theater of operations in order to avoid a bloody massacre for useless Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians .
It turns out that NATO is not able to protect the Baltic countries for systemic reasons, and the problem is not solved by strengthening the mana

subset: commoncrawl


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On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 02:28:58PM +0100, Francesca Ciceri wrote: > a recent discussion [1] on Debian Women mailing list made me realize that > the Debian Project, the *Universal* Operating System, doesn't have a > diversity statement [2]. > > Yet. :) Heya, sorry for the delay, but I've followed with interest this discussion. Many thanks to Francesca and the other Debian Women ML participants for this proposal. I'm very much in favor of having a diversity statement for the Debian Project. I concur with most of the very good reasons which have been mentioned in this thread for having one, so I'll try hard not to inflict you additional ones (OK, just a few :-P). Also, I see no disadvantages in having one: it is no additional regulation, procedure, of anything such. It's just a, err, statement that --- within the realm of the general Debian goals --- we welcome diversity. I don't even think we need to bring the "universal OS" motto in the loop to justify diversity: it just happens that the more diverse a community is, the more rich it gets. A statement in that direction is a way to cherish and encourage that richness. Lurking this thread, I've the impression we could find consensus on such a statement, as long as we keep it simple. The long list of "features" we do not discriminate upon, in particular, seems to be contentious. TBH, I don't find it particularly inspiring either, while the rest of the text is. I also notice that other existing diversity statements in FOSS have avoided the long list, still managing to be inspiring and straight to the point. Maybe we could try without such a list? Just another comment on the way to decide upon the statement: GR or not. For those who care about formalities: I think the DPL is entitled to emit such a statement under Constitution §5.1.4 ("Make any decision for whom noone else has responsibility"). If I'll happen to be DPL when this discussion ends, and if there will appear to be consensus on the idea of having a diversity statement, I'll be happy to pick the least contentious draft and help to finalize it. More generally, I think there are a few arguments against using a GR to publish such a statement: - communication might have been a good reasons for GR a while ago; these days we're quite active and good at communicating Debian Project news to the world. We really don't need a GR just for that, I believe a press release would be as authoritative, at least for the outer world - it opens all sort of bureaucratic-fetish questions like "what if we want to change the statement?", and I don't think we want to micro manage that and similar possibilities in the GR text - if we roughly agree on going ahead with the statement on this list: why bother? We've better things to do with our collective time than voting, at least when it is avoidable All in all, I think deciding on how to publish this is pretty easy. Let's first take into account the remaining criticism and update the text; which has to be done anyhow if we want to publish. The then-DPL could then state when he/she is ready to publish, giving some time to react. Those who strongly prefer a GR can then simply go ahead and propose one, looking for seconds as usual. If the GR process starts, the DPL will surely wait for its outcome; otherwise the statement can be published under DPL auspices. Hope this helps, Cheers. -- Stefano Zacchiroli zack@{upsilon.cc,pps.jussieu.fr,debian.org} . o . Maître de conférences ...... http://upsilon.cc/zack ...... . . o Debian Project Leader ....... @zack on identi.ca ....... o o o « the first rule of tautology club is the first rule of tautology club »
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It is fairly common to hear ensemble directors talk about how they "train" their students. Of course, all classroom teachers do this, really. One of the first lessons taught in classroom management courses is that of teaching your students routines. You are to train them to know where to turn in papers, where to find passes, how to transition in and out of the classroom, and so forth.
In the music classroom, we train our kids in these same areas, but also in how to be responsible, independent musicians. I always start my classes with vocal warm-ups, ensuring that they are becoming mentally focused for rehearsal while also creating healthy habits for their vocal use. I work with them on their sight reading skills so that they can learn music on their own without always needing someone to pluck out notes for them on the piano. I constantly remind them to give me good posture, always keeping their hands at their sides, feet firmly planted on the floor. I promise them I'll wear extra make-up – even paint my nose red – if they will just watch me conduct!
I have a group of students leaders that I have made sure to train for various roles. Some have taken on the responsibilities of recording attendance, leading warm-ups, or setting up risers. Recently, I even went so far as to run timed set-ups of the risers to prepare for our annual Fine Arts Showcase, a concert in which we would need to set up the risers backstage quietly and quickly while other groups performed.
The Fine Arts Showcase has been a tradition at my school for the last six years. We perform a two night show that includes students from dance, theatre, chorus, orchestra, band, and even visual art. It is a great event, but can be very stressful as there is a lot of transitioning that takes place. While one group performs, another group quietly sets up in another part of the auditorium. There is no down time at all so that the audience constantly has some entertainment going on. I have been a part of it from the start, but this year things were a little different for me.
Last week, my sweet Grandmother passed away. Oh, what a special lady she was, not just to me, but to so many. I am still dealing with so much heartache, and when I am ready I feel certain I will have a blog post to share just how wonderful she was. She passed away unexpectedly the week of the Fine Arts Showcase. I was in such a fog. My colleagues knew what she meant to me, and they knew I would need to be with my family for the visitation and funeral. They immediately jumped in and took care of everything for me. The band director, who already had a tremendous amount of responsibilities on his plate for the week, jumped in and directed my choirs. He rehearsed with them as much as he could so they could get used to one another, and then he did a fabulous job conducting them in the concerts. What a relief it was for me to know my students would perform with everything they needed even though I could not be there.
Through this Showcase, while I was gathered out of town with my family, my students proved to me the value of "training". The other directors share how the students came in dressed and ready to go for the concert. Somebody stepped up and led warm-ups, and all of the students participated. They lined themselves up to walk on stage just as we had practiced, and the riser team had the risers set up in record time without disrupting the other performances taking place on stage. They were in their places ready to go with time to spare before the curtains opened. They performed their pieces beautifully, and when everything was over, they had the risers broken down and put away. They even cleaned the room as if no one had ever been there.
They impressed the other directors that night and represented our choral program extremely well. They were professionals. They gave an outstanding performance, and they allowed my mind to focus on my family instead of worrying how to be at the concert to ensure that chaos did not break out. This was the best gift they could have given me during my time of grief. They gave a beautiful, impressive performance that allowed their audience to pause and enjoy the holiday season without distraction. This is why we train our kids.


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Taken 2 Movie Review
Title: Taken 2
Director: Olivier Megaton ('Transporter 3')
Starring: Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen, Maggie Grace and Rad Sherbedgia ('Batman Begins')
Featuring suspenseful fighting sequences set against a social commentary depicting how foreigners are taken advantage of by kidnappers and human traffickers is an intriguing idea for an action crime thriller. That was certainly the case with the surprise 2008 hit French film 'Taken,' which also helped proved the vitality of its lead actor, Liam Neeson, as an action star. Unfortunately, while he gave another captivating performance in the film's new sequel, 'Taken 2,' new series director Olivier Megaton failed to create an original, distinctive story.
'Taken 2' follows retired CIA operative Byran Mills (Neeson) as he and his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), and ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), are still struggling to adjust to their everyday life in Los Angeles. Kim is determined to prove to her parents that while she's still coping with the aftermath of being kidnapped in Paris approximately a year before in the action crime drama's predecessor, she still wants to move on. After Lenore has a fight with her husband, Stuart, she and Kim decide to meet Byran in Istanbul for vacation after he finished a job there.
While in Istanbul, Murad Hoxha (Rad Sherbedgia), the father of one of the kidnappers Bryan killed in Paris, Marko, takes the former CIA agent and Lenore to get justice for his son. Wanting to save himself and Lenore, as well as protect Kim from getting kidnapped again, Bryan once again uses his skills he learned from the government agency. He makes it his mission to stop the gang lord and his men from doing any more harm to his family.
After the surprise theatrical and home video success of 'Taken,' the film's studio, EuropaCorp, not surprisingly wanted to further capitalize on the resurgence of Neeson's action star status. Like in its predecessor, Neeson once again convincingly portrayed the determined retired CIA operative, who would kill anyone who got in his way of protecting his family. The actor also skillfully perfected the action sequences through the streets of Istanbul, including the intense car chases with, and shooting at, Murad's men, and was always thinking of his next movies in order to defeat his enemies. While at times it seems implausible that one man could defeat an entire gang of kidnappers by himself, Neeson's surging adrenaline and emotions kept him motivated to stop the men who wanted to carry out their revenge on him.
While Neeson once again emotionally connected with Bryan's motivations of protecting his family from the continued horror that began with Kim's kidnapping, the sequel's story doesn't feel as dismal and gut-wrenching as the first film's plot. While getting kidnapped by international gangsters determined to obtain revenge is obviously tragic, 'Taken 2' doesn't show the horrors of crime against the innocent and humanity as elegantly. The kidnappings in the sequel are a result of Bryan's actions in the first film, which people could more easily relate to. Kim's naivety and undoubting trust in strangers in 'Taken' is something many people have while traveling abroad, making the events more relatable and realistic to many people, particularly young adults.
After seeing Bryan single-handedly defeat the men who kidnapped his daughter in 'Taken,' the premise of the Mills being kidnapped again in Europe in 'Taken 2' unfortunately made the sequel's plot predictable. Knowing Bryan had the physical capabilities to defeat the kidnappers in Paris made it plausible that he would be able to do it again in Istanbul. The action sequences between Bryan and Murad's men at times felt recycled from the first film. Scribes Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who co-wrote both movies together, just put Bryan in a new European city, fighting gangsters related to the kidnappers in the original film, seemingly thinking the plot could work well again with a few changes. 'Taken 2' would have worked better if Bryan used his life-saving skills to protect anyone outside his immediate family in an entirely different kidnapping situation.
'Taken 2,' which strived to capitalize on the combined success of Neeson's emotional portrayal of Bryan's protectiveness of his family and his skilled proficiency in fighting, unfortunately failed to live up to live up to its predecessor. While Neeson gave a brilliant performance, set against a compelling story filled with social commentary on how Americans are viewed around the world in 'Taken,' his repeated admirable turn as Bryan in the sequel failed to help differentiate the all-too-similar plot. 'Taken 2' didn't focus enough on the psychological aftermath of Kim's kidnapping in Paris, and concentrated too heavily on her father's all-to-familiar fighting.
Technical: B+
Acting: B
Story: B-
Overall: B
Written by: Karen Benardello


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By Rachel Fiske
For those who consider themselves health conscious (or on the road to becoming more aware of healthy choices), one of the biggest challenges is learning how to adopt and maintain a healthy diet while also enjoying a meal out. If you are following a low carb diet, specifically, this might feel even tougher, as many options on a standard menu are loaded with carbohydrates.
For some, this challenge might only arise occasionally during a lunch or dinner out with friends, but for others, the challenge includes weekly or daily lunches out, regular work meetings that provide food, or companies that bring in lunch (and sometimes breakfast and dinner, too).
The good news is, eating out does not have to derail your low carb diet, as there are plenty of healthy choices to choose from. The first step is forming new habits when eating out, until they become second nature. Of course, eating as many homemade meals as possible is ideal, as this generally ensures we are making healthier choices, but sticking to your diet model is very much possible in restaurants, too.
Top tips on how to eat out on a low-carb diet:
Read the menu beforehand
This might sound obsessive, but studies show that when we are hungry and/or distracted, we consistently make poor(er) food choices. If we familiarize ourselves with the menu online before arriving to the restaurant, we've already chosen the option we know to be healthiest, and therefore can relax and know we are not ordering impulsively.
Eat a healthy snack before you arrive
For the same reason that it's a bad idea to go grocery shopping on an empty stomach, try to not arrive to a restaurant starving, as this will make self control significantly harder. Opt for a low-calorie, high protein snack such as whole, plain yogurt or organic, nitrate free deli meat with a couple of avocado slices, as this can greatly prevent overeating.
Substitute Side Dishes
Many people feel uncomfortable asking for substitutions, but it's okay to be a little bit annoying. As long as you are polite about it, it is completely acceptable to ask how dishes are prepared, and to request substitutes. For example, if a dish is served over rice, ask that it be served over steamed vegetables. Ask for your salad dressing on the side. Instead of bread, ask for a side of fruit or veggies. Most all restaurants can easily provide these alternatives.
Order a cup of coffee instead of dessert
It can be tough to skip dessert if you're surrounded by dessert-eaters, but this can truly derail a low carb diet if you are eating out regularly. If this is the case, order a coffee (regular or decaf) and add a touch of honey or stevia as a sweetener. This will help quench your sweet tooth, and seriously cut high-carbohydrate calories. Plus, coffee alone can boost weight loss, if that is your goal.
Stick to Meat and Veggie Options
Stick to orders that are made up of real foods, such as meat and vegetables, whenever possible. Depending on where you live, the restaurant might boast organic and grass-fed meats. If this is the case, don't be afraid to order red meats such as beef or pork. However, if the meat quality is questionable, it is best to stick for leaner options (all animals store toxins in our fat cells), such as fish, chicken, and turkey. The veggie option might be a salad, roasted, steamed or stir-fried vegetables.
Order Two Appetizers
Especially if portions are big, order two appetizers. This might be a salad or veggie dish, along with a meat option such as chicken skewers. If ordering soup, inquire as to what ingredients have been used, as many soups that sound healthy are actually loaded with flour and other high carbohydrate ingredients.
Avoid the Bread Basket
Certainly one of the hardest parts to resist is the bread basket that comes before the meal is served. You could easily eat an entire meal's worth of empty calories in bread before the actual food even arrives. Empty calories mean that you the calories consumed offer little to no nutrient benefit. Bread is a carbohydrate, and high-carb diets are top contributors to weight gain and an array of other health problems over time.
Order half of your meal to go
This is a great habit to get into, as it will save you both calories and money. Especially if you know that a particular restaurant serves big portions, ask that half of your meal be put in a to-go box from the get-go. This will eliminate the temptation to over eat, and you'll have tomorrow's lunch ready to go.
What to order at specific restaurants:
THAI: Thai food is actually one of the easiest in terms of ordering low carb, as the majority of the menu consists of meat and veggie options.Try a papaya salad with chicken skewers, fresh (not fried) spring rolls with coconut-milk based Tom Khao soup, or one of the many sautéed veggie/meat dishes. Noodle dishes (gluten free or not) are high in carbs, and be aware that Thai food uses a surprising amount of sugar, so inquire into which dishes might use less (a meat/veggie option will use less than a curry, for example).
MEXICAN: While not the lowest-carbohydrate option, if there is no avoiding Mexican, opt for the "bowls" instead of the more caloric burrito or quesadilla. Stick with meat, beans, avocado and salsa, and request corn tortillas instead of flour (or skip the tortillas altogether).
JAPANESE: This Asian cuisine offers some great healthy options. Seaweed salad, miso soup, and sashimi are at the top of the list and contain the lowest carb count. If you are avoiding rice, stick to the sashimi, which is simply raw fish. This is also an excellent way to get a big boost of heart healthy omega 3 fatty acids, which are generally lacking in the SAD (standard American diet).
ITALIAN: If you are avoiding pasta this might seem tricky, but Italian restaurants often have a surprising amount of healthy options. Most Italian restaurants offer some excellent salad choices, along with grilled meats and veggies.
In conclusion, remember that adopting a healthy, low carb diet model is absolutely possible if you want to (or have to) eat out in restaurants. Practicing these strategies and allowing yourself some time to develop new habits is key, and educating yourself on which types of foods in general are healthy and contain fewer carbs, and which to avoid. Best case scenario, you've had time to research healthy restaurant options in your area, and offer to pick the location.
9/24/2017 02:21:52 pm
I cant figure out how to permenately add foods that are not found in the database, Please tell me how to do this, so that I can add items manually but they do not go into the database to be selected again.
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Carb Manager is the easiest and most powerful way to count carbs and live the low carb life. In this blog, we've invited experts on LCHF to contribute their views on everything low carb.
December 2018


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There were a number of articles on a variety of fronts today, leading off with a retrospective by San Diego radio station KPBS about failed Prop A, with commentary by two county supervisors, followed by an article from Aaron Burgin of the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise about an unlikely champion for the Martin Mars: the city of Lake Elsinore. The Department of Energy is trying to pull the plug on a groundbreaking study of how trees store CO2, something that has scientists asking for a stay of execution. On the technology front, the idea of seeding RFID sensors in forested areas to detect forest fires is revisited, and an article from Wired Magazine highlights a member of LAFD who has his finger on the news and an eye on disasters as they unfold. A wildfire in Georgia has singed a few hundred acres, while a much smaller one in Maui, Hawaii, had threatened homes. A fire-scarred survivor of the S-61 crash in Northern California earlier this year recounts his tale of recovery, while firefighters in Virginia plan how to attack a forest fire in the George Washington National Forest. An Op-Ed item from Colorado relates legislative action there to deal with the many beetle-killed trees dotting private land. Heading to Greece, a wind-driven wildfire in inaccessible terrain kept firefighters busy, while firefighters in Australia had to avoid live power lines on the ground during their fight to protect a town from the resulting bushfire. Over 100 firefighters had to battle a blaze outside of Londonderry, New South Wales, and more arson activity triggered a bushfire that threatened homes in a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. And Elvis (Elvii?) helicopters are steaming to Australia to help fight bushfires as Erickson sends a quintet of their potent helitankers south.
Is There a Plan B for Prop A?
Lake Elsinore seeks return of firefighting plane
Gov't wants to change course of forest experiments
Wireless Sensor Networks 2009-2019
LAFD's One-Man Geek Squad Brings Web 2.0 to Firefighting
BREAKING NEWS: Wildfire burns hundreds of acres in Yahoola area
Cause of blaze 'undetermined'
Survivor of wildfire chopper crash: 'It hurt to breathe'
Officials plan how to battle forest fire
Fraser on the right track with beetle-kill tree removal ordinance
Wildfire on Mt. Athos
Town saved from fire
Firefighters tackle blaze
Deliberate blaze threatens Adelaide homes
Famous Erickson Aircrane Helitankers Set to Battle Bushfires Once Again
Labels: air-tankers, bushfires, firefighting, forest fires, wildfires


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By J.Kenner
Release Day: Oct 4, 2016
In this irresistible Stark International Novel, J. Kenner ups the ante on Dirtiest Secret and Hottest Mess, proving once again with the S.I.N. series that she "may very well have cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them" (RT Book Reviews). All eyes are on us . . . and there's nowhere to run. Everyone has their own ideas about Dallas Sykes: He's a reckless billionaire, a devilish playboy, a man who gets whatever he wants the minute he wants it. But I know the real Dallas behind the money, bravado, and power—and he's completely, blissfully mine. We carefully guarded our secrets, and in each other's arms we sought refuge from our dark past. Our pain became our pleasure, our control within the chaos. But we could only hide from the truth for so long. Now we've let loose our inhibitions and are ready to face the future. And no matter what people think or say, coming clean is its own sweet reward. Sweetest Taboo is intended for mature audiences.
Amazon US | Amazon Print | Audible CD | Amazon UK | Kobo | iBooks | iBooks UK | B&N/Nook | Google Play
The end is here! We are finally going to discover who the Jailer really was and who that evil Woman is.
I had a feeling I knew who she was, just could not believe it was her. In the end, all will make sense. Dallas and Jane have been through so much already... but wait for it, the worst is still to come in this final installment.
I have enjoyed reading this series. I am still puzzled why if they were adopted and not blood relatives would the stigma of them being together would be so great. In Britain, first cousins marry. At least in the Royalty this is acceptable, and they share family blood. Why would two people not connected by blood at all be shunned? It is just paperwork. I hope I do not horrify anyone, but think about it!
This was still an engrossing story worthy of reading!
From the New York Times bestselling author of such "racy, sizzling Stark novels" (RT Book Reviews) as Release Me and Say My Name comes the provocative first Stark International Novel—the beginning of the S.I.N. series. It was wrong for us to be together, but it was even harder to be apart. The memory of Dallas Sykes burns inside of me. Everyone knows him as a notorious playboy, a man for whom women and money are no object. But to me, he's still the one man I desperately crave—yet the one I can never have. Dallas knows me better than anyone else. We bear the same scars, the same darkness in our past. I thought I could move on by staying away, but now that we're drawn together once more, I can't fight the force of our attraction or the temptation to make him mine. We've tried to maintain control, not letting ourselves give in to desire. And for so long we've told ourselves no—but now it's finally time to say yes. Dirtiest Secret is intended for mature audiences.
The S.I.N. series continues with the seductive follow-up to the Stark International Novel Dirtiest Secret, from the New York Times bestselling author of "red-hot and angsty" fiction that "keeps readers guessing" (Publishers Weekly, on Under My Skin). No one can know about our love—and hiding only makes it hotter. Dallas Sykes has a reputation. He is known for his parties, his money, and the countless women on his arm. Yet the Dallas I know is a different man—darker, smarter, and unbearably sexy. Just one look from him can leave me breathless; the anticipation of his touch can make me lose control. Inextricably bound by our past, we keep each other's secrets. And while there are people who have the power to hurt us, it's the truth that threatens us most of all. Dallas can be mine only behind closed doors, our passion as searing as it is forbidden. Yet nothing in this world has ever felt so desperately, deliciously right. Hottest Mess is intended for mature audiences.
J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over seventy novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres. Though known primarily for her award-winning and international bestselling erotic romances (including the Stark and Most Wanted series) that have reached as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, JK has been writing full time for over a decade in a variety of genres including paranormal and contemporary romance, "chicklit" suspense, urban fantasy, and paranormal mommy lit. JK has been praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a "flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations" and by RT Bookclub for having "cornered the market on sinfully attractive, dominant antiheroes and the women who swoon for them." A five time finalist for Romance Writers of America's prestigious RITA award, JK took home the first RITA trophy awarded in the category of erotic romance in 2014 for her novel, Claim Me (book 2 of her Stark Trilogy). Her Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series (as Julie Kenner) is currently in development with AwesomenessTV/Awestruck. Her books have sold over three million copies and are published in over twenty languages. In her previous career as an attorney, JK worked as a clerk on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and practiced primarily civil, entertainment and First Amendment litigation in Los Angeles and Irvine, California, as well as in Austin, Texas. She currently lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and two rather spastic cats.


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Apple buys LearnSprout, an education-tech startup/
Apple has acquired education technology startup LearnSprout, which creates software for schools and teachers to track students' performance, reports Bloomberg. More than 2,500 school districts in 42 U.S. states use LearnSprout's software, according to the company's website.
LearnSprout is describe as "the first and only solution that makes big data analytics possible for non-technical educators." The company's mission statement is "to help K-12 educators use data to analyze the past, understand the present, and anticipate the future."
LearnSprout is an online data insights service that uses live data directly from a district's student information system. It combines assessment results, course grades, and attendance to provide actionable insights into student and school performance.
Apple hasn't said what it wants with LearnSprout. But the smart money is that it's related to efforts to get more iPads into classrooms.


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Case-Mate Your Absolutely Perfect Cool iPhone Cases
Case-Mate absolutely your perfect cool iPhone cases when you want to give your wallet a break. Bring with you just your ID, driving license, credit card and a little cash plus the ever wonder iPhone 3GS for your Friday night downtown clubbing sound very cool and relax.That the best scenario only if you're not plan to carry a lot of stuff and like to keep life simple, Case-Mate cool iPhone cases surely rock your world.
No mistake to make this cool iPhone case as your stylish iPhone protective gear, as well as your wallet keep only your necessities. We love the new Case-Mate's case especially the chrome iPhone case so much compare to the other seven colors. A proper design silver or chrome iPhone cases can make you look sophisticated and as well as futuristic feel. A hybrid design and ultra slim cool iPhone cases should be the next wave for convenience and smart living lifestyle.
Below are some sharing about the critical facts of this ultra slim iPhone cases from Case-Mate official site:
Q) Will it demagnetize my credit cards?
A) No, this was tested prior to launching the case.
Q) Will my cards fall out of the case?
A) No, the patented design allows the cards to stay in even if you only carry a single card.
Q) How do I remove the cards?
A) Easy access provided with dual slots to remove your cards – top and bottom.
Q) Will the case or cards have any impact on signal quality?
A) No, we tested this before launching and saw no impact on signal quality.
Price: $29.99
Cool Factor: 10/10
Durability: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Final say:
Case-Mate's ID Credit Card Cases is an absolutely perfect cool iPhone cases to place all your simple necessities before you walk out the door for your Friday night downtown clubbing. A leading design for hybrid cool iPhone cases.


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The TIME 100 list of the most influential people in the world has been released, and typically, there are no Canadians.
Toronto writer Sheila Heti, author of the sexy, musing semi-autobiographical novel How Should a Person Be? How Should a Person Be? was Canada's great hope, having made the short list of nominees. But when the Time editors sat down to determine which figures hold sway over (mostly American) political, social and cultural spheres, Heti was shorn from the list.
Canadians Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, and Justin Bieber made the list in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the widely-referenced list. To celebrate, the magazine has rolled out seven separate editions for the list, each bearing the image of one of the more notable influential figures from the 2013 group. This includes the godfather of hip hop Jay-Z, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, Indian movie star Aamir Khan, Pakistani schoolgirl and education activist Malala Yousafzai, SpaceX founder entrepreneur Elon Musk and Chinese tennis star Li Na.
See the entire list here.


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IN his Greenwich Village apartment last week, John Waters was wearing a loopy T-shirt ensemble by Yohji Yamamoto and listening to Solomon Burke -- and if there is a more inviting way to spend a hot afternoon in New York City, it would be hard to imagine. He had a thin line of mustache, gum-ball-striped socks and a suntan.
Next to Mr. Waters was a small photograph of Mme. Chiang Kai-shek and a slightly larger one of Divine. ''I'm obsessed with her,'' he said, referring to the former of the two divas. ''She lives in New York, so I try to spy on her. I ask her doorman, 'Does she get pu pu platters?' And he of course refuses to answer.''
Mr. Waters is famously associated with the city of Baltimore, where he has lived most of his 56 years, and where he has set all of his movies, including ''Hairspray,'' which has now morphed into a big, sherbety musical that opens tonight on Broadway. ''Baltimore to me is what I write about, what inspires me,'' he said.
But for the last 11 years, he has also kept a pied-à-terre in a neatly groomed prewar building in the Village. He divides his year among a large Tudor-style house in Baltimore, a summer apartment in Provincetown, Mass., and this very genteel one-bedroom in New York.
The house in Baltimore has an electric chair, Mr. Waters's addition to a building that used to spook him when he walked by as a child. The apartment in New York is filled with modern art and has a pillow with a needlepoint picture of an electric chair. His mother did the needlepoint.Continue reading the main story
''I have a whole life here,'' he said. ''I have dinner parties, I go to a lot of galleries. I really keep up on that. That's the main thing I do here. And I go to movies I can't see everywhere else.'' Mr. Waters offered a cup of coffee and finished his menu of Gotham pastimes. ''I take the subway everywhere,'' he said. ''I ride in the first car, to look at the rats. You can see them jumping out of the way on certain lines. The F line's not bad for that.''
It stands to reason that you cannot become John Waters, auteur of such Oscar-free classics as ''Female Trouble'' and ''Hag in a Black Leather Jacket,'' without drinking long and deep of the cultural gutters of downtown Manhattan. Baltimore may have its gothic charms, but if the Dutch explorers had not settled this other lustrous, grubby isle, the world might never know the cinematic sensation of Odorama.
Mr. Waters offered a tour, beginning in the living room with a witty sculpture by George Stoll. On an ordinary toilet-paper holder, mounted in a wall, Mr. Stoll, who had a small role in Mr. Waters's 1972 movie ''Pink Flamingos,'' replaced the tissue with a roll of chiffon. Mr. Waters needed approval from the condominium to install it. He could only imagine what the super thought.
To facilitate his vision of semi-patrician Manhattan, he hired a Baltimore decorator named Henry Johnson, the first time he had ever used a professional. ''I told him I just wanted a symphony in puke green, and I got it,'' Mr. Waters said. He had always considered that his signature color. There's a slightly different shade in each room.
Mr. Waters explained: ''When I was a child I wanted my skin to be that color, like the Wicked Witch of the West. Now, as I get older, it's getting close. It'll match the apartment.''
Mr. Waters has written and directed 11 movies since 1969, including his most recent, ''Cecil B. DeMented'' and ''Pecker,'' working on tight budgets and tighter shooting schedules. He makes about 30 speaking appearances a year, mostly on college campuses, and exhibits his photographs -- pictures taken from television, then recombined to create storyboards for wholly different movies -- at the American Fine Arts gallery in New York. The New Museum of Contemporary Art is planning a retrospective of his photographs for 2003 or 2004. He is also helping to write a book about sex in art and working on his next screenplay, ''A Dirty Shame,'' about peculiar carnal appetites brought on by a head injury.
During downtime, he managed to act as a pedophile priest in ''Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat,'' directed by the splatter legend Herschell Gordon Lewis. He is in ''deep development'' on an animated series about his life. And he has been consulting on ''Hairspray.''
Accordingly, Mr. Waters has marshaled his life into rigid routines, a kind of regimented weirdness. He writes each day's schedule on an index card and crosses off tasks as he accomplishes them; at the start of each week he plans every meal before preparing his shopping list, and he says he never has any groceries left over. He makes it a point to drink every Friday night, ''like a coal miner with a paycheck in his pocket,'' and arranges his home life to accommodate his compulsiveness.
The apartment reflects Mr. Waters's work habits, which are both perverse and meticulously disciplined. In a plastic case on his desk, he has Polaroid snapshots of everyone who has ever visited the apartment, including the reporter and photographer of this article.
''I separate things,'' he said. ''I don't ever think up my movies the same place I think up my artwork. I write every morning from 8 to 11:30. I have to think up weird things. That's my job. And then the rest of the day I figure out how to make that into money.''
Above his desk in Greenwich Village is a drawing by Mike Kelley showing fumes rising out of a garbage dump, which Mr. Waters considered an appropriate image for his work space.
''I'm really organized,'' he said. To write anything, he added, ''I need Bic pens and Evidence legal pads, the only ones I like.''
''I use Scotch tape and scissors, and move it around like a computer,'' he said. ''Then, when my first draft is done, my assistant types it and I start cutting it up. I've written all my books and movies like that.
''Now you can't take scissors on airplanes, which makes it hard. I have to have scissors everywhere, because I need them to write. Sometimes on lectures I make them give me a pair of scissors. That's my only star demand, that in my room I have a pair of paper scissors. You can't call me a difficult speaker because of that.''
Mr. Waters began his affair with New York when he was 17. He had a high school girlfriend at the time, and the two would hitchhike up from Baltimore. ''We used to walk around this neighborhood and ask strangers, 'Can we stay with you?' And they'd say yes. I hitchhiked in Manhattan, which I don't even think people did then. I think no one picked us up.''
The boundaries of his New York extended to the exploitation theaters of Times Square, where he used to take speed and consume four movies in a row, and to the dormitories of New York University, which removed him for smoking marijuana. He progressed from Max's Kansas City to the Mudd Club to Squeezebox; from flophouses on Eighth Street to the couches of friends like Cookie Mueller, who appeared in many of his movies, and Dennis Dermody, a movie critic at Paper magazine. ''I always wanted to live in New York,'' he said, ''but I didn't want to live badly in New York. I wanted to wait until I could get a nice place.''
But now, he said, parts of his city are disappearing or gone. He misses the lunch counter at Bigelow drugstore, where the staff was rude to everyone but regulars, and the Women's House of Detention in the Village. Since the omnisexual club Squeezebox closed last year, he hasn't had a regular place to drink. ''Greenwich Village is no longer the hotbed of rebellion,'' he said. ''But still many writers live here, many artists. It's still the same kind of people.''
With the arrival of ''Hairspray'' on Broadway, Mr. Waters threatens to become a New York institution himself. He admitted that he was nervous about the opening, especially because the show has had so much advance buildup. As a fan of delightfully bad movies, he acknowledges that there is no such thing as a good bad play. ''A bad play is literally torture,'' he said. ''Even good bad movies as a breed are almost gone. 'Showgirls' is the last good bad classic. That is the 'Citizen Kane' of good bad movies of the last 20 years.''
Mr. Waters plans to attend tonight's opening with his parents and some members of the original film crew. Though his parents lent him money to make his early movies, they rarely attended them. ''That would just be parent abuse,'' Mr. Waters said. ''They were so relieved when I made 'Hairspray.' They want it to be made into everything, so they don't have to go to any more openings, just go to openings of that all the time.''
Sometime soon after, he will escape to Provincetown, where he has gone for 38 years, ever since someone told him it was a weird place. ''I have a different set of friends in each place that I see in the same way,'' he said. Among his paintings in New York is a foggy seascape by his Provincetown landlady, the artist Pat de Groot. He can still hitchhike when he is there, and his apartment is ''small enough so I can't have guests, which is great.''
And tomorrow night, if you raise a glass in the direction of Cape Cod, chances are he'll be raising one too.
A Few of His Favorite Things
''ALL I ever do in New York anymore is go to art galleries and bookshops, but that's plenty,'' John Waters said. ''That's why I keep an apartment here.'' He narrates a tour of some favorites:
JOE JR.'S -- 482 Avenue of the Americas (12th Street). ''There's nothing better than sitting by yourself in that half a booth in the front that just has one seat and reading the gossip columns in Women's Wear Daily and having homemade soup and one of the best burgers in the Village.''
FOOTLIGHT RECORDS -- 113 East 12th Street (Fourth Avenue). ''The kind of record store that you breathlessly call up and say, 'Do you have the soundtrack to ''The Piano Teacher''?' and you know they'll say yes.''
PRINTED MATTER -- 535 West 22nd Street. ''Whenever I'm in a bad mood, I treat myself to maybe a little Richard Tuttle multiple, or an artist porno book. They always have something that I've never seen before.''
ST. MARK'S BOOKSHOP -- 31 Third Avenue (Ninth Street). ''Hardbacks the way I like them, with no discount and a staff who know their stock.''
DIA CENTER FOR THE ARTS -- bookstore, 548 West 22nd Street. ''It's like shopping in the best museum bookstores in Europe, all in one place. When I approach their new arrivals section, I feel like a randy steelworker going into Show World.''
COMME DES GARÇONS -- 520 West 22nd Street. ''I'm always secretly thrilled when I spend a lot of money on a very witty great new outfit and go back to Baltimore and someone says, 'That's a shame about that coat.' ''
STRAND BOOK STORE -- rare book room, 828 Broadway (12th Street). ''Best Xmas shopping. And they have back issues of Film Culture, the magazine about underground movies that inspired me when I was a kid.''
OSCAR WILDE MEMORIAL BOOKSHOP -- 15 Christopher Street (Gay Street). ''For that back room, a gold mine of obscure Tennessee Williams first editions.''
GAIETY THEATER -- male strip club, 201 West 46th Street. ''I almost never go there, but every day I want to.''Continue reading the main story


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Everything should now be set up to use SSL. To join the future of 1999, please use https://www.deadlycupcakes.org/forums/ in your bookmarks instead of http.
I just remembered I'm wearing my gold glitter underpants even thought it's raining!
I'm going to explain this one more time to you reasonably, although I'd rather hit your head repeatedly with a brick. But just once more. Then: BRICK.
I may or may not have performed an action resulting in utter devastation for all of us, but I'll relay that information to you in a manner akin to informing you I had tacos for dinner.
What were the other contenders?
Grace, which of those four fantastic selections best represents your personal reaction. For some reason, I feel like a combination of all four might work (depending on your mood).
Quote from: Gellin on July 03, 2013, 11:55:11 AMThe slow, creeping insanity of the Bar Exam in 4 weeks. Damn, that's a good one. I have too many! I'll go with this one.
The slow, creeping insanity of the Bar Exam in 4 weeks.
IF I did not know for a FACT that Grace has bright pink hair and a nose ring, I would think that the blonde one was actual video footage of the night she "may or may not have....."
Time for Tweed to step up the game:Today (July 9) is National No Bra Day. In the spirit of cooperation, I (Bill) shall not wear a bra today. No promises about tomorrow.


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I'm running an inherited Debian Squeeze server (read: I just got this new job and the server was setup by the last guy), and I'm having an issue on the
apt-get. The error at the end that comes up when doing a
sudo apt-get update is
W: GPG error: http://hwraid.le-vert.net squeeze Release: The following signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not available: NO_PUBKEY 6005210E23B3D3B4. I already referred to "no public key available" on apt-get update, but that solution did not work for me (
sudo aptitude install debian-keyring debian-archive-keyring).
What else can I try? Where should I look next?


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Power Man
Power Man
Power Man
Appearing in "The Bitter Taste of Defeat!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Enchantress
- Power Man (Erik Josten) (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- New York policemen
- Baron Zemo (Heinrich Zemo) (Only in flashback)
- Executioner (Only in flashback)
- Wonder Man (Only in flashback)
- Interpol
- Santa Claus (Mentioned)
- The mayor of New York City (who was Robert F. Wagner, Jr., at the time of the publication)
- Carol Channing (Mention)
- Amazon Jungle
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Avengers Mansion
- Sutton Place (First appearance)
- Manhattan
- Europe
- Westchester County
- Captain America's Shield
- Captain America's Uniform
- Hawkeye's Bow
- Pym Particles / Ionic Energy
Synopsis for "The Bitter Taste of Defeat!"
Erik Josten, an agent for Baron Zemo before he died, returns to the machinery used to create Wonder Man. There he finds the Enchantress, who tells him she will use the machine to make him strong too. He agrees and is given the name "Power Man". The Enchantress then creates a number of illusions around the city that make the Avengers seem dangerous when they accidentally destroy property and endanger lives. Captain America then tries to subdue Power Man as he attacks men with important documents, only to find out that the men were imposters trying to steal them. Hawkeye, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are also caught with similar traps. The Avengers believe themselves to be nuisances and are ordered by the authorities to disband.
- The Avengers last appeared in Fantastic Four Annual #3 where they defended the Richards wedding from an army of super-villains that were manipulated by Dr. Doom into crashing the reception.
- Hawkeye, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch made a brief cameo apperance in Journey Into Mystery #120, where Thor journeyed to Avengers Mansion seeking aid only to find the new members whom he wasn't familiar with.
- This is the first appearance of Erik Josten, who took on the mantel of Power Man at this time.
- Although there is a Captain America story in Tales of Suspense #70. It is a flashback tale from World War II.
- The Enchantress was last seen in Fantastic Four Annual #3 where she was manipulated by Dr. Doom into crashing the Richards wedding, she was defeated by a number of New York's heroes who were attending the wedding.
- Josten's recounting the end of his employment with Baron Zemo refers to Zemo's death (and the destruction of his base in South America) at the hand of Captain America back in Avengers #15.
- References to the Zemo's creation of Wonder Man are a reference to Avengers #9. The device the is used on Josten to turn him into Power Man was the same device that turn Simon Williams into Wonder Man.
- The Avengers, Power Man, and Enchantress are all seen again in Avengers #22.
- Credits:
- Written with the Usual Stan Lee Madness!
- Drawn with the Usual Don Heck Magnificence!
- Inked with the Usual Wally Wood Magic!
- Lettered with the Usual Artie Simek Mistakes!
- references: Avengers #9 (x2)
See Also
- Write your own review of this comic!
- Discuss Avengers Vol 1 21 on the forums
- Images from Avengers Vol 1 21
|Like this? Let us know!


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Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao (R) meets with Myanmar Vice President Nyan Tun in Beijing, capital of China, April 8, 2014. Nyan Tun came to China to attend the opening ceremony of China-ASEAN cultural exchange year in Beijing. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
BEIJING, April 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao met here on Tuesday with Myanmar Vice President Nyan Tun, who just attended the opening ceremony of China-ASEAN Cultural Exchange Year 2014 in Beijing.
Noting China and Myanmar share deep traditional friendship, Li said the two sides should respect each other, accommodate each other, cement political mutual trust and strengthen pragmatic cooperation, so as to push forward the development of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.
China is ready to work with Myanmar to promote the building of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and a closer community of common destiny between China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said the vice president.
Nyan Tun thanked China for paying great attention to Myanmar's rotating chairmanship of the ASEAN.
He said Myanmar is willing to make efforts to promote all-round cooperation with China and the in-depth development of ASEAN-China strategic partnership.


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A tip from PPSOP instructor David Nightingale
One of the hardest photographic lessons to learn is that your camera sees things differently to you. For example, when you shoot a backlit portrait and rely on your camera's meter to determine the exposure, you will often find that you end up with a shot where your subject is too dark and the background is too bright. The problem here is that our ability to perceive dynamic range - the ratio between the darkest and lightest areas of a scene, or 'contrast ratio' - far exceeds the sensitivity of our camera's sensor, i.e. it's just not capable of recording detail in both the brightest AND darkest areas simultaneously. In these circumstances then, we have three choices. First, we can wait for better light, or move our subject into the shade. Second, we can artificially lower the contrast ratio between our subject and background by adding some light using fill-flash or a reflector. Both of these methods will reduce the contrast ratio between your subject and the background, allowing you to record detail in both areas of the image. Third, rather than relying on your metered exposure you can take a meter reading from your subject rather than the scene as a whole. This will lighten your subject, but will probably blow out at least some of the details in the background. Whichever of these methods you use, you can guarantee that it will produce a better image than the metered exposure.
In the example we're going to discuss in this week's tip though we have the opposite problem, i.e. the contrast ratio between the darkest and lightest areas of the original scene is quite low. If you take a look at the original image (a shot of a waterfall at the Dubai International Financial Centre) you will see what I mean - it's a rather dull, flat shot.
If we take a look at the histogram we can see why: the majority of the tones are bunched just to the left of the middle. In other words, we have lots of fairly dark mid-tone values but relatively few bright highlights or deep shadow detail.
In this case then my perception of the scene - as a bright, dynamic composition - is at odds with the reality that my camera's sensor recorded: the contrast ratio was lower than it appeared. Again, there are a variety of solutions. I could have waited for better light, or added some directional strobe light, but I also knew that this would be really easy to adjust during post-production, i.e. by using a couple of relatively straightforward techniques I would be able to produce a much more striking image.
So, let's take a look at the three, relatively straightforward changes that were made to this image during post-production.
Before we do though, if you'd like to take a more detailed look at the various adjustments that were made to this image, you can download a copy of the PSD file (1.5MB) here:
The first change I made, as you can see below, was to flip the image horizontally, rotate it 90 degrees clockwise, and then crop the image to 16x9 aspect ratio. None of these changes were strictly necessary, but I decided that I was going to aim for a fairly abstract image from the outset; one that would really emphasise the interplay between the brightest and darkest areas of the image.
If you have already downloaded and opened the PSD file you will have noticed that this image was adjusted using just three curves. The first two - Curves 1 and Curves 2 - were used to add a dramatic increase in contrast.
Curves 1
As you can see from the image below Curves 1 is a strong S-Curve (a term that is used to describe this shape of curve) that significantly brightens the highlights and deepens the shadows. In other words, it increases the contrast ratio between the brightest and darkest areas.
Curves 2
Curves 2 is also an S-Curve, and again, it brightens the highlights and deepens the shadows.
If you've familiar with the Curves Tool in Photoshop you may be wondering why I used two Curves when I could probably have just used a stronger S-Curve from the outset, i.e. one adjustment layer rather than two. The reason, in this instance, is that it's often quite difficult to get exactly the right tonal balance when you've making a very large change in contrast, i.e. moving any of the control points on a single curve can have quite a profound effect on the appearance of the final image. If you use two curves, on the other hand, it's often much easier to fine tune the effect and get exactly the right balance of tones.
The net result of these changes, as you can see below, is that the image is now considerably more interesting: the detail within the stream of water is now much more pronounced, and the image as a whole appears to have more depth.
At this stage, I could have stopped - the image is a big improvement on the original - but I decided to accentuate the almost abstract nature of the image by toning it.
There are a whole variety of tools and techniques you can use to tone an image, but in this instance I used another Curve, as illustrated below.
In this instance, rather than altering the RGB composite curve, I altered both the Green and Blue curves (to do this you just need to select one of the individual channels using the drop-down menu towards the top-left of the Curves dialog).
The change to the blue curve is probably self-explanatory; by adding a control point to the middle of this curve, and dragging the line to the left, I added some blue to the midtones. By contrast, by adding a control point to the green curve and dragging the line to the right, I removed some green from the midtones. While it's easy to imagine the effect that adding blue will have - the image will be more blue - it's a bit harder to visualize what effect removing a colour will have. What does less green look like? There is an easier way to think about this though, i.e. when you lower the amount of a specific colour within an image you proportionally increase the amount of it's complimentary colour. If you're unfamiliar with this term, take a look at the screen grab below.
If you look around the border of the image in a clockwise direction, starting on the right, you will see that red fades into magenta which then fades into blue, then cyan, the green, yellow, and then back to red. So, the primary colours - red, green and blue - are separated by the secondary colours; magenta, cyan, and yellow. To find a complementary colour, just look to the opposite side of the colour wheel. For green then, the complementary colour is magenta, so by using a curve to lower the amount of green in the mid-tones I added magenta. By the same token, had I wanted to add a cyan cast to the image, I could have dragged the red curve to the right.
As I hope the above has demonstrated, creating a striking and dynamic image from a rather dull, flat original is relatively straightforward; often requiring no more than two or three simple steps.
If you' are interested in exploring any of these techniques in more depth, take a look at my online Photoshop tutorials. The two that you'll find especially useful are linked below.
Tonal Range and the Curves tool: this tutorial provides an in-depth discussion of the Curves tool (this is a free tutorial).
Toning Color Images: this tutorial discusses a variety of tools and techniques you can employ to tone your colour images; including the Channel Mixer, the Selective Color tool and the Curves tool. (available to our annual subscribers and lifetime members).


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Moving a player around the screen happens in most games, and while you can use D-Pads and other onscreen controls, why not take advantage of the touch screen instead of trying to recreate an analog joystick?
Swipe the screen to move your player!
This mini-tutorial includes a swipe function that can be used over and over again in all your games. It's easy to implement and I'll show you how to use it to move your character two different ways:
- Using transition.to()
- Using setLinearVelocity() with Physics
The physics-based demo is actually the foundation of a Space Invaders-type game that you can polish up and even publish, if you like!
In any case, this tutorial will walk you step-by-step through using the swipe function, but even more importantly, it will explain the code so you'll be able to enhance it, make tweaks, etc.
If you've ever wanted to allow users to swipe the screen and move the player character, puzzle pieces, etc., this mini-tutorial is for you! This same code is being used in published games right now, and you can start using it in your own games in just minutes!
With just two functions you'll receive messages of left, right, up, down, and none, depending on how the user swipes the touch screen. Now that you know how they're swiping, you can move your sprites on the device!
You get:
- the swipe function
- sample code (including the base game)
- 24/7 access to the tutorial videos
…for only
$10, immediately after buying. WAIT! Launch special means you can get the whole thing for just $5 right now, but this is a limited time price, so get it now!
PS – Did you buy the $77 package from me? If so, you get this mini-course for free. Check your Member Dashboard and see if it's there. If not, use the contact form to let me know (please include the transaction ID from your PayPal payment).


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Alex Muir <firstname.lastname@example.com> writes: > If I remove the try catch and run I'll get an exception message in the > oxygen browser saying that some xml is malformed (which is as a result > of using the saxon:parse function with some bad input). Near as I can tell, the errors from saxon:parse don't go to the error listener, so XML Calabash never sees them. I've got a thread started on saxon-help to see if I can get to the bottom of it. Be seeing you, norm -- Norman Walsh <email@example.com> | Where it is permissible both to die and http://nwalsh.com/ | not to die, it is an abuse of valour to | die.-- MenciusReceived on Sunday, 21 March 2010 14:34:47 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Tuesday, 6 January 2015 21:03:06 UTC


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Tuesday, June 28, 2011 -- 11:28 PM EST
Akkari Becomes Second Brazilian WSOP Winner in History. Fans Put on a Show.
Read More
Thursday, June 24, 2010 -- 2:14 PM EST
California native captures $382,725 in prize money and first live tournament victory.
Thursday, June 24, 2010 -- 5:03 AM EST
Kelly Guns Down Record Field in No-Limit Hold'em Shootout.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 -- 12:34 PM EST
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 -- 12:33 PM EST
Tuesday, July 25, 2006 -- 12:00 AM EST
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text:
Common risk factors can affect your chances of preventing sudden cardiac arrest. To help reduce your risk, maintain regular follow-up appointments with your cardiologist, make lifestyle changes, take prescribed medications and, if necessary, have interventional procedures.
Ways to prevent death due to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) differ depending on whether:
If you've already had SCA, you're at high risk of having it again. Research shows that an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) reduces the chances of dying from a second SCA. An ICD is surgically placed under the skin in your chest or abdomen. The device has wires with electrodes on the ends that connect to your heart's chambers. The ICD monitors your heartbeat.
If the ICD detects a dangerous heart rhythm, it gives an electric shock to restore the heart's normal rhythm. Your doctor may give you medicine to limit irregular heartbeats that can trigger the ICD.
The illustration shows the location of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator in the upper chest. The electrodes are inserted into the heart through a vein.
An ICD isn't the same as a pacemaker. The devices are similar, but they have some differences. Pacemakers give off low-energy electrical pulses. They're often used to treat less dangerous heart rhythms, such as those that occur in the upper chambers of the heart. Most new ICDs work as both pacemakers and ICDs.
If you have severe
coronary heart disease (CHD), you're at increased risk for SCA. This is especially true if you've recently had a heart attack.
Your doctor may prescribe a type of medicine called a beta blocker to help lower your risk for SCA. Your doctor also may discuss beginning statin treatment if you have an elevated risk for developing heart disease or having a stroke. Doctors usually prescribe statins for people who have:
Your doctor also may prescribe other medications to:
Take all medicines regularly, as your doctor prescribes. Don't change the amount of your medicine or skip a dose unless your doctor tells you to. You should still follow a heart-healthy lifestyle, even if you take medicines to treat your coronary heart disease.
Other treatments for coronary heart disease - such as percutaneous coronary intervention, also known as coronary angioplasty, or coronary artery bypass grafting - also may lower your risk for SCA. Your doctor may also recommend an ICD if you're at high risk for SCA.
CHD seems to be the cause of most SCAs in adults. CHD also is a major risk factor for angina (chest pain or discomfort) and heart attack, and it contributes to other heart problems.
Following a healthy lifestyle can help you lower your risk for CHD, SCA, and other heart problems. A heart-healthy lifestyle includes:
Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The Heart Hospital Baylor offers a full range of wellness and prevention programs designed to help you improve heart health and live a healthier life.
Take the first step, knowing your risk, by
completing our Coronary Artery Disease Health Evaluator »
Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health's subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor Scott & White The Heart Hospital – Plano or Baylor Scott & White Health.


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I am a sleeper. Always have been. I was the baby that slept through the night the first night my parents brought me home - and subsequently every night since. I love to sleep. I am happy getting a nap in and going to bed early. I feel best when I am well-rested.
As a little girl I would put my pajamas on before dinner and show up to the table ready to go to bed. I remember my Mom telling me no because it was simply too early. I had to wait a little longer. I was an unusual child in this regard. Most kids fight naps and bedtimes which I have learned first hand. Not me. I all but begged to get to bed.
The lack of sleep was my biggest worry when I first became a Mom. Surprisingly I adjusted like all new parents do. It was hard and I would be cranky, but I learned to live on less sleep. Eventually the exhaustion would catch up to me and I would become a miserable person to be around (as most new moms can be) and Jason would simply say, "Go to bed." He knows that sleep is a necessity with me. I can push myself on little sleep but I will crash and the only thing that makes me feel better is sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.
Needless to say I have always slept well. I don't need Ambien or even Tylenol PM to fall asleep. I always feel horrible for people who can't sleep since I know what being exhausted feels like for a short period of time I can only imagine what long-term insomnia must be like - torture.
Lately I have been waking up in the middle of the night, usually around 2am, and I can't fall back asleep for several hours. My mind starts spinning and all the stress and things going on in my life surface and I am up playing and replaying things in my mind. I find myself over-thinking most things sending me into a full blown panic attack of what ifs. I really, really hate the what ifs. Nothing good ever come of me going there.
I have full conversations with people in my mind, all the things I need to say come daylight that I never do, over and over. My points are solid and I am unemotional in the middle of the night - the discussions are easier in the dark when no one else is talking.
I stare at the clock and countdown the minutes. The few precious hours, then minutes, until my alarm goes off, dreading it with each passing tick. Since I get up at 4:30am three days a week to head to the gym, losing sleep on these days destroys me. I am up and running from that point on and have a full day of work then kids and life to deal with. But I am so, so tired and end up doing a half-assed job, I am sure.
Why this has recently started happening to me I have no clue. I go to bed early (since I am up before any living thing should be) and fall asleep quickly and soundly. Then it is like a switch is flipped and my mind is racing.
How do I make it stop? It is going to run me into a zombie before long and I don't do zombie well. Mama needs her sleep because what they say is true...If she ain't happy, no one's happy.
Let's hope for sweet dreams tonight.
2 comments:
Love the story about you wearing your pajamas to the dinner table! Too cute! You say you're going to bed early. Do you think you're starting to get enough sleep at the point you're waking up?ReplyDelete
Hi Jana! I found you from a comment on another site. I think it's funny that we are both married to Jasons. I have another Jana friend with a Jason husband. Must be a "thing"! Nice to meet you :)ReplyDelete


text:
The two Curses of Cycling are crashes and punctures, both of which most cyclists will have experienced at some point. Today it was our turn, with poor Jacq hitting the deck hard and me suffering two punctures on our respective rides...Jacq is battered but okay so before I tell this tale of woe I'll try and quickly get up to speed with the shop stuff - better put on a pot of coffee, 'cause this is a long one!
Last week began with a veritable avalanche of work. David needed his trusty Avanti Black Thunder serviced...
Then my good mate Tony wanted me to turn this:
And this:
Into a decent hardtail for a mission on the Queen Charlotte Walkway last weekend, using the best parts off both rigs...
Next up was my good buddy Dave's Commençal Meta 5.5, which after much hard riding had developed an annoying creak. After some stripping and rebuilding of the rear triangle, followed by more of the same several times over, the noise disappeared once the ten litres of grease I used had finally infiltrated every millimetre of the pivots - at least I hope it's disappeared! I think you all know how much I love these cool bikes, but I certainly don't love hunting for mystery noises...
In my role as contract wheelbuilder for Revolution Bicycles, I built a wicked pair of 29er wheels for Tor to put on his new Surly Karate Monkey. Mavic 719 rims, XT spline disc hubs laced up with my favourite spokes in the world, DT Competition, should be light enough, yet will still be uber-burly.
I also built a couple of wheels for my Belgian beer drinking bro, esteemed NZ MTB legend and Revolution's owner, Jonty Ritchie. He wanted a new wheel for his CX bike, so he supplied me with a Salsa Delgado rim and an XT hub which I pulled together with more Comps.
He also wanted a new Stans Arch built up for his MTB, so more Comps (they really are awesome!) and another of the ubiquitous XT hubs and voila!
Next project was Chris's lovely old RIH that I built for him a few months back. Chris wanted to try some better bars, so I ordered him in some cool Soma Moustache bars. I also dug him up a more appropriate stem out of my spares to match them.
I'd never fitted these before so it was a bit of trial and error as to how to set them up, but some advice from Chris and some experimentation and it turned out very nicely...
Another view. Chris reckons they are super comfortable, and his exact words were, "there's no going back!"
Kerry had been dabbling with the ancient art of testing at the summer Liverton Road Time Trials, and has decided he quite likes the discipline. He was racing on a standard road bike and rightly feeling he was losing out to better equipped riders, so before he invests in a full on TT rig he wanted to test the aero waters (?) with some tri-bars on his Cannondale. I suggested some Vision TT Clip-Ons, as they fitted his bars without further adaptation, yet can be upgraded with a base bar, aero levers and bar-end shifters if Kerry decides to go further. Affordable and well made, I'm a big fan of the Vision kit.
I gave this superb Colnago Dream Lux a drivetrain transplant, as well as a good going over. Very sexy bike, and the usual stunning finish from Ernesto.
So that's most of the work out of the way, but here's a cool picture of my Roadworks Rotorua agent Paul Larkin's awesome Soulcraft Holy Roller, casually parked on one of Vegas' iconic MTB trails, Split Enz. If you look closely you'll see the Roadworks stickers on the wheels I built for him...
Dave Hicks sent me a photo last week of a bike he spotted in Panama St. A vintage racer like this is very rare, and Dave and I were both intrigued by it, so I thought I'd hit up one of NZ's founts of all cycling knowledge, the revered Doctor David Benson. Of course David knew the bike, the vintage gear system and, most importantly, the owner of this beautiful NZ made Leader Special.
It turns out the owner (whose name I'll respectfully omit) has exhibited this bike and others, and has a blog called THE FLYING WHEEL where he shows this and others with some beautiful pictures. Check it out.
I've been promising news of the Jazz Apples for some time now, but the vagaries of time and interweb connections has made this difficult. Rather than ramble on myself I'll let the Team do the talking...
Training in Kutztown
The Jazz Apple girls have further broadened their cultural awareness this week in the pastoral surrounds of Pennsylvania's Amish community. The latest Jazz Apple base is within two hours of the Big Apple itself, but the surrounds of Kutztown couldn't be more different to the hub of New York City. The town here is familiar to years of cyclist traffic, which share the quiet roads with the Amish horse-drawn cart's and old yellow school buses. Training rides feel like a history tour as we find ourselves waving to girls in long dresses and bonnets working in the fields. While chatting about the irony of a society living without technology so close to the metropolis of New York, like any true bike fanatics we realized the significance of the bicycle as a unifying feature of such different cultures. Although the high-tech bike couriers whizzing around NYC are vastly different from the old Amish man we passed rocking side to side on his Dandyhorse utility bike, the efficient transfer of human energy to movement is a universal novelty. The perfect machine in so many ways, we were eternally grateful of the technology invested in our super light Fuji bikes ten minutes later as we started our grueling hill repeats under Chris's watchful eye.
2009/6/6 Lauren Ellis
Steph and Dotsie head out.
On a stunning day in downtown Philadelphia, the Jazz Apple team put together a classic team effort to deliver Ruth to the multiple Queen of the Mountain (QOM) lines in first place today. Marina was instrumental in Ruth's early point collection, driving it into Lemon Hill where Ruth was able to successfully contest against Team HighRoad's climbing phenom, Mara Abbot, Team Webcors Kathryn Currie and the powerful Nurnberger team.
In an incredible support role, Lauren Ellis and Dotsie Bausch were on hand for all eight QOM sprints, either leading out or usurping valuable points from Ruth's would be contenders. The final time up the Manyunk Wall, the fast pace split the race and a group of 11 escaped, including Ruth. The breakaway survived, and upon taking the final double points on Lemon Hill, Ruth clinched the title. In the sprint, Team HighRoad's Ina Teutenberg delivered a scorching sprint to win, followed by Tibco's Jo Kiesanowski and ProMan's Shelley Olds. Ruth finished 8th and proudly took to the stage as the crowning Queen of the Hill.
Malindi and Steph had pleasing support rides, finishing in the surviving group of a largey decimated field.
Ruth and her hill-conquering Fuji.
From the left: Dotsie Bausch, Lauren Ellis, Marina Duvnyak, Ruth Corset, Steph Roorda and Malindi Maclean.
And some more good news in the very latest update from yesterday in the Nature Valley Grand Prix...
Dotsie had a brilliant ride today to finish second in the Mankato road stage over 91 miles. Dotsie was a part of a six member break that survived ahead of the peloton. The six member group disintegrated on the four finishing loops, which included a brutal 18% climb every lap. The stage was won by Webcor's Alexis Rhodes.
Ruth finished in the lead group behind, with Marina, Lauren, Steph and Malindi finishing shortly thereafter.
Best wishes
The Jazz Apple girls
Best of luck to the Team for the rest of their gruelling USA sojourn...
Now back to me!
On Saturday morning my eldest son Kester and I were supposed to head over to the Wairarapa so he could play football against Rathkeale College, but as he had spent the bulk of the week with the swine flu (he's the swine, not the flu...) we had to pull the pin. Typically he was actually lots better on Saturday, but ironically the game was canned anyway due to the weather. In any case, a week within four walls had driven him batty so we decided an easy ride on Sunday would be just the cure. As Harry and Bodhi were both busy, the two of us loaded up the wagon and headed up to Makara Peak, picking up my bro Alex on the way.
Poor Ket struggled up Koru - a climb he has started to own me on of late, but we don't talk about that...a few stops on the way though and he was fine.
Ket and Al head up Koru.
A bit of post-flu fatigue sent the poor lad flying off the track and into some gorse on the cool downhill bit of Koru, providing me with a worrying few moments before he turned up safely...
After barging past him to show who is boss, we regrouped again at the end of Koru. Ket clearly impressed with my elbows-out passing style.
As he was feeling it a bit, we decided that a quick blast down the lovely Lazy Fern was about as much as he should handle. Ahead Warp Factor 5!
Al is the Shralve-Master!
But Ket was pushing him hard...
It goes without saying that my peerless descending skills meant I was having to wait for these two chumps long and often - either that or I was being really annoying by making them ride past me for the pics then forcing them to stop so I could re-pass them. I'll leave it up to you to decide.
Al again.
Ket in his element.
My two bros going hard near the end of this beautiful trail...
Ket in the carpark. He is a very cool cat and his passion for riding is growing daily, along with his mad skills!
When I last blogged I talked about how the South Coast fills my soul; well Makara Peak does also. Unfortunately today it mainly filled my sole - with dogshit. I'm going to have a rant about the disgusting and unhygienic morons who let their dogs shit all over the place without cleaning up. Unnoticed by me when we parked, there were several huge rokies lying around just where someone would stand getting into or out of their vehicle, as well as one particularly unsavoury deposit draped fetchingly all over a nearby flax. This is on top of the increasing number of turds ranged along the lower trails, not to mention the other trails, streets and parks of Wellington. For goodness sake, why can't these inconsiderate wankers just think about other people for a minute?
Alex was definitely not impressed either.
A post-ride caramel milkshake eased the emotional trauma of cleaning up the canine crap, then we headed back home before picking up Harry and going to see Terminator Salvation. We followed this with Malaysian takeaways which helped put a fine cap on a great week, shoe-poo aside...
This week started off with promise also. Another dead calm and bright sunny day dawned, so after despatching my morning pile of emails, dishes and laundry I saddled up my trusty Bianchi and sallied forth into the day.
After a quick zap through Island Bay I was greeted by this glorious vista...
I then perambulated west around to Owhiro Bay - the opposite direction to the one I usually would take. I'm very glad I did.
The steady grade up Happy Valley Road has broken many a rider over the years with it's deceptive toughness, especially when the northerly is blowing hard. Today it wasn't and I was relaxed and rode it in a good tempo, feeling great. I hit the top and decided to take the high-speed option of Brooklyn Hill, rather than the more techy Ohiro Road choice. Again, I'm glad I did. I waited until the cars had passed and sprinted hard down the hill until I could tuck - the sweepers are always a matter of holding your nerve, staying off your brakes and trusting in your tyres. I had an amazing run...
Before I blitzed the descent.
I then rode up Aro Street with a view to having a quick coffee with Jonty at Revolution Bicycles before heading off to work, but this is where it all started to come unstuck. Feeling good as I hit the first corner of the Raroa Road climb I heard a weird noise from the rear wheel - I thought at first it was just the road surface, but then the sideways slide I took towards a drain told me it was a damn puncture. I stopped and was just trying to figure out what the hell had caused it...
When who should turn up but Jonty himself! I was glad to see him not just because we're good friends, but because if I hadn't flatted he wouldn't have been at his shop when I got there to make me a coffee! Great to see him anyway, and he kindly gave me some pointers on puncture fixing.
Unfortunately, I'm a lot quicker at chucking spare wheels into race bikes than I am at roadside puncture repairs, so by now I was running too short of time to follow Jonty up the hill. We said our farewells and I headed off down the hill, stopping only to put on my gloves, then again two or three times to check I hadn't left anything else behind! I headed for the waterfront with the idea of heading around the Bays as far as Evans Bay, then zipping over Constable Street and home...
...only to realise Jonty was right and my puncture fixing abilities are actually utter shite as my tyre started to soften again. I decided to head straight home hoping the tyre would hold up, but only made it as far as the Basin Reserve before I was faced with having to stop again to attempt to fix it. I sat in the sun on the steps of this historic cricket ground cursing and swearing and having the cyclist's eternal struggle with the tube of cement that has dried up since it was last used. Eventually I had fixed it well enough to risk pumping it up, so I gingerly rode home thanking my lucky stars these tyre issues hadn't arisen as I raced down Brooklyn Hill at 70kph...
I had got home and changed for work and was just about to head up to the workshop with a long overdue coffee when my lovely wife Jacq walked up the street pushing her bike. I thought she must have had a puncture too, and was just about to wonder about the odds on us both getting one when I realised she was looking very shaky and had the tell-tale signs of an off, with dirt and dust on her shoulder and a skew-wyf helmet.
It turned out that, like me, she had decided to forgo some chores to take advantage of the lovely day to do another training ride for her attempt on Taupo later in the year. She had had a great 20km ride and was fizzing after smashing a local climb - she hit our street very fast, before over-enthusiastically braking just as she rode over a patch of wet leaves. Her front wheel went out from under her and she catapaulted over the bars with her bike cartwheeling end over end.
Once I had helped her into the house and checked to see if she had broken anything, it became apparent that she was "lucky" and had escaped with "only" some bad grazing on her cheek and chin, some road rash on the knee, as well as a sore wrist and hands. Her helmet had sustained a decent whack though, so I'll be disposing of that and getting her a new one.
After some tender ministrations I strapped up her wrist, parked her up on the couch with pain relief, water and the remote, then headed up to the shop to meet my client taking her bike with me to assess the damage when I had the chance.
It turned out that her forks were bent (bye-bye lovely old Bomber Z1 Long Travels! *sob*), but other than that it was just the bell, the left hand gear indicator and the bar-ends had been badly roughed up. I sanded them smooth, removed the superfluous bung indicator, and fitted an old pair of RST Mojo Pro W forks I used to cherish back in the day. That sorted her old Gary Fisher out until her choice new road bike is ready, but more about that another time...
Once I'd picked up Bodhi from school Jacq was in good hands. He decided my poor effort of bandaging her wrist need augmenting, especially once he realised she had sustained a blow to the head - he really is a lovely caring boy!
Until next time, take care and keep the rubber side down. Cheers, Oli